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“Oh right. Are you writing the lyrics?”

It was only after finishing my meal that Hyeon-su brought up the question I had asked earlier.

The topic had abruptly shifted after our conversation about actors, and now it was back on track.

“Uh, I couldn’t quite figure it out.”

“But are you writing the lyrics yourself?”

“Since it’s related to my role, I’ll just draft a rough structure and send it over instead of writing everything out.”

As I said this while enjoying the ice cream Ah-young had brought for dessert, Hyeon-su’s expression became peculiar.

“Is your role kind of big?”

“How should I know? Still, it’s not like I’m in it a lot.”

“Well, if it weren’t for your personality, you’d probably have fled if it were a minor role.”

“…You know me well.”

If it weren’t for Hyeon-su’s words, I might have escaped citing lack of time had it been a minor role.

But thinking about how often I’ve been to the filming location for practice, I wondered if there’s a reason I insisted on a minor role.

If there’s next time, it’d be better to have a longer role… No, no, that’s not it.

What am I even thinking?

“By the way, who are you filming with this time?”

“Who else, it’s the same as always.”

“Oh, is it that actor Moon Chang-sik you mentioned last time?”

“Yeah, he’s the one I’ll be working with.”

“Moon Chang-sik? That actor?”

As I chatted with Hyeon-su, Ah-young’s eyes sparkled at the mention of Moon Chang-sik.

“So, what’s it like seeing him in person?”

“He’s tall and handsome, you know.”

I wondered if there was more to say about that.

“Well… you’re tall and handsome too, Hyeon-su.”

I sneaked a glance at Hyeon-su at Ah-young’s remark.

I mean, Hyeon-su is tall and handsome too.

“That’s true.”

Thinking about it, there are a lot of tall and handsome people around me.

Both Hyeon-su and Moon Chang-sik, sure.

Idol Lee Hyun-jun is part of the crew too, obviously.

Composer and Lee Kang-jun are somewhat good-looking as well.

Jeong-hoon is… still in school.

Looking at this from another point of view, I’m totally blessed here.

“What about Soo-hyun? Isn’t he going to have high standards now?”

“Just looking in the mirror makes his standards go up, right??”

“Damn…”

Anyway, that’s off topic.

“The filming’s all done anyway.”

“That’s a shame. But hey, it’s Moon Chang-sik; did you exchange numbers?”

“I have his number, sure.”

I’ll need to see him again for the track work anyway.

He wouldn’t bring his role again, right?

No, that’s unlikely. Moon Chang-sik probably doesn’t have time to film anything else since he hasn’t finished shooting.

“Wow… I’m envious.”

“You have Slim Gold’s vocalist’s number too, don’t you?”

“Well… that holds no value for me.”

“I don’t have it either.”

“Are you all joking? Can we talk more about the lyrics?”

Hyeon-su frowned at our banter, but soon brought the topic back to the lyrics.

“Oh right. Yeah, I’ve been struggling a lot with the lyrics lately.”

I think about it often; it’s been my top concern these days.

Because, well, time is running out.

We’ve decided to meet again in a few days.

In that time, I need to produce some results.

“So in the end, you’re saying you can’t get a feel for the lyrics?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“What were you trying to write?”

“Well, the drama’s content is…”

After hesitating for a moment at Hyeon-su’s question, I briefly summarized the drama.

It’s a bit of a spoiler, but there’s no one else to share it with.

“Ahh! What if you spoil it? If Moon Chang-sik, Lee Seok-hyun, and Kang Ha-na are starring, it sounds like it’ll be fun!”

Of course, Ah-young, who usually loves dramas, was startled, but… that tough luck.

“Hmm…”

As I explained the general vibe of Lady Soo-yeon and shared my situation, Hyeon-su frowned, indicating it was challenging.

“It’s tough, right? That’s why I’m struggling.”

“Yeah, it’s a style I haven’t tried either.”

Right, how could Hyeon-su, whose lyrics are so fairytale-like, channel a song filled with this kind of longing?

“Composer Kang Woo-hyun will probably go for a historical drama style for the track…”

“Historical drama style? You do that too?”

“He likes tackling a variety of things.”

Ah… so does that mean he’s up for a challenge?

Well, I completely trust the composer. Whether he challenges or not, I have no doubt that the outcome will be good.

“Must you keep the lyrics that way?”

“The lyrics?”

“Yes, there are easier paths too.”

Hmm… well, lyrics that are purely filled with resentment and hatred are indeed hard to express.

It risks creating a chilly atmosphere.

“Then should we just do it differently?”

“If that yields better results.”

Results…

Well, anyway, as long as it stirs the emotions of the listeners, that’s what matters, right?

In that regard, maybe it’s better to have Lady Soo-yeon forgiving or feeling regretful instead of being resentful.

