Chapter 188: The Temperature of Summer
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 188: The Temperature of Summer
Inside the Bitdam office.
I was hurriedly carrying armfuls of my things into my new workspace.
“Taemin. Let's go get some food.”
At my teacher's call, I put down my keyboard and wiped the sweat from my brow.
“Okay.”
“And congratulations. Starting today, you'll officially be earning your keep as a member of this company.”
“What? We got a job?”
I'd been wondering what I should set up after lunch, but his words snapped me to attention.
“Yep. I'm planning to have you work with me on this next request. I handled the previous ones by myself, but it's time you started earning your keep.”
“Do the others work on them too?”
“Of course. We usually make our own samples, compare them, and take what works.”
“I see.”
“But we don't usually have that many people on one project. Two at most. Any more than that is just a waste.”
Grabbing my phone, I followed my teacher out to a fast-food restaurant.
The hamburger joint was one of the few blessed places in this neighborhood of catastrophic prices where the cost of a meal was fixed.
“So, whose song are we making?”
“An idol group.”
My teacher answered, taking a large bite of his hamburger.
“Which idol group?”
“Would you even know if I told you? You said you don't know any female idols besides CLOSER. And it's a stretch to even call CLOSER an idol group, but anyway.”
“Probably not.”
I might know them if they were a top-tier group, but the chances of me recognizing some average, run-of-the-mill idol group were close to zero.
“They're a group called Revinion.”
What's with that name? It sounds like a video game item.
As expected, I shrugged to show I had no idea, and my teacher shook his head as if he'd known I wouldn't.
“They exist. They're actually pretty popular. I wrote a song for them once before.”
“Really? Did it do well?”
“Among all their songs, mine was one of their most successful. The royalties were pretty sweet, too.”
I wasn't particularly interested in the idols themselves, but the part about 'sweet royalties' definitely caught my attention.
“So... how much do you get paid for one song?”
“It varies depending on the company and the client, but usually...”
He gestured for me to lean in closer. I leaned forward, and when I heard the amount, I felt my eyes go wide.
“For... for just one song?”
“Hey. If they hit it big with that one song, their lives are set. What do you mean, 'just one song,' you punk?”
Still, for a student like me, it was an astronomical sum of money.
“So... if I do a good job on this, I'll get paid too, right?”
“Of course. But you have to do a good job. Don't even think about getting paid if you bring me some weird, half-assed track.”
With this... maybe I can move in with Doah sooner than I thought.
“I'll work hard! I'll do my best!”
I repeated the words in a slightly loud voice, bowing deeply each time, and I think the people around us started to stare.
“Alright, I get it. Now go finish moving your stuff in. You can't get anything done until you're settled.”
I couldn't wait to tell Doah the good news.
“So! If this goes well! I might be able to save up the money surprisingly fast, right?”
Oppa told me everything that happened at the company, smiling brightly like a child.
But I found it hard to smile and give his news my 100 percent blessing.
This is just... haa...
I knew I was probably overreacting, but I just couldn't stand the thought of Oppa being around other women.
And it wasn't just some random girl on the street.
It was a famous idol.
An idol from a group I actually knew.
There were even members I'd watched fancams of and thought were really pretty. It would be strange for me, as his girlfriend, not to feel a little on edge.
“Oppa.”
“Yeah?”
“You remember the promises we made back then, right?”
“Ah. Of course I do.”
Hmm... feels like he's trying to gloss over it.
“Tell me. The three things.”
“First, don't accept anyone's number. Second, don't eat out alone with anyone. Third... what was it?”
As he scratched his head, I moved in close and rubbed my nose against the bridge of his.
“Don't smile so charmingly at people!”
“Ah. Right. That one.”
As I leaned into him, he naturally wrapped his arms tightly around my waist to steady me.
“But, you know, like with Leah last time, it's kind of awkward to refuse when they offer their number.”
“Is it?”
“It's a bit tricky to turn them down when they offer it directly.”
But I don't like that.
I imagined opening Oppa's phone and finding it full of numbers from all sorts of female idols.
What if one of them snatched his phone, saying she'd save her number herself, and even added a heart emoji...!
