Chapter 13: KK’s Beginning (4)

“I was planning on telling you anyway.”

“DJ? What DJ?”

Kim Soom, who didn’t know the situation, asked.

“I asked teacher to find a DJ for me. He found the DJ and thanks to him, I was able to meet with him. Thank you.”

“You already said thank you to me over the phone incessantly. You met up with him? You didn’t go inside the nightclub, did you?”

“Not at all! I’ve never even been to a nightclub.”

“Of course you shouldn’t have ever been to a nightclub~!”

Kim Woo Yeon said it matter-of-factly, but in reality, Do Wook’s mental age was 33. Back in the day, he was called a dunce a lot and constantly rebuked for being 33 and never having been to a nightclub.

“Well, I didn’t meet him. My older cousin met him. She fell in love after hearing Yong Soo Chul DJ, but had absolutely no idea where he was working …I barely found out about SSasam World…”

His speech became muffled at the end because of the guilt he felt towards his cousin. Kim Woo Yeon started panting after he heard the reason.

“What? You used my connection for such a vain reason? You asked so seriously that I thought it was a special situation!”

He knew what Kim Woo Yeon would say, but he had no other choice. An absurd reason like this was less absurd than the ‘real reason’. Also, he had to give a ridiculous reason like this so Kim Woo Yeon will quickly erase his suspicions and lose interest.

“Geez! Unbelievable. If you can’t reach the high notes by the next lesson it’s over. Over!”.

As expected, Kim Woo Yeon was speechless after giving his threat and got up from his seat. Kim Soom also smiled lightly and continued with the conversation.

“That’s unexpected, Do Wook. You even know how to lay bridges.”

“No… That’s not true.”

“Then, shall we go into the practice hall? You did the assignment I gave you last time, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

Do Wook was about to go into the practice hall with Kim Soom when the phone he put in his pocket began to vibrate. Do Wook quickly checked the text after checking who the sender was. It was a text from Ahn Young Mi.

[Tomorrow 10 am, conference room. Calling an emergency meeting! All members participate! Let’s make sure not to be late!]

***

Lunch time at HIT Entertainment. Returning after eating at a nearby restaurant, buying coffee at the café on the first floor of the company building, then going to the roof to smoke was a lunchtime routine. However, for the last few days, Team Leader Shim Jun returned to his seat immediately after finishing lunch.

After the KK title song selection meeting, Team Leader Shim Jun had a heavy heart as the album production team leader that they couldn’t find a suitable song. He gave up his coffee break and smoke break to work feverishly almost every day on casting the song.

[2 new emails]

Team Leader Shim discovered new emails when he sat down in front of the computer and opened his inbox. There were two new emails in total.

One was an email from Kei whom Team Leader Shim Jun contacted yesterday morning. Team Leader Shim clicked on Kei’s email and his expression brightened.

Kei was a female jaeil dongpo composer active in Japan (Translator note: jaeil dongpo is a Korean person residing in Japan) that Team Leader Shim found while scouring different channels. As soon as he heard Kei’s song, Team Leader Shim sent Kei an inquiry email. It was a relief that he got a response sooner than he expected.

Kei_you.mp3

The email said that she happened to have one song that matches the vibe of what Team Leader Shim requested and is sending a sample file.

“Good, good…!”

Team Leader Shim checked the other email he hadn’t opened yet as he downloaded the attached file.

[Sender | Brave Only Child]

[Title | Announcement for song…]

It sounded like a composer based on the title but it was a name he hadn’t heard of before.

‘Brave Only Child? Who the heck is that?’

The email written on the song announcement was the album production team official email. The email Team Leader Shim was checking was his personal email.

If the announcement Do Wook posted on Yong Soo chul’s house had one other difference from the content on the home page, it was the email address. Do Wook wrote down Team Leader Shim Jun’s personal email so that he will absolutely hear Yong Soo Chul’s song

Team Leader Shim didn’t think much about the fact that it came to his personal email. He distributed so many business cards on a regular basis that his email wasn’t a secret to people in the industry. Occasionally, new composers would get his email from acquaintances and send him songs.

‘But the name is so strange… It’s not quite that it’s strange, it’s funny?’

Team Leader Shim laughed uncontrollably as he clicked on the email from ‘Brave Only Child’.

Sorry(Working title)_sample.mp3

There was only one attachment and the body of the email was completely blank.

Part of him felt it might be a prank but he also felt there was no harm in listening to it. Team Leader Shim scanned for a virus, and then downloaded the file. The two songs were both added to the playlist.

