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Chapter 28
A few days earlier.
I had gotten help from my club friends to make the song for Qrious.
After coming home, I polished it up with some more revisions, then finished mixing and mastering.
Since performance was the most important thing for Qrious, I even printed out the sheet music each session would need, and then headed for Hongdae.
“Hey, Seolhee, I’m almost there. Do you need me to bring anything?”
— It’s fine. Just come. I already bought some coffee for you, hyung.
“Ah, really? Okay then, I’ll head straight over.”
Qrious’s practice room was in Hongdae.
The stairs down to the basement were still pitch dark.
The ceiling sensor light still didn’t work properly, so I turned on my phone’s flashlight as I went down.
Knock knock knock
I still couldn’t open the rehearsal room door by myself.
Even Qrious’s members always struggled with the rattling door.
Nothing about this place looked intact.
Someday, though, their environment would get better…
Clunk… Clunk!
The entrance shook for a moment before opening, and Seolhee’s face appeared.
And behind him, the familiar members of Qrious.
The amps, usually turned off, were lit up, probably because they’d just finished practicing.
“Hey. You all been well?”
“Yes, hyung. Have you been well too?”
“Of course. Been crazy busy.”
After meeting them a few times, I could now greet the members comfortably.
There wasn’t any awkwardness left.
If it were with other people, I probably wouldn’t have gotten this comfortable—but since this was Seolhee’s band, it felt different.
“I heard you joined that school club.”
“Oh, yeah. That’s right.”
“Wow, that’s amazing.”
The bassist, Kim Doha, the only one my age, was impressed.
“You know about our club?”
“Of course. My senior at work is from your school. He talked a ton about that club.”
“Must love music, that guy.”
“He lives for it.”
The drummer, Yoon Jongcheol, was still quiet as ever.
Fortunately, without Taehun around, Moon Heecheol wasn’t bouncing off the walls today.
I sat with them, chatting and sharing updates about our lives.
In the past, I probably would’ve felt awkward and just wanted to go home, but now—I’d changed.
“Ah, enough chit-chat. Let’s hear the song first.”
“Yes! Finally!”
I pulled out my laptop.
Their eyes were filled with anticipation.
[Qrious working with Yoo Jaehui, huh. This’ll be interesting.]
The demon, too, seemed excited—though not in the same way.
Its anticipation wasn’t about Qrious itself, but about the future that this song could create with them.
“Since Seolhee helped me out so much, I actually prepared one extra song just for you guys.”
“Wow, really?”
“Huh? Hyung, you didn’t have to go that far…”
“It’s fine. I wrote it because I wanted to. But… it might not be exactly your style. If you don’t want to use it, that’s okay too.”
At my words, Qrious fell silent.
Maybe they were wondering how to react if the gift song turned out disappointing.
“I just thought it might suit you, so I wrote it. Don’t feel sorry if it’s not your taste.”
“Well… let’s at least hear it first.”
Doha answered on behalf of the group.
“Alright, I’ll play the commissioned track first. Here’s your sheet music.”
I handed out the scores by position.
My laptop desktop was neat—just two folders and four music files.
Their names: 01, 01(guide), 02, 02(guide).
“What’s the guide one?”
Seolhee, sitting next to me, asked.
“Oh, that’s a vocal guide track I made for you. If it doesn’t match your vision, you don’t have to use it.”
“Shouldn’t we be paying you more for this…?”
“Hey, forget it. You helped me a ton too. Thanks to you, I got into the club.”
“You would’ve passed even without me.”
“Just take it.”
Like Seolhee, the others looked apologetic.
They were grateful, sure—but my preparation clearly went way beyond their expectations.
I double-clicked the file labeled 01.
The music began to play.
“Hyung, this is insane…”
“Jaehui, you’re amazing. Didn’t you say you didn’t know rock that well?”
“Right? Even when pros say they’re not good at something, this is their level?”
The first track left Qrious in awe.
Luckily, they all seemed to love it.
[Of course. Who do you think made it?]
“No, no. Honestly, some rock club friends helped me out.”
“Even so, the quality’s incredible.”
It was a perfect balance—Seohui Jin’s help on the solo, Jongin’s help with the arrangement, my own chord progressions and instrumental lines.
When I finished the track at home, even the demon—rarely impressed—had praised it.
(Though it added: ‘Good for an amateur.’)
As we discussed the song, I felt someone’s gaze.
[Hey! She’s into you!]
‘Cut it out. That’s not it.’
[Then why’s she staring?]
The one staring at me was Doha.
