Chapter 153: Blue Spring
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 153: Blue Spring
On the subway back to the hotel.
Doah was scolding me with a very stern expression.
“Who told you to stand like that?”
“Then how was I supposed to stand?”
Was it really so wrong to just stand on the street looking at my phone?
“I mean, how could you just stand there in a ‘please talk to me~’ pose!”
What the hell was a ‘please talk to me’ pose?
“Show me later. I’ll try to copy it.”
“I can do it right now.”
Doah, her hat pulled down low, hunched over like a criminal.
“Like this.”
“Maybe no one will talk to you, but that looks like the perfect pose to get reported to the police.”
“Still, isn’t it better to chat with the police than to hang out with other girls?”
Thinking neither option was great, I just shook my head.
After leaving the station and returning to our hotel, we spread out all the things we’d bought on the bed.
“It really is a lot...”
I was sure my bag had been completely empty.
If I tried to fit all this in, it would be overflowing.
“But it was fun, wasn’t it~?”
Doah smiled, looking pleased.
I silently pulled her into a hug.
“Oppa.”
“Yeah?”
“Shouldn’t we go wash up now?”
The suggestion to wash up made me flinch.
I was reminded of last night’s electrifying experience.
“So... uh...”
“Uh?”
I was about to ask, but then I thought better of it and stopped myself.
“Tonight, maybe...”
As if she’d guessed what I wanted to say, one corner of Doah’s mouth curled up into a smirk.
“Ah, you’re unbelievable.”
“No, that’s why I asked ‘maybe’.”
When did I demand you do it? Huh?
“You got the outfit dirty, Oppa, so I can’t wear it today.”
I found her playful refusal, blaming me by name, a little annoying, but she wasn’t wrong.
I was, in fact, the one who’d dirtied Luka’s costume.
“Well, if Oppa does something good, maybe Luka-nim will play with you again.”
“Alright. Let’s go wash up now.”
Her straightforward rejection actually made it easier for me to get over it.
“Together?”
“No? Not really. I don’t mind if we wash up separately.”
Doah’s hand grabbed the drawstring of my pants.
“You seemed to love it so much with Luka... but with Doah? I might be a little offended, you know?”
“No. When did I say I was unhappy about it?”
“It’s written all over your face.”
The second night wasn’t with Luka, but wholly with my girlfriend.
A night where only Doah breathed.
The brutal month of March passed, and before I knew it, it was April.
The weather had turned warm, and heavy coats were no longer needed.
When I stepped outside with a trash bag, I was greeted by sunlight so bright it was almost dazzling.
After neatly finishing the recycling, I returned home, washed my hands, and sat down in front of my monitor.
[The one and only chance to become CLOSER's producer!]
A week had passed since the announcement was posted on the official YM website.
Just as Doah had predicted, YM had launched a project to produce an album together with their viewers.
The application period was only one month.
The announcement stated that anyone interested could submit an entry to the company with an instrumental track and a vocal guide.
Of course, there was prize money for the top entries, but for most of the people participating, something else was more important. And that was...
[The chosen title track will be produced into a music video.]
Just thinking about it was epic.
I had never composed a song in my life, but I was pouring everything I had into this.
After tasting bitter frustration and helpless failure, I had to make a promise to Doah and to myself.
That I would try doing something I love.
Not for someone else.
But simply because I enjoy it.
That I would do what I want to do.
My time was too precious to waste just lying around watching Luka's streams.
And I wanted to give Doah—the one who helped me find my courage again—a wonderful result as a gift, whether I succeeded or not.
I took out my tablet, opened the app, and played the demo version of the song I was working on.
The only instrument I knew how to play was the piano.
But creating a melody on the piano wasn't that difficult.
A melody like a cheerful anime OST flowed from the speakers.
Ah... the song itself seems okay, but...
There was no surprise this time, so I had already told Doah about it.
There were times I wanted to ask for her advice, but whenever I did, she would just say the song was great and that it would surely do well.
It felt like she was cheering me on, but also like she couldn't speak her mind honestly for fear that I might break down again.
Picking up my phone, I let out a deep sigh and called the guest who was supposed to visit my house today.
[Hello?]
[Yeah.]
[Where are you?]
[I'm near the back gate now. I'll be there soon.]
