Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter - Chapter 52



Only Krnovel

52. If you sell 50,000 copies, you will be recognized.

Perhaps regardless of time and place,

I am sure that the existence of an older sister is quite an awkward existence for a younger brother.

Friends who don’t have older sisters often imagine what it would be like if they had one.

Well, I gave her some pocket money and bought her clothes.

My pretty older sister friends say I’m cute and they probably bring me snacks and stuff.

Every time he heard such nonsense, Cha Seong-jun took on the role of telling the truth of the world with a saintly smile.

‘Dumb one, wake up from your dream. That’s just fantasy.’

If the siblings were ‘men’, they would have beaten each other.

Sister is an abbreviation for ‘who’ was born later than ‘me’.

Anyway, the relationship between the Cha siblings wasn’t much different.

Since Cha Seong-eun and I were three years apart, we never had to fight.

To be honest, I wasn’t a good match for that.

My older sister has always been the top student in the entire school since her school days.

From Korea University, Yale University, to McKenzie University. The specs are crazy.

But unfortunately, she also has a pretty face.

Top tier even within the so-called ‘daughter of a rich father’ category.

If it had stopped there, it would have been nonsense.

He was even good at sports. He was a third-degree black belt in Taekwondo.

I heard that you also learned MMA as a hobby when you were in college.

One time I gave him my thigh as a joke and he crawled on the floor all day.

From that day on, whenever his older sister shook her leg, Cha Seong-jun would reflexively take a defensive stance.

anyway.

The only flaw of this woman who possesses both talent and beauty is that she is a bit too obsessed with her younger brother.

He cared so much for his younger brother that he would often do well-intentioned things to him.

I hoped that Cha Sung-jun (according to her, he is an elite) would only walk on a flower path!

I also opposed the music of 20-year-old Cha Seong-jun.

That was also the reason why I was facing him in Cha Seong-jun’s one-room apartment right now.

“······.”

An awkward atmosphere flows.

The first one to speak in the silence was the older sister, Cha Seong-eun.

“It’s been a long time. It’s been a year.”

“I know.”

“Yeah. Well, let me cut to the chase. You auditioned, right? I think it was ‘Who’s the King’.”

“That’s what happened.”

“Then what about the company?”

“······.”

“What about the company?”

“I closed it. Last Friday.”

Cha Seong-eun’s eyebrows flinch.

But he didn’t start nagging right away.

“Yeah… Well, I expected that. So, did you sign a contract with an entertainment agency? I saw you getting out of the van earlier.”

Because I saw him getting out of the van while waiting for Cha Seong-jun.

Instead,

“So, which agency is it?”

This question was the first attack that Cha Seong-eun had prepared.

If it’s a small or medium-sized planning company that I’ve never heard of, I’ll tear it down right away.

However,

“MXM Entertainment.”

“If it’s MXM, are you bringing Yuna with you?”

“Yeah. There.”

“···Is that so?”

Cha Seong-eun’s words become longer.

MXM Enterani. Honestly, I was really surprised.

Aren’t they one of the top 4 entertainment companies in Korea?

‘Cha Sung-jun had that much talent?’

Cha Seong continued speaking while hiding his embarrassment.

“Joe, you signed a contract with a good place. But, did you check the contract carefully? Isn’t it a slave contract or something like that? You’ll get screwed later because of one poisonous clause-”

“here.”

Before he could finish speaking, Cha Seong-jun handed over the contract he had prepared.

Cha Seong reads it carefully.

She has looked at countless contracts while working at MacKenzie.

If there was anything that was even slightly disadvantageous to his younger brother, he was ready to raise an objection right away.

however······

‘Oh.’

The contract terms… are not bad.

No, it is considerably advantageous to Cha Seong-jun.

Swish-

Cha Seong pushes this contract back on the road.

“···The contract was well written too.”

Her second attack also missed.

Well, my younger brother will be thirty next year.

Since I had been working at the company for five years, I vaguely expected that it would have taken care of itself well.

However, as an older sister, isn’t it inevitable to worry about your younger brother?

Moreover, even though they were three years apart, Cha Seong-jun still looked like a child to Cha Seong-jun.

There was another reason why Cha Seong-eun, who was hated by Cha Seong-jun, dared to interfere.

When Cha Seong-jun felt his talents were limited around the age of 20, he quit music.

The reason is that I lived like a lost soul for a while.

I didn’t eat well, and I was absent-minded when I went to school or anywhere else.

That’s why I was worried that if I tried to get back into music, something like that would happen again.

But Cha Seong-jun looked different than when he was twenty.

He is very confident in his opinions and writes good contracts.

Now… it might be time to let go of your worries a little.

‘You’re all grown up, my little brother.’

