“Where is this?”
After abandoning Chiyo unceremoniously outside and coming back, Ua didn’t go straight into the recording booth. Instead, she sat down beside me, placed her lyric sheet in front of her, and tapped her pen against it.
“The timing there is going to be a little difficult to match, but don’t feel pressured about it. You’ll get it as you go, so it’s fine.”
Before recording, she seemed intent on going over everything with me, the producer, one more time, checking and familiarizing herself with every detail so she could record it perfectly.
What a commendable Ua.
When I first met her, she’d been a thirteen-year-old baby.
She’d grown up so properly...
“What are you thinking about?”
“Hm? I suddenly remembered the old days. Anyway, the important part is... this— the ‘Yeah’ and ‘Huh’ ad-libs at the beginning. I really think they’re one of the most appealing parts of the song.”
“Really?”
I let her listen to the guide for a moment.
“Wooow... It’s so good, right? You’re going to scrape those words out with your voice laid low over this bass. Some people are going to love it so much that they’ll listen with their headsets on and get chills, just trembling all over!”
As I closed my eyes and imagined it, Ua asked in a cautious voice,
“...But Dohee. Aren’t parts like this usually the kind you want to do?”
“...I guess... yeah? How did you know?”
“You’ve always really liked it whenever that kind of tone came out, ever since you were little. Especially when you listened to band songs. So I thought you’d put it in because you wanted to do it.”
“...Did I?”
“Yeah. Even the clothes you usually like seem to be in that vein. You like clothes that are feminine but also a little cool, and slightly androgynous. Achromatic colors, especially black.”
“That’s true.”
Then again, setting aside Ua’s interest in fashion—she paid enough attention to other people’s clothes to notice things like that—I had practically grown up alongside her since I was eleven. It was only natural that she knew my tastes.
Just as I knew Ua’s aesthetic, preferences, and tastes.
“But you like parts like this too, unni.”
“I do, sure~ But it’s because I kept telling you from when you were little, ‘You like parts like this. Good, right? Good, right?’ and brainwashed you into it.”
“What are you talking about? Honestly, everyone would like a part like this, wouldn’t they? And I’m good no matter what part I do anyway. It’s just that I’m undervalued. I’m a producer who writes songs, you know. I’m good at rap too. Admit it.”
“Oh my, is that sooo?”
“Ah, why has this unni been pretending to be so relaxed and composed since last year? It’s really unlike her.”
“Hehe.”
Anyway, the parts I had given Ua were lines that would bring out her atmosphere and appearance.
Her face was pale, and though her eyes had monolids, they were large. Her nose was rounded with a high bridge, making her profile beautiful, and her lips were full.
Innocence and sophistication coexisted in her.
Her face was like a blank canvas, well suited to carrying many different characters depending on her makeup.
‘She’s not a classic, conventional beauty or an actress type like Naeun unni... Though maybe she’s more of a Cannes Film Festival actress type.’
The fact that several different images and moods could emerge from one person was an advantage. It meant there were many sides of her to show the public.
Just like her appearance, Ua could display various charms depending on the lines she performed and the tone of her voice.
“Anyway, the fact that you know my taste proves you’re definitely better than Mom. Mom’s always going on about ‘the chick dress Dohee likes,’ ‘the pink Dohee likes,’ and songs about some princess...”
“Isn’t that an old story?”
“It’s still pretty similar these days. A little while ago, on my birthday, I checked KakaoTalk after she said she’d bought clothes for me, and she’d just said, ‘Give them to Doa.’”
Ua’s shoulders shook as she chuckled.
“Well, that’s because her daughter is pretty and cute. I’d probably do the same. Dohee, you don’t think you’d be like that if you had a daughter?”
“A daughter?”
A daughter who looked like me would... definitely be incredibly cute.
Of course, I didn’t think I’d have children.
But even without going as far as a daughter, if I applied the thought to Doa—
“That’s why I told her to put them on Doa. Anyway, let’s hurry up. If we’re late, Chiyo and I will get off work late.”
She began looking over the lyric sheet again.
But even as she scanned the lyrics, Ua continued to chuckle.
“Dohee, you know I have pretty good aesthetic sense, right?”
“Well... I admit it. You do have good fashion sense.”
Even when she dressed casually, she knew how to wear clothes well, and she was good at doing various kinds of makeup herself.
