Chapter 216: Chapter 217:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 217

As they looked up with wide eyes, Cha Woohyun asked them, “Are you guys interested in OST?”

“Huh?”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“OST, I mean. The background music for dramas.”

No. Woojoo knew that…

He was flustered by the sudden question of the senior singer who asked if they were interested in OST. Then he explained.

“I’m going to be in the PBS drama OST, and the music director asked me to recommend some singers. I was thinking of recommending New Black if you guys are okay with it. What do you think?”

“…Us?”

They all stared at each other blankly.

‘What?’

‘Us?’

‘Why…?’

Cha Woohyun was a top-notch singer in the drama OST scene.

That was important.

These singers carefully chose the dramas they participated in for OST work.

They checked the music director lineup. They read the synopsis.

They only joined the OST of dramas that the company staff thought ‘this will do well’.

In other words, the offer they received was ‘do you want to join the OST of a successful drama?’

Of course…

“Yes, we want to.”

They sent him a look that said they would do anything if he asked them. Cha Woohyun nodded.

“Okay, then I’ll…”

“Excuse me, Sunbae-nim.”

“Yeah, what is it?”

Woojoo cautiously spoke to the senior singer who told him to say it.

“We really want to, but it’s a difficult decision for us to make on our own. Can we talk to the company people first?”

They wanted to do it 500 percent.

It was a good opportunity to be on the same album as Cha Woohyun’s drama OST.

But there could be complicated interests or behind-the-scenes stories that he didn’t know about.

It was difficult to say ‘Yes’ rashly without knowing the situation properly.

“Oh, right. That makes sense.”

Cha Woohyun agreed and called his manager, saying ‘I don’t think much about things other than music’.

Their side also had Minki Hyung and Dowon Hyung arrive and talk.

While the managers were talking business, Bijoo asked, “By the way… why did you recommend us, Sunbae-nim?”

“You’re good.”

He looked at them as if it was obvious and said ‘why…?’ as if he was puzzled.

“I said it because they asked me to recommend some talented young singers.”

“Oh…”

“If you’re curious about the specific reason, well.”

He pointed at them one by one and said, “You have a good balance of voices as a group. The lead vocal has a wide and solid range. The sub vocal also captures the emotion well. The rap doesn’t stick out of the song and has a good rhythm. The dancer also has a voice that catches the eye.”

They were embarrassing compliments, but they were said in an objective tone like a robot.

As his praise reached them, they all felt their faces heat up.

‘Good.’

‘So good. Sweet. Awesome.’

‘I like compliments…’

They suppressed their cheeks that wanted to rise to the ceiling.

Finally, his thick finger pointed at the pale face.

“Isn’t Rihyuk one of the best in his age group? I haven’t seen anyone who sings better than him at nineteen.”

“Gasp… Th-thank you.”

Their kid twisted his body at the praise of the respected singer.

His face turned red like tomato juice filling a glass bottle.

They all swallowed their laughter.

“Then, good luck.”

After the managers finished talking, Cha Woohyun waved his hand and left, saying good luck.

Minki Hyung, who turned his head to them, asked, “…Did you like the compliments that much?”

“No.”

“Then why are you shrugging your shoulders?”

They looked at each other and then smiled with a ‘ahem’ face, shrugging their shoulders.

As they passed the busy hallway, Jiho rubbed his stomach.

“Ah, I’m hungry. What should we eat for late night snack? How about tteokbokki and sundae for Lunar New Year?”

“How about chicken?”

“We had chicken last time, remember? I ate chicken that day because the guys said it would be fine, but my stomach was totally messed-up.”

It was when they were deciding what to eat to celebrate the end of the competition with the youngest of the chicken restaurant, who was shouting ‘no chicken’.

They ran into the Jo Yuri Band as they came out of the waiting room.

As soon as their eyes met in the air, a feeling of disgust flowed from the eyes of the leader, Jo Yuri.

The other band members were similar.

Woojoo smiled brightly and greeted them.

