Save a Failed Idol’s Life

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: NicoleTempest

Chapter 38: Signs of a Crack

“Drink me, you can use me. Right now, I feel like you’re breaking me, poison, this feeling is even sweeter.”

“Let’s start over from ‘now’.”

It felt like a miracle that Seon-woo finished so quickly, since there was no big difference between him and me.

Kyunghwa frowned, tired of the repeated NG declarations.

Well, objectively, I noticed that I lacked compared to Seon-woo. But wasn’t Kyunghwa good enough?

I didn’t understand why he was so strict about it. It’s not like I was trying to feed him.

“Let’s try one more time. You can do better, hyung.”

The latter sentence was meant to be encouraging, but it didn’t feel that way to the person involved.

In the end, we had to record the same part not once, but three more times, until Yi-jun spat out an angry sound.

“Um… I’ll just use the version I kept earlier. Let’s move on to the next one.”

He made us suffer like this for a re-recording. I understood that he wanted to do well, but.

It was inevitable that the person who suffered would be annoyed. Besides, Yi-jun was not a verified professional PD, but a member of the same team, so that made it worse.

‘Besides, Seon-woo finished too early as the first batter.’

And Kyunghwa got a part that he didn’t really want to do, so he was twisted from the first button.

I should have done the first part instead of giving it up, as long as he didn’t think the same thing.

That’s how Kyunghwa also spent a similar amount of time as me, and then it was Seong-won’s turn.

“Start.”

Unlike us, who waited for Yi-jun’s standby sign before entering the booth, Seong-won took the lead in recording.

And he proved that vocal S was not a vain grade.

‘It’s so annoying that he sings so well.’

It was a childish emotion for an adult to feel. Rather than jealousy, what can I say, when there’s such a difference, I can’t help but envy him.

He was perfect, even with the high notes he screamed with ad-libs.

‘At this rate, he’s incomparable to Naru or Noru.’

If Seong-won had succeeded in appearing on Teenager Singer Star, he wouldn’t have had any reason to be mixed up with these members.

“Seong-won hyung sings really well…”

Seon-woo uttered a long sigh of admiration. Even those who didn’t like Seong-won had to admit it.

Seong-won’s recording ended in less than 20 minutes. It was such a fast progress that it made me worry about what if Ye-jun nitpicked him childishly.

“You… you didn’t finish it quickly because you didn’t want to hear it anymore, did you?”

Kyunghwa asked with narrowed eyes, and Yi-jun snapped back as if he was wronged.

“What do you think of me, hyung? I know how to separate work and personal matters.”

“Well, that’s good, but… it ended too soon.”

“There’s nothing to complain about. I have ears to listen to, too.”

You brat, then did you make us suffer so much because our mouths were bad? I didn’t complain openly, but instead gulped down the water that was on the table.

“How are you going to do your part?”

“I have a way to do it all.”

Yi-jun stuck out his tongue and went into the recording studio.

I was sleepy from listening to the same part of the rap for almost an hour.

“Hey, you guys, the staff. Don’t fall asleep there.”

Yi-jun complained with a dissatisfied voice, but no one could listen to him.

We had dinner early and started recording at 6 p.m., but it was already past midnight.

Solo singers who sing the whole song by themselves sometimes have to digest more than four hours of recording alone.

‘That must be really hard to talk about after that.’

I waited for Yi-jun’s recording to end while holding back my sleep.

Soon, he finished the recording and came out, and I gave him a half-hearted applause.

“Wow.”

“There’s no soul, no soul.”

Of course not. Yi-jun grumbled and sat down in front of the equipment again.

“You guys go ahead. This is the real work from now on.”

Then why did you hold us for more than an hour? Yi-jun looked at me and smirked as if he saw through me.

“Of course. You need at least one audience to get energized.”

Anyway, he said whatever he wanted. I didn’t have the energy to argue, so I just nodded.

The manager checked the studio entrance earlier and left for another schedule.

We had to take a taxi to go home.

“There are four of us… Do you want one person to sit in the front and three in the back, or do you want to call two cars?”

I asked, thinking of the cost reduction when I was Lim Hyun-seong, and the three of them twisted their faces at the same time.

Two of them openly glared, and one of them didn’t know what to do.

“Isn’t it too narrow?”

“I’m against one car unless I sit in the front.”

“Who wants to squeeze in with three people?”

So we settled on calling two cars.

“Don’t come too late. Making the sound source is not that urgent.”

More than the sound source… finding the choreography was the biggest problem right now.

We left Yi-jun in the studio and went outside the building, and two taxis were waiting for us side by side.

“We’ll go together.”

Seon-woo and Kyunghwa, who came down the stairs first, grabbed the back seat and the passenger seat respectively and waved their hands.

Naturally, Seong-won and I got in the same car.

“Which side is more comfortable?”

As I asked, looking back and forth between the passenger seat and the back seat, Seong-won didn’t answer and opened the passenger seat door.

‘Anyway, with that personality.’

Tsk. I snorted lightly and sat in the back seat. Was it because I sang the same song over and over?

