Chapter 28
Chapter 28
I’ll be honest.
If someone asked me if Burning Like the Sun was a good song, I could say yes.
But if they asked if it was a good song for an idol stage, I’d tell them to cut their losses and run.
The reason is that this song has the lyrics and sound of a typical 2000s rock band...
You can trust me on this. I heard this song every time I went to photograph idols doing the ceremonial first pitch at baseball games.
It’s a cheerful band song that doesn't even suit a cheerleader’s choreography. Its main appeal is the refreshing feel of its extreme high notes.
In conclusion... the difficulty of arranging it was absurdly high.
“...”
Can’t I pull a trait related to composing? I need one right now.
Regardless of my hopeless feelings, the conversation between the original artist and the participants was full of hope.
It seemed the other teammates only knew a couple of lines from the catchy chorus.
“We weren't active for very long, so we didn't get to perform this song much. I’d love to see you guys do a great job with it this time.”
“We’ll do our best to create an amazing stage!”
How, exactly?
…No. Let’s stop stressing out for nothing. If I just avoid getting shredded by the editing in this team match, I’ll consider it a success. Let’s just play it safe.
Even if things stay like this, I should be able to get into a small-to-medium agency and debut quickly.
‘Still, I thought the stage would... turn out somewhat decent.’
Strangely, I felt a lingering regret. I didn't even start this of my own volition, so I didn't know why I was getting so invested in the stage.
‘If someone teased me for being over-immersed, I’d have no excuse.’
“...”
…Still, it was fun.
Fine. I’ll try to be a bit more mindful during the discussion. Maybe another participant will come up with a good idea.
The original artist soon left the filming set. He said he’d come back with the trainers in a few days to watch our practice during the mid-term evaluation.
Then, the teammates sat in a circle, and the topic of the stage composition finally came up.
*
First, Ryu Cheong-woo offered a textbook concept.
“Wouldn't a cheerleading concept be best? It seems like it would suit the song, and it’s good for adding difficult choreography.”
“Cheerleading? Hmm... It’s a good experience.”
“I think it sounds okay.”
“It’ll be exciting.”
A few people, including Cha Yu-jin, responded positively. The nuance was that it was more or less okay.
“What do you guys think? Rae-bin, Moon-dae, Se-jin.”
Ryu Cheong-woo quickly scanned the team’s reactions and picked out the three silent participants. Including me.
In situations like this, it’s more effective to watch how things go and choose your words carefully rather than being the first to speak.
So, I naturally looked toward where the other two were sitting.
“Shall we hear Se-jin’s opinion first?”
“...I think cheerleading will look tacky.”
He’s hitting them with facts even here.
Since he hadn't received any malicious editing so far, Lee Se-jin’s uncooperative attitude had rarely been highlighted on broadcast.
Based on what I saw while searching for Park Moon-dae, Lee Se-jin’s fans believed him to be a ‘sensitive, shy hard-worker.’
But since Ryu Cheong-woo was an editor’s darling who got great screen time, Lee Se-jin might actually get torn apart by the editing this time.
Regardless, Ryu Cheong-woo didn't seem particularly shaken. He just calmly asked back.
“Then do you have any other ideas?”
“I don't, which is why... I wasn't going to say anything.”
“Hmm, okay. I got it for now.”
Ryu Cheong-woo immediately asked Kim Rae-bin the same thing.
“What do you think, Rae-bin?”
“Since I’m not very familiar with this song, I think I need to listen to it first.”
“Good. Let’s play it once.”
When we turned on the provided smart pad, the chorus melody played on an electric guitar followed a classic drum intro.
“...”
After everyone listened to the song in silence until the end, Kim Rae-bin was the first to mutter with a pale face.
“This is...”
Finally, someone noticed the disaster of this song selection.
First, the lyrics were a hymn to youth that was popular back in the day. To put it nicely, it was retro; to put it bluntly, it was old.
Naturally, there was no distinct concept like flower fairies or vampires, and it was awkward to try and attach one.
