ALL NOVEL Chapter 62
Chapter 62. To You (4)
“Kang Hajin, you were scolded a lot when you first prepared this song, weren’t you?”
Even before starting, Taehil brought up Hajin’s shortcomings, making him quietly bite his lip.
Of course, he expected such a question, but starting with this?
Hajin nodded, feeling slightly exasperated inside.
“Yes. Thanks to that, I gained great insights and was able to prepare for a new leap.”
“I was supposed to help you separately yesterday, but couldn’t due to fairness issues. So, I’m really looking forward to it now.”
“Mentor, I am always overwhelmed by your generous expectations and attention towards us.”
“Oh, really? Then can I expect even more?”
“But have you ever heard that people sometimes feel more in unexpected moments?”
“Who said that?”
“My mother.”
“Oh, your mother….”
Taehil made a perplexed expression at the unexpected answer, causing laughter to erupt in the studio once again. It was quite a sight to see a trainee responding so confidently in front of Seo Taehil.
Seo Taehil nodded, showing that it wasn’t easy.
“I have a question too.”
The voice filling the studio was that of Choi Yeonwoo from Enderway, who was holding the microphone and blatantly looking at Taehyun’s side.
“Honestly, I thought Seo Taehyun would sing our song. Didn’t you have a choice? Why didn’t you pick our song?”
“…….”
“Our song would have suited you really well.”
His voice was filled with slight curiosity, expectation, and a subtle competitive spirit.
Hajin quietly scanned Choi Yeonwoo’s expression from afar. There was a person who naturally came to mind when he thought of Choi Yeonwoo from Enderway and Seo Taehyun from Cherry Boys.
‘Cha Minseok, that bastard, was part of Enderway’s debut team.’
In the previous life, Cha Minseok and Enderway often showcased their camaraderie. The fact that the two groups with quite a difference in their debut years were frequently mentioned together was partly due to that friendship.
Hajin observed Choi Yeonwoo’s expression once more, wondering what his true feelings were behind that question.
In the meantime, Seo Taehyun, who had calmed his breath, picked up the microphone.
“I thought so too.”
“…….”
“Doing what I’m already good at, I thought you had seen enough of that.”
With a confident but not arrogant attitude, the atmosphere in the studio heated up. Whistles and laughter were heard from the mentor seats.
“Alright, then please briefly introduce the stage you have prepared.”
In the buoyant atmosphere, Seo Taehil continued his leading remarks. Hajin took the microphone again.
“We have prepared Sarin sunbaenim’s ‘To You.’”
“Since the original is such a famous song, you must have felt quite pressured?”
“Yes, it was very overwhelming.”
Hajin nodded lightly.
“At first, I put a lot of effort into performing a masterpiece. But after receiving feedback from Mentor Seo Taehil, I changed my mind.”
“How?”
“What Taehyun just mentioned is our new motto.”
“……?”
“Doing what we’re good at, you’ve seen that enough already. We decided to sing about our own breakup.”
“…Alright. I’m looking forward to it. Please prepare for the stage.”
At Hajin’s confident words, Taehil nodded. Soon, the trainees were seen preparing to go down for the stage.
While the props and sets were being prepared, one of the mentors who was looking at the judging sheets spoke up.
“This will be really hard to surpass the feel of the original song.”
Everyone nodded and glanced at Sarin.
What kind of stage will they show?
Will the poor trainees become sacrificial lambs to Sarin once again?
Under the familiar gaze, Sarin just quietly looked at the stage.
* * *
‘How are they going to do it?’
Sarin, the original songwriter, thought as she skimmed through the lyrics sheet with familiar lyrics.
‘Doing what you’re good at, you’ve already seen enough of that?’
It was a puzzling statement.
Trying to do well with something you’re not good at? What kind of contradictory statement is that?
Just as her curiosity grew, the stage darkened, and the spotlight shone down.
Hmm― hmmm―
‘…Humming?’
In the silence, a clear, beautiful humming resounded.
The spotlight illuminated a corner of the stage.
A boy with light brown hair sat at a desk, humming as he wrote something down.
The sound of the pencil scratching was pleasing, filling the silence like background music.
‘His name is… Dan Haru. The youngest one.’
Dan Haru, the trainee with round, kind features and clear eyes, carefully put down the pencil as if he had finished writing the letter.
At the same time, another spotlight lit up a red mailbox placed on the stage. However, the boy hesitated.
♪♬♬♪♪―♪♪♩―
The top line of
The familiar instrument sound was reminiscent of the school bell.
With the gentle pad sound, the boy carefully folded the letter, placed it in an envelope, and put it in the desk drawer.
The stage darkened again.
Then, with a purple spotlight, an unexpected genre of prelude burst out.
‘City Pop?’
With the flashy synth sound and rhythmic electric bass, Sarin’s eyes widened.
On the LED screen, cherry blossom petals scattered wildly under the sunset sky.
Five boys, each in different school uniforms, moved in unison to the music.
This is a letter to you, whom I loved
With the falsetto chorus, the boys moved lightly.
Observing each movement carefully, Taehil noticed that the choreography was borrowed from a previously prepared jazz performance.
‘They probably couldn’t change the choreography significantly in such a short time.’
One noticeable change was the incorporation of small acting segments into the light and cheerful choreography.