-Pooof-
The delusion factory in my head overheated and shut down.
“...Ugh.”
Held in his arms, all I could do was whimper and whine.
I knew I was being childish.
But what good would it do me to bottle it all up just to seem mature?
I squeezed his hand, the one with the ring on it, and proposed a compromise.
“Then you have to promise to report to me if you sense anything strange, okay?”
“There won't be. There won't. There's no way anything like that would happen.”
“Oh yeah? You managed to charm one of my members with that wretched face of yours! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!”
I opened my palm and playfully slapped his thigh over and over.
“Okay, Doah. I'll be careful about that stuff. So, have you thought about where you'd want to move?”
“It would have to be somewhere near the university, right? And the studio... haa... I don't even know what's going to happen with the studio.”
“...Right. How many months are left?”
“Four months.”
July is almost here, so... August, September, October, November.
Yeah, exactly four months left.
“When CLOSER... ends, do you think they'll take the studio away?”
“Well... maybe... All I've heard is that the higher-ups are still in meetings and nothing's been decided.”
“Then I guess we'll have to put moving on hold until then.”
Oppa smacked his lips in disappointment, so I gently scratched the back of his hand with my index fingernail.
“Oppa. You must be pretty confident you can earn all that money in just three months, huh? You're so full of yourself.”
I teased him with a playful smile, and my competitive Oppa immediately rose to the bait.
“Hey! Don't forget, I'm the guy who won an award for the song he wrote for CLOSER. Even my teacher called me a natural.”
“You know it'll be embarrassing if you say that and then fail, right?”
“You're my girlfriend. Why are you always jinxing me?”
Oppa deliberately scrunched up his face into an ugly expression.
Finding even that endearing, I gave him a soft peck on the lips.
“I hope it goes well. But I also hope that your biggest hit song ends up being one of ours.”
“Hey, what kind of career is it if my debut work is my peak?”
Oppa let out a hearty laugh and patted my butt.
“No, it doesn't have to be 'Summer Records'. You could work on our next album, too.”
“You think so?”
“Of course, that's not something I can decide.”
I could probably make a suggestion, but the budget and management were all handled by the company.
I wanted to let the world hear another song written by Oppa.
Not because I was confident I could sing it better than anyone else, but just because it was what I wanted.
As if he knew what I was thinking, Oppa started poking at my belly fat.
“If this idol song turns out well, I'm sure another opportunity will come along.”
“Okay, I get it, so can you stop that and talk to me?”
“Nope. Nothing else feels this good.”
“Touch up here instead. Up here.”
The place where it's legal to get fat.
“Ooh... Kim Doah. Are you trying to seduce me right now?”
“Huh? No?”
“Hey, if you didn't mean it like that, you shouldn't say things that could give someone the wrong idea.”
I turned around and straddled his lap, a grin spreading across my face.
Come to think of it, it's been a while since we did anything naughty.
“Oppa.”
“What.”
“Do you still watch... that?”
“Watch what?”
That thing that was even more shocking than porn.
Instead of saying the word out loud, I mouthed it to get the meaning across.
“Ah! No! I deleted it. Right after that happened.”
“Really?”
“Here. Look. I'll show you my phone.”
“Never mind. You already deleted everything, didn't you?”
He snorted as if in disbelief and pushed me firmly backward.
Lying flat on my back on the soft bed, I decided to use my personal cheat code.
I spoke in Luka's voice.
“Aah! Pink Army! Look over here! Your idol is about to be eaten alive!”
“What's the big deal? I've already eaten you alive plenty of times.”
Oppa looked down at me, balancing himself on one arm.
The veins on his arm, slightly bulging from the strain, added to the sensual fantasy.
“You're so lewd.”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
“I'll suck it, then?”
Pfft.
Oppa failed to hold back his laughter and quickly turned his head away.
“You... you... you've got a smart mouth, don't you?”
“I'm a streamer. I make a living with my mouth.”
“Right... A streamer has to be good with their words...”
Finding his bright red face unbearably cute, I pulled him down by the neck.
“Come here. Let me hold you for a bit.”
A heat hotter than summer itself bloomed in our room.