Then if we can’t find ‘drums’… No, where does this suddenly come from?
When the flustered Yeonjae pulled hard on the wrist string, Kwon Isoo turned his head.
“Do those four things absolutely have to be in every song?”
“No, that’s not it.”
Kwon Isoo answered while staring intently at Do Yeonjae’s blank face.
“Among ballad songs, there are songs centered on keyboard and strings. Dance songs can’t do without drums and bass.”
It’s not that all four must be there, but if even one is missing, there will be restrictions on genre selection.
But there was a serious problem… The genre Do Yeonjae wanted was indie rock, which is band music. Even giving a hundred concessions and treating keyboard as optional, if there’s no drums, bass, or guitar… Wow. Just imagining it was dizzying.
How do you even come up with such a crazy plan? She’s not a star PD for nothing. Looking at PD Woo Jiyeon with half admiration, half shock, she kindly continued her explanation.
“For reference, the concept of Four Rhythm I explained isn’t limited to only actual instruments, but includes electronic instruments as well. The core is the function they perform in music rather than the form of the instrument.”
In other words, if they couldn’t find a card, they couldn’t use anything like electronic drums or synth bass either. Nothing came to mind except that it was really thorough.
“The places where the cards are hidden are the 3rd floor cafeteria, 5th floor… this is it, right? The cafe-meeting room. 7th floor practice room, 9th floor recording studio, and up to the 12th floor office. So you just need to go around these five floors total and find them.”
“That’s too wide, PD-nim…”
“Haha. Yes, I thought so, so I prepared a device for you two. If you win in battles against these people who will be deployed 20 minutes after the game starts, you can get crucial hints!”
What she pointed to were five masked men.
I did think there would be something since they put cute masks on the staff, but so you’ve become hint-giving NPCs… But there was no need to feel sorry for them. Right now, he himself was in the situation of having his wrist tied.
“Just remember two things. The time limit is 90 minutes, and the moment the wrist string comes untied, it ends immediately. Then, we’ll start now!”
At the merciless timer start, Do Yeonjae’s eyes widened as he pulled on his wrist.
“Let’s go quickly!”
“Don’t run, Do Yeonjae.”
Two camera directors chased after Kwon Isoo’s back as he was leisurely dragged along as Yeonjae pulled. PD Woo Jiyeon, sitting in the meeting room chair, looked at the clock and muttered in a voice mixed with laughter.
“What on earth will happen during these 90 minutes… I’m really looking forward to it?”
After leaving the meeting room, Isoo and Yeonjae decided to search the nearby 5th floor first.
The 5th floor, where the cafe and meeting rooms were gathered, was one of the floors Do Yeonjae frequently visited. He would have album meetings with the A&R team here or do video call fan signings. Sometimes he’d come down to buy coffee for the hyungs during practice.
They’d started moving, but thinking they had to find tiny cards in such a vast space felt overwhelming. Just how many meeting rooms are here right now…
As long as their hands were tied, they couldn’t separate from Kwon Isoo and search individually.
After debuting, he’d really tried many games and missions, but at most what was at stake was snacks or meals. A mission with instruments at stake in a song production program.
Snacks, you just don’t eat if you don’t get them, but this was a matter of the work’s quality at stake. No matter how he thought about it, wasn’t this too much of a gamble? Last time they clearly said ‘Since it’s a project requiring creativity, we won’t put too many restrictions,’ but looking at it now, it was a complete lie…
“There’s nothing here.”
At the cynical voice, Yeonjae turned his head.
There was a display case in the meeting room hallway with albums of JG-affiliated singers, and they were searching through it together. When Kwon Isoo, who had been going through the albums one by one, shook his head, Yeonjae bit his lip tightly. As expected, a place like this was too obvious.
Then just as he was about to turn to go somewhere else, a large potted plant at the end of the hallway caught his eye.
It wouldn’t be in a place like that…?
Kwon Isoo, who sensed Do Yeonjae’s thought, strode toward the plant.
“Try lifting that.”
“Oh. Hey, come together.”
He hurriedly followed Kwon Isoo before the string became taut.
The string tying their wrists was about 40cm long, so it wasn’t completely tight, but it was uncomfortable to move hands freely. Even though it was cloth so it wouldn’t come undone easily, it seemed like he’d have to almost give up using this arm.
“You’re lucky your left hand is tied.”
Do Yeonjae, whose right wrist got tied, sent an envious look. Then Kwon Isoo, who glanced down at Do Yeonjae, chuckled. Seeing the smoothly rising corner of his mouth, Yeonjae made a puzzled face.
His mood seems better than expected?
Since Kwon Isoo was the person who had to make the song, he thought he’d be more annoyed at this game than anyone. But Kwon Isoo just stared at the string tying his wrist for a while, or pulled it playfully, and didn’t show any particular displeasure or impatience.
Does he have something to rely on… Ah, maybe.
“Kwon Isoo.”
Yeonjae, who squatted down following Kwon Isoo lifting the plant, asked secretly.