“Hello.”

“…Hello.”

The word ‘hello’ came out as a mushy shape, as if they were chewing their mouths.

Whatever.

New Black politely greeted as the younger ones and left.

Rather, the other side seemed to be more heated by the flawless response.

From behind, Woojoo heard Jo Yuri’s muttering from afar.

“…Nothing ever works out.”

Junghyun shrugged his shoulders and asked, “Why are they so low-pressure than usual? There. …Oh, this is a good rhyme. Low-pressure there.”

While laughing at their third one who turned on his phone and took notes, Woojoo agreed with Junghyun’s words.

Well, things might not work out.

Woojoo wondered if they accepted the feedback that the original color was gone last time. This time, they arranged the original song, but they were criticized by the judges for ‘the singer’s color is too faint’.

It was natural to be sensitive to that part, as they became famous as a talented band with lyrics and composition.

And they even lost the camera that they originally occupied.

But Woojoo didn’t understand why they reacted so sensitively when he thought about it.

“It’s because of Cha Woohyun.”

Minki Hyung whispered before they left the broadcasting station.

“I heard a rumor from other managers that the Jo Yuri Band had been trying to get into places like OSTs with their connections since a long time ago.”

“Ah…”

So that was why they were so nice to Cha Woohyun, when they were rude to other singers at the first meeting.

What they wanted came to New Black, who were just sitting still.

After hearing the back story, Woojoo guessed the situation.

“Well. Let’s leave that story here and… let’s go.”

Minki Hyung, who was looking outside, pushed the glass door of the public hall with a serious face.

A determined back, as if to withstand all the storms that would come.

As in the first competition, they saw the fans waiting for us outside.

“Hello!”

They greeted the fans and went out.

They were not the only ones who made a name for themselves by appearing on the Legendary Song Discovery.

As someone’s face was stained with embarrassment by the people’s eyes, laughter burst out right away.

“It’s Manager LisaLover!”

“Manager-nim! I enjoyed the show!”

“LisaLover!”

They were their fans.

“…”

They laughed as they watched the manager almost start running with the key in his hand.

***

Lunar New Year holiday.

The red part on the February calendar this year was Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

With Sunday and Monday added, it was a five-day break, so the word ‘golden holiday’ came out before the Lunar New Year holiday. If you took leave on Monday and Tuesday before the holiday, you could rest for as long as nine days.

But it was not a holiday for them.

It was because of the recording of PBS’s Legendary Song Discovery on the day before and the day after the New Year.

There was no holiday concept at the broadcasting station.

Once the recording schedule was fixed, it seemed to go as it was unless there was a serious accident.

For that reason, they filmed the second competition yesterday, and tomorrow, Friday, they were scheduled to record the third competition song draw.

Woojoo wanted to go down to Gunsan for the holiday, but the vacation given by the company was unfortunately the weekend.

Woojoo just talked to their Lady Deoksoon on video call and relieved the regret.

“Grandma, I miss you.”

-Yeah.

“You know, I was on the competition yesterday…”

Woojoo was excited to talk, but grandma on the video call just listened casually with a blank expression.

Eventually Woojoo complained.

“Hey, Deoksoon. Your grandson is talking.”

-Hey!

Grandma shouted.

-Grandson or grandson, you look like you’re not tired of yourself. What are you talking about all morning and falling asleep?

“No, I have a lot to say.”

-Wait until Saturday and come. Saturday.

“That’s for then. Now, I have something else I want to say. Why don’t you understand me. Grandma.”

-Ah, that burn…

Woojoo said seriously to his grandma, who was pounding her chest and getting annoyed.

“I’ll buy another fur coat this time and bring it with me.”

-…Fur?

“Luxury.”

-Oh, yes. What do you want to talk about, my grandson?

The nearby siblings chuckled at the sight of Kim Deoksoon, who was born of capitalism.

But as Woojoo continued the story that had been pushed back by saying ‘listen to me’, he soon had to stop talking.