Team leader Shim put the earphones in his ears and pressed play. He soon jumped up out of his seat. The stack of files that were on his desk made a sound as they fell over. The album production team employees, who happened to enter the office at that time, looked at Team Leader Shim with puzzled expressions.

“Right away, I need to call for a meeting right away! There’s no need to wait!”

The employees grasped the situation one step too late and immediately started moving at Team Leader Shim’s exclamation.

Songs from two composers had arrived in each of their inbox forwarded from Shim Jun. Team Leader Shim picked up the phone and contacted RDT’s Im Sung Ahn.

Through Team leader Im, a meeting was immediately scheduled for the next morning to discuss the title song candidates.

***

Like that, a second round of the meeting was abruptly held. Nobody was able to hide their bewilderment that the next meeting was being held earlier than they expected. The team leaders had their own worries that the company’s entire plan would fall apart, and the members had their own worries that their debut would be postponed so this was a meeting everyone was looking forward to.

With a slightly flushed expression, Team Leader Shim Jun played the song.

This meeting progressed with a noticeably different atmosphere than the last meeting. The problem last time was that both songs were not good, but this time it was a problem that both songs were too good.

However, there was a song that was clearly everyone’s favorite. Everyone felt like an exclamation mark popped above their head as soon as they heard it. Team Leader Shim Jun, who was observing everyone’s expressions, was pleased they had the reaction he expected.

“Amazing! It’s amazing…I felt that this would definitely be a success as soon as I heard it.”

Im Sung Ahn mumbled as if she were possessed. It was a catchy melody that had a beat light and fast enough to make your shoulders move on their own. It was a song so comfortable that you’d question if you’ve ever heard it before, but it also had a freshness of something you’ve never heard before.

This song will definitely be a success. The album production team employees’ opinion was that it might not be a hit since they were rookies, but they would definitely hit more than medium-level success.

The members also couldn’t hide their excitement that they would be singing such a good song.

“Who is the composer? Where did you find a song like this, Team Leader Shim?”

“I think he’s a rookie but he emailed me a song himself. It’s a sign that KK is a team that will be successful.”

Team Leader Shim spoke excitedly. Do Wook smiled faintly at the excited atmosphere of the meeting room.

“But the song by that composer Kei was also very good…”

The song ‘You’ that Kei sent was a medium-tempo song with a melody that flows like water as its strongpoint. It might be because she was active in Japan, but it had a different feel than Korea. It was as sophisticated as “You’re Too Pretty” by M2M who recently debuted.

Team Leader Shim expressed his opinions in response to Im Sung Ahn’s mumbling.

“I think that it’ll be good to have ‘You’ as a coupling song, Team Leader. Both songs are fresh so they’re not that different. If you write both songs’ lyrics to match KK’s concept, the album will be complete.”

“As a coupling song…That’s good. Honestly, it was good enough to be a title song so it would have felt like a waste. If the response is good and they’re active for longer, ‘You’ can be used as a follow up song.

“Yes, that’s it. If you include both songs that have the vibe of a title song, it’ll be an absolute masterpiece as a rookie group album.”

Team Leader Shim spoke with confidence.

“Great. Of course I will follow all of your decisions Team Leader Shim.”

“Yes. Then we will notify this person and we’ll progress even faster. Let’s move quickly!”

Team Leader Shim’s determination to make a good album was burning intensely after coming across a good song. His intuition about a jackpot was alive and breathing.

“Yes, understood!!”

The production team members replied in unison.

The members hummed Brave Only Child’s melody as they left the conference room.

“I think it’ll be great if we add rap.”

“Right, totally perfect!”

Jung Yoon Ki, who was in charge of rap, and Kim Won also seemed excited. The same was true for the other members as well.

Do Wook looked like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. It was a relief that Yong Soo Chul sent the song he was expecting right on time.

‘Sorry but I love you’ was definitely an incredible song. It was a song that can’t help but become a hit in this generation, as Team Leader Im Sung Ahn said.

However, maybe it was because Do Wook lived a few years after ‘Sorry but I love you’ was released? Do Wook was looking into many songs that were popular later. Because of that, Do Wook was just a little bit less sure than everyone else that it was very good.

‘Little more, little more…I think it can become better!’

Do Wook stopped in his tracks. The members started at Do Wook, who suddenly stopped, but Do Wook was so preoccupied in his thoughts that he didn’t even feel their gaze.

‘Ah! That’s it!’

8 Word’s melody shined in Do Wook’s mind.

—

Translator’s comments: Do Wook is too OP with all this future knowledge haha