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After receiving a definite answer regarding the challenge choreography from the instructor.

The progress on the new song continued smoothly.

The subsequent meetings and work were literally going well and easily.

Ideas came pouring out.

Even if there were conflicting opinions, everything swiftly moved past through majority vote.

There was a reason for Hyeon-su’s composure.

Thinking about it, both of them are quick album creators, so there shouldn’t be a reason for taking long on a single track.

“How’s the melody?”

“It’s really good.”

“Then look at this.”

Even now, look.

At some point, the melody was already completed, and now Hyeon-su was showing the lyrics.

The lyrics were written in a notebook.

Come to think of it, he had shown it like this the first time too.

What a memory.

“The title is… ‘Men and Women of All Ages’?”

That’s a bit unique.

What kind of song title is this?

Looking at Hyeon-su, who seemed to sense my thoughts, he gestured as if to look around.

“Isn’t it all there? Men, women, elderly, boys.”

“True?”

We can say the boy is Hyeon-su, who’s just barely made it… Well, the composer is just stepping into middle age, but since he referred to himself as an old man…

“…One slip of the tongue leads to a big blunder.”

And perhaps recalling what he said, the composer mentioned that.

You should’ve been careful with your words; once poured out, words are like water from a bucket that can’t be put back.

“Well, the treatment for the elderly is good, right? Consider it an early retirement.”

“You still wouldn’t understand this feeling since you’re young.”

“We may say this, but composer, you’re still young.”

Forties are a blooming age, right?

Men are like wine.

“If I hear that from Soo-hyun in his early twenties, it won’t please me at all.”

“Then what should I do? I can’t age in the blink of an eye.”

“….”

Isn’t it right? Being young is a fact, though.

“Hey, stop tormenting the composer.”

“When did I do that?”

“Your expression is a total grump.”

Good grief.

It’s not like the composer can look like a grump.

He doesn’t have much expression change at all.

“Does it make sense… oh, it really does?”

“I’ve been sensitive about age lately… sometimes I hear that I’m falling behind the trends.”

“Hmm….”

You don’t seem like someone who would be sensitive about age.

More importantly…

“Who on earth is it that said you’re falling behind the trends?”

The composer is an active frontline member in the K-pop scene, if not elsewhere.

No, more like, someone who even sets the trends? Huh? That’s the kind of person he is.

“I’m an aspiring individual in this industry.”

Aspiring?

Did some bad comments or DMs come in?

“I don’t know who it was, but they don’t have an ear for listening. They should consider looking for another path since they don’t have talent in this field.”

Isn’t the composer’s career a validation in itself?

Dissing a composer, talking about trends or whatever, just reeks of an aspiring person’s envy and jealousy….

“This is my son.”

“Wow.”

The expression that burst out right after the composer’s answer was Hyeon-su’s exclamation.

…To think he dropped that bomb like this.

He should’ve mentioned it was his son first.

And to think his son is an aspiring individual, didn’t he just say he was studying before?

“…Okay, let’s move on to the next topic.”

Now that I can’t talk bad about his son anymore, um um.

“By the way, didn’t you say you were going to show something today?”

I smoothly changed the topic and spoke to Hyeon-su.

“Oh, um, yes, first, I brought the guide vocal.”

Fortunately, Hyeon-su took out the file he had prepared without a word.

A guide vocal, huh….

“Guide vocal? It’s your track, so why are you the one doing the guide vocal?”

“I want to hear the composer’s opinion too. And you can’t sing without the guide vocal if you only look at the featuring sheet and melody, right?”

“…That’s accurate.”

“What does that mean?”

“Correct.”

“Please don’t use strange foreign languages.”

“….”

Anyway, regarding my part…

I’m a bit excited.

I’m not worried about whether I can do well.

I’ve done this several times already.

Isn’t this the third time for Hyeon-su’s song featuring?

…Thinking back, I’ve done quite a bit.

In any case, that means I’m confident.

“Let’s listen for now.”

And so, the new song with Hyeon-su’s guide vocal echoed in the workshop.

Hmm, good, nice.

“It’s beyond expectations. As expected, the skill…”

The composer admired it right after listening.

And I…

“Um, you want me to do this?”

“Yes, do you think you can?”

I shot a look at the composer.

“Why are you looking at me?”

“Do you think I can do it?”

After all, isn’t he the one who knows the most recent version of my skills?

So, I looked at him as if asking what he thought.

Swoosh.

As our eyes met, he turned his gaze aside.

“Composer?”

“…Let’s try hard. You’re young, right? Not like an old man like me.”

“…Did you keep that in mind?”

“No, I didn’t.”

