Good memory indeed. Yeon Cheonguk pointed at the practice room building and changed the subject.
“Can I get out first, Sunbae? It’s almost time.”
“…Alright. Go on up first. I’ll park and be right there.”
“A lesson, huh. I’ll get scolded for two whole hours, right? So scary!”
Going up the stairs, a small recording studio appeared. A person who was the agency’s director and a vocal trainer were sitting on the sofa. The vocal trainer, wearing a black short-sleeved shirt with a skull design, looked Yeon Cheonguk over from head to toe.
“I hear you hit high notes well?”
“Yes… well… I hardly ever crack.”
“Boohwal, Never Ending Story. Do it in chest voice.”
It was a difficult song that required even vocal register transitions. While Yeon Cheonguk entered the booth and sang, the trainer kept conversing with the director. To accurately see where he mainly used when hitting high notes and whether he had bad habits, they’d need to watch the singer with their eyes, but they kept talking.
By the time he finished the song, their voices had gotten quite loud. Yeon Cheonguk took off his headphones with a puzzled expression.
Since he was inside the recording booth, the trainer’s voice wasn’t clearly audible, but it seemed to be roughly this content.
To teach a minor, you need to register with the Ministry of Education—why didn’t you say so beforehand? The director kept waving his hands, insisting it was fine. Who’s going to report it, who! It’s just a few times. Just a few times….
Just a few times? Does that mean he only needs to take vocal lessons a few times…?
The director, who suddenly came to his senses, smiled brightly at Yeon Cheonguk.
“As expected! Our singer Yeon!”
The trainer let out a deep sigh and kicked off from the sofa to stand up. Just then, the juice shop owner who had finished parking came inside.
“Did you rent this place?”
“Hehe… I suppose so. Where would a small agency get the funds to install a recording booth?”
While the owner shook hands and conversed with the director, Yeon Cheonguk received training inside the recording studio.
He received vocalization coaching standing with his back against the recording studio wall and learned how to hit high notes with head voice, but he wasn’t fully satisfied. It was good to learn a couple vocal theories he didn’t know, but producing thin high notes by sending the sound above the nose wasn’t Yeon Cheonguk’s preferred singing method.
As Yeon Cheonguk was debating whether to voice his complaints, he decided to first ask about the vocal trainer’s background.
“Then is this teacher the company’s exclusive vocal trainer? Your experience is….”
“Oh! Cheonguk-ah. There’s an important competition in early September.”
The agency director, who cut off Yeon Cheonguk’s words, grabbed his hand.
“The Passion Singer King Selection Contest! The grand prize is a whopping 20 million won!”
At this tremendous news, Yeon Cheonguk stopped what he was going to say and listened.
“Let’s participate with the song you just practiced. Win the grand prize here, get the spotlight, and go straight to debut!”
Now Yeon Cheonguk had one desperate short-term goal.
The Passion Singer King Selection Contest in the first week of September…!
It was an important audition on which Yeon Cheonguk’s successful debut depended.
Hwang Jegu came to Kkaebi Manga Village.
There’s still about 170,000 won in points left, though? The part-timer, who was scared in advance and swallowing his doubts, nodded as he received a paper with a phone number written on it.
Hwang Jegu had come to update the emergency contact network. The manga cafe’s customer management program had a section to write emergency contact numbers for when customers went AWOL, and Hwang Jegu always filled all five spaces and checked them periodically.
As expected, the thug managing the Dongdaemun area was far from ordinary.
It was only natural to avoid eye contact whenever he saw Hwang Jegu. Because he made this place, which already felt cramped due to the full bookshelves, look even more cramped. His very existence suffocated the part-timer. He only heard about it through Gakseori through the grapevine and didn’t know in detail what Hwang Jegu did outside of school. Still, from the standpoint of someone who would eventually have to take the bar exam, he was truly a frightening opponent.
“Give me any manga our slacker has read recently.”
“Got it.”
Why? Asking for manga Yeon Cheonguk had read.
Ah, Yeon Cheonguk! That guy whose eyes overflow with the soul of a free artist had secured the manga shuttle position again.
Gakseori—no, that bastard Jeon Sangwon—looked displeased in his own way. He was all worked up about why that slacker with nothing to do was in Hwang Jegu’s orbit again. Hadn’t he said before that this wasn’t work at his level? Now that Yeon Cheonguk was in charge of manga, he’s unhappy again. Just say you hate Yeon Cheonguk, and when he said he hated him and yelled at the top of his lungs, the part-timer had to cover his ears.