Thud, the car door closed and nothing but the engine sound was heard, and the melody was spinning in my head.

‘I want to sing.’

I thought I wouldn’t think about it anymore after singing it out, but. Instead of recording separately like this, piecing together the pieces of the wound.

‘I want to sing together on stage.’

My heart was pounding already, thinking about how cool it would be when the result I planned all night was revealed to the world.

It was the same feeling as when I was working as a planning staff.

The day before participating in various exhibitions, or the day before launching a new product for a large project.

‘Even though there’s still a long way to go before we actually stand in front of the public.’

I wondered what it would feel like to sing not in the recording studio, where nothing but my breathing and the accompaniment could be heard, but in front of hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of people.

It was a sensation that businessman Lim Hyun-seong would never have known until he died.

In the awkward air with Seong-won, I returned to the dorm, immersed in a strange sentiment.

“Take a shower and go to bed.”

As I entered the room after leaving a brief greeting, Seon-woo, who had arrived a little earlier, was taking out his pajamas.

“Did you not talk much with Kyunghwa in the car?”

I was worried about Kyunghwa’s expression, which was not very good after he finished recording his part.

“Yeah, he said he was going to use the bathroom in the living room first, so I just said okay.”

“Good job.”

I had no energy to move any more, so I buried my head in the pillow first.

There were two bathrooms in the dorm. One was occupied by Kyunghwa, so the bathroom in our room was empty.

“Go and take a shower quickly. Don’t let Seong-won take your turn.”

“I don’t mind if Seong-won hyung showers first.”

He was too naive. But he had the ambition to take care of his part, so that was fine. I closed my eyes while waiting for my turn in the bathroom.

‘There’s nothing urgent to do tomorrow… There’s still some time left until the cover shoot.’

Then I could sleep in a little. I glanced at the phone screen and it was already almost 2 o’clock.

I should have brought Yi-jun back without overdoing it.

Producing was also a work that required inspiration. I couldn’t stop him from doing it quickly when he felt the need.

‘It’s his life, his business. What can I do?’

I stopped thinking and emptied my mind. It was enough to enjoy a rare day off.

***

The next morning. I skipped breakfast and woke up at 11 o’clock, and Seon-woo and Kyunghwa were nowhere to be seen.

Yi-jun must have come home after the sun rose, as he was lying dead in his clothes.

‘I’ll have to ask him.’

I tried not to show my dislike and knocked on Seong-won’s door.

“Are you awake?”

There was a sound of him tossing and turning for a moment, and then a voice.

“Come in.”

I turned the handle and pulled it in. Seong-won greeted me with a neat face that looked like he hadn’t even washed it.

“Why?”

He was so curt.

“I don’t see Seon-woo and Kyunghwa.”

“They went to the gym.”

“Kyunghwa? How come?”

Kyunghwa was also receiving PT to take care of his body, but he didn’t bother to go unless it was PT time.

“How should I know? If you have nothing else to ask, get out.”

Tsk, Seong-won spat out his tongue and fiddled with his phone.

“I’ll go out even if you don’t tell me to.”

I snapped back and closed the door. It was an attitude that had nothing to do with adult dignity, but I didn’t care.

Attitude comes from status. I felt that I was changing a little bit as I became a twenty-four-year-old kid after living as a business tycoon that others looked up to.

After finishing the rude conversation, I got a call from the manager.

‘He should know that today is a day off. What’s going on?’

I answered the phone with a question.

“Yes, hyung. What’s up?”

As I answered the phone in a relaxed tempo, the manager gasped and asked me.

-Are all the kids in the dorm? Why isn’t Kyunghwa answering the phone?

Well, he might not notice the phone if he’s concentrating on working out. I answered in a dry tone.

“Kyunghwa and Seon-woo went to work out. What’s going on?”

-Then the ones in the dorm are you, Yi-jun, and Seong-won, right?

“Yes, but Yi-jun is still asleep because he overdid it yesterday.”

Then I heard a groan from the other side of the phone.

-I’m going to pick you up right now. You and Seong-won get ready to go out. We’ll use a regular shop near the broadcasting station for hair and makeup.

I couldn’t understand what he was saying with the sudden call.

“Hyung, it sounds like we have some schedule booked or something.”

-Kang Yu-geon, that bastard, ran away from his variety show schedule without saying anything. We have to find a guest replacement urgently, but there’s no one available right now. You guys have to go, so get ready.

“What?”

I had just woken up and I didn’t know what was going on.

-I’m having a hard time driving while talking, so hurry up and get ready!

And then he hung up the phone without listening to the answer.

This is crazy… I knocked on Seong-won’s door again with a dumbfounded expression. It wasn’t that I wanted to do it.

“Get dressed and come out.”

“What is it?”

Seong-won opened the door and looked at me with a crooked expression.

“Manager hyung said we have to go out as a guest replacement for a variety show.”

“Just the two of us?”

“I don’t know. Maybe two is enough. He’ll be here soon, so get dressed.”

Seong-won showed his reluctance and dragged his body. Then he shouted like a teenage son.

“Get out, I have to change!”

He was a guy who had no trouble at all.