“But even if I were Mother, I think I would’ve dressed Dohee like a princess. Whether you were a little kid or now.”
“Why?”
“When you look at Naeun unni, she has that kind of pretty-handsome look, you know?”
“Right? I guess people with classic actress-type faces are like that. There’s only a fine line between being pretty and being handsome. You’re a little like that too, unni.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’ve always liked that pretty-handsome look.”
“...Hmm, unfortunately, Dohee has none of that masculine impression in her face. None of that pretty-handsome thing.”
“......”
Ignoring Ua, who kept blabbering useless chatter instead of recording, I stared down at the lyric sheet.
“Here again, there’s a falsetto part in the chorus...”
“But you know this is totally a compliment, right?”
“...Really?”
“Of course. It means you’re the most femininely beautiful woman there is. My little sister, the most beautiful person in the world.”
“Is that so...?”
“Of course~”
“Well... I guess... I am a little... Ahem.”
* * *
Ua’s recording, after she had checked everything carefully before going in, was good enough for me to give her the OK after two takes most of the time, or three at most.
She finished in about the same amount of time as Naeun, who had wrapped up the fastest earlier.
“Dorproducer! I’m ba—”
Chiyo, who should have been worn out from waiting, came bounding in full of energy.
“As expected, my—”
I immediately shoved her into the recording booth and delivered a one-sided message through the talkback.
“Read the lyric sheet.”
Naturally, I turned off her microphone too.
I didn’t want her saying something ridiculous in there.
After waiting a little and regaining my composure, I pressed the talkback button.
“Unni.”
—A sealed room... confinement... abduction... Dorproducer, what are you planning to do to me...? N-no, don’t...!
Sigh... This wouldn’t do.
I needed to be a little stern with this unni.
“Unni, do you think this is a joke? The recording booth isn’t a place to fool around. Wipe that smile off your face.”
Chiyo, faced with my stern expression, looked flustered as expected.
“Even if I’m the youngest, like you said, I’m the producer today.”
—Dorproducer... angry...?
“Yeah. Because of you, the entire schedule is being pushed back. Because of your fooling around...”
One corner of Chiyo’s mouth rose.
—...So you were only pretending to be angry. I, Chiyo, know that I’m the only one left to record, you know? Hehe.
What a clever and intelligent little kimchi...
I had no choice but to persuade her.
I softened my expression and tone a little.
“Unni, the behind-the-scenes footage from the recording booth isn’t going to be released anyway. I was too harsh on the unnies earlier. So let’s just take it easy today, okay?”
—Hmm...
“Laughing, chatting, and fooling around are fun, but including yesterday and today, I’ve been in the recording booth for thirteen hours straight. Don’t you feel sorry for me...? I’m tired...”
—You really are pitiful...
“Right? You’d hate it too if I nitpicked every little breath you took for no reason and annoyed you. That would be petty, wouldn’t it?”
—Hmm... Then shall we do that...?
“So I won’t nitpick you for no reason. I’ll just look at the important things—”
—Okay, got it. I’ll warm up my throat.
Chiyo wiped the bright, mischievous smile from her face and began scanning the lyric sheet.
Her way of speaking was no longer her usual one, but ordinary Korean conversational speech, which somehow annoyed me even more.
‘Come to think of it... it really has been a long time since she spoke properly like this.’
Honestly, all the members knew.
Chiyo’s usual manner of speaking might have become a habit, but it had clearly started as a Japanese-girl act to save face during her trainee days, when she pretended not to understand because Korean was too difficult whenever the teachers scolded her.
‘Though she is Japanese...’
Anyway, she had used the act so habitually in everyday life that, by now, the fans, company employees, and even the director had all been fooled.
‘How does it make any sense that the main rapper’s pronunciation and speech improve only when she raps?’
—Dohee, let’s hurry. You said you were tired~
“I heard you. Wait a second. I’m operating the equipment. I’m going to play your part.”
—Okay~ Chiyo will wait quietly~ Hehe.
“Ah, seriously. I can’t get used to this.”
Anyway... Chiyo’s first part was—
After Ua’s low voice and the opening intro ad-libs came the song’s first lyrics.
The first verse.
“Unni, do you know why I gave you this precious first verse?”
