Chapter 17: 17

 

Chapter 5.  Creating the first song.




 

10 minutes after.

We've arrived at the company building of WHITE ENTERTAINMENT.  It was also located in the Gangnam district, but was quite far from LEMON ENTERTAINMENT.

An alley full of similar buildings.

Unlike our company, which looked like a regular apartment building, WHITE ENTERTAINMENT's building stood out at a glance.

"Wow."

The youngest was amazed and Rihyuk nodded his head.

"I told you so didn't I?  It looks good on the outside."

If the most advance IT COMPANY from Hollywood films were to establish a branch in Korea, wouldn't it look something like this?  It was a clean building with white walls, but our admiration soon turn into confusion as we entered inside.

What's with this old-fashion 1988 vibe?  It reminded me of an old building I saw downtown in Gunsan when I was an elementary student. 

There was something dreary to it. SUGARFISH and GIRLS ON TOP must have made a lot of money, but where did that money go?1

"I'm heading to the office.  Want to come along?"

When asked by Yoon Seokhwan, everyone shook their hands.  It was already difficult to go to someone else company, but to go to where the employee specifically were was even more difficult.

He said with a smile, "Okay.  You guys go up first.  I was told that Jang Sowon is going to be a little late, so wait in the studio on the 3rd floor."

"How late?"

"I don't know.  They said she had a schedule early in the morning and is on their way back after finishing."

We nodded and headed up the stairs. Yoon Seokhwan, standing in the elevator, looked at us and chuckled.

"Aren't you going to take the elevator?"

"Ah, It just feels like I should do this."

"Ok, do as you please.  Call me when you're done, I'll pick you up."

Honestly, it wasn't like I couldn't take the elevator.  However, it just felt like I should. It wasn't just me since all the other guys felt the same. 

Should I say it was something of an understanding that was shared among the people who had the status of a trainee?  Kinda like on the same logic of a new soldier being aware of the auxiliary facilities.

The five timid people climbed the stairs to the 3rd floor.

A quiet hallway.

We stuck out our heads and exchanged a conversation as if we were having an operational meeting.

In a low voice, "Hey, earlier where did he say to wait?"

"The studio."

"But there are so many studios?"

Approximately seven rooms. 

Besides, all of them had doors without windows.  It was ambiguous to tell which door to open to see if there were people inside.

"Should we ask the manager, hyung?"

"Yes."

Nodding at Bijoo's answer, I soon saw the members looking at me without doing anything.

"What?  You want me to ask?"

They nodded.

I think it's because they still have the memories of getting scolded.

"Hyung, you're close with the manager.  You're like bros."

"That's right."

"Alright.  Gosh, these guys."

I shook my head and sent a message to Seokhwan hyung.  We just waited quietly where the elevator was for a reply.

There wasn't a reply due to him being with the person in charge of the meeting. Just then, coming into sight, a door in the hallway opened.

CLICK-

Our first reactions were in admiration.  Girls with delicate doll-like features.  Each were wearing different dresses in distinctive ways.  I knew who they were without an explanation.

GIRLS ON TOP.

It was amazing to see the faces I have seen on TV in real life.  It felt like a, 'They look exactly the same like on TV' moment to me.

There was nothing that could be compared to the aura.  It was just an amazing feeling.

"Ah, I'm so tired."

"Manager oppa told us to hurry up and go down since we're behind on schedule."

"Unnie, give me the lighter." (Unnie: honorifics girls use for older girls and siblings who are older that is a girl)

Perhaps their recording was difficult.  They, who were chatting among themselves with sullen faces, soon stopped talking.  It was because they spotted us.

It was a situation where our eyes met and they became flustered.

". . ."

I could hear them muttering to themselves like, 'What?' and, 'Who are they?'.

A look of being wary of strangers.  We were thinking on how to greet each other.

One of them stepped forward.

"Excuse me."

It was a member who had white skin and looked like a cartoon character who is pure.

 

Joo Hana.

When I was in the army, she was the visual member that my seniors and juniors would scream at every time they saw her on TV in Seoul. (Visual member: the member in the group who looks the most beautiful or handsome)

In real life, the tone of her voice was a little high pitch.

"I've never seen you all before.  Who are you?"

"Ah, hello."

When I lowered my head and bowed, the other guys followed and copied my, 'hello'.  They were the people who we'll meet when we debut anyway. I smiled with the thought of making a good first impression if possible.

"We're here to work on a song with Jang Sowon seonbaenim."

There was also an awkward, 'hello' greeting from them too.

