Solo Recording
"It's... heavy."
I opened my eyes that morning to something heavy crushing down on me.
Don't tell me... sleep paralysis?!
My body trembled at the terror a ghost would bring.
"Mmph..."
The thing pressing down on me made a sound.
"Huh?"
A familiar little hum slammed into my ears.
Haa... right. There's no way ghosts exist in this world.
I opened my eyes and looked at the something perched on top of me... Tsuki.
"Tsuki. Get off while I'm still asking nicely."
"Hehe... How'd you know? I even hid my face."
Just as she said, her face was covered with some weird cloth. She hadn't managed to hide her voice, though.
"Ghosts don't nuzzle their faces into my chest."
"Ah..."
"And they don't drool, either."
The chest of my pajamas was damp with Tsuki's drool. I'd just pulled these out fresh yesterday, and now I'd have to wash them today. My whole body was already aching from Kang Ho-yeon's strength training yesterday... and now Tsuki was causing trouble on top of it.
Tsuki finally climbed off me. I struggled up from the bed and headed straight for the bathroom.
Shaaaa...
Water was running from inside. Someone was already showering this early. I checked the time—the only person who'd be washing at this hour was Lee Yuwol. Tsuki was in my room, and Jina would be working out at the company gym.
Click.
"Oh? Jiwoo, you're up? You slept in today, huh? Well, you did come home at dawn yesterday, so you must be tired. Hang on, I'll get breakfast ready in a bit."
"Yeah~ Tsuki climbed on top of me first thing in the morning... sheesh..."
"Heh. You two get along so well it's a problem."
Should I even call that getting along well? It wasn't a bad thing, exactly, but how should I put it? It felt like a sleazy old man had taken up residence inside Tsuki. If you went by my age in my past life, I'd be the old man. So why couldn't I ever beat Tsuki?
Ah! That's it, isn't it? Because I'm the fake one.
Sometimes stuff pops up online about fake madness versus real madness. Fake madness is becoming a villain after criticizing the world through poverty and hardship. Real madness is becoming a villain because the height that matched your favorite baseball player's jersey number disappeared.
Wow... even thinking about it now, that guy was insane.
I do crazy things sometimes too, but I'd never become a villain over something that small. Should I be taking notes? They say the world only works properly if you go a little crazy. Maybe I should try going crazy just once...
"Jiwoo? You have time to stand there spacing out? You said you have recording today."
"...Ah."
I picked up my phone and checked the time. A little past nine in the morning. Still plenty of time. Recording was set to start at ten. Eat breakfast, get ready, and hop in the car Ho-yeon unnie would drive me in.
"We're fine."
"Really...? But didn't Ho-yeon unnie say she couldn't drive you today?"
".....Huh?"
D-did she?
I inhaled the breakfast that had been quickly set out, shot up from my seat, and bolted for the bathroom.
"Bathroom..."
"Tsuki! Sorry, me first!"
Tsuki had just been about to open the bathroom door. But the person in a hurry should go first, right? I gave her a little shove and got ready at top speed.
After finishing every last bit of getting ready—breakfast eaten so fast it barely counted—I headed straight out the door.
The weather was creeping toward July. The sun beat down hotter than before, and sweat started rolling from my forehead. Normally I'd take the subway, but in this heat? And it was the weekend, so even if it wouldn't be packed to hell, it'd still be pretty crowded.
This was unavoidable. Hot weather plus a hat and a mask? That was a recipe for collapsing from heatstroke. In the end, I compromised and pulled out my phone.
A few minutes later, I got into the taxi that pulled up in front of me and rode for about an hour toward the composer's studio, using the address I'd received in advance.
"Thank you."
I paid the fare and stopped at the studio entrance. I'd only been riding for an hour, and yet I'd left behind Seoul packed with people and apartments and arrived somewhere this quiet. If anything, I thought, the lack of noise would make it a comfortable place to work.
Last time, recording had wrapped in a single day... Could we finish in a day this time too?
Entertaining that ridiculous thought, I headed inside. Even though it was an unfamiliar place I'd never been, I didn't hesitate. A former salesman, scared of a mere unfamiliar location? Please.
The composer's studio was underground, so I took the stairs down. Then a door came into view, built thick like a soundproof wall.
Knock knock.
I raised my hand and knocked lightly.
"....Nobody's coming out."
I raised my hand to knock again—and there, sitting right next to the door, was a doorbell.
"Ah, come on... If there's a doorbell, maybe mention it?"
Ding-dong.
I pressed the doorbell, and a moment later the door opened, and a familiar woman appeared.
"Jiwoo! Long time no see!"
"Uh... Boram unnie?"
I already knew that composer Lee Baram and Lee Boram were siblings. What was she doing here? Still, I hadn't expected her to be here. Had they gotten close enough that she'd come all the way to the studio?
"Unnie. What are you doing here?"
"Well, I came to see you, of course... Am I being a bother?"
I shook my head. A bother? What kind of thing was that to say. Lee Boram was basically my benefactor, the one who'd handed over Kuro's avatar at a very... very, very cheap price.
