Damn Idol — Episode 86
Choe Jiun wore an expression of genuine surprise.
Well, I understood.
No ordinary twenty-year-old would make this kind of choice.
But he already knew I wasn't an ordinary twenty-year-old, didn't he?
"Yes. I believe this is the best way."
"It may be best for Sedaekbaegil……. But what about you, Mr. Han Sion? Are you really okay?"
"I don't mind."
"You must really love the team called Sedaekbaegil."
It wasn't something worth answering, so I just smiled.
But Choe Jiun seemed deeply impressed, tapping the sofa with his fingernails before opening his mouth.
"If I'm receiving this much money, it'd be fraud if I were just a department head. How about a news bureau chief?"
"It couldn't be better."
If it were the news bureau chief, that would be the best.
What was even better was that Lawyer Choe Jiun hadn't engaged in all sorts of probing with me.
This meant a certain level of trust had been formed.
After that, I exchanged various words with Choe Jiun before leaving the law firm.
It was only early June, but the sweltering heat welcomed me.
The meteorological administration had said an unprecedented early-summer heatwave would begin soon…….
Maybe because it had been so long since I experienced Korea's changing seasons, I really couldn't get used to it.
For the past dozens of cycles, I had greeted June 2017 in either New York or LA.
Ah, right. There was a time like that too.
I came to Korea for a performance, and the news said "Heavy rain is falling nationwide," which shocked me.
If heavy rain fell nationwide in America, it would be a massive flood or the apocalypse.
Well, I suppose I have to adapt to Korea now.
Since I vowed to go as far as I could reach with Sedaekbaegil.
Thinking that, I got in a taxi and called Representative I Hyeonseok.
"Uh, Shion."
After exchanging brief greetings, I got to the main point.
"Senior. Do you happen to have a practice room we can use starting today? Price doesn't matter, and I think we'll use it for about a month."
"Practice room? Who's going to practice?"
"Sedaekbaegil, of course."
"The filming……. Ah, you said it ended. Didn't Ryan Entertainment arrange a practice room for you?"
As expected, I Hyeonseok also naturally thought Sedaekbaegil would sign with Ryan Entertainment.
That was the prevailing opinion in the industry, and we were the ones who had refused it.
If he learned all the facts, would I Hyeonseok take our side?
Hmm, I think he would.
Because he was an outsider with no real ambition in the music industry.
Even so, I Hyeonseok was surprisingly someone who wielded influence in the industry.
Not to the extent that he could overcome Choi Daeho's influence immediately, but he could be used as a joker card when Choi Daeho's power waned.
I should tell him what happened before long and make him our ally.
"The filming is over, but the broadcast hasn't ended yet. In the meantime, we want to try something among ourselves."
"Aha. Then do you need space to practice choreography too?"
"Yes. Just lightly."
"Just use Studio A. If you clear out the sofa and wardrobe area, that much space will open up. I'll clear the schedule for a month."
The nuance was that he was telling us to use it for free, but this was a bit excessive kindness.
Studio A, filled with state-of-the-art equipment, had quite expensive rental fees.
If he kept it empty for a whole month, LB Studio would inevitably suffer considerable losses.
But I Hyeonseok snorted at my words.
"Shion."
"Yes, Senior."
"I told you before. Let's split the money earned from internet broadcasts half and half."
"Yes."
Honestly, it had been a nonsensical proposal.
I Hyeonseok really was someone without political sense.
In a good way, pure; in a bad way, short-sighted.
What would happen if I received I Hyeonseok's personal broadcast revenue?
His praise and admiration for me on broadcast would become "promotion."
We call that advertising.
If you don't disclose it to viewers, it's called backdoor advertising.
"With that money, you could probably rent Studio A all year round?"
"Really?"
"Hmm, no. If it's just renting Studio A, maybe two years?"
He earned more than I thought.
Still, I Hyeonseok was kind.
"Then we'll use it carefully for a month."
"No. You can use it longer."
"No. Then can we come by today?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll tell the part-timer to clear out as much space as possible."
After hanging up with I Hyeonseok, this time I called a real estate agency.
Even though we're using LB Studio for the time being, I need to find a workspace-cum-office for the Sedaekbaegil crew.
"Yes. Please look in Yeoksam-dong."
The workspace will definitely be near our house.
Since I'm the one paying, I can at least do this much, right?
* * *
The Sedaekbaegil members gathered at LB Studio.
Perhaps because the filming sponsorship had ended, everyone was dressed in clothes reflecting their own tastes.
"Jaeseong."
"Yes?"
"Aren't your shorts too short?"
It was a bit of a laugh that I Ion, who had grown up in a conservative household, was surprised by Choe Jaeseong's outfit.
"But where's Shion?"
"He said he'd talk with Representative I Hyeonseok for a bit and come."
While the Sedaekbaegil members were killing time in Studio A, Han Sion appeared.
And he placed four notebooks on the table.
"What are these?"
"A kind of wrong-answer notebook, I suppose."
"Wrong-answer notebook?"
There was no one who didn't know that a wrong-answer notebook was a notebook where you organized the questions you got wrong after taking a test.
Since he said we'd start practicing today, was he telling us to record things that disappointed us during practice?
But that wasn't it.
"We won't write in these now."
"Then?"
"You'll know when the time comes. I'm going to leave them here with only names written on the covers, and anyone can write in them."
"Anyone?"
"Yes. It means Jaeseong can write what he found disappointing about Gu Taehwan."
"……?"
