Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: The Beast's New Roar
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Yeonwoo busily played the keyboard, drawing straight from the inspiration of a beast's roar.
As Yoo Jaehyuk's fairy began humming along from the side, watching him, blue fairies and yellow fairies soon started popping into existence in droves.
Normally, Yeonwoo would have smiled warmly at the sight, but not this time.
The singer meant to belt out this song right away was the only one who could produce red fairies.
What would happen if Yoo Jaehyuk sang it?
-Um...?
How much time had passed? About ten minutes?
While Yeonwoo worked on the track, Yoo Jaehyuk had been standing around awkwardly, but now he spoke up from beyond the booth.
Just then, Yeonwoo finished the rough draft and looked over at him.
There was already a singing style called growling, which sounded like a beast roaring low and rough.
Commonly known in English-speaking circles as death metal vocals, it was a technique that put heavy strain on the throat since it involved scraping the voice.
But Yoo Jaehyuk was different.
He wasn't intentionally growling in the first place—it was just that his vocal cords, damaged and healing, had left his voice sounding like a beast's.
Even that throat of his hardly seemed fully recovered.
What he needed now wasn't restoring his impossible-to-fix original voice.
He had to heal his vocal cords and develop a singing style that fit his current voice.
That said, he couldn't rely on the red fairies that only sporadically appeared during negative tones, nor could the opposing blue fairies help in any way.
On top of that, Yeonwoo didn't know much about vocal cords, which were more medical territory.
All he could lean on were Kim Beomsin and Yoo Jaehyuk's fairy.
And his own ears.
The two fairies would guide him to the right technique, and amid the red fairies popping up, Yeonwoo would have to pinpoint the sound that pleased him most and lock it in.
It would take considerable time.
But if he didn't show faith right now, Yoo Jaehyuk wouldn't stick it out for that long stretch.
Yeonwoo could sense it.
Yoo Jaehyuk reminded him of his mom.
He resembled the mom from back then, trapped in a world like a birdcage, waiting for death.
Back then, his mom had given up on her remaining life.
Yoo Jaehyuk wasn't living on borrowed time like her, but he seemed to have given up on his life just the same.
If he couldn't convince him, then maybe...
"Hoo."
Yeonwoo took a short, deep breath and looked at the two fairies.
*You guys can do it, right?*
They nodded vigorously.
"For now, relax your vocal cords and focus on singing from your diaphragm."
He pressed the talkback button, issuing the instruction into the booth.
The open sky flowed out once more.
Yoo Jaehyuk carefully opened his mouth and began to sing.
It was definitely better—no strain on his vocal cords.
"Put a bit more air into it! Yeah, and open your throat as wide as possible!!"
Yeonwoo's directions were abstract, but in truth, most producers gave vague instructions like that.
Yoo Jaehyuk, with his years in the industry, followed them adeptly.
And then something amazing happened.
In one moment, as he sang with his vocal cords fully open and power from his diaphragm...
"...!!"
Even Yoo Jaehyuk himself was shocked by the voice that emerged.
He had unleashed a pitch he thought impossible, roaring it out.
Stunned, Yoo Jaehyuk stopped singing and looked at Yeonwoo.
Yeonwoo thrust a thumbs-up at him.
"Mister, that was like a tiger just now!!"
-A tiger...
Truth be told, Yoo Jaehyuk didn't care much for growling, the kind used in death metal.
Frankly, from a listener's perspective, growling was polarizing.
That was him.
He respected it, but it wasn't his taste.
But the sound he'd just made was definitely different from growling.
Not a strained, squeezed-out rasp, but the hearty roar of a real tiger.
Different from his old style, but with this technique...?
A spark of hope ignited in his chest.
That's when Yeonwoo spoke from beyond the booth.
-It's not finished yet, mister.
"...Not yet?"
-To get your real unique voice, you need to go to the hospital.
"Hospitals can't fix me. This voice can't be reversed."
-Why would you reverse the changed voice? Don't you get it?
At Yeonwoo's bold words, Yoo Jaehyuk unconsciously touched his throat.
-It still sounds sore when you sing. If you want to keep practicing that method and sing steadily from now on, you have to go to the hospital. Then...
Yeonwoo played the song for him. He'd made it right after hearing Yoo Jaehyuk's voice.
"......!!"
Yoo Jaehyuk's eyes widened as he listened through the headset.
Rock.
The rock he'd always yearned for.
The track blended classic and modern rhythms perfectly, its intense sound—or maybe its unique vibe—stirring a man's heart.
Yeonwoo cut the song, watching Yoo Jaehyuk tremble unconsciously.
-Go fix your vocal cords, and I'll give it to you. We'll perfect the technique then too.
At Yeonwoo's words, Yoo Jaehyuk narrowed his eyes and glared at him.
What a cheeky brat.
No, considering he'd whipped up that track the moment he heard his voice—genius. Devil.
That song was an irresistible temptation, wasn't it?
Or no.
An angel?
The kind that appears to save someone on the edge of a cliff?
Who knows.
But right now, Yoo Jaehyuk realized the only one he could rely on was that kid in front of him.
"...I'll get it fixed and come back."
