Chapter 589
Chapter 589
“I believe there is a clear distinction between whether a song exists as a standalone, completed work of art or as part of a larger narrative—that is, as a piece of comprehensive content. And an OST is the latter.”
Nod, nod.
“That is why last night, in the ‘Room of Dreams and Hope,’ I re-watched the entirety of The Doll Hunter Season 1 to prepare for the OST production! I want to make it clear that I did not waste a single second of my break!”
I stared blankly at the guy who had barely managed a single bite of food because he was too busy giving this speech, while everyone else was busy polishing off bowls of rice with pork kimchi stew and rolled omelets.
“Rae-bin.”
“Yes?”
“You’re happy right now, aren’t you?”
“Yes!”
Then that was enough.
Release complete!
Having dramatically escaped the hellish ‘Hocance’ room by winning the game last night, Kim Rae-bin had transformed into the incarnation of passion and a workaholic.
It seemed that being forcibly isolated from composing had allowed his body and mind to recharge, but he looked so overcharged it was as if he’d been doping.
Just look at the glint in his eyes.
“I can say without hesitation that I am fully prepared to engage in work this very instant…”
“I know. But eat your food first.”
“Yes, sir!”
Right. Eating is what stays with you.
Besides, do you know what I had to go through to get this meal?
—Again.
—Aaaagh! Park Moon-dae’s eleventh attempt!
—Ohhhhh!!! Hyung, win this!
This morning, as soon as I opened my eyes, I had to memorize nursery rhymes and match the choreography, re-drawing the lots five times just to win the position of cooking duty.
I had to make it worth the effort.
“The person who feeds you is your guardian. Hyung, you deserve my filial devotion.”
“Sure, sure.”
It had been two nights since Bae Se-jin and I pushed for that radical interview.
Fortunately, the production crew didn’t go back on their word. It meant they had immediately begun improving TeSTAR’s environment starting the very next day.
It was quite fun to receive better treatment in a way that didn’t feel awkward within the show’s structure—making it look natural, as if TeSTAR had earned it.
I was planning to schedule another ‘interview’ if they didn’t take the hint, but…
‘I guess a second meeting won’t be necessary.’
If it had gone that far, I would have just cut ties.
Anyway, after excitedly helping with the dishes, Kim Rae-bin finally pulled out his precious laptop and sat in the workroom, his feet tapping with anticipation.
“Shall we… begin?”
“Yeah.”
The final task given to us in this eventful variety show.
And the main task at that.
—It’s composing the OST for The Doll Hunter Season 2!
After giving a nonchalant reaction in the style of ‘Oh my god, we had no idea’ and ‘TeSTAR shocked once again by the variety show’s twist,’ we finally sat down as a complete group, including Kim Rae-bin, to discuss the song.
‘This is where we finally show our systematic composition process to appeal with our professional side and a different kind of fun… or so they hope.’
Well, to put it into words, the steps were simple.
—Step 1: Research.
“First, shall we look at the BGM and OSTs used in the previous season?”
“Yes!”
The tracklist for The Doll Hunter Season 1 was laid bare.
Most of the tracks were intense, filled with heavy beats, or designed to create tension.
Even in emotionally heightened scenes, the melodies were either solemnly minor or pathetically tragic.
‘Basically, they just hit you hard with it.’
“I see. It seems there are more BGMs focused on impact rather than those that quietly set the mood.”
“Mmm~ The Doll Hunter originally focused on keywords like disaster, survival… things like that. That’s why it was so fun!”
Right. You could tell they bet everything on making the viewers feel like they were losing their minds so they’d click on the next episode.
And the drama producers’ requests for the OST were in the same vein.
“They said they want it to feel like… ‘Holy crap, it’s Jung Yi-sol!!’”
“Oh.”
In short, it could be summarized as: ‘Gentlemen, please just make it similar to the existing vibe.’
It meant they weren’t being picky.
‘Their expectations aren’t that high.’
Rather than ‘Please craft a timeless masterpiece, a god-tier song of the century that will be the final puzzle piece of our work,’ it felt more like they wanted to use TeSTAR’s variety show for marketing.
And they probably trusted the composing skills of the successful Kim Rae-bin.
“Then… should we go in the direction of highlighting the impact of the character Jung Yi-sol…?”
“Oh~ put simply, that’s exactly it!”
This happened to be the next step of composition.
—Step 2: Identifying Needs.
Mixing the researched data to determine the direction of the song.
And we just happened to have a professional detector to judge this.
The person who actually played Jung Yi-sol!
The person who knows Jung Yi-sol’s actions inside and out!
“We have Se-jin hyung with us.”
“Uh-huh…! Um, hyung. In Season 2… can I ask how you first appear…?”
Amidst those expectant eyes…
Bae Se-jin avoided their gaze.
“I’m dead.”
“……”
“Ah, right.”
