Since the position assignments were finalized, we began preparing for the fourth mission in earnest. Although I said I was
preparing
, there wasn’t much I could contribute to the vocal parts. With the luxury of having skilled vocalists like Lee Hwayoung and Baek Kiryang on the team, my singing skills were not needed.
The problem was the arrangement.
I had been arranging and preparing the competition songs myself from the first mission until now. It shouldn’t have been that hard to do it one more time.
But it was. Ideally, arrangement and part distribution should be done according to the color of each member. I wanted to highlight their strengths and hide their weaknesses.
However, I couldn’t communicate with these damn members at all.
The first person I talked to, Lee Danbi, was new to rapping and didn’t even know his own strengths and weaknesses yet. Since I was completely clueless about rap, I couldn’t offer him any help either.
The second person I talked to, Lee Hwayoung, honestly didn’t require any discussion at all.
“I told you to go, didn’t I? You don’t have to come.”
“No. Why am I the only one not doing it?”
“I already know everything. Go away.”
“I don’t want to.”
Even though I told him to go back because all the analysis was already finished, he kept barging into the studio without any regard for time. Honestly, it was horrifying how the handle of the locked door kept rattling silently.
And lastly, Baek Kiryang, who was right in front of me now, simply couldn’t even manage basic communication.
“Hyung, stop backing away. Do you really think I’m going to eat you?”
“No, no … it’s not that…..”
“I told you to tell me what you can’t do?”
“I’ll do it … I’ll do everything as you say … I’m sorry….”
‘Ah, my blood pressure.’
I took a deep breath while looking at Baek Kiryang, who was fidgeting in front of me.
“Since Kiryang-hyung is really delicate, if you treat him with your usual personality, he will be scared and won’t be able to answer properly, right? Honestly, if I hadn’t been in the middle last time, he would have been too scared to speak. You should really tone down your temper, hyung.”
Do Yuda’s advice flashed through my mind.
Do Yuda-ya, I’m really trying my best to speak kindly and patiently, but what am I supposed to do if this guy is scared 24 hours a day? I’m already at my limit by not yelling right now. I can’t be any nicer than this.
‘I’m about to explode’
Baek Kiryang was the exact opposite of me.
I had no sympathy for someone who not only lacked confidence, but also had a small voice and weak mentality. From the start, there was no way that someone who was easily manipulated and pushed around by others could ever see eye to eye with me, who liked to manipulate others.
Honestly, when the positions were being assigned, I was furious when I saw him refuse and give up the main vocal position, even though Lee Danbi had pushed for it. But I managed to hold it back.
“What exactly is the problem?”
“There’s no problem … I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m not mad at you, I’m just asking?”
“I’m sorry…….”
Baek Kiryang’s voice sounded perfectly fine in front of Do Yuda, Woo Kangwon, and Zen, but the moment he was in front of me, it shrank as if he wanted to crawl away. In my entire life, this was the first time I’d met someone with such a personality. Just look at the personalities of the Prism kids, did they even look like that?
There were specific people that Baek Kiryang was terrified of and would run away from whenever he saw them.
Lee Hwayoung, and me.
Although it wasn’t as bad as the two of us, he also seemed to be starting to get a little scared of Lee Danbi after witnessing the previous argument. I really didn’t understand. He could have proper conversations with someone as big as a door like Woo Kangwon, yet when it came to the small, pale little guys, he got nervous so easily.
‘Can we debut together like this?’
I had been battling Baek Kiryang for an hour already. After working all night, I found myself in another shitty situation. I was so angry that I ended up laughing instead.
‘Ah, this is frustrating. I’m so angry.’
“Heh heh, heh heh heh.”
Each time I banged my head against the wall to get rid of my anger, Baek Kiryang’s fear only grew stronger. Eventually, Baek Kiryang clasped his hands together in prayer and crouched down on the floor, calling out Do Yuda’s name over and over again to overcome his fear.
