And so the day arrived. Friday.
Sol-woo walked toward the agency with complete calm. He knew he hadn’t fully mastered singing in Korean yet — but he had enough to hold his own in the studio, and that was enough to keep him confident while he waited for the Producer-nim to arrive.
When he entered the production room, he saw Ji-soo come through the door holding two cups of coffee. She walked over, handed him one, and asked with curiosity:
"How are you feeling? And by the way — have you gotten any messages on Instagram? Remember you’re not supposed to reply to them."
Sol-woo took a sip of coffee while adjusting one of the tuning pegs on his guitar.
"I feel good. Calm. And no — nobody’s written to me on Instagram."
Who would even write to me? he thought to himself with his usual pragmatism.
At that moment, the door opened and Director Yoon leaned his head in. He greeted both of them with the posture of a superior addressing his team and fixed his gaze on the young man:
"The Producer-nim will be coming with a girl from EXID. Get ready, Sol-woo-ssi."
Sol-woo, sitting with the guitar resting on his leg, simply nodded toward the door.
He didn’t care who came to the session. His only real interest was improving his vocal technique — if someone showed up and could contribute something useful to his work, they were welcome. He didn’t feel that kind of anticipatory nerves or intimidation.
With that mindset, he went back to training his singing, working through the Korean syllables. Ji-soo watched from the side — and taking advantage of the young man’s focus, she pulled out her phone and took a photo without him noticing.
Seeing how absorbed he was, she decided to start recording a video. The camera on her phone, combined with the warm, dim light of the production studio, gave the footage a slight retro grain that added a unique and intimate quality to the image.
The video captured Sol-woo’s real process: how he would start a line with a slightly rough pronunciation, and how, after a couple of passes, the voice would smooth out and settle firmly into the language. It was something innate in him — in under five days he had made a staggering leap forward in his diction.
How could anyone criticize his language skills in the future? Ji-soo thought while keeping him in frame.
She wasn’t a stranger to the industry. She knew the stories of other idols who had come from abroad — Mark from GOT7, Amber from f(x) — for whom it had taken months, sometimes years, to shape their diction into something that sounded natural in a studio recording. What Sol-woo was doing was pure talent fueled by relentless discipline.
The clock hit two in the afternoon.
The production room door swung open. In walked a man of solid build, dressed in the classic loose style of urban producers — Shinsadong Tiger. Just behind him came a girl. Unlike the producer, who maintained his professional, reserved air, the young woman looked visibly more enthusiastic and curious to be there.
The Producer-nim, noticing his companion’s evident enthusiasm and wanting to make sure Sol-woo didn’t feel pressured, made the introductions immediately. He looked at the young man and then gestured toward the girl with professional respect:
"This is Ahn Elly — LE from EXID. She’s my co-composer and your sunbae in this."
The girl, without a trace of shyness, stepped toward Sol-woo while he remained seated with the guitar. She extended her hand with a bright smile and spoke in a voice that was soft but slightly husky:
"Hi. I’m Ahn Elly — LE from EXID. PD-nim has been telling me about you and I got curious enough to come hear you for myself, Sol-woo-ssi."
Sol-woo stood immediately, offering a respectful bow before taking her hand:
"A pleasure to meet you, Sunbae-nim. I’m Sol-woo."
Ahn Elly, with Sol-woo now fully on his feet, had to look up — his head cleared hers by quite a distance. She hadn’t expected him to be that tall at all. She looked him over from head to toe with open curiosity and said directly:
"How tall are you? You’re enormous."
The Producer-nim, hearing his student firing off personal questions that fast, stepped in to redirect the energy:
"Alright, alright — Elly, focus. You know why we’re here."
Shinsadong Tiger had worried a little that Sol-woo might tighten up at that kind of question — but he was pleased to see it didn’t affect the young man at all. Sol-woo answered with ease and a steady voice:
"I’m 1.83 m, Sunbae-nim."
Ahn Elly was quietly surprised by how composed he was. Sol-woo showed no shyness and no exaggerated reaction to the comment about his height — he met her eyes with the steadiness of someone speaking almost as an equal. Must be because he grew up abroad, she concluded privately. She appreciated that he hadn’t shrunk or turned deferential.
Without adding anything more, LE walked to a corner of the room and took a seat in an unobtrusive spot. Her intention was to let things flow naturally and avoid making the young man feel watched. She’d been a trainee herself — she knew exactly what evaluation pressure felt like. She’d agreed to come that afternoon only because Shinsadong Tiger wouldn’t stop praising this new kid’s potential in every conversation, and she needed to hear it with her own ears.
At that point, the Producer-nim walked toward the console and fixed his gaze on Sol-woo:
"Do you feel ready?"
Sol-woo took a breath, held the guitar firmly, and answered without hesitation:
"I’ll do the best I can, Producer-nim. Judging what I’ve managed in this time — that’s your part."
The producer gave a satisfied nod, giving him space to set the pace himself. No more words were needed. The studio atmosphere thickened and went silent in an instant — the three people in the room, including Ji-soo quietly holding her phone to record, fixed their full attention on Sol-woo.
Meanwhile, behind the one-way glass panel of the studio — from which the inside was fully visible but not the outside — stood Director Yoon and Manager Tae-shik. Both were rigid, visibly tense. They knew exactly what was at stake in that room: if Sol-woo could demonstrate extraordinary talent in front of one of Korea’s most important composers, the doors of the industry would open wide for him.