Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter - Chapter 95



Only Krnovel

Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter Episode 95

95. Dingdong

Kim Cheol-su, the general affairs manager of Saehyang Cosmetics.

For him, who started his social life in the turbulent 1980s, every day felt like hell.

Working 6 days a week, with overtime and company dinners every day being the norm.

Who could be happy in a military culture where you have to be picky and a workplace where old-fashioned superiors rule?

In the midst of all this, office workers each found a place of peace and an oasis to hold on.

For some, that oasis was home, for others, it was arcade games, and for others, it was fishing and baduk.

For Kim Cheol-su, that oasis was the band ‘Halla’.

Halla’s music, which comforted him with the harsh sound of “You are okay,” was a great strength that helped Kim Cheol-su endure the harsh work life at the time.

The beginning and end of the day,

It is no exaggeration to say that I was able to rise to my current position as team leader after gaining courage from listening to Halla’s songs on my way to and from work.

Therefore, it was only natural that Kim Cheol-su would attend Halla’s 40th anniversary concert.

No, in fact, he has had a 100% attendance rate at every concert since he got to know Halla.

If the performance day is a weekday, take annual leave or half-day leave!

This is also why he, who is a bit of a troublemaker, understands his eldest daughter, Kim Joo-hyun’s obsession.

Because I am also a fan of Halla and go to concerts.

one side,

“So, it’s still a secret who today’s opening guest is?”

“That’s right. What kind of great band is it?”

Kim Cheol-su’s curiosity also grows as he hears the gossip around him.

For the many fans who attend Halla’s concerts, the opening guests they put up are always another source of entertainment.

Because they were all promising prospects with great skills.

So, Kim Cheol-su was also waiting with great anticipation to see who the next guest would be.

And finally, the veiled figure revealed himself.

however,

‘Huh…? Could that be Seongjun…?’

Kim Cheol-su’s eyes widen at the unexpected appearance of a familiar face.

Who would have thought that this opening guest would be my teammate, Sungjun!

I feel both happy and surprised at the same time.

Meanwhile, Sungjun’s performance began.

Kim Cheol-su has listened to Sung-jun’s songs quite a bit.

No matter what, he was his teammate, and he was a guy who resembled him just like he did when he was struggling in the beginning stages of his social life, so he loved him even though he didn’t show it on the outside.

Because it was a song released by a guy like that, my ears and heart naturally went to it.

Thanks to that, I know Sungjun’s vocal style.

A style closer to pop rock than hard rock.

So, there was concern that it might not meet the expectations of the concertgoers.

One, it was a miscalculation.

“I’m walking!”

The stage that Sungjun prepared was much more rock than what the team leader had expected.

Watching Sungjun strumming the electric guitar and roughing his neck to express his passion,

Something hot rose from deep within Kim Cheol-su’s chest.

This feeling.

It’s like the first time I heard Halla’s song.

one side,

“Wow, that’s killing me. The young man is really rocking it.”

The fan friends I met while attending the concert also seemed to have similar feelings as me.

“There’s still a solo singer like that in our country? Rock music is still alive in South Korea!”

“Of course, there’s no way Halla would have chosen just any singer as the opening guest. This is their 40th anniversary concert, after all.”

“I feel a bit sorry. If you’re a rocker, you have to have long hair. Tsk.”

“Anyway, it’ll be big.”

They are known for being strict with singers who are not in bands, especially with young singers these days, but they were surprised and exclaiming in admiration.

Recognized among true rock enthusiasts.

at that time,

“So what was that guy’s name? I vaguely remember it when I first heard it…”

Kim Cheol-su’s lips opened at the question someone asked.

“Seongjun. That friend’s name is Seongjun.”

“Ah, that’s right, it was Seongjun. As expected from Mr. Chulsoo! Since he’s the team leader, his memory is good! I have to remember that guy this time.”

A pleased smile appeared on Kim Cheol-su’s face as he watched her write down his name on her phone so she wouldn’t forget.

‘If the day comes when Sungjun gets to hold a concert…’

At that time, I thought it would be okay to go see the performance with my two daughters.

*

The nature of mass media covering the topic of ‘concerts’ is usually like this.

Just before the concert, I was busy producing promotional marketing articles.

When the concert actually starts or ends, they are too busy with other issues to even pay attention to it.

Therefore, the endless stream of articles about the success of Halla’s 40th anniversary concert can be called a strange phenomenon.

It couldn’t have been anything but unusual.

