Translator: Dreamscribe
Boyvious.
“They’re a boy group more popular overseas than in Korea!”
“More popular overseas?”
“Yes! Boyvious sunbaenim always bring a unique concept with each song, and those kinds of concepts are really loved by international K-POP fans.”
When I suddenly suggested that we ask Geum Shin-yu to handle producing, all the team members hesitated. But in the end, because none of us had experience in composition, we reached the practical conclusion to entrust it to Shin-yu.
However, Geum Shin-yu herself seemed very reluctant to take on producing for some reason,
‘Ha... I’ll do it.’
When I just quietly stared at Shin-yu for a moment, she soon responded that she would give it a try.
After that, to begin analyzing the song, our team gathered, and Geum Shin-yu started explaining to the members what kind of song 'Lucid Dive' is.
“Especially the mission song this time, 'Lucid Dive', is one of the most concept-heavy songs among Boyvious sunbaenim’s tracks!”
Though I didn’t know the song, the rest of the team nodded in agreement at Shin-yu’s explanation.
“What kind of concept is it?”
“It’s a mermaid concept!”
Mermaid?
At Shin-yu’s explanation, what came to mind was a Disney animation mermaid princess, with rippling red hair and a fluttering fish tail.
“You’ll know when you hear it, but this song compares immersing in love with someone to diving deep underwater.”
“Oh, so that’s why they took on a mermaid concept?”
“That’s right! Like a legendary siren, it’s a very intense concept where you seduce the other person and drag them into the deep sea!”
Hearing the explanation, I could finally begin to understand why they used a mermaid concept.
‘Certainly, it’s not the kind of thing that would easily catch on in Korea.’
People in our country are inherently quite conservative, so when they see a concept like that, they’re bound to find it confusing first.
“Then, shall we all listen to it together now?”
After finishing her explanation, Shin-yu suggested to the team that we listen to the song.
The team members immediately gathered around Shin-yu.
Once everyone was clustered near her, Shin-yu operated the iPad in her hand and played the song.
A quiet night comes falling down
I close my eyes and see you there
Within that sparkling smile of yours
My heart is sinking once again
Beyond the shining waves I see
You reached your hand out just for me
Is this a dream or is it real
My heart is beating faster still
‘Is it because of the voice? It really feels like being underwater.’
The opening of 'Lucid Dive', which I was hearing for the first time, was very calm.
If I hadn’t known this was sung by a boy group, I might have mistaken it for music by some indie band due to its unique atmosphere.
Your scent goes softly brushing by
I hold my breath and follow you
Within your dazzling gaze I fall
I'm sinking in
But as the song progressed, the tempo gradually picked up, and by the midpoint, the mood of the song had clearly shifted.
If the beginning felt like being under the sea, now it felt like a pleasant buoyancy, as if I were floating in water.
And then,
Lucid dive, take me away
To you, deep within this dream
In this moment time stands still
Stay here with me
Lucid dive, I close my eyes
Until I reach into your arms
Even if I wake, I won't forget
Dive into this night
When it reached the highlight part, 'Lucid Dive' shifted into a refreshing mood, like a cool breeze slipping through the warm air of a room when you open a window on a cold winter day.
“...Can we watch the stage performance, too?”
“Of course! To properly analyze the song, the music video and broadcast stage performance are a must!”
After listening to the song, I had a strong urge to see what it looked like when performed live.
Maybe the others felt the same; we all huddled together to watch the music video of 'Lucid Dive' playing on the pad.
And once I saw the music video, I could understand what kind of song 'Lucid Dive' was even more clearly than when it had only been explained to me.
The members of Boyvious were dressed in dark blue see-through tops, as if trying to express the cold color of the sea.
‘If I’d seen this without knowing, I’d have thought they looked gay...’
Honestly, if I hadn’t had any background information, the Confucian boy in me might have jumped out, scolding, “What are they wearing such revealing clothes for?”
But now that I knew even the outfits were meant to express the song’s concept, I began to see them completely differently.