“It’s tough…”

“Don’t think too hard about it; just focus on conveying the emotions.”

“Just conveying emotions?”

“Well, anyway, the composer Kang Woo-hyun will refine and fix everything, so you just need to clarify the emotional lines.”

“Oh…”

That makes sense.

No matter how much I think about rhyme or diction while writing the lyrics, it’s clear that the expert composer will disassemble and revise everything anyway.

“Thanks a lot; I guess I need to think more.”

The results were a bit ambiguous, but I felt grateful I came here.

At least I had figured out my direction.

“By the way, are you releasing songs smoothly?”

“Oh, the songs?”

“You’ve chosen quite a few composers.”

“Ah…”

Since Hyeon-su seemed to know about Miro Family from watching my YouTube channel, he asked about that.

“I’m planning to release them one by one and collate them into an album.”

“Oh… what’s the title?”

“…The title?”

“Albums have to have one, right?”

“Uh…”

Title track?

I haven’t decided that.

No, I just hadn’t thought about it.

Hmm…

“I won’t know until all the tracks are out.”

Since all the songs are composed by others, it’s tricky deciding on a title.

What if someone gets sad thinking they weren’t picked as the title track?

“Really? How many tracks have you finished so far?”

“Two tracks—one from Lee Kang-jun and another from Jeong-hoon.”

“…When did you start working on this?”

“…About half a year ago?”

“Two tracks in half a year?”

Hmm… I think even I feel that progress is a bit slow.

“In half a year, we could probably produce one album.”

“….”

I involuntarily fell silent at Ah-young’s mutterings.

Huh? We’re amateurs, so delays are understandable.

As long as we reach our destination, it’s fine.

“Anyway, the songs are definitely taking longer to come out… So should we decide on a title track in advance?”

“What?”

“I’ve got a way to do it.”

There’s a method?

Even before all the tracks are out, deciding on a title already…

Does Hyeon-su have his own way of determining that?

Knowing this isn’t something you hear often, I leaned in and focused on his words.

“What is it?”

Hyeon-su spoke confidently, which piqued my interest a bit.

I wonder how they’d choose a title when no one knows what kind of tunes are being made.

“You just use this song.”

Hyeon-su said this while pulling out his phone and playing a song.

It must be one he’d made recently.

“I just made this looking for a female vocalist. Perfect timing… Whoops!”

“Hey!”

I quickly reached over to cover Hyeon-su’s mouth with one hand while using the other to touch the phone and turn the song off.

What’s this…

“Mmm…”

“Shush.”

A song? Of course, it must be good.

Huh? Not just good, but it’s probably good enough to be the title track.

But still…

“I’m not going to listen to it. Absolutely not.”

Even if the song is great, if Hyeon-su chooses this track as the title without our small, precious sandcastle of work, it would just collapse.

Titles can be decided later anyway.

If worse comes to worst and we can’t decide, we can just pick all of them as title tracks.

No one says it has to be just one.

“And keep that song.”

“…You said you wouldn’t listen?”

“…Uh, that means it’s not needed for our album.”

“Come on.”

Anyway, it’s not the time for that.

We haven’t even started recording the drama OST yet.

After a few more conversations, when the sky started to darken, I got up from my seat.

“I should be going now.”

We’ve rambled on a lot, but at least my worries have somewhat been resolved.

After all, consulting an expert is the best way to go.

“Are you leaving already? You should stay for dinner.”

“I have people waiting for me.”

I’d like to stay longer, but if I have dinner, I’d be late.

I should finally meet those people who’ve been waiting for me for days now.

“Okay, I’m off.”

“Come again next time!”

With Ah-young seeing me off, I exited Hyeon-su’s workshop and headed straight home.

Today is truly a rare day for a broadcast.

My manager told me to rest for a day or two after I recovered from my cold.

Once I got home, I ate the meal prepared by Mrs. Jang and immediately entered the soundproof booth.

It feels like it’s been ages since I took a break like this?

It was almost equivalent to the long break I took during my suspension.

To be honest, I’ve wanted to go live during this time.

It’s a bit hard to explain since it’s been a while since I’ve streamed, but I really wanted to.

Maybe it’s just my nature to enjoy broadcasting.

Since I felt like I wanted to go live, I figured all our viewers were probably waiting for me as well, so I turned on the stream.

[Miro is back!]

“A-hello?”

Thanks to having set a return notice in advance, I saw viewers slowly logging in, and the chat filled up quickly.

I have no doubt they’d welcome me warmly since it’s been a while…

-Fuck it, fuck it…

-I said I was sick, you fucker… I said I was sick, you fucker… I said I was sick, you fucker…

-You rotten bitch…

“Huh?”

Why on earth is my chat on fire?

 

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