And because it was originally made for a single talented singer to perform standing up, the chorus octaves were throat-shreddingly high.
What if we adjusted the octave? The song’s charm would vanish.
That’s because the song’s appeal lies in the exhilaration of those piercing high notes.
“Hmm, the notes are really high. Did you notice any other difficulties?”
“...”
Kim Rae-bin took a breath as if he were about to pour out his thoughts, but then he glanced at the camera and shut his mouth.
It seemed he was being cautious after getting hammered by personality controversies when the last team match aired.
“I mean... yes. The song is good, but I think it will be difficult to arrange.”
“Really? If you say so, it must be truly difficult.”
Ryu Cheong-woo readily agreed. It seemed to be because Kim Rae-bin had produced a proper track by leading the arrangement in the first team match, even though the broadcast itself had been a mess for him.
‘He took a mass-produced EDM song from the late 2000s, stripped it down to the sample beats, and turned it into a sleek EDM trap track.’
“Then, how about you, Moon-dae?”
Finally, it was my turn.
“I think there’s something we need to decide before the arrangement.”
“What is it?”
“Part distribution.”
No answer in the song selection? Then the focus shouldn't be on doing well.
It should be on not failing.
I could say with certainty that I was the only one in the team who could properly sing the chorus of this song right now.
To pull this off immediately, you’d need at least an A- in Vocal, and I was the only one in this team who fit that.
‘But I can't sing the entire chorus by myself.’
So, we had to start by cutting the parts and practicing so that we wouldn't crack our voices.
Since the arrangement wasn't likely to turn out great no matter what we did, let’s push that back for a bit.
This wasn't the time to be drawing a big picture. This was an emergency.
If I were to convey this explanation as mildly as possible, it would go like this:
“It’s a difficult song to sing, so I think we should start practicing as soon as possible.”
“Part distribution... of course, that is important.”
Ryu Cheong-woo looked surprised.
“But that’s unexpected. I heard that in the last team match, Moon-dae suggested deciding on the arrangement first?”
“Pardon?”
I didn't know how he knew that, since it hadn't even aired.
“Ah, I heard it from Keun Se-jin.”
“...”
‘When did he even get on speaking terms with Ryu Cheong-woo?’
He really was something else.
“Rae-bin, since you’re the best at handling arrangements, I’m asking you. What do you think of Moon-dae’s opinion?”
“...Yes. That’s fine. I’ll... consider various options while we practice.”
Kim Rae-bin easily agreed. Though he looked like someone who had just observed a meteor destined to hit Earth tomorrow.
“Well, since we’ve heard everyone’s opinions, we’ll proceed by a show of hands until a better idea comes up.”
Ryu Cheong-woo didn't waste time and immediately organized the situation.
“First, raise your hand if you agree to proceed with the practice using the cheerleading concept.”
The majority raised their hands. I raised mine too, for now.
Ryu Cheong-woo didn't specifically pressure Lee Se-jin, who didn't raise his hand, and immediately moved on to the next item.
“Then, raise your hand if you’re okay with starting with part distribution.”
Fortunately, this also passed with a majority. Seeing that even Lee Se-jin raised his hand, my explanation must have made sense.
Lee Se-jin quickly lowered his hand and avoided my gaze just before our eyes met.
“...”
Is he trying to show that he agrees with the opinion, not with me? Was that really necessary?
“Good. Then let’s start with part distribution.”
It seemed like the part distribution was proceeding smoothly, but we soon hit the expected obstacle.
“I don't think I can do this part.”
“Uh, me neither...”
“The key is too high.”
The high-pitched melody of the chorus appeared four times, taking up about half of the song.
However, every teammate except for Park Moon-dae either failed or clutched their throats with embarrassed faces every time they tried to sing it.
One teammate, who had decent singing skills with a B+, became anxious about his voice cracking and eventually voiced that opinion.
“I think it would be better to arrange it and lower the key first. We have two members who rap, so how about adding some rap too?”
