Chapter 119

(E/N: April fools! This is the real chapter! haha hope you guys like my little prank there~)

However, grabbing on to that ray of hope in the darkness wasn’t easy .

‘How am I supposed to keep calm at a time like this?’

KangYoon told her to keep calm, but it wasn’t as easy as that . The audience was murmuring amongst themselves, while the guitar in her hands was no longer usable . She wanted to run away from the stage right now .

A voice started coming from the earset again just in time .

-First, put down the guitar .

Kim JiMin put the guitar down carefully .

-Look to your right, there should be ChanGyu’s electric guitar . Pick that up .

“What?”

Kim JiMin blurted out in surprise . The audience’s murmuring got louder . Kim JiMin’s heart fluttered even more as she had to focus on both the reactions of the audience and the voice from her earphone .

However, the voice told her otherwise .

-Don’t mind the audience . Close your eyes . Focus on my voice . Don’t answer me either .

The order was very simple .

It calmed her down like magic . As KangYoon had ordered, Kim JiMin put down her guitar and picked up ChanGyu’s electric guitar . However, there were three different volume knobs on it and she didn’t know which one to adjust .

As though he had known that, the voice continued .

– Lift the one at the very back, just slightly .

Kim JiMin adjusted the key . When she did, a clean, acoustic guitar sound flowed out . The whispers in the audience also died down when she played the note .

– Good, well done . Set the volume to around half . There’s a mic in front of ChanGyu’s seat, right? Put that mic on the stand . I’ll adjust the sound for you .

She didn’t have any time to answer . She readied herself as quickly as she could . Although she wasn’t used to the strings of the electric guitar, which were slightly softer than acoustic guitars, that wasn’t the problem right now .

The audience watched Kim JiMin in curiosity . A panicked young girl trying to get herself out of this predicament was both funny and curious . This was also only possible because the audience was open-minded .

When Kim JiMin set up the electric guitar and put the mic on the stand, the broadcasting room became busy again . Kim JiMin’s voice was unique and it was difficult to adjust the setting for her voice . Moreover, she was using a different mic now, so there were differences in the output of her voice through the speaker . They had to recall the previous settings and do it completely anew .

-Start again .

As soon as the preparations were ready, she resumed singing .

“In my heart – your heart is the light of love –”

Kim JiMin strained her voice a lot due to nervousness and veins could be seen on her neck . When she exerted power on top of learning the SLS vocal method, the gauge on the mixer was going beyond the yellow zone and into the red . She was desperate now . Although this mistake wasn’t intentional on her side, she wanted to make up for it . She closed her eyes as she didn’t have the courage to face the audience .

The unfamiliar clean tone of the electric guitar and the unsuitable mic was completely different from her imagination of her first stage . The outcome of the stage she prepared so much for was very cruel .

Like that, her first-ever stage was completed .

People applauded and cheered . They applauded her for her attempts to make up for that unintentional mistake .

Although she exited the stage amidst the cheers of the audience, her shoulders drooped regardless .

“Well done . ”

“……”

Lee HyunAh met her in front of the waiting room and hugged her . However, her stiff expression did not relax .

Lee HyunAh and White Moonlight went back up on stage again .

– Are you ready to jump again!

– Yeaaaaaa!

In the waiting room .

As Kim JiMin sat there, blank-minded, she heard Lee HyunAh’s singing voice . Although she thought that this was normal for her usually, she found Lee HyunAh very great right now . She panicked due to a single snapped string, but Lee HyunAh had managed to jump around on stage even when water was sprayed on the audience .

Kim JiMin buried her head in her knees . The more she thought about it, the angrier she became at herself .

“Haa… . ”

“What’s the sighing about?”

She then heard a familiar voice . She raised her head to see that it was KangYoon .

“Sir… . ”

“I knew you’d be like this, burying your head in your knees, dejected . ”

“……”

Kim JiMin did not reply to that .

This was her first stage, she had prepared so much for it, only for it to end up like this . She had a hard time looking straight at KangYoon .

KangYoon pulled a chair to sit in front of her . However, he did not speak .

Time passed and White Moonlight’s performance continued .

Kim JiMin asked carefully after all that time .

