5
5# Excessive Emotion
That night, Seo Arim lay in bed, trying to sort through her thoughts.
“This is really strange...”
She simply couldn’t fall asleep.
The melody she had heard only a few hours ago was still floating around in her head.
She pressed her lips tightly together, resisting the urge to hum it right then and there.
“Haa.”
Various thoughts drifted here and there.
At the center of them all was her older brother, Seo Jae-hoon.
He had been acting strangely for the past few days.
It all started that day.
As usual, she had prepared breakfast before leaving for her part-time job, but when she returned, the dishes had been
neatly washed.
‘It was really... shocking back then.’
For a moment, she couldn’t believe her eyes.
It was the first time in her entire life something like that had happened.
Her older brother was the kind of person who never washed the dishes and instead left the dining table in an even bigger
mess every time.
She had even been worried that he might have eaten something strange.
And that wasn’t the end of it.
His bedroom door, which was normally kept firmly shut, had somehow been left wide open.
And the owner of the room was standing in the middle of it, playing some music and humming along.
While holding his smartphone, no less.
The humming was surprisingly sweet, which left her dumbfounded.
Curious, she approached him, only to discover that, by coincidence, the DAW she herself used was displayed on the
screen.
She became interested and asked him about it, and this was the answer she received.
“What? You knew how to compose music, Oppa?”
“I-It’s... just something I used to do as a hobby. I thought I’d try learning it again.”
She had no idea why someone who normally didn’t even listen to music had suddenly decided to take up composing as a
hobby, but he had always been incredibly fickle.
At that point, she simply shrugged it off.
But the truly strange things began happening the following day.
For some reason, he woke up before her and prepared breakfast.
He suddenly asked how her music was going.
He even saw her off when she left for work.
Everything about it was strange.
At one point, she even thought,
‘Has this guy finally lost his mind?’
He had always been crazy, but never to this extent.
They said that when a person suddenly started doing things they normally never did, it meant they were about to die.
Had he finally decided to leave the house?
She wondered about that, but his answer was even more absurd.
“I’m going to start living a more wholesome life from now on. I think I’ve been living too recklessly all this time.”
At the time, she had thought it would be a resolution that lasted one day at most.
But surprisingly, it lasted.
He even quit the cigarettes he used to chain-smoke, and now he acted friendly toward her whenever they crossed paths.
Honestly, she had been more confused than anything at first, but his change wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
No.
If anything, she liked it.
There had been times when he would leave the house and not come back for several days, and whenever she ran into him, he
would threaten her for money to buy cigarettes.
That was why she had practically gone out of her way to avoid him ever since.
But now, he had become the complete opposite.
In truth, ever since their parents had died so early, her older brother had been the only person Arim had been able to
rely on.
She had always been anxious that even that brother was gradually drifting away from her.
But now that his aggressive personality had brightened and he seemed to have completely turned over a new leaf, she
could at least feel relieved.
‘It was nice.’
Whenever she saw her brother smile, she even felt a lump in her chest.
And then there was the song he had played for her today.
Just thinking about it made her feel like she could cry all over again.
She had finished her part-time job and planned to play a few rounds of the game she usually enjoyed to relieve her
stress.
Then, out of nowhere, her brother had come to her and asked her to listen to his song.
He had said he was learning composition as a hobby, and she had thought it was rather admirable that he had stuck with
it for so long.
Up until that point, she hadn’t expected anything at all.
Since Arim had experience in music herself, she had been planning to tease him mercilessly about how terrible it was.
But to her surprise, Arim’s expectations had been completely wrong.
Rather than being bad, it was, with only a little exaggeration, the best music she had heard recently.
And when had he practiced singing?
Every note of his voice stirred her emotions.
The lyrics in particular.
When she saw them, she ended up bursting into tears despite herself.
Because they felt like words her brother was saying directly to her.
The memories of their life together flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern, and the tears naturally came
pouring out.
‘I really had no intention of crying...’
Perhaps things had been much harder for her than she realized.
If she could cry over something as insignificant as this...
“Haa.”
Arim stared blankly at the dark ceiling.
Actually, she had planned to go to sleep so she could finish working on the song she had been working on until dawn.
But after listening to her brother’s music, that thought had completely disappeared.
She even felt as though every song she had written until now was terrible.
She had felt a twinge of jealousy too.
How could someone write a song like this in such a short amount of time?
Regardless, the emotions she was feeling right now weren’t unpleasant.
