Chapter 149
(T/N: “Trot” is a genre of music in Korea that was popular in the 1960s to early 1990s . It’s basically the Korean version of what the j.a.panese ‘Enka’ would be if you know what that is… . And remember that it’s similar to Enka because it will become somewhat relevant later on . )
It became April and Spring finally arrived for real .
Jang HanNa, the leader of SeasonS, was met with a great opportunity . She was invited as a guest to Park MinChang’s Talk Show on HMC TV station and had an opportunity to sing with Namhoon .
Namhoon was a giant in the singing industry and was the G.o.dfather of the Trot field .
After the recording, Jang HanNa did a 90-degree bow towards Namhoon .
“Thanks for your work . ”
Namhoon replied with a smile . An energetic greeting from his young juniors was like receiving appreciation from his daughter .
“You too . ”
“Thank you, sir . ”
“Be careful on your way back . ”
Leaving behind Jang HanNa, Namhoon continued with his manager . Namhoon’s expression was very serious .
“Not yet?”
“Yes, I’m very sorry . ”
“This is troublesome . To show up in Musicland, I have to follow the latest trend of the youths . If I sing it like the usual trot . I might be in trouble . ”
Namhoon sighed . The manager also looked down in embarra.s.sment . At that moment, Jang HanNa, who seemed to have heard the conversation, carefully spoke to him .
“Uhm… sir?”
“Yes . What is it?”
“Are you perhaps, uhm, worried about a stage?”
Namhoon was surprised . It had been a long time since a young junior had boldly interjected in his conversation . The fact that she did so despite the strict senior-junior relations in this industry meant that she had something important to say .
He asked in a comforting voice .
“Do you know someone good?”
“I’m not sure if I can help, but there was someone who created a stage for us a few years ago . We became big after that stage . ”
“After that stage? What kind of a person is this?”
At Namhoon’s question, Jang HanNa talked about the episode of the Yen Department Store . KangYoon made SeasonS popular through that stage, and SeasonS was able to grow to its current stage because of that . She talked about all of this .
Usually, Namhoon would usually laugh it off saying that that was the energy of youth, but he wasn’t able to right now .
His upcoming stage was Music Land on SBB . His current situation was similar to SeasonS in that this one stage was very important .
“The person who produced that stage was called KangYoon?:
“Yes . He should be the CEO of World Entertainment right now . ”
“Really? JooHyung, did you get that?”
“Yes, sir . ”
“Call him up . Quickly . ”
His manager got into action immediately . Namhoon watched him anxiously .
***
Spring at World Entertainment was very busy .
Due to the warm weather, the number of events was on the rise, which made Kim JaeHoon and Kim JiMin busy visiting those, and White Moonlight also had some special stages outside the regular performances at Lunas . With the members of Eddios steadily getting into the action as well, the company was really busy .
Inside the office, KangYoon was currently adjusting the schedule of his artists .
“SamSoon is away on a shoot, HyunAh is… . ”
With his entertainers all busy, he had a lot to do as well . Despite that, he went through all the paperwork and stamped on them with caution .
At that moment, Jung HyeJin stood up from her seat and called out to him .
“President . There’s a call for you . ”
“Who is it?”
“It’s the manager of the singer Namhoon . He wants to consult you about a stage . ”
KangYoon was surprised but still took the call .
“h.e.l.lo?”
After a brief greeting, the manager spoke about the topic at hand in a small voice .
– Mr . Namhoon is going on Music Land on SBB in two weeks’ time . I called you to ask whether you can produce the stage for us .
“A TV show stage?”
The manager said yes and continued to speak .
– Yes . Mr . Namhoon wants a trot stage that can appeal to all generations . Is that fine with you?
KangYoon hesitated in answering . Trot was a difficult genre for the younger generations . Although some were able to manage appeal to them and broke through the stereotype, those singers were young and were appealing to the eyes as well .
‘…Is it really fine?’
He wondered whether it was too hard for him, and was worried that things would turn out badly .
