Chapter 93
G.o.d of Music Chapter 93 . The Appearance of The Formidables, White Moonlight (3)
JungMinAhFantasia: When is our MinAh coming back from America … . T_T
WhenSeoYuBlossoms: I want to see HanYu… T_T
MyGirlJennie: I wanna hear some savory dialects… .
HanJooYeonFlower: Guys, give it up . MG went crazy so Eddios isn’t coming back .
That was the recent chat log in the Eddios official fan café, Aries . The fans chatted about what they wanted . The chat log scrolled down endlessly, and people gave their opinions about the members of Eddios .
WoofLilyBesto: When is our Eddios coming back to Korea? Anyone know? T_T
RisIsRinse: They aren’t coming back until they renew their contracts . AKA, never .
MinAhItsOppa: If it’s the MG of now, then they would happily do that . You all know how Eddios is being treated like by MG .
RisILoveYou: Urgh, you remind us of some bad memories . Even DiaTeen, who are relatively less-known than them, are doing solo concerts . But Eddios never got theirs . They go to events like h.e.l.l… . And now they’re in America . Just how much pain must they go through?
SeoYouBeMine: Eddios is a sacrifice card…… they’re planning to throw them out after using them as experiments in America .
The fan club was bustling with Eddios’s lifestyle in America . Everyone sighed saying that they lost fans who dearly longed for them to come back, even though they spent one entire year in America without any results .
MarryMeLily: Last year there were 300 thousand members here, but right now there’s less than half of that . It will only keep decreasing . They will be forgotten .
Eddios4ever: No, that can’t be… .
The chat log kept going down with worries about Eddios . However, there didn’t seem to be a proper course of action they could take . They could only wait for the members to individually upload news to their social networking accounts and spread those around .
***
‘The funds right now… . ’
KangYoon was in deep thought about money and the location of the concert venue . Although Yeonnam-dong was less expensive than Hongdae, it couldn’t be considered cheap . It was still in Seoul after all . Moreover, there was the price of equipment as well . Lee HyunJi wasn’t joking when she said that they’d need to spend all the emergency funds as well .
However, this investment was a necessary one . It may be hard in the short term, but in the long term, everything would get better including the public image of the band as well as their financial situation .
“There isn’t a suitable place . ”
After a bout with the estate agents, KangYoon just stood up . He investigated private trades and even estate agents, but it was hard to find a good place . A reasonably priced one was too far away from the public, and a good location made the building more expensive . He needed a suitable place .
“Then why don’t we just sell this place and move our company near Hongdae?”
KangYoon shook his head at Lee HyunJi’s question .
“We just need a concert venue . We don’t need such a large building yet . If we want to maintain such a building, we’ll be making losses . ”
“That’s true . Haa… this is hard . ”
Lee HyunJi sighed as well . Whether it was for a home or a company, buying a house was a tough thing .
In the end, KangYoon closed the internet window . Although he even looked through some auctions, he couldn’t find a suitably priced building . He thought that he should delay this for a later date and started doing something else .
At that time, Lee HyunJi spoke to KangYoon .
“Don’t we need another singer?”
“A singer? Well, just White Moonlight is insufficient . I was thinking about it, but I don’t know if we have the luxury to raise another one . ”
“How about an immediate fighting power?”
“I’m not sure if we can afford one like that . ”
(T/N: Author is referring to ‘singer’ both as an individual singer (like Jay Han), and group idols (like Eddios))
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KangYoon agreed to what Lee HyunJi said, but at the same time, he was worried . To do that, he would have to look for one in the contract renewal season, but it was obvious that singers would want better conditions and treatment than where they were before . Right now, when they had a lot of things to invest into, including the concert venue, KangYoon was skeptical about getting a new singer .
“Shouldn’t we be able to find one, president? I believe in you . ”
“…… . ”
KangYoon ended up shrugging his shoulders at Lee HyunJi’s joking words .
After he finished a piece of work, KangYoon headed to the practice studio for White Moonlight . When he opened the door, Lee HyunAh was singing in a more refreshing-feeling voice than before . However, KangYoon still wasn’t satisfied .
‘The grey is still there . ’
Although it was much fainter than before, there was still a tinge of grey in the light . Lee HyunAh’s note had turned from red to blue .
‘Her notes aren’t stable . Is it because she’s not used to it yet?’
Compared to the relatively stable and consistent notes from the instruments, Lee HyunAh’s notes weren’t that consistent . Although the song had become more natural and refreshing, there were still some ways to go .
After the song was over, the members of the band waved their hands towards KangYoon . Lee HyunAh immediately asked KangYoon about the song .
“I want it to feel more… refreshing . I think the vocals are still a bit stuffy . ”
“Is it… . ”
Lee HyunAh became dejected . It was quite sad to hear KangYoon saying that outright .
