Chapter 5
Looking closely at his face…
That’s right. It’s Ilseon!
No wonder he felt strangely familiar…
“Jihyeok-hyung, I’ll serve you until the very end.”
“Oh come on, you’re good with pretty words. How long do you think I’ll keep being a singer? This job only lasts a season when you’re young.”
Jihyeok joked with a laugh at the sudden declaration of loyalty from road manager Choi Ilseon.
“Then I’ll just serve you moderately and later start my own management company and go independent.”
“Hahaha, that’s better. That sounds human and honest. You didn’t start out as a road manager planning to be one forever anyway.”
“That’s true. But I’m not very confident.”
“Don’t lose energy before you even begin. Just work hard first. If you work hard, there’s always an answer. I’ll help with whatever I can.”
“Just hearing that is already a big help. Then you really have to help me. Ah! It would be perfect if I could take you with me when I start my management company.”
“Oh? You want to take me along… So that was the real reason you were laying the groundwork.”
“Hahaha, no, hyung…”
Choi Ilseon laughed heartily, trying to hide his embarrassment.
Han Jihyeok looked at him with a satisfied smile.
So he never became the CEO.
Still, being the head of the music production department at Reunion is better than most management company CEOs.
“Yoon Junghoo, what are you doing? You should greet him!”
Perhaps because Director Choi Ilseon was present, Team Leader Kim Junho sounded much gentler as he urged him.
Right. I should greet him.
Ilseon! It’s been thirty years! How’ve you been? But why are you working under a murderer?
In another parallel universe, maybe I would have greeted him like that.
“Hello. Nice to meet you. I’m Yoon Junghoo.”
“Right. I heard about you earlier. If you’re a road for Laminus, you must be having a tough time.”
Ilseon, look at how your tone has changed.
Thirty years really isn’t a short time.
“It’s not that hard. I’m just running hard every day.”
I’m adapting pretty well myself.
I can even calmly bow and greet my former road manager like this.
Then what next? Instead of singer, maybe an actor…?
Hmm.
But Ilseon’s expression while looking at my face after the greeting seemed strange.
“Ah, but this guy’s face…”
Don’t tell me… he senses something?
“He’s very handsome.”
Sense something? Yeah right.
“Yes, he is. Probably the most handsome among road managers. Hahaha.”
For some reason Team Leader Kim praised me.
Though being called the best-looking among road managers wasn’t exactly a clear compliment.
After joking around in front of Director Choi Ilseon, Kim Junho gestured for me to go back.
Right now I’m in the position where I go if they tell me to go.
I shuffled back and sat down.
A strange feeling welled up.
Ilseon working under Oh Junseong…
Well, Ilseon wouldn’t know that the man killed me.
In the morning I met the murderer who killed me.
In the afternoon I met my own manager.
It felt like I had stepped into some kind of time-loop movie.
Still, seeing Ilseon’s older face made me think that maybe living young like this wasn’t such a bad situation after all.
‘Ah, wait!’
My eyes suddenly widened.
Maybe he knows something about Siyeon.
Ilseon used to call Siyeon “sister-in-law” and followed her well.
‘How should I ask?’
I should think calmly and wait for the right opportunity.
If necessary I could hire a detective agency, but hearing news naturally would be better.
Just then the door opened.
A woman in her mid-forties walked in. Her clothes were somewhat flashy, she was short, and a bit plump.
She must be the vocal trainer.
As soon as she entered, Ilseon—no, Director Choi Ilseon—approached her with a friendly greeting.
“Oh my, Professor Oh Minhee. In the end we’re troubling you again with this difficult request.”
Team Leader Kim added a comment.
“You must be very busy now that you’re also the department head. Thank you for making time for us, Professor.”
“Hello, you two. If you called me again, things must be pretty urgent.”
Professor Oh spoke as if she were some kind of final problem solver.
Hmm. A vocal major professor?
“This time the kids are in emergency mode ahead of their single album. They need to show a clearly upgraded performance.”
Director Choi lowered his voice and spoke quietly.
“You know how much criticism they get about their singing ability. That’s why I even came up here myself to check things. And why we had to invite you again like this. Please take good care of them.”
Ilseon, I can hear everything.
They’re professionals who perform on stage too—don’t crush their spirit.
If singers lose their spirit, it’s over.
“Alright. Let’s hear them first. These days I’ve only heard recorded albums, so it’s impossible to judge.”
She wasn’t wrong.