And once the choreography was added, unlike just listening to the song, I could fully understand what Geum Shin-yu meant by “seducing the other person and dragging them into the sea.”
‘The song, the dance, the outfits... they weren’t separate, they were one.’
Boyvious’s performance had tied together so many elements, all for the sake of the mermaid concept.
As I watched those performance videos, before I knew it, I was completely immersed.
“Now we have to newly rearrange this song!”
After listening to the song on its own, then thoroughly reviewing the music video and live stage performance, it was now time to recreate 'Lucid Dive' to fit our team.
“First, we absolutely have to retain the dreamy and mystical vibe, which is the identity of this song.”
At Shin-yu’s words, Lee Ga-hyun, who had been quiet until now, opened her mouth.
“Even if we rearrange the song, that should stay within the realm of variation. I’m against shaking its foundation.”
“I agree with that too. More than anything, without that vibe, I think the song would lose all of its charm.”
Kim Soo-yeon voiced agreement with Ga-hyun’s opinion.
I felt the same, so I nodded in support of Ga-hyun’s view.
“I agree too!”
Perhaps still burdened by the guilt of choosing such a difficult song, Lim Yun-kyung, who had been watching the others, finally voiced her agreement as well, and so it was decided that we would preserve the “dreamy” and “mystical” concepts.
“Why are you suddenly talking like Shin-yu?”
“That speech style is oddly addictive.”
When I asked why Yun-kyung was suddenly mimicking the overly formal tone, which didn’t suit her at all, she replied that it was fun and she just started copying it.
‘It’s the end times. Of all the things to imitate...’
Well, once she’s in the military, she’ll have to use it whether she wants to or not. No, wait they don’t go to the military.
“Then, I think changing the concept will be the most effective.”
“Concept?”
“The original version emphasized a calm and oceanic spatial feeling to match the ‘mermaid’ concept, but I think it would be better for us to interpret that differently and come up with a new concept!”
Hmm.
That was a valid point.
If we stuck with the mermaid concept while keeping the dreamy and mystical vibe, it would end up no different from the original version.
“Does anyone have a good idea?”
“......”
Just moments ago, the team members were chatting, but now they had all clammed up in unison, some sort of strange magic.
It seemed Shin-yu, probably due to her young age, didn’t quite understand how to ask for ideas from others.
When you want someone’s input, you don’t ask, it needs to be a directive.
“Honestly, I think the oldest should go first in situations like this. Anyone who agrees, say ‘gae-chu.’”
“What’s ‘gae-chu’?” (TL Note: It means 'super recommend' or 'highly agree')
Ah.
I accidentally used slang from the games.
“It just means you agree.”
“I agree!”
“I agree too!”
“Then I’ll gae-chu too!”
As soon as they were no longer the target, everyone’s mouths opened again.
“This... This isn’t fair!”
Only Lee Ga-hyun, who had ended up being the first speaker, complained in frustration, but there was no helping it.
In a democratic society, majority rule is power and authority.
“Since everyone else agrees, by unanimous vote, Ga-hyun unnie will start by proposing a concept! Everyone, applause!”
Clap clap clap.
With the sound of applause echoing around, Lee Ga-hyun, now tasked with suggesting the concept first, looked visibly dizzy.
She probably had a lot going on in her head trying to come up with a concept on the spot.
“Se... Sexy?”
And after a brief pause, the word “sexy” popped out of Ga-hyun’s mouth.
Upon hearing the word “sexy” Lim Yun-kyung, still a current middle school girl, quickly turned her head away as if she’d just heard something scandalous, and Kim Soo-yeon coughed a little while glancing at her own body, then proceeded to scan the others’.
“Is this the poise of an adult?”
I, too, couldn’t help but be surprised by Lee Ga-hyun’s bold choice.
No, rather, her self-serving choice.
“Are you... bragging right now, by any chance?”
“Wh-what are you talking about!”
Hmm.
Judging by how flustered she got, it seemed my guess had hit the mark.
Well, Yun-kyung was still in her growth phase, so it was understandable, but the other team members, Soo-yeon and Shin-yu, to put it nicely, were slender, put bluntly, flat.
