Chapter 191: And For All The Days To Come
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 191: And For All The Days To Come
Doah was in such a good mood that she just sat on the sofa, smiling from ear to ear.
“Why are you so happy?”
“Aren’t you happy, Oppa?”
“No, it’s not that I’m not happy, but you’re kind of scaring me. You’ve been like that this whole time.”
“Eeeeeek!”
She shot up from the sofa and threw herself into my arms.
“This is the house we’re going to live in together! It’s weirder that you’re so calm about it.”
“No, I told you I’m happy too. When did I ever say I wasn’t?”
“When did I ever say I wasn’t?”
Her mocking tone was so obvious that I frowned, but she just stuck her tongue out, not caring in the slightest.
The new apartment had one bedroom and one studio for the computers.
It wasn’t a very large place, so putting two desks in the studio made the room feel a bit cramped, but Doah said she liked it because it meant we were closer.
If we put a keyboard in that corner, it’ll be completely full.
Still, creating a workspace at home would definitely come in handy someday.
“You said you started making a new song, right?”
“It’s still in the planning stages, but yeah.”
“When is it coming out?”
“When your company gives the okay, of course. When else?”
I could have thrown together a rough draft in two days, but the refining process took much longer. And for a project of this scale, the demands were bound to be more exacting.
“Then let me hear what you’ve made, Oppa.”
“Should I?”
“Yeah. I’m curious.”
I sat down in my computer chair and turned on the power. Doah rested her palms on top of my head, then propped her chin on her hands.
“I haven’t even shown this to my teacher yet, you know.”
“Uh-huh.”
“There are two tracks. Listen to them and tell me which one you like better, number one or number two.”
“Okay.”
Since this was going to be their last song, I wanted to go with the one Doah preferred.
For me, the initial melody for any track was always composed on the piano, so the current version was just the piano with some simple drum sounds added on the computer.
“This is number one, okay?”
I clicked the mouse, and the music began to play.
One thing I’d realized while doing this work was that I tended to get incredibly nervous the first time I let someone else listen to my music. It was even worse when I was showing it to a layperson like Doah, rather than my teacher or other professionals.
That was because their criticism usually didn’t come with a solution.
I don’t like it, but I don’t know why I don’t like it.
On days when I heard something like that, I’d end up tearing my hair out in frustration.
When the one-minute demo ended, I tilted my head back, trying to look up at Doah’s face resting on my head.
“What do you think?”
“I like it.”
“A little more specific.”
“I’ll tell you after I hear number two.”
I was going to play both for her anyway, so it didn’t matter if I heard her thoughts later.
“Okay. Then this is number two.”
I swallowed hard as a cheerful piano melody began to flow.
For the first track, I had tried to go for a progression that sounded like it could be in an anime OST. For the second, I’d put a lot of effort into creating an addictive chorus.
I thought either one would suit CLOSER well, but I had a feeling the latter was more likely to be the public’s pick.
“I pick number two!” Doah announced the winner the moment the song ended.
“Really? You definitely like number two more?”
“Isn’t this, like, perfect for a dance challenge these days?”
Her assessment was blunt, but I was pleased that she’d understood my intention.
“You’re right. You’ve got a good ear.”
“Wouldn’t it be cute if we did a cute little dance to it like this?”
“Hey, it’s not like you’re the one actually doing the dancing, though.”
I knew that they scanned a professional choreographer’s movements for the avatars.
“Hey, Oppa. We have to practice it all to do it in VR, you know? Did you know they even send us videos to teach us?”
“Really?”
“Ah, I guess I never told you. They send us separate videos that teach us the point choreography. They even offer video lessons if we want.”
“So, were there people who actually took them?”
“Fumurin and Jennifer unnie did.”
…That’s impressive.
“Why didn’t you?”
“Luka is a bad dancer, she can’t do things like that.”
Luka’s signature way of speaking popped out instantly.
“You were just lazy, weren’t you?” I whispered, teasing her. Doah denied it, smacking my back repeatedly.
“I was not! I wasn’t lazy! And the reason I didn’t take the lessons is because I already know how to do it all.”
“Ooh… really?”
“Ah, Oppa. You have so little faith in me. Come over here.”
