DLMS 41

chapter 41

A few days after that incident,

A short apology video was uploaded to Hongcha’s channel.

Similarly, on Instagram, a post appeared with a black image and an apology statement.

Comments had been disabled, so unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to immediately gauge public reactions.

Originally, my plan had been to upload my performance video to that large channel to get myself noticed.

But due to a combination of circumstances, the result ended up being even better.

The number of followers on my Instagram account had risen significantly compared to when I first started.

It seemed like, from now on, whenever I performed or released an album, I could simply promote it through this account.

Things were going smoothly.

Not just on social media, but even at school, I had become more well-known than before.

During the inauguration performance, only some people in my department had paid attention.

But after this incident, walking around campus, I could see people recognizing me and whispering to each other.

Actually, it wasn’t me who noticed—it was the devil who informed me.

Today, after all my classes were finished, I headed to the clubroom.

I should have been studying for exams, but from now on, I needed to focus more on my music work.

—Click

When I opened the door to the clubroom, Jong-in was waiting.

“Are your classes all done?”

“Yeah, it was tough, really tough.”

“Huh? How much did you even do that made it tough?”

The current time was 2:30 PM.

Even if there had been classes since the morning, it wasn’t an especially heavy load.

So Jong-in was puzzled seeing me so drained.

“No, not the classes…”

“Is it because people recognized you?”

“Well, that’s part of it…”

“Oh… a little tiring, but at least it’s a good thing, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s not that kind of tired…”

To be precise, I was tired because of Tae-hoon, who had been chattering nonstop since morning about people whispering about me.

But I didn’t feel the need to elaborate, so I let it slide.

“Anyway, good work. By the way, listen to this—did you make everything I told you to?”

“What? You already finished all of it? Everything?”

“Yeah, it was done pretty quickly.”

“Oh… no, that fast…?”

[Didn’t you just do a rough draft? Why’s it so fast?]

A few days ago, after we agreed to collaborate on music, I had sent Jong-in the demo tracks I was working on.

The demos I sent were fully composed.

Some had only partial arrangements completed.

I could have finished the tracks myself, but I trusted Jong-in’s skills.

His sharp instincts and quick instrument choices were his greatest strengths.

What I needed now was speed.

And to achieve that, I needed Jong-in’s help.

“Anyway, listen to this. All five songs are arranged, and I’ve just roughly mixed them.”

“Okay, I’ll just check the arrangements.”

Jong-in played the tracks he had been working on after hearing my instructions.

I had already explained the direction I wanted for each composed song, and he had worked accordingly.

[Oh, not bad. He followed your instructions well.]

“Hmm, sounds good.”

Not just me, but even the devil seemed impressed with Jong-in’s work.

[This guy’s good. Perfect skill level to be used as a backing collaborator.]

When I was at JH Entertainment, there were employees the devil had described as “backing collaborators.”

Once the main producer (me) finished conceptualizing, these people would directly translate it into MIDI instruments.

The devil said Jong-in could fit that role, but I thought differently.

I preferred to collaborate with him rather than just put him under me.

Of course, the devil was only looking at skill.

I was more focused on his attitude.

Somehow, I saw my past self in Jong-in.

His sincere approach to music.

And beyond that, his constant deep thinking about music.

I could sense this not through conversation, but through the music Jong-in created.

Also, he hadn’t just made what I asked for.

[Huh? What’s this? He completely changed this part? You didn’t request this, did you?]

Two of the five songs had parts Jong-in had dramatically revised.

“If it doesn’t work, we don’t have to use it.”

“Hmm…”

The parts Jong-in modified were things I had mentioned quite a while ago.

All five songs I sent had lines designed for broad appeal.

Music that smelled of money from the first note.

But Jong-in remembered my wish to create something unprecedented.

He tried to add unique touches to parts of the tracks.

I could roughly guess his intentions.

But…

[Too abrupt. This isn’t right.]

‘The attempt was good, but it doesn’t fit. The transitions are clumsy.’

[Right. The line itself is nice alone, but it doesn’t suit the song.]

Both the devil and I felt a bit disappointed.

But knowing he had worked on it thoughtfully for me, I felt too guilty to outright reject it.

If this were JH Entertainment, I would have just dismissed it.

But Jong-in and I weren’t in that kind of relationship.

There was a solution.

“Hmm, the revisions are good, but the direction I’m aiming for this time is a fully mainstream song, so I don’t think we can use it here.”

“Oh, really? Then I guess we can’t. I’ll erase this part and go with your original.”

“Wait a second!”

“Huh?”

I stopped him from deleting the line he had created.

