NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 19
Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: Rxel
Chapter 19
The first day ended with a fantastic samgyeopsal.
They had a really good time because their musical tastes matched well, but unfortunately, the work was sporadic.
It was because of their schedules.
They had our own lessons, and Jang Sowon was busy with the OST work for the drama that was about to air.
It was a hectic schedule, but they enjoyed working together whenever they met.
“Listen to this.”
The acoustic guitar in the studio.
Seon Woojoo picked up the guitar that had become familiar to his hand and strummed the strings.
His hand moved freely along the melody progression that he had been thinking of every time he went to bed at the dorm.
At first, the younger ones were amazed as if they were watching a zoo monkey.
“Hyung, you can play the guitar now?”
“I’ve always known how to play.”
“You have a new skill every time I forget.”
The younger ones who had reacted like that were now listening to his performance as if they were used to it.
They nodded their heads or followed the rhythm.
Jang Sowon also closed her eyes and listened to the melody that Seon Woojoo had supplemented with concentration.
When the performance was over, Seon Woojoo asked, “What do you think of this top line melody progression?”
“It sounds good. Can you give it to me?”
Now the guitar was passed to her, and she immediately modified and played the melody that he made.
Of course, it was much better than what he made.
She was a pro, after all.
Seon Woojoo was amazed every time he saw her copy, modify, and play his melody on the spot.
She finished playing and asked with a smile, “How about this?”
“It was really good,” Seon Woojoo said.
“It reminds me of your song Sunflower.”
“Right. I added a bit of that sound to what you made.”
“Yes. It definitely suits the simple and acoustic vibe.”
“Do you want to play it again?”
Seon Woojoo received the guitar again and started playing.
When they did this, the younger ones reacted like spectators watching a ping-pong match, turning their heads this way and saying ‘oh’, and turning their heads that way and saying ‘ooh’.
The song work progressed like water flowing.
Like making a ship.
At first, there was only a skeleton, then wood was added, then iron plates were attached, and finally a mast was raised.
Something was being made like that.
It was a fresh way of working.
It was completely different from the song production process that Seon Woojoo learned at TJ Entertainment, a large-scale agency.
It was a mess, in a way.
They just got together and talked like a neighborhood banquet, got ideas for lyrics, made, and fixed melodies.
It was not solemn at all, but playful.
There were many advantages to that.
It was a pleasant atmosphere, so there was no hesitation in saying one’s ideas, and it was fun, so they could keep trying new things.
It was a really fun experience.
It was the first time that the work itself was fun.
They would come to the Hwai Entertainment building and heal himself by working after getting scolded by the trainer teachers during the lesson.
And at the same time, they all felt it.
No one said it out loud, but they felt it instinctively.
There was a tailwind blowing from somewhere.
***
Of course, not everything was smooth.
Most of all, they lacked time.
Making the song and writing the lyrics was fun, but when it came to recording, the schedule was very tight.
It was because Hwai Entertainment set the release date for early February.
That was the only hardship.
They practiced hard, but the quality they wanted didn’t come out, so the atmosphere got a bit sour.
Wang Jiho even cried a lot because of Jang Sowon’s reaction, who turned into a tiger teacher.
But in the end, they successfully recorded.
And when they listened to the final version, they had a dubious expression on our faces.
It was a little worse than they thought.
Jang Sowon asked with a smile, “Doesn’t it sound worse than you expected?”
“Huh? No.”
“It’s written all over your face. You guys.”
She explained to them, “This is because the mixing and mastering are not done yet.”
“Mastering?”
“Simply put, it’s the process of adjusting the balance of the song. The engineers catch and fix the subtle sound differences. It may not be a big difference, but you’ll know once you hear the final version.”
“Oh…”
“You can look forward to it,” she said confidently. “It will come out so different that you won’t recognize it.”
***
February 2014.
It was the evening before the release of Jang Sowon’s album ‘Wishful Thinking’ that contained Something.
It was Sunday, the only day of the week when they could rest at the dorm in the evening, so the atmosphere was relaxed.
Like prison inmates taking a break.
No.
Why did he keep thinking of prison?
Seon Woojoo shook off the random thoughts and turned on the internet on his smartphone. He typed ‘New Black’ in the search bar and the results came up right away.
-Jang Sowon, new album ‘Wishful Thinking’ release imminent
-Collaboration with rookie ‘New Black’ on ‘Something’
-Who is the rookie boy group ‘New Black’ that collaborated with Jang Sowon?
There were many articles, but they were mostly repetitive, so there were only about 3 or 4 in total.
Most of them were promotional materials sent out by Hwai Entertainment or their company.