“But it’s much better than before . Let’s practice it a little more . ”
“Yes . ”
The song resumed again . Lee HyunAh started humming along with the instruments .
“Aaaah— aaaaah——”
KangYoon focused his eyes . But then, he started seeing something else . Originally, there was a tinge of grey in the white, but the grey thinned out and he could see silver . The humming added strength to that silver and the silver became thicker .
However, after the humming was over, the silver disappeared, and when Lee HyunAh started singing, the white light had the original tinge of grey .
“Wait . ”
KangYoon raised his hand to halt their practice . Everyone stopped in confusion .
“What is it?”
“Can you do the humming again with the instruments?”
Lee HyunAh understood and signaled with her hand . Along with the drum beats, they started playing again .
“Aaah— aaaah—–”
“!!!!!!”
He wasn’t wrong . This clear, refreshing feeling, it was definitely silver . The silver among the white light enlarged until the humming ended and disappeared when Lee HyunAh began singing .
‘This is it, this was the focal point . ’
KangYoon halted the song .
“Did we do something wrong?”
“You know this part where the first verse comes in after the introduction . Why don’t we try changing it a little?”
“How?”
Lee HyunAh brought the score right away . KangYoon increased the humming by around 2 seconds and added a crescendo so that the sound would be louder . On top of that, he added more drum sounds and even added more ba.s.s line . He even switched the synthesizer strings to sound grander .
“Isn’t this too big for the intro? That’s a lot of power . ”
“It’s a rock song . You will have to exert more power in the first verse as well . ”
Lee HyunAh said okay and gave everyone the changed score . Then, they started playing again .
“Aaah— aaaah—–”
With the crescendo, the sound became more grand and hefty . Along with that, the silver part of the light started increasing until it reached around 1/3 of the total . Now he was able to see the silver at a glance . The low drums and the ba.s.s made the music very loud just as though the climax part would . And then the sounds faded out .
“Today – just like yesterday – I walk the same streets –”
However, the light fading was less than before . Lee HyunAh’s voice was much louder than before as well . The silver light that had disappeared also remained behind this time and added to the beauty .
‘This is it!’
KangYoon gripped his fists . Although it was a bit of a pity that the silver light didn’t extend to all the light, but this kind of refreshing feeling gave him satisfaction .
When the song reached its climax, the silver was around 1/2 of the light . This was thanks to Lee HyunAh’s voice . Thanks to the silver light, KangYoon had a smile on his face all the time .
After the song finished, Lee HyunAh asked KangYoon who was smiling .
“Oppa, why are you laughing like that?”
“Oh, it’s just that the song is good . ”
“Pfft, really? Is this good enough?”
“Yeah, it was the best . ”
“Yay!”
Everyone in White Moonlight cheered . Their hard discussions and arrangements had finally come to an end .
“Well, then . Let’s go record . ”
“R… right now?”
Lee HyunAh asked in an exhausted voice . She thought that rest was finally here, but KangYoon was so Spartan… .
KangYoon only laughed while looking at their expressions .
***
In Hongdae, there are 7 places, clubs, that are called the holy places of indie concerts . Derrace, Greenlight, Livestart, Sweetpins, Spothall . Hongdae Box, and Spareman . These 7 places had held concerts ever since indie bands was a thing .
Greenlight was the place that opened the earliest . And today, White Moonlight was here .
“This is the most expensive one out of all the clubs . Man, the president is quite generous . ”
After finishing a round of rehearsal, Kim JinDae was tapping on the drum pads in one corner of the waiting room . He was getting warmed up . Beside him was Lee ChaHee with a 5-string ba.s.s doing chromatic exercise .
“I think he spends when he has to . I was worried that they might be stingy with spending . ”
“Me too . Isn’t the company going to go down at this rate?”
“Looking at the director or the president, I don’t think so . Both work so well . ”
Lee ChaHee shook her head at Kim JinDae’s question . The two were conversing while exercising their hands .
“Aah—aaaaaah—aaaaaaaah—”
Lee HyunAh was warming up her voice in front of them . From low to high, then back low again . She was loosening the tension in her neck . Jung ChanGyu was also doing chromatics by her side .
At that moment, a group of people came through the door . It was a lady around the same height as Lee HyunAh, as well as a group of men . The woman spoke in delight after looking at Lee HyunAh .
“HyunAh!”
“HyoJi-unni?”
The lady hopped around in delight while grabbing Lee HyunAh’s hand . Lee HyunAh also greeted her with a smile . However, the members of the band behind her didn’t seem to like her that much .
‘Hey, it’s Jang HyoJi, that fiery fox . ’
‘It’s that b.i.t.c.h again?’
