Summer break had started.
But I still had to go to school every morning, because the Contemporary Music Concert rehearsals were held at school. The main performers—the third years—practiced in the small theater, and the first years preparing the opening stage practiced in the rehearsal rooms.
"So damn annoying."
I muttered as I looked out the window. The rainy season still wasn't over. Watching the heavy rain pour down, I turned on the dehumidifier. I could never like that damp, indoor smell unique to rainy days.
Anyway, when was Jin Sohyang coming?
I checked the time on my phone. 10:21 a.m. We agreed to meet by 10:30, so she wasn't late yet.
I sat down and booted up my laptop. Then I went on iTube and searched for Jin Sohyang's stages.
Hm, there are way too many videos. Well, she is a fairly popular idol. I don't have time to watch all these.
After thinking a bit, I sorted by view count and started watching the most viewed ones.
After watching a few clips, Sohyang arrived at the practice room.
10:29 a.m.—right on time.
I closed the video I was watching and stood up.
"Sorry! The rain made traffic horrible… Um, did you wait long?"
"Not really."
In reality, I only waited about ten minutes.
At my answer, Sohyang let out a sigh of relief. I looked her over. She was wearing simple training clothes. Since it's summer, they were a bit light, but still very comfortable-looking. If she came all dolled up, I would've said something.
So, she is a pro in that sense.
She changed into the indoor shoes she brought, then asked, "Then what should we do first?"
"Meeting."
"Meeting?"
"We need to decide the stage concept."
"Ah."
She nodded and sat down across from me. I hit play on the laptop screen I had paused earlier, then said, "You know the opening stages happen back-to-back, right? Meaning, the moment Han Goyo finishes her stage, about five minutes later, you go up."
"I know."
"And that means you'll inevitably be compared."
Sohyang frowned a little as she nodded. Her face said, Why are you stating the obvious? It's not like I'm trying to be cruel or anything.
"That's why we must prepare a stage completely different from Han Goyo's."
"A completely different stage?"
"Han Goyo will 100% go with a ballad. Because the genre that maximizes her strengths is, no matter what anyone says, ballad."
Even an EDM composer would write her a ballad after hearing her voice. That's how perfectly optimized her tone is for ballads.
"Of course, the stage will be as static as possible. No dancing, just standing still and singing. At most, they'll use wind machines or dry ice."
"Are you sure? She could dance, right?"
"No, that possibility is zero."
"Why?"
"She can't dance."
Making Han Goyo dance? That would only make Kang Seonghun look bad. Whoever she's performing with must have eyes—they won't make her dance.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
It seemed hard for Sohyang to believe that Goyo was a stiff dancer. Ah, she should've gone on the school trip and seen it herself.
"So we have to create the flashiest stage possible."
Sohyang's vocal ability is, at best, someone who sings well for a normal person. But it's not like she has no strengths at all. The idol world isn't easy enough for someone with zero strengths to survive.
So what's her strength?
Performance.
Hwayangyeonhwa's biggest strength as an idol group is their high-difficulty choreography and insane synchronized dancing. And the member who executes that choreography best is Jin Sohyang. In fact, all of her highest-viewed iTube videos are dance performances.
On top of that, Sohyang has something Goyo doesn't: overwhelming stage experience. Which leads to stage control. This isn't talent-based—it's experience-based.
Compared to Goyo, Sohyang is overwhelmingly lacking in vocal talent. But Sohyang has experience Goyo doesn't. Plus, she's got dance talent. I don't know much about dance, but she's definitely better than Goyo.
So if we use those strengths properly, it's not impossible to beat Goyo.
Hearing my explanation, Sohyang nodded seriously. "Then we should change the song."
"No need."
"Why? 『Rough』 isn't flashy choreography."
"『Rough』 is too valuable to throw away. It's Hwayangyeonhwa's signature song. It's what people are most familiar with. And familiarity is not something you can ignore."
"So you're saying we'll use 『Rough』 on stage?"
"Yeah, but not as-is. We'll rearrange it. Make it feel completely different. Of course, the choreography needs to change too…"
I stopped there and looked at her. I can handle rearrangement and stage direction. But choreography? That's not my territory. What the hell do I know about girl group choreography? At best, I could fake some stage gestures.
Sohyang seemed to understand what I meant and nodded. "I'll ask our choreographer. Since the song isn't out yet, she should still have time."
"Then we need to start with the song."
The tasks were now clear: rearrange, prepare choreography, then design stage direction. There are three weeks left until the concert, so we need to finish rearrangement and choreography by at least two weeks from now—when mid-stage practice begins.
"Let's work hard."
"Yes."
The goal: take down Han Goyo.
§ §
"Mmm!!"
Suyeon's eyes widened in delight as she ate her ice cream. I smiled and sipped my iced Americano. Ah, this burnt bean water taste. Not bad.
