Chapter 58: Various Ways to Drop a Nepotism Accusation (5)
58. Various Ways to Drop a Nepotism Accusation (5)
"To You"—a song that has consistently topped the charts as "The #1 Breakup Song Women Listen To" since its release.
There are several reasons why this song is particularly unwelcome.
"Wow, isn't this way too high-pitched?"
"If we transpose it to a male key, it'll just sound like we're singing from the basement."
First of all, it's high. Not just high in parts—it's high throughout the entire song. The verses are relatively lower, but if we transpose it to a male key, it won't just be low—it'll be subterranean.
In short, the vocal difficulty is extreme.
'If that were the only issue, I wouldn't even complain.'
"The tempo's a bit awkward too."
"It's too slow to dance to, but too fast to just stand and sing."
While ballads come in many forms, "To You" starts with a slow, subdued verse before building into an explosive climax with soaring high notes.
Speeding it up into a dance track would make the latter half feel rushed, but keeping the original tempo would limit what we could do performance-wise. In other words, the arrangement difficulty is also extreme.
Of course, the biggest problem is—
"Even if we manage all that, how are we supposed to outperform Sarin sunbaenim?"
The original is just too legendary.
'No wonder her nickname is "CEO Sarin."'
—Wait, why is Sarin's nickname "CEO"? She's not an agency CEO, right?
└ Because she buries everyone who tries to cover her songs.
└ It started as a joke—"If you want to get fired, try covering Sarin's song"—and it stuck.
—The full story behind "CEO Sarin": Two years ago, a junior singer covered her song at a year-end show and bombed ▶ All past failed covers of Sarin's songs resurfaced ▶ Turns out this sweet-looking noona has been quietly annihilating anyone who dares cover her ▶ Hence the meme: "Another CEO joins the ranks" whenever someone attempts her song.
—Thanks for the summary.
└ Sarin stans at it again lol. Oh wow, must be nice having a song so high and difficult no one can touch it~
└ Why so triggered? Just stating facts.
└ Leave it. Rumor has it even a certain idol's fans got wrecked trying to cover her song.
└ Y'all always pull this crap. Pretend to be curious, then drop a "So which idols have covered it well?" like clockwork. So predictable.
—So who has covered Sarin's song well? Any recommendations?
└ What's this one's deal?
The original's reputation isn't just solid—it's towering. If we perform it faithfully, we'll get torn apart. If we deviate, we'll get torn apart. In other words, the difficulty of satisfying the public is off the charts.
'I can't even imagine how badly we'll get ripped apart if we mess this up.'
After the chaos I caused in the first mission, the attention on me for this one was far from negligible. Case in point—just look at that camera.
'It's been following me nonstop since earlier.'
First mission: Leader, center, and hogging all the parts. I led the team to victory but lost the individual battle. Yet somehow, I still clawed my way into the Wings tier. Cheer for me, and I look greedy. Hate me, and my results speak for themselves.
In the end, people would likely use this performance to decide how they felt about me. In short: I had to nail it.
'If we go too close to the original, it's a one-way ticket to the grave. We have to rearrange it.'
If we're going to be compared to the original no matter what, we might as well minimize the points of comparison. Even if it means cranking up the tempo and dancing like marionettes to these heartbreaking lyrics, we cannot do the insane thing of sticking to the original. While the others hesitated, I quickly seized the initiative.
"Let's talk arrangement direction first. How about jazz? The rhythm's already distinct, so it'll be easier to slot in performance elements."
"Whoa. Isn't that too radical?"
"The gap between the verse and chorus melodies is huge. A jazz arrangement would smooth that out."
"I like it...!"
"Me too. Honestly, all the other teams will go hard on performance. If we just do a straight ballad, we'll get left behind."
'Thank god I got teamed with reasonable people.'
The two Feather-tier members had seen me in action last mission, so they'd likely follow my lead. Dan Ha-ru seemed happy just sharing a stage with his hyungs. And Seo Tae-hyun? No need to spell things out for him—he'd make the right call.
"......."
"Tae-hyun, thoughts?"
"Huh? Oh, uh... Yeah. Sounds good. Let's do our best."
"Great. Then let's wrap up part distribution fast."
The meeting continued in surprisingly good spirits. The rare smoothness almost brought tears to my eyes. Now, all we needed was a decent stage. With "Anything but the original" as our concept, ideas came easily!
"Okay, so we'll go with this. Tae-hyun, you're great at expressions, so hold down the center."
"Got it!"
"We believe in you, Tae-hyun hyung!"
"Alright, done! Tae-hyun and I will draft the performance first. We'll fine-tune it after lunch."
"Roger!"
'Huh. This is easy.'
I tossed my notebook aside with a showy flourish, drawing cheers from the others. Even the PD seemed to decide there was nothing more to film, as several cameras peeled away to other teams.
In this improbably warm atmosphere, I made a resolution.