Technology had advanced so much that fixing pitch, rhythm, and even tone was easy.
A singer’s true nature still shows in the end, but if you want to evaluate training-level technique, you have to hear them live.
Team Leader Kim pointed at me while speaking to Professor Oh.
“This guy will assist today. If you need anything, feel free to tell him.”
Professor Oh glanced at me and simply raised one finger slightly in acknowledgment.
Hmm. Not exactly a likable personality.
Standing before Laminus, Professor Oh greeted them first.
“Hello. Long time no see. Last time there were many things we couldn’t finish, which was unfortunate. Let’s do better this time.”
“Yes, hello.”
“Hello.”
Serin and one member greeted properly.
Mujin and another just nodded.
“From today it’s ten sessions over a month, right? This time you’d better follow well.”
A classical vocalist, huh…
In some cases it can be effective training.
Though it depends on how they teach.
Once she settled the atmosphere, Professor Oh glanced at me and made a cup shape with her hand, mimicking drinking water.
She wanted me to bring water.
Just from her expression and gestures, it was easy to guess her arrogant personality that treated others like servants.
Well… as long as she actually has the skills.
I walked to the water dispenser in the corner and filled a cup.
The sound of trickling water echoed loudly.
The room was filled with a strange tension and silence.
“Alright then, let’s check your basic vocalization. Mujin first!”
Professor Oh picked the first order and had Mujin stand up while she sat back in a chair at the center of the room, crossing her legs.
“Same for everyone. We’ll start with the ‘Ah’ vowel. Piano! Give me the chord. C chord.”
At her request the pianist played a C-chord arpeggio once and then struck the harmony.
“Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~”
Suddenly Professor Oh produced a soprano-style vocal sound.
Whoa, that startled me. And what’s with that voice…
Well, she did it suddenly, so maybe that’s why.
Still, if it’s pop music, it would be better to check through an actual song first.
But why should I care?
“Let’s go. Start!”
After making that awkward sound once, Professor Oh signaled Mujin to begin.
Mujin started making the sound with the expression of someone dragged to a slaughterhouse.
“Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~”
“Use more support from your stomach! And resonance!”
This is so crude.
The pronunciation and articulation are already a mess—how will adding force and thinking about resonance fix it?
No, no. Don’t get too invested. It’ll only make me tired.
“Again!”
“Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~”
“Mujin! You didn’t practice singing at all, did you? Your pitch is bad and there’s no resonance!”
“Ah… yes.”
Troublemaker Mujin looked completely crushed.
With Director Choi here, he must be especially nervous.
“When pitch drops and resonance doesn’t work, what did I say the reason is? Lack of breath support, right?”
This training sounded like someone repeating half-understood knowledge.
Like inspecting a broken car and then simply saying, “Fix the engine.”
You should diagnose the specific problem and give a method.
Will that solve anything?
I actually felt sorry for Mujin receiving such nonsense training.
For me to feel sympathy for Mujin…
“Again!”
“Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~”
Ahhh… I want to leave. Why do I have to listen to this?
“Alright, Mujin… that’s enough. Next, Juha.”
Now it was Juha’s turn.
One of the two members I hadn’t paid much attention to.
“Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~…”
“Wait. The mouth shape is the problem! There’s no tension in your mouth! You need more strength in your lips to pronounce!”
Wait a second.
Tell him to tense his lips in that state? That will lock his throat.
When the throat locks, the breath carrying the sound can’t properly fill the articulation organs, and the pronunciation becomes even more awkward.
It’s like pouring oil on a fire.
But of course Juha’s next sound had his lips fully tense.
“Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~”
“Yes, like that! That’s how pronunciation comes alive!”
What a spectacle.
Pronunciation should already be articulated in a relaxed state.
The lips merely assist.
Trying to form pronunciation primarily with the lips like that is beginner-level stuff.
The strange sound Professor Oh made earlier wasn’t just a mistake.
“Next, Serin!”
Finally, Serin.
This was the first time I’d hear her real voice—not the heavily processed album recordings or AR used at events.
Serin stood up nervously.
She took a breath with stiff eyes.
“Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~”
Oh?
Not bad.
The tone is quite good.
Hearing Serin’s voice for the first time, it was better than I expected.
But there was one fatal problem.
“Serin! Didn’t I tell you not to make your sound so thick? If you sing like that, will it match your group’s music? Did you already forget?”
Wait. Not thick?
That wasn’t made thick.
It is thick.
