The End of Filming
The sun in Athens blazed with a different texture than it had in Italy. The dry wind carried the scent of olive trees mixed with the faint dust of marble powder. As I breathed in that Mediterranean air, sitting beside Jia, I found myself once again marveling at the mysteries of the human body.
“Siyeon, try this! This is real Greek yogurt. It’s totally different from the stuff we eat in Korea!”
The spoon Jia held out was piled with yogurt so thick it was practically clumped like cheese. I accepted it and took a bite, stealing a glance at her side profile.
…Just what does she eat to grow like that?
The lines of Jia’s body visible beneath her thin sleeveless t-shirt were unreal. She was even slimmer than Yoo Seolha, yet her proportions were on the same level. Compared to someone like Jo Naeun and her flat chest, Jia seemed like an entirely different species.
I scooped up an even bigger spoonful of yogurt with a serious expression.
“Unnie. Does eating a lot of that make you taller?”
“Hm? The yogurt? The probiotics are great for your gut! Why, does our Siyeon want to grow up fast?”
“It’s pretty much just for dieting, though…”
From the side, Saki scooped up some yogurt with a sour look on her face. She clearly wasn’t a fan of Greek yogurt. Honestly, I usually prefer regular yogurt over Greek yogurt too… but this one was actually good.
Maybe it was because we were overseas, but the taste was quite different from what you could get back home.
After finishing our meal, we headed to Plaka, one of Athens’ oldest neighborhoods. Tucked among the charming little souvenir shops was a worn-down instrument store that caught my eye.
The walls were covered with unfamiliar instruments. Among them, one that resembled a guitar with an elongated neck and rounded body captured my attention.
“Oh, I’ve never seen this before.”
When Senior Lee Seung-hyun reached out with interest to touch it, an elderly Greek man with a bushy white beard smiled kindly and handed the instrument over. But even Seung-hyun tilted his head at the unfamiliar tuning and playing style before quickly setting it down.
I approached quietly and picked it up.
Eight strings… double-course setup. Tuning is probably CFAD?
In my previous life, I had once been a composer at a major entertainment company. When those big companies made a single track, they would gather multiple composers into teams to work together. That meant people from all over the world, of different nationalities and styles, would come together.
Because Korean pop’s major agencies paid well.
Among them, I had met a composer from Greece, and he had briefly taught me how to play this instrument. I remembered it being called a bouzouki. It was a traditional Greek instrument, right?
“May I try it?”
After a few test strums to get a feel for the fretboard, I immediately began playing a variation of the melody I had used in Spain, this time in a fast Greek rhythm.
“……Huh?”
Lee Seung-hyun and Han Yul’s eyes widened. The old instrument shop owner stood with his mouth agape, making the sign of the cross.
“God bless you… Kid, is this really your first time playing that?”
At the old man’s question, I answered while still touching the instrument.
“I’ve seen it on YouTube. The bouzouki has a nice sound.”
“Oh. Thank you, dear.”
Before I knew it, tourists had gathered in front of the shop, glancing over curiously to see what was happening. Feeling bold, I carried the bouzouki outside and sat on the steps in front of the store. Jia and Saki quickly caught on and began clapping beside me to keep the rhythm.
A small girl from the East playing a traditional Greek melody.
The refreshing tone, reminiscent of the blue Mediterranean sea, brilliantly colored Athens’ weary afternoon.
No matter what anyone says, rowing the boat really does suit my constitution.
This kind of experience was incredibly refreshing in its own way.
When I returned to our lodging, I stared awkwardly at the bouzouki now sitting in front of me.
After our simple busking session, I had gone to return the borrowed instrument, but the old man had waved it off, refusing to take it back. According to the interpreter, he was giving it to me as a gift because my performance had been so impressive. I felt both happy and strangely itchy in my chest.
In truth, this instrument was a bit awkward to use when composing. It had its own unique sound, but my composing ability was naturally limited to the instruments I could actually play. Forcing myself to use an instrument I didn’t know well, like the one before my eyes, would only lead to mediocre results.
Since we were wrapping up our journey in Athens, the schedule wasn’t particularly tight. There was only one busking performance, and the rest of the time was filled with moderate sightseeing and mukbangs to fill the footage. Because of that, the PD had given extremely high praise to the bouzouki episode that had happened this time.
He said thank you for pulling out such an unexpected event…
To be honest, I hadn’t planned it at all, so even though I was being praised, I felt a little embarrassed. Still, as a result, doing a short pre-release of a new song like this didn’t seem like a bad idea.
Considering the time it would take for the edited version to air, there would probably be about a month or two gap before my album was released. If so, my album would still be able to enjoy some promotional effect.
This time, I sang what could be called my biggest hit, Hello, My Four Seasons. Since it was busking, I removed the synths and arranged a simple acoustic version, which had its own charm and worked nicely.
Maybe because it was the last busking session, everyone sang at least one song, which made the performance run quite long. During that time, Saki also performed her solo new song, which had been her goal. I played guitar accompaniment for her, and it turned out to be a pretty great stage, so I felt secretly pleased. The style itself didn’t seem like it would be hugely popular, but since she said she was satisfied with the song, I figured that was fine. After all, popularity and quality don’t always match.
“Siyeon, you worked hard.”
“Hehe. Unnie, your stage was great!”
As I said that, I gave Saki a thumbs-up.
Suddenly I wondered if I was acting too much like an ordinary girl… but then I thought, so what? I was already completely satisfied with this life.
There was a lot I had gained from filming Maybe It’s Good this time.
The biggest thing was, of course, that I had filmed my first variety show. Unless I planned to stay locked in a room composing forever, it was impossible to separate variety filming from entertainment activities. Even as the era shifted toward new media, the production teams that ultimately pulled in the highest view counts were still the ones coming from traditional media.
The experience of filming with them would be quite helpful for my future activities.
Another significant achievement was that I had created a large number of songs that could be used for my full album. Platonic Love Story was even good enough to be used as the title track. I felt that way myself, and the people around me agreed.
“Siyeon. Make sure you stay in touch even after we go back to Korea!”
Obviously, the connections I had made this time were also a huge gain. While it’s true that you shouldn’t choose friends based solely on popularity or status, Maybe It’s Good was currently the best variety show for singers to appear on. Every single cast member held considerable power in this industry.
“Yes.”
Anyway, whether it was year-end stages or award ceremonies, we would probably see each other’s faces quite often, right?
That’s what I thought.
“Now that I think about it, Siyeon. What are the Blooming kids up to these days?”
Baek Yuyeon, who was close with Blooming because we were Singer Star classmates, asked me.
“Ah. The unnies? They’re probably…”
They were most likely paying a brutal price for abandoning me—well, actually they had invited me to go with them—and heading off to Hawaii.
“They’re probably going through some pretty tough training right now.”
The member with the weakest skills in Blooming was, without a doubt, the drummer Kim Seol.
She hadn’t been particularly passionate about the band to begin with, and fundamentally she wasn’t the type to put much effort into anything.
Let me say it again: in a band’s live performance, the most important instrument is the drums.
“…Seol. Isn’t this hard?”
“I feel like I’m going to die.”
“S-Should we take a little break?”
Yoo Seolha looked at Kim Seol’s dazed eyes and prayed inwardly. Please, let’s stop here and rest.
But the world didn’t turn according to her wishes.
“No, I think we can get it if we just do a little more… Let’s keep going.”
From the side, Jo Naeun, who had been blowing on her fingers after pressing the guitar strings, shouted in an urgent voice.
“T-To be honest, I don’t think we need guitar and vocals while practicing drums…”
“What are you saying, Naeun-ah…”