Genius Composer Who’s a Dedicated Fan

There’s no correct answer for recording, but usually, it’s done in segments. Recording by cutting into sections and then piecing together only the good parts.

This method is inevitably cleaner because when released as an audio file, there shouldn’t be any awkward parts even when listened to repeatedly.

But I didn’t cut Baek Yerin’s first recording.

More precisely, I didn’t want to cut it.

“Um… how was it?”

Baek Yerin, who had finished her first recording and come out of the booth. For some reason, she started to gauge my reaction.

Probably because neither I nor Kang Beom-joon had said anything since the recording started until now.

In that sense, I glanced at Kang Beom-joon standing behind.

After naturally exchanging glances with him, we both nodded simultaneously as if we had reached an understanding.

And then I immediately said this to Baek Yerin:

“I don’t think we need to record anymore.”

“What…?”

At my words, Baek Yerin’s eyes widened as if she had received a tremendous shock. And her eyes started to redden at a frightening speed.

No…

What on earth is she misunderstanding?

Could it be that she thinks I’m saying to stop recording because the song just now was so terrible that I don’t want to hear it anymore?

If that’s the case, I think I would be shocked too if I were Baek Yerin.

Especially since it was said by me, who had drawn Baek Yerin into this world in this life.

But looking at Baek Yerin’s expression, it seems like what I’m thinking is correct.

Like a situation you’d see in a drama, with a “How could you do this to me?” kind of feeling.

“I meant that it was so good from the first recording that there’s no need to record anymore! Right, CEO?”

With those words, I urgently sent an SOS look to Kang Beom-joon, who smirked and answered.

“That’s right. Even this much will probably surprise everyone. And even if we record again, it would take quite some time to do better than this.”

“Simply put, despite it being your first recording, you sang that well.”

When I gave words of praise, Baek Yerin finally let out a sigh of relief.

By the way, she showed this level of performance on her first recording, and in one take at that?

As expected, Baek Yerin is different.

I thought she was amazing even when I saw her from afar until now, but seeing her right next to me in person was astonishing.

Then, what emotions did she feel during her first recording?

“How was your first recording?”

“It was! It was so much fun!”

Baek Yerin said, nodding her head as if she was quite excited.

A faint smile naturally forms at that sight.

And.

“Can I maybe record the other songs too?”

“The other songs too?”

“Yes! Somehow ending like this feels a bit disappointing.”

Baek Yerin made a counter-proposal to me.

It was also a proposal I had no particular reason to refuse.

These were songs that would need to be recorded later anyway. There was nothing bad about gaining experience in advance.

“Is that okay? We still have two days left including tomorrow anyway.”

I asked Kang Beom-joon for permission.

At my question, he immediately gave an OK sign with his finger.

Anyway, Baek Yerin and I are now artists under RT Entertainment, and there were no other artists besides us.

In other words, from now on, the recording studio was a playground we could use as we pleased.

So, our recording work continued throughout the weekend.

* * *

The weekend recording proceeded in a quite different way from the first recording.

This time, it was about working as if recording a real audio file, not a song to introduce themselves at the regular meeting.

It was entirely Ryu Won’s suggestion.

If they recorded like the first time, the recording time would be much shorter.

Baek Yerin accepted Ryu Won’s suggestion without much thought.

However…

“Let’s sing that part again. Instead of elongating the ‘ee-‘ sound, try to cut it off decisively.”

“Here, you need to sing with a more bouncy feeling.”

“Hmm… the breathing just now was a bit unnatural. If you focus on just that part, it should be perfect.”

Ryu Won showed a quite different appearance from the first recording.

If there was anything he didn’t like or any part that was wrong, he would immediately stop the recording and give feedback on the spot.

Even for parts that Baek Yerin thought she sang quite well, he didn’t stop at “quite well” but literally demanded perfection.

Thanks to this, they only finished recording 1 song on Saturday.

Even that was barely concluded towards the very end.

Nevertheless, Baek Yerin didn’t dislike this process at all.

Rather, she fully trusted Ryu Won’s feedback without a single doubt.

This was because she firmly believed in a certain fact.

That this person named Ryu Won’s talent was superior to her own. From the start, even Kang Beom-joon had evaluated his talent as already complete.

On top of that, the more actively she accepted his feedback and applied it to the recording, she couldn’t help but realize that the recorded song was naturally improving.