In contrast, Lee Ga-hyun, in both appearance and body, had the mature features of a grown woman unlike the rest of the team, so perhaps that’s why she felt she could suggest a sexy concept?
As the eyes of myself and the team members all turned toward a certain prominent part of Ga-hyun’s body, she hurriedly covered her chest with her hands and glared at us.
“What kind of dirty, old-man thoughts are you even having?!”
That's harsh.
Even if I don’t know about my past life, in this life I’m still a fresh third-year high school student, how could she say I’m like an old man?
“When girl groups go for dreamy and mystical, it’s usually interpreted with an innocent image.”
“Then why did you suggest sexy?”
“Because if we go that way, we’ll definitely get directly compared with the other team.”
At Ga-hyun’s explanation, the rest of us, myself included, all shouted “Ah!” at once like Newton seeing the apple fall.
“The other team has two Grade A members. On top of that, their overall grade is higher than ours, and their visuals suit the innocent image much better.”
Ga-hyun wasn’t just thinking about our team, she was considering the rival team who would be competing with the same song.
“As expected of someone with experience...”
“Are you going to keep saying experience, experience?! You and I are only two years apart, you know?!”
Should I have said “maturity” instead?
Ga-hyun’s glare was quite sharp, so I quickly turned my head and changed the subject.
“Okay, then next let’s hear from Soo-yeon.”
“Huh? Me? Wait! Isn’t Si-on unnie older than Ga-hyun unnie?”
“I’m the moderator, so I have to give my opinion last. Are you going to keep wasting our precious time?”
When I pressed her like that, Soo-yeon looked put out but eventually opened her mouth.
“Since this is originally a boy group’s song, I think we should keep that vibe and go with a tomboy concept.”
“Tomboy?”
“Yes, a gender-neutral concept.”
A gender-neutral concept...
Ga-hyun had said “sexy” and now Soo-yeon was suggesting we emphasize an androgynous vibe. One image immediately came to mind.
That was a song by Leeon.
‘This vibe... Didn’t Leeon have a song like this before?’
Leeon was a famous female singer I had known since my past life.
That made sense, Leeon had been active since the early 2000s, when I was still a student, and had won not only first places but also grand prizes. There wasn’t a single Korean who didn’t know her.
And I happened to know a few of Leeon’s songs myself,
“Fire?”
One of them was 'Fire'.
“Why’d you say that all of a sudden, Si-on unnie?”
But since this song had come out in the early 2000s, none of the others seemed to know it.
‘Wouldn’t Ga-hyun at least know...?’
I looked at Ga-hyun suspiciously, but when she snapped at me, asking why I was staring at her like that, I decided to just let it go.
“Try looking it up on YouTube. There’s probably a song called 'Fire' by Leeon sunbaenim, and it perfectly matches the image Ga-hyun unnie and Soo-yeon were just talking about.”
At my suggestion, Shin-yu, who was holding the tablet, immediately opened YouTube and searched for the song I mentioned.
“How do you even know a song like this?”
“...I’ll explain later. Let’s just watch the video first.”
Eventually, 'Fire' by Leeon began playing on the tablet screen.
On stage, Leeon was wearing something like a man’s tuxedo.
“Wow, I didn’t know Leeon sunbaenim had a song like this.”
“I didn’t know it either, but this vibe is really good.”
“It feels totally different from 'Lucid Dive', but somehow the tone is kind of similar!”
Since it was their first time seeing this performance, the other team members focused on the song itself, but I was noticing something else.
‘Leeon... She really was an incredible singer.’
Watching Leeon sing while performing intense choreography nonstop, I realized that 'Fire', which I had once listened to so casually, was actually an amazing song.
With the constant vocals and bursts of powerful choreography, just watching it made me feel out of breath.
Yet Leeon was performing the entire song, live, not lip-synced, perfectly.
And before we knew it, the song ended, and our eyes met.
“What do you think?”
“I like it.”
“I like it too!”
It was the first time our team had unanimously agreed on something.