“Ah, where are you going!”

-I’m going to feed the cat. Bye!

“Wow…”

He felt sorry as he looked at the cut-off call.

She left him for the cat food.

Woojoo really had to talk seriously with that Nabi when he went down this time.

“Why do you read that, Hyung? Cat’s inner thoughts.”

“It’s always a hundred victories if you know your opponent. Junghyun. You have to know your opponent to win.”

“Oh… Can I see one too?”

“Here you go.”

He handed him a book on how to raise a cat and Junghyun started reading.

As they read the cat book diligently, Rihyuk, who was turning the cube around on the sofa, licked his tongue.

“Magpie, magpie, New Year’s Day~~”

Their youngest, who had been sitting on the veranda, was looking out the window and singing a sad song.

“…Why is he doing that again?”

“Why are you asking me?”

Rihyuk answered right away.

“He’s frustrated because he can’t go out.”

He was the only extrovert in the team, and he seemed frustrated to stay at home on holidays.

Besides, the parking lot on the first floor of the apartment was empty, and wherever you turned on the TV or anything, people in hanbok came out, so it was understandable that their youngest was frustrated.

“I want to go home!”

Jiho made a ‘nya-ah-ah’ sound on the veranda and the dogs started barking happily on the other veranda.

“…”

The youngest pretended nothing had happened with a sheepish face.

Soon he lay down on the veranda floor and played a phone game, rolling left and right.

He turned on the music and sang a self-made rap, ‘Everyone in the world is bad, bad, everyone except me is playing’.

He took selfies almost five hundred times.

He talked to his friends on the phone and said, ‘I’m with my Hyungs…’ and imitated a princess trapped in a tower.

“He must be really bored.”

“Leave him alone.”

Rihyuk looked at the neatly matched cube and handed it to Junghyun. He was the one who reassembled the messed up cube right away.

The morning air was free in the dorm.

They all looked very bored.

Today, they were supposed to rest and not talk about work or anything, according to the company’s order.

But they didn’t know what to do because they didn’t rest well.

Just lie down and rest?

Woojoo read the cat book roughly and turned the TV channels around.

Similar holiday programs came into his eyes.

“There’s nothing to watch.”

“When was the last time you watched TV, Hyung? Except for when we were on TV.”

“I don’t know. When was that.”

They chatted with Junghyun and turned the channels.

They were going to appear on TBC’s Dolympic, which was scheduled to air tonight, and they were going to meet with Bijoo and Jiho’s parents in Seoul and have dinner.

But there was nothing to do until then…

“What should we do? Should I teach you how to compose?”

“Yeah, what should we do…”

“Did you hear what Hyung said?”

“I didn’t hear it because it sounded like something I didn’t want to hear.”

“I see. You did well.”

After a while of thinking, they looked at Bijoo, who was preparing something in the kitchen.

They nodded their heads right away.

“That’s it.”

“That’s them.”

***

Lunar New Year.

A movie theater in Yongsan District.

“Excuse me!”

Yoon Seokhwan made his way through the crowd, holding a box full of popcorn, buttered squid, and cola.

The theater was bustling with people who came to watch a movie on Lunar New Year.

“Wow, there are so many people.”

He rubbed his sore shoulders and looked for his family. His parents and sister, who seemed distracted, spotted him and asked, “We have to go in now, where are our tickets? Do you have them?”

“Just a sec.”

He rummaged through his pocket and pulled out the tickets.

He handed out the snacks to his family and joined the ticket inspection line.

‘Nice.’

He smiled constantly, despite the chaos. How long had it been since he spent time with his family?

He had parted ways with the road managers last night, vowing not to contact each other unless one of their idols got into a dating scandal.

‘I’m not going to think about work today.’

He had deliberately chosen a foreign spy movie, since Lemon Entertainment’s actors were always in domestic movies.

He was enjoying his smile when.

“Hmm? Seokhwan, aren’t those the kids you’re in charge of?”

“Oh, you’re right.”