He appeared so often in the snowy mountains that I forgot.
The guys who used to hang around and play the opposing roles while Bae Se-jin practiced his script nodded solemnly.
Jung Yi-sol in this season…? Ah, that was just the protagonist’s hallucination.
“A dead person… hmm.”
“Then should we make it a bit scary? Jung Yi-sol himself is quite a chilling character to begin with.”
“Right. It might be good to sample the melody of the BGM used when Jung Yi-sol betrayed everyone in Season 1.”
“Indeed, that is an excellent idea!”
And here, an interesting dynamic emerged.
‘They aren’t backing down.’
Perhaps because the TeSTAR members had gotten into the habit of composing CM songs for a few days without Kim Rae-bin, their attitudes had changed a bit.
Before, they were more cautious.
Because Kim Rae-bin was so good, they clearly chose their words carefully, fearing they might have a negative influence.
They were filtering their thoughts.
‘That habit only solidified as they gained more experience.’
But over the past few days, while they were racking their brains to compose a song in a single day without Kim Rae-bin and aggressively trading feedback, it seemed to have become second nature to them.
“This, this is good! What song is this part from?”
“Ooh!”
“I found it. I’ll put it in!”
The interesting thing was that Kim Rae-bin seemed to be enjoying this even more.
‘This is interesting.’
Opinions flew back and forth without a break, and through constant revisions, the song began to take shape.
—Step 3: Demo Production.
Do you know how long it took to produce a one-minute demo?
Only three hours.
“Wooow.”
“Wow… having Rae-bin here really makes a difference in speed!”
“Thank you!”
Drinks and compliments were exchanged over the file.
Feeling the joy of a workaholic, Kim Rae-bin moved the mouse again with the practiced skill of a veteran assistant.
“Then, I shall play it!”
“Yeah!”
Click.
The button was pressed.
And then.
—…♪♬♬♬♬-♪-♪♬
The strings trembled.
“…!”
—♪♪♪♩-
A cold blade sliced through the thick bass.
The main melody, choosing a heavy presence over harmony, was relentless.
In the empty, hollow snowy mountains, a sharp and smooth cello melody surged like a shiver.
Season 1. It was the classical melody used when Jung Yi-sol killed his colleagues.
It brought the character’s connection to life and maximized his presence.
“……”
It wasn’t even a real cello performance; it was just sounds programmed into the software.
And yet, the composition was so immense that it felt as if you could see the performer’s hands racing in your mind.
The resolution.
“……”
It was an OST that reconstructed a classical piece into an intense modern pop track.
The moment the 1 minute and 12 seconds of playback ended, everyone fell silent.
“How is it?!”
“It’s so… cool.”
That was the correct answer.
‘This… is just the kind of taste where they threw in everything the production company wanted.’
You know that kind of thing, overflowing with MSG, that makes your mouth water.
If you layered some meaningful lyrics in a foreign language over this, it would perfectly capture the essence of The Doll Hunter that the clients wanted.
‘It came out in one go.’
The drama production company’s gamble had paid off.
They’d be able to use it well for marketing, saying things like, ‘Did you know? One of our OSTs was made by TeSTAR, haha.’
“Wow… I really like it. I think we can just build up the volume based on this. What does everyone else think?”
“I agree!”
It was just as everyone was excitedly turning back to the music program.
“Um.”
“Yes?”
Bae Se-jin raised his hand.
After looking around, he spoke as if he had made up his mind.
“It’s cool, but… Right, Ryu Cheong-woo. In what kind of scene do you think this song would be used?”
“……?”
“Well… how about the scene where Jung Yi-sol first dies?”
Bae Se-jin shook his head.
“That scene will be directed to feel intentionally hollow. It can’t possibly match such an intense song.”
“Hmm…”
“And I’ve been thinking,”
Bae Se-jin took a deep breath.
“Among the scenarios I acted out this season… there isn’t really a scene that fits this song.”
“…!”
The atmosphere grew quiet, as if doused with cold water.
‘I see.’
Bae Se-jin knew every single scene Jung Yi-sol appeared in.
But through his eyes, there was no place for this song… even after scouring all those scenes.
No matter how cool the song was.
“Don’t misunderstand! The song is really good. But… I thought it would be better to say it.”
Bae Se-jin went on to explain his death sentence for the demo more firmly.
“Earlier, Kim Rae-bin said an OST is part of comprehensive content. So… I considered this song as a component of the drama once more.”
“……”
“And well, it felt a bit awkward no matter where I put it.”
Kim Rae-bin spoke up.
“I see. Since you, hyung, who actually played the character, say so, it carries even more weight!”
The kid nodded seriously and, without hesitation, deleted the melody of the audio file…
“Aaaagh!”
“Don’t delete it! It’s a waste!”
“Pardon? Ah, I am not deleting it entirely! I have backed it up separately.”