"Ah, you're singers.  You look like rookies.  Did you debut?"

"We haven't debut yet."

". . . Excuse me?"

"We're still trainees-"

"Ah, what the hell."

Joo Hana looked dumbfounded.

"You're trainees?"

At that moment, the atmosphere of caution from the other side disappeared.  For some reason, they treated us well at first, but after realizing that we were nothing, their expressions changed should I say.

I could see the reactions on their faces like, 'Oh my gosh, I shouldn't have said hello.'

I felt sorry for my members who tried to manage their expressions that stiffen in real time.  For me, well, my mentality didn't break down that much.

It was bitter for some reason.  It felt like I've tasted the famous entertainment industry where people's attitudes were constantly changing base on where you stood in the ranks.

Joo Hana swept her hair and nodded, "Ah, well. . . good luck."

With those words, Joo Hana passed by us as if there was nothing much to say.  The others followed behind.  It was like watching a herd of lions follow the leader who led the pack.  However, one member remained behind.

What was her name?  I don't remember.

The gaze of the GIRLS ON TOP member, who remained unconcerned, were fixated on Wang Jiho.  It was a bit strange however. It was so hostile that you could feel flames burning in her eyes.

"Hey Wang Jiho."

"Huh?"

"When a seonbae's here, why didn't you say hello?"

"Seonbae?"

Jiho peeked his head up.

"Why are you a seonbae?  We're in the same grade." (Like school grade)

"In these situations, I'm your seonbae."

The member, who had an aggressive reaction, scanned us in a flash.  She then spoke in a harsh tone.

 

No.  It was strictly time to do and say something.

But from afar, another GIRlS ON TOP member called her over from the elevator.

"Kil Chaekyung!  Aren't you coming?"

"Unnie, I-"

"Hey!  The manager is going crazy so hurry up and come!"

Kil Chaekyung sighed deeply and stared at Jiho before walking away with an eye that said, 'I'll see you later'. She hits Jiho's shoulder which were blocking the way. 

After Kil Chaekyung boarded the elevator last, the elevator door seen from afar closed. They went straight down from the 3rd floor to 1st.

While the elevator that we didn't get on went down, a message arrived from Yoon Seokhwan.




 

- The last room in the hallway




 

Great timing, Yoon Seokhwan.

Looking at the sight reminded me of what just happened.  I then looked around at my members who didn't look so good.  Everyone looked at me.

After thinking for a long time of what to say, I finally found the right words.

"Let's not be like that."

Everyone nodded in silence.




 

* * *




 

The last room in the hallway.

It was a recording room and a studio.  It was practically a warehouse with the walls piled up with equipment.

Flocking over to the sofa, Bijoo opened his mouth, "Are we waiting here?  Or are we going to be working here?"

"Waiting I guess."

Junghyun mumble with the snacks, "No way we're doing it in here."

"Junghyun hyung, do you feel like eating?" (Like stress eating in this context)

"What's there to be stress about?  It's just things like this and things like that happen."

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Junghyun peacefully talked about everything in the world and offered Rihyuk a snack.

"You eat one too."

Normally Rihyuk would have quickly refused due to his small appetite, but he mumbled and accepted it.

This room was full of stress.

In the meantime, I saw the youngest playing games on his phone without saying anything.

"Jiho."

"Yes?"

"About what Kil Chaekyung was saying earlier."

At that moment, the game character fell while climbing the ladder due to spraining their finger.

GAME OVER.

 

Pressing the restart button again, Jiho did. He kept his eyes fixed on the screen.

"Why?"

"She's being a little harsh on you.  What's your relationship?"

"She's from the same school."

"It doesn't just seem like you're schoolmates."

". . ."

When the GAME OVER notice popped up again, Jiho opened his mouth.

"This is a bit of a dark past of mine. . ."

"That's okay."

"Why are you okay, hyung? I'm not okay."

I spoke in a tone different from the usual.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"A long time ago, she confessed to me."

Suddenly the mood turned into a time for confessing.  It was somewhat sad and humiliating momentarily looking into the memories that had disappeared. The older members had a face of interest.

Jiho turned off the game and said, "We were in the same class back when I was in elementary school.  Was it in fifth grade?  We would hang out together often because our houses were nearby each other's.  On the way back home after singing karaoke, she confessed to me that she liked me."

"And so?"

"I rejected her."

". . ."

"After that, every time she would see me, she'll pick on me.  Even at school, she would come and pick on me when there was no one watching. . ."1

So he had a story like this. 