However, he was also worried that his reputation would be hit if it rejected it outright without listening to the project properly .
KangYoon spoke about his opinion .
“I don’t think I can come to a decision without meeting him first . I wish to listen to the situation in person . ”
– When is alright with you?
KangYoon and the manager set an appointment before ending the call . They seemed quite urgent and told him that they would visit the company right now . They were very quick to act .
Not long later, Namhoon and his manager arrived at his office .
“h.e.l.lo? I’m Lee KangYoon . ”
KangYoon bowed towards Namhoon . This was a grandmaster of the industry as well as a grandmaster of trot . Namhoon had a skinny body yet the fire in his eyes was strong .
“Nice to meet you . I’m Namhoon . ”
Namhoon had manners . He didn’t use impolite speech immediately and was very polite to KangYoon, who was decades younger than him .
When Jung HyeJin brewed some coffee and tea, KangYoon sat down with Namhoon . Behind Namhoon was the manager and Lee HyunJi sat next to KangYoon .
KangYoon started off the conversation .
“I’ve heard about the general situation over the phone . You are going on Music land at SBB… . ”
“Yes . But as you know, it’s mostly the younger generation that appears on Music Land . It’s obvious that many people will find my stage boring . I want a stage where everyone can have fun . That’s all I want . ”
KangYoon gulped .
Yes, it was a clear-cut and simple objective . However, it was also the most difficult to achieve .
‘It won’t be easy to gain a good reaction with trot on Music Land . ’
KangYoon became silent for a moment .
The good point of Namhoon’s songs was that it was easy on the ears . His new song was neither fast nor slow and this emphasized that advantage . However, the younger generations used to EDM and rap may find the genre a little boring . This was an advantage of trot, and at the same time, a disadvantage .
When KangYoon stayed silent, Namhoon spoke .
“Will it be hard with trot?”
Namhoon closed his eyes . When KangYoon looked like he was negative about the genre, he felt powerless .
KangYoon opened his eyes and replied with a calm att.i.tude .
“…Honestly speaking, I think it will be difficult to gain a good reaction if you sing the song as it is . ”
“Then do you mean that you have another method?”
His voice became a little louder as though that comment hit close to home . As someone who was proud of the trot genre, this was a natural reaction . However, he had his sources of news . He didn’t just abruptly stand up and leave or do anything in that manner .
As to repay his att.i.tude, KangYoon started to voice out his opinions .
“First, I believe some rearrangement of the song is necessary . The most important thing though is performance . ”
“Performance?”
“Yes . ”
This wasn’t an answer he had expected . Asking for performance from a man who focused on singing alone? It kind of provoked his interest .
“Good, what kind of performance would it be?”
“It will be hard for me to tell you exactly what kind right now . I’ll only get the detailed feeling once the results of the rearrangement are out . However, I can tell you the general principle . ”
KangYoon emphasized his voice .
“First up is unexpectedness . Bringing out a ‘Huh? What’s that?’ reaction from the audience and attracting their attention . The second is brilliance . Having attracted attention, I believe that brilliance would fix their attention . If it were up to me, I would act on these two principles to create the stage . ”
Namhoon nodded at KangYoon’s answer . He had a concrete plan, so he now believed in his skills in having made a rather unknown group popular . Jang HanNa hadn’t told him about KangYoon for nothing . He felt that KangYoon was worthy of his achievements .
Namhoon did not hesitate any longer .
“I don’t like dragging things out . This stage, can you be in charge of it?”
“I cannot guarantee the results, but I shall do my best . ”
Namhoon and KangYoon shook hands .
***
During Jung MinAh’s short activity period .
Seo HanYu was the one that frequented the practice room at Lunas .
She started her practice every day at noon and ended late into the night, and went to the gym before going back to her dorm . Although Eddios hadn’t been active for a long time, this kind of lifestyle was already engraved in her .
Today, she was in practice at Lunas like she always was . Lee HyunJi came to find her .