“… I’m so sorry . You gave me this opportunity because you had faith in me . ”

“No, things like this can happen . ”

“I wanted to do better… . ”

Her hands trembled . She could still imagine the scene where the audience was fumbled by the sudden snapping of her guitar string . Although she managed to do something about it, it was still quite thrilling nonetheless .

KangYoon calmly spoke .

“How long has it been since you replaced the string?”

“I switched it out yesterday . ”

“If it still snapped, then that wasn’t your fault . It was just misfortune . There are many cases like that in the professional field . Even bass strings snap, not to mention acoustic ones . ”

“…But the fact that it still snapped… . ”

“What you did up there was excellent for the first time . Although there was the recording, you were practically playing solo . Your guitar string still snapped despite that . Can you do anything about it? Instead, you only took one minute to get the other instrument setup and start playing again . Your song wasn’t bad either . ”

“……”

Kim JiMin relaxed a little at KangYoon’s praises . However, his words didn’t end there .

“I’m saying this because you’re still a trainee . If you’re a professional, you should never take more than a minute to clean up your mistake . In fact, even 30 seconds is long for the audience . Bear that in mind, okay?”

“Yes . ”

“You’ve experienced something big even though this was your first time performing . There are many proper musicians who can’t do this on stage . Well done, you’ve worked hard . ”

KangYoon patted on Kim JiMin’s shoulders before standing up . Feeling his warmth, Kim JiMin felt that her stiff heart was melting . She didn’t know that the words ‘well done’ could be so calming until today .

KangYoon spoke as she relaxed a little .

“Now then . Let’s get ready for your debut . ”

“Yes!”

Kim JiMin shouted cheerfully .

***

A new nightclub-style concert hall opened up in Hongdae .

This became a hot topic for the indie bands around . Especially on the opening day, the bands that visited White Moonlight’s performance couldn’t hide their surprise at the facilities and the equipment .

After the opening ceremony, the indie bands that performed thereafter that day never stopped praising it . The thing they liked the most was the acoustics . As bands were sensitive to sound, they were very picky about the acoustics of a venue, and this place was the perfect place out of all venues around .

Monday .

Vocalist Gong SeungHye of the band Wish woke up late in the afternoon and headed to a cafe in Hongdae . A man wearing a hat was waiting for her .

The two drank coffee and talked about the newly opened place, Lunas .

“The facilities are definitely good . Is the rent really that cheap with those facilities?”

Son JiWon, a vocalist of the band Train City, had doubts about that place . The rent was the most suspicious one . But this venue had cheaper rent than all the other places .

“Yeah, it’s a lot cheaper than the other places . ”

“That’s awesome . The sound too, there’s no difference between listening from the front and from the back . They would have invested a lot in that place . Who’s the guy that’s running the place? Is he swimming in money?”

“He owns an entertainment company . You know, the one Lee HyunAh went to . ”

“Oh, The Formidables, you mean?”

Lee HyunAh was famous throughout Hongdae . She wasn’t called the Hongdae Goddess for no reason after all . It was also understandable that The Formidables, now White Moonlight, was the first to perform at the opening ceremony .

The cheaper rent excited Son JiWon . However, he talked about something else .

“Wait, is this because of that? I ran into SangTae-hyung a white ago and he told me that Spot Hall was fully booked for October when he went there . ”

“What’s that? That’s strange . There’s no way it’s already fully booked . ”

“It doesn’t end there . He tried other places as well . Derace, Greenlight, and all the other places told him that October was fully booked . Us indie bands should perform at least twice a month… . This is a big deal . He had no choice but to go to Lunas again . ”

This was rather strange . There was no way those places were already fully booked . Indie bands had their own network and would usually schedule amongst themselves before booking . This was because they knew that competition would only end in losses .

“Are they scheming?”

“No way . Isn’t that against the law?”

“How would anyone find out if they act like that?”

Gong SeungHye stood up feeling ominous . Her intuition told her that something fishy was at play here .

***

Lunas was very empty during weekdays… or not .

Lee HyunJi was currently having a headache due to the waves of female fans .

