God of Music

Chapter 157. White Moonlight Enters Orbit (3)

“Wow….”

Lee HyunAh, in the crossroad in front of KBB station’s building, widened her eyes. She had heard that the building was no inferior to SBB’s building in Seoul, and he was completely right. It was at least 20 stories tall, and the tidy appearance blew away any skepticisms she had towards performing away from Seoul.

“When’s ChaHee coming?”

Kim JinDae asked and KangYoon answered.

“Manager DaeHyun took her here. She arrived half an hour ago.”

“Oh…”

Kim JinDae was worried if they would perform with only a guitar and a djembe on the show, but it turned out he was worried about nothing. The inclusion of Lee ChaHee meant a full band.

They parked the car at the parking lot under the building and when they approached the elevator, a female assistant director was waiting for them.

“Are you White Moonlight?”

“Yes.”

“The ones that have arrived earlier are in the waiting room. Please follow me.”

KangYoon and co were guided by the assistant director to the public hall which was in another building. When they arrived at the waiting room, Lee ChaHee and manager Kim DaeHyun were waiting for them. Surprisingly, they had a waiting room to themselves.

“ChaHee!”

“You’re here.”

Unlike Lee HyunAh, who was excited to see her, Lee ChaHee only calmly greeted her back. Following that, Kim JinDae and Jung ChanGyu also welcomed Lee ChaHee to the band again.

KangYoon thanked manager Kim DaeHyun for driving her all the way here, before clapping to get attention. When he did, all the members of White Moonlight looked at him.

“The dry rehearsal will soon happen so get ready for it. Although we aren’t in Seoul, this can be considered your major debut. Let’s do this well.”

“Yes!”

White Moonlight replied cheerfully before going to the stage.

A female singer’s dry rehearsal was currently ongoing on the stage. She was having her debut here as well and was singing while dancing lightly. Her expression was quite stiff since she had to hold a mic in one hand and dance at the same time.

There was someone who didn’t like to see this.

“…She should have gone with a recording. Why does she want to do it live?”

The one grumbling was the host of ‘Music at Night’, Min SungHan. He shook his head while stroking his mustache. He didn’t like how things were going.

At that moment, he could hear something from next to him.

“You are as picky as always, hyung-nim.”

“What? Who… huh?”

No one talked to him like that in this place. The man felt that this was absurd and turned around. However, he saw a familiar, yet not so familiar face. This man had a tall stature and wide shoulders to boot.

Min SungHan erased all traces of his annoyance and extended his hand.

“Look who’s here! It’s KangYoon of all people!”

“It’s been a long time, hyung-nim.”

The man, KangYoon, shook hands with him and the two had a light hug. Min SungHan also seemed delighted to see him as his voice was raised high.

“Yeah, I’ve been hearing news about you lately. I heard you run your own business now?”

“Haha, I guess. And you, you haven’t changed. It’s natural for those newbies to not satisfy your demands.”

“You haven’t changed either. You always nag about the way I do things.”

Min SungHan had a smile on his face and put his arm around KangYoon’s shoulders. He was delighted to see that KangYoon hadn’t changed much.

KangYoon also felt his affection and spoke.

“You’ll have a hard time getting married if you are too strict towards your juniors.”

“…They don’t meet my requirements, so what? And what does it have to do with my marriage?”

“You’ve always wanted to marry someone in her 20s. If not, then it wouldn’t matter… but if you are so stiff like that, I don’t think any girls will want you in the first place.”

“……”

Min SungHan was 41 years old this year. KangYoon’s words stabbed deeply into his heart. He couldn’t even retort.

“…I’m enduring only because it’s you.”

“Hahaha.”

“Sheesh, we haven’t changed at all. Good, good. KangYoon, should I join your company?”

“…I’ll think about it if your contract with your current company is over.”

“Nah, it’s fine. How am I supposed to wait that long? You really can’t take a joke.”

Min SungHan clicked his tongue and shook his head. It was, of course, a joke on his part. KangYoon also seemed to know that and didn’t react much.

Min SungHan lost interest and switched topics.

“White Moonlight are your kids, aren’t they?”

“Yes. Please take care of them.”

“Haha, to think there would come a day where KangYoon would ask me a favor. I get nothing in return?”