“Pre…I mean, director . ”
Seo HanYu politely greeted Lee HyunJi who had entered discreetly so as to not disturb her .
Lee HyunJi waved a bag of snacks and water at her and approached her .
“So you’re here practicing alone?”
“Yes . Everyone else has a schedule . ”
Lee HyunJi laid out the snacks . Seo HanYu thanked her before sitting down .
Pouring some energy drinks for her, Lee HyunJi asked .
“Are you not tired of all this waiting?”
“…It would be a lie to say that I’m not . ”
Seo HanYu was honest .
Lee HyunJi sympathized with her and nodded .
“Yes . It’s about time you get tired out . Since winter, every one of you is getting something to do, so you must be wondering when it’s your turn, right?”
“……”
What did she imply by saying those words? Seo HanYu was rather worried . Was she getting kicked out? Although she knew that KangYoon would never do such a thing, there was always the ‘what if’ .
Lee HyunJi calmly spoke .
“HanYu, are you interested in modeling?”
“Eh? A model?”
Seo HanYu’s eyes widened at the sudden proposal .
***
The day after the contract with Namhoon .
KangYoon called chief producer Kim ChooYeon . He was trying to get allocated some more time .
– If you mean sir Namhoon, then we already have a slot for him . You didn’t have to call… .
“I’m aware of that . I called you for a request . As far as I know, sir Namhoon is allocated 3 minutes and 45 seconds, which is the duration of his original song . I was wondering if you could lengthen that to 5 minutes . ”
Chief producer Kim ChooYeon had a debt to pay KangYoon . Getting a couple more minutes on stage was nothing .
– If he needs it, then it’s natural for me to do so . Is there anything else you require?
“No, thank you for your understanding . ”
– Hahaha, it’s small compared to what you’ve done for us, President Lee . I am really thankful for before .
Not so long ago, he was unable to send Jung MinAh on a TV stage due to her schedule, but he soon released an interview that the reason behind Jung MinAh’s lack of appearance on TV programs could not be faulted with the TV stations themselves . With the company doing the explanations, the media soon died down .
After that, World Entertainment had a strong new ally that was the chief producer .
“Then I shall see you at a later date . ”
Like that, KangYoon ended the call with chief producer Kim ChooYeon .
His next piece of work was rearrangement .
‘I got 5 minutes for the song . That’s plenty of time . Let’s begin . ’
KangYoon opened up the music source file that he got from Namhoon and opened it up in score format . Various musical notes from the speakers in his room created white light .
After listening to the song to the end, KangYoon started his rearrangement . He first started by increasing the intro by about 9 seconds .
However, when he changed the trumpet sound to another sound effect, the light suddenly changed to grey in an instant .
‘Why is this happening?’
KangYoon changed it back to trumpet and changed the melody line to fit along with the chord . However, the color that came out of the notes was still a thick grey .
He tried various other methods after that, but the results did not change .
‘What the… . ’
Eventually, he was fatigued due to the feeling given to him by grey light and stood up from his seat .
He took out a can of beer from his fridge and tried to stave off his fatigue .
‘What’s the problem?’
KangYoon ran his hands through his hair and fell into thought .
This was the first time he tried his hand at rearranging trot . Despite that, he never imagined that the tiniest tweaks would result in a grey light as though warning him to not touch the song at all . Just in case, he closed his eyes and played back the song again, but it wasn’t to his liking .
KangYoon left out the melody and decided to try another approach .
‘Should I try changing the rhythm?’
KangYoon crushed the empty beer can and sat back at his seat .
He changed the song to be faster than the original . He then played back . When he did, the light showed no big changes from the original white light . Though, it was much better than the grey light from his tweaks .
‘Should I slow it down then?’
However, KangYoon then felt like he fell into a quagmire . The notes combined with each other to create a thick black light . KangYoon immediately turned off the song due to the horrible feeling .
‘That’s definitely a no-no . ’
This song was good fast, but definitely not good slow . He learned his lesson through his body .
KangYoon did his rearrangement as though he was playing a puzzle .