CH 2.1

“Director Seo. Are you sure you won’t do it for me? I’m asking you for a little favour.”

“….”

“How long are you going to be stuck alone in the corner of your room looking at the penguin’s butt?”

Dok-Yeom, who had been listening with a soft face all along, clearly showed disapproval and folded his eyes thinly. Even if he answered the same thing…. Why is she still suggesting it again and again?

“Sister.”

“Yes?”

“…Haa. No.”

Dok-Yeom, who was staring at Lee Seo with a crooked gaze, shook his head and turned his head when the person he called shamelessly responded. Oh, I’m tired. The migraine, which had been dormant for several days, began to show off its presence as it faced a person who was emitting excessive energy for the first time in a while. It is not easy for Dok-Yeom, who does not do anything he does not want to do, to refuse Lee Seo’s plea coldly.

But I can’t sing a drama OST*. That’s also the main theme that the hero in the drama sings himself. Dok-Yeom, who had hesitated for a long time, eventually shook his head. Aside from the difficulty of the work itself, he was already nervous when he thought about working with strangers for days and days in a small studio.

[T/N: OST Music that is used in dramas as background themes, opening/ending credits, and usually released in parts.]

“Sister. I’ve been seriously thinking about it, but I can’t reach a conclusion. I’ve been working on documentaries for over 4 years, so I barely watched dramas. I don’t listen to K-pop either…. I’m completely out of age, so how can I work on a trend-sensitive genre like a drama?”

“But you can do it if you make up your mind. Your music is not a trendy style, but you’ve been on the front line of the internet from time to time. I checked on the way here and found that one song of yours is still on the list? Was it 64th place….”

At that moment, the long fingers that were pressing down on the throbbing head stopped moving. It may never have been intended, but Lee Seo’s referring to ‘one song’ that she said recklessly scratched Dok-Yeom’s memory that had been sinking quietly like sand in the bottom of a deep river. The calm river quickly became muddy water, and Dok-Yeom, who was thrown defenseless to the memory of five years ago, had no choice but to be as insignificant as the grain of sand.

“Let’s start over. Why is the voice of a girl who has a crush so strong? Are you going to war? I’m gonna be knocked down by your voice.”

“Hahaha. Sorry. But looking at your face makes me smile. What should I do?”

“Stop laughing and concentrate. How many hours has it been already? If you keep losing your concentration, you’ll get in trouble.”

“Oh, the composer is so scary.”

In the early 20s, the song, which was made by grinding the affection and passion together at the most fresh and beautiful time, became much more famous than expected, adding the story of an unwanted accident. To avoid the voices from all sides that he did not want to listen to, Dok-Yeom had been unable to enter his work of composing for nearly half a year.

He heard that things that you try to forget are left more clearly. Dok-Yeom took a deep breath and slowly closed and opened his eyes to calm down the vivid memory with the even sound of breathing. The years haven’t just passed uselessly, but the emotions have not yet been dull. They have just not been revealed on the outside.

“That’s…. Somehow I happened to have good luck… Anyway, I can’t do it. It feels awkward to add lyrics to a song now, and I don’t want to compose ordinary music with non-experts. Personally, I don’t like making an actor sing because all they care about is popularity and don’t concentrate on the music more.”

“Roa is not an amateur. No matter how much you didn’t listen to K-pop, you know 《Selior》, right? He was the main vocalist. He’s good at singing. He’s been through a lot in this profession, so he’s quick-witted. He’ll do as well as he’s told.”

“Sister…”

“Please help me. Think like you’re saving a person. This could be Roa’s last chance of a lifetime. If you don’t help me this time, a 25-year-old child may disappear from the screen forever.”

Dok-Yeom stared at Lee Seo’s face, who spoke quite seriously, with a ridiculous face. Are there one or two people who disappear from the entertainment industry without a trace? If you have talent, you will shine, and if you don’t, it’s natural that you’ll become dull.

“Why are you telling me that…. Even if he doesn’t perform on my song, he is casted as the main character in a drama directed by producer Kang Seo-Ho. Isn’t his position quite settled down? Why are you so anxious?”

“This time, it was a drama I was directing and he happened to be a singer, so I forced him in while fighting with the production company…. I can’t help him every time because the money given to me isn’t my own. And I don’t have the ability to help him in any other way.”

“Why do you care for him so much? You are a person who always takes auditions like a life and death battle. Do you happen to know his weaknesses?”

Lee Seo, who widened her eyes to Dok-Yeom’s question, cursed inwardly. Yeah, she shouldn’t have known that dirty thing that happened behind her back. If that was the case, she wouldn’t be mimicking the apostle of justice whom she doesn’t even want to be. Why would I have an appointment on that day to a pathetic extent at the hotel lobby where I don’t go often?

“I wasn’t going to tell you the details but….”

“Then don’t. I’m not interested.”

My head is full of dirty personal history that I already know. So I don’t want to add unnecessary gossip. Dok-Yeom, who was genuinely disgusted by the dark side of the entertainment industry, shook his hand and cut off her words. But Lee Seo, the apostle of justice, did not care.

“I’ll make it short. You know Ji Entertainment, don’t you? One of the members of 《Selior》 was the daughter of the CEO of Ji Entertainment where Roa was. Her name is Ji Hae-Mi.”

“Oh, come on… You already started with information about people around you? You said it was short!”

