God of Music

Chapter 153. The Miracle OST (3)

Lee HyunAh was currently headed towards SBB station in the car that KangYoon was driving.

She was sitting in the passenger seat and gave KangYoon a piece of chocolate. Her face was slightly red.

“HyunAh, are you excited?”

“Of course I am!”

Although she did appear in front of a camera before, this was the first time a song in the name of White Moonlight would ever appear through TV. Her thick smile was representative of her current mood.

KangYoon seemed to understand her mood and replied while turning on some cheerful music.

“You chose your song well, HyunAh. SoYoung created a good song too. You did the rearrangement yourself, didn’t you?”

“Yes. But I didn’t know you’d tell SoYoung to do the mastering herself. It’s not easy to let someone else tamper with your machine.”

Lee HyunAh was very surprised.

Mastering was the process of adjusting the music quality, the duration, and level in order to create a music file for a CD or other media. This work required professionalism to the point that there were engineers who did this exclusively for a living. At World Entertainment, KangYoon was in charge of this job.

He smiled and spoke.

“I heard that SoYoung had learned about mastering at college. That’s why I told her to try. Although she wasn’t so good because of her lack of experience, she was quite good when we did it together.”

“Huh? Does that mean SoYoung will work at your company too?”

KangYoon shrugged his shoulders.

“Who knows? I’m not sure yet.”

“Hmm… I’d like to work with her. She’s very hard working when she is tasked with something. It’s hard to find someone so hard working these days.”

KangYoon said that he would think about it and skipped the topic. Hiring a composer was a different matter than hiring a simple employee. He was going to talk with Lee HyunJi more before he came to a decision.

The two soon arrived at SBB station.

They parked the car and walked to the elevator where a lady assistant director was waiting for them.

“Welcome. You are from World Entertainment, aren’t you?”|

“Yes. I’m Lee KangYoon.”

This assistant director seemed to have stayed up the night as dark circles could be seen behind her thick makeup. Lee HyunAh gulped as this was the first time she saw someone related to a TV station.

Following her, KangYoon and Lee HyunAh got on the elevator.

Their destination was the drama office located on the 21st floor. The assistant director tagged her ID and led the two inside.

Lee HyunAh looked around the office as this was the first time she had visited one.

‘Wow, it’s like the exact same big corporate office that I saw from TVs. It’s so neat and … huh? That man is so handsome.’

An employee wearing a suit grabbed Lee HyunAh’s attention. She satiated her curiosity by looking around all over the place. However, when that man passed by KangYoon, he was half-a-head shorter than him.

‘I knew it, oppa is so tall…’

Lee HyunAh grinned unintentionally.

Soon, they arrived at the meeting room for ‘His Hospital’. When they entered, producer Kim DeokJoong and some assistant directors were waiting for them.

“Hello. My name is Kim DeokJoong.”

“Hello.”

KangYoon and Lee HyunAh exchanged greetings with the producer. Producer Kim DeokJoong was of short stature and had a stiff-looking expression. His sharp eyes were very eye-catching.

The assistant director that led the two here soon gave them some coffee.

Lee HyunAh sipped on the coffee with curiosity and nervousness while KangYoon talked about what he was here for.

“Thank you for considering White Moonlight’s song on such a positive note.”

“Not at all. It was a really good song. I got the feeling just by listening to it. Although we usually do verbal contracts, I just had to invite you here in order to express that I want to work with you more in the future. I hope I wasn’t too rude by inviting you here when you must be so busy.”

“Not at all. We’re thankful instead.”

The mood was very good. Producer Kim DeokJoong did not stop his praises saying that the vocalist’s tone of voice and the song’s mood was suited to emphasize the mood of the drama. Although many songs had come to their desks asking to be included in the OST album, this was the first time a song made him so eager to use – or so he said.

Lee HyunAh asked amidst the cheerful mood.

“Uhm, producer. Can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead. Oh, you must be the vocalist right?”

KangYoon answer in her stead.

“Yes.”