“…I’ll buy you a drink.”

“Fufu, just a drink?”

KangYoon drew the line there.

“I’m not getting girls for you.”

“…Tch, damned goody-two-shoes. Okay, okay. Men aren’t supposed to be satisfied with just alcohol. A man is supposed to appreciate art.”

Min SungHan grumbled and patted KangYoon’s back.

While the two were talking, the other singers finished their dry rehearsals one by one and it became White Moonlight’s turn. White Moonlight had a lot of things to prepare even when it was just a dry rehearsal as they were a band. They not only needed to adjust the settings for the vocals but for the various instruments as well. Moreover, in the case of amps, other bands were using the same amp as well, so it was hard to keep those settings.

“The tone is…”

Lee ChaHee adjusted the tone and took a picture of the amp. She was doing this in order to reduce the time spent on adjusting settings when she went up on stage. Jung ChanGyu did the same. In the case of Kim JinDae, he had brought his own snare drum, so there was no problem with that. He tuned the snare drum so that it would match the sound with the rest of the drum kit, which was set to default.

When everyone set up their instruments, they started playing.

“I call your name -”

Lee HyunAh pointed her finger upwards, gesturing that her in-ear monitor should be louder. The broadcasting room noticed that and increased the volume of her earphones.

The recording began at 7.

This meant that there was not a lot of time as they had to do the camera rehearsal and the dress rehearsal.

However, Lee HyunAh didn’t seem satisfied with her sound and was wrestling with the sound engineer on adjusting the settings. Producer Yoon SangHwan, who couldn’t watch this any longer, approached the sound engineers.

“Is there something wrong?”

“It’s not a big problem, but the singer is quite picky. It sounds good to me though…”

“Ah, sheesh…”

Producer Yoon SangHwan bit his lips and headed to the stage.

“Uhm, Miss Lee HyunAh, there are other people waiting, so please be quick about those settings.”

He came out strong. Lee HyunAh gulped due to the sudden announcement and was about to nod.

At that time, KangYoon felt that something was not right and stepped onto the stage.

“Producer, can you give us a little more time?”

However, producer Yoon SangHwan said that it was not possible and frowned.

“No, there are other teams behind you. We can’t allocate too much time for one singer.”

KangYoon of course understood his perspective. However, his perspective was important as well.

“Please give us 3 minutes. We’ll finish it quickly.’

“*ehem*…”

3 minutes was doable – that came to his mind and producer Yoon SangHwan nodded.

“Okay, but I can’t give you any more than that.”

“Thank you.”

The producer returned to his seat while Lee HyunAh looked at KangYoon, touched.

“President…”

“There’s no time to be staying still. Let’s get this done quickly.”

“Yes.”

Lee HyunAh sang proactively and adjusted the settings. When she focused, she was able to do it in 2 minutes.

After that, the members of White Moonlight returned to their waiting rooms. Now, it was time to change into stage clothes and put on makeup. Lee JinAh, the coordinator who came with manager Kim DaeHyun gave everyone their clothing while Kim DaeHyun helped the male members change.

Lee HyunAh’s make-up was done by KangYoon.

“…President, you knew how to do make-up?”

Lee HyunAh’s words contained full respect as she was receiving make-up from KangYoon in front of the mirror. This looked somewhat off with KangYoon’s big stature.

“I can’t do complicated things like eyeshadow. At most I can do the base and some contouring and highlighting.”

“Isn’t that practically everything though? Wow, where did you learn to do that?”

“Being a manager means learning everything. There, close your eyes.”

“Ouch.”

When KangYoon went hard with the powder, Lee HyunAh made a sound. KangYoon finished the base with the powder and made her cheeks look more filled with vitality. When he did, the make-up made Lee HyunAh look younger.

“Done.”

“Wow.”

Lee HyunAh was surprised. KangYoon was just as good as any other. Of course, he was lacking compared to professional make-up artists, but his basics weren’t lacking compared to them.

“…The president is a jack-of-all-trades.”

“Even make-up huh….”

Kim JinDae and Jung ChanGyu shook their heads in resignation.

Lee HyunAh did her eyes herself and the other members got their instruments as well.

At that time, an assistant director knocked on the door before coming in.

