Chapter 41
Make a New Color Group Chat
PD Oh: The cameras in the kitchen and living room are now ON.
Seeing PD Oh’s text first thing in the morning made my stomach churn.
It was a group text reminding us to be careful since the cameras were rolling.
Wouldn’t want to get embarrassed by accidentally stripping in front of everyone.
“Yaaaawn.”
Morning came like a ghost, but my stamina did not return.
Yoon Cheong’s body lacked muscles, making her stamina much worse than my 30-year-old self.
I had to hit the gym for personal training as soon as this program ended.
An idol couldn’t survive without muscles.
I habitually took out chicken breast to eat.
Colors didn’t enforce strict diet management.
They didn’t force us to lose weight or undergo plastic surgery.
But… the trainees managed their diets on their own.
Not too strictly, though. The amount of practice we had made us lose weight even with a normal diet.
We just couldn’t eat tteokbokki and had to eat a lot of chicken and vegetables.
“Unnie, what are you eating?”
Yeon Juhong peered over my shoulder.
The most annoying kid.
She ate the most but never gained weight.
She said it was her metabolism.
The really annoying part was that she got all that food from me.
“I’m eating chicken breast.”
I decided to speak nicely since the cameras were rolling.
“Yuck.”
Yeon Juhong immediately switched targets.
“Geum-Kim unnie~ Geum-Kim unnie~ What are you eating?”
“Stop calling me that… brat.”
Kim Geum pushed Yeon Juhong away with her foot, visibly annoyed.
I made eye contact with Kim Geum and subtly signaled toward the camera.
She should tone down the violence or she’d get criticized.
Kim Geum saw my signal and forced a smile.
“I’m just having a protein shake.”
“Can you live on just that?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t approve.”
“Who are you to approve or disapprove?”
“We are bound by fate…”
“No, we are not.”
…Why do the younger ones speak so briefly?
Efficiency at its peak?
“Who wants to eat ramen with me?!”
Surprisingly, no one showed interest.
Even though they didn’t strictly diet, eating ramen in the morning was a bit much.
“Gasp, Bo-ra Bo-ra unnie!”
“…What?”
Just then, Ryu Bo-ra came out of her room.
“Eat ramen with me. My mom certified me as a ramen master.”
“We have a recording today.”
“Oh, okay… bye.”
Yeon Juhong slumped after being soundly rejected and cooked ramen alone.
The smell of ramen was driving me crazy.
I was almost in tears inside.
As I contemplated why chicken breast-flavored ramen hadn’t been invented yet, Ryu Bo-ra nudged me.
“Unnie Yoon Cheong.”
Adding my surname made it feel distant.
“Why?”
“Do you have anything to do this morning?”
“No, not today. I was just planning to stay in the practice room.”
“If you don’t have plans, would you like to come to the recording with me?”
Kim Geum and Yeon Juhong’s eyes immediately turned to us, looking quite surprised.
…Was it that surprising? Hmm?
“Uh… why?”
“You can refuse if you’re busy.”
“No, it’s not that I’m busy…”
I was just curious about the reason.
Why was I particularly weak to her?
Her tone was similar to Kim Geum’s, but they felt completely different.
Both were blunt, but Kim Geum was familiarly blunt, whereas Ryu Bo-ra felt distant.
It was strange.
Even though Kim Geum was expressionless and Ryu Bo-ra smiled brightly, it felt like that.
“I was supposed to go with Kyunga unnie, but her recording got rescheduled to tomorrow.”
“Why?”
Ryu Bo-ra just shrugged, implying she didn’t know.
Kyunga has been doing a lot of solo activities lately.
Maybe…
“Anyway, shall we go?”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
I didn’t know why she asked, but it was a good chance to get some screen time.
It wasn’t because I was worried about Ryu Bo-ra.
I was just trying to get more footage with a popular member.
“Did you two finish recording?”
“Yep.”
Yeon Juhong nodded right away.
“The song isn’t easy, did you get the okay sign in one go?”
“Well…”
Yeon Juhong looked ambiguous.
“I guess it’s good that we finished recording…”
What was that?
I felt uneasy, but Yeon Juhong didn’t seem willing to say more since the cameras were rolling.
“Geum, what about you?”
“Not yet. The arrangement is taking a while.”
“Yeah… It must be tough with just the two of you, lots of parts to cover.”
“It’s almost like remaking the song, so it’s taking quite some time. Dan Ha sunbae is struggling because of us, we’re very sorry.”
“Let’s repay them with a great performance.”
“Of course.”
That straightforward personality…
I could see why she had many fans.
Even before joining ‘Make a New Color,’ Kim Geum was well-known on SNS and internet communities.
It wasn’t just because she had many fans.
Her personality had created many catchphrases and meme-worthy moments.
Especially, she left some memorable quotes on the hip-hop survival show ‘Unpretty Money.’