'Alright. Smooth sailing all the way to the stage, then cement my image as the reliable ace trainee!'
"Guys."
"......."
And just like that, Hajin's grand ambition crumbled within hours.
"......."
"This is what you're planning to perform?"
"......."
"I'm seriously disappointed."
'Huh?'
By none other than the song's copyright holder—Seo Tae-il!
'Where did we go wrong?'
Up until this mid-check, Hajin's team had been sailing smoothly.
Arrangement?
—Oh, you completely reworked the chords? Well... that approach could work. It's like a whole new song.
Vocals?
—Smart part distribution. You axed all the high notes via arrangement. Clever.
Choreo?
—Must've been tough without original choreo to reference. You pulled it off fast.
Even team chemistry!
—Should we run it once more and monitor?
—Ha-ru, take two steps back here. We keep bumping.
—Then I'll stand here for my part!
'Good. Everything's on track.'
[System Notice: Peaceful atmosphere detected.]
[System Notice: Bonus 777 Cash awarded! (Reason: Inner Peace)]
Even the system showered bonuses, moved by the harmony. Easily the smoothest progress since regression.
—Tae-hyun hyung? You listening?
—...Ah, sorry. What was that?
Tae-hyun seemed a bit spacey, but not enough to disrupt practice. He'd snap to attention once cameras rolled.
So when Hajin heard the mentor check-in was delayed due to scheduling, he didn't think much of it.
They'd pass anyway!
No issues!
Their reborn "To You" was polished enough that no one could possibly fault it!
The one thing Hajin failed to consider? That "no one" included the song's composer and producer—Seo Tae-il.
"Did you even analyze the song properly? Did you study the lyrics?"
"......."
"How did you end up with this?"
Tae-il irritably tapped his documents. The atmosphere was so tense even the whirring cameras sounded loud.
"Whose idea was this? Did you all agree to this?"
"......."
"I'm not saying the performance is bad. But if the mission was to reinterpret the original, there should at least be traces of understanding what made it powerful."
Tae-il sighed deeply. The list of issues was endless.
"Does it make sense to sing this song so brightly, grinning and showing off? What emotion am I supposed to feel? Sadness? Amusement? Is breaking up funny now?"
"......."
"I'd be less disappointed if you'd just stood there singing over the original MR."
Watching Tae-il's relentless critique, Producer Ko mused:
'Damn, Tae-il's sharpening his knives today. What's up with him?'
Scanning the trainees' faces, Ko already had the edit sequence playing in his head.
'Well, this team was too bland anyway. Needed something to spice it up. This works.'
Since this was Tae-hyun's second survival show and Hajin had hogged all the controversy in Mission 1, production had planned to focus on their dynamic from the start.
'But Tae-hyun's weirdly deferential to Hajin? Same with the others.'
The preparation had been so smooth it risked being boring. This scathing review was a godsend.
Ko wasn't the only one thinking this. Kwon PD whispered:
"We should pivot. 'Strong Team in Crisis'—that kind of angle."
"Right. I'll get proper emotional interviews from them now."
"Hajin basically led this, right? Ask if there were any disagreements."
"Got it."
Thanks to Tae-il, they had their drama. Of course, the team's evaluation would hinge on how dramatically they could turn things around.
Ko watched the trainees with amusement. Always delivering good TV.
"Sigh... Re-discuss. Re-practice. I'll check again tomorrow afternoon. As the songwriter, I can't approve a performance this disconnected from the music."
"......."
"No answer? Hajin, can't do it?"
"...No. We'll rework it properly."
"The rest?"
"We can do it!"
"We'll try!"
As Tae-il left, sighing and propping his chin, his gaze brushed past Hajin to someone else.
"Tae-hyun."
"Yes."
"Remember what we talked about when you joined Miro?"
"...Yes."
"This isn't what you came here to do. Is it?"
Tae-hyun bit his lip reflexively before bowing his head. Producer Ko, who'd known him since Boyhood Under Heaven, caught the gesture.
'...Oof. That's gonna mess with his confidence.'
With just one day left, how could they possibly rework everything?
'And yet... I'm not worried.'
Ko's gaze shifted to someone else.
Amid the tension, Hajin watched Tae-hyun calmly, seemingly unfazed. Kwon PD also eyed Hajin with intrigue.
'Something tells me... he'll figure it out.'
He knows how to play to cameras, and his stagecraft seems solid. He'll manage. With that thought, Ko observed the trainees.
Moments later.
As soon as Tae-il left, Team Sad Ending collapsed into a huddle in the practice room.
Gloomy atmosphere. Deflated spirits.
Amid the anxiety, the trainees instinctively turned to one person.
"...Hajin hyung. What do we do?"
And so, Kang Hajin—suddenly responsible for everything—thought:
'...Didn't plan for a Plan B.'
We're screwed. Fuck.