Damn Idol Chapter 161
Trot, a genre with a long history in South Korea’s popular music scene, is actually one whose precise origins and genre classification are difficult to pin down.
That was because it was a genre in which Korean folk songs, Western blues, and Japanese enka had all been mixed together in various ways.
Likewise, the Korean-style R&B that led Korea’s music scene in the early to mid-2000s was, in truth, closer to medium-tempo ballads.
People merely mistook it for R&B because the distinctive soulful vocal style of R&B was layered on top.
Then what would happen if a stylish electronic guitar riff formed the main melody over a medium-tempo ballad?
It would become closer to contemporary rock, the kind that made your hips start moving.
And over that, Choi Jaeseong’s song shot out.
Even if I lived just one day
It was you, still, again
The lyrics and the beat seemed not to match, but that was not important.
More often than one might think, the meaning of lyrics was not that important.
Beneath the cheerful rhythm, Choi Jaeseong sang in a bustling, lively voice.
Unlike the feeling of the original song, which calmly traced each note.
Since when was it
That you quietly surged in
Those who knew Sedalbaegil well would have sensed the scent of Gu Taehwan in Choi Jaeseong’s singing.
After the first phrase ended, in the roughly two-second gap, the guitar solo breathed fire.
Choi Jaeseong tapped his leg to the beat as if he were a rock star.
The wave
Soaking my body—!
And immediately burst into a high note.
As if he were On Saemiro.
At the sight, the participants of Stage Number Zero merely blinked.
It was completely different from the image they had imagined when Choi Jaeseong said he would sing
This was……
‘That’s cheating!’
When they heard Han Sion had arranged it for him, they had thought it enviable, but now it felt unfair.
That was, in other words, a perfect song no matter who sang it, wasn’t it?
It did not necessarily have to be Choi Jaeseong.
Dry and cracked
My two hands and feet
The current sweeping me away
Choi Jaeseong’s voice, comparing the emotion of love to waves, was lighthearted, yet there was a certain nameless bitterness to it.
This was something Choi Jaeseong had learned from Han Sion.
Han Sion was a vocalist capable of doing an astonishing number of things, but what surprised Choi Jaeseong most was his expression.
Han Sion could probably convey the emotion of love even if he sang lyrics made up of curses.
Choi Jaeseong had not reached that point, but he had still acquired excellent expressiveness.
As if covering my face
My breath is blocked
Breathe, Slowly
The judges listening to Choi Jaeseong’s song felt conflicting emotions.
The judges who were former singers thought that they wanted to sing that song themselves.
At the same time, they wondered if they could sing it better than Choi Jaeseong.
Honestly, they were not sure.
They might be better than Choi Jaeseong in certain parts, but how were they supposed to beat that balance?
On the other hand, the judges who were composers were bewildered.
What if a request to arrange
Even if the client had requested one hundred different arrangement versions……
‘Would I have thought to change the song like this?’
They did not think so.
Even if they had made not one hundred, but one thousand arrangement versions, they did not think they would have done it this way.
Just how had he played that insane guitar riff that formed the main melody while hardly touching the original melody at all?
It was depressing and unfair.
The world truly was unreasonable.
How on earth had Han Sion developed such compositional ability?
Even as they thought that, Choi Jaeseong’s song continued onward.
He drove notes into the intense guitar riff like Lee Ion, and handled the high range like On Saemiro.
With Gu Taehwan’s sense of rhythm as the foundation, he showed Choi Jaeseong’s own balance.
Even if
—I sink beneath the waves—
Even if I can’t breathe
It’s fine, because it’s you—
The slightly childish sensibility unique to the early 2000s lyrics sounded like a playful yet sincere confession of love.
‘I can’t beat this.’
‘Choi Jaeseong is withdrawing, right?’
‘Fuck. His albums sell well too, so why did he have to come on an audition program?’
The participants thought things like that.
‘What am I supposed to say for my critique?’
‘The PD asked us to point out flaws if possible.’
‘If I nitpick this, I’ll be the only one who looks tone-deaf, won’t I?’
The judges thought things like this.
But Stage Number Zero’s main PD was different.
‘Why does his expression look like that?’