There were no comments, of course.
At best, there might be comments like ‘Sowon Unnie, fighting’ or something like that.
Seon Woojoo scanned the name ‘New Black’ and felt a bit disappointed that there was not much content.
He hoped it went well.
He put a lot of effort into making the melody every night, so he hoped the song would achieve some results.
Wait, was it too greedy to hope for success as a rookie?
Well, Jang Sowon Senior had name value, so it could go well?
He was conflicted.
It was human nature to want to win the lottery without buying a ticket, but as the release date approached, Seon Woojoo naturally felt humble.
Actually, he thought he was unconsciously setting up a defense mechanism in case he got disappointed.
Oh, whatever.
Seon Woojoo turned off his smartphone and lay down on the sofa in the living room.
As he stared blankly at the ceiling, a sweet and delicious smell wafted from the kitchen next to him.
Spicy stir-fried chicken.
Every time Kim Bijoo, who was wearing an apron, stirred the frying pan with a spatula, the smell wafted.
“It smells good.”
The youngest, who was pushing a mop with his feet, giggled.
“Good?”
“Yeah, really good.”
“My dad said he sent us the best chicken from the warehouse. He said to eat it with you guys.”
The identity of the spicy stir-fried chicken that Kim Bijoo was cooking was the one that Wang Jiho’s father had sent them a while ago.
A lot of chicken that filled the fridge.
Breast, wings, and other parts of the chicken were enough to last them for a year.
“Jiho.”
“Yes?”
“What does your father do?”
“He runs a chicken shop.”
“Isn’t it hard for him to run his own business these days? Is he okay with sending us so much?”
“I don’t know.”
The youngest shrugged his shoulders.
“My dad will take care of it.”
Seon Woojoo shook his head at his immature remark.
He was still young.
His father must be working hard to fry chicken for his son.
Wang Jiho’s parents were very sincere.
He had three older sisters and he was the only son.
Couldn’t you guess?
A T-shirt and shorts with a luxury logo.
A high-end watch on his wrist.
He was wearing that and pushing a mop.
Thud!
Something flew over Seon Woojoo’s face as he lay on the sofa.
“Oof!”
Seon Woojoo was startled and checked what was covering his face.
It was his underwear.
“What? Who’s there?”
“Who do you think it is?”
“Rihyuk?”
His eyes looked at him with disdain as Seon Woojoo sprawled on the sofa.
“Hey, mister.”
Seo Rihyuk, who was sitting next to a pile of laundry, tapped the floor.
“Why did you stop folding the laundry? Stop slacking off and come help me.”
“I am folding them.”
“Really?”
“I’m doing my best.”
Seon Woojoo stayed on the sofa and picked up a piece of laundry with his left hand.
Then he grabbed it with his right hand.
And then he folded it lightly.
Done.
Seo Rihyuk seemed speechless for a moment.
“Is that how you fold clothes? Do you really think that’s folding? Geez, I can’t even talk properly. You call that a piece of clothing?”
“Yup.”
“Have you ever done any housework?”
“Sure.”
“Then why do you fold them like that?”
“It’s good for your mental health to do things roughly if they’re not important. What’s the point of folding clothes neatly? You’re going to wear them again, right?”
Seon Woojoo picked up another piece of laundry with his toes.
“That’s disgusting, really.”
“There are important things and unimportant things in life, Rihyuk.”
“Yeah?”
“If you practice singing, you become a good singer, and if you practice dancing, you improve your dance skills, right?”
“Right.”
“And if you improve your skills, you perform better on stage, and if you perform better, you get more fans. And if you get more fans, our popularity goes up. See?”
“So?”
“If you practice singing, you become a good idol singer, but if you fold laundry diligently, you become a good idol laundry folder. And that doesn’t help our work at all. So it’s about choosing and focusing, you see.”
Seo Rihyuk followed the logic of his argument and reached a conclusion.
“So you just don’t like folding laundry?”
“Bingo.”
“You’re so different from when you’re in the practice room.”
Seo Rihyuk was folding the laundry again, apparently unhappy with his sloppy work.
He folded the clothes like a craftsman, without a millimeter of error, and he cleaned the bathroom without leaving a speck of dust.
He lived a hard life.
Seon Woojoo stretched and got up from the sofa.
He wanted to taste the dakgalbi that was almost done.
He was about to pass by when he saw Seo Rihyuk struggling with a difficult piece of clothing, wondering how to fold it.
“Let me see.”
“Huh?”
It took him exactly three seconds.
Seon Woojoo recalled the time when he was in the training camp, folding the clothes neatly to get a reward score.
