Chapter 160: SUMMER RECORDS
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 160: SUMMER RECORDS
“Cheers!”
The glasses clinked with a clear sound.
At the same time, the harsh scent of alcohol traveled down my throat.
“Ugh. That’s strong.”
Putting down my glass, I smacked my lips and shook my head.
This is even stronger than soju. This is tough.
“Hey. It’s the first glass, why are you being such a buzzkill?”
“Excuse me! Oppa can’t handle his alcohol!”
Doah chided Yoonje, who was sitting across from us.
Caught between them, I let out a small laugh.
“No, it’s fine. It’s a good day, so I should drink a little.”
It was the day we submitted the song.
Yoonje, Doah, and I held a little ‘sending ceremony’ at my place to email the file.
It reminded me of my parents when I was applying to college.
Doah, anxiously hoping it would go well.
Yoonje, saying I’d worked hard and that it was time to go for a drink.
We couldn't refuse him, since he'd helped as if it were his own project, so we ended up at a relatively expensive and atmospheric bar in the neighborhood.
I wasn't a fan of whiskey, but Yoonje insisted that a day like today called for it, so I told him to order whatever he wanted.
Doah didn't seem to approve, but she came along, saying she'd rather come with me than let me go alone.
“Man, I really hope it does well.”
As if the alcohol wasn't strong at all, Yoonje downed another shot and sucked on a lemon.
“Yeah.”
“But honestly, the song is really well-made. I’m telling you, I approve!”
Yoonje chuckled, amused by Doah chiming in.
“Hey, Doah. Who are you to approve or not? You don't know anything about music.”
“...That's not true.”
“Do you do anything with music?”
Well… it's less that she 'does music' and more that she 'is an idol'. Our dear Doah-nim.
“Not really, but getting my approval isn't easy!”
Unable to reveal that she was part of Closer, Doah stomped her feet and retorted to Yoonje's comment.
“But seriously, Doah has a great personality. Putting up with him giving such a good song to some VTuber.”
I'm telling you, the song I'm 'giving' is hers!
It wasn't like someone had gagged us, but we were left completely speechless.
“So, Taemin, what are you going to do after this?”
“Me? Hmm… after this is over…”
Nothing was decided.
For the past month, I had just devoted myself to music to forget the pain of failing as an actor.
And it was nice because when I was that absorbed, I couldn't think about anything else.
Music was like a breakwater, stopping me from getting depressed whenever I was alone.
“I don't know. Maybe I'll look for an internship or something?”
“Hey. If you've got nothing else to do, seriously, just join the band I'm putting together.”
“Oppa has plenty to do!”
Yoonje's questions were clearly directed at me, but Doah answered every single one as if she were my defender.
“Hey, Doah. Let me talk to your oppa for a bit, too.”
“You two probably had plenty of fun talking whenever I wasn't around.”
“No way. This bastard won't even entertain a conversation if it's not about music.”
Yoonje looked at me as if he'd been wronged, but I had nothing to say.
I mean, he came to make music, so he should have just done that.
Rating the face of the girl he was talking to. A bracket fight for pants he wanted to buy. Recommending motorcycle stickers.
Yoonje would suggest talking about the most useless things in the world, but honestly, I had no idea what I was looking at, nor did I know why I had to look at it with him.
My advice couldn't possibly have been helpful.
“You should just get a girlfriend, Oppa.”
Doah pouted and shot back, and Yoonje clutched his chest as if in pain.
“Seriously… I’m just waiting for you two to break up.”
“We're not going to.”
A tense war of nerves continued.
“Hah. Fine. We'll see! Doah. You. You have no idea how popular Han Taemin is, do you? Hey, back when he was a freshman…”
Stories from my past that even I didn't know came pouring out.
Of course, it wasn't like I had done anything.
It was just a flood of stories about people at school, whose faces I barely knew, who had a crush on me.
The more she listened, the more Doah's face twisted.
My dear girlfriend, perhaps feeling thirsty, downed one glass after another.
This seems dangerous, drinking so fast.
Even when I tried to stop her, Doah wouldn't listen and kept gulping it down diligently.
“There are so many girls who would pounce the second you let go of Han Taemin~ Hey, after his web drama came out, there were even girls who came straight to me, asking for an introduction.”
He said he was going to sell my name, and he really did!
I was just about to tell him to stop.
“I… I'm popular too!”
Doah slammed back the whiskey in her glass in one go and shouted at him.
