Chapter 20
Right now, the release of the new album had been delayed.
At times like this, showing the members active in various ways was never a bad thing.
And from what I had observed of the Korean music industry recently, even singers at the peak of their careers were expected to show talent in many different areas. It was definitely a different trend from the past.
“Serin, let’s try it once!”
After thinking for a moment, I spoke firmly, making my decision.
“Excuse me? I… really?”
“Yeah, if you think you can do it.”
“Ah…”
As soon as I shared my opinion, everyone started saying something.
“Yeah, Serin. There will be an audience, but it’s not a live broadcast, so don’t feel too pressured. Let’s give it a shot.”
Manager Kim began encouraging her seriously.
“Serin! You can do it.”
“Serin, fighting!”
Miren and Juha each added a word, and Mujin placed a hand on Serin’s shoulder, giving her a supportive look.
Serin, who had been silent with her eyes tightly shut and lips pressed together, finally spoke.
“Yes, Team Leader. I’ll try it.”
The moment her words ended, Manager Kim shouted with an excited expression.
“Manager Yoon! Let’s leave quickly! I’ll make the call right now.”
“Yes, Team Leader Kim.”
“I should ride in this car today too.”
As soon as the car departed in a hurry with Luminous and Manager Kim inside, I could hear his voice on the phone.
“Yes, she’ll do it.”
The conversation continued for a bit, and once he ended the call, Manager Kim said,
“The revised script will be sent soon. We’ll have to read it in the car on the way.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
But Serin’s tone sounded calmer than expected.
She even seemed somewhat confident.
I thought she’d be extremely nervous. Unexpected.
“Serin, you can do this. Anyway, it’s good for Luminous too, so do your best today as our representative.”
Mujin gave her a leader-like word of encouragement in this sudden situation.
After about ten minutes of driving…
“Serin, the script just arrived. It’s been sent to you, so check it. I’ll look at it too.”
Manager Kim spoke in a hurried tone, and Serin replied,
“Yes, I’ll take a look.”
Unlike the past few days, the car was quiet.
All the members were being considerate so Serin could concentrate.
She was the one hosting today, but the others couldn’t help feeling nervous either.
Everything had happened so suddenly that I was a bit disoriented too, but at least I needed to stay calm.
Come to think of it, Manager Kim looked quite excited as well.
“Ah! T-Team Leader…”
Serin’s flustered voice suddenly rang out.
“What?”
“Huh?”
Manager Kim and I answered at the same time.
“I… I have to sing.”
Sing?
“Why do you have to sing? What song?”
I asked quickly.
“There’s a part where the hosts chat for a bit and each sing a short line.”
Ah, right.
Unlike the past, music programs nowadays had hosts dancing and singing as well.
That meant there would be no AR or anything.
Even if it was short, it had to be sung live.
With limited sound effects and no editing, the singing ability and tone would be fully exposed.
“Wh… what should we do?”
It was impossible to say we couldn’t do it now.
The decision had already been made, the script had arrived, and more than fifteen minutes had passed.
In a crisis where every second counted, that wasn’t a short amount of time.
And saying we didn’t know there would be singing, or that we couldn’t do it anymore, would only make it look like we were admitting the singer lacked ability.
Of course, criticism about Serin’s singing ability had always existed.
But refusing even a short line like this would cause an entirely different problem.
And incidents like this would surely…
‘The rumor would spread that she refused because she couldn’t even sing one short line.’
That would lead to an even worse result than refusing from the start.
Looking through the rearview mirror, everyone in the back seat looked stunned and speechless.
A decision had to be made.
I forced myself to think calmly.
Serin’s last training…
Right, she had started releasing her natural tone, and she had improved surprisingly.
And her sense for singing had become far better than I’d imagined before.
She was still lacking, but if it was just a short part…
If we could try a few things before the broadcast…
Before I knew it, I nodded slightly.
Something she would have to face eventually—the moment had simply come a little sooner.
“Serin! Let’s do it! I think you can do it!”
“Really? You mean it?”
Serin asked in disbelief.
“Yes! Let’s somehow make it work. And Team Leader Kim! Please contact them right now and request a separate waiting room for Serin. Make sure there’s a keyboard or piano.”
“Huh? Okay. Got it.”
In the rearview mirror, Serin’s panicked face was clearly visible.
It was very different from when she had thought she only needed to host.
But there was no time to panic now.
Since we decided to do it, we had to do it well.
“Serin! For now, memorize the script.”
At my words, Serin nodded and shifted her gaze to the phone displaying the script.
Now, my task.
The most important thing was choosing the song.
I hadn’t seen the script yet, but it was obvious—two hosts introducing the stage, chatting a bit, then singing a line each.
In that case, the song could be freely chosen.
Let’s check the situation.
“Serin! About how much time do you have?”
“Ah! Time? One moment…”
She checked the script and answered.
“It says around twenty seconds.”
“In what situation do you sing?”
“Hmm… Right after senior Najihye’s stage ends. Then I ask Lexin, who’s hosting with me, if he ever wants to just sing alone instead of always doing dance songs. Then Lexin says something like, ‘Of course. We’re singers, after all.’ Then he sings first… and after that he says, ‘Serin, you should sing something too,’ and then I sing.”
Right, twenty seconds…
Since the point was wanting to sing alone sometimes, we couldn’t choose a Luminous song.
Other than that, there were no restrictions.
Hmm…
Actually, singing in situations like this could be even harder.
It was much harder to concentrate than standing on stage with a proper accompaniment.