In other words, that’s Serin’s natural voice.
Her natural tone has a rich, wide low register.
If your sound is thick and wide, you’re naturally weaker in high notes regardless of skill.
And that doesn’t usually match idol music concepts unless the member’s part is specifically designed as a low-tone concept.
That was exactly the fatal problem I had noticed.
At Professor Oh’s scolding, Serin sang again.
“Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~”
This time she raised her throat and forced out the thinnest sound possible.
Pretending to have a tone she didn’t possess.
“Yes! Like that! Pure and cute! Don’t deliberately make it thick!”
What did she just say?
She couldn’t even distinguish between a deliberately thick sound and a naturally thick one.
Now I understood.
Why Serin struggled so much with singing.
Her voice had been ruined by such absurd training.
Singing is done with the human body.
The body is the instrument.
With normal instruments, if you dislike the sound, you can change the instrument.
If you want another instrument’s sound, you can learn that instrument.
But a human voice is fixed once you’re born with it.
You must sing according to the voice you were given.
If you try to produce a completely different sound from your natural one, you can never sing well.
It’s like telling someone to cut cherry tomatoes with a giant longsword.
Anger rose inside me.
How could someone so irresponsible be in charge of vocal training?
Well, since she held the title of professor, nobody questioned it.
Instead they respected her.
You should never teach someone to produce a specific artificial sound.
You should guide them to sing in the correct way.
Then naturally their own good sound will come out.
They should sing with their own voice!!!
Ah… this is really frustrating.
I can’t step in either.
…Wait.
Why is everyone suddenly looking at me?
Director Choi, Team Leader Kim, Professor Oh, the Laminus members—even the accompanist.
Everyone was staring at me.
Why?
“Hey, you there! What did you just say? That they should sing with their own voice?”
Professor Oh was glaring sharply at me.
Damn!
Did I say that out loud?
This is insane.
Maybe because it’s only been a day since I possessed this body, my control slipped.
“Ah… no.”
This is awkward.
Why did it slip out?
Let’s fix this calmly.
“I was thinking about something else and the words just came out wrong.”
A ridiculous excuse.
“Wait a minute. What is this, Director? You said he’s just an assistant, but he’s making comments like that? I’m deeply offended.”
Director Choi quickly stood up and stepped forward.
Team Leader Kim rushed toward me.
“I’m very sorry, Professor. I think he was just lost in thought. Please don’t misunderstand.”
Choi Ilseon tried to settle the situation for me.
“That’s not how it looked to me.”
Of course it didn’t work.
Kim Junho stood beside me, frowning, scolding me in a low but agitated tone.
As expected, in this life he’s exactly the same type of character toward me.
Always yelling over my head.
“Hey, are you crazy? What’s wrong with you?”
“Well, honestly…”
No.
I’m Yoon Junghoo.
A road manager.
Repeat that a hundred times.
Forget honesty—fix the situation first.
“I was just daydreaming. Please ignore it.”
“What do you mean ignore it? We asked a road manager to help a bit and now you’re acting arrogant?!”
Kim Junho continued to scold me, as if taking responsibility for Professor Oh’s anger.
“Team Leader Kim, that’s enough. Maybe he has something he wants to say. Honestly, this is absurd… Fine, let’s hear it. What do you want to say?”
“…No. I have nothing to say. I was just thinking about something.”
The excuse was already ruined, but I had to stay consistent.
If I insist long enough, what can they do?
“Director, I can’t continue in this atmosphere. If he doesn’t sincerely apologize, I’ll leave.”
Leave?
Sure. Go ahead.
That would actually help them.
But Director Choi and Team Leader Kim, who didn’t know the situation, wouldn’t let Professor Oh leave.
Kim gestured desperately for me to apologize.
Director Choi spoke calmly as well.
“Manager Yoon, apologize quickly. Your behavior was rude.”
Still, Ilseon didn’t spit out harsh words.
He had always been a good person.
Right… apologize.
I’m a road manage—
“From what I hear you’re just a road manager. Driving celebrities around and now you think you know something about singing? Know your place. How dare you—ugh, how annoying!”
Ah.
What?
—Snap.
Suddenly something inside me broke.
A wave of shame rose at myself for trying to stay silent while someone with such ridiculous ability irresponsibly ruined others.
Adapting to reality is important.
But as a musician, conscience matters more.
Know my place as a road manager?
I am Helios-Brusco-Matthew-Connors-Han Jihyeok!