A faint smile appears on Cha Seong-eun’s lips for a moment before disappearing.

And then she turned back to the face of the logic witch and asked a question.

However, this time, it was not for the purpose of attack, but for the purpose of listening.

*

‘Whew, so far the defense is going well as planned.’

Cha Seong-jun let out a sigh of relief.

Ubiquitous.

There is nothing wrong with old sayings.

Although Cha Seong-i seems like a stubborn old man, he is actually a very caring person who takes care of himself.

The reason I came to see you today is also because I was worried.

Also, since he is smart, he is someone who can fully understand if you present a reasonable argument.

It was helpful to prepare anticipated questions and answers considering the nature of such discussions.

There seems to be room for persuasion.

While they were celebrating, Cha Seong-eun asked.

“Then tell me how you ended up quitting your job and becoming a singer.”

A tone that is subtly different from before.

It feels like he’s going to listen to my story seriously.

It may really be that Cha Seong-eun is being persuaded.

I thought it was an opportunity, so I decided to let go of the storytelling I had prepared.

“So that’s···”

Tell the truth about everything except the existence of ‘Bangsingki’.

I started doing YouTube cover songs and Sound Sky because I still had some regrets, and the response was good.

I also applied to an audition program to have my skills evaluated.

Then, I received a contract offer from MXM Entertainment and after much thought, I decided to quit the company.

In addition, the achievements made so far have been appropriately packaged and emphasized.

After a long sledding,

“Phew···.”

After hearing the whole story, Cha Seong-eun lets out a long sigh.

It certainly seemed like he had accepted it to some extent from the beginning, but he still had a confused expression on his face.

“This time, I’m not going to cling on blindly. I’m confident that I can succeed as a singer.”

Let’s appeal to the man’s confidence once more, Cha Seong-eun asked worriedly.

“Celebrity popularity is just a flash in the pan. You never know how long the current interest will last. And you haven’t even released your official debut album yet. What if the public turns their back on you then? What are you going to do then?”

Perhaps this was the last attack pattern that Cha Seong-i had in his possession.

Cha Seong-jun instead used this as an opportunity to turn things around.

“Then, if my debut album does well, will you acknowledge me then?”

Cha Seong-eun’s head turns quickly at her younger brother’s suggestion.

Then she started searching for something on her phone.

What she found was an internet document that compiled the initial sales (sales in the first week after album release) records for all South Korean debut albums.

She, who was analyzing information about solo singers, soon suggested a number.

“100,000 copies. It’s the record for the first week sales of a debut album by a solo singer. But he’s an idol, and you’re a singer-songwriter, so there must be a difference in your fandoms. So half of that, 50,000 copies.”

Cha Seong-i said, holding up five fingers.

“I’ll acknowledge it if you sell 50,000 copies.”

50,000 copies was actually quite a hurdle to propose.

As the saying goes, only singers with idol-level fandoms can achieve this.

but,

The fandom of ‘D.Voice’ and the fandom of [Reincarnation of Heavenly Demon].

Lastly, if we combine the 49 fandoms in ‘Who’s the King’, which will continue to air.

50,000 is by no means an impossible number.

Besides, if I refuse her offer now, the pressure may resume with another irregular attack.

therefore,

“There is no need to repeat what I just said.”

“Have you seen me go back on what I said, little brother?”

“No. It was always neat.”

Cha Seong-jun and Cha Seong-eun held a handshake ceremony.

It was a dramatic conclusion for the siblings.

“Mom, you should call Dad yourself. No, just make time to stop by the house, you filial son with no fire attribute.”

And with those words, Cha Seong-eun left Cha Seong-jun’s one-room apartment and returned to her parents’ house.

With this, the first battle of the Sibling Battle was successfully defended.

But at the same time, I was given a homework assignment.

“50,000 copies of debut album sold in the first week.”

There has to be an unconditional result.

Everyone wants to have their family’s support while doing what they want to do.

I don’t want to worry you, I just want to be a son and younger brother you can be proud of.

Besides, I needed a goal myself.

People can be more motivated when they have short-term, clear goals.

“What’s 50,000? 100,000. No, I’ll change the TOP20.”

Cha Seong-jun made up his mind.

*

The next day.

Cha Seong-jun headed to the studio from the morning.

To work on songs to be included in the EP, which is expected to sell 50,000 copies.

We decided to include 4 songs on the EP.

The first track is a song that captures the excitement of the moment when love sprouts.

Drink me like Coffee is track 2.

Track 3 depicts the image of a couple who have become increasingly familiar and bored.

Lastly, the fourth track will sing about the regret felt in the process of erasing each other after a breakup.

So today I plan to make that first song.

On my way to the studio, I got a huge inspiration.

So, this is what happened at the crosswalk.