[Alright.]
I never thought the day would come when I'd be asking this guy for help.
This seemed to be the first time I'd seen Yoonje this year, now a third-year student.
-Knock, knock, knock
Hearing the knock, I opened the door and gestured for him to come in.
“Well, well, if it isn't the great actor, Han Taemin~”
“What great actor?”
It hadn't even been a month since I left the company, but it felt like a distant past.
“If you were in a drama, you're an actor. What's the big deal?”
I considered not saying anything, but since he came all this way to help me, I decided to be honest about my situation.
“I quit the entertainment business.”
“Huh? Why? You were fucking popular.”
“Turns out I fucking suck at acting.”
A solemn silence hung in the air for a moment, but the good-natured Yoonje soon burst out laughing and slapped me on the back.
“You bastard! It happens! I guess if you were a real star actor, you wouldn't have time to learn guitar from me, anyway.”
Yoonje put down the guitar he was carrying.
The reason I had called Yoonje over today.
Was to ask for his musical advice.
He might not look it, but Yoonje was a member of the school's central band club.
“So, what do you want to learn?”
“Um... first, want to listen to this?”
I pressed the play button and played the song I'd made.
“Nice song. So what do you want me to do with it?”
“I want to add guitar to this.”
As I blinked and looked at Yoonje, he looked back up at me with an equally dumbfounded expression.
“To this?”
“Is it impossible?”
Can't you add guitar to this kind of song? But I feel like anime BGM and theme songs always have electric guitar sounds.
“Uh... honestly, it's fucking random so I'm a bit thrown, but it should be possible.”
“Really?”
Wow. What a relief.
If it weren't for him, I probably would have had to go awkwardly ask some stranger for help again.
Having already experienced firsthand how draining it is to work with a complete stranger, my mood lifted instantly.
“But before that, what is this? Are you covering an existing song?”
“No. I made it.”
Yoonje scoffed in disbelief.
“So you've been skipping school lately to make this?”
Yoonje's finger pressed the play button again.
“But listening to it again, you did a damn good job. I thought you just brought me a song that already existed.”
“Really...?”
I... I got a compliment...!
And hearing it from someone who actually knows a thing or two about music made my self-esteem soar.
“Yeah. The structure is really good, and the melody line is well-written. But what's it for? Just a hobby?”
The fact that I had starred in The Otaku Hiding His Identity was public knowledge, so I told him the whole truth without holding anything back.
“I'm planning to enter the CLOSER song competition.”
“Ah... that... thing you said you like?”
Yoonje jutted his chin toward the wardrobe, where a large poster of Luka was hanging.
I nodded with a reluctant expression.
“‘That thing’? That's harsh.”
Finding my reaction hilarious, Yoonje let out a hearty, old-man-like laugh.
“Hey. I actually tried watching it after seeing your interview. Ugh. I couldn't get through it.”
“That's because you're too jaded by real-life women.”
“By that logic, you seem to get along just fine with Doah.”
Doah is half data.
“Anyway, you want to add guitar to this? Hmm...”
Yoonje took his guitar out of its case, listened to my song in snippets over and over, and then started adding a rhythm to it.
“Ooh...”
The sounds of the different instruments blended, evolving into something even more amazing.
“Hey, don't make a fuss. I'm just playing along to the chords you wrote.”
“No, but it's fucking cool.”
Still, Yoonje didn't seem to mind my reaction, as the corners of his mouth kept twitching.
“Ah, wait a sec. It'll be perfect if I smoothly add some arpeggios here.”
“By the way, how did you get into guitar?”
I asked, amazed that he could be so good without majoring in it.
“I thought I'd get popular with girls if I played this.”
...You really never change, do you.
“So, did you get popular?”
“Hey, Han Taemin. You don't want my help?”
“...Sorry.”
-Beep-beep-beep-beep
Hearing the sound of the passcode being entered, both my and Yoonje's heads turned toward the front door.
“What? Who is it?”
“Probably...”
The person who opened the door and came in was...
“Oppa! I brought piz— Aaaaaah!”
Doah, who let out a scream the moment she made eye contact with Yoonje.
“Y-Yoonje oppa?”
“Doah. Long time no see?”
For the first time in my life, the three of us were about to eat a meal together in my house.