“Eeh, uuh Yuda-ya……”
‘No matter how much you pray, Do Yuda won’t appear to help you, you weakling.’
“Hahaha, ha! Hahahaha!”
It was a hilarious combination.
As I was having a good laugh at Baek Kiryang who was whining at my feet, someone knocked and came into the studio.
“Hyung, stop bothering Kiryang-hyung and hurry up with your work. It seems to be taking much longer than usual.”
“This is abuse.”
It was Do Yuda and Zen, whom Baek Kiryang had longed for so much.
I clicked my tongue and stopped laughing, “It’s not my fault it’s taking so long. I want to finish this quickly too, but we’re stuck because because he’s not communicating properly now. If you have time to play around, you can lend me a hand instead of just giving unsolicited advice.”
While I was bluntly expressing my frustration, Baek Kiryang had somehow sneaked behind Do Yuda to hide. I clicked my tongue at the sight, and his body shuddered.
“Oh dear, poor Kiryang-hyung … did Seungbeom-hyung bully you? That hyung is much more affectionate than he looks, but why is there no improvement between the two of you?”
“….Yuda-ya, I don’t think I can do this … I feel like I’m too lacking to be on the same team as Seungbeom.”
“Oh God, please protect this weary lamb from the Demon King’s torment.”
Instead of pulling Baek Kiryang away, Do Yuda was patting his back. It was almost as if their ages had been reversed.
‘What the hell are they doing.’
“What do you mean torment, I’m just sitting still, and yet you’re turning me into a trash. Try to calm him down a bit. My blood pressure is about to make my head explode.”
“Yes, sir. Ready to handle the Great Demon King’s temper who’s on the verge of exploding.”
At my instruction, Do Yuda struck a salute pose and began to explain to Baek Kiryang with Zen.
“All you have to do is tell him the limits of your vocal range and any problems you’ve usually struggled with when singing. For example, lung capacity. I used to say that my lung capacity decreases when I’m not feeling well. Ah, if you don’t tell him now and hide it, and he finds out during the recording, you’ll get scolded so badly that you’ll cry, so I recommend bringing it up early.”
“….Ge-get scolded?”
“Hyung, there’s nothing to be afraid of. I just said the ending consonant pronunciation. Even if you speak briefly, it’s well reflected. Leada is a great
al-jal-ddak-kal-sen
1
restaurant.”
‘Where did he pick up that nonsense from this time?’
I had an intuition that the words that came out of Zen’s mouth must have been learned from Do Yuda.
They had been inseparable lately, and I noticed that Do Yuda’s way of speaking had changed a little.
‘Fools…..’
The three fools chatted and exchanged words of encouragement for a while. After about 10 minutes, Baek Kiryang, apparently having recharged his courage to full, finally began to explain himself.
“My lowest note is G2 … and the highest note is B4. As long as there are no issues with my throat, I should be able to hit these notes steadily……”
‘You’re the type that competes with your tone, but your vocal range is quite wide. If you can stably hit B4, you should be able to reach the fifth octave as well. Why are you satisfied with that?’
I made a quick note on a piece of paper and asked the following question.
“Are there any specific pronunciation or pitch issues you’ve been struggling with? Let me know if there’s anything you’ve been particularly conscious of while practicing, so I can take it into account when I’m distributing parts.”
“There’s none……”
“……..”
I squeezed my eyes shut tight and wrapped both hands around my head.
It was back to square one. Was this guy’s courage reset every time he answered?
‘To figure out the pitch problem, I have to coax him for an hour, and to figure out the rhythm problem, I have to coax him for 30 minutes?’
Covering my eyes with my hands, I gestured to Do Yuda and Zen again. I wanted them to comfort him again.
But Do Yuda tilted his head and said, “It’s done! I don’t think there’s anything more to say.”
“What do you mean
done
? He hasn’t said anything about pronunciation or pitch issues at all.…”
“That’s right. It’s just as he said. Kiryang-hyung doesn’t have any parts that he finds difficult when singing.”
“What?” I asked, frowning at what Do Yuda said.
