Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Invincible's Recording
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“Faster is okay too?”
“……That’s basically telling me to drop dead.”
Park Su-hyuk, who had come to SSHIN Studio ahead of the recording, freaked out at Yeonwoo’s question.
“It seems like it could work…….”
Yeonwoo smacked his lips while staring at the drums.
The Buddy Rich fairy, who had appeared because drums were out for once, was making its own drum set and pounding away excitedly, so it definitely looked possible to play the drums at an even faster tempo.
Was it possible only because it was Buddy Rich?
After all, he was one of the greatest drummers in history, no matter what anyone said.
Expecting that kind of skill from Park Su-hyuk was probably asking too much.
Putting aside his regret, Yeonwoo looked toward the recording booth.
Employees brought by Datemura Shunji and Fujii Wakana were busily setting up the guitar.
The recording would start with Datemura Shunji first. He was the most reliable session at the moment.
“Before we record, could we have a drink…….”
“[What’re you saying? What? Booze? A Korean calling beer booze? First Korean I’ve met who calls beer booze.]”
Shunji was drinking beer.
But Yeonwoo didn’t stop him.
Datemura Shunji had said rock was about freedom. And about having fun.
“[My fingers only move right when there’s a little alcohol in them. Like lubricant for a machine, you know? Kekeke.]”
He was sticking faithfully to his words.
After downing three large cans in one go, he finally entered the booth.
He lightly plucked the guitar strings, did some free improvisation to warm up his hands, and then gave the signal.
The main recording was starting.
Meanwhile, Su-hyuk kept stealing glances at Yeonwoo, who was seriously watching Shunji’s performance.
‘Ah, how do I bring it up.’
He had to relay his cousin Park Seongguk’s request somehow.
But he couldn’t bring himself to ask that little kid if he could meet his cousin, who was a drama PD.
A favor from a 7-year-old?
It felt kinda embarrassing.
He turned his gaze away.
Yeonwoo’s aunt, Jiyeong, was there to watch the recording today.
Yeah, maybe ask her instead?
Park Su-hyuk quietly approached Jiyeong.
“Sunbae! What’s up?”
“That CEO guy. You know…….”
“What? Oh, want some coffee?”
She handed him the iced Americano she had just bought, still in its carrier.
“Whoa, what’s this?”
Park Su-hyuk hurriedly took Jiyeong’s coffee with both hands and took a sip.
“Whew, where’d you get this? Tastes great.”
“Starbucks.”
“No wonder.”
And then silence fell.
Truth be told, Park Su-hyuk wasn’t that close with Shin Jiyeong either. If it weren’t for his childhood friend wife, he’d have been a lifelong bachelor for sure—the type who got tongue-tied around women.
Seeing him standing there awkwardly, fumbling for words, Jiyeong asked.
“Sunbae, you have something to say?”
“Ah, well, you know that Park Seongguk PD, the drama guy?”
“Huh? How do you know him, Sunbae?”
Park Su-hyuk explained their relationship and the past circumstances.
“Wow…… Even for this narrow industry, that’s ridiculously narrow. Who’d have thought we had this connection.”
“Right? I already turned him down, but since my cousin’s begging so desperately, I figured I’d at least mention it.”
At those words, Jiyeong looked troubled.
She glanced at Yeonwoo and said.
“I want to help too, but Yeonwoo doesn’t want to do drama OSTs.”
“Hmm…… Any reason why? He said he just wants to know the reason if it’s a no.”
“Yeonwoo needs to understand something to compose for it. He won’t do anything he can’t empathize with or understand.”
“Ah…….”
“He doesn’t know dramas, so he can’t compose. Maybe when he grows up and watches some, he’ll give it a try?”
Park Su-hyuk had nothing more to say after Shin Jiyeong’s explanation.
He sent a KakaoTalk message to Seongguk right there from his seat.
[Hey, Seongguk, she says Yuin can’t do it ‘cause she doesn’t watch dramas?]
[Hyung, what’s that mean?]
To his brother’s question, Park Su-hyuk relayed the story, embellishing it a bit while omitting that Yuin was a kid.
[Doesn’t watch dramas…… Then could you at least ask her to read the script?]
At that, Su-hyuk looked at Yeonwoo.
Our Yeonwoo is 7!
……Would he read a script?
“Hey, CEO lady.”
“Yes, Sunbae?”
“Uh…… He’s asking if you could at least take the script. Just to show his sincerity—no pressure to read it.”
“That much is fine. Send the script.”
“Phew, thanks. Really, thank you.”
Park Su-hyuk expressed his gratitude to Jiyeong, backed off, and contacted his brother.
[She says send the script. Says she’ll at least take a look. I did everything I could?]
[Hyung, thanks lol]
* * *
Yeonwoo was an incredibly picky producer.
“The beat was too fast. Again.”
“This time it’s too slow. Again.”
“That’s not how you play the keyboard. Again.”
He pushed the others relentlessly until he was satisfied.
Datemura Shunji finished relatively quickly, but the other sessions had to keep recording for hours until Yeonwoo was happy.
The one who suffered the most was keyboardist An Sang-gil.
He never got a pass even after the recording was supposed to end.
Jiyeong finally intervened, saying to call it quits, and they used the best take he had.
“Good work.”
After the recording wrapped up like that.
Left alone with Yeonwoo, Yoo Jae-hyuk patted his head and said.