“Don’t delete it. Copy it and keep it. I’ll make a separate song using this line as the main theme.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. The line itself is really good. What instruments did you use?”

“I mixed pluck bass with marimba.”

“Huh? They sound completely different.”

“Yeah, I just used them as the source, but did a lot of modifications.”

The greatest strength of Jong-in’s line was the subtle atmosphere the instruments gave.

I felt I could create something out of it.

[Hey, sounds great. I want to try something with this too. Want to collaborate?]

The devil thought the same.

“Anyway, good work. When I upload this to my cloud sound account, I’ll put your name in the credits.”

“Yeah, sure. Then finish it up well.”

Jong-in showed clear skill in his strong areas.

But those ambiguous modifications earlier revealed his weakness.

He understood sound well, but his grasp of musical scales and structure wasn’t fully developed.

That could be improved with study, so I decided to keep an eye on him.

In any case, he had done an excellent job on the parts I requested.

The devil wanted to use Jong-in as a subordinate, but I felt we could do a lot together in the future.

I decided to continue working in the clubroom.

Jong-in had morning obligations the next day and left for home early.

It would have been nice to continue working together, but that would have to wait.

Once Jong-in left, it was just the devil and me in the clubroom.

“Hey, should I switch to this too?”

[This is much better than the audio interface you use at home.]

Seeing equipment superior to what I had at home made me eager to buy it.

“But it’s too expensive.”

[Stop buying food for the others. If you had saved that, you could have bought this.]

“Hmm, maybe you’re right.”

I often bought meals for Seol-hee, Tae-hoon, or Jong-in, and also when meeting Qrious.

My late mother’s words stayed with me: you should give to those you’re grateful for.

It was my way of showing appreciation to those who cared for me.

“But really, if I’d saved that money, I could have added more for this audio interface.”

I looked at my balance after the devil’s comment.

[Right. Don’t give small gifts now—succeed big first, then treat them. You have more important things now.]

“Ah, whatever. Let’s just focus on the songs first. I want to try these speakers quickly.”

I received the music Jong-in had sent and started finalizing the tracks.

The audio interface, speakers, and headphones—all were high-end and performed better than what I had at home.

“Ah, so this is what Jong-in used. No wonder the sound was amazing.”

[See? I told you. It’s the equipment. You need to put him under you for work.]

“Come on, that’s not it.”

[Why? Just because you’re friends? Since when did you mix personal relations into music? You’re always objective when making music.]

“True, but…”

Trying the equipment, I began to understand why Jong-in was skilled with sound.

Like the devil said, the quality of equipment certainly helped.

Better gear made better sound easier to achieve.

Since he worked in a better environment, his skills naturally looked superior.

“But it’s not just skill. I connect with him.”

[Haha, really? Just a buddy for chatting?]

“Not entirely, but talking with someone whose musical direction aligns with mine makes it easier to get inspired.”

[Yeah, if it’s for that, then he’s useful.]

“Hey, talking about a person as ‘useful’…”

[Then what?]

“Never mind.”

The devil’s perspective on humans was very different from mine.

I stopped talking to him and focused fully on my work.

Thanks to Jong-in’s arrangements, the instruments needed little modification.

I began filling in empty spots and adding additional melody lines that weren’t audible at home.

“Wow, these speakers are insane.”

[You couldn’t use these at home, right?]

“If I did, people would complain about the noise.”

[Hahaha… right, the output is great. Let’s try with headphones too.]

I put on the headphones and played the music.

With equipment of this quality, I could make far higher-quality sound than I could at home.

“Now I just need to save more money and upgrade my gear first.”

[Yeah, and repay it with good songs.]

The devil meant “repay” to those supporting me.

My decision to ask Jong-in for arrangements and work in the clubroom was for that very reason.

• “Jae-hee, your singing is amazing ㅠㅠ Do you have any personal tracks?”

• “Did you see Hongcha’s apology post?”

• “Jae-hee! Cheering for you. You sing so well!”

• “Thank you for revealing Hongcha’s true nature. I hope you keep making music diligently.”

• “I saw your performance at Yesong University. Please keep sharing good music.”

Many people had started sending supportive messages in my Instagram DMs and comments.

My next planned step was a performance in the summer.

There were just under two months until then.

To make sure people didn’t forget me, I needed to release new work.

“I have to make music so people won’t forget me.”

Due to the Hongcha incident, people had noticed me.

To maintain their interest, I needed a fast approach.

That’s why I needed Jong-in to help with quick arrangements.

Through my upcoming performance, I wanted to show myself to as many people as possible and build anticipation.

It was still small, but I had to produce work before public interest faded to keep attention on me.