Chapter 57
Seoha placed her phone on the desk. KakaoTalk messages had been ringing nonstop ever since the recording session. They were from people she had met back when she used to roam around Hongdae, and answering one or two had been fine, but now she was exhausted.
“Do they have nothing better to do?”
When Gyusik oppa and his friends left the studio that day, she had certainly felt bad. It was obvious that Suyeon’s talent had crushed their spirits.
She hadn’t liked them to begin with, and they had been rude, too… but she hadn’t thought they needed to be hurt that badly. That was what she had thought, anyway…
That feeling vanished completely after the day was over. She had no idea what they had been telling everyone around them, but why were they pestering her so much?
Another KakaoTalk alert rang out. When she picked up her phone, it was another message. She was about to ignore it, but this was from an oppa she was fairly close to, so she couldn’t bring herself to do that.
The message that appeared when she opened KakaoTalk read:
[Is the guitarist in your band any good?]
[Gyusik got drunk and rambled about feeling like he’d hit a wall and wanting to quit guitar.]
[He was wasted and said he was going to quit the band and go into seclusion for intensive training lol]
“Argh!! Stop sending me these!”
Though she had no interest in the messages, Seoha summoned as much of her social grace as possible and replied. Judging roughly from the flood of messages, it seemed that… after being shocked by Suyeon’s skill that day, Gyusik had gone around telling everyone about it.
The problem was that he had told so many people that Seoha was now getting KakaoTalk messages from all over the place. Some of the messages even had a suspicious air to them, like [Is the guitarist in your band Ha Suyeon from Hanseung High?]
‘But honestly, it’s enough to make someone feel like they’ve hit a wall.’
Seoha recalled the first time she had met Suyeon. It had only been a few months ago. Suyeon was the girl who had shown her what lay beyond the highest heaven when she had been getting carried away, thinking she was the best in the world.
Even Seoha, who had not been playing for all that many years, had felt that way, so what about everyone else? Talent so incomprehensible that even being taught by Teacher Seo Myeongjeon could not explain it. Talent that could turn everyone who prided themselves on their own ability into ordinary mortals…
‘Her spiteful side is a bit much, though.’
This incident was no different from the others. Even the thing that had happened when Seoha first met Suyeon had apparently been intentional. Suyeon had recently explained, “You were so full of yourself back then that I wanted to put you in your place.”
Of course, it had helped Seoha come to her senses… but hadn’t that been a little too much? No, well… she really had been rude back then. And Gyusik oppa had been rude, too… Hmm…
‘Wait, when you think about it, aren’t I older?’
While she was drowning in sentiment, a thought suddenly occurred to Seoha. Suyeon was a second-year high school student, while Seoha was a third-year. A one-year age difference was absolute in one’s teens, yet Suyeon had acted as though she knew nothing of that from the moment they first met until now.
But when she imagined Suyeon clinging to her and treating her sweetly, saying, “Seoha unni~” like Iseo did…
“Eugh.”
Seoha felt a faint sense of cosmic horror. Something like that simply shouldn’t exist. For some reason, she suddenly wanted to see Iseo…
* * *
“Mom, I’ll go to the department store for a while and wait at a café nearby. Call me when you’re done.”
“Yes.”
Myeongjeon’s mother poked him in the side for no reason. Seeing his face as he clenched his teeth and struggled not to laugh, Hyein giggled and disappeared into the department store.
‘She just gets more mischievous the longer this goes…’
There was no point wondering what she thought adults were. Objectively speaking, he was her daughter, after all. After living together for several months, he felt as though he was gradually getting used to it, too.
Myeongjeon moved toward the building in front of him while entertaining such useless thoughts. Had they said the recording studio was on the second floor? They had said he would be doing about two sessions today, so he expected to take home around 300,000 won—enough to cover an effects pedal.
“Oh! Student Suyeon. Glad you came.”
“Hello. It’s nice to see you again.”
When Myeongjeon entered the studio, Professor Chae Hokeun, whom he had met before, welcomed him. They shook hands and exchanged a few words about how things had been going.