Taking my hand, Doah led me to the living room. She sat me down on the sofa and stood squarely in front of the TV.
“How much are you going to pay for the performance?”
“Performance fee?”
“This world-class idol, Luka, is about to give you a private dance performance, and you expect to see it for free?”
I let out a disbelieving laugh. Shaking my head, I told her to name her price.
“Ten billion won.”
“I don’t have that kind of money. And if we had a race to make ten billion, I think you’d get there faster.”
If she could live as a member of CLOSER for the rest of her life, I didn’t think that amount was impossible.
“Hmph. No way. Anyway, I’ll do it, but on one condition.”
“What is it?”
“The song for the third album will have choreography too, right?”
“I assume so.”
“You have to do it for me.”
“You want me to dance?”
“Yup.”
Of course, Doah had called herself a bad dancer, but I was on a completely different level of terrible.
“You want to see a squid flopping around?”
“Where in the world is there a squid as handsome as you, Oppa?”
“I meant my arms and legs will be flopping around.”
“Yep. Anyway, I want to see you do it, so is it a deal?”
It felt like I was getting the short end of the stick, but I really wanted to see Doah’s cute dance, so I held out my pinky finger in agreement.
Her dainty finger wrapped around mine.
“Okay, here I go~! Music, please!”
Doah asked me to play the music on my phone. I put on their debut song, “Boundary,” and she began to sway her body gently.
“I’ll be waiting for you~ Hoo!”
Honestly, I thought she would just do the highlight part and be done with it, but to my surprise, Doah had memorized the entire choreography from start to finish.
“When did you practice this?”
“Before my solo streams at the studio?”
“You mean you practiced while watching the choreography video?”
“Of course.”
It was always fun to imagine Doah doing things like that by herself.
“You must have practiced a lot. How do you know it all so well?”
Her movements weren’t as sharp as a professional dancer’s, but the fact that she performed the whole thing without stopping was amazing in itself.
“It’s basic idol knowledge. Besides, you know this, Oppa. I sometimes show this stuff during my full-body tracker streams.”
The Pink Army went crazy for it.
Even though she had no real reason to practice, no one could dislike seeing Luka-tan show so much affection for her own song. In fact, tons of people would clip it, calling it a live performance.
“Now that you’ve seen it, you have to dance and upload a short clip of it later!”
“Upload it where, you little brat?”
Now that a strange new condition had been added, I grabbed Doah’s cheeks and stretched them out.
“Nooo, I meaan, if a haandsome guy daances, it’ll get popularrr.”
“I still don’t want to.”
The bit of fame I’d gained from my brief acting career was already starting to fade away. I thought that was for the best, so there was no need for me to add fuel to the fire with my own hands.
“Ugh… Then I’ll just take a picture and keep it for myself.”
“Fine. I’d rather you do that.”
Doah rubbed her right cheek as if it hurt and replied.
“Sigh. I think I’ll take a nap.”
Watching Doah’s performance had put me in a good mood, and the thought of taking a long nap on our new, spacious bed made me even happier.
“Why aren’t you taking me with you?”
“You come too, Doah.”
“Now that we’re living together, you’re taking me for granted, is that it?”
When on earth did I ever say that?
Despite her words, Doah skipped along behind me, and we rested our heads side-by-side on the fluffy pillows.
Doah poked my cheek with her index finger.
I playfully pretended to be an angry puppy and snapped my mouth over her finger.
“Ugh. I didn’t wash my hands. Don’t eat it.”
“It’s fine. We’ve been home all day.”
“But I touched the computer earlier, so it’s gross.”
She only cared about hygiene when it came to things like this.
“Ah, I hope they use my song for the third album.”
“Me too. You’re the best composer there, Oppa.”
“Hey, if you say that in public, you’ll get stoned.”
There were so many famous producers at Bitdam.
“Still, I believe you’ll be the most successful.”
Her pure, untainted encouragement warmed my heart.
“I have to work hard if I’m going to support Luka-tan. You’re about to be unemployed, after all.”
“Hey! I’m not! I told you I’m going to keep streaming!”
Whether she continued to be a streamer or not…
None of that mattered to me anymore.