He saw a sign for a Lunar New Year ginseng event in the distance.

There, New Black, wearing hanbok, smiled brightly on the panel and said, ‘Happy New Year!’

“…”

He was startled for a moment.

As he looked at Woojoo’s smile, he felt like he heard a hallucination saying, ‘Hyung… you have to work… work…’

He shook his head and brushed it off.

His parents, who seemed unaware of his inner turmoil, spoke fondly.

“Those kids don’t seem like the kids these days, they have such good manners. Are they always like that? Do they respect their elders?”

“Isn’t that Woojoo in the middle? The one you’ve been taking care of since your previous company. I saw him on TV, he speaks so well. I think Junghyun is the most handsome, though…”

Yoon Seokhwan felt the popularity of Legendary Song Discovery.

Especially among the older generation.

The program had only aired once, but his parents, who had no interest in idols, were showing curiosity about New Black.

Before, they only asked him perfunctorily, ‘Are you taking good care of them?’

This was the first time they asked him personal questions about the members.

Of course, they might feel close to them because they had heard stories about New Black from him, but he thought that other people would have similar reactions if the show continued.

‘Our kids are making a name for themselves.’

His sister, who was a tutor, also chimed in.

“A lot of my students are fans of New Black. They’ve been noticeable since last winter.”

“Oh, really? Are New Black kids famous among students?”

His mother’s tone sounded like she would call them ‘our New Black’ after a few more weeks of the show.

“Ha ha, those kids are also rising up.”

His father also looked pleased for some reason.

As the three of them talked about New Black, rain fell in Yoon Seokhwan’s heart.

‘Enough with the work talk…’

That was when it happened.

His phone vibrated briefly.

It was a notification from an SNS app that someone he followed had started a live broadcast.

It could only be New Black if he followed them.

He pressed his finger on the screen with a question mark, and he saw New Black smiling brightly on the screen.

-Hi, Soufflés!

They were gathered on the newspaper-covered living room floor, with the ingredients for the pancakes on a plate.

They started chatting with the fans, saying they had missed them because they couldn’t do a live broadcast for a while.

-We need to rest, so we’re resting with you guys.

Yoon Seokhwan couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

‘Guys.’

Tears fell in his heart.

‘Please, just rest…’

****

The Lunar New Year special live with the Soufflés ended successfully.

They sang the requested songs while making the pancakes.

They also offered to counsel the fans who had troubles, and listened to the stories of the student Soufflés.

They had a fun time playing games with penalties.

“Bon appétit!”

In the evening, they met up with Jiho’s and Bijoo’s families at a barbecue restaurant.

The atmosphere was cheerful.

Minjun’s eyes sparkled as he said he was going to school this year. Woojoo asked him to promote their History Discovery Team when he went to school.

“Tell me if anyone bothers you or bullies you. We’ll send Junghyun to help you.”

“Okay.”

Meanwhile, the adults were interested in Legendary Song Discovery and asked questions about the show, including the first round of the competition.

“Woojoo, do you really get drunk on non-alcoholic drinks?”

“How is Noh Jaehyun in real life? Does he get angry and yell like he did on TV before?”

“I don’t like that Jo Yuri or whoever he is. He looks weird when he looks at you guys. He doesn’t seem like a good person.”

They were having such a conversation when it happened.

“Oh, look. There they are. There they are.”

Jiho’s second sister pointed with her finger and we followed her gaze.

They were on the TV at the barbecue restaurant.

It was the first round of the preliminaries where they faced TNT, the favorite to win this year.

The family’s eyes shifted from Woojoo to the screen as they saw him stepping up as the first contestant.

The archery range was shown in a full shot.

“Wow, that’s farther than I thought.”

“Woojoo, how many points did you score there? Did you get 10 points? Haha!”

“Well, that…”

Jiho’s father laughed mockingly.

-10 points! 10 points!

-He smashed the camera lens!

His laughter turned into a ‘…?’ expression as he blinked his eyes.