Chapter 144: I Must Be Seeing Things Because I’m Tired
I sotis looked up articles analyzing my songs.
When I did, I often found various people posting their own analyses.
Pop music critics, YouTube, bloggers.
Or just regular listeners.
Even with the sa music, one might hear love, while another hears mories.
That diversity sotis beca a comfort, and sotis a mirror that retraced points I had missed.
It amazed every ti.
STaY.
It was , yet sohow not —sothing like that?
There was a certain fun in seeing myself from a third-person perspective.
This particular YouTube channel was especially interesting.
“Oh-ho?”
They had pinpointed the exact elent I had hidden.
[ I like music ]
[@lsymusictrend * 21 subscribers * 3 videos]
I’d seen this kind of channel now and then, but my reaction was usually no more than, “Hmm, interesting. Nice video.”
But for so reason, this channel lingered in my mind.
[ Doubline, 5 Reasons It Had to Be No.1 ]
Just from the title, I had a preconceived notion.
A mix of music analysis and fan-driven praise.
I thought it might be one of those so-called clickbait videos.
The font was rough, and the editing was clumsy.
Honestly… it was kinda tacky?
And yet, the content was sharp.
At the very least, it wasn’t a flimsy analysis that just used “Doubline” for so easy views.
— This week’s music show No.1, Doubline. Why?
It started with a short intro.
Then it listed five numbered reasons…
“Interesting.”
I especially liked No.3.
The analysis that a breathing space was placed after the chorus intrigued .
— Without this, it might’ve ended up a generic mass-produced ballad?
…That kind of footnote-style comntary felt fresh too.
The closing line was great.
— What makes this a well-made song is that the listener’s emotions don’t tire out before the song does. It wasn’t made by calculation, but by empathy.
Mmm, I liked that.
There was no way I could just move on.
Tok-tok-tok.
As both encouragent and agreent, I left a comnt.
It was a sha such a good channel had so few subscribers, so I clicked the subscribe button too.
That made it my third subscribed channel.
The first was Sierra, and the second was KIM Entertainnt.
Just after leaving my second comnt, I chuckled to myself in satisfaction—and that’s when a familiar voice rang out.
“What are you doing?”
“Eep!”
It was CEO Kim Minsoo.
Startled, I quickly turned off my smartphone screen.
“Like soone who saw a comnt praising themselves and is giggling with glee?”
Then he let out a sly “Hehe,” as he massaged my shoulder.
Not exactly right… but not wrong either.
I quickly objected.
“No, I wasn’t!”
It wasn’t a lie. It wasn’t a comnt—it was a YouTube video.
“You were though.”
“And could you please stop using that tone?”
“What tone?”
“The whole ‘like soone who blah blah blah’ thing.”
“Why? People seem to like it.”
“That’s just because…”
He’s the CEO—of course they just laugh politely.
Who would dare say the CEO isn’t funny?
I wanted to say it, but I couldn’t.
As far as I knew, we weren’t even ten years apart in age. So why did he talk like that?
I stared at Kim Minsoo, deep in thought.
He really was cut from a different cloth than us.
Even though he was a musician who wrote and produced songs, too.
He never showed up with stubble, never wore a cap, never wore a hoodie, never wandered around like a zombie sipping coffee.
He was the textbook image of a CEO you’d see in a drama.
“So? What is it? Don’t keep waiting.”
He looked so expectant I just said it.
“Because you’re a chaebol?”
Ah, seems like that wasn’t the answer he wanted.
He narrowed his eyes.
Ti to swiftly change the subject.
“Where’s today’s eting?”
“The vocal practice room. We should head up now.”
The reason I was visiting KIM Entertainnt today—
Was to et Lumière.
For the first ti, I wanted to write a song for a girl idol group.
It started for a really simple reason.
A few days ago, Hyung provoked by saying, “I don’t think Taeyoon could ever write one of those cute, bubbly girl idol songs.”
And I replied, “Why not?”
That’s when Lumière ca to mind.