There was still some time before recording could begin, but Myeongjeon had arrived early simply to chat. He and Hokeun could at least talk to each other about music.
As they sipped coffee, Myeongjeon and Hokeun continued their conversation. Old bands, psychedelic rock, the direction prog rock and prog metal ought to take, and whether Pink Floyd could be considered prog—small topics that anyone who loved the music of that era had probably thought about at least once.
Their conversation ended when someone entered the studio and called out a greeting.
“Professor Chae! Are you in?”
“Oh, Producer Park. Long time no see.”
He was an ordinary-looking man with an average build who seemed somewhat older than middle-aged. The fact that he was wearing sunglasses for no apparent reason gave the impression that one could guess a little about his personality.
“And this is…?”
“Oh, he’s the friend who’ll be playing session guitar on the album.”
“Is that so? Ah, nice to meet you. I’m Park Hwiseok.”
The business card Park Hwiseok handed over read [Park Hwiseok, Music Director]. The name of a record label was printed on it as well, and it was a fairly well-known label.
“Nice to meet you. I don’t have a business card to give you, but… I’m Ha Suyeon.”
“Oh… Ha Suyeon? I’ve heard that name somewhere.”
After hearing Myeongjeon’s name, Hwiseok tilted his head this way and that. Seeing this, Hokeun laughed and told him, “She’s Seo Myeongjeon’s student.” But Hwiseok did not seem to recognize Ha Suyeon because of that.
“I’ve heard that name somewhere… Ah! Director Kim! That’s the one, right? The high school girl guitarist Director Kim brought in—the one who supposedly told him to get lost.”
“Huh?”
Hokeun looked at him as if he had no idea what he was talking about. They said a rumor could travel a thousand miles without feet, and this was exactly that. Myeongjeon let out a quiet sigh and explained what had happened: how he had gone to his first session, how someone named Kim Jaehoon had ignored him, and what had happened after that.
“Ah~ That was funny when I heard about it. Kim Jaehoon is certainly skilled, but he’s got quite a reputation in other respects… Someone had to put him in his place at least once. Yeah.”
His face was full of laughter, despite his efforts not to show it. It was obvious that he had not liked that Kim Jaehoon person very much.
“Hello.”
“Hello~”
Meanwhile, the time came and people began arriving. It was time to stop chatting and start recording.
* * *
After hours of recording, the session musicians were given a short break. Myeongjeon stretched his left hand as he went down the stairs. He felt like having a cigarette. But should he regret that he couldn’t smoke, or be grateful that he had managed to quit?
He bought a canned coffee at the convenience store, opened it, and downed it in one go. The studio was full of excellent, delicious coffee, but for some reason Myeongjeon liked canned coffee. Was it nostalgia for the past, or something else?
“Your playing was good.”
A voice came from behind him. When he turned around, he saw Producer Park Hwiseok, who had been introduced earlier. Instead of answering, Myeongjeon gave him a small bow.
“I was agonizing over whom to use for the guitar, but Professor Chae said he knew someone he’d already had his eye on. He said there was a girl who played incredibly well. I was skeptical, but he wasn’t exaggerating. If anything, I think the professor underestimated you.”
“Thank you.”
Myeongjeon thanked him because he was grateful, but he looked at Hwiseok with some suspicion. Was he just trying to compliment him out of nowhere? People like that did exist, but there were not many of them at his age.
“So, would you be interested in recording an OST?”
There it was. Still, Myeongjeon thought it was a good opportunity. An OST, huh? What was this man thinking? He had never shown him anything like his singing. All he had shown him was his guitar, his face, and the fact that he had gotten the better of Director Kim Jaehoon. Was that why?
“What kind of OST is it?”
“It’s for a drama. You’d record it as a session musician, and I think we’d have you film an OST-making video as well.”
As expected, Myeongjeon’s guess had been right. They would probably have a composer put together an OST and then use the making-of video to drum up attention with something like, “A high school girl guitarist!”
Of course, it was a welcome proposition. Whatever the details, it meant making money. But at this point, Myeongjeon had something he wanted to consider more than money.