The boys looked at each other and smiled or high-fived as they changed their positions, showing a free-spirited appearance.
Like high school students laughing and talking.
This is a letter to you, whom I loved
Are you listening
The pure voice of Dan Haru, who first wrote the letter, rang out gently. Despite being the youngest, he smoothly handled the introduction.
Then, someone brushed their hair back lightly and walked to the center.
A boy with a somewhat cold impression, loosely wearing a school shirt and tie, Hajin took the microphone with a slightly chilly expression.
I seem to be doing well
Our first moments that occasionally come to mind
They no longer hurt
Hajin skillfully handled the difficult rhythm, instantly elevating the song’s sentiment.
[System Alarm: Skill
[System Alarm: Skill
[System Alarm: With the passive of Skill
It was the power of a skill invested with a whopping 9,000 cash.
The extremely slow verse met the lively tempo of city pop, bringing the song’s atmosphere to life. Sarin found it amazing that her representative song, which she had sung thousands of times, felt quite fresh.
Usually, people would emphasize the ballad’s characteristics to showcase their vocal prowess, but they chose to lighten it up instead.
Maybe this is what it’s like (this is what it’s like)
Is this what a breakup is like (is this what it’s like)
Our unprepared end
Has become familiar (familiar)
Park Jaeyoung and Jaiden’s parts followed. Even those who were not in the parts revealed their voices with harmonies and choruses.
It was possible because the genre had no difficult and demanding choreography.
‘…But when will Taehyun appear?’
Seo Taehil, who was watching the stage happily, turned his gaze to Seo Taehyun at the end of the formation.
Taehyun, who had strong public appeal and the ability to capture attention on stage, always received parts before the first chorus.
It had been that way since Boy’s World.
But today, even as the first chorus approached, Taehyun showed no sign of coming to the center.
“Why did they give the B part to Jaeyoung? Taehyun could have done it too.”
“I’m more concerned about the arrangement… The beginning is okay, but the chorus should burst out. This arrangement makes it difficult.”
“But still, it’s fresh so far, right? I never thought they’d bring city pop.”
While the mentors exchanged various comments, the song continued.
Woo― woo― woah―
With the harmonies of the five boys, the rhythm changed.
Thump, thump, thump―, as the drum sound built up the atmosphere, the spotlight focused on one spot.
Just spending another day,
Occasionally holding onto the slowly flowing time,
Adjusting the intensity of his voice with the expressiveness and appeal of Level 10 of
That’s how much I,
Will miss you just that much
The splendid and complicated movement of positions continued.
It was like visualizing passing time and scattering cherry blossom petals with graceful movements, crossing and connecting each other.
And emerging from there, holding the microphone was…,
“Is that Taehyun?”
As soon as Taehil noticed Taehyun with his once bright dyed hair now covered in dark brown, he chuckled.
No matter how good Taehyun’s stage immersion ability was, it seemed impossible to handle the difficult chorus part…
At that moment, all the instruments paused, leaving only the synth pad and bass rhythm.
Bye,
Oh Bye!
Bye, Oh Good Bye!
And the end that I drew again
Instead of the expected explosive high note, Taehyun smoothly handled the raised falsetto.
Just by turning his head and extending his arm diagonally, he caught everyone’s attention.
Taehyun gripped the end of his tie with another hand and carefully brought it to his lips. With a brief kiss on the tie end as a signal, the instrument sounds burst out again.
Bye, Oh Bye!
Bye, Oh Good Bye!
And the end that I drew again
Taehyun’s falsetto repeated once more. This time, not just Taehyun, but everyone briefly kissed the tie ends in the same breath.
The top line of
A short interlude followed.
“Oh my, what are they doing?”
At the dance trainer’s words, everyone’s attention focused on the stage. The boys moved here and there, not hindering each other’s positions, freely traversing the stage.
Sarin, who was watching their movements, suddenly realized something and softly exclaimed.
“…Time.”
“Yes?”
In response to Sarin’s exclamation, Cheong Hansol of Utopia, who was sitting next to her, asked back. Sarin, surprised, pointed at the stage with her finger.
“Time is passing, look. That friend becomes an office worker, that friend becomes a college student….”
“Oh… yes, that’s right.”
Cheong Hansol, who was listening to Sarin’s words, also finally realized and responded in a surprised voice.
The trainees who were moving around the stage started taking off their school jackets, wearing new glasses, and brushing their hair back. Although not grand changes, they were clearly noticeable.
Thump, thump―, with the rhythmic drum beats, Hajin took the center stage.
At that moment, with the brass band’s sound, the song naturally transitioned up one key.
This is a letter to you, whom I loved
Hajin, whose shirt had a couple of buttons undone, buttoned up to the top neatly, rolled up his sleeves halfway, and fastened his tie all the way up, hitting the transitioned note effortlessly.
‘Is this my song?’
Sarin chuckled helplessly and put down her pen.
She then looked at Hajin, the twenty-year-old trainee who surprisingly fit well in a suit, absorbing 70% of the body he meticulously built during his military days.
Are you listening
With Hajin’s soft low voice introduction, the second verse of
—
### New Elements and Characters
– 단하루 (Dan Haru): A trainee with light brown hair and a kind appearance.
– 최연우 (Choi Yeonwoo): A member of Enderway, curious about Seo Taehyun’s song choice.