Kim JinDae and Lee ChaHee shook their heads while looking at the woman called Jang HyoJi . They frowned as though they didn’t like her at all .
‘I heard she went to Yerang after disbanding her band . ’
‘That’s a famous story . I heard that she didn’t bat an eyelid . ’
‘That’s amazing in a way . How can she do that with a face like that?’
‘JinDae-oppa, get yourself together . Sheesh, men . ’
Lee ChaHee poked Kim JinDae’s side . Kim JinDae twitched .
‘Why? She’s indeed pretty . She’s one of the G.o.ddesses of Hongdae . ’
‘What G.o.ddess . HyunAh is much better than her . ’
Lee ChaHee didn’t take her eyes off her ba.s.s guitar . After doing chromatics, she started relieving her stress with slapping techniques . The sound of her thumb striking the guitar neck was very loud, but she didn’t care at all .
“Unni, you had a concert today?”
“Yeah, today’s the last day here . Although it’s unfortunate, the company wants me to focus on TV programmes . What can I do? I can’t help it . ”
“Congratulations . ”
“Thanks . But I’m happy to do a last concert with you . HyunAh, I do wish to see you more often, after all . Oh, it will be hard, won’t it? We wouldn’t be able to see each other on TV programmes . ”
“…… . ”
It was an indirect disdain . A vein popped on Lee HyunAh’s forehead .
“No way . We aren’t that small, you know?”
“Really? That’s good . I was worried you know? I thought that you sacrificed too much for the band members and went to a small company . I have a lot of deposit from the contract this time . Let’s eat together sometimes . ”
“Sounds good to me . ”
Lee HyunAh said that without a hint of her true feelings . However, Jang HyoJi seemingly didn’t realize and continued to speak .
“Call me anytime . ”
“You don’t need to worry about me . ”
“Quite proud, are you? I’m off then . See you later . ”
Jang HyoJi gave Lee HyunAh a hug while smiling before leaving .
“Ah, dammit . Does she even care about her own former members? I should just crush her face… . ”
Lee ChaHee seemed frustrated and stood up after putting the ba.s.s down . At this rate, it appears she would follow suit and give her a beating . Kim JinDae was shocked and held her back .
“Stop it . You’ll get wrinkles . ”
“I don’t have any . ”
“I’m just saying you’ll get some . ”
The two started quarreling again .
Meanwhile, Lee HyunAh was sighing in secret . She just found out that the person Yerang chose to replace her was Jang HyoJi . She was a long-time rival of hers . They debuted at Hongdae at similar times, and their popularity and even the band was like her own . But they parted ways and crossed parts here . Jang HyoJi chose to go by herself, while she chose the band .
‘I… did a good thing, right?’
She didn’t hesitate when she was deciding it . However, when she saw Jang HyoJi, her heart shook . Not knowing what she was thinking, the members of the band were all talking bad about her .
At that moment, KangYoon entered through the door .
“Are you guys ready?”
“Yes . ”
The members of the band replied with intense vitality . Lee HyunAh also came to herself and replied . KangYoon was satisfied to hear that and spoke .
“Good, you know that you guys are the last, right?”
“Huh? Are we? Weren’t we going 4th?”
When Kim JinDae asked back, KangYoon shook his head and replied to him .
“I heard you guys were the top dogs in indie bands . I can’t let you guys drop out of that place . I used some of my power and influence . ”
“Oooh . ”
Everyone exclaimed at KangYoon’s skills . KangYoon continued to speak .
“Jang HyoJi? They were quite noisy, but I said that we brought a new song . When I asked which group they had more expectations for the staff here sided with us . Jang HyoJi’s up first, while we’re last . That’s how we negotiated . ”
“Wasn’t Jang HyoJi persistent about it? She loves last place . ”
When Lee HyunAh asked, KangYoon said while remembering what happened .
“Don’t even start . She talked about how she’s from Yerang and that this won’t do, and sheesh… like what she said, a guy from Yerang came to me and we had a fight . As you see, we won . I heard that she went to Yerang by herself . They should be managing her image when she had taken the risk to abandon her team . I mentioned that and this together, and the guy from Yerang became quiet . ”
“Pfft . ”
Lee HyunAh’s expression became brighter . The other members were giggling as well . In the end, the reason Jang HyoJi visited them was because of KangYoon . She only came to them to vent her frustration .
“I knew it… . ”
“Knew what?”
“O… . oresident is the best . The best!”
“What the h.e.l.l is an oresident . Some kind of oreo?” (T/N: Oppa + president)
Seeing KangYoon do so much for them, Lee HyunAh decide that she would never regret going to World Entertainment ever again .
‘It was the best choice I’ve ever made . ’
Her hesitation was relieved, and she delightfully prepared to go to the stage .