Rira checked her phone screen, which had suddenly brightened.
It was the upload notification for Debonair's self-produced content.
*'I wasn't planning on watching it.'*
She truly hadn't been.
The teaser had been outright brimming with mischief.
—No, really, this album really has that kind of vibe, I'm serious?
But Lee Dohee had stared at her with such intensity, a resolute determination burning in her eyes as if she would never back down from her opinion, that...
—Ha~ even though it's not a lie. I'm telling you, the inspiration I got from it comes out exactly in there, okay?
...Rira had no choice but to believe her.
—Ugh, seriously, my self-produced content is supposed to feel like a highlight reel, so it should've been saved for the very end! Is this the middle episode because it's so fun?
More than anything, she had no intention of betting on whether it was true, either.
Because Rira herself wasn't petty.
No, it was more that she was someone who couldn't be petty.
*'Let's see.'*
She simply pressed play with a skeptical heart.
That was how it began.
And the prologue to this content was—
Lee Dohee, perched on a rock in a lush forest, gazing at the valley, lost in deep thought.
"...Is it really real?"
As the subtitle suggested, Dohee in nature—especially since she was the Lee Dohee called a genius—carried an air of mystique.
Resting her chin on her fist, she murmured softly.
[Dohee: Inspiration...]
A monotonous voice.
She definitely looked like an artist in anguish, trying to clear the fog from her mind as inspiration refused to strike—
[Dohee: Why do they call it...]
[Dohee: I saw a pair of chicks playing in the backyard...]
The camera zoomed in as if bewildered, accompanied by a question mark subtitle.
[Dohee: You saw them too...]
Rira let out an almost identical reaction.
"Haah... I was an idiot to believe her, even for a moment."
Undeterred, Lee Dohee turned her head and stared at the camera with a forlorn gaze.
[Dohee: Lately, I've been thinking. Inspiration, why do they call it. I wonder how this phrase came to be...]
And why did that smile look so wistful again?
The screen followed Dohee's gaze up toward the sky.
Lee Dohee's voice rang out like a narrator's.
[Let's rise from our seats now. Our guests have arrived.]
She hated to admit it.
But honestly, Rira was already a little impressed by just the intro.
"For self-produced content... the quality is..."
It was clear why Debonair's self-produced content was such a hit.
In any case, the scene quickly changed.
A large, magnificent building.
[Seoyun: What? This is the (beep—) Hotel?]
[Naeun: Really? Is this some kind of hotel staycation?]
[Chiyo: Eh-eh!?]
The members were standing at the hotel entrance.
[Ua: Dohee did this?]
[Seoyun: She's this thoughtful?]
When the production crew signaled back affirmatively, the members—still somewhat dubious—couldn't help but let their excitement show on the surface.
[Chiyo: Oh-oh!]
Once inside, that excitement became certainty.
A neatly dressed female hotelier in a suit approached them as if she had been waiting.
[We'll guide you to your room.]
[Naeun: It really is a hotel staycation!]
[Chiyo: Does that mean we're going to a suite or something?]
A sense of anticipation that they might actually get proper rest this time.
The members' steps were light.
[Seoyun: What?]
[Ua: Are we all eating here together?]
But where the staff led them was a large door to some hall.
[The host has already arrived and is waiting. You may enter.]
As soon as the staff finished speaking, they and another hotelier swung both doors wide open.
A medium-sized event room, convention hall, banquet hall.
A large auditorium of neither excessively big nor small scale unfolded on screen.
And the members' gazes turned toward the end of the auditorium, to the podium.
[Chiyo: Huh, Dohee?]
[Seoyun: What's she doing over there again?]
It was Dohee in casual clothes seated at a grand piano, and a man in a suit.
[Ua: Who is that gentleman?]
[Naeun: I don't know...]
Before the members' murmuring even died down, a low, sorrowful piano melody began to flow.
[Seoyun: Ah, this...]
And the man likewise abruptly began to sing.
[Leise flehen meine Lieder
Durch die Nacht zu dir
(My songs softly plead to you
Through the night)]
[Seoyun: This is something Dohee used to listen to when she slept.]