While studying KIM Entertainnt, I’d also been observing Lumière.
Listening to their songs, watching their performances.
Catching them on variety shows—I got the feeling they were quite unique.
They seed similar to Han Yujin, yet different.
So I got curious.
Especially about the leader, Lee Jeongin.
I had never heard such a deep, rich voice before.
I once caught her singing R&B live on a radio broadcast.
I had never heard a vocalist bite into each note with such delicate precision.
It was heart-wrenching, as if she had chewed up and swallowed a painful love.
I absolutely had to hear Lee Jeongin’s voice in person.
Not through a broadcast, but her actual voice.
I asked CEO Kim Minsoo:
“We’ll be seeing all the mbers today, right?”
“Yeah. Why? Got soone in particular you want to see?”
“The leader.”
“Jeongin? I figured you’d be interested. She is quite unique.”
Hmm?
He wasn’t soone who casually used words like “unique.”
“What do you an?”
“You’ll see for yourself. We’ll be up there soon anyway.”
At this, I only nodded.
This is why I liked CEO Kim Minsoo.
If I heard about soone’s unique traits in advance, I might form a bias.
I was eager to head up.
But it felt like CEO Kim Minsoo was stalling for so reason.
“You know I wrote their debut song, right? And the youngest mber is Korean by nationality but lived abroad for a long ti. What else…”
Listing things that would co up with a quick search… he was clearly buying ti…
“CEO.”
“Yeah?”
“If you’re waiting for soone, it’s okay. I can wait.”
“Heh, sharp as ever.”
“Is it not okay if I go up ahead?”
“No. They’re eting the kids for the first ti too. I think it’d be good to go together.”
“Who is it?”
Normally, I wouldn’t have asked.
I would’ve just assud he’d tell when the ti ca, but strangely enough, today I was curious.
Because… CEO Kim Minsoo kept chuckling to himself whenever he ntioned “that person.”
Just how much must he like them to smile like that?
“Soone you’ll be glad to see when you et?”
“Gibong-hyung?”
“Would you be glad to see Gibong? You saw him yesterday.”
“Then… ah, Teacher Oh Jisoo? Or that DJ-hyung who quit before?”
I listed everyone we both knew.
But CEO Kim just kept repeating, “Nope.”
“No, no. Our label’s new employee. A team leader.”
“Ah, I see.”
“What’s that reaction? Not happy to et them?”
“That’s not true. I’m really looking forward to it.”
eting new people in the industry was always enjoyable. There was always sothing to learn.
Still, I wasn’t that excited.
“You’ll definitely like them. Really.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“The mont I saw them, you ca to mind. You’ve got a similar musical wavelength, similar way of thinking.”
“Oh, that’s interesting.”
“You might even want to join our label after eting them.”
They must be soone impressive, judging by how confident he sounded.
Still, I didn’t expect too much.
I’d t countless people in this industry, but no one ever clicked with quite like my hyung did.
That’s what I thought as I stood there.
“Oh? There they are.”
CEO Kim waved cheerfully to soone behind .
As I turned my head to greet them—
“Whaaa?”
I rubbed my eyes.
I must’ve really been exhausted lately.
Because the person standing at the end of CEO Kim’s gaze was…
“Hello!”
Why was my hyung—the one who looked like a mountain bandit—standing there?!
I really must be so tired I’m hallucinating.
anwhile.
At the sa ti, inside KIM Entertainnt’s vocal practice room.
After finishing practice, the five mbers of Lumière were sitting on the floor, each with a bottle of water in hand, chatting about random things.
“Should I go short for the next album?”
“That’s a disease.”
“Pardon?”
“The short-hair disease. One of the three major idol diseases.”
“What are the other two?”
“The blonde disease and the long straight-hair disease.”
“Co on, if you take those out, what’s left!”
It started as a conversation about style.
“Ugh, I’m so hungry. If I eat any more greens, I’ll turn into a cow.”
“Ga-eun, you’re lucky. You’re the only one not on a diet.”