“You? C'mon~ No way~ Doah, you're cute, but compared to Taemin…”
“I… I've probably gotten more confessions than him!”
“What are you talking about?”
Doah looked up at me, her face flushed.
Her expression seemed to demand that I say something, anything, but I just trailed off.
“Uh… right… Doah is popular.”
“Aah~ Hurry up and tell him how popular I am, Oppa!”
She was drunk.
200% drunk.
It was rare to see Doah get drunk before me.
Seeing Doah start to hang off my neck, Yoonje slapped his forehead as if he couldn't watch.
“Fuck… I really want to go home.”
“Good idea. Let's go home.”
I hadn't drunk much, but Doah and Yoonje seemed pretty tipsy, so it felt like the right time to stop.
“Aaaah~ Hurryyy~ Tell him I'm popular before you go~ Han Taemin~ You Lucario bastard~”
Thinking something really bad would happen if she kept talking, I ran to the counter, paid, and lifted Doah into my arms.
“Hey. We're leaving first.”
“...Second round?”
“What second round? You're drunk too, man.”
“Nooo~ I'm not drunk~ you punk~ Hey. Put Doah to bed and come right back out.”
“Nuh-uh~ No way~ Taemin oppa is sleeping with me~”
Doah, using Luka's signature annoying voice, stuck her tongue out to tease Yoonje. I left with an apology and escaped the bar.
On the way back home.
I supported the stumbling Doah as we slowly made our way up the hill.
“...Oppa.”
“Yeah?”
“Stop being so popular.”
“How can I be popular when I only stay at home?”
“Is dat so?”
Finding her own words funny, Doah giggled.
As expected, Doah under a status effect felt twice as cute.
It was true when she'd just woken up… and it was true when she was drunk like this…
I thought it was a lethal dose of cuteness.
“Ah… that Seo Yoonje punk… really… I should've told him… how popular I am…”
“You're an idol, so just bear with it.”
“Pro-tect Lu-ka~”
Jeez. I'm scared someone might see us.
Deciding it would be better to deliver her home quickly, I bent down for her to get on my back, and Doah obediently climbed on.
“...Warm.”
“Just a little longer. We're almost there.”
“Are you gonna sleep over?”
“Yeah. I'll sleep over.”
“Keeheehee… good…”
It was a day I newly discovered that Doah was weak to whiskey.
I quickly punched in the code to Doah's place, which was familiar by now, and gently laid her down on the bed.
“Doah. You have to change before you sleep.”
I felt like a dad.
Instead of answering, Doah stretched her legs straight up in the air.
“Take off my socks…”
“I can't with you.”
I said that, but my hands were already dutifully putting the socks in the hamper.
“You have to take off your pants, too.”
“Pants? You're trying to take off my pants…?”
“No. You need to change out of them.”
Honestly, if they were comfortable sweatpants, I would have just left them, but they were tight jeans, so it seemed better to change.
“...Lewd, Oppa.”
“It's not like that.”
She seemed to have no intention of taking them off herself, so I was just about to undo her button.
Doah sat up and wrapped her arms around my neck.
“Doah… hey… this…”
“Aah~ Don't. I just want to sleep today… Oppa…”
“No! I told you I'm not going to do anything weird!”
“I don't waaaant to… stop…”
She pulled so hard that I couldn't even move without using my full strength.
“Ah…”
The scent of alcohol and Doah's own scent mixed together, creating a sensual aroma.
“Screw it.”
My grand goal of putting her to bed and going home was a failure today, too.
Emptying my mind, I closed my eyes and fell asleep with Doah.
*
Finally, the day had come.
The three of us gathered in front of the monitor once again.
“Hey. I can't click it.”
“Ah. What are you doing? Click it already.”
“Oppa! Click it! What are you doing! Ah, my heart's going to explode.”
Me, holding the mouse, with Yoonje and Doah nagging me from behind.
Don't get your hopes up. Failing is the default.
Yeah. How many professional composers entered this thing?
Don't get your hopes up, Han Taemin! Don't get your hopes up!
[Results of the Closer Participatory Album Contest]
I clicked on the official results announcement and slowly scrolled down.
First place… went to the person everyone thought would get first place.
Second place was someone I'd never seen before.
It seemed to be an amateur who had beaten out the pros.
And below that…
[Excellence Award: RKRO - SUMMER RECORDS]
The two people behind me screamed and threw their arms around me in a hug.