Episode 16
"They're quick to check."
A certain day after the preliminary round of the concert.
I checked my messenger on my phone and thought.
It was the chat with Seonji, whose replies and read receipts had gotten noticeably faster.
"Are they practicing on their own?"
It seemed they were working harder after advancing to the concert.
[Me: Take it easy while you practice.]
After debating what to reply, I chose something appropriate and sent it.
Hadn't they been running themselves ragged since Yeonbi?
It was a time when they needed plenty of rest.
"Actually, this is where it all starts."
There was still some time until the concert, but the problem was the final exams and practical evaluations.
If they didn't get any rest, how was a student supposed to handle that entire schedule?
"Though I'm excluded, since I'm not a regular student."
I opened the door to the practice room, filled with sweltering heat.
Even though it was early summer, the wind brushing my cheek felt rather cool.
"Second Bound," which I had made not long ago, was lingering in my ears.
—...It's so good.
I recalled the reply I had received from Seonji a few days ago.
It was their reaction when I sent the song.
—But if it turns out like this, what about our session?
The following message.
Honestly, that had been bothering me.
"Anyway, because of Park Yunseok."
Somehow I'd gotten inspired and tried adding instruments one by one, so the arrangement had grown from before.
The rhythm instruments that formed the backbone of a band.
Bass and drums included, and even strings for the intro.
I recalled the track that had become packed before I knew it.
"Well... let's figure it out gradually."
It wasn't that there were no solutions. The school wouldn't think of putting music with empty session spots on the concert stage.
[Kim Drummer: Wanna go to karaoke later?]
Right then, a text flew in from Kim Drummer.
...What does a practical music student need with karaoke?
This one needed to be pushed a little.
[Me: Practice.]
[Kim Drummer: Yeah... karaoke helps with your rhythm sense too...]
[Me: Not that. Practice real rhythm.]
[Kim Drummer: ? What rhythm.]
[Me: Polyrhythm.]
A reply flew in asking why it was necessary.
I considered making something up, but decided to tell him in advance.
[Me: We're going up on the concert stage.]
[Kim Drummer: Huh? (Surprised Ryan emoticon)]
"Among the remaining kids, there's no one who plays better than him for now."
Of course, it also played a part that I didn't have many instrumentalist friends at school.
[Kim Drummer: ...I'll work hard, Hyung-nim. (Three Ryans spinning around emoticon)]
I turned off my phone after telling him to keep it a secret.
The teachers would bring it up first soon anyway.
That was when I planned to properly assemble the session.
Kim Drummer was liable to let loose if left alone, so I needed a reason to keep him in check.
"By the way, I still don't know what's going on with the reward."
Looking out the window, I fell into thought.
The concert preparations were progressing step by step.
But I still hadn't received the system's reward.
Thinking back to when I received the demo track from Seonji, something should be coming up soon.
"...It doesn't really matter. Thinking about what's ahead, raising my personal abilities will be more advantageous."
There was no telling what other cracks would come. To prepare, I couldn't rely solely on the system.
I just wanted to take the reward if I could get it.
"Shall I head back in now?"
It was the moment I closed the practice room door and was about to step back inside.
[Kim Drummer: But did you see this, Hyung-nim? (link)]
"That damn 'Hyung-nim.'"
I clicked the link out of curiosity and found it was none other than a Pavebook page.
"Sewoon Arts High, Shall We Pass It On for You?"
Posts lined up beneath the distinctive blue-background logo.
And beneath that was the post Seonji had mentioned.
A post with only a title and video, no content.
But why were there so many likes?
[Today's Performance Highlight.]
[Likes - 1,890.]
The video showed a student setting up the stage.
Seeing that figure, a laugh escaped me before I realized.
The main characters in the video were none other than me and Seonji.
* * *
"Ha, are they all so blind?"
A company CEO's office.
The man sitting at the head seat spoke with a furrowed brow.
Before him, employees in suits stood with their heads bowed.
"Tsk."
The man clicked his tongue and thought.
That there was a lack of talent.
[CEO - Baek Cheolho.]
He looked at his nameplate. Did this CEO really have to move personally?
While thinking that, the phone rang.
It was his nephew, who was preparing to become a singer.
"Come on, just trust your uncle."
All signs of growling from moments before vanished as Baek Cheolho answered in a kind tone.
Of course, after hanging up, he returned to his original demeanor.
"Tsk. Good-for-nothing."
Baek Cheolho ended the call with a cold expression.
His nephew couldn't become top-tier in the end. Yet by his own strength, he gained profit while his nephew realized his dream—how mutually beneficial.
Thinking so, Baek Cheolho commanded his secretary.
"Prepare the car. It's frustrating; I need to step out personally."
"...Yes, yes! Where is the destination..."
"Do I have to tell you that one by one?"
Baek Cheolho glared for a moment, then continued as if bestowing a favor.
"Someone desperate for singing, but without opportunity. So a hopeful who won't think straight and follows along when we contact them... Then where should we go?"
The corner of his mouth slowly rose into a smile so wicked it neared evil.
"Of course, I have to go to Sewoon Arts High, where hope overflows."
Despair falling away in a place overflowing with hope meant desperation had grown that much.
If you extended your hand offering hope in such a place, who wouldn't take it?
An employee moved by Baek Cheolho's words answered smartly.
"Yes!"
Soon after, Baek Cheolho's vehicle stopped near Sewoon Arts High.
His sharp eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.
Comparing the brief profiles he had pulled out beforehand, he looked for a suitable person.
"There should be at least one kid coming out of the Practical Music Department building with an expression like he's lost everything."