Yeonwoo looked up at Yoo Jae-hyuk and asked.
“Uncle, do you like the keyboard guy?”
“Why? His skills not up to snuff?”
Yeonwoo hesitated, then carefully nodded.
“……Yeah.”
“Okay.”
Yoo Jae-hyuk nodded.
As Yeonwoo said, An Sang-gil had the weakest skills in the group. Even in his prime youth, he was always messing up and falling short, getting nagged endlessly by Park Kang-jun to practice.
But they never said they were leaving or told each other to leave.
“Being in a band isn’t all about skill.”
“Then what?”
“What matters is starting the dream together.”
“Together……?”
“Yeah. If you start together, you see it through together.”
Yoo Jae-hyuk continued, looking at Yeonwoo.
“That’s what men do.”
……Yeonwoo couldn’t understand.
What did being a man have to do with not cutting someone who couldn’t keep up?
“Now that recording’s done, I’ve got nothing left to do here.”
“Yeah, you really worked hard.”
“Now we prepare Teacher Chae Hayeon’s album. Show a cool performance on stage, Uncle.”
Stage.
At that word, Yoo Jae-hyuk’s heart already raced.
The lingering air of the stage, the heat, the crowds watching him.
That place where tension, excitement, and passion coexisted.
The thought of standing there again after so long had him too thrilled to sleep these past few days.
“Beomsin hyung, that Hadass kid, Chae Hayeon—they all succeeded, right?”
“VVX too. Didn’t make top 10, though.”
“They’re still in the middle of it.”
Jae-hyuk said that and stood up.
“I’ll succeed for sure too. Won’t tarnish your name—no, Yuin’s name.”
Yeonwoo replied as if it were obvious.
“You’ll never fail.”
With that brilliantly shining purple light, Kim Beomsin and Hadass couldn’t compare.
And above all……
The completed recording emitted a perfect, radiant yellow glow, despite the lacking keyboardist An Sang-gil.
“You’ll definitely succeed, Uncle.”
Yoo Jae-hyuk could never fail.
* * *
After finishing Invincible’s recording, Yeonwoo immediately dove into Chae Hayeon’s mini-album.
For Chae Hayeon’s recording, “Cheer Up, Today Too” was already fully mastered by her, and the four new songs were ones she’d sung endlessly while commuting to the studio daily.
Unlike Invincible, which needed practice, Chae Hayeon was done as soon as they hit record.
With Chae Hayeon’s recording finished too, Yeonwoo finally had some free time.
After that, Yeonwoo started checking out rock bands via YouTube videos.
It was because of Yoo Jae-hyuk that he’d gotten interested.
Rock bands…… were a new world.
From the Beatles onward: Led Zeppelin, Queen, AC/DC, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana.
The era-defining ones stirred Yeonwoo’s heart.
“You guys are amazing.”
Yeonwoo turned his gaze to one spot.
Fairies emitting dazzling blue light.
They were the alter egos of bands that had dominated eras and conquered the world.
Looking at them, Yeonwoo soon closed and opened his eyes.
All those fairies had vanished without a trace.
“As expected…… not easy.”
Yeonwoo realized it wasn’t easy to see that many alter egos at once.
He wasn’t sure if it was his limit in seeing them or their limit in manifesting, but keeping many alter egos visible for long at once was impossible.
The only fairies that could stay by his side without fail were Grandmother Fairy and Shunji’s fairy.
The reason they could stick around was probably because they’d passed on their abilities.
He’d thought at first it was because he met them in person, but by that logic, Kim Beomsin’s alter ego should always be around too—and it wasn’t.
Anyway, bands were fun.
Not just the songs.
Rock bands had stories. Like how Yoo Jae-hyuk disbanded after losing his friend Park Kang-jun, then reformed Invincible—most bands had dramatic tales of forming, breaking up, and fading.
Reading their stories, Yeonwoo finally got why Yoo Jae-hyuk kept the keyboardist An Sang-gil around.
“Band…….”
Suddenly, Yeonwoo thought he wanted to form a band too.
Unlike his goal of raising singers, this time he wanted to be a session himself and become a band member.
No, at least form a band with people he personally recruited.
“Someday, I’ll definitely do it.”
Yeonwoo nodded firmly, set down the tablet, and looked at one wall.
There was the daily schedule made at kindergarten.
It was reading time now.
“What to read?”
Yeonwoo turned to check the bookshelf.
“Huh?”
Something unfamiliar was there.
To Yeonwoo’s common sense, they looked less like books and more like two very thick notebooks stuck in there.
Yeonwoo, who remembered exactly what he’d brought, pulled out the two unfamiliar notebooks.
“Our Band, Rock ‘n’ Roll? Working Title?”
The first one said precisely “Our Band, Rock ‘n’ Roll (Working Title) Episode 1,” so Yeonwoo opened it.
“What’s this?”
It seemed like a book, but there were only one or two lines of what looked like descriptions or explanations, mostly dialogue.
Yeonwoo checked the cover again.
“Drama……!”
Yeonwoo realized this was used in dramas.
Recalling his aunt mentioning drama OSTs before, he flipped to the first page out of curiosity.
Synopsis.
A high school girl named Ye-eun stumbles upon rock by chance, falls in love, aims to start a band club, and gathers members one by one in this high-teen band drama.
“Band……?”
Seeing a topic he’d been obsessed with lately, Yeonwoo’s eyes lit up.