He was talking about doing the arrangement first. Dammit.
“Lowering the key is...”
Kim Rae-bin’s expression darkened. His already cold impression became even worse.
But the tide had already turned.
“I think lowering it is the right move.”
“I agree.”
“Hmm, the teammates do need to be able to handle it. How about we lower the key and try to arrange it to suit that?”
Kim Rae-bin glanced around and eventually nodded.
“Yes... then I’ll try it that way.”
It was clear he was giving in because he was afraid he’d be destroyed by the editing again if he refused.
In the end, the arrangement proceeded with a lack of cohesion, incorporating all the opinions: ‘lowering the key,’ ‘adding rap parts,’ and ‘accompaniment suitable for a cheerleading concept.’
It made me realize how smoothly things can go to ruin when people with no sense have the loudest voices.
The stage was as good as ruined.
I didn't bother opposing any of this during the process. My voice would have been drowned out by the numbers anyway.
Even if That sounds right luckily activated, I would only end up looking like a malcontent if I spoke up without a proper alternative.
Besides, if people started saying things like, ‘You’re only saying we should keep it as it is because you can sing it, right?’ there would be no way out.
I already came across as someone with no social skills on broadcast; it would be bad if I looked selfish on top of that.
So, I needed an outsider to honestly tell them that this was terribly tacky.
‘In the end, is waiting it out the only answer?’
The mid-term evaluation, where they’d only see the first verse, was in three days. If the judges had ears, someone would say it was bad.
I should try to think of some kind of alternative until then.
“Let’s make the choreography now!”
But the choreography Cha Yu-jin created that day along with that shout was a set of movements with a bizarre difficulty level, on par with Shining Star.
Thanks to that, I had to suppress the urge to dump my remaining stat points into Dance, let alone think of an alternative.
It was a three-day period where my stamina slowly melted away.
And finally, we entered the mid-term evaluation.
*
“This team’s rankings are impressive~”
“Rae-bin has sharpened his blade!”
“Everyone’s results from the ranking announcement were good.”
The first thing out of the judges’ mouths was our rankings.
The production crew probably asked them to mention it beforehand, but since it was true anyway, it acted as a baseline for their expectations.
“Oh, the demo track is already out?”
“Yes!”
It was thanks to Kim Rae-bin directly communicating with the arranger.
“That’s wonderful~”
“I know. This team is the only one! They’re already performing their own arrangement instead of the original.”
“As expected of a team of talented people!”
The judges were already satisfied.
However.
“Hmm...”
The reaction after the stage actually ended was lukewarm.
The judges, who were shrugging and exchanging glances, eventually picked up their microphones one by one.
“Actually, it’s not that your stage itself was that bad? But it has no charm.”
“Right. The choreography was well-made too. It showed some wit. Hmm, the cheerleading concept... well, it should originally suit the song, but why is it so gloomy?”
“The rap felt like it was added too abruptly, which is a shame. You touched a lot of things from the original, but it feels worse than the original.”
As the critiques piled up, the problems began to be specified.
Finally, as soon as Judge Young-rin picked up the microphone, she asked.
“Who did the arrangement?”
I deliberately didn't look at Kim Rae-bin. The person who brought up the idea was more of a problem than the one who executed it.
But looking around, everyone else was staring at Kim Rae-bin, so it didn't really matter.
“We all discussed it together.”
Ryu Cheong-woo quickly grasped the situation and shifted it to collective responsibility. It seemed he intended to neutralize the situation by saying he led the team poorly as a leader.
It was a good call.
But there are trolls everywhere.
“Yes. And... Rae-bin handled the arrangement work.”
You’re going to cut the tail like this here?
‘Are you insane?’
You’re doing something this stupid while the cameras are rolling?
Looking at his panicked face, it seemed he had reflexively blurted out someone else’s name out of fear because they were receiving harsh criticism.
‘F-u-u-u-ck...’
If we weren't careful, the editing would make it look like group bullying.
Afraid I might be lumped in with them, I also opened my mouth.