Chapter 177: Get an Autograph!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 177: Get an Autograph!
Joo-gyeong-ya-dok.
It’s a four-character idiom that means to farm by day and read by night.
If I were to apply that to myself, what would it be?
Joo-eum... ya-bang...?
I was trying to coin a phrase for making music by day and watching streams by night, but it didn't exactly roll off the tongue.
Joo-eum-ya-bang. Yeah, trying to be clever with abbreviations seemed to have the opposite effect.
In any case, after many days of my so-called joo-eum-ya-bang, the calendar page turned, and the day finally arrived.
It was a clear morning in June.
“You nervous, Taemin?”
Having come to work earlier than usual, I couldn't hide my anxiety.
“Ah. A little?”
“Come on. You’re just assisting, why are you shaking so much? Man up.”
Not all men are the same, you know.
Besides, today was the day Doah was coming to our studio.
If I had my way, I would have run out right then and there to give her a grand tour of the place.
But we had agreed to pretend we didn't know each other, so we had to act as if we were meeting for the first time.
When I asked what we should do about Fumurin coming along, Doah said she would talk to her beforehand.
After all, if the cheerful Fumurin were to see me, it was obvious that everyone in the studio would find out that Doah and I were a couple.
- Knock knock
Through the translucent door, I could see the silhouettes of two women.
The teacher stood up from his chair.
I swallowed hard.
When he opened the door, the first thing I saw was bright, light-pink hair.
For a moment, I wondered if it was cosplay, but it wasn't.
She actually dyed her hair pink...?
Her rather unconventional look made it hard to keep a straight face.
“Ah, welcome~”
The teacher, who had dressed neatly for his guests, welcomed the two inside.
Following behind the pink-haired Fumurin was my girlfriend, Doah.
She had come to the studio in very modest attire.
She looked so cute, shyly clutching her bag strap with both hands.
I felt the urge to run over and hug her right then and there.
But I feigned ignorance and stood demurely behind the teacher.
“A pleasure to meet you. I’m Ash Block.”
“Hellooo~”
Fumurin smiled cheerfully.
She even gave me a bright, smiling glance.
Ugh... this is intense... Her hair makes it even more so.
And I still felt that lip piercing was just not for me, on a visceral level.
“Ah... are you Luka-ssi?”
At the teacher calling Fumurin ‘Luka,’ both Fumurin and Doah burst out laughing.
“No! I’m Fumurin, and the unnie next to me is Luka!”
“Ah, yes. Hello. I’m Luka,” Doah said with a slight bow.
“Oh my. With that hair color, I thought you were Luka-ssi. Hahaha.”
The four of us sat facing each other at the table.
“Hey, Taemin. You should introduce yourself too.”
“Ah, hello. I’m Han Taemin. I’m learning from Teacher Ash Block and assisting him.”
“Hello~”
“Hello!”
Doah couldn't quite meet my eyes, while Fumurin beamed, finding the whole situation amusing.
“So, how did your practice go?”
“Ah, well... we agreed to listen to each other's singing before coming here today, you see?”
Fumurin answered everything as if she were the spokesperson and interpreter for CLOSER.
Doah mostly just smiled or nodded.
“I think Unnie sings a tiny bit better than me.”
“Ooh, I’m looking forward to it, Luka-ssi!”
As the teacher gave a friendly smile, Doah shook her head vigorously as if to deny it.
“Ah, n-no! I did practice, but maybe... to the Production Director’s eyes...? No, your ears? It might not be good enough.”
“It’s fine. I’ve cleared my schedule for today, so who would like to go first?”
The two members exchanged glances, conspired for a moment, and then Fumurin shot her hand up to go first.
“Have you ever recorded in a recording studio before?”
“Nope. Never.”
“Ah, then just a moment.”
The teacher went into the booth with Fumurin.
That left just Doah and me outside.
As soon as the door slammed shut, Doah started nervously biting her fingernails.
“Ah, I’m so scared. Oppaaaa... save me...”
“What’s there to be scared of?”
“Ughhhh. The pressure is too much. I feel like I’m going to get scolded.”
“No, it’s okay. The teacher doesn’t get angry that often.”
“Really?”
To be honest, it was my first time watching a recording session up close, so I couldn't say for sure.
“Probably.”
“Aaaah!”
Doah screamed and slapped my thigh.
Soon, the teacher came back out, and we began to monitor Fumurin's singing.
The teacher turned on the mic to give feedback.
“Murin-ssi.”
“Yes?”
“Could we try that part again? The line, ‘I’m going to dress up beautifully.’”
“Ah, yes!”
They repeated the same section over and over.
The feedback was consistent, but Fumurin struggled to incorporate it.