Sounds like he did….

But that’s that.

I looked back at Hyeon-su.

“Your diction is good, right? Consider it a challenge and give it a shot.”

That’s not even a proper encouragement…

Do I fit into this kind of challenge?

“Hyeon-su, I’m the person who raises views with this innate tone and face.”

I pointed at the lyrics.

“Do you really think I can do this?”

The lyrics I pointed at were quite a lot for a short featuring time.

When I casually skimmed through the lyrics earlier, I thought there were too many, but after hearing the guide vocal, I realized why.

Of course, the lyrics must be plentiful.

…It’s rap no matter how you listen to it.

Yeah, it’s not your average fast rap.

It’s closer to singing but still has a considerable rhythm and speed.

A regular rapper would handle it easily.

However, I’ve only awkwardly attempted to rap at a karaoke place during high school, so of course, I’m not a rapper.

Attempting this could lead to slip-ups during the actual performance.

“Trying something new is always good, but….”

“No way, it’s the first reveal at the concert. What if I trip over?”

I suddenly imagined it.

In front of thousands of Hyeon-su’s fans, I’d feature and stutter like a fool.

“Um….”

Hyeon-su seemed to imagine that too as he fell silent.

“…Should we modify it?”

“Yeah, you don’t think it’s right, right?”

Huh? I don’t want to see myself embarrassing myself!

Even if I practice a lot for the song, even pros sometimes forget lyrics and stumble on stage while rapping.

That’s more frequent than for singers.

Of course, it feels bad to ask for a modification now, but it can’t be helped. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work…

“Um, but Soo-hyun.”

At that moment, the composer who had been silently observing spoke up.

“Yes?”

“Isn’t the attempt a good idea? Honestly, I think it looks fine.”

“Well, it’s good, but….”

What was I saying? Of course, new attempts are fine, but taking a risk on something that will be first revealed at a concert…

“Rather, since it’s a concert reveal, you’d practice harder and pick it up faster, I assume….”

However, the composer seemed to have fixated on something and said that.

“…I see. To be honest, I think that part would really elevate things, you know?”

And as the composer struck down Hyeon-su, who was gloomily preparing to modify the lyrics, the sparkle in Hyeon-su’s eyes returned.

This flow is…

Swoosh.

The composer pointed to himself once with his finger and then to Hyeon-su.

Damn, majority vote.

“Are you really going to do this? If I stumble at the concert, I’ll bite my tongue and die.”

“Don’t say such scary things. Well, it’s just a joke about the majority vote, and if it seems hard this time, you can change it.”

“Oh, is that so?”

What? This is a majority vote, but I don’t have to follow it?

Then, of course, I’d change it immediately….

“Um….”

Still, it bothers me a bit.

Should I give it a try?

Yeah, I guess my diction is good as praised, and honestly, the Featuring part doesn’t look that difficult upon reviewing it again.

I might’ve flinched at the thought that it feels like rap, but it’s just that I was startled.

“Oh, then how about a strict 3-day practice? If it doesn’t work, we modify it right away?”

Three days should be fine, right? I could give it a rough try and if it doesn’t work, fix it then.

Since we’re not in a tight time crunch for a concert.

“Sounds good. Practice comfortably.”

So, I’ve taken on a somewhat unfamiliar part.

I wonder if this will work out….

In any case, that part issue was settled for now.

The rest was Hyeon-su and the composer’s time.

Although Hyeon-su had done the guide vocal according to the lyrics and melody, the composer’s insights might be different.

“Here, let’s do it this way….”

“Is that so? I thought this was better….”

Watching the two converse, I could clearly sense something different.

While I was busy nodding whenever the composer critiqued the feedback, Hyeon-su was passionately explaining why he sang it that way.

Perhaps because they weren’t going by majority vote, the discussion between these two strong-willed geniuses went on for quite some time.

“Then how about this…”

“Looks good. But next….”

“Ah, that part resembles what I was thinking….”

…It felt long enough to seem a bit excessive.

Anyway, although it was late, we made considerable progress today.

Aren’t we almost done with the track?

To the point that we decided to dive into the full choreography production.

After wrapping up the almost-final stage meeting, I returned home feeling somewhat relieved.

It feels like just yesterday when the three of us gathered to have our first meeting, yet now we’re almost done…. Time truly flies.

After all, when you only broadcast daily, time melts away.

In between such activities, the days really pass in an instant.

Even now, look.

I swiftly turned on my phone and checked the new message that just came in.

[Here’s the date and time for the movie premiere. As for how to get there…]

As expected.

Doesn’t time pass fast?

These events seem endless.

 

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