“By the way.”
“Yes?”
While everyone was still buzzing about the track, Doha spoke up.
“What if you guest at our show? The venue owner said it’d be nice to have an opening act.”
“Oh, right!”
So that’s why Doha was staring—not for some silly crush.
‘See? Told you.’
[Tch, boring.]
“Sure, I’d love to.”
I agreed without hesitation.
“Whoa, really?”
“Yeah, sounds fun. I heard your shows get pretty big crowds.”
“Huh? Where’d you hear that?”
“From Taehun.”
“Ah, of course. The loudest news source in Seoul.”
Seolhee pressed his forehead, picturing Taehun. Even when absent, he was noisy.
“Actually, I’ve been wanting to perform.”
Between the club’s concert and now Qrious’s gig, I was starved for live shows.
Now that I was chasing the dream of becoming a singer, I needed the stage—not just for fun, but as practice.
“So when’s the show?”
“Probably this summer. The organizer’s an outsider, so not sure yet.”
“And other bands will play too.”
“Summer, huh… around vacation time?”
“Yes.”
“Ah… hmm.”
“What’s wrong? Schedule clash?”
“Our club’s concert is usually around then too.”
“Aw, then you can’t do it!”
Heecheol sighed, looking like Taehun for a moment.
“Well… I already promised the club, so let’s see once dates are confirmed.”
The mood dipped a little.
The members looked disappointed, though nothing was decided yet.
“Alright, let’s leave it open for now. How about we check out the next track?”
“Sounds good.”
After Jaehui went home, Qrious stayed behind to practice.
Later, they regrouped, shoulders sore from their instruments.
“Ugh, bass is so heavy.”
“So, what did you think of Jaehui’s songs?”
“The first one or the second?”
“Well, the first one’s perfect.”
As Seolhee said, the track labeled 01 was undeniably theirs.
“It was like he knew our style inside out.”
“Yeah. Glad we let him hear us last time.”
“His instincts are crazy good.”
Seolhee praised Jaehui without holding back.
“But the second one…”
He pressed play.
“Hmm…”
Their faces showed hesitation.
“It’s good.”
“Yeah, but…”
“It’s not our song.”
That was their verdict on Jaehui’s gift track.
“The quality’s great, every detail’s solid.”
“But aside from Seolhee, we’re all thinking the same thing, right?”
Heecheol glanced at him.
“I actually love it completely.”
“Yeah, figures you would.”
The others had rock in their blood.
But Seolhee, once an idol trainee, liked all kinds of music—even pop.
“For now, let’s just keep it. It’s a great song, but whether we use it… we’ll see.”
“Yeah. Maybe we’ll try rehearsing it sometimes and think it over.”
Thus, the two songs were placed in Qrious’s hands.
“It’s too good not to use someday.”
“Yeah, someday…”
None of them yet knew just how powerful that second track would eventually become.
Writing songs for Qrious was the last of my obligations.
Now, I could finally move for myself.
[Been a while, huh. No commissions today, you can focus.]
“Yeah. And I’ve been thinking about what you said before.”
[What about?]
“That person from the video you showed me. After hearing about them, I started thinking about my own future.”
[When did you do all that thinking? I didn’t notice at all.]
“I dunno. Just bits and pieces—while watching that video, hearing Qrious’s music, working with Jongin…”
[So what’s your plan?]
“I could’ve just rotted away at JH Entertainment, collecting a paycheck. But things changed.”
[Because of what happened with CEO Kim Jeonghyuk.]
“Right. It started because of him, but now my dreams have changed—and so have I.”
[Exactly. You want to be a singer. Have you decided on a genre?]
“That’s the thing.”
[So what’ll it be?]
“I’ll create a new one.”
[Whoa, ambitious. That won’t be easy in Korea.]
“I know. The market, the trends, what listeners want—it won’t be easy anywhere.”
[True. It’s harder than ever to introduce something new.]
“But I’ll try anyway. Writing the assigned songs the company tells me to? That’s not my path anymore.”
[Heh… good. So what’s first?]
“I’m going to write history.”
Every person writes their own history as they live.
I too will leave my mark, and many will follow in my footsteps.
A new genre.
A new history.
Up till now, I’d lived unseen, blending into nothing.
Even when idols released albums using my tracks, no one knew my name.
But now, I’ll make sure the whole world knows me.
Not Behind Studio’s anonymous composer, but Yoo Jaehui the artist.
Not a timid man who couldn’t meet anyone’s eyes, but a singer breathing with thousands on stage.
