Chapter 123
“Let’s Rock!!”
A phrase that had become so popular and universal that simply using it had grown a little tacky.
But Cheolyeon shouted it without hesitation, enthusiastically shaking his head. At the sight of him, the attention focused on the “new member” instantly cooled, and the growing excitement gradually filled the space instead.
‘He really has gotten older.’
Doesn’t she ever think it’s tacky? Thinking that, Jeonghwa watched her senior’s performance. Textbook hard rock—the kind Taylored would play, and the kind they did best. Hard-hitting and exciting, but without crossing the line into metal.
“Today, to meet you—! Gaaaaah—!!”
A song overflowing with rock spirit. He shouted, drew responses from the audience, and ran around the stage. Seeing him sing his heart out despite it being only the first song, Jeonghwa could understand why Taylored had earned the title of “national band.”
It was an inexhaustible energy being forced upon her despite her not wanting it. Jeonghwa felt slightly tired from the very first song and gently closed her eyes, hoping to reduce that “heat” even a little. And as she listened to the performance that way, she sensed something slightly off.
‘This is completely different from the previous guitarist’s playing style.’
Taylored’s previous guitarist was someone who maintained an intense style of playing, or a greasy one, if you put it less kindly. His lifestyle was the same: he kept his hair black, wore leather jackets, and shouted “Rock and roll!” every day—in other words, he wanted to live like Lemmy Kilmister. He was exactly the sort of person Jeonghwa found hard to like.
But that kid playing guitar… Was she a high school student? A college student? She was showing off a clean, unadorned style of playing.
It was so clean that it became dry, or even bland… A computer-like performance that produced the exact notes at the exact timing, like a machine, without adding any personal interpretation at all. It wasn’t a style Jeonghwa particularly liked. If she had to choose between the two, she would even pick “greasy playing.”
‘But that kind of style suits this song.’
It was a song made for the vocals, with no room for the guitar to step forward. Watching the high school girl guitarist properly understand her role, Jeonghwa slightly raised her opinion of her.
“That was a great performance. It’s a new song, right?”
“Yes! It’s a new song. ‘The Day I Meet You’! Please show it lots of love.”
Wow~ Clap, clap, clap. The audience’s applause continued, and the band members repeatedly bowed their heads as if embarrassed. Cheolyeon watched the scene for a moment before opening his mouth.
“The charts are so packed these days that I’m not sure whether this can climb.”
“Exactly. When people hear ‘Taylored,’ we’re supposed to shoot up the charts with a bang to live up to the name.”
“Please help us out, Ma’am. Okay?”
“What do you mean, Ma’am? I’m just an old woman in the back room. Don’t expect anything from me.”
The audience laughed at Jiyeon’s playful banter. A little more conversation followed, about the concept of the new album and what kind of songs they had wanted to write. It was all entirely music-related.
“Oh! And there’s something I’ve been really curious about. Who is that person?”
The person Jiyeon pointed to was the female guitarist sitting expressionlessly at the edge of the stage, completely unconcerned. It was a question everyone was wondering about.
“She’s our guitarist. The new one.”
“Gasp. So Yongseong quit??”
“No, it’s not that. He said he had some family matter to deal with this time. I got the schedule fixed with Ma’am, and then Yongseong suddenly said he had to sit out because of something. Normally, we should have changed the schedule in that situation. But who am I? I’m a man of loyalty, aren’t I? So in the end, I brought in a session player. That’s how it happened.”
“Wow… Everyone, let’s give this man of loyalty a round of applause!!”
Applause mixed with cheers rang out. After a little more casual conversation, the baton was passed to the female guitarist. She accepted the microphone with an expressionless face, froze for a moment, went through a series of complicated expressions… and then smiled brightly.
“Hello! I’m Ha Suyeon, the vocalist and guitarist of the band Group Sound, as well as Taylored’s session guitarist!”
“Ha Suyeon? I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere.”
“Ah, she’s the winner of that band audition program on the station next door.”
“The winner~? Oh… so you’re a real pro… Ah. I think I’ve heard that song. Gwao.”
“Yes. That’s righ—right. Gwao is our song-ieyo.”
“Song-ieyo?”
As Jiyeon expressed her curiosity at the unheard-of ending, the interview continued. Suyeon gave answers that were oddly mature, oddly old-fashioned, and yet somehow exactly her age—all at once. Her reactions were quite entertaining, so Jiyeon kept asking her questions.
“Ah, I think I’ve heard of you before. School vio—”
“I’m sorry!!”
Suyeon bowed so deeply that her forehead nearly touched the floor. Her somewhat comical reaction made everyone burst out laughing instead.
“Then lastly, could you introduce the band for us?”
“Ah, yes! Our band’s name is Group Sound! I’m Ha Suyeon, the vocalist and guitarist. And the bassist and second vocalist is Choi Iseo, who handles that for our band…-ieyo…”
* * *
That was how the broadcast ended without incident. Taylored finished their appearance without incident, and she finished hers without incident as well.
The only unexpected thing was Taylored’s “session guitarist.” The girl who had shown a clean, unadorned style in the first song displayed the exact opposite style of playing in the others. At times she was overflowing with confidence, and at others she was emotional… Despite her young age, she radiated the confidence of someone who could handle every style.
She was quite good.
She looked young enough to be a high school student. In fact, hadn’t she said she was a second-year student? Very few people that age could show that level of accomplishment. They would have to be the sort of “genius guitarists” who appeared on television to reach that level.
But that was the extent of Jeonghwa’s interest in Suyeon.
She simply thought that in this day and age, when countless guitarists were being produced, that level was merely ordinary even among geniuses. Wasn’t she the same? She had grown up hearing that she was the best singer in the Yeongnam region, but in the entertainment industry, where only the geniuses among geniuses gathered, she was nothing more than one skilled singer among many.
