Chapter 69

A holiday .

KangYoon had met up with Professor Choi ChanYang to learn harmonics .

It was thanks to Professor Choi saying that he would teach him even during the holidays .

Youve come quite far . Major, minor, and diminished . It looks like theres no problem with your scales anymore .

Thank you .

The lecture in the caf was very fun . Professor Choi ChanYang smoothly led KangYoon on the right track . Thanks to that, KangYoon could learn music theory to his hearts content as though a sponge absorbing water .

Should we rest for a little?

When KangYoon raised his head, the sun was already setting . When he focused, time flew quickly . Using this rest time, Professor Choi ChanYang started talking about the recent news .

Youre like normal, Mr . KangYoon . Busy, and then busy again .

Its just that type of work . Dont you know that this industry requires a lot of hands?

I guess thats true . Especially if youre someone high like Mr . KangYoon .

KangYoon nodded his head .

The two had become quite close to each other and talked about many things . Professor Choi ChanYang said that he watched anime as a hobby . KangYoon felt as though he saw a new world to find out that Professor Choi liked something entirely different from what he looked like on the surface, a gentleman .

When they were about to start studying again, Professor Chois phone started ringing . He left the caf to get the call .

When KangYoon was going through his textbook, Professor Choi came back .

HyunAh wants to come here . What should we do?

Im okay with it .

He felt like he saw HyunAh quite frequently recently, but he was fine with it . Professor Choi told her through the phone and ended the call .

Not long after the two started studying again, Lee HyunAh came . On her back was a large guitar . After a simple exchange of greetings, Lee HyunAh took out a score .

Its the score for the song last time .

Oh, that one . That song was great .

KangYoon was honest . In his ears, the song wasnt bad at all . Professor Choi ChanYang also agreed to that .

Didnt you say that you were going to record it?

Yes . Itll be this Wednesday . At seven in the evening .

Okay .

Professor Choi ChanYang took out a memo and wrote the time on it . KangYoon also remembered the promise and wrote the time on his phone .

Please come .

After getting an agreement from the two, Lee HyunAh took out her guitar . She tapped on the guitars saying shell let them listen to a song she composed . Along with the clean guitar sounds, her voice started flowing out into the caf .

Whooo I cant help but fall in loveall day I

The musical note from the guitar and from Lee HyunAh herself combined to create white light . The light was very bright . KangYoon clapped lightly and reacted to her . She seemed to be encouraged by the claps as she put more power into playing the guitar .

My heart is on that ticking clock

The few customers in the caf also looked at KangYoons trio . Everyone was showing interest at the sudden live-show . Professor Choi ChanYang was tapping his foot lightly to enjoy and KangYoon became a loyal audience by clapping . Their table was like a small stage .

The song ended, and Lee HyunAh shyly lowered her head .

How was it?

It was good .

That was his honest opinion: It was a good song . He thought that the song fits her voice well .

Its thanks to you that I could make this song, oppa .

I dont remember doing much .

You made the melody here at this part, though .

Lee HyunAh pointed at the score . When she pointed at the melody line and the bass line in the third and fourth bars, KangYoon smiled awkwardly .

Its only because you helped out . I know nothing .

Creating melodies are extremely difficult you know? Its only thanks to you that I could compose a good song, oppa . Im planning to put your name as the co-composer . Will that be alright with you?

This was an official request . When KangYoon pondered seriously, Professor Choi ChanYang spoke to him .

Mr . KangYoon . Is it because of your company?

No, its not that . The company wont interfere with personal lives after all .

Isnt it fine then? Creating your own song isnt just doable by anyone .

KangYoon fell into thought after hearing that . His own song provoked him a little .

Okay, put it in there then .

Okay . Ill make it into a good song so that it wont tarnish your name .

She was full of resolve for some reason . KangYoon shook his hands saying that it was too pressuring for him, but she didnt change her attitude .

***

Having successfully finished his work with DRO Mart, KangYoon wrapped up his work and gave it to the business team . He made the important decisions, but things like analysis were now handled by a specialized team . With the success of this job, a new department was created in the company, and that leads to new profits .

KangYoon headed to the chairmans office to report about the DRO mart .

I knew I could count on you for the new job . It must have been quite unfamiliar, were you okay with it?

I did it with the mindset that I will learn new things . Its fortunate that things went well .

Chairman Won JinMoon slowly sipped on the coffee . He felt his body relaxing as the warm coffee went down his throat . He asked KangYoon with a smile that was as comfortable as his body .