"Aren't you going to eat ice cream?"
"I'm good."
I'm not really into sweets. Sometimes when I stay up all night or use my brain a lot I crave sugar, but then I just eat hard candy. I don't like the lingering taste chocolate or dairy leaves in my mouth.
At my answer, Suyeon nodded and continued devouring her ice cream. And only after finishing it in an instant did she suddenly remember something and look at me.
"But is it really okay for us to just play like this?"
"What?"
"Aren't we supposed to be making a song?"
"We are."
"But it feels like we're just goofing off."
"It's fine."
This song is going to be 100% for Suyeon. So what matters most is her input. That's why I'm starting by relieving her stress. Doing things she enjoys, helping her relax—so she can comfortably talk about what she feels and thinks.
"Do everything you want to do. And then tell me how it felt."
"Hmm… First, the ice cream was good. The café was pretty, and… it felt healing? Like… a moment to take a breather?"
I jotted down her words.
After that, we went to several places—a drugstore where she bought cosmetics, watched a trending movie at the theater, stopped by her favorite stationery store, and finally had tteokbokki she liked.
Some trending rosé tteokbokki or whatever, but the more I ate it, the more I craved gukbap. Heavy creamy stuff isn't for me. Suyeon, on the other hand, happily devoured the rosé tteokbokki.
And of course, she shared her "feedback."
"The Chinese glass noodles were good, but the rice cakes weren't. Ah, but the fish cake was nice. Still, the best part was the bacon!"
…That's not the kind of feedback I asked for. I wanted how it felt emotionally, not a food review.
Forget it. As long as she had fun. Because of the rain we couldn't go too many places, but it was only the first day—this was good enough.
"If there's anywhere else you want to go, tell me."
"Okay."
She nodded.
After returning home, I washed up and sat on my bed. Then Suyeon followed me into my room.
"Thanks for today."
"No big deal."
"But still… I think home is the best."
I chuckled wryly. True—home is the best. I also prefer staying home over going out.
"Then I'll go to bed first."
She said and left my room.
After confirming she was gone, I opened my laptop and typed up the day's events—writing down the emotions Suyeon felt. Then I looked over stages of 『Rough』.
『Rough』, huh.
Come to think of it, Kang Seonghun also rearranged 『Rough』 before, right? Back then, he arranged it as a ballad to fit Han Goyo. And his arrangement was excellent. As expected of him. If not for Goyo's dancing, it would've scored very high.
This is why stage performance isn't just about singing.
"How should I rearrange it?"
I asked myself out loud.
The stage I envision for Sohyang is very flashy. A stage with intense lighting effects, and her dancing solo front and center. In that case, there needs to be a dance-only section, so I'll have to remove lyrics in the middle…
Ah, I'll have to re-record the vocals too. Might as well replace all the instruments.
Should I start with a powerful drum beat? Or use piano for a sultry feel? Should it be powerful? Or sexy?
Thinking through all that, I read through 『Rough』's lyrics. The lyrics were full of sweetness, just like the concept.
"I love you, but it's hard to express."
"I hesitate over just one word."
"What's wrong with me?"
"I'm not a kid…"
Lyrics like that. With lyrics like this, going powerful may be tough.
Sexy, provocative, seductive. Those are great ways to leave an impact. I've done it before; it's easy, and it works. Plus, lighting and outfits alone can pull it off.
But… it still feels lacking.
After thinking a bit, I searched more of Sohyang's stages on iTube. Not Hwayangyeonhwa, but covers of other artists. I was sure she had done other performers' songs at year-end shows or programs.
After digging through iTube for a while, I found what I wanted. Covers of ballad singers, sexy concept covers. I watched them focusing on her.
Her stage control was excellent. And I don't mean just dancing well. How should I put this… her eyes were powerful. The way she stared into the camera, like she would devour it. A light lick of the lips, a subtle eye movement—every little thing drew attention.
Hwayangyeonhwa debuted… about two years ago? So Sohyang started idol work at fifteen. For about a year and a half, they were practically unknown. Then about nine months ago, 『Rough』 became a hit and they got their name out. Then their next album blew up and they became top idols.
Anyway, I could see the effort in Sohyang's stages.
Hm. Maybe sexy concept really is the way.
I was about to finalize that thought and clicked on the last video.
"…Huh?"
She did this kind of stage too?
As I watched, I couldn't help but be impressed. This… is good. If we prepare some accessories, adjust the outfit slightly, and do bolder makeup than usual…
"This could work."
Just imagining it in my head gave me a clear, awesome picture. No—this might actually be perfect.
I opened my composing program and started arranging on the spot. First, I laid down all the melodies I heard in my head using virtual instruments. I could throw out what didn't work later.
If I staged it the way I was envisioning, I might get criticized for "destroying the original," but it would definitely be a shocking stage.
Yeah—an extremely shocking stage.
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