He was well aware that a competition was being held at Sewoon Arts High around this time.
He planned to snatch a student reeking of the stench of failure at first glance.
If they were lucky enough to be rap or vocal majors, even better.
"Good."
Like a beast discovering prey, he opened the door and approached someone.
"Student? Are you from the Practical Music Department at Sewoon Arts High?"
"Huh?"
A student looking at him with a face full of fear.
It was Lee Hyeonsang, on his way home alone.
"Y-yes, I am."
Lee Hyeonsang asked back as if wondering how he knew.
"Good vocalization."
Baek Cheolho instantly gauged the student's voice and movements and threw out bait.
"Student... are you a vocal major?"
Baek Cheolho lightly cast the bait. It didn't matter whether the answer was yes or no.
But Lee Hyeonsang, ignorant of worldly experience, changed his expression as if he had met a shaman.
"As expected."
At that expression, Baek Cheolho sneered inwardly.
He asked. The bastard was now a fish trapped in a pot.
"Uh, how did you know?"
While Lee Hyeonsang was too flustered to speak, Baek Cheolho decided to lift the student up and reveal his own standing.
"I'm this kind of person, after all. Of course I would know. And your vocal tone is exactly that of a major."
Baek Cheolho subtly switched to casual speech and held out a business card.
That faint smile was like that of a mentor you might see in a movie.
Lee Hyeonsang's pupils widened as he took the card with a doubtful expression.
"Hup...!"
Baek Cheolho couldn't help but laugh inwardly at that sight.
Everything was going smoothly. Why couldn't his people do something this easy?
"Pathetic fools."
Thinking so, Baek Cheolho spoke again in a slick voice to finish up.
"If you're interested, contact me. Not a mere school stage, but..."
Watching him still unable to tear his eyes from the business card, Baek Cheolho grinned.
"I'll let you stand on a real, actual stage."
It was a cunning remark.
Omitting everything about what that stage would make of the performer, Baek Cheolho turned sharply.
"This is insane...!"
Watching that figure, Lee Hyeonsang clenched his fist.
Lately, everyone had been ignoring him.
He knew his own skills weren't lacking.
Sure enough, the well called Sewoon Arts High clearly couldn't recognize a figure like him.
He knew this stylish business card would change his life.
Hadn't several seniors succeeded through street casting like this?
"Is there anything I can't do?"
Lee Hyeonsang's arrogance pierced the sky.
He spread the wings of imagination, thinking he could soar high if he grabbed this and climbed.
Lee Hyeonsang flapping powerful wings in place of Park Jahun.
All that remained for him was a future where those wings would be torn and he would crash.
* * *
A dark night, at a company where office lights burned deep.
It was the headquarters of Nnet, the nation's largest music broadcasting company.
"What are you watching like that?"
A PD who entered the variety show team office asked.
The one receiving his question was Yeon Jimin, who had been staring at the screen for several hours.
"Ha... nothing."
She, who had been concentrating for a while, let out a deep sigh instead of answering.
"...What do you mean, nothing?"
"I've been scouring the internet for days..."
Yeon Jimin faced the PD with a soul-drained expression and opened her mouth.
"There's no raw gem. No raw gem."
The PD responded as if dumbfounded.
"Don't tell me you've been looking for students to cast again?"
"Yes, last time there was a kid who seemed perfect, but this time I just can't find one."
The words "Isn't it because your standards have risen?" rose to his lips but didn't come out.
Because he fully understood why she was so obsessed with raw gems.
"Don't be too attached to your previous work."
Hoping she would relax a bit, the PD tossed out a remark.
Yeon Jimin, a writer under Nnet.
She was a talent with both perseverance and skill.
Even the work she had participated in as the main writer for the first time had achieved great success.
A music program gathering high school rappers to compete.
'School Rapper' had finished Season 1 with unexpected success.
However, from those around her, there was something slightly precarious.
Ironically, it was that her first work had been too successful.
"The pressure to succeed this time too must be considerable."
The PD clicked his tongue seeing her eyes with dark circles heavily drawn.
The reason she was watching students' videos like that was the same.
Because the decisive factor in Season 1's success had been Yeon Jimin's casting.
"Raw gems won't just pop up like they did back then. You don't need to be so hung up on it."
You can't always cast participants to your taste.
Just as he was about to say it was okay even if it was different from last time, "...But there is one?"
Yeon Jimin, who had been listening to music through one ear the whole time, answered as if entranced.
She was stubborn but had never openly contradicted him, so he was bewildered.
—Swish.
She put the earphones she was wearing into the PD's ear and continued.
On the computer, some Pavebook page was displayed.
"Isn't it?"
It was a sudden question with the subject omitted, but the PD didn't ask again.
Because he could tell from the music of a certain student flowing through the earphones.
Right now, Yeon Jimin wanted to say she had just found a raw gem.
"Ah...."
The PD nodded without realizing.
He had to admit it to some extent.
Really, there was indeed another student worth her long wait.
"But I don't think it's a raw gem."
However, he had to say clearly that what wasn't, wasn't.
Wasn't a raw gem something you said when you saw someone with potential brewing?
Having produced only music programs his whole life, he could be somewhat confident.
This wasn't at a level that was unrefined...
It was closer to being almost perfectly crafted.
Yeon Jimin nodded at the PD's words.
"That is true."
"Yeah, so..."
Yeon Jimin, sensing what he was trying to say, uttered the same words as the PD.
"I look forward to it more."
"More expectations."
Work fatigue was nowhere to be found, and a faint smile formed on both their faces.
Through one ear, Park Jahun's "First Martini" was still flowing.
Regressor on the Beat