And he handed it to him.
“…Huh?”
He looked at Seon Woojoo with a dumbfounded expression. Seon Woojoo smiled at him.
Seon Woojoo heard him muttering behind him, “What the hell, how did he do that?”
He was studying the clothes he folded like a rival product.
Seon Woojoo passed by the youngest who was lazily wiping the floor with a rag and went to the kitchen.
“Is it done?”
“Hyung, you came at the right time.”
Kim Bijoo greeted him warmly.
“It’s almost done, I just need to season it. Do you want to try some?”
“Sure,” Seon Woojoo gladly said, and Kim Bijoo handed him a ladle.
It was a perfect taste.
Seon Woojoo nodded and gave him a thumbs up, and he lowered the heat.
“Wang Jiho.”
“Yes?”
“Go wake up Junghyun and bring him here.”
They gathered around the table in the living room, with the last one being Kim Junghyun, who appeared with his messy hair.
There was no dining table.
Well, there was no room for one.
They ate the dakgalbi from the frying pan and marveled at its taste.
“How is it?”
The cook asked and everyone was busy praising him.
Kim Bijoo, who looked proud, and his son, who provided the ingredients.
As they ate and chatted about trivial things, their topic shifted to the events of February.
“Wow, our youngest is graduating from middle school,” Kim Bijoo exclaimed.
“Time really flies.”
“I remember when we first met, he was barely taller than my waist. He’s grown a lot.”
“Don’t exaggerate, Hyung. I was already huge back then.”
“That’s right. Junghyun Hyung was shorter too.”
“Hey, it was only a 2~3cm difference.”
Seon Woojoo quietly ate the dakgalbi, not knowing much about their past stories.
Their youngest, who was 17 years old and already 175cm tall.
His face was still young, but his body had grown quite a bit.
“Now Jiho is taller than Rihyuk.”
“Ah, Bijoo Hyung!”
Seo Rihyuk looked displeased, as if the food had lost its flavor.
Everyone laughed at him.
But it was true.
Maybe it was because of his build, but Wang Jiho looked slightly taller.
Seon Woojoo asked, “How tall are you two?”
“I’m 175.”
“I went to the health center yesterday and they said I’m 174.6.”
“Huh?”
Kim Junghyun stopped inhaling the dakgalbi.
“No way, Wang Jiho is bigger.”
“Aren’t you 175?”
Seo Rihyuk coughed at my question.
Taking advantage of that, the youngest asked, “Then why don’t we stand up and measure, Hyung?”
“No thanks.”
“Then I’ll take it as I’m taller.”
“Ugh, why are you fighting over height? Right, Junghyun?”
Seon Woojoo fist-bumped him as he smiled.
The other two, except Wang Jiho, looked like they were ready to grab a sword and start a fight.
Kim Bijoo looked betrayed.
“Kim Junghyun, you’re too much.”
“Yeah, shortest.”
“Do you not want to eat dakgalbi, dongsaeng-nim?”
He was going to graduate from high school this year and go to the same cyber university as Seon Woojoo.
It was a school he enrolled in because of the military.
While the two same-aged friends were squirming, Seon Woojoo spoke to Wang Jiho.
“Hey, Wang Jiho.”
“Yeah?”
“What should I give you as a graduation gift?”
“Me?”
Wang Jiho thought for a moment and said, “I don’t need a gift. I just hope our song does well.”
“Me too.”
“Our song is coming out tomorrow. Do you think it will do well?”
“I don’t know.”
The guys who had quieted down were staring at Seon Woojoo’s mouth.
It felt like a fortune-telling shop.
Shouldn’t they ask Director Jo Gyuhwan about this, not Seon Woojoo?
“I need to clear my mind.”
“That’s impossible,” Kim Bijoo said with a smile.
“I keep having a reward mentality.”
“It’s not up to us whether it does well or not. The best song by Senior Jang Sowon was Sunflower, right? That was in the 30s, wasn’t it? That’s how it was. Honestly, it’s a huge success if we make it to the chart.”
Honestly, it was impossible.
The music ranking depended on streaming, but neither they nor Senior Jang Sowon had a fandom that would stream for 24 hours.
Seon Woojoo didn’t know about the title song, but their song, the third track on the list, might be difficult.
Well.
Unless some sudden luck happened.
“Huh?”
The youngest, who was looking at his smartphone while eating, suddenly screamed.
“What is it?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Guys, look at this.”
Wang Jiho showed them an internet article on his smartphone.
They all widened their eyes.
Today, a day before the music release, a nuclear bomb-like issue exploded in the entertainment industry.