Okay . What about your next work?

I have heard that its still under progress .

Hm . President Lee still has some ways to go .

I heard that its hard to find suitable work even though there are many offers . After all, we need to do something thats profitable .

KangYoon stood up for President Lee HyunJi . Then, Chairman Won JinMoon agreed and switched topics .

Hm well, Ill find out in the next report . So, youll be resting for a while?

The coordinator work keeps coming in so Ill be doing those .

Okay then .

After the conversation with Chairman Won JinMoon, KangYoon left the chairmans office .

I wonder what the next one would be?

KangYoon was curious about it as well . President Lee HyunJi was currently working away from the office to get a good work offer, so it would be bad to call her now .

Before he returned to his own office, KangYoon headed to the resting room to cool off a little . However, there was someone already there . It was Jung MinAh .

MinAh .

Huh? Ahjussi .

You really .

Team leader .

When KangYoon was about to get angry, Jung MinAh lowered her tail . However, she immediately became full of vitality and approached KangYoon . She was the type that was hard to hate .

KangYoon bought her some snacks and sat down together .

How is it nowadays?

Oh, its hard . Theres a lot of work, but no rest . I wish there was a Jung MinAh-robot .

Consider yourselves lucky . Celebrities without any schedules sometimes get suicidal thoughts .

Sheesh, cant you even console me .

Grumbled Jung MinAh . When KangYoon raised his fist, she immediately moved away .

What are you doing nowadays, Team leader? Dont you feel great now that you dont have to take care of us anymore?

Yep .

Hey, really?!

KangYoons joke made Jung MinAhs expression change immediately . When KangYoon said that it was a joke, she still got mad at him . Jung MinAh was the kind of girl that needed quite a bit of care, but precisely because of that, she was the closest to him out of all the girls of Eddios .

Some people called DiaTeen debuted at Yoonseul . And I think theyre always on guard against us .

Theyre from a rival company after all . Perhaps theyre feeling a sense of rivalry?

Who cares about rivalry nowadays? Were all singers . Anyway, I dont like them . They dont come around for a greeting and hand out albums, and oh yeah, they do seem to have quite a few fans . At first, I thought they were some unknown twats .

Whats a twat?

(T/N: Okay, thats the closest I can get to in English, in the original text, its an acronym of Random trash thats unheard and unseen of . Rttuauo doesnt sound like its a word)

KangYoon didnt know the slang word and tilted his head . Jung MinAh explained to him that it was a derogatory term . He warned her to never use the word in public and Jung MinAh told him that theres no way she would . They were actually on good terms with each other .

Anyway, theyre nagging my mind nowadays . Theyre always there when we try to appear on TV .

Its just in the TV station, right?

Yes . Hey, they would be stalkers if they followed us to events .

Jung MinAh shivered saying that it was frightening to just think about it .

While they were talking, Jung MinAh stood up saying that it was time to go .

Then Ill be going to another event then .

Be careful on your way .

After sending her off, KangYoon headed to his office as well . Although he had much more time than before, he still had some work to do .

***

The day of Lee HyunAhs recording came .

KangYoon finished off his work and headed to a recording studio nearby Hongdae where Lee HyunAh would be recording today . Since he only had the address, it took him some time to find it .

Hello .

When KangYoon entered a shabby basement, Lee HyunAh and the other members all greeted him . At a glance, they exuded the aura of musicians . KangYoon also took out some meals after greeting them . Among everyones cheers, KangYoon left an impression on them as the snack uncle .

After a simple meal, the recording began . Professor Choi ChanYang adjusted the instrumental sounds, as well as Lee HyunAhs microphone . Although this took a considerable amount of time, he did this properly .

Studio renting is expensive though .

Its fine . This is all an investment .

Thats true, but still .

Kim JinDae, the drums, spoke worriedly, but Lee HyunAh was actually cool with it . She told everyone that investment was a must for a good song, and got an agreement from all of them .

Okay, lets begin .

Along with Professor Choi ChanYangs words, everyone including Lee HyunAh gave him the OK signal . With four beats from the drumsticks, the recording began .

Perhaps I might be busy today and tomorrows no good either .

When the song began, musical notes started appearing in front of KangYoon as well .

Not bad .