“It’s really short. Anyway, she cried and made a fuss about wanting to be a celebrity, so I put her in a team that Ji Entertainment set up with considerable care, but the position was ambiguous. She managed to dance and sing, but Roa got the spotlight standing in the middle of the stage with just his face. I trained the girl hard and even sent her on stage, but she couldn’t become very popular because she had nothing to show off as a special talent.”

Hae-Mi, who was born and raised as the only daughter of a rich family and has been supported all her life like a child who couldn’t walk, said that she considered Roa, who is better than her, as an eyesore from the beginning and complained at everything he did. Fortunately, she knew that she could not send Roa out of the group for the sake of the group’s survival because he still was the heart of the group.

“In private, they did group activities for more than three years without talking to each other, and the princess finally got tired of playing entertainers. She finally realised it was much harder than she thought, but the company was determined to push her forward. But she couldn’t make a big difference. Rather, she was criticized a lot for coming through the back door. She became sick in this way and had to go abroad for treatment.”

In the entertainment industry, where rookies pour out day by day, groups without exposure for months are naturally culled. The company didn’t set any personal schedules for Roa, who didn’t get along with the owner’s daughter, and didn’t even properly support the work that happened to come in for him. He even said that they didn’t even tell him his fixed schedule, causing his fame to plummet without even him knowing.

“How do you know all those trivial behind-the-scenes stories? Why can’t you be as insensitive to rumors as other people are?”

“I worked hard to find out more. He used to be a child actor and his acting was good, so I was paying attention to him. But when I didn’t see him for a while, I thought it was strange. So I went to a meeting with the production company, and then I overheard the executives of the company talking about Roa. He sarcastically said that they should make Roa disappear from everyone’s sight to save his respect since he wasn’t willing to sponsor Roa anyway.”

“With a 25-year-old?”

“He was 23 then.”

Dok-Yeom’s handsome face was distorted at once. For the past five years, he thought he had gotten quite used to the ugliness of the human heart, but at the moment terrible disgust shook his body that made him sick. This is why he couldn’t go back to the entertainment industry.

“I couldn’t sleep that night. I know the entertainment industry has more dirty stories than I’ve seen or known. But I’ve never thought that people could be that vicious before. So I vowed to give him a last chance.”

As soon as Lee Seo woke up the next morning, she mobilized all the reporters she knew to gather rumors. When the pieces collected from here and there gathered and became a picture, Lee Seo’s expression was exactly the same as Dok-Yeom’s face now. Just hearing how cruel and dirty the method used by a large company to bury a young boy’s future made her burn in anger.

“But there was nothing I could do for him right then, so I could only hear the news from time to time. The company prevented his activities and didn’t release his works. He didn’t have the money to break the contract because it hadn’t been long since he entered the industry, and he couldn’t even go to another company because everyone had already seen his face…. His contract with Ji Entertainment ended last month after spending two years in the cafeteria’s kitchen wearing an apron and washing dishes. He just happened to get out of Ji Entertainment, so I offered him to work with me.”

“…Well done for that.”

“He cried for an hour.”

“….”

Dok-Yeom doesn’t feel good whenever he hears the story of someone who knew the hardships of life too early. Lee Seo, who quickly noticed that Dok-Yeom’s cold face softened slightly, voiced a little more earnestly.

“I want to help him as much as I can, although I’ve never done that before. I hope he can use this opportunity to make sure he sets a good impression on people and take him to a big company where Ji Entertainment can’t hinder him. Fortunately, the script came out really well, and he, as the Male Lead, will do good with his acting. I’ll at least send a heavy blow to Ji Entertainment. Now all you have to do is make a wonderful OST.”

“All right, I understand the situation. The director’s attitude of running on her feet to save someone’s future is excellent. But why did you come to a documentary music director like me? There are a lot of famous composers who can chart right away with the presentation.”

“Roa wants you to do it.”

“…what?”

“Whether it works or not, he told me that he wants to work with the person who made 《The day I confess》. I guess he was just trying to make him feel motivated. He didn’t really say this directly because he’s shy, but doesn’t it seem like fate?”

Why is that song all of a sudden…. Dok-Yeom, who smacked his lips and wanted to point out Lee Seo’s carelessness, could not say anything. Lee Seo nervously watched Dok-Yeom, who closed his mouth tightly, with his head tilted back and agonizing fiercely. Then slowly, he raised the corners of his mouth as a sigh came out.

“Dok-Yeom…”

“Bring him to me, let me hear his voice. Before that, send me the script.”

“Thank you very much, Composer Seo! I’ll bring him tomorrow. Tell me when you’re free.”

“I’ll be in the studio all afternoon. Just call me in advance.”

“Yes! You will be so blessed. Be sure to go to heaven later.”

Dok-Yeom smiled silently at Lee Seo, who became more fussy than usual. Well, he has to reincarnate six times in the future to go to heaven, but he’s not sure if he can live all six times peacefully.

Dok-Yeom looked at Lee Seo, who was taking her bag with a smile, saying she was late for the appointment. But he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes as she avoided his gaze for a moment and got up quickly as if she was in a hurry. What is this ominous feeling?

“What else?”

“By the way, I told you, didn’t I? There are a total of five songs that Roa will sing in the drama. See you tomorrow! I’ll send you the script right away.”

“What?! No, wait a minute. You said it was only the main theme song…. Hey, Producer Kang! Stop right there!”