Producer Kim DeokJoong waited for her question with a soft expression. Though, his eyes were so sharp that it didn’t look that soft.

“If our song does appear in the drama, can I ask which scene it will be used for?”

Hearing that question, producer Kim DeokJoong laughed before speaking.

“Hahaha, I guess you must be curious. It will be used in the most important scene, where the male lead ambush-kisses the female lead for the first time.”

“Oh, then JinWoo and AhJin will… Hiek? Did I just get spoiled!?”

Lee HyunAh covered her ears so as to not listen to any further spoilers. She was also a fan of the drama.

Seeing that, KangYoon laughed. Thanks to her, the mood became even lighter.

After writing the contract, KangYoon and Lee HyunAh stood up.

Lastly, KangYoon spoke while shaking the hand of producer Kim DeokJoong.

“I hope the drama, and the song, goes well.”

Producer Kim DeokJoong also spoke with a confident expression.

“They will. It’s been a long time since I felt so confident. The viewing rates are going up, and the song will be used in the most important part of the drama, so everyone will have a happy ending. You can look forward to it.”

He saw KangYoon off to the elevator.

Inside the car heading towards World Entertainment, Lee HyunAh asked KangYoon.

“This OST, it will do well, won’t it?”

KangYoon thought about it for a moment before speaking.

“Well, we’ll see the results when we get there. And this isn’t our final destination. There’s something bigger waiting for us.”

“The major debut? Oh, yeah, you’re right.”

“This is just the beginning. Don’t shrink away already.”

Lee HyunAh resolved to herself while listening to KangYoon’s words, blaming herself for being a coward.

***

It was now May.

As the weather was good, the streets were filled with people, and the mountains were full of greenery.

Eddios’s dorms were also filled with the vitality of May.

“Who was in charge of rice today!”

…Though some were over-energetic…

Ailee grumbled while putting the crumbly under-cooked brown rice. As brown rice needed more water to be cooked than white rice, this kind of ignore-everything cooking method was making her frown.

“MinAh-unni was….”

Seo HanYu, who had already finished her meal in order to go to practice told her of the culprit.

“Jung MinAaaaaaaaaaaaaah….!”

Ailee clenched her teeth and trembled due to the culprit having made worse what was already tasteless food. She could tolerate having a small portion of food, but she couldn’t deal with having tasteless food.

“…Just eat what you get.”

Christie An spoke in a bland expression. However, Ailee made a fuss about it.

“No way. Do we have to eat the already bad-tasting diet food in such a bad way? This is torture, torture, I say! Ah, I can’t stand this. I’m cooking another batch.”

Then, Ailee started washing some rice again.

Han JooYeon clicked her tongue.

“Damn gourmet. She’s a peculiar one.”

“You’re right. I heard we’re going to be weighed this week. Is she going to be fine?”

“Eeek? Really!?”

Christie An’s unique nonchalant voice made Han JooYeon freak out. No, even Seo HanYu, who was about to go out, made a big deal out of it. Only Ailee, who was busy washing the rice, was immersed in her own world.

“I heard MinAh talk about it yesterday. This girl, she forgot to tell you again, didn’t she? Sheesh, she’s such a hectic girl. Director-unni said that we’re getting weighted this week. The president was going to do it, but the director said that they should preserve our dignity.”

“I think I gained weight, what do I do…”

Han JooYeon grumbled. Seo HanYu also trembled due to the pressure of the frightening image of the scale.

Women’s greatest enemy, it was the scale.

“Jung MinAh! Jung MinAaaaaaah!”

Oblivious to all this, Ailee was busy cooking another batch.

***

While the other members were causing a fuss about eating.

Lee SamSoon, who had downloaded a drama, was watching ‘His Hospital’ with a headset on. Her laid back posture indicated that this wasn’t just the first or second time she had done this.

– The stars are pretty.

JinWoo, the male lead wearing a doctor’s gown, was watching the stars on the rooftop. Seeing that, Lee SamSoon’s heart tightened. The male leads tall height and the shoujo manga-esque beauty made her heart flutter.