And even with the same skill level, singing without MR made the voice sound different.
Without accompaniment, vocal flaws stood out more clearly.
In that case…
No need to think long. The song she’s most confident with… the one she sang during the last training.
“Team Leader Kim, please quickly check if we can get the broadcast license for Telling Me Gently.”
“Got it, Manager Yoon.”
Most songs could obtain licenses, but sometimes it wasn’t easy.
For just one short line people sometimes sang anyway, but in this internet age, broadcasting without rights could cause problems.
Domestic songs might slide by due to relationships with broadcasters, but foreign songs—especially American pop songs with strict copyrights—could become troublesome.
In principle, even a twenty-second segment like today required licensing.
Of course, a public broadcaster like RBS wouldn’t handle things carelessly.
“Ah… I’m singing that song?”
Serin asked.
“Yes, let’s go with that one.”
An old pop song, but a famous classic everyone knew.
And these days, remakes of good old songs were common.
Nothing strange about it.
Actually, for the theme wanting to sing alone, it might be perfect.
It had character and could show a singer’s unique charm.
With everyone’s excitement, tension, and complicated emotions filling the car, we soon arrived at the performers’ entrance of the new RBS broadcasting building.
As Manager Kim got out and checked his phone, he said,
“Manager Yoon, Telling Me Gently is approved for broadcast.”
“Ah! That’s a relief.”
Manager Kim then walked around to the driver’s side.
“Get out, Manager Yoon.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ll park the car. Take the kids inside first.”
This wasn’t the time to politely refuse.
“Yes, thank you, Team Leader.”
“Of course.”
After getting out of the car, Luminous and I hurried toward the performers’ entrance.
Normally, no one could freely pass through a broadcast station’s performer entrance.
But celebrities whose faces everyone recognized could simply walk through.
Especially since it was right before the rehearsal of Star Mode The K-Pop, Luminous and I entered the waiting room corridor without any trouble.
As we arrived, an assistant director ran toward us from the far end of the hallway.
“Please come this way. We’re short on time, so I’ll guide you quickly.”
“Yes.”
After walking quite a distance, he pointed to a room.
“And this is the room you requested.”
He gestured to a room next to the one Luminous normally used.
“This room was originally assigned to another singer, but considering today’s situation, we arranged it as an additional waiting room for Luminous.”
Good decision.
When you actually experience it, the difference between a nearby waiting room and a far one is huge.
The standby timing becomes noticeably faster too.
On the door of the closest waiting room to the stage was a label that read Najihye.
Najihye… that was the singer of the song Miren sang during the first training.
Even now, when dance idol groups dominated the industry, Najihye remained consistently popular.
The moment where the two idol hosts sang a short line would probably come right after her stage.
“And here’s the printed script.”
When Serin received the script, reality seemed to hit her.
She looked at me with eyes practically begging for help.
“Mujin, Juha, Miren—go into that room first and get ready.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
After the three members entered the room, I said to Serin,
“Serin, we’re using this room.”
“Ah, okay.”
Now came the important moment.
In thirty minutes, the run-through rehearsal would begin, running nonstop like the real recording.
For now, we decided not to sing during the rehearsal and would use the time until the actual recording as effectively as possible.
And of course, Serin also needed to get somewhat comfortable with the script lines.
During the rehearsal, they would read from a teleprompter in real time while conversing, so if she didn’t practice now, she wouldn’t get another chance.
“Serin, let’s try singing once. Then read the script lines, and we’ll go into rehearsal.”
“Ah… okay.”
Practicing singing for twenty minutes straight was less effective than practicing ten minutes twice.
It was better to decide quickly which part to sing and fix the mindset and vocal approach in advance.
I recalled Serin’s singing from a few days ago.
Yes, this part would be good.
The section where her tone shone the most.
And since the main melody appeared right at the beginning of the song, the opening would be best.
“Serin, let’s go from the very beginning—from the strumming to ‘never fades.’”
“Yes… but… do you think I can really do it?”
“Don’t worry right now. Worrying won’t solve anything. Let’s just do our best together.”
Even as I said that, Serin’s expression remained anxious.
“Serin, during the last training… honestly, your voice surprised even me. And your emotion was very good too. I didn’t say it then…”
Serin’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Really?”
“Yes. I wouldn’t lie just to give you courage. So trust yourself and try. Even with the same skill level, singing confidently and not singing confidently makes a huge difference.”
Serin pressed her lips together and nodded.
“Yes, Team Leader.”
The energy in her reply was clearly different from before.
Now we needed maximum results in a short time.
What method would work best?
Despite the urgency, Yoon Jung-hoo stood still, staring at one wall in deep thought.
His level of concentration was so intense that Serin simply watched his face without saying anything.
Serin had no way of knowing, but at this moment he was not just Yoon Jung-hoo.
He was Helios, the founder of ancient musical theater.
Brusco, the pioneer of bel canto technique.
Matthew Conners, the master of musicals.
And Han Ji-hyuk, the great star of popular music.
He was drawing upon all of that musical wisdom to find the most effective teaching method in the shortest time.
A silent moment passed.
Not long, but dense with thought.
Then suddenly his expression brightened.
Among the countless lesson methods flashing through his mind, one idea had settled clearly.
Yes! This is it. It might be a bit of a gamble…
Yoon Jung-hoo sat down in front of the keyboard placed in the corner of the waiting room.
Then he played the first chord of the song Serin would sing today.
Harmony filled the room.
And the singing began.
Not Serin’s voice—
But Yoon Jung-hoo’s.
