"What. What is it, following me around like a puppy needing to pee since earlier..."
"Well..."
"What."
"Ah, it's nothing."
"Ah, what is it, just say it. You got me curious."
"Well, you know..."
"Yeah, what."
"This... thing of mine."
It's not like it's enormous, but it's enough to draw the eye...
"Is this... does it look kind of... lewd? Since it's big...?"
"Ah, are you teasing me again? Go away. Before you get smacked."
"No, why. I'm serious..."
"I said go, dammit."
I failed to get an answer from Seoyun unni, who resembled Mom with her B-cup—outwardly, a full A.
I turned to the kind Naeun unni.
But judging by Seoyun unni's response, asking with words seemed meaningless.
"Dohee, what's wrong?"
I grabbed my cotton T-shirt and pulled it down slightly, showing a bit of cleavage.
"...Is it lewd?"
"Huh? Did you get a pimple on your chest? A zit?"
"...Huh?"
"I don't see any. Ah, heat rash? Well, the heating these days... It's winter with thick clothes, but the indoor heating is strong and you sweat when you dance, so heat rash is unavoidable. You just have to wash well and change your underwear consistently. Ah, right! Unni has some powder I bought recently that's supposed to be good. I'll give it to you, just a moment~"
"No, unni, that's not it..."
Watching Naeun unni's back as she headed to her room to look for the powder, I held my tongue.
I, who have a bigger chest than unni, probably know more about managing heat rash from experience and probability, and work harder at it...? Surely.
"Hoo..."
"What's got you so troubled..."
For now, this person couldn't solve my problem.
I should just go to my room...
"Hey, you insolent brat! I told you to ask this unni! I shall solve it for you...!"
Ah, Uah unni came out of the bathroom!
"So... is it weird if this is big?"
"Don't tell me it's because I teased you by calling you a boob monster last time?"
As if.
"That was a joke. Besides, they're just pretty?"
Right? I know they're pretty too.
The size and shape are all ideal.
"That's why unni is totally this jealous of Dohee~"
But my identity is, on the surface, witty and full of humor, yet subtly cool and intellectual, while the vibe is also polite and elegant, and my actual visuals are like a gorgeous, beautiful heavenly idol—yet this useless lump of fat is stealing all the attention...
Like how Olivia Hussey was a beauty of the century, yet people's eyes ended up on her chest.
"Don't talk nonsense. Ah, or is it nonsense. Anyway, I don't like your expression."
"Oh~ Chiyo can finally read Dohee's expressions?"
"Hehe, a dog at a village school for three years can recite poetry. Chiyo-dog, who learned from Seoyun unni and Uah for four years, woof woof."
"Since it's a Japanese dog, it's a Shiba Inu?"
"Shiba Inu? Ah, that's right. It's a Japanese dog, a Shiba. Shiba."
"Chiyo is a Shiba dog~"
"...Uah-chan? I feel somewhat strange? Like I've been insulted?"
I wonder why showing cleavage to my unnis isn't embarrassing at all, and only makes me want to tease them.
"Just a joke, a joke. A light tease."
"Hmm... since it's between us, I'll let it slide."
Well, the unnis... they're no different from family.
Honestly, it seems inevitable that it would feel embarrassing when showing it to strangers or people you're distant from.
Especially men.
Since I'm still confused whether I'm mentally a woman or a man.
'So I am a woman after all. Seeing how I'm used to being called unni now. Well, my body is a woman's... but I still sometimes use hyung when I meet male fans... sigh.'
I was definitely more comfortable with guys by nature, but having suffered since elementary school, I think I developed an aversion to them without realizing it.
"Ah, it's torture being so amazing... torture..."
"As expected, I knew it. You were lost in useless thoughts."
Meanwhile, Naeun unni came out to the living room shaking the product.
"Dohee, I found the powder, here! Make sure to apply this~?"
It was a product I already had in my room, but I gratefully accepted it, pretending to see it for the first time.
Anyway, it was still too difficult to come to an answer about myself.
And indeed, the one who solves my worries is our Top East producer, Director Sohyun.
"Dohee, starting from this day is your schedule."
She dumped so much work on me that there was no room for idle thoughts.
"The song camp...?"
"Yeah, take this and go."
"Don't I have other schedules? No... there should have been a lot."
"I cleared them intentionally. Hurry and go."
"Ehh..."
* * *
Winter in early February, when the days were chilly.
A man returning with a warm americano from a nearby cafe tightened his clothes against the cold.
'Korea... this Seoul is really great in every way, but I just can't adapt to the cold.'
This man with green eyes.
In other words, the man with Hispanic features moved his feet and entered a building.
─Ring-a-ling-
When he opened the door on the 5th floor, a space for musicians was revealed.
Various producing equipment, recording booths, and instruments.
["Pedro's here? Where's my coffee?"]
Most of all, there were familiar faces.
This Black woman was a jazz artist who had majored in cello.
A so-called top liner who drew out melody lines.
Jaida, from California, USA.
["My waffle?"]
The shameless mixed-race East-West man in the back demanding snacks was likewise a top liner in charge of melody lines, a Canadian singer-songwriter named Lucas.
["Hey, look who came."]
And this welcome face, whom he'd only seen through video calls, was a hairy man with a thick beard—Erhan.
["But seeing you in person like this, Pedro doesn't look bad?"]
["Erhan! I'm originally the handsome type. It's just that the camera lens distorts it."]
Erhan was a track maker from the Netherlands in charge of accompaniment and post-production—that is, mixing and mastering.
'Well, strictly speaking, since he specialized in the hip-hop genre, beat maker would be more accurate.'
