Chapter 215: Elson Telmore
[[On air] Is Do Seohan studying right now?]
He's been laser-focused for three hours straight???
I feel self-conscious even typing comments.
What the heck, why is he so serious about this?
-Haha seriously, I feel like the friend who's goofing off and distracting the one who's studying hard.
└LMAO he said the friend who's distracting the one studying ㅋㅋㅋㅋ I relate to this so much ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Fr, there's no better way to put it…
-Seohan’s focus is insane….
└True, maybe that’s why he’s successful.
└Successful people really are different ㅠㅠ
-He glances at the camera now and then to whisper “fighting,” but even that he does so cautiously, like he’s afraid of disturbing the fans’ studying… Sorry, but the fans watching this are not studying right now.
└Ouch.
└Please stop hitting me with facts, I’m reporting you;;;
└I’m dying ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Sigh… It’s true… I’m just admiring Do Seohan’s face right now….
The livestream was unfolding in an unexpected direction.
I thought he’d maybe focus for a few minutes and then toss the workbook aside and switch to chatting….
But while everyone was marveling at Seohan’s insane focus, other Dusty members took a different approach.
[[On air] I’ve got a question.]
He’s really grading that test for real and not just as a concept, right??
-Huh? Isn’t he serious? What’s the issue?
└He got too many questions right;;
└And that’s supposed to be a problem???
└You must be young. He’s solving Calculus II right now….
└Holy crap;;;
└I’m confused… how is Seohan solving Calculus??? Did he prepare separately for the college entrance exam?
-Maybe he just memorized the answers? But he’s writing out the full solutions so thoroughly it’s confusing me.
└Do Hamjji’