Do Yuda added a few words in a calm tone, as if he had somewhat anticipated my reaction.
“Kiryang-hyung has never made a pitch mistake on stage since the program began, not even during rehearsals. He sings exactly as it’s written in the sheet music, so accurately that you can’t find any errors. He even hits the first note perfectly on the first try.”
‘…Are you serious?’
I wondered if such a thing was even possible.
I turned my head towards Baek Kiryang while letting out a hollow laugh.
“Really?”
“Yeah, so just arrange it the way you want, and I’ll adjust to that. Just the range … I’m fine as long it stays within my vocal range.”
“…….”
‘You’re confident you can sing any song perfectly.’
From the moment I saw the
Growl!
stage of in the third mission, I thought he was a pretty decent guy, but I never imagined he would be this good.
Although you couldn’t determine that someone was good at singing simply by keeping the pitch and rhythm well, the fact that he had mastered the basic elements to that degree of perfection was a great advantage.
‘……The harvest is better than expected.’
As I was organizing my thoughts and just quietly looking at Baek Kiryang, he glanced at me and then, slowly crouching his tall body, hid behind Do Yuda’s back.
“He’s staring at me … did I do something wrong?”
Do Yuda, who calmly offered his back to such Baek Kiryang, smiled brightly and gave me a thumbs up.
“Isn’t it amazing? Your passion for composing has just been ignited, right? It feels like a waste of treasure, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“I knew it. But the problem now is that Kiryang-hyung is a super scaredy-cat, so whenever you say something to him, he trembles like a newborn deer. Did you see the grade re-evaluation video? At that time, there was no singing or anything. His mental is just completely out.”
“…….”
Why did God give him such talent, and then added that crappy personality as a bonus? I glared at Baek Kiryang, who was hiding in plain sight, and clicked my tongue. Then, a voice came from the ceiling.
[“Trainees in charge of arrangements for each team, please come to Practice Room A immediately”.]
It was the announcement from the production team.
“Get out, get out!”
I jumped to my feet, kicked the three fools out of the studio, and went to the Practice Room A.
***
Without any further explanation, I followed the production staff’s instructions and got into a vehicle. The place I arrived at was a surprisingly fancy studio. Compared to the crappy little studio we had at the Lucky Center, this place was clearly on a completely different level. It looked like money had been poured into every corner.
‘Somehow, the road looked familiar.’
I thought they were trying to ruin the competition by making the trainees arrange their own songs, but I never imagined they would pull such a sneaky trick. No, actually, I did imagine it, but I just wanted to pretend I didn’t know.
“Welcome, Trainee Han Seungbeom.”
In order to deny the fact that I might end up in this situation.
“Since the trainees’ arranging skills are terrible, they decided to assign a trainer to each team’s arrangement-in-charge trainee.”
‘I feel like the world is against me. Am I doing something wrong?’
Whether he knew my feelings or not, the person in front of me simply smirked. Then, he threw out a series of rude remarks that matched his appearance perfectly.
“I wonder if you still have that boldness. You’re not fun without it.”
I didn’t realize what Jay had meant until I saw this guy’s face.
“Ah, now that I think of it, did you get the message? That story.”
‘So, it was this. You knew this all along but kept your mouth shut. That cheeky bastard…..’
I felt like I wanted to punch at empty air.
“Aren’t you going to say hello? Why are you just standing there like a barley sack?”
“….Hello, how do you do?”
This is Cha Woon’s studio. Damn it.
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Translator’s Corner:
al-jal-ddak-kal-sen /
Aljalddakkkalsen
(알잘딱깔센)
: a slang short for “
On your own, Well, Just Right Neatly, and Sensibly
” (
알
아서
잘
딱
깔
끔하고
센
스있게), which translates to “
to do a job on one’s own, without asking questions, very nicely and neatly with a good sense
“.
Basically MC is an expert in being sensible while doing good job. ↩︎
I’m so ready for this moment (actually no, I’m going to sleep)