There is a kindergarten near Cha Seong-jun’s studio apartment.

It seemed like my work commute and kindergarten drop-off times overlapped today.

Standing at the crosswalk and waiting for the signal,

A boy wearing a yellow hat was stamping his feet while holding his mother’s hand.

And let’s follow where the child’s eyes are directed,

There was a girl who looked about the same age across the crosswalk.

The girl was also waving at the boy with the other hand that was holding her mother’s hand.

Maybe we were classmates.

Anyway, I was so happy to see you,

The boy looked like he wanted to run away, unable to wait for the signal.

As soon as the traffic light changed from red to green, the child ran to the other side as if he had been waiting.

Soon, two baby chicks excitedly held hands and entered the kindergarten with their mothers.

It was a scene that brought a warm smile to the harsh world.

At the same time, inspiration flashed through my head.

‘This would be perfect for the first song of the EP…’

The moment you fall in love with someone at first sight.

Even lovers who have just started loving each other.

Surely, it would be filled with innocence like those children.

I don’t know about signals or anything, I just want to run towards each other and hold hands.

So the title of this new song was decided in an instant.

[Jaywalking]

I plan to unfold the situation of the kindergarten children I saw in the morning from the perspective of the lovers.

If the signal in your heart is green, can you run right now?

When the red light comes on, I’ll wait quietly.

But he couldn’t stand it anymore and ended up jaywalking.

What, like this?

“Okay, let’s draft some lyrics based on this.”

After activating [Emotion Buff] and [Vitality Buff], I immediately started writing down the lyrics.

The blank notepad quickly became full.

“At this point, I think the lyrics are pretty much done.”

The rest can be refined and revised while thinking of the melody.

As soon as I picked up the guitar, I started thinking about chords and melodies.

As it is a song about the beginning of love, it has to have a bright atmosphere.

So I decided to follow the money code which mainly uses C and G chords.

[C – G – Am – F] would be a good chord.

However, the bridge part needs a change of pace, so just change the order of the code progression.

[F – Am – F – G – E]

“good.”

This completes the code configuration.

I use acoustic guitar as my main instrument.

For the session, we decided to add in some basic bass and drums that fit the feel of the song.

And from now on, it’s a moment that requires complete immersion.

Cha Seong-jun closes his eyes and recalls a moment of inspiration.

With a pleasant smile on my lips,

My heart starts beating without me knowing it.

It’s a feeling of excitement.

“Hmm~”

With such excitement deep in my heart,

Cha Seong-jun began humming the melody that was lingering on his lips.

*

The work was finished four hours later.

If it were normal, it would have been over in two hours.

The reason it took twice as long was because it was my first debut album and I had a lot to worry about.

“Still, I think the demo turned out well considering the amount of effort put into it.”

Cha Seong-jun stretched after checking with the speaker and headset respectively.

My whole body was aching from concentrating so hard, but I feel a little better after stretching.

“It might be convenient to have a massage chair in the studio.”

I remember seeing that successful composers on YouTube or broadcasting stations had massage chairs in their studios.

At that time, I wondered why he was so over-the-top.

Considering that I will be staying in the studio during the album production period, it was a very reasonable purchase.

Anyway, I got hungry after working on the song past lunchtime.

So I put on my coat and was about to leave the studio,

Brrrrrr

The phone vibrated.

The sender is-

“It’s Yuna.”

It was just as Baek-seok had predicted that he would contact me soon.

When I picked up the phone, I heard a cheerful voice for the first time in a while.

– DV Oppa! Can you talk?!

“Yes, it is possible.”

– I heard from CEO Choi and Seok Oppa that they signed a contract with our company!

“Yes, that’s right. I’m late in greeting you, Senior.”

Yuna burst into laughter at the word senior and congratulated him.

– Congratulations on becoming a family! Junior! Oh, and ‘Who’s the King’ fell?

“Why are you telling such a sad story so excitedly?”

– Oh, am I a little embarrassed? Actually, I’m a little happy. If I had continued auditions, I would have been busy at the end of the year as well. Hehe.

How can you be so happy about someone else’s elimination?

This guy, what’s his personality…?

While Cha Seong-jun was doubting my intentions, Yuna continued speaking at a rapid pace.

– I heard you had an album meeting. You said it’s going to be an EP. Then it’ll take about 2 months? But considering your work speed, I think it’ll be done in a month and a half······.

The two months that Yuna mentioned is the industry’s typical EP production period.

Anyway, I was listening to him trying to figure out what he was trying to say.

– Then, oppa. I know you’re busy preparing your album, but can I ask you something?

And soon Yuna carefully brought up the main topic.

– Would you like to work on a winter song with me at the end of the year?

Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter Episode 53