‘...I can do a good job recording tomorrow, right?’
What if her vocal condition wasn’t good?
She had been singing so much lately. What if she developed vocal cord nodules or something?
She wanted to release her brother’s song as quickly as possible.
She really hoped everything would go smoothly.
‘Though I do feel like this song is too good for me...’
She barely had any fans yet.
She was nothing more than an unknown singer.
Shouldn’t a song like this be sung by someone more famous than her?
‘...Forget it. Why am I even thinking about all this?’
What mattered right now was that it had been a very long time since she had felt this excited.
For some reason, she felt like she would be able to fall asleep happily tonight.
‘I should make something delicious for Oppa tomorrow.’
As Arim made that resolution, a faint smile blossomed at the corners of her lips.
---
“Oppa, wake up.”
A sweet voice woke me from my sleep.
Bright sunlight streamed through the gap between the curtains.
I was sleepy.
Perhaps because I had finally relaxed, my body felt pleasantly sluggish.
“Mmm... Just five more minutes...”
“No. Get up quickly. Your food is getting cold.”
“......”
“Hey, Seo Jae-hoon. Aren’t you getting up?”
Thwack!
“Urgh!”
A sharp pain shot through my thigh, jolting my eyes wide open.
Frowning, I forced my stiff body upright.
“Seriously, why are you so violent? You could just ask nicely.”
“I did ask nicely, but you didn’t get up. And I told you, you have no right to say things like that, Oppa.”
“...Ugh. I shouldn’t even bother talking.”
I sighed and got out of bed.
After quickly washing up, I headed into the living room, only to find an enormous feast laid out on the dining table.
“W-What is all this?”
“What do you think? We’re recording today. You need to eat properly.”
Right.
That was today.
Still, wasn’t this a little excessive for breakfast...?
There was braised short ribs, grilled fish, japchae, and all sorts of other dishes.
Wait, did we even have all those ingredients in the house?
Today wasn’t Lunar New Year, was it?
If it was, did that mean I had to perform a ceremonial New Year’s bow to Seo Arim?
For some reason, I felt like I should.
I might even get a generous New Year’s gift.
“By the way, what about your part-time job, Arim?”
“It’s the weekend today, so I’m off. I don’t have to go.”
Seo Arim proudly shrugged her shoulders.
So that was why she had decided to record today.
I chuckled and sat down, picking up my spoon.
“Thank you for the meal.”
“Hey, don’t spill anything! Don’t spill it!”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I should listen to her.
---
After finishing a satisfying meal,
I headed into Seo Arim’s room to record.
“By the way, this is your first time coming into my room, right, Oppa?”
“Yeah. First time ever.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. There’s nothing special.”
“I wasn’t expecting anything in the first place.”
“Do you want to die?”
Seo Arim glared at me as though genuinely angry before opening the bedroom door.
It felt strangely exciting, like an unknown space was finally being revealed.
Seo Arim went inside first, and I followed her.
“Oh.”
The room was slightly larger than mine.
There was a bed in the corner and a desk by the window.
It was an utterly ordinary room, except for one thing.
“W-What are all these egg cartons...?”
It was completely different from the pink, girly room I had expected.
Egg cartons were stuck all over the walls.
When I stared at them in shock, Seo Arim awkwardly scratched her head.
“Ah, those... It’s for soundproofing. They said this would work.”
“Even so!”
Who was the person who called my room a dump?
Come out here.
I shook my head in disbelief and examined the desk.
There was a computer and a monitor, with an audio interface sitting on top.
Then there was a condenser microphone and mic stand, a pop filter to reduce plosive sounds during recording, and
finally, a small speaker and headphones.
That was everything.
The setup was rather modest for someone who made music.
Most importantly, there was no equipment for composing.
She didn’t even have the ubiquitous mini keyboard.
Curious, I asked,
“But where’s your keyboard? Didn’t you say you compose too?”
“Huh? Oh, I figured a mouse would be enough for entering MIDI, so I didn’t buy one. And actually... I’m not very good at
playing the piano.”
Seo Arim gave an innocent smile.
Right.
She couldn’t play an instrument.
I remembered seeing a video of her playing the piano in my previous life, producing nothing but a mountain of dissonant
notes.
“Anyway, this equipment is enough. Shall we start recording?”
“Ah, wait. Let me warm up my voice.”
After saying that, Seo Arim began doing lip trills, vibrating her lips rapidly.