And Baek Yerin saw it.

The last part of the song she sang on Saturday.

After finishing the recording of that part, Ryu Won’s face smiling brightly beyond the glass wall of the booth.

That smile truly looked…

Happy.

To the extent that even Baek Yerin, who was looking at that smile, felt a sense of satisfaction.

And the very next day, Sunday.

“Is your throat okay?”

During a short break time, Ryu Won asked Baek Yerin with a slightly worried expression.

Baek Yerin answered with a puzzled expression.

“Why? Does it sound strange?”

“It doesn’t sound strange. I just wondered if you might be overexerting yourself in just two days.”

“Hmm… I haven’t thought about that.”

Baek Yerin cleared her throat just in case, checking the condition of her throat.

And as if realizing something, she cautiously opened her mouth.

“It does feel a bit scratchy…”

“Then let’s stop here.”

“What?! We only have one song left!”

“That doesn’t mean I have any intention of making you record while abusing your throat.”

Ryu Won said firmly.

Faced with Ryu Won’s unyielding response that showed no sign of backing down, Baek Yerin had no choice but to give up.

Still, she didn’t feel particularly bad about it.

Because his reaction came purely from concern for her health.

So.

“Why are you so nice to me?”

Baek Yerin took this opportunity to bring out the question she had been harboring in her heart.

Like worrying about her physical condition now, he had always treated her with a favorable attitude since the moment they first met.

As if it were natural.

Baek Yerin now wanted to hear the answer to that.

Coincidentally, Ryu Won had suggested to Kang Beom-joon to take it easy on Sunday, and knowing all too well that things would run smoothly even without him, he readily accepted that suggestion.

In other words, it meant that currently only the two of them were in the recording studio. For Baek Yerin, what better opportunity could there be?

Conversely, for Ryu Won, it was like digging his own grave.

But he knew.

That someday, a difficult question to answer would come from Baek Yerin in some form.

This is exactly that situation.

Why have you been so nice to me consistently since we first met, even though we had no prior acquaintance?

This was a question that even Ryu Won could easily anticipate from his position.

So he had pondered how to answer it, and in fact, he still hadn’t come up with a clear answer.

To explain the exact reason, he would have to reveal a somewhat absurd truth.

Things like time regression, or that his past self was her huge fan, and so on.

Would the current Baek Yerin believe everything he said?

She would probably be more likely to see him as someone with severe delusions…

On the other hand, giving an answer mixed with lies isn’t a good method either.

Lies eventually pile up and inevitably lead to losing trust.

Also, one might lose the ability to judge what is true in the false world they’ve created.

Just like how his past self refused to meet Baek Yerin, making excuses about being a first-class composer.

Ryu Won didn’t want to repeat the regrets of the past.

So.

“Just… because I like your song so much. To the point that I want to keep hearing it in the future. There’s no other way but to be nice to you for that.”

He conveyed his sincere feelings without embellishment.

Of course, it was an answer that might sound a bit shameless since he had omitted the context.

Still, it’s better than revealing an absurd truth or telling a lie.

And that was an extremely correct judgment.

“What part of my singing do you like so much that you go to such lengths?”

“Hmm… I’ll pass on that question.”

“Huh? Why?!”

“It’s somewhat embarrassing, and I feel like you might treat me as a pervert if I say it.”

“Come on, I’m not that narrow-minded person! So tell me quickly.”

“Oh? CEO?”

Kang Beom-joon, the CEO of RT Entertainment who was enjoying a rare day off.

Still, being a person with a strong sense of responsibility, he was the type who might give up his day off and visit the company to check on the recording process.

Because of that possibility, Baek Yerin instinctively turned her head in the direction Ryu Won pointed.

And…

“?”

There was nothing there.

Just a wall.

Baek Yerin turned her head back to Ryu Won with a puzzled expression. And she saw Ryu Won hurriedly escaping from the recording studio.

Anyone could see that this was the appearance of someone running away because they didn’t want to answer her question.

However, Baek Yerin only smiled faintly at that sight.

Because she had heard a quite satisfactory answer without lies from the other person.

“I guess that’s it for today.”

As Baek Yerin said, the question time for today ends here from the moment Ryu Won ran away.

Still, someday…

It would be nice to hear other things too, including the answer I didn’t get to hear earlier.

With that small hope, Baek Yerin followed Ryu Won out of the recording studio.