“Should we ask the songwriter to grab food with us later? If the CEO’s there, he might say yes?”
“Yeah, then we’ll eat like pigs and starve for three days again.”
They were grumbling about their diets when the youngest, Kim Dabin, took a swig of water and muttered,
“You have to eat well to sing well.”
Leader Lee Jeongin agreed.
“Right. Honestly, if I’d eaten better when we recorded , I could’ve hit the high notes better. That song felt a bit lacking, didn’t it?”
“...Rather than lacking, it was just difficult.”
Everyone nodded cautiously.
They had recently tried singing the demo track before the final pitching.
A song made by Music Ward.
“The lody’s nice, but the arrangent feels just a tiiiny bit off.”
“The emotion should’ve gone like this, right?”
Kim Dabin drew a straight line with her finger.
“Yeah, it had a kind of turbulent feel. Maybe because it was new?”
“Composer from Music Ward likes trying fresh things, after all.”
The mbers of Lumière weren’t the type to gossip disrespectfully about songwriters behind their backs.
Still, sothing about this demo felt… a bit off.
That’s when Lee Jeongin spoke up carefully.
“If it were by Stay, it probably would’ve flowed straight and then bent once at the bridge.”
Silence fell.
No one spoke, only the sound of water bottles being sipped filled the room.
Kim Dabin grinned and looked down at her headset.
“Oh no, here she goes again. Isn’t it ti to stop listening to Super Ride?”
Lee Jeongin murmured, almost to herself,
“It’s my life song…”
“There it is again. Jeongin-unnie and her seasonal ‘life songs.’”
“Hundreds of life songs, the legend of Lee Jeongin.”
“But Super Ride is a masterpiece, to be fair.”
“I wonder what other demo will co in next.”
They glanced at their manager.
“What?”
“Who’s the songwriter visiting today? Can’t you tell us?”
“I don’t know either. Not even sure if they’re bringing a song.”
As his voice trailed off, Lee Jeongin suddenly blurted,
“I hope it’s Stay.”
Imdiately, agreent burst from all sides.
“ too.”
“Doubline would be great too.”
“Right? If not Stay, maybe at least Budo-oppa could write for us.”
“He’s busy with his own songs lately.”
Lee Jeongin lay flat on the floor, staring at the ceiling.
Could it really be Stay coming today?
That’d be way too much like a movie, wouldn’t it?
She thought as she recalled Stay’s works in her head.
Her thoughts raced.
Super Ride – Ancora, More Than Ti – Avalanche – ASHes – Crossing Tomorrow.
What ca next?
There was a pattern. This ti, she thought of the companies behind each song.
To – KIM – Manny – Tomorrow – KIM.
Almost like it had been planned.
Like each company took turns getting one track.
Brain on full throttle!
That ant the next one would probably be To or another label.
Ooh, she felt pretty sharp.
Lee Jeongin shared her deduction with the mbers.
“What do you think? My reasoning?”
“As expected. You’re the leader for a reason—amazing deduction.”
“So what, we’ll get our turn around the fifth single?”
Their manager, watching them from a distance, snorted.
There they go again, hyping themselves up with fan theories.
If they found out the songwriter visiting today was really Stay, they’d cry.
He hadn’t told them.
The CEO had made him promise.
Stay had said he wanted to see them act as naturally as possible.
The manager straightened his face and changed the topic.
“The new label’s team leader is coming too, so behave yourselves and greet them properly. They’re the one pitching the song.”
“That person from before?”
“You’ve seen them?”
“Yeah. They were… really cool. Dependable-looking.”
The mbers of Lumière sat quietly, waiting for the songwriter and staff to arrive.
About ten minutes later—
“Oh? They’re here!”
Lee Jeongin was the first to turn her head.
Her face brightened with expectation and a practiced smile.
First ca CEO Kim Minsoo. Then a sturdy-looking man—probably the new team leader.
And following behind him, finally—
“Huhhh?”
The real Stay she’d only ever heard about appeared before her eyes!
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