-Good. Now come on out.
At Yeonwoo's words, Yoo Jaehyuk emerged from the recording booth as obediently as a tamed beast and left the studio with him.
"Did it go well?"
The moment they stepped out, Jiyeong looked at Yoo Jaehyuk and asked.
He just stared back at her, saying nothing.
That's when Yeonwoo piped up.
"Auntie, do you know any good doctors in the US by chance?"
"Huh? Oh, his vocal cords?"
"Yeah."
"Wouldn't Grandma know better than me? Like Grandpa Shunji?"
"Oh, right? Guess I should ask Grandma then."
Yeonwoo pulled out his phone.
Wait, was asking Grandma really going to sort this out?
While Yoo Jaehyuk panicked briefly, Yeonwoo wrapped up the call in a flash and looked at him.
"She says wait a bit?"
"Your mom? Why? What's this about?"
"Dunno, Auntie. She says she's coming."
"Hmm, what's up? Is she a fan of Jaehyuk sunbae? Nah, Mom's not into rock."
With that, Jiyeong turned to Yoo Jaehyuk.
"Still, just wait a sec. Our place is right around the corner. And Mom's got connections in music, so she might hook you up with a good hospital."
"Uh......"
Yoo Jaehyuk let out a low groan but stayed put.
Seeing him, Yeonwoo toddled off to the break room, then returned with a mug.
"It's yuja tea. Here, mister."
"Th-thanks."
"Don't just stand there—sit comfy on the sofa!!"
"O-okay."
Jiyeong stifled a laugh, watching the great Yoo Jaehyuk follow Yeonwoo's orders so well.
It reminded her of an old online game she'd grinded hard at.
Like a druid taming a feral monster.
Sure enough, just as she'd said, someone soon opened the office door and walked in.
Yoo Jaehyuk half-stood awkwardly at the sight of Heo Ok entering, his eyes going wide.
She was all too familiar.
Heo Ok gave him a cold smile.
"Small world."
"...Hello... ma'am?"
Yoo Jaehyuk looked utterly uncomfortable.
Jiyeong asked, surprised.
"Mom, you know him?"
"Back when I first started teaching. There was this kid with a natural raw voice, singing so damn well that the profs debated and let him in. Then just three weeks later, he drops out, saying there's no music here he wants to make."
"...No way?"
Heo Ok nodded at Yoo Jaehyuk.
"It was this one."
Even calling the now mid-forties Yoo Jaehyuk "kid," he stayed mum like his mouth was glued shut.
"You said rock takes learning to last long, didn't you?"
"I... sorry."
Yoo Jaehyuk scratched his head.
Jiyeong, savoring the schadenfreude, soon jolted in shock.
"Mom, which college was that?"
"Toho."
It was Japan's top practical music school, rivaling Tokyo Arts University, like Korea's National Academy of Arts.
Meaning...
"Sunbae must've been a total brainiac. And from a well-off family too."
Yoo Jaehyuk didn't reply.
A guy with a raw, wild image—like Shunji, the type who'd be an athlete or thug without music—and he went to a top Japanese conservatory?
Especially back then, when Japan dominated Asia's music scene over Korea or China.
"Yeah, your voice is wrecked bad."
"...My shame."
Heo Ok clicked her tongue sympathetically, then said.
"You can handle a ticket to the US and hospital bills yourself, right?"
"My voice..."
"Mister, power in the throat!!"
As he struggled to speak, Yeonwoo cut in. Yoo Jaehyuk flinched, nodded to show he got it, and carefully tried again.
"Even if I've wasted my voice... and life, I've never wasted money."
"Good. I'll refer you to a hospital I know. My friend's the director there. With my intro, no waiting—you'll get treated right away. No place in the world handles vocal cords better."
Yoo Jaehyuk's eyes widened as he stared at Heo Ok.
Taking care of a runaway student like this?
"Don't get the wrong idea. There are conditions."
"Conditions... you say?"
Heo Ok called Yeonwoo over, pulled him close, and stroked his hair as she spoke.
"First, obey my grandson unconditionally. Second, once recovered, sign with his company. For life, till the day you retire."
She didn't know the full story, but from Yeonwoo's gaze on Yoo Jaehyuk, Heo Ok could tell her grandson was eyeing him musically.
Hearing the terms, Yoo Jaehyuk nodded.
"So you're the grandson... Understood. And thank y—"
"Save the thanks. It's for my grandson."
With that, Heo Ok pointed to the door. Time to go.
Yoo Jaehyuk chuckled inwardly.
Toho's Iron-Blooded Queen.
Her reputation was intact.
Well, except for turning into a doting grandma.
Come to think of it, their eyes were similar.
Passing the crown to her lookalike grandson, huh.
Recalling the coldly sharp kid in the studio—just like Heo Ok—Yoo Jaehyuk bowed deeply.
"I'll fix my throat and come back. Wait for me, kid."
"I'm not a kid! Yeonwoo!! Shin Yeonwoo!!"
"Right, Yeonwoo."
With that, Yoo Jaehyuk left the office.
The workspace, messy like a beast had rampaged, soon settled back into its usual calm.