It was not the expression Choi Jaeseong usually showed when he was immersed in a song.
There was something dissatisfied about it, and something regretful too.
It was not an expression one should be making while giving a stage like that.
Then, the moment the song finished the chorus and reached the second verse.
“……?”
“……!”
Choi Jaeseong suddenly stopped singing.
He stood stock-still and did not sing.
When directing an audition program, contestants making mistakes was something that happened often, but even that followed the mood.
The contestants who gave off an anxious feeling, as if they had not fully mastered the song, were always the ones who made mistakes.
But Choi Jaeseong was not like that at all.
So the roughly three- or four-second gap felt as if it had been intentional.
At last, Choi Jaeseong smiled brightly.
Smiling so brightly that it was hard to believe it was the face of someone who had made a mistake, Choi Jaeseong gripped the microphone.
Then he sang.
Even if I lived through the end
It was still you
Already, you fill me completely
Soaking and filling me
It was a characteristic of Korean-style R&B from the early to mid-2000s for the lyrics of the second verse to form a parallel with the first.
Choi Jaeseong suddenly sang with a refreshed expression.
But the feeling was quite different from the first verse.
The traces of Gu Taehwan, On Saemiro, and Lee Ion that had been felt here and there throughout the song had all vanished.
Every section was Choi Jaeseong.
Was that better? He was not sure.
Was it worse? That was not the case either.
It simply felt as if a different person had suddenly begun singing.
Whether the participants and judges felt confused or not, Choi Jaeseong finished the song.
Soon, as Choi Jaeseong stood before the judges with a relieved face, someone asked him a question.
“Contestant Choi Jaeseong.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you stop while singing? It didn’t seem like a mistake.”
“I just…… suddenly thought of the best way to sing this song, so I stopped without realizing it.”
“Did you perhaps show that method in the second verse?”
“No, I didn’t. I knew I couldn’t do it, so I tried to sing it in my own color.”
The judges did not fully understand Choi Jaeseong’s words, and Choi Jaeseong had no intention of making them understand either.
After that, the critiques continued, and Choi Jaeseong merely nodded silently.
When all the contestants’ stages ended, the interview time before determining who would pass and who would be eliminated arrived.
At that moment, Stage Number Zero’s main PD called Choi Jaeseong out.
The conversation between the two, meeting without even a camera, began with a question.
“What are you going to do?”
There was no way Choi Jaeseong did not know what the PD’s question meant.
It meant that if he did not accept NT’s offer, this was as far as he would go.
Until yesterday, he had certainly been wavering.
But not now.
“I’ll withdraw voluntarily.”
“Have you made your decision for certain?”
“Yes.”
“I’m saying this because it’s a shame, but the viewers won’t exactly like it. Some people will criticize you too.”
“I know.”
Choi Jaeseong’s appearance on Stage Number Zero had been a deal between SBN and Sedalbaegil.
SBN used Sedalbaegil to create buzz for the program.
Sedalbaegil used SBN to disrupt Choi Daeho’s influence.
The interests of the two groups aligned, and the results were good.
Thanks to that, they had even been able to appear on music broadcasts.
But from the viewers’ perspective, Choi Jaeseong would look like an opportunist.
Because it would seem as if he had appeared before Sedalbaegil succeeded, then withdrawn the moment they became successful.
Especially withdrawing right before the top ten meant he was not desperate.
And not being desperate could make it look as though he was disregarding the desperation of the other contestants.
Or it could look as though he was disregarding the entire purpose behind the program’s planning.
All of this was because Sedalbaegil had become excessively successful.
Choi Jaeseong was no longer an underdog but a top dog, and in South Korea, top dogs were expected to show manners and humility.
“If you want, we can also portray it as you being eliminated on the final stage.”
“Wouldn’t the production team get cursed at then?”
“Do you think there’s anyone among audition program production crews who hasn’t been cursed at?”
If Choi Jaeseong were eliminated despite having presented an excellent stage, the viewers’ arrows would be aimed at the production team.
Then Choi Jaeseong would be innocent.
Of course, the PD was not making this offer because he was a good person.
Considering Sedalbaegil’s content power these days, there was meaning in putting them in his debt.