They still didn't understand what kind of picture Han Sion was drawing, but the Sedaekbaegil crew just went along with it.
It wasn't once or twice that Han Sion said incomprehensible things.
Besides, they had faith that if they followed without complaint, they would encounter a cool moment.
And so, with the wrong-answer notebooks of unknown identity placed on the table, practice began.
The first practice was simple.
Each member sang once the song they had performed on Coming Up Next.
Since they sang in chronological order, from Han Sion's perspective, the order was:
At the End of Dawn
–I've Never Joked Around
–Under the Streetlight Remake
–Seoul Town Punk
–Crossroads
–Sedaekbaegil.
Excluding the B-team preliminary round, since they only sang songs after Sedaekbaegil's formation, there were 6 songs.
Among them, 3 were solo songs, and 3 were group songs.
Nevertheless, since all members had to sing, they had to go through 18 songs, so quite a long time was consumed.
If others saw it, it probably wasn't a very fun practice.
But the Sedaekbaegil members had memories of that moment, so they got through practice quite enjoyably.
"Wow, but everyone has really improved a lot."
"I think I realized something while preparing for the Sedaekbaegil stage."
"Me too."
Especially Onsaemiro and I Ion's improvement was dazzling.
And so, when the songs had come full circle, this time Han Sion brought up a new story.
"This time, let's divide the parts so that two people sing the solo songs."
"How?"
"Any way is fine. Just roughly is okay. Anyone want to sing 'At the End of Dawn' with me?"
Gu Taehwan raised his hand high, and belatedly Choe Jaeseong raised his.
"Taehwan was faster. So I'll sing this with Taehwan……. Anyone want to sing 'Remind' by Drop Out?"
Drop Out's "Remind" was the song Gu Taehwan had sung during the Myeongdong karaoke mission.
This time all the members raised their hands, but Onsaemiro was the fastest.
"Okay. Gu Taehwan, Onsaemiro."
And so, after dividing parts for a good while, practice began.
It was practice, but they weren't singing songs in a fixed, serious manner.
On one side Han Sion and Gu Taehwan were singing, and on the other side I Ion and Onsaemiro were singing.
It was closer to the feeling of distributing parts and trying to match harmonies than staging a performance.
Moreover, since there were five members, inevitably someone would be left idle.
So Choe Jaeseong, who was sitting idle watching his hyungs, was tilting his head internally.
'This isn't Shion hyung's practice style.'
While preparing for the final competition stage, Sedaekbaegil, the team members had trembled at Han Sion's ruthlessness.
Han Sion was a more intense perfectionist than any trainer Choe Jaeseong had ever met.
"The sweet taste lingers at the tip of my nose. Sing this part again."
"Sweet taste. Just sing up to here."
"What are you doing? I said you can sing the back too, but I told you to stop there. You shouldn't be trying to sing just 'sweet taste' exactly."
"Sweet. Sing it."
"Dal, try catching the first note."
"Why do you pronounce it 'dol'? Is it 'dol-kom-han'?"
"'Dal-kom-heu-an' isn't right either. If you separate the notes, the beat for 'mash-i' is slightly slow."
Just thinking about it now gave him chills.
What was more absurd was that Shion hyung was under the delusion that he was being incredibly kind while teaching.
No, it was true that he was kind.
He gave detailed and accurate guidelines where there was nothing to be confused about, and helped until you could do it if you couldn't.
But……. 'It was too scary!'
The atmosphere was too scary.
Objectively, Han Sion wasn't a scary-looking person, but he was a cold-looking person.
When he stared at you with his big, dark pupils on his pale white skin, you tensed up involuntarily.
And if it seemed like he was thinking "Why can't I do this?" you would swallow hard.
Choe Jaeseong, who had shared a room with Onsaemiro, had even heard Onsaemiro talking in his sleep.
"Be, bending! Bending! I can do it! I'll do well!"
He didn't know what dream he was having, but he knew it was words directed at Shion hyung.
It was Sedaekbaegil who had passed such a pressure interview and put on the stage.
Honestly, singing in front of 2,000 audience members was much easier.
Compared to Shion hyung staring intently.
So it was strange.
Roughly dividing parts like now and singing songs half-heartedly wasn't Shion hyung's style.
Moreover, unless the pitch went seriously off, there were no corrections either.
'What is he thinking?'
At that moment, Han Sion called Choe Jaeseong.
This time he said to try singing Seoul Town Punk without choreography.
"What's the point without choreography?"
"Do as you please. You can stay still, or you can make gestures. Just think that there's an audience."
At Han Sion's words, the Sedaekbaegil crew nodded and sang "Seoul Town Punk," "Crossroads," and "Sedaekbaegil" consecutively in versions without choreography.
And so practice ended.
At the somewhat anticlimactic end of practice, Onsaemiro opened his mouth.
"Shion, are we doing this again for practice tomorrow?"
"No. Tomorrow, everyone prepare 4 favorite songs and come. 2 Korean songs, 2 foreign songs."
"Why?"
"You'll know in a few days."
The next day's practice proceeded in a similar vibe.
They sang the favorite songs once, distributed parts, and practiced.
Since they were less familiar songs than the first day, there was some feedback, but it wasn't a perfectionist's feedback.
"Do we prepare new songs again for tomorrow?"
"No. We'll only practice with the songs we've sung so far."
And so 3 days passed.
The members who gathered at LB Studio at the usual 1 PM as always faced bewildering news.
"We have 3 performances today."
"What?"