“Are you number 1 in today’s horoscope?”
“…What are you talking about out of nowhere.”
Kwon Isoo, who narrowed his brows, got annoyed saying didn’t he tell him he doesn’t believe in that stuff.
If he’s saying it to this extent, he must really not believe it. When did you force me to check horoscopes… You washed your hands of it alone.
He knows tastes change as time passes, but every time he saw Kwon Isoo different from his memories, the 4-year gap hit him hard.
Whether it was disappointing or what, staring intently at Kwon Isoo in a strange mood he couldn’t explain, he paused. Oh, come to think of it…
“There’s nothing here either… Why are you looking at me like that?”
Kwon Isoo, who checked under the plant, raised his eyebrows sensing Yeonjae’s gaze.
“Huh? No…”
Yeonjae, who trailed off without realizing it, tilted his head. Is it just his imagination?
‘I like it when you have your hair down. Ah, I’m not saying your current hair is strange.’
It seems like he’s been keeping his hair down ever since saying that.
When they met a few days ago, it was a day without schedules so fair enough, but did he originally have his hair down this often?
Mm, it seems like self-consciousness overload too.
But what was the feeling when Kwon Isoo pushed his hair up… Examining his face closely from a close distance, he unconsciously reached out his hand and lightly pushed back his bangs. Then his unrealistic features were revealed more clearly. Straight eyebrows and eyes with slightly raised ends. Gray-brown pupils giving off a cold light… Huk.
Only after their gazes met head-on did he realize what he’d done.
Do Yeonjae hurriedly pulled his upper body back in embarrassment. Uh-oh. Just as his squatting body was about to tip over, Kwon Isoo grabbed his arm. Yeonjae, who barely found his balance, asked with a somehow strange face.
“Why do you stay still when I touch you without permission?”
“……What are you saying after touching me yourself?”
Kwon Isoo, who frowned, belatedly got angry.
As if he hadn’t recognized his own docile attitude until Do Yeonjae asked. Kwon Isoo, who was throwing a fit saying his hair got ruined because of him and whatnot, at some point closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes. After seeming to think about something carefully, he stared down at Do Yeonjae and said quietly.
“And what’s the big deal about touching my hair a bit.”
His face nodding roguishly seemed exactly like it was saying, ‘Between people who’ve even touched each other’s dicks.’ Yeonjae’s pupils, who grasped the implied meaning, slowly dilated. What…!
Do Yeonjae, who jumped up from his spot, turned his body around.
“We don’t have time for this. Let’s find them quickly.”
Not liking his reddened warm cheeks, he scrunched up his face hard and moved his steps with quick strides. …Though he had to stop before even taking one full step because the string became taut.
They entered several empty meeting rooms and thoroughly searched under desks, chairs, and bookshelves. However, the Four Rhythm cards were nowhere to be seen.
“I guess there’s nothing in the meeting rooms… Let’s search the cafe side.”
Upon entering the cafe area, he felt a few glances looking this way. It was definitely an unusual sight, two perfectly normal men walking around with their wrists tied.
Still, well… Since there are camera directors, won’t they know we’re filming? Kwon Isoo also originally didn’t care about others’ gazes, so he seemed fine whether anyone looked or not.
They couldn’t find cards in the cafe either, so they decided to move to a different floor. Yeonjae, who pressed the 12th floor button, was lost in thought for a moment.
There are four cards total but five floors, so that means there’s a floor with no cards at all.
“They wouldn’t all be clustered on one floor, right?”
“Then it wouldn’t make a broadcast.”
True, whether they find them all at once or can’t find them at all would make an uninteresting picture. The comment reactions would probably be brutal too.
Checking the time, about 15 minutes had already passed. Time was flowing faster than expected. They absolutely had to find all the cards within 90 minutes… Was quickening his pace as soon as they got off the elevator because he was feeling a bit rushed a mistake?
The accident happened in an instant.
“Do Yeonjae!”
As soon as they turned the corner on the office floor, he collided with an employee coming from the opposite side. Uh-oh, startled Yeonjae instinctively reached out his hand. The small-framed woman swayed greatly as soon as she collided with his solid body. At the same time, cola from the beverage can she was holding splashed on Do Yeonjae’s pants. The employee shouted with a face that turned pale.
“Huk, I’m sorry!”
He felt a damp sensation on his thigh. Do Yeonjae first checked the condition of the employee who ended up in his arms. Whether she was a new employee, she looked excessively flustered, so he spoke in a calm voice.
“I’m sorry, I must have come out too hastily. Are you hurt?”
“Ah, your pants… What to do.”
As he was comforting the employee saying it was his fault so don’t worry about it, he felt a hand grabbing his shoulder from the side. Kwon Isoo, who turned his body toward himself, bent down to squat and then grabbed his leg with a serious face. When the large grip firmly grasped his thigh, Do Yeonjae flinched for a moment.
…It’s obviously wet, so what is he examining so closely?