As expected, she already had the air of someone experienced.
There really was something different about professionals.
She went up and down her vocal range, from the low notes to the high notes, repeating the exercise for a while.
Apparently deciding that was enough, Seo Arim plugged the USB containing the song into the computer.
She opened the file and skillfully created a track to prepare for recording.
“Okay. I’m ready. I’ll sing through it once lightly before we actually record.”
She played the music.
The chord accompaniment that had become so familiar after hearing it countless times began to flow.
As the timing for the first line approached, Seo Arim slowly opened her mouth.
“At first, it might feel a little distant.”
And then came her clear yet slightly husky, captivating voice.
My mouth naturally fell open.
“The words ‘I love you’ have become so common—maybe that’s why I couldn’t say them, because they felt awkward.”
Every single lyric I had written transformed into a beautiful melody through Seo Arim’s voice.
For that moment, it felt as though time had stopped.
“Slowly and warmly, like a gentle spring breeze.”
The long-awaited highlight arrived as the music entered the chorus.
I was so captivated by her voice that it took me a moment to notice something strange.
“Can we become close again... Ah, I missed the beat. My mistake, my mistake. I’ll try again.”
Just then, my eyes met Seo Arim’s.
And I realized.
Judging by how she couldn’t stop fidgeting with her fingers and had even missed such an easy beat, this was clearly—
“Arim.”
“Hmm?”
“You’re nervous right now, aren’t you?”
“......How did you know?”
Seo Arim flinched and gave a bitter smile.
Yep.
She was nervous.
“It’s obvious at a glance.”
“I didn’t think you were this perceptive, Oppa...”
“Do you feel uncomfortable? Should I leave? Do you want to try alone?”
“No, you can’t. You’re the composer of this song, Oppa. You have to direct me.”
“D-Direct?”
“Yeah. If there’s anything awkward or anything I need to fix, point it out. Like you just did.”
“......”
Honestly, aside from being a little nervous, she had been perfect.
Did I really need to interfere?
That thought crossed my mind, but Seo Arim was right.
I was the composer of this song, so it was only natural for me to direct her.
“Okay. I’ll give it a try.”
When I nodded, Seo Arim nodded along and stepped in front of the microphone.
“Let’s start with the first line. Hmm.”
She took a sip of water and put on her headphones.
From now on, she wouldn’t be able to hear the accompaniment.
But that was actually better.
If I focused solely on her voice, I would be able to catch any awkward parts more easily.
Seo Arim took a shallow breath, and the first line began.
“At first, it might feel a little distant.”
“Cut. Again.”
“...Was it bad?”
“Yeah. I think you could sing it a little more naturally.”
“Okay. I’ll try again.”
Her calm voice flowed once more.
But it was still lacking.
It felt as though something essential was missing.
Like steamed bread without red bean filling.
Like gimbap without pickled radish.
That was exactly what Seo Arim’s singing was like right now.
It was good, but something was missing.
She continued trying after that, but she still couldn’t get past the first line.
All the while, I continued observing Seo Arim’s expression.
And finally, I figured it out.
‘She’s trying hard to sing well.’
But something was missing.
Emotion.
Because she was nervous, she couldn’t immerse herself in the emotions.
“Cut. Arim, wait a second.”
I stopped the recording and called Seo Arim over.
“Before you try again, you cried when you first heard this song yesterday, right?”
“W-Why are you bringing that up now? That’s so embarrassing...!”
“It’s important.”
“......”
Seo Arim’s angry reaction gradually subsided.
I spoke quietly.
“Everything else is good, but the most important thing is missing from your singing right now.”
“...Emotion?”
“Yeah. So try bringing back the emotions you felt then and sing it exactly like that.”
“Hmm.”
Seo Arim’s expression became quite serious at my advice.
She swallowed hard, and as though trying to immerse herself properly in the emotion, her eyes gradually grew calm.
Silence slowly flowed through the room.
Within it, the pupils of her eyes began to tremble ever so slightly.
‘Oh.’
I was impressed inwardly by the dramatic change.
She really did have talent.
I had only given her a little advice, yet she understood it perfectly and immediately put it into practice.
The trembling in her eyes gradually intensified, and her breathing began to shake.
Eventually, she even looked as though she were about to cry...
Wait a second.
‘Something’s wrong.’
And about a minute later—
“Sniff, sob...!”
Seo Arim was hugging me and bawling her eyes out.
...This was excessive emotion.
Cut.
Again.