“Phew.”
Every single member made a show of wiping away cold sweat. It was understandable.
‘The song itself is good, after all.’
I was certain.
Even if we released it as is, the drama production company would snap it up.
The song was good, and it suited the character anyway. They’d also give a passing grade to the marketing through TeSTAR’s variety show.
They’d probably rack their brains to find even a slightly fitting scene for Jung Yi-sol this season.
But that would just be a way of ‘going through the motions.’
“…I thought about this while composing the CM song a few days ago, but I still won’t be able to contribute to the composition like Kim Rae-bin.”
Bae Se-jin spoke firmly.
“But! This is a drama OST. This is a field I know well. So, I want you to trust me and try revising the song.”
“…!”
It was the first time.
The first time Bae Se-jin had made a statement like ‘I’ll take responsibility’ with such confidence.
And I knew the reason.
‘He realized he can take responsibility.’
The experience of protesting firmly but not rudely to the production crew and getting a good result.
That must have been a new challenge for him.
And since that courageous attempt returned a positive outcome, his behavior was being reinforced.
Like this.
“What do you think?”
I looked at Bae Se-jin’s confident expression and then looked around.
It seemed everyone was thinking more or less the same thing.
Naturally…
“I’m in.”
“…!”
“That’s right. We aren’t the kind of group that settles for ‘this is good enough,’ right, Moondae-Moondae?”
“Yeah.”
That’s right.
If we compromised here, it would be a structure where only the drama production company gained a bigger profit by having TeSTAR handle the OST.
‘We should get a taste of marketing from you guys too.’
Even people who watched the drama without knowing anything should be driven to look up the song the moment the OST played, thinking, ‘Whoa, what the hell is this?’
And then they’d be stunned to see TeSTAR’s name.
That was the maximum profit TeSTAR could pull from this deal.
“We should produce something that will give people goosebumps and shock them the moment the OST flows out in the drama.”
“…! Good.”
A good answer.
I chuckled inwardly.
“Then, to use as a reference for the OST revision, is there an ‘impressive scene of Jung Yi-sol’ that you would recommend, hyung?”
In the past, Bae Se-jin would have turned pale and hesitated for a long time before adding, ‘It’s just my opinion, but…’
However.
“There is one scene I’ve thought of.”
Now, Bae Se-jin spoke immediately.
“What is it?”
And he delivered a confident answer.
“The true climax for Jung Yi-sol this season.”
*
A few days later.
“The OST has arrived.”
“Ah, okay.”
The director of The Doll Hunter received an audio file from a staff member.
‘It’s here.’
Jung Yi-sol’s theme song.
Normally, it was an OST where the people in charge would have overseen everything from the demo, with complex feedback going back and forth.
But since this had become a marketing tactic, it turned into ‘TeSTAR, please do it on your own.’
It was because the higher-ups predicted that would be better for drawing attention.
“Hmm.”
The director felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
Bae Se-jin was indeed a great actor.
But the group he belonged to, his main activity, was… a K-pop idol.
K-pop idols.
The essence of the modern broadcast entertainment industry, which staked its life on commercialism and business viability.
Naturally, the OST would have been made following corporate logic rather than art.
Of course, the song would be good.
But they would have made a safe choice.
They would have produced a popular song rather than a so-called film score that perfectly fit the story and scenes.
That was what hurt.
‘Jung Yi-sol is such an important role.’
Of course, at the point where more investment capital came in through the platform’s name value than his own, there was nothing that could be made ‘as the director wants’ or ‘as the writer wants.’
They say everything is a series of compromises, but the director still felt bitter.
‘I’ll just have to find a way to fit it in.’
Resigned, he made up his mind and pressed the play button.
Click.
And then… the sound of thin strings began to ring out.
“…?”
What is this?
A strange dissonance that felt like it suddenly failed just as it was about to become intense.
It creaked as if trying to climb up, only to plummet down.
And then, silence.
“……”
This is Jung Yi-sol’s theme song?
Just as the director’s bewilderment was about to turn into a slight surge of irritation.
♪♬♩-♪-♪♬……
The strings flowed again.
But this time, it was the harmonious and stable sound of a smooth orchestra.
And the melody flowing elegantly over it was…
—Um, Ummum, um…
A human voice.
The classical melody used in Jung Yi-sol’s murder sequence in Season 1 was now leaping over the strings in a beautiful acapella.
The way the slightly eerie, perfectly falling minor key mixed with the soft strings was mysterious.
‘Hmm?’
And in between, the noise of wind instruments that sounded like the wind could be heard, along with the sound of percussion that sounded like pens clashing.
‘Aha.’
The director nodded.
It seemed they had implemented the image of the virtual Jung Yi-sol, imagined by the protagonist in the snowy mountains, into the OST.
‘Not bad… hmm, it’s good.’