A representative example was:
[Geum: Just because it comes out of your mouth doesn’t make it language…]
[Geum: Oh… creative nonsense…!]
Because of this, opinions about Kim Geum were clear-cut.
Kim Geum didn’t hold back her words just because someone was a senior.
Of course, she spoke more freely because she was on good terms with them, but to the public, it could come off as overly cynical.
So, the company had warned Kim Geum several times.
Idols should watch their mouths, they said.
But Kim Geum didn’t seem to care.
“Hey, Yeon Juhong.”
“Yes.”
“Get your body parts off of mine.”
“Aww.”
“Let’s not touch more than one square centimeter, okay? It’s summer, and the discomfort index is high.”
“Aww.”
Look at her.
But then again, Kim Geum was the only one who got along well with all the trainees.
She was also the only one Ryu Bo-ra, that ironclad fortress, spoke openly with.
“Unnie Yoon Cheong.”
“Hmm?”
“We’re leaving in an hour. Aren’t you going to wash up?”
…Right.
That ironclad fortress.
***
Back in the recording studio with Han Jae-i and Dan Ha.
The two producers-cum-idols didn’t seem curious about why I was there.
Actually, they didn’t seem to care about us at all.
“Trainee Ryu Bo-ra, get ready to go in. Warm up your voice.”
“Yes.”
Ryu Bo-ra was the same.
Feeling like a misplaced straw, I looked around the studio.
Maybe I could get a hint on interpreting the song.
But there was nothing like that.
Instead—
‘The Pendulum-Final Final Final Version’
I saw a sheet with the musical score and lyrics.
…How many revisions did this go through?
It was the song for Dance Position A.
Yeon Juhong, Seo Baek-young, and Kim Ryeo-yu’s team.
With this many revisions, and they were already done recording?
Curious, I subtly moved to a spot where I could see the sheet music better.
And as soon as I got a clear view—
“Let’s go again, that part.”
I was surprised.
There were significant differences from the song I knew.
Originally, “The Pendulum” was a song with a dedicated fanbase.
It was often listed as one of those ‘hidden gem idol songs.’
Fast beats, tense melody, grand accompaniment.
It was optimized for performance, but it had a flaw.
It was a very difficult song.
Fast-paced, with no breathing space, and crazy octave jumps.
It was a song that was extremely challenging to sing while dancing.
Since it was a position evaluation, AR was somewhat allowed on dance position stages, but Colors was unusually obsessed with ‘live’ performances.
Even for a dance evaluation, performing live was a basic rule.
So, the dance position was one of the most difficult positions.
Even if the vocal expectations were lowered, you couldn’t completely ignore the vocals.
“The Pendulum” was a huge gamble.
Done well, it would go down in survival history.
Done poorly, it would be a huge embarrassment.
However, in my previous life, Seo Baek-young made an impressive performance, so it worked out.
In my previous life, Seo Baek-young, Lee Juseon, and Shin Yu-hyun were a team.
Although it was a dance position, Seo Baek-young, who had a huge ambition for vocals, took all the difficult parts her teammates struggled with and nailed them perfectly.
As a result, Seo Baek-young’s ranking skyrocketed, and she safely became a debut member.
But this song wasn’t the same song I knew.
The song had become significantly easier.
Why so many modifications…?
I would have to ask Seo Baek-young about this later.
As I was pondering this puzzling situation,
“Let’s go again.”
Ryu Bo-ra was struggling.
She looked pitiful, even to me.
I had given her interpretation hints before, but she was still floundering.
I quietly listened to Ryu Bo-ra’s singing.
Her pitch and rhythm were still perfect.
It was hard to believe she used to be an actress; her foundation was solid.
But.
“…Trainee Ryu Bo-ra.”
“Yes.”
“I can’t quite put my finger on it, but the feeling isn’t there. You, as the singer, should know better.”
“…Yes.”
It was lacking.
As Han Jae-i said.
Something was missing.
Even though I wasn’t the songwriter, I could feel something was off, so it must have been more evident to them.
Ryu Bo-ra also seemed to realize this, judging by her dark expression.
“Hmm.”
The two producers whispered to each other and then suddenly called me.
“Trainee Yoon Cheong.”
“Yes?”
“Come in.”
Me?
“…Me?”
“Yes. Would you two try singing together?”
Hmm.
I immediately agreed.
I thought I understood what they were aiming for.
When I entered the recording booth, I could see Ryu Bo-ra’s state more clearly.
…She was nervous.
The lyrics sheet in her hand was crumpled.
She must have been gripping it tightly.
Despite her outwardly calm demeanor, she was very tense.
I put on my headset and stood next to Ryu Bo-ra.
Ryu Bo-ra unfolded her lyrics sheet again.
But I said,
“Don’t look at that.”
I took Ryu Bo-ra’s hand.
“Let’s do it together.”