Meanwhile, a reporter known as the ‘Gae-ko’ of the entertainment news world brought up the name of an artist as the cause of this strange phenomenon.

“It’s the Sungjun effect!”

Seongjun participated as the opening guest of Halla.

His presence is the reason for the rush of articles about this explosive concert success.

It was a well-known fact that Gaeko and Lee Jun-min were reporters who sucked Sung-jun’s butt, it was something that could not be dismissed as just a groundless accusation.

That would be the case, since in fact, Sungjun’s name was included in half of the headlines in articles about Halla’s concert.

『Halla 40th Anniversary Concert Completed! Surprise Guest = Sungjun!』

『Hanla 40th Anniversary Concert Opening Guest, Sungjun!』

『The next generation rock star recognized by Choi Kang-san? Sung-jun! Heating up the opening of the Halla concert!』

In this way, Hanla and Sungjun both benefited from each other, with Hanla benefiting from super rookie Sungjun and Sungjun benefiting from the legendary band Hanla.

Meanwhile, Sungjun’s name was overflowing in the reviews of fans who attended the concert, and to summarize them, it was like this.

– Sungjun, this guy is no ordinary guy! I was surprised at how well he used rock vocals!

– I was watching with my arms crossed and before I knew it, I was waving my hands! The live was killer! I became a fan!

– I recognize you as the next generation rock star! If only you had continued to do band music!

– The rock festival officials must definitely recruit Sungjun this year!

Sungjun quickly rose to stardom as a promising star among rock fans, who were known to be conservative.

And the next generation of fiery rock stars were currently in the lush, splendid Sharalahan Märchen ‘Fairy Forest’.

That is, the filming set of ‘My Favorite Girl’.

“Hello, seniors.”

“Seongjun is here.”

The other mentors welcome Seongjun’s greeting.

Then Ji-woong asked, seeing the cameraman and audioman he had brought on his tail.

“Hyung, is this the ‘Naholsan’ shoot that the camera people who came with us mentioned in the group chat?”

“Yeah, I’m only going to draw light sketches to avoid spoilers. Anyway, thank you all for understanding. I bought coffee as a bribe, so please have one.”

“What? Thanks to you, we also got a cut of Naholsan, which is nice. Anyway, I’ll enjoy the coffee. You have great sense!”

Her vocal mentor and partner, Hailey, shows off her wit.

Meanwhile, in today’s filming, an MC who did not appear in the previous round 1 also appeared for the first time.

She was a senior member of the original girl group that once dominated South Korea.

These days, she is making a name for herself as an actress.

“Seongjun, it’s been a while!”

“Senior Ye-seon-ha, you’re here.”

Top actor and former main vocalist of girl group ‘Pink Rose’ has made it to the preliminary round.

“I was wondering when you’d come, but you’ve been coming since round 2. The ‘tree concept’ was quite refreshing.”

“It’s not a tree, it’s a ‘world tree’.”

Ye-seon-ha responds to Seong-jun’s words with a snort.

In the last round, the emerald tree-shaped object in the center of the ‘Fairy Forest’ set, called the ‘World Tree’, served as the MC.

The concept is that the voice of the mystical World Tree guides 10 fairy girls.

And the owner who played the voice of the World Tree was the one who made the preliminary selection.

This was a program build-up to create anticipation among viewers about who the owner of the voice of the World Tree is.

It was decided that the production would fully reveal itself starting from the second round.

Nominally the ‘Old Queen of the Fairies’.

Anyway, the worldview of idol groups these days is really disgusting.

Still, it is said that having this kind of worldview makes it more fun for fans to be fanboys. It is also good for setting activity concepts and making goods.

Anyway, thanks to that, today’s preliminary round’s outfit also resembled the queen.

She wore a crown on her sparkling dress.

“You look just like a bride-to-be.”

“I don’t have a boyfriend, so what about a bride? Oh, I did. A hottie I first saw at a crosswalk. We broke up after filming four music videos. How about we reunite for the next song?”

Yeseon-ha playfully responds to Seong-jun’s words.

The cameraman who was filming the scene swallowed his surprise.

‘No, if you just listen to the conversation, the plotting on Ye-seon-ha’s part is no joke?!’

But he’s a cameraman with a lot of experience.

You shouldn’t take everything celebrities say at face value.

It was obvious that the conversation between the two people would be a hook comment for the broadcast.

After a while, recording started.

Following the last midterm inspection, the second round of the actual competition stage.

Ten girls from Unit A and Unit B, each styled to match their respective competition songs, stood side by side on stage.

“Have you prepared well?”

“yes!”

