Chapter 122
“The music shows and the tour… No, for starters, we don’t need a session player for the music shows. We have our guitarist.”
“Ah~ Our entire schedule was already set, but our guitarist happened to have some personal matter to deal with at that time. We thought about changing it, but apparently that wasn’t possible. So we need to find a session player.”
I see. Holding the phone, Myeongjeon tilted his head slightly. A music-show session and a tour session.
Taylored.
Even after rock had died in the Korean music market, they were one of the few bands that had stubbornly survived in the mainstream and kept Korean rock alive. They consistently hovered around the top twenty in singer-preference surveys across all age groups, and their songs were probably still ringing out in karaoke rooms even today—in short, they were what people called a ‘national band.’
And recently, the band had been silent.
That was understandable. They said a band’s golden age usually fell within five years of its formation. Simply continuing to release albums while active for twenty years was an impressive feat in itself.
‘Hasn’t it been almost five or six years since their last album?’
Granted, the recent gap had been a bit much… but releasing a new album was a good thing. They might even enjoy some trickle-down benefits.
Although he had never worked with ‘Seo Myeongjeon,’ junior session musicians in the industry often described working with Taylored as ‘getting Cheol-tto’d.’ Thanks to the warmhearted Kim Cheolyeon, getting ‘Cheol-tto’d’ even once opened up countless session opportunities through his connections. This was probably another such case.
“I think the tour session might be a little difficult.”
After a brief pause, Myeongjeon decided to turn down the tour session, at least for now.
“Huh? We can pay you quite well. Let’s help each other out. You have no idea how reassuring it is to have a solid guitarist with us.”
“I’m a minor. There are lodging issues on tour, and I have to go to school, so there are all sorts of problems.”
“Ah, right.”
The audition program had already been an exception to an exception… He had gotten around it with waivers, consent forms, and all sorts of other paperwork. But a tour openly meant being out until late at night—what could he do? And even if he avoided those problems, where would he sleep… and so on. There were just too many exhausting complications.
“So you’ll join us for the music shows?”
“I can do that. I’ll give you my email, so send me the schedule and any other relevant details. I’ll give you a definite answer after I check everything.”
“Oh~ Okay, okay. You’re a total professional. Your work ethic is incredible. All right, our company will email you today. See you at the rehearsal room soon.”
The email arrived that evening.
In summary, Taylored would be appearing on a late-night music program that aired every Friday night, and he was being asked to play the full session that day. They would perform about four songs, including old and new ones, and pay him one million won.
‘Kim Jiyeon’s Music Letter, huh.’
He had heard the name many times. No, beyond merely hearing the name, it was also a program Myeongjeon had often watched in the past. A music program that had held down KBS’s Friday-night time slot for over a decade. There might be people who didn’t know it, but there probably wasn’t a musician who did.
If he appeared on a program like that… the promotional effect would be undeniable. Of course, as a session player, Myeongjeon wouldn’t receive much of the spotlight, but stepping into the major scene and making his presence known was still a benefit in itself.
[I’ve confirmed. I think I’ll be able to attend all the rehearsals. If there’s anything else I should know or anything you’d like to tell me about it…]
* * *
“Let’s take a short break~!”
The moment Cheolyeon said it, people abandoned their instruments and dashed out of the rehearsal room. It was obvious they were going to smoke, so Myeongjeon didn’t bother following them or wondering where they had gone.
He had things to do while they were gone, anyway.
‘It grew a lot while I left it alone.’
By fully separating the content for the band [Group Sound], Myeongjeon’s YouTube channel, [White Room], had now become completely his own.
Despite failing to upload content properly while participating in Invasion 2024 and traveling to Japan, his subscriber count had grown into the low hundred-thousands.
‘So does this mean I apply for a Silver Button or whatever now?’
Even on his latest video, which had been uploaded quite some time ago, comments like [Congratulations on 100,000 subscribers!!] and [Are you doing a 100k event or something??] had appeared. A 100k event, huh. Myeongjeon considered posting a thank-you message, then changed tack. He would use something a little more MZ.
“Uh, ahem.”
He clipped his phone into the selfie stick that had somehow ended up in his bag (presumably Iseo’s). Then he adjusted the angle to keep the rehearsal room as far out of view as possible and filmed his face.
“Ah. Uh. So… recently, I haven’t been able to upload many videos… Well, I have uploaded some. As you all know, there was the audition program. And after that, there was actually a time when I could have uploaded, but I was a little exhau— I wanted to take a bit of a break. So I went to Japan and came ba—well, I went, you know.”
Controlling the ‘Seo Myeongjeon’ persona that kept popping out, he filmed a vlog in the most MZ-sounding way he could. He talked about how he had gone to Japan with the band members and his mother, and how he would probably edit together and upload things like photos from the trip for the vlog.
The short greeting he had meant to record kept getting longer, and in the meantime, the members of Taylored returned to the rehearsal room.
“Oh~ Student Suyeon, are you doing something? Is this an okay time for us to come in?”
“Ah, yes. I’m just filming some content for YouTube… Oh, would it be okay if I filmed the rehearsal room too? Maybe with you guys in it…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. You’re totally of the new generation, aren’t you?”
“Not ‘of the new generation’—I’m actually of the new generation, you moron. How can you compare people in their forties like us to a teenager?”
‘Forty-year-olds are… old men?’
The middle-aged men continued putting on an old-man act in front of an actual teenager. Then, when Cheolyeon said, “We do YouTube too. We only have thirty thousand subscribers, though. How many do you have, Student Suyeon?” Myeongjeon showed him his subscriber count.