‘Sedy, I swear I’ll… . ’

As she was receiving visitors at the entrance, fans who brought a whole carrier case of luggage were very hard to handle . The venue was not wide enough, there were a lot of people, and luggage wasn’t welcome . Although they had prepared seats beforehand, only some of the entrants could sit and many participated in the fan meeting standing up .

Despite that, the fan meeting was very smooth . Fans from around the country had gathered and were happy just listening to his voice . Sedy showed off a few tricks and sang a couple of songs .

After around an hour, the fans left like the tide .

“Phew… . ”

KangYoon was sweating when he saw that the venue was so full . Since Lee JunYeol ended up singing, he had to set up the mixer as well . Although he set up the mixer perfectly, the process was hard .

After Lee JunYeol took some photos and gave hugs to a few remaining fans, he invaded the broadcasting room .

“Hyung!”

“Thanks for your work . ”

KangYoon met him without much excitement . It was not the case for Lee JunYeol though as he hugged KangYoon violently .

“You’re freaking me out here . ”

“No way . What’s there to hide between the two of us?”

Lee JunYeol only let KangYoon go after patting on KangYoon’s wide back .

“It’s been a long time . ”

“You tell me . I think this is the first time we met since you came back from the States . Am I only worth that much?”

“Haha, sorry about that . ”

KangYoon made an awkward smile . Lee JunYeol still understood him since KangYoon was running his own business now . Then, he looked around the broadcasting room in curiosity .

“Wow, I should set up something like this too at my company . I’m jealous . ”

“Do it only if you need to . ”

“Well, YOLO . ”

“…Looks like you’ll only get yourself together once you marry someone . ”

KangYoon told off the immature Lee JunYeol . Though, that didn’t make him dejected at all . The two then went out of the broadcasting room . Lee JunYeol’s fans had very good manners and there wasn’t much trash to be seen at all .

“Your fans are clean . ”

“They’re my fans . Of course, they’re clean . ”

“And here I thought they’re little girls who only know how to scream . ”

“Those girls are starting to become ahjummas now… . ”

KangYoon patted Lee JunYeol’s shoulders to console him . When he did, Lee JunYeol smirked .

“Heh, I’m fine since there’s still a super old car in front of me . Why don’t you go first?”

“…Damn you . ”

(T/N: Sedy is implying KangYoon is older and should marry first . )

KangYoon put Lee JunYeol in a headlock .

After some chit chat, Lee JunYeol asked KangYoon in a serious voice .

“Hyung . I’ll be releasing a digital single soon . ”

“Really? When?”

“It’ll take a while . The production is almost over and all that’s left is to release it . The fan meeting today was for that as well . ”

“Oh yeah . I guess that’s why . ”

KangYoon understood where he was coming from . Although there were other methods like advertising through TV, satisfying the fans was very important as well . After all, they were the biggest source of purchasing power .

“But there’s something that’s not finished yet . Bro, do you think I can get someone to do some featuring?”

“Featuring? A guy or a girl?”

“A girl . I want one that has an appealing voice . ”

KangYoon thought about it for a moment before speaking again .

“Does the voice need to be powerful?”

“That doesn’t matter . It’s good to have some, but we can do without it . ”

“Does it need to be someone from my company?”

“No, not really… it’s fine if she’s someone from yours . I know that you’ll find the best girl for me regardless of the company . ”

“……”

KangYoon shook his head when Lee JunYeol flattered him .

“Sheesh, okay, then . But I think I need to listen to the song to make a decision . ”

“Here . ”

“You were clearly aiming for this, weren’t you?”

When Lee JunYeol giggled saying that it was obvious, KangYoon took the USB drive off his hand .

“Here are the lyrics . ”

“…Sheesh, the lyrics are so like you as well . ”

KangYoon frowned while looking at the lyrics written on a piece of note in illegible handwriting . Despite that, Lee JunYeol didn’t back down and just waved his hand .

“Then please take care of it . I have another schedule after this and I need to go now . ”

“Okay, be safe . ”

“I’ll buy you a drink next time . Cya . ”

Lee JunYeol left Lunas while KangYoon shifted his eyes to the messy notes .

“Do I need to call a cryptography team or something?”

KangYoon sighed lightly while looking at these… ‘lyrics’ .