Girls answering their mentors’ questions with energy.

“You sound confident. Then let’s start with Unit A.”

As the trainees took their ready poses, Sungjun also switched into cool producer mode.

Unit A’s competition song was ‘Like the First Time’ by ‘Pink Rose’, which MC Ye Seon Ha was also a member of.

“Love me always, just like the first time.”

“Like the first time, like the first time, like the first time, like the first time.”

The five girls presented a stage they had prepared.

And unlike last time, Sungjun and the mentors’ expressions were bright.

It seemed like most of the feedback given during the midterm review was well received.

A much more advanced look.

“Good job. It’s a lot better than the mid-term inspection.”

Mentors provide feedback with praise and encouragement.

Seongjun, who shocked everyone with his ice rink evaluation in the first round, also opened his mouth with a gentle smile this time.

“This is how the trainees who will become the best girl group should be.”

At those words, bright smiles spread across the faces of the nervous trainee girls.

“This time, it wasn’t just an imitation song. It didn’t miss any details, and I think the emotions were well expressed. Especially the main vocalist-”

The following feedback made him bow and shout, “Thank you!”

Next, the second round of competition ended with Unit B’s stage and the judges’ comments.

While both teams line up on the stage after finishing their performances, the mentors add up the scores they each gave to the trainees.

And based on the total score, the name of the winning unit among the two units was displayed on the rear LED.

[Unit-Pixie WIN! /Unit-Fairy LOSE! ]

In a head-to-head showdown between the two units, Unit-Pixie, Unit A, won by a very narrow margin.

Next, the individual scores of the five units came up in order.

Jin Ha-neul, who was DMLC’s muse, ranked 2nd in the unit.

Although there was some improvement, it still lacked the ‘expressiveness’ that was pointed out as a weakness.

If only the expressive power could explode, the potential would be enormous, but it feels like it hasn’t hatched yet.

Seongjun’s assessment was like this.

‘Because I said I’d have individual interviews with the trainees later.’

At that time, I plan to talk to Jin Ha-neul and think together about how to overcome the lack of expressiveness.

On the other hand, surprisingly, the first place went to a mixed Korean-Japanese trainee.

Korean name: Lee Haru.

Japanese name: Haruka Ichinose.

Even though he is young, his dancing is amazing.

I heard you’ve been dancing since you were 5.

Especially, he won the hearts of the mentors during the dance break solo dance.

The stable vocals that did not waver while dancing fiercely also received rave reviews, and they confidently took first place.

Thanks to this, the trainee who has emerged as the most promising debut member at present.

“What we will be checking in the next 3 rounds is the trainees’ ‘genre digestion ability’. Depending on the given genre, the trainees will have to show their own charm and temperature difference.”

The filming of ‘My Favorite Girl’ concluded with a preview of the third round of the preliminaries.

*

And the next day,

Seongjun has been busy in the kitchen since morning.

The frying pan is shaking, and the pot is bubbling.

The microwave is also running at full capacity.

It is obvious that this is not a dish that anyone would eat alone.

At that moment, when I was picking up the spoon,

Ding dong-

Someone rang the doorbell.

Two handsome men are sticking their faces into the intercom screen.

These are Jiwoong and Jaymin from Monsta Z, my seniors at work and now I’m pretty close with them.

The main event of ‘Naholsan’, visiting for a housewarming party!

“Is this your new house?? Wow, it’s nice~”

“That seems much better than our accommodation.”

The two people who came in after muttering about each handed out housewarming gifts that they had prepared.

Jiwoong gave the classic housewarming gifts of toilet paper rolls and red wine.

Jaymin is a slightly more hip French bulldog Bluetooth speaker.

“Hyung, drink wine when you need to set the mood. Hehe.”

“Thank you.”

Then, Seongjun shows the two people around the house.

“Oh, this is my brother’s home studio.”

“We should collaborate too. How about challenging ourselves with a dance song?”

“I can’t dance. You saw the challenge.”

“There are people in this world who are tone-deaf, but no one who is not good at walking. I, Jaymin, the choreography team leader of Monsta Z, will take responsibility and fix everything.”

“You’re going to fix it? Is my body broken?”

Three men giggle at a childish conversation.

That scene is pretty good because it shows a lot of tiki-taka bromance chemistry.

After a brief tour of the house, Jiwoong asked as we sat down in the living room.

“Brother, is that why you invited just the two of us today?”

“Uh, that’s···.”

Just when Seongjun was about to answer,

Ding dong-

Today’s main guest has arrived.