“One hundred thousand?! Wow, you’re practically a senior to us.”
“Look at the name. White Room. This really shows that Student Suyeon has solid roots, starting with being a guitar teacher and all. There’s no way you can’t play guitar. Compared to that, our Pyo Seonho here really can’t play guitar at all…”
“What about me.”
A hundred thousand was certainly a high subscriber count, but not so high that it warranted this much envy. And yet the members of Taylored seemed genuinely jealous of Suyeon.
“YouTube is so hard. Look at us. We give away performance videos and all these great tips, but we only have thirty thousand subscribers!”
“That’s right. YouTube really is difficult. I have a hundred thousand too, but I don’t really know how I managed it…”
A YouTube gripe session, sparked by the bassist Han Jonghyeon’s remark. MZ sensibility was just too difficult. It was hard to look young. What on earth were you supposed to do with tags? As the world kept moving forward while they grew older, adapting was no easy task.
Myeongjeon naturally joined in. He felt the same way. He was forcing himself to adapt somehow, but this was not his true self at all. It felt like he was being forced into ill-fitting clothes. Constricting and difficult to get used to…
“But Student Suyeon shouldn’t be agreeing with this, should she? Your age has nothing to do with it. We’re old, and you’re young. You’re barely a teenager—not even in your twenties.”
“… Ah, y-yes.”
“Forty is old already~ Newfangled technology is just too hard. Maybe it’s time for us to retire.”
That was how the members of Taylored joked around. Myeongjeon laughed along, but muttered inwardly. What exactly is old about forty? If I’d been that age back then, that would have been when I lived doing everything I wanted and learned everything I wanted…
* * *
Kim Jiyeon’s Music Letter.
A venerable music program that had hosted countless musicians while holding down KBS’s Friday-night time slot for over a decade.
These days, people even said the show invited idols rather than ‘traditional music’ acts to boost its ratings. Even so, because there was no program that could replace ‘Kim Jiyeon’s Music Letter,’ it was one of the shows hanging on stubbornly even in this era when television’s end was approaching.
“Senior! Long time no see.”
“Oh~ Jiyeon. How have you been? Goodness, you’ve lost so much weight. Aren’t you dieting too hard? Where do you even have left to lose?”
“No~ If I don’t lose weight, I’ll turn into a total ajumma. I have to lose it if I want my husband to love me! He was even saying last night that it was too heavy and he couldn’t do it.”
“The way you talk, I’d say you’re already an ajumma, though??”
In the waiting room, Kim Cheolyeon and senior Kim Jiyeon joked around. Jeonghwa approached them, bowed her head, and greeted them.
“Hello, Seniors.”
“Oh, right, Jeonghwa. Long time no see. Are you making a comeback too?”
“Yes. Jeonghwa will be on in Part 2 today. She said she’s resuming activities after a long break too.”
“Hey, don’t knock me off the charts, okay? Divas’ digital-music power is way too strong. It’s cheating, I tell you.”
“How could I knock you off, Senior?”
After exchanging banter and well-wishes for a few minutes, Jeonghwa turned to head back to her waiting room. That was when Jiyeon asked her a question.
“How’s songwriting going these days?”
“…To be honest, not very well. Nothing really comes to mind.”
“Then how did you release a song this time?”
“I had something I wrote before…”
Cheolyeon reacted with exaggerated concern, as though something terrible had happened. Jeonghwa lowered her head at their worried words and thought.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t write songs at all. She was still writing songs even now. But her problem was that there was no one who could draw out what she had in her head. More specifically, there was no musician who could bring out her feelings with the right kind of ‘feeling.’
‘I even searched through all the top-tier session players…’
Even though they were all excellent guitarists, their performances never quite satisfied her. She wasted an enormous amount on session fees, and the song still failed to take shape. As this kept happening, she felt as though a slump was spreading into other areas of her life as well.
“Everything will work out. Sing your heart out today and let it all out before you go! All right?”
Jeonghwa nodded at Jiyeon’s concerned words. As she left the waiting room and walked down the hall, she spoke first and greeted the members of Taylored whenever she ran into them.
“Hello~”
“Oh, hello! Long time no see. Are you performing today…?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Even as they exchanged a few brief words, she stole a glance at the pretty girl standing behind them.
‘Is she staff?’
It might have been prejudice, but the girl didn’t give off an atmosphere that seemed very connected to music. If anything, she seemed more like an idol. Assuming she was a new staff member escorting a performer, Jeonghwa didn’t pay her much attention and headed to her own waiting room. Her life was far too busy to spare any thought for a girl like that.
But that thought was soon shattered.
“These are people we haven’t seen in a long time. The pride of Korean rock! The national band! There are so many titles, but listing them all would be a bit much, wouldn’t it? The band Taylored… please come out!”
The broadcast began. After a bit of Kim Jiyeon’s banter, Taylored appeared to the cheers of the audience. The lineup hadn’t changed much: vocals, bass, drums, keyboards…
But one familiar face was missing—the guitarist’s familiar face, always wearing a smile.
Instead, someone appeared from the back. An average-height girl came clomping out with a black guitar that looked slightly too big for her. She was the girl Jeonghwa had seen earlier, the one she had assumed was staff.
‘Why is that girl up there? What’s with the guitar? Did Taylored recruit a new member?’
She didn’t seem to be the only one thinking that. The audience began to murmur, while only the production staff, the members of Taylored, and Jiyeon remained calm.
“All right, then, without further ado, shall we hear the first song?”
Jiyeon shouted as she thrust out the cue card. After she finished speaking, a quiet starting signal rang out: “One, two, three!”