Since he can’t say such things in front of Hwang Jegu, he comes here and makes a fuss grabbing the part-timer. The part-timer secretly glanced at Hwang Jegu standing at the counter.
He was frowning with his latest cell phone against his ear. Noisy birthday celebration songs had been flowing from the phone for several songs now. It was the paid birthday celebration phone service 700-5425.
‘Must be his birthday.’
It seemed his business was done now, but Hwang Jegu didn’t leave the counter area. Hwang Jegu, who flipped through the book flaps of manga Yeon Cheonguk had recently read, suddenly tore off the bottom of the book flap.
Riiip, riiip. He tore paper twice and put it in his pocket. Along with giggling laughter.
Tearing a book in front of the part-timer… and a completely useless book flap at that…?
When the part-timer blinked at the torn manga flap, Hwang Jegu retorted like this:
“Oh, that? It was already like that.”
“…….”
His mouth filled with curses, but he couldn’t spit them out. Hwang Jegu was that kind of guy.
The part-timer secretly sighed.
‘……I just shouldn’t tell the owner. He won’t notice anyway.’
Whenever Hwang Jegu came, his muttering increased exponentially. Damn it.
He easily grabbed several manga in one hand and moved them aside. Then he planted both arms firmly on the counter. Just when he thought why isn’t he leaving, there was a request.
“Singer auditions. Search when they are.”
Questions are a luxury. The part-timer minimized the customer management program window and opened an internet window as told. Thanks to high-speed internet Megapass, the painful search time was shortened, which was appreciated. Thank you, Megapass.
“Your Majesty.”
“Yeah.”
“There’s an open audition at Han River Park this week too. It’s hosted by an idol group agency though… oh, it’s today?”
“Today?”
Fuck, Hwang Jegu muttered faintly and planted his chin on the counter with a thud.
“Where do you see information like that?”
The part-timer naturally accepted Hwang Jegu speaking informally to him.
“There’s a cafe called ‘Wings of Dreams – I Want to Be a Singer.'”
“Cafe?”
“Aspiring singers gather there, small fan clubs form there too… that kind of internet culture….”
Hwang Jegu, who was listening to the explanation about internet portal site cafes, sighed as if it was pathetic.
“Write down that cafe address.”
“…….”
The part-timer got scared again. A bumpy arm full of small scars was thrust forward.
‘Why is he telling me to write the cafe address? Is he going to blow it up? Surely he’s not trying to give information to that guy Yeon Cheonguk. Wait, if he’s trying to inform him, what does that mean? Really? Hwang-je?’
He quickly muttered to himself in his head and opened the name pen cap.
www.cafe.daum.net/flyaway….
After finishing writing the address on the thick forearm, Hwang Jegu stepped back from the counter.
‘Haa… is he finally leaving?’
It would probably take twenty minutes for his completely shrunken liver to restore. So, the idea that that guy Yeon Cheonguk is a wimp in front of Hwang Jegu is nonsense. If he were a real wimp, how could he talk back in front of him like that? He must be completely mistaken.
If his heart isn’t pounding from fear.
Hmm… then why?
His thoughts were interrupted by Hwang Jegu’s action of opening his phone. Another birthday call must have come.
But this time the phone was quiet. It seemed he was checking a regular voice message. Anyway, he looked like he was leaving the store, so he was relieved, but suddenly Hwang Jegu lifted his foot.
The bookshelf was pushed back with a creak from being kicked. Everyone in the store saw that tyranny, but no one could point fingers. Everyone closed their mouths and read the atmosphere.
The part-timer had no choice but to mutter to himself again.
‘Why did he snap like that…?’
***
A few days ago, Manager Kim suggested going to observe another open audition to prepare for the Passion Singer King Selection Contest. It seemed like it would be different from the school trip stage or the talent show stage above Migliore, so Yeon Cheonguk readily agreed. After refusing the cell phone gift, offers to give him rides and private contact had drastically decreased, so the uncomfortable feelings he’d briefly had toward the manager had been completely forgotten as if washed away.
Since it was summer vacation, he was exchanging manga at Kkaebi Manga Village. He left a voice message in case Hwang Jegu might put gum wrapper in the manga today.
– It’s me, Yeon Cheonguk. I’m going to observe an open audition at a performance hall with Manager Kim today, so just in case, I’m telling you in advance that I won’t be able to go to that… abandoned warehouse today. I’d appreciate it if you’d skip today and call me. I’m asking you.
