Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Ellis and Jabberwock
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Jiyeong hadn't gone to America just to slack off and pig out.
No matter what anyone said, she'd gone to the center of the world to study music and producing.
In the old days, she might've half-assed it at some sketchy outskirts school, but with K-pop booming and active exchanges with the US underway, she'd leveraged her connections to meet American artists and build new networks stateside.
They might seem like a joke to someone chilling at the top of Melboard, but back in Korea, these were the kinds of talents companies would pay through the nose to snag.
That's how Shin Jiyeong had laid the groundwork for the artists and idols she produced to go global during her time there, then returned home.
The timing just happened to line up with bringing Yeonwoo along.
"If worst comes to worst, can't we just hire a team that choreographs better than Team Lilith?"
"You think we can find a team like that domestically on short notice?"
"I never said domestically."
Ellis gave Jiyeong a puzzled look, and Jiyeong continued.
"I've got this friend named Morgan Lee."
"Morgan... Lee?"
"Leader of a dance crew that's blown up over the last three years. Team name's Jabberwock."
Ellis tilted her head, but Dahyun's eyes went wide.
"Jabberwock?"
"You know them?"
"Yeah, they showed a video at my old dance academy. They choreographed Allen's new single last year and got famous, right?"
Allen was a singer who'd made it big in the US after leaving Spain.
He was one of the frontrunners in Latin pop, the genre that had shaken Melboard for a while.
Ellis, who knew Allen if not Jabberwock, blinked in surprise.
"Yeah, I've known those guys since their street dancing days. Lucky, I guess."
"You're saying we're hiring the crew that hangs with a Melboard top singer... to choreograph our kids' debut track?"
Jiyeong nailed it.
"More precisely, to choreograph the track from our composer Yuin."
Ellis, who knew exactly what connected Jiyeong and Yuin, nodded with an "Ah, got it."
"I've got just as much skin in the game for this debut team as you or Dahyun do. That's why I'm helping out."
"Senior... seriously..."
"No matter how much Taein struts, they're frogs in a well. Kids who've never broken out of Korea couldn't touch Jabberwock even if they tried. Anyway, I can bring them in, so hit up Senior Kim Beomsin. Tell him we'll need a bit more budget."
"Got it."
After a brief moment of fluster, Ellis snapped back to reality thanks to Jiyeong's support and burned with renewed passion.
Jiyeong said to her.
"Taein's schemes won't stop here. Prepare for everything. Your mental game's gonna take a beating, so steel yourself."
"Yes, Senior."
Leaving Ellis, who now gazed at her with respect, Jiyeong stood up.
"You're leaving?"
"Yeonwoo's bedtime's coming up. Gotta see my boy at least once before he crashes."
"Envi— I mean, thanks anyway, Senior."
"No need to thank me. Who knows, maybe it's fate. Ellis and Jabberwock."
"Huh? What do they have to do with each other?"
"Characters from Alice in Wonderland. Ellis and Jabberwock."
Come to think of it, Jabberwock was the villain. Wonder if they'd mesh well?
Who knew—maybe Jabberwock would turn good under Ellis's influence, or maybe Ellis would team up with him against Wonderland.
None of the people in that room knew yet.
That Yeonwoo was pulling off something utterly unexpected.
* * *
While Jiyeong joined forces and BSK's idols ramped up debut prep...
"Gongsu! Take care!!"
Yeonwoo was living in an entirely different world.
Namely, the faithful life of a daycare kid.
Of course, only until pickup time.
Holding Grandma's hand on the way home, Yeonwoo washed up and dashed to his aunt's room.
With Jiyeong off in the US ironing out details with Jabberwock, her room had become Yeonwoo's studio.
The days when she'd boot up the laptop and launch the program for him every day were in the past. Now, he handled it solo.
"This is... ukulele."
Yeonwoo's first ritual: playing virtual instruments to sample their sounds.
"This is kalimba."
Sure, you might wonder what good listening to all these does, but Yeonwoo never forgot a sound he'd heard.
It helped when composing, picking instruments that fit or meshed well.
After a good long listen, he started performing.
Free jazz as always, but on keyboard instead of piano.
He'd play free jazz using synthesizers and all sorts of virtual instruments.
When he tired, he'd shut down the laptop, head to his room, and fire up YouTube on the tablet.
He'd sneak a quick detour to dino or robot videos, then dive into all sorts of music genres.
He could use streaming apps, but Yeonwoo preferred YouTube, the first one he'd learned.
Plus, he could watch performance videos.
Just as he stacked virtual instrument sounds in his mind layer by layer, he absorbed genres from YouTube the same way.
Yeonwoo, who'd only known jazz, pop, a bit of classical, and kids' songs, was no more.
Like a sponge, he soaked up everything music-related.
Which led to a problem.
The dreaded "my tracks suck" syndrome.
All his compositions suddenly felt lame.
The biggest regret? The track he'd given BSK's debut group.
Now called Fly High after recording, it was out of his hands—which made it sting more.
So every day, he absorbed new music, gained insights, and layered them onto that track.