Doesn’t it suit Jung Yi-sol’s theme?
He listened with a slight sense of satisfaction.
Then, a question suddenly occurred to him.
‘Wait.’
If it was expressing Jung Yi-sol in the snowy mountains, what was that strange dissonance at the very beginning?
‘There must be an intention behind it…’
And he came up with a fairly convincing guess.
‘Oho.’
Could it be that it expressed the scene where the protagonist kills Jung Yi-sol?
The image of Jung Yi-sol dying in vain.
He nodded and focused his ears again.
Interest was coming alive within him as he wondered when the song would actually start, but at the same time, a bit of indifference remained.
However, that indifference was soon shattered.
“…!”
No matter how long he waited, no lyrics came in.
Instead, the acapella humming, along with brass instruments, broke in with a new melody.
Aaaaaa—! Hummmmm-
But… that melody was very familiar.
It was the protagonist’s theme song.
A famous classical march.
“…!!”
Why on earth was the protagonist’s theme song in Jung Yi-sol’s theme song?
‘Did they misunderstand the composition request?’
Bewilderment.
However, as he listened to the OST rushing toward its climax with the sound of sharp strings snapping and complex mixing, he realized.
That destructive sound.
‘Ah.’
This… wasn’t just a song that listed Jung Yi-sol’s appearance scenes in chronological order!
It was expressing a single scene.
Jung Yi-sol’s highlight scene.
“……”
But that wasn’t Jung Yi-sol actually appearing.
The protagonist.
In the final episode of Season 2, he ends up being chased by people who were his colleagues in his past life due to the butterfly effect of a momentary selfish choice.
Thus, after hurriedly retracing his steps, he eventually flees to the convenience store on the floor where his original home was located…
And there, he saw it.
The corpse of Jung Yi-sol, whom he had killed.
And sitting next to that corpse was the Jung Yi-sol of his delusions.
—…….
—Any thoughts?
Under extreme stress, the flashback sequence the protagonist recalls while looking at Jung Yi-sol’s corpse.
Those short and intense cuts.
From the murder to the confrontation in the snowy mountains, and then the conversation, confusion, hatred, comfort…
Everything poured out rapidly.
Like a flash before one’s eyes.
‘My god.’
That was exactly what this song was!
In the meantime, the song surged even deeper.
The acapella poked out here and there, and modern, sharp sounds suddenly flashed like electricity around the strings.
The protagonist’s guilt, collapsing mental state, physical fatigue, anger, sense of kinship, and so on surged…
And raced forward.
—Aaaagh!
Until the protagonist ran out of the convenience store and voluntarily jumped into the attacks of his former colleagues who were targeting him.
Until the Jung Yi-sol in the snowy mountains disappeared.
♩! ♩! ♪♬!
“……”
The end of the intense high notes, the tearing cello, and the drums.
The flashback was over.
Gooooo…
Only white noise remained, flowing slowly.
“……”
The director looked up.
And the moment he checked the length of the song, he felt a thrill.
8 minutes and 14 seconds.
Without a single lyric.
‘So…’
He summarized.
TeSTAR had boldly discarded the vocal track.
Instead, they had delivered a truly traditional OST, an instrumental piece without lyrics—an Original Score.
By boldly excluding the part of songwriting altogether and targeting only the auditory elements of the drama!
To bring the impact of the scene to life.
“This…”
To think they took such a dangerous risk!
But he knew.
There were no lyrics, but there was a development and a story made of melody. Very smoothly and intensely.
So, if used in parts, it could even be applied to every single Jung Yi-sol scene this season.
‘Unbelievable.’
Popularity? He didn’t know.
But one thing was certain: when this song met the Jung Yi-sol played by Bae Se-jin, it would create an enormous impact.
And wasn’t that exactly what the popularity of an OST was!
“My god.”
He couldn’t tell what kind of reaction would come out when this OST was released, but the director was certain of one thing.
At the very least, it wouldn’t be a reaction within the scope expected by the drama marketing team.
‘It’s really… beyond imagination.’
It seemed that in any field, once you surpassed a certain level, you developed a way of thinking that defied expectations.
Even if it was an idol, the ultimate symbol of industrialism.
“Incredible.”
Listening to the audio from the beginning again, the director was certain.
TeSTAR must also be waiting for the reaction with immense determination and tension!
*
However, at the same time.
TeSTAR, who was finally leaving the mountain cabin, finally encountered the reactions to episodes 1 and 2 of the variety show, which had been released before the OST…
“Hy-Hyung! We have a problem!”
“Why?”
“Profanity and insults directed at the variety show production crew and the CM song representative who gave us the request are rampant on the internet…”
“Oh.”
“……?”
“Ah, it’s fine.”
“……??”
“Just leave it.”
Park Moon-dae was enjoying the true taste of justice being served without any backlash!