Thinking that, she lost interest in Suyeon. She was far too busy to spend time worrying about things like that.
* * *
“Ah, this is a little too much for me. I can’t do any more. I’m sorry. Let’s stop here for today. Please deposit the payment into my account.”
Leaving those words behind, the session guitarist packed up and walked out. All that remained was the account information he had handed over. As the staff watched her, Jeonghwa listlessly picked up the slip of paper and transferred the money.
“Was I asking for too much?”
“Uh… I hate to say this, but you did ask for quite a lot.”
“…Why? Is it really that hard?”
“I guess that’s why no one can do it?”
Even the staff member who had been kind to her at first answered with slight embarrassment now.
Of course, Jeonghwa also felt that they had a point. How many times had this happened now? She had called in every guitar session player worth their salt and tried them out, but in the end, she could never get the performance to feel the way she wanted.
‘Something with a little feeling, a slightly hollow quality, but still a little alive… Ah, I don’t know how to describe it.’
‘That’s how everyone is. I’ll give it a try.’
‘No, that’s not the feeling. A little sadder…’
‘More than this? Hmm…’
‘Ah, I can’t explain it. Could you go a little further?’
‘How many times are we going to do this? I can’t.’
How many conversations like that had there been? She had even brought in a teacher known as a giant of the session-guitar world and recorded with him, but although she liked his playing at first, it somehow failed to satisfy her whenever she listened to it the next day, so she couldn’t use it. The song had been wandering around for over three years now.
‘I should have recorded it while that teacher was still alive.’
Jeonghwa felt a deep sense of regret. She had heard there was a legend of the session-guitar world, someone who had been playing guitar for decades. His name had been Seo Myeongjeon, hadn’t it?
She had heard he had a bad personality, so she had put it off as long as possible before planning to hire him. But when she contacted him about a year ago, she heard that he had passed away. The news had struck her like a bolt from the blue, and she felt as though the pillar she had relied on had collapsed all at once.
“Sis, honestly, after going this far, I think you need to learn how to give up. Where does perfection even exist?”
“…I don’t know. If this had been two years ago, maybe I would have. But it’s too late now. I’ve come this far. Giving up here would be even crazier.”
At her manager’s words, Jeonghwa muttered that response. She had started making the song without much thought, but in the process of creating it, she had learned countless things and gone through countless experiences. She couldn’t release a song with so much of her history caked onto it while adding even one element she didn’t like.
“Sigh… I don’t know. Since I ran into that senior, I should at least ask him to introduce me to a session player. Otherwise, I may really have no choice but to learn guitar myself.”
Ignoring her manager’s warning not to joke about that, she called Cheolyeon. After a short series of ringing tones, the call connected.
“Senior.”
“Oh~ What brings you here? Did something happen?”
After exchanging brief greetings, she explained her situation. She had a song she had been sitting on for years and needed to find a session player for it. She had already tried everyone worthwhile, and the only person she hadn’t tried was Teacher Seo Myeongjeon. Though he had passed away.
“Hmm… Then use her. Her.”
“Who is she…?”
“The kid I brought in this time.”
“What? That girl?”
Jeonghwa’s tone unconsciously sounded as if she were asking whether he was joking. Even though he might have been offended, Cheolyeon simply chuckled and answered.
“She’s Teacher Seo Myeongjeon’s student. His final student.”
“…What?”
“She’s the last person he trained before he died. She’s a total genius. Why else would he have passed his guitar down to her? The guitar she’s carrying is actually one of Teacher Seo’s keepsakes.”
Cheolyeon went on to explain a few more things. She had only been learning guitar for about two years. The people who knew about her wanted to keep her a secret from everyone else. Whether she would do the session was up to the girl, not something Jeonghwa could decide.
The story sounded utterly absurd, but the person telling it was Kim Cheolyeon, the leader of Taylored… and he spoke so seriously that Jeonghwa felt overwhelmed and continued listening.
“I can introduce you. Honestly, I’d hate for competition to arise over her. Especially since I got turned down this time and I’m already sad.”
“What? Turned down?”
“That’s right. The leader of Taylored, Kim Cheolyeon, had his session offer rejected. And I even offered her the position of tour bandmaster! Want to know why? She said she was busy studying. That’s the kind of kid she is.”
‘Busy studying?’
It was hard to believe. What Korean guitarist would turn down the position of tour session bandmaster for Taylored? If she joined them, countless places would surely start calling for her as a session player. If Jeonghwa had been in her position, she would have dropped school and everything else to take that position.
But Ha Suyeon had turned it down. Simply because she was busy studying and attending school. Jeonghwa couldn’t tell whether that meant she had a broad-minded nature or was merely too young to understand what she was giving up.
After the call ended, Jeonghwa turned on her computer and opened YouTube, following Cheolyeon’s advice: “If you’re not convinced, search YouTube for ‘Group Sound,’ ‘Seo Myeongjeon Memorial Concert,’ and ‘Invasion 2024.’ What else was it? ‘By Taylored 2024’ or something. Then you’ll understand.”
‘How amazing could she possibly be?’
The skill Ha Suyeon had shown that day was, in a word, good. That was all. She had the standard ability of a band guitarist, nothing more.
But from the way Cheolyeon talked about her, that didn’t seem to be the case. He claimed she had much more versatile abilities, but Jeonghwa couldn’t believe that was possible.
Not as a matter of talent, but physically.
To learn guitar from scratch and reach, in just one year, the level of skill she had shown on television… Even that could be called an incredible achievement. But beyond that? Was it really possible? It wasn’t as though she were making a grenade out of a pinecone and throwing it.
Thinking that, she played one of the videos. It was a video with the name Ha Suyeon in the title.