Sometimes the results sucked, sometimes they felt overdone, but he didn't care.
The original was gone anyway, and this was just practice rearranging for fun.
But today was different.
"This could be fun if I used it...?"
Browsing YouTube forever, he stumbled on a sound that sparked him.
Beyond a somewhat tacky video, a man in a crisp white suit played multiple MIDI keyboards.
Fast beats and punchy, stimulating sounds that could've scattered the mind—but they hooked you, addictive and energizing.
After watching intently, Yeonwoo got up and returned to the aunt's room.
He fired up the laptop, hands on the keyboard, and the fairies from that video demoed for him.
He followed along, got the feel, then crafted a track in the same genre on his own.
"Hehe."
It turned out so fun, he couldn't help giggling.
Entranced, he played variation after variation.
How much time passed?
"Yeonwoo?"
Grandma entered the aunt's room.
"Yeah?"
"Where'd you hear that?"
Seeing her flustered, Yeonwoo tilted his head.
"YouTube."
"Not the rest stop?"
"What's a rest stop?"
"Oh, nothing. Just... something like that."
Why's she so thrown off? Wondering, he asked.
"Grandma, you know this genre?"
"I do. You just heard it somewhere?"
"The video title was just 'Medley.'"
"That's..."
Heo Ok looked a bit embarrassed facing Yeonwoo's sparkling eyes.
"It's called ppongjjak."
"Hehe, funny name."
Yeonwoo laughed happily, pounding the keys.
Out poured upbeat sounds straight out of a tourist bus.
"Hmm..."
Staring at her excited grandson, Heo Ok was speechless.
She was tolerant of music, but she was old-school.
Even in trot—her roots, so to speak—she drew the line at ppongjjak, the stuff she dismissed.
The kind sold on tapes at rest stops, blaring from tour buses, local small fests, three- or five-day markets.
Not that she meant to bash it, but for Heo Ok, who'd done classy jazz, it wasn't exactly thrilling to see her genius grandson into ppongjjak.
But Yeonwoo didn't stop.
The melodies felt dated, sure, but the genre's punchy synths were plenty appealing.
After a long ppongjjak medley session, he started blending in modern vibes.
Rearranging trot into jazz, kids' songs, even classical bits he'd picked up.
Then he added ppongjjak to his own track, Fly High.
The whole concept flipped, but Yeonwoo thought it suited an idol dance track perfectly.
Yeah, let's make it.
Decision made, the fairies swarmed, watching over him.
In their midst, he envisioned four—BSK's debut sisters.
Thinking of them, he shaped a melody.
Then laced it with ppongjjak.
He pitched it lower than shrill ppongjjak, kept the bass fast but slowed the melody for easy vocals.
The track took shape, spawning blue fairies nonstop.
This was Yeonwoo's first piece sans any jazz.
Time taken: just 30 minutes.
Barely over an hour including learning and playing ppongjjak.
Heo Ok watched from behind, stunned speechless.
How could tacky, lowbrow ppongjjak transform like this?
Was this even ppongjjak anymore?
Truth was, trot wasn't totally ancient.
Dance tracks back in the day often layered trot chords over their bass.
But that didn't make them trot dance tracks.
So this wasn't ppongjjak either.
It sounded plenty good to Heo Ok, but she couldn't trust her judgment.
She was an old trot hand.
She might just be deluded into thinking it was cool and refined without the bias.
Not that she'd ever be that gullible, but still.
This uncharted, alien track had her all mixed up.
Time to consult the house expert on current pop trends.
"Wanna send this track to your aunt?"
"Yeah, hold on. Sent!"
"Oh right, it's the dead of night for her."
Jiyeong never woke before lunch, so chit-chat about this would have to wait till midnight.
But what was this?
Rrrrrrrr…!!
Jiyeong called back almost instantly.
"Whoa, up this early? Hey, Jiyeong, what's up? You're awake already?"
-I haven't slept, Mom! Anyway, what's this track? Yeonwoo make it? He nearby?
"What're you doing up?"
-Working. Stuck in meetings choreographing nonstop on both ends—can't exactly crash solo.
Sandwiched between the US/Korea, Jabberwock/Ellis, Jiyeong couldn't rest easy.
-Anyway, Yeonwoo made this?
"Yep. Whaddya think?"
-Wow... what the hell is this? It's insane? I mean, this... no, Yeonwoo's a total genius. Mozart couldn't touch him.
"That good?"
-Duh, Mom! You don't like it? Your senses going with age?
Heo Ok bristled but held it in.
-Well, whatever. Perfect timing. Ellis just asked for a second digital single.
"...You know what it's based on?"
-Dunno? Just made it? He always says "just!" when I ask how.
If she'd seen the process, even Jiyeong wouldn't believe it.
"It's ppongjjak."
-Huh?
"That's the base of the track."
-...No way, you're kidding. Teasing me for calling you old?
"......"
-...W-Wait, for real?
Jiyeong's flustered voice crackled over the line.
Yeah, figured you wouldn't buy it.
"See? Even you're shocked. Not old—just blown away."
With that, Heo Ok huffed triumphantly and hung up.