“White Moonlight, please get ready for the rehearsal.”

“Yes.”

They all shouted in unison before standing up and heading to the stage.

***

The Shanghai Grand Theatre was a large-scale theater that could hold over 2000 people. It was one of the biggest theaters in Shanghai and it usually held Beijing operas and western operas alike.

[This movie took a long time as well.]

[Well, the director is stubborn-headed. I heard that the actors had it hard.]

Inside the theater, two men, holding cameras, were having this conversation. On their necks hung an entry card.

-敌人的武士制作发表会 (“Enemy Warrior” Press Release)

There was a large banner in front of the theater.

The journalist took photos of the seated people, empty seats, the banner, and everything else while the camera flashes shout out from everywhere.

[Ladies and gentlemen. Please sit down at your seats as the announcement of the production of the film will soon begin.]

With the announcement that the event will begin soon, the journalists stopped taking photos and sat down in their respective seats. They all set up their video cameras, laptops, and microphones.

With the journalists all seated, the lights darkened and a video played on the stage. It wasn’t the minute-long teaser revealed to the public but a 10-minute long trailer for the media.

‘Look at those graphics…’

‘Incredible.’

The action of the actors and the cameras that captured those moments created a beautiful scene. The slow-motion capture of when the female lead fought with the villain contained all sorts of special effects which made the audience exclaim loudly in excitement.

The visual quality was impressive.

‘Min JinSeo’s acting is just… Such beauty is rare even in the mainland. She’s perfect.’

A tall height of over 170cm, long legs, and good body proportions brought out a lot of the action and her expression changes amplified the visual quality. She was practically a goddess. When such a person did not forgo an action scene in the middle of the desert and created such fascinating scenes to boot, the journalists all applauded.

The release date of the film was revealed at the end, and that was the end of the trailer. At the same time, the lights turned on and the film staff, including the director and the actors all, showed up.

[It’s Xin Minghui.]

[There’s Lian Munwei as well.]

(T/N: Thanks to ensj for making these names Chinese!)

Flashes burst out everywhere as the journalists did their best to take shots. The appearance of first-rate actors was enough to excite these people.

And at the center of all this heat was…

[Ah, hey, can you get out of the way.]

[What the hell are you saying?]

Some of the journalists even quarreled to get the best shot of Min JinSeo. Though, they were soon brought down by the glares from others…

Min JinSeo, who sat next to Lian Munwei smiled softly towards the endless stream of cameras.

When the heat died down a little, the director calmly started talking about the movie. He explained why the production took so long, and also thanked the actors that kept up with him until now. When asked about his future plans, he humorously said that he wanted to go to sleep which made all the people present laugh.

Each of the actors received their own rounds of questions and soon it became Min JinSeo’s turn. Although she was not from China, the journalists asked her more questions than they did to the actors of their own country. The interest in her was just that large. There were many personal questions and some even crossed the line. As Min JinSeo rarely showed up in public events, an opportunity like this was very precious to the journalists.

The following was the last question aimed at her.

[You are at an age where you must be dreaming about love. Do you have a lover?]

A bald journalist asked her in a nonchalant manner which made manager Kim JooHwan abruptly stand from his seat. However, Min JinSeo calmly replied to him in fluent Mandarin.

[I am indeed at an age I dream about love, but I still don’t have that dream. Would you like to introduce one to me, sir?]

[Hahahahaha.]

Min JinSeo’s counter responses were splendid. The journalist ended his question saying that he would try. With that, the mood at the press release became even brighter.

The event lasted more than an hour long, and after that, manager Kim JooHwan approached Min JinSeo. He quickly took Min JinSeo and fled the scene. His skills as he braved through the crowd of journalists while protecting Min JinSeo at the same time were first-rate.

Only when they left the Shanghai Grand Theatre did manager Kim JooHwan sigh in relief.

“Thanks for all that work.”

“You too, oppa.”

Only then did Min JinSeo take off her shoes and sit down properly. As she had long legs, the seats were modified in order to accommodate her. Manager Kim JooHwan looked at Min JinSeo through the rear mirror in the van and asked.

“Today’s schedule is over. Where shall we go? The hotel? Or do you wanna go shopping?”

“The airport.”