I'd casually asked Kang Ho-yeon once what it would cost to make avatars for Tsuki and Jina, excluding Kuro and Luna. What I heard then was a number so unimaginable I actually gasped. And even that was just an estimate—I'd been told the actual cost could go even higher once they were made.
I went into the studio with Lee Boram. The studio was made up of five rooms in total.
"It's not like Oppa uses all of them. Five people each take a room and split the rent five ways. That's how they can work cheap."
I stared at Lee Boram, who'd so easily answered my curiosity, and wondered if she'd always talked this much.
"Thanks to you I even got to visit Oppa's studio... If it weren't for that, I'd still be bouncing from part-time job to part-time job, all anxious... Oh! And I watched the drama! You were so pretty... Do you, um... know this actor too?"
Yeah... she really had gotten talkative. Before, she'd hesitate and read the room even to get a single sentence out. Now she just said everything she wanted without holding back. Not a bad thing. Just... she talked a lot.
Apparently Boram's chatter was loud enough, because one of the room doors opened.
"Hey, keep it down. You're bothering the other crew."
A man poked his head out. His hair looked like it hadn't been washed in days, grease gleaming, and the skin under his eyes was packed with dark, grimy shadows.
"Ah... Composer."
"Oh, Jiwoo, you're here? But... why today?"
"What do you mean, why? We were going to work on my solo track today, remember? You said you were busy, so I even came here myself... Did you forget?"
"That was today?"
The composer scratched his head, checked his phone, and his eyes widened a little.
"Ah... it is today. Sorry. I thought it was next week... Well, nothing we can do. A promise comes first."
Last time I'd seen him he'd looked reasonably put-together. Now all I saw was a worn-out old man steeped in work.
"More importantly, have you listened to the track we made last time?"
"Ah... yes! Of course I have!"
It wasn't just me—all of us had listened together. At first none of us had been used to our own voices, but after singing and practicing so much, we'd gotten familiar with them. And that was how the group song had been completed. Before I could even judge whether it was good or bad, it was bound to feel newly moving.
"Still, you have to listen to it properly."
"I know. It wasn't just us—our vocal coach listened too. Everyone was satisfied."
I stuck my thumb out and held it up.
"That's a relief, then. Ah... and these are the lyrics for today's recording, so memorize them."
The composer held out a sheet of paper with notes and lyrics written on it. As I quickly scanned the lyrics and notes, I started humming along without realizing it.
Nice... The melody was something you could belt out cheerfully, the way Tsuki was always humming, and the lyrics weren't anything difficult. If the group song was a hopeful track about chasing dreams, the solo was the kind of banger you'd sing at a festival.
"Wow... this is good."
"Of course it is. Who do you think worked on it?"
"Ah, Oppa! Don't act like that in front of Jiwoo! It's embarrassing!"
He proudly lifted his chin a little, and Lee Boram smacked him on the back. A loud SMACK! rang through the entire studio.
"How long will it take to record this song?"
"Hmm... let's see? Fastest, two weeks? Slowest, about a month?"
"...What? That long? Last time we finished in a day."
"That was a group song, though? Each person's part was short, and the other members had already recorded bits while you weren't around, so I just had to tweak a little and fix what needed fixing. That's why it wrapped so fast, but..."
The composer looked straight at me and continued.
"Today we're starting from complete scratch, right? So even two weeks is on the fast side."
"No way..."
I'd thought it'd wrap quickly... I'd even made a training appointment with my workout instructor, Choi Woo-sik. I never thought the schedule would fall apart on day one.
"Hmm... when is the song dropping? If I know the deadline, I can try to match it as best I can. Marketing's the company's job anyway... if we factor in that window."
"We've got... less than two weeks..."
"That's too short. With that kind of timeline, you'd have to stay here and work, meals and lodging included."
"What?"
I hadn't expected to be offered room and board. Did we have to do it that way? If that was the composer's thinking... I was about to nod when—
"W-wait a second! What are you talking about! This place is all guys!"
Lee Boram cut in.
"Even so, it shouldn't be a problem. Everyone here's crazy about music."
"Still no! Jiwoo would be in danger. She's a girl! She's fragile! It's dangerous!"
Ugh! I didn't think I'd take three hits in a row.
"It's not dangerous. A girl idol stayed here for about a week before and nobody even looked at her. Jiwoo won't be any different."
Ugh!
"What are you talking about! Look at Jiwoo's face! World's strongest! You can tell just from the drama! Charming men is nothing to her!"
No... stop... why are you attacking me... If you're going to fight, fight each other! They didn't used to be like this... Why do people who pass through me turn violent...? I have no idea. Is it the drama? Are their personalities changing because of the drama? Like Ahn Soo-jin sunbae?
"Th-that's enough!!"
I had no choice but to jump between them and mediate.
"Don't fight using me as the topic!"
That was how I barely managed to end their fight and start recording.
So this is how it ended up.
I decided to stay here, room and board, and record. On the condition that Lee Boram stayed too.
I went into the recording booth and stood in front of the headset and a slightly dirty-looking mic.
All right. This is where my journey begins.