Of course, I knew that habits are hard to break, but I never realized it would be this much of a hindrance in a real studio.
Doah, who was watching all of this from the side, began to tremble as her turn approached.
“Hmm... I don’t think it’s going to work today, Murin-ssi. I’ll have to ask you to practice this and come back.”
I took back what I said about the teacher not nagging much.
As a professional, he was relentless and seemed ready to make her do it a hundred more times if necessary.
“Luka-ssi? Shall we have you give it a try now?”
His tone wasn't annoyed or anything, but Doah was pale as a ghost as she entered the booth.
Fumurin returned.
Her face had the look of a soldier just back from the battlefield.
“...That was tough,” she whispered to me.
I let out a small laugh, seeing her confide in me now that we'd broken the ice.
“Murin-ssi.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll write out a detailed guide for this part and this part, so please practice them, okay? You don’t have to record it here. Just work on these parts and come back, alright?”
“...Weren't we done?”
“It feels like it's 2% short. Please.”
Fumurin put a hand to her forehead. She collapsed onto the sofa behind her.
“Alright~ Luka-ssi, let's begin.”
The teacher pressed the button and spoke.
My own mouth went dry as I watched Doah's recording session.
The recording went smoothly.
So far, so good.
The second verse's chorus hadn't come up yet, so I thought it was going smoothly up to this point.
Finally, the problem section.
“This wind that's blowing now~”
“Ah, I'm sorry.”
Doah stopped singing the moment she realized she'd missed the note.
“Luka-ssi, try to be a little more confident next time, and even if you think you messed up, please sing all the way to the end, okay?”
“Ah, yes. Understood.”
The teacher's expression soured as they repeated the same section.
In a way, I started to wonder if this was Doah's limit.
Taking on a challenge could certainly bring something new, but it also meant breaking away from what she was used to.
Doah's challenge did not seem to be going smoothly at all.
“Doah-ssi. Don't force it from your throat. Head voice. You know, head voice.”
“...Yes.”
“Let's try it with the feeling that someone is pulling your hair up.”
She said she understood, but it wasn't that easy to do.
In the end, even though we started early in the morning, we had to stay in there until late lunchtime, repeating the same work over and over.
“You both worked hard!”
The teacher, having grasped exactly where the artists' limits were, concluded the recording session.
“Ah, thank you for your hard work. I'm sorry. I really... haa... I thought I had practiced enough,” Doah apologized, looking regretful.
The teacher waved his hands dismissively.
“Hey, not at all. The reason I arranged the parts this way is because I believe in your potential, not because I thought it would be easy. Not even for a second.”
“Is that so?”
“So, have you eaten? Would you like to have a meal together before you go?”
At his offer, Doah looked like she wanted to escape, but Fumurin readily accepted, saying they should eat together.
“Okay, great. Taemin, go ahead and order some yuringi. And jjajangmyeon.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Jjajangmyeon is okay with you, right?”
He was going to make us eat jjajangmyeon anyway, even if he asked.
“Ah, yes, that’s fine.”
“I’d love some!”
We spread newspaper over the table and made small talk while waiting for the food.
“Leah unnie is coming today too, right?”
“Yes. Leah-ssi said she'd be here around 5? I think that's what she said.”
“Won't she finish faster than us? Hahaha.”
“Well, we'll have to see about that. Even professional singers get sent back countless times.”
When the food arrived, I immediately started setting it up, and Doah helped me with practiced ease.
“How is it? The food's not bad, right?”
“Yes! It's really delicious!”
It was the same reaction I had when I first came here.
Taking a big bite of the yuringi, I thought, it's as good as ever.
This is fucking delicious.
“Ah, um... Luka-ssi.”
Doah's eyes widened at the sudden call of her name.
“Yes?”
“Um... this friend here, Taemin, is actually a huge fan of yours, Luka-ssi.”
The teacher tapped my calf with his slipper.
“I was wondering if you could possibly give him an autograph.”
“Pfft.”
The one who couldn't control her expression was the third party, Fumurin.
She started coughing, as if the effort of laughing and holding it in was too much.
“Ah, I'm sorry.”
“Are you okay?”
“Ah, yes, yes. Um... hurry up and give him your autograph, Unnie!”
Fumurin beamed at Doah, who stiffly picked up a pen.
“Make it a big one! And it'd be great if you could give me one too, Murin-ssi!”
“Okay! I'll give you one too~”
A large signature was drawn on a piece of A4 paper.
“Wh-what should I write for the message?”
Doah's eyes met mine, and she smiled at me.
“Uh... um... 'Go Han Taemin'? Something like that should be fine.”
“Taemin, you owe me another one for this, you punk~”
“Ahahaha. You're right. Hahaha.”
It was a ‘what is even happening right now’ kind of moment.