“Okay, the airport it is…. wait, what? The airport? Where are you planning on going?”

Manager Kim JooHwan freaked out. It wasn’t like she was someone who would go to the airport just for the duty-free stuff. He didn’t know where she was going, but there was an appointment for Min JinSeo starting early in the morning in two days, and if she went somewhere on the plane, the schedule would be really tight.

“If you are going to go anywhere far, you should do so after the movie is released…”

“It won’t take long. I’ll just go and see someone I want to meet. Please take me to the airport. I’ll be back tomorrow night.”

They’ve been together for many years. There was no way manager Kim JooHwan didn’t know what she was planning to do.

“Don’t tell me, you’re planning to go to that place? JinSeo, that’s….”

“If that’s too difficult for you, just give me my passport. Buying tickets or going through customs is something I can do by myself.

“JinSeo….”

Seeing Min JinSeo being so reckless, manager Kim JooHwan was in a dilemma on what to do.

***

Chief producer Cho GwangHo was the producer-in-charge of KBB’s self-running program ‘Music at Night’. If producer Yoon SangHwan was in charge of the practical work, he was the one responsible for the program.

He didn’t usually visit the scene, but today, he showed up on KBB’s public hall where the recording would happen.

“Chief producer, you’re here.”

Producer Yoon SangHwan bowed deeply towards him.

“Is everything going well?”

“Yes. It’s going fine.”

Chief producer Cho GwangHo turned around to the stage. On the stage was a band with a female vocalist doing their performance. At the very front, there were a few people holding banners and waving them.

There were extremely few cases of fans visiting a TV show program that was centered around indie bands and local bands. Chief producer Cho felt some curiosity towards the band on the stage.

“They are the White Rabbits?”

“…They are White Moonlight, sir.”

“Ah, really? Hahaha.”

He smiled awkwardly and went back to the topic.

“They’re good. The vocalist looks quite young, but she also seems quite experienced. She has the audience dancing in the palm of her hands. It’s not easy for people to show such a reaction in our program.”

Chief producer Cho was surprised by the people waving their mobile phones in the air. Although people came to see music shows just like they did in Seoul, he was always disappointed that there was no cheerful reaction like in Seoul, but their performance seemed a little different.

“Are they new?”

“As far as I know, they’ve just come over from being an indie band. They’re the ones that sang the OST for ‘His Hospital’.”

“Oh, it’s that band?”

Producer Cho seemed to know about that and had a smile on his face. He of course knew about this since it was such a hot topic.

‘Now that I think about it, that guy from SBB was nagging at me about how he couldn’t get an artist. I think these guys here fit the job.’

In his head was a colleague from his old company who still worked there.

***

Recording ‘Music at Night’ on KBB went quite well.

The people generally had favorable reactions towards White Moonlight as well. Street performances, social media advertising all went well and Music at Night did the final touch. White Moonlight was a name firmly engraved in the people around here now.

“Thanks for your work.”

KangYoon and White Moonlight went around greeting their would-be ‘senior singers’ and the staff. Min SungHan lightly waved at them, and the other staff also encouraged them.

They greeted everyone before meeting producer Yoon SangHwan.

“Thanks for all your work.”

“You too.”

After greeting producer Yoon SangHwan as well, KangYoon and co went back to their van.

Now, all their activities in Gyeongsangnam-do were over.

“Fuaah!”

Inside the car, Lee HyunAh cheered. The very thought that she was going home made her joyful.

“Are you that relieved?”

“Yes!”

KangYoon chuckled. Actually, he was exhausted as well.

He was about to turn the car on and depart when Lee HyunJi gave him a call. KangYoon stopped what he was doing and received the call.

After a brief greeting, KangYoon asked what was up when Lee HyunJi gave him a reply in a surprised tone.

– We have a call from SBB for White Moonlight. It’s a program called ‘A Day of Music’.

“Eh? That’s rather sudden.”

– They seemed to have been recommended to by someone else. I told them that we’ll call them back by tomorrow. Let’s talk about the rest once you return.

After the call with Lee HyunJi, KangYoon blinked his eyes several times.

“What’s up?”

“…You’re in orbit now.”

“What?”

Lee HyunAh asked back in wonder, but KangYoon only repeated those words.