The musical notes from the electric guitar and the synthesizer were added to the drums and the bass . When Lee HyunAhs voice was added to it, a white light was released . It wasnt a bad light . KangYoon could imagine Lee HyunAhs playing of the acoustic guitar at the caf overlapping her .

It feels similar to that time .

The song was definitely good, but he felt like it lacked impact . The song progressed from the introduction to the middle part, but not the climax . It had to reach the peak, but KangYoon felt that it fell down before it could go up and shook his head .

How is it?

When Professor Choi ChanYang asked that, KangYoon shook his head instead of answering . Professor Choi also seemed to think the same and didnt say much about it . He gave a glance to KangYoon though . KangYoon immediately voiced out his opinion .

I think you dont have any impact . The instrumental-kind of feeling is good, but theres no ups and downs in the song .

Oh, really? Should we raise the volume in the weekend part?

Why dont we go with another tone for the guitar? Right now, its the clean tone . Lets go with another sound .

When Lee HyunAh asked as the representative, KangYoon talked about the necessary things . Jung ChanKyu, the electric guitar player, controlled the effector to change the tone .

Would you like to sit here?

Professor Choi ChanYang yielded the center seat of the mixer to KangYoon . KangYoon shook his hand saying that he couldnt do this, but Professor Choi ChanYang still urged him on anyway .

Ill teach you . Just try it once . I heard you can do the basics .

I dont have any experience doing it for a real recording though .

You have a knack for it so youll do well .

KangYoon eventually sat in front of the mixer instead of Professor Choi ChanYang . There was nothing easy since there were 48 channels on the mixer and the program on the computer was in English . However, Professor Choi ChanYang explained each one of them and encouraged KangYoon .

When everyone inside the booth gave the ok signal, KangYoon gave them the signal to start .

Perhaps I might be busy today and tomorrows no good either

Seeing musical notes coming out of everyone, he started adjusting the machine . The first thing he adjusted was the drums . When he isolated the drums with the headset, it was quite sharp . KangYoon started decreasing the high tone from the microphone that was placed in front of the cymbals .

Mr . KangYoon, you decreased it too much .

Ah .

However, Professor Choi ChanYang spoke to him the next moment . The machine was sensitive so it changed drastically even from a little tweaking . KangYoon minutely adjusted the sounds .

You see the effector here, right?

Yes . Its the echo and the delay . What is this?

KangYoon tweaked on the mixer while listening to the sounds and the advice from Professor Choi ChanYang .

Like that, the second recording ended .

How was it this time?

When Lee HyunAh asked for his opinion, KangYoon shook his head, saying that it wasnt time yet .

Im sorry, its my first time on the mixer .

If its you, well well do it again .

Lee HyunAh didnt say anything anymore as she trusted in KangYoon . The other members also didnt say anything since she didnt . This time, KangYoon recorded verse by verse .

Perhaps I might be busy today

KangYoon was busy . He had to look at the musical notes and tweak the machine as well . However, he also found it more comfortable since he could do everything now without telling someone else to do it . When he saw that Lee HyunAhs musical note dimmed the light a little instead, KangYoon stopped the song .

Lets do that again, the sound was too weak .

Yes .

In the retry, a strong white light came out . He tried it one more time just in case, and the results were the same . KangYoon went on to the next verse in satisfaction .

I want to give this part a slight echoing effect here, what do I need to do?

To do that, you .

Professor Choi ChanYang put his best effort to advise KangYoon .

Like that, Lee HyunAh and KangYoons song was being completed bit by bit .

***

The recording ended and when they left the studio, it was way past midnight . Everyone had to get a taxi because there was no public transport .

Thank you for your work .

The members each took a taxi . Todays recording went well so everyone was in great spirits .

Bye .

See you at practice .

Lee HyunAh sent the members away first . She told them that the leader had to go last and made everyone laugh as well .

When the members and Professor Choi ChanYang left, only KangYoon and Lee HyunAh were left .

We should go too .

Yes .

KangYoon came to the roadside to hail a taxi, but strangely, none came . Lee HyunAh approached him .

I cant see any taxi .

It will come soon .

Unlike his words, no taxis stopped by . It was strange . While KangYoon was looking out for a taxi, Lee HyunAh approached KangYoon .

Oppa .

What is it?

Uh can I ask you something?

KangYoon nodded his head without any word . Lee HyunAh, unlike her usual self, asked him very cautiously and shyly .

Uhm . Do you perhaps have a girlfriend?

KangYoon was stunned by the sudden question from HyunAh .