[Naeun: Oh, really?]
[Seoyun: Pretty often, about two years ago.]
Just as Seoyun recognized it, Rira also realized what this famous art song was before the subtitle even appeared.
*'Schubert's Serenade.'*
However, she had no idea why Lee Dohee was suddenly performing.
Or who this vocalist was that was singing with her.
Still, the members on screen seemed to feel the same absurdity about the performance.
[Chiyo: But what is this all of a sudden?]
[Ua: Dohee has always liked that kind of thing, though.]
[Seoyun: Well, she does that in the dorm, but...]
It was just so out of nowhere.
[In den stillen Hain hernieder
Liebchen, komm zu mir!
(Down into the quiet grove
Beloved, come to me!)]
Even so, another thing Rira had in common with them was that, though they whispered for fear of disturbing the abruptly started performance, they soon fell completely into the singing and focused on it.
[Naeun: ...(concentrating)]
"......"
Rira had her eyes closed entirely.
She was by no means deeply versed in classical music—in fact, she could be considered close to a layman—so she couldn't offer an accurate analysis or interpretation.
*'It sounds... nice.'*
Still, as someone who loved music, she was certain that this performance was smooth and fluid, expressing the melody in a most beautiful way.
The delicate, sensitive touch that formed Lee Dohee's lyrical, gentle sensibility.
The tenor's powerful voice expressing the hope and pathos of love.
The appropriate tempo led by the accompaniment and the dynamic control truly, beautifully brought out the lyricism and romanticism of the serenade, a song of love.
And the minor key intersecting with hope skillfully depicted love's anxiety.
Rira leaned against the wall with her eyes closed and listened to the piece calmly. Lately, she had been busy and a bit on edge.
And it felt as if that fatigue was quietly melting away.
[Komm, beglücke mich!
(Come, make me happy!)]
[Komm, beglücke mich!]
[beglücke mich!]
The tenor stopped singing of love.
Until the moment Dohee finished the song's outro.
"......"
Rira closed her eyes.
And opened them again at the sound of applause.
But quietly savoring the lingering emotion continued.
On screen, Dohee smiled brightly from the piano and gave a deep bow to the tenor descending from the stage.
That left only Dohee on the podium. She picked up a book placed atop the piano and took the microphone.
A calm smile lingered in this place where her heart had settled.
Deep gazes were fixed on Dohee.
*'...So it wasn't a lie.'*
It was a place more than sufficient to receive inspiration.
[Dohee: Mozart once said.]
Rira too watched Dohee reciting gracefully, an honest, faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips—
[Dohee: Ah, Lee Dohee is a genius.]
"...?"
[Dohee: And Chopin said this.]
She turned the page.
[Dohee: Ah, I want to hear Lee Dohee's song.]
It was utter nonsense spat out in an instant, before the audience could even react.
[Dohee: Everyone, you've probably heard this saying before.]
A sheet of paper appeared from the pages Dohee had turned.
The paper tucked inside was a cue card.
Something was written on the back.
[Dohee: Inspiration, why do they call it.]
Dohee pulled out that cue card, got up from her seat, and click-clacked her way to the center.
Even so, the way she looked talking—no, her tone—was serene.
[Dohee: Then do you know why this saying exists?]
Dohee, holding the cue card in one hand, spoke with utter confidence.
[Dohee: Yes, that's right. Inspiration doesn't come just from sitting still. Inspiration must be called.]
With Dohee's celebratory cheer, her decibel level shot up violently, as if she'd grabbed a megaphone.
[Dohee: Welcome to Lee Dohee's Inspiration Camp!!!]
Small fireworks exploded from all sides.
—Pop! Pop! Pop! (The sound of Rira's heart, which had believed for a fleeting moment, exploding right along with them)
"Haah..."
[Seoyun (Dohee Expert 1): Yep, I didn't expect anything~]
[Ua (Dohee Expert 2): Me neither.]
[Chiyo (Shameless): Eh-eh, was I the only one who got excited?]
[Naeun (The Only Victim): ......]
Rira wasn't sure she should watch the rest of Debonair's self-produced content.