It would be ideal if Sedalbaegil appeared when he launched his next program.
But Choi Jaeseong shook his head.
“I don’t want to be eliminated. Then a member of Sedalbaegil would be eliminated.”
“Hmm……”
The PD felt regretful, but Choi Jaeseong did not.
He had realized it today.
That he could not become the main character.
And that this was not necessarily something to regret.
“Thank you for everything.”
* * *
After finishing filming, Choi Jaeseong returned to Sedalbaegil’s dorm.
When he opened the door and stepped inside, he saw the mounted cameras and the members sitting on the sofa.
Judging by the camera angle, they seemed to be filming the sofa from the front.
“What are the cameras for? Are we filming something?”
“You’re here?”
Han Sion rose from his seat and dragged Choi Jaeseong over to the sofa.
Then he operated his smartphone and played a song.
The intro of
There was no explanation and no discussion.
Gu Taehwan abruptly started singing.
Even if I lived just one day
It was you, still, again
Gu Taehwan’s opening was exactly as Choi Jaeseong had imagined.
No, it was even better than he had imagined.
The one who took over Gu Taehwan’s song was, very naturally, Choi Jaeseong.
Since when was it
That you quietly surged in
After that, On Saemiro suddenly formed a change in vocal range.
The wave
Soaking my body—!
Lee Ion struck the precise notes and seeped between the electric guitar performance.
Dry and cracked
My two hands and feet
The current sweeping me away
Everything was exactly as Choi Jaeseong had imagined.
Not long ago, Han Sion had told Choi Jaeseong that he could not become the main character.
“I want to be the main character too.”
“The main character? That’ll be hard. No, maybe impossible?”
“Because of the hyungs? Or because of you, Sion hyung?”
“That’s not it.”
But he had not told him the reason.
The day he realized the reason was today, on stage.
All singers went on stage with a clear plan for how they should sing a song.
Choi Jaeseong had that too.
But as he sang, he came to know.
The answer to this song had already been decided.
The intro had to be sung like Gu Taehwan, and the high range had to be sung like On Saemiro.
When creating chords with synthesized sounds, Lee Ion’s ability was needed, and Han Sion’s expressiveness was needed.
But Choi Jaeseong was Choi Jaeseong.
He was not Gu Taehwan, nor Lee Ion, nor On Saemiro.
And he was certainly not Han Sion.
No matter how much he imitated the members, he could not become them themselves.
That was why Choi Jaeseong could not become the main character.
Because the main character of this song had already been decided as Sedalbaegil.
It was not just this song.
The main character of every song they made and sang was Sedalbaegil.
At some point, they had become people more accustomed to “we” than “I.”
But without Choi Jaeseong, the main character would not exist either.
Because within Sedalbaegil, Choi Jaeseong’s role clearly existed.
Han Sion had been trying to teach him that, and Choi Jaeseong had realized it and laughed in relief.
And now.
The song they were singing casually in the living room of the dorm was the “answer” Choi Jaeseong had imagined on stage.
It was a song sung by the main characters.
When the song ended, Han Sion asked.
“Looks like you figured out the reason.”
“Sedalbaegil’s Choi Jaeseong sings better than Choi Jaeseong.”
Han Sion tilted his head.
“No? I meant that I’m the main character.”
“……”
“I’m joking.”
“I know it’s a joke, but for a second, I felt betrayed.”
Han Sion gave a small laugh, then lightly tapped Choi Jaeseong on the shoulder and said,
“That feeling is enough. Now go and win.”
“What?”
“Go to Stage Number Zero and win. Tomorrow, come with me to meet the PD and take back your withdrawal.”
“What do you mean?”
“I really don’t understand. Why do you think only agencies can do production sponsorship?”
“……!”
Startled, Choi Jaeseong opened his mouth hesitantly.
“But hyung, you said it’d be hard for me to make the top ten……”
“I only said that so you wouldn’t get nervous. If you aimed to win from the start, you might overdo it.”
The members, smiling slightly, added their words.
“If you don’t win, I’ll kill you.”
“Saemiro. Don’t pressure him.”
“Still, if you can’t win, that’s a bit……”
Choi Jaeseong answered firmly.
“I’d die of embarrassment before that.”