“I don’t mind recording the song itself, but…”
“Hm?”
“Rather than doing it as an individual, I’d like to do it as a band.”
“A band? That might be difficult…”
Perhaps he wanted to milk the publicity surrounding Ha Suyeon alone. Hwiseok immediately looked troubled at the suggestion. But rather than try to persuade him, Myeongjeon showed him a single QR code.
“What is this?”
“It’s the QR code for one of our performances. Watch it when you have time, and contact me if you’re interested.”
“Heh…”
Leaving Hwiseok behind with an awkward smile, Myeongjeon headed back into the studio. As he expected, Hwiseok would contact him as soon as he watched the video.
It was inevitable. Why? A man who was talking about making an OST after seeing just one high school girl guitarist—what would he do when faced with a band made up of four high school girls?
* * *
Myeongjeon’s prediction proved exactly right.
“All right. Let’s do one as a band song.”
The next day, as Myeongjeon was leaving school, Hwiseok called him. He said that he had watched the video the previous night and spent the entire day thinking about it.
“It’s a gamble for me. There wasn’t originally going to be a band song. But we’re making room for one now.”
“Is that so?”
Hwiseok spoke as though he were the one taking a loss. Myeongjeon wondered what he was supposed to do about that, but one could not answer a client who was offering them work that way. He had been the same when he was Seo Myeongjeon, and even more so now that he was Ha Suyeon.
“So, the thing is…”
At what Hwiseok brought up next, Myeongjeon could only say, “I’ll think about it,” despite all the years he had lived.
“You want us to make… classical- and jazz-style band music?”
Iseo asked, wondering if she had heard wrong. Myeongjeon nodded. She had not heard wrong at all. That was exactly the kind of music they had been asked to make.
“They said they’ll tell us later what scene it’ll be used in and what mood they want… but for now, the song itself is supposed to have that kind of atmosphere.”
After entering Ha Suyeon’s body, Myeongjeon had gained some confidence in composition and arrangement. He could manage the fields he knew—blues, rock, and, if he stretched a little, some metal and pop as well.
“But classical and jazz? I’ve held a nylon-string guitar before, but only to produce a classical sound for a session. That doesn’t mean I have any real knowledge of those genres. How could I make music I don’t even listen to?”
“Doesn’t that sound difficult?”
“It does, but I need to discuss it with you guys. It’s an offer that came to us as a band.”
They discussed it at length, but in the end they were gradually leaning toward refusing when Hyeona, who had been silent until then, spoke up.
“Why don’t we try it?”
“Hm?”
“I think it might be possible… for us, at least. I’m not particularly good at classical composition either, and I’m more on the jazz side, but…”
The answer came from a direction he had never expected. At those words, Iseo suddenly sprang to her feet and hugged Hyeona.
“Oh! Hyeona~ That’s my girl. You’re the best, the best.”
“Eugh, Somat-nim, you’re heavy.”
“That’s the point.”
Hyeona barely escaped from Iseo, whose build was much larger than hers. She gasped for breath for a moment, then continued speaking.
“You’re not asking for full-fledged jazz or anything like that, right? It’s jazz- and classical-style band music, after all. If that’s all it needs to be, I think I could lay down the foundation, and with Ms. Suyeon and the others helping, it might be possible.”
“I suppose.”
Myeongjeon crossed his arms and stared up at the ceiling.
Hyeona’s composition skills… had not exactly been proven. She expressed confidence, but there was no way to know whether it would actually manifest in her work. They might accept the commission, struggle until their heads nearly split open, miss the deadline, and end up damaging their reputation.
But if that happened, wasn’t the joy of life in finding a way through it? No one could do everything well on the first try.
And with Ha Suyeon’s talent at their disposal, honestly, once they had a framework in place, couldn’t they make at least one usable piece of music?
“Then let’s give it a try. We’ve already finished filming, and our schedule happens to be open… This time, let’s do a project centered around Hyeona.”
Thinking that, Myeongjeon accepted Hyeona’s proposal. If it worked out properly, he thought it could help the band’s music quite a bit.