Following that, the female lead, AhJin, appeared. She gave JinWoo a canned drink and stood next to him. The two talked about their superiors at the hospital and talked briefly about their life.

Then, JinWoo spoke about the female lead’s rival, SoJin, who also acted nicely towards him. In the drama, SoJin was a girl who made JinWoo think a lot about her.

– … really?

There was no way AhJin would like JinWoo talking about SoJin when he was the man she liked. She glared at him before interrupting him.

– Wait.

– What is it?

– …Let’s stop talking about seonbae.

Then, she tiptoed and matched her lips with his. JinWoo’s eyes widened in surprise at her actions.

– Now, you can’t talk about her in front of me, can you?

Then, AhJin seemed embarrassed and ran off with a blushed face.

JinWoo was shocked stiff and stood there blankly while touching his lips.

‘Wow… girls should act more boldly, huh, I knew it… Wait, isn’t this HyunAh-unni’s voice?’

But then, Lee SamSoon heard a familiar voice. This was the first time she had heard of the song, but the voice definitely belonged to Lee HyunAh. She hadn’t heard about this from anyone and didn’t think that Lee HyunAh sang such a song.

‘What a good song!’

It was a very sorrowful, yet beautiful song that expressed the minds of women clearly.

After the drama was over, Lee SamSoon went into a streaming site and immediately downloaded the OST that Lee HyunAh sang.

SBB’s drama ‘His Hospital’s OST, ‘Heartache’ first showed itself to the audience in the 7th episode.

The song instantly enraptured the hearts of many by emphasizing the scene where the female lead, named AhJin, suddenly kissed the male lead, named JinWoo, to express her feelings. The restrained, but still barely leaking emotions made the hearts of many resonate with the song.

On the day of when the 8th episode would air.

Lee HyunAh’s ‘Heartache’ placed first place in many streaming sites.

“The reactions are good.”

Lee HyunJi, who had watched ‘His Hospital’ along with KangYoon inside the office made a satisfied smile while looking at the various reactions on the internet.

“The editing was good. The song came out just at the right moment. It expressed perfectly how the male lead doesn’t recognize the female lead’s emotions at once.”

“Indeed. Phew, looks like we’ve crossed a big hurdle.”

Lee HyunJi stood up and stretched her arms out.

“Looks like that’s plenty of promotion for us. We have the title of placing first in the streaming sites, so we should ready the album now.”

“I think so as well. We should use this opportunity to appear in front of the public.”

The two had the same opinion.

However, not all things went their way in this world.

Two days later.

KangYoon had come to work and was talking to White Moonlight about the album along with Lee HyunJi when he was called by producer Kim DeokJoong. He spoke in a very apologetic voice.

– I’m very sorry. I don’t think I can air ‘Heartache’ starting from the next week’s episodes, that is, episodes 9 and 10.

“What? Is there something wrong?”

KangYoon was flustered, but he asked in a calm voice. However, he received no explanations and was only told that the other party was sorry.

The drama was set to end with episode 20. If the song changed at all, KangYoon believed that it would change from episode 17 at least. Something was wrong here.

– I can only express my deepest apologies. This is due to internal matters so please understand.

“…Fuu. Looks like I’ll have to pay a visit.”

– Okay. Please do come. I’ll be waiting for you.

KangYoon finished the call and put on his coat. Lee HyunJi asked due to the sudden commotion.

“Did something happen?”

“I think a problem occurred with the OST. It won’t air starting next week.”

“What? Did the production company or the investors pressure them into doing that or something?”

When Lee HyunJi asked in a worried voice, KangYoon nodded his head. He also had similar thoughts in mind.

“It might have been that since the viewing rates are quite high in this drama. I don’t think it will be easy… but we should come up with our own measures. I’ll call you when I get there.”

“Okay.”

KangYoon left the office with a rather stiff expression.

“Not many things are going well recently.”

Inside the office, Lee Hyunji shook her head.