—Because Chiyo is super good at it?
The mischievous, beaming smile began to creep across Chiyo’s face again.
‘Hold it in. Hold it...’
—Oh? Is Dorproducer annoyed...? Chiyo’s usual speech is coming back...?
“No, I’m not. Dohee isn’t annoyed~? I’m completely happy right now~”
—Um, I don’t think so...
“See? I’m smiling~”
—A fake smile... Inside, you’re about to get really angry...
“...Ah, for fuc—”
—But Dohee is scary when she’s angry, so I should still work hard, right? Fighting!
“Whew...”
I closed my eyes and repeated my breathing exercises before barely managing to play the guide.
* * *
‘Is this the devil’s tone, one that can only exist because she’s insane?’
“I’ll do it one more time.”
There was a strange charm in Chiyo’s singing voice.
To be honest, Chiyo’s vocal ability was clearly toward the lower end among the members.
But that was only when comparing them according to the standards of a conventional singer.
Unlike in the past, when technical requirements were emphasized, the current trend in singers favored by the public was someone with a unique tone.
‘And being able to sing well on top of that was the best.’
Chiyo had one of the vocal qualities I personally liked most.
The kind of voice people commonly described as sharp and ringing.
A rough, husky voice.
It was a tone produced when the vibrations of the vocal cords failed to occur smoothly, arising instead from partial tension in the cords.
Chiyo was unusual even among those voices.
The natural tone that emerged when she spoke Japanese—
It was clear, just as one would expect from someone who claimed to be the daughter of a prestigious family.
But when she spoke Korean or English—
A faint tension in her vocal cords somehow became mixed into it.
‘There are cases where someone’s voice changes depending on the language.’
So Chiyo’s tone wasn’t simply rough or husky.
It was a unique color in which a slight roughness emerged unintentionally from within an otherwise clear voice.
That wasn’t the reason the director had marked Chiyo, then a trainee, as a rapper...
—What are you talking about? I was auditioned as a rapper from the start.
Ah.
More importantly, the moment I complimented her, her usual speech had already returned.
It was truly strange that someone who spoke like this could rap well.
‘Or maybe she’s good precisely because she talks like this...’
“Anyway, I genuinely think that, beyond just the members, you have the most unique voice among all the Japanese idols in the entertainment industry.”
—Hehe.
She liked that.
“So I really think you’re perfect for the start of the chorus or the first line, where a unique tone can hit especially hard.”
—As expected... I’m a born superstar.
Ah, she was seriously annoying me. Should I just give up?
* * *
—Again.
—Again, please.
—Are you singing while paying attention to your oral structure?
—Again. Loosen up your mouth with ‘a-e-i-o-u.’
Chiyo’s recording took a long time and was anything but smooth, but somehow, it eventually ended.
It was true that throughout the recording, Chiyo had lowered the corners of her mouth dejectedly and gazed at me with pitiful eyes. But I hadn’t really been trying to tease her.
It had simply been my personal effort to bring out her unique tone.
‘Should I go out and comfort her...? Maybe I was too harsh for no reason...’
At that moment, the recording booth door flew open, and Ua burst in with eyes as round as a rabbit’s.
“Hey...! Chiyo’s crying. What did you say to her...?”
“...Really?”
I hurriedly bolted out of the recording booth.
My recording was still left to do.
But that wasn’t important right now.
‘Damn, I shouldn’t have let my emotions get so heated while doing this...’
However, in the hallway outside, there was no sign of a crying Chiyo.
—Going up.
“Sure am. Hmph... Jealous little piece-of-shit Dohee, jealous of my tone.”
All I could see was Chiyo sticking out her tongue at me as she escaped upstairs in the elevator, while Ua ran ahead of me and joined her.
“Dohee, we’re going to the café to eat something sweet, okay~? Come when you’re done recording~”
The elevator doors closed.
I stood there blankly for a moment, then took out my phone and made a call.
It wasn’t to any of the members.
“Yes, Director. I was wondering if it would be all right even if there was a bit of a difference in the members’ line distribution.”
—
“Yes? This much is okay? I have about thirty-five seconds, while Chiyo and Ua have ten seconds. So it’s roughly a twenty-five-second difference.”
—
“What? No, I don’t have a cold.”
—
“...Oh, you don’t have to come down.”