Anyway, these three were all members who had been working on K-pop songs with him for several years.
And now only one person remained.
["Why isn't Joseph coming?"]
Jeon Yosep, a renowned K-pop producer who had hosted this song camp a few years ago.
["Maybe he's busy? I heard that friend runs more camps."]
Jeon Yosep—despite being a composer who had written quite famous songs—for the past few years, he had been contacting composers to establish song camps and only acted as a liaison between completed songs and agencies.
A kind of broker, a role that took a middleman's cut.
'Of course, since he also handled mixing and mastering, there were no complaints at all.'
No creation on his part, but post-production was a skill in itself.
Right away, at American award ceremonies, there were even awards prepared for producers who excelled at mixing and mastering.
'After all, connecting songs is a bothersome task in itself.'
Anyway, Pedro, the Brazilian singer-songwriter, set down the coffee and sat before a work desk, a laptop, and an electronic piano.
And about an hour later, the bell on the door rang.
─Ring-a-ling-
["Oh, looks like someone's here."]
Pedro, who had been listening to the work Erhan had prepared, stood up to greet the late Jeon Yosep and left the room.
"Manager Yeongho, is this the right place?"
But the person he faced wasn't Jeon Yosep, that familiar man in his late 30s who wore glasses.
"That's right, that's right. Say hello."
However, she was familiar.
As someone who works on K-pop idol songs, there was no way he wouldn't know her—after all, she had been the hottest idol star for the past few years.
"But do I have to speak in English?"
"I don't think Korean will work?"
"As expected, right?"
["Ah, hello. You may or may not know me, but I'm I Dohee of Débonnaire. I heard I'll be joining as a member for this song camp starting today. Producer Yosep said he'd reach out to you... I look forward to working with you."]
"Wow, as expected of our Dohee. You're good at English too?"
"Ahem."
She was a girl with a cheerful smile, wearing a black beanie that made her already small head stand out even more, and a hoodie.
* * *
Pedro sat with his head resting crookedly on his desk.
It was true that I Dohee was a famous idol, but it was also true that he felt displeasure.
["Lucas, stop bouncing around. You're making me nervous."]
["No, why is Pedro so grumpy today?"]
["Yeah, Pedro! She's so insanely cute...! Don't you know who that kid is?"]
Of course, Lucas and Jaida too.
["I love it... such great luck! I came all the way from the Netherlands with great determination, and I get to see that kid too! She's even better in person!"]
Even the hairy Erhan was so excited that he stroked his beard—she had a vibe that transcended race.
A ratio created by a height comparable to a supermodel's and an exceptionally small face.
And a baby face unique to Asians that didn't match her ratio at all.
And very pretty on top of that.
In short, she was a beauty that could be counted on one hand across East and West.
Moreover, he knew very, very well who she was.
["You don't know? The song we composed is that friend's group's title track."]
Yes, Débonnaire's debut title track that could be heard constantly on the streets of Seoul even now.
Among them, the song in the Latin disco genre was exactly the one they had made.
And the one who had added Latin color to that song was Pedro, the Brazilian singer-songwriter who grew up listening to Latin pop.
["Yeah, so she's no different from our muse. She's the artist who sang our song!"]
["They bought the song, what do you mean muse."]
["Oh come on, friend. Why are you so petty today?"]
It was true that Pedro's team had been established thanks to producer Jeon Yosep.
It was Jeon Yosep who had gathered composers who hadn't even known of each other's existence to this one place in Korea.
But that didn't mean Pedro was someone unrelated to K-pop.
Rather, Pedro was someone who had dived into K-pop early on, beginning with contact from ZY Entertainment.
Compared to the composers here, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him first generation.
In other words, even without Jeon Yosep, he would have been doing this work anyway.
Moreover, Jeon Yosep was a freelancer to begin with, not affiliated with any entertainment company.
Likewise, Pedro's team wasn't affiliated with an entertainment company either, but merely a team that made and sold songs.
They simply left the brokerage to Jeon Yosep.
'So these songs don't all go to Top East... they could go to ZY, or to Lephro.'
Songs go to whoever recognizes their value and reaches out first.
Of course, since Débonnaire was the team with the most rising stock among girl groups recently, along with Aili, if a good song came out, the likelihood of it being bought was high.
But that didn't mean he welcomed the news that I Dohee had joined the song camp's members through Top East Entertainment's contact, just because Jeon Yosep was close with them.
This place, their studio, was a space for musicians who pursued art that burned their souls, albeit somewhat commercial.
Pedro, who took pride in creation, wanted to show art right now.
["Let's do that one. With that kid included."]
["Don't talk nonsense, amigo."]
["The word amigo is racist. Even though I'm of Hispanic descent, I am clearly a Brazilian who speaks Portuguese, not Spanish."]
["Yeah, apologize, Erhan. You white guy. As a Black person, I won't forgive you."]
["Sorry, it was a joke."]
["Forget it, let's do active listening. There's nothing better than this for gauging basic sense."]
Yes, even a top idol star would have to show musical sense to work on a song with his team.
["If it's not good, we won't work together."]
And the active listening he spoke of was an essential ability that anyone who had majored in music systematically or classically—such as classical or jazz—must possess.
Especially for genres that demanded improvisation, like jazz or composition.
Yes... so to speak, this was musical dictation.
It was a test of the ability to listen to music and analyze it immediately.
* * *
"Manager Yeongho, that person keeps glaring at me."
"He must really like you. Look at the people next to him, they're so excited. They're going 'Dohee, Dohee'."
"Ah, is that so?"