But I couldn't believe they became enemies after one rejection.  It was when I thought her personality was weird.

Wait.  I think I missed something.

"Wait, how did you reject her?"

I could see the look on the youngest's face.

"No, it's. . . i. . ."

"What did you say exactly."

"I was immature back then."

"You didn't say anything mean, did you?"

". . . I said she was unattractive."

Bijoo sighed, and next to him, Rihyuk and Junghyun click their tongues, stopped eating, and sighed.

"I thought it was too much earlier, but this, I'll accept it.  Seriously."

"Why did you do that?"

"If it were me, I would now go and smack my head and apologize."

The youngest shook his hand at the comments of his members.

"Well to be honest, I didn't like her personality.  In five minutes, you'll understand.  Everyday, she would always text me bothering me on what I was doing.  And whenever I gave her food, she would make me feel bad by saying, 'You don't eat this at home, do you?'".

 

"Isn't that just you?"

"Yeah.  What do you call this Wooju hyung?"

"Being disgusted at people who are just like you."

The members chuckled at my answer, but the youngest looked upset.

I said gently, "But that was also a little too much from you."

"I mean. . ."

"When you see her later, apologize."

"I don't know. I was going to apologize, but she then suddenly left. She went on a diet and became part of a girl group. It's funny to say sorry now."

"But still, you must tell her you're sorry. Got it?"

". . . Got it. I'll tell her if I get the chance."

I smiled as I watched the youngest nod his head.

At any rate, I still think he's immature, but it's dizzying to wondered how Wang Jiho in elementary school would have been like.

But it's interesting. I don't think I had a relationship back when I was in elementary school.

Kids these days. . . what do you call this? An embarrassing ticklish feeling between a man and women, but isn't a relationship. What do you call that?

Whatever, I'll remember it later.

While we were waiting for a long time chatting, it wasn't until 40 minutes later when the main character would appear.

A person with wavy hair entered. Unlike her sharp eyes, her charming smile welcomed us.

"Hi!"

We all got up.

"Hello seonbaenim."

"Why did you all stand up?"

Jang Sowon made a gesture with a cool smile.

"Sit down, sit down."

"Yes."

"Sorry. You've been waiting for a long time, haven't you? Did you eat breakfast?"

"Yes, what about you seonbaenim?"

"It hasn't been long since I finished my schedule. I usually don't eat breakfast."

Jang Sowon looked around at us and took off her wine-colored coat.

"I'm going to drink some coffee. What do you all want to drink?"

Those words brought the heads of my members to look towards me. Their eyes were asking if they could have it when they heard she was buying.

When I showed them an, 'OK' with a wink, Jang Sowon, who was watching, laughed as if she was having fun.

"Wow, it seems like the leader has a tight grasp on you?"

"It's not like that."

It was because they got scolded this morning for not being careful.

Jang Sowon called her phone.

"Hello, yes. Kyuhyun, it's me. You're still in the company, right? Pardon me, but please get me some coffee."

She looked at us as if to say our orders.

One cocoa, two americanos.

And also, a large iced caramel macchiato with whipped cream.

"What's wrong, hyung?"

". . . It's nothing."

A while later, a man in a hoodie seeming to be the manager came in and handed over the box of coffee.

After drinking the coffee, the mood became comfortable. Jang Sowon took out her laptop out of her bag and began to connect it with the device in the studio.

"Are we working here?"

"Mmm-hmm."

She answered as if it was obvious.

"It's very narrow isn't it."

"No, it's not."

"Everyone else gets to use another nice studio room. Well. . ."

Although the end of her sentence didn't get to finish, the meaning was conveyed. Is this how this company treats unpopular celebrities?

Let's think of if it was GIRLS ON TOP who are currently working. The company, probably the owner, would give them a recording studio.

"Should we listen to it first?"

Clicking on the folder on the desktop, she clicked on the file named [ MAIN THEME VER.1 ].

"It's a melody that I've been working on for a few days. I want to play it for you before we start working on it."

There were two kinds of tunes.

We commonly recognize the instrumentals and the main melody that can express the main theme with lyrics.

The place where she created the main theme, a refreshing bright and light melody.

It may feel like a simple arrangement of notes, but as I listened to the intro, I received a unique feeling. I got goosebumps that started from my toes and the fluffy hairs in my ears were tingling.

The others looked calm or focused, but they didn't react the same way I did.

Oh my god.

My mouth was gaping open and I rubbed the goosebumps on my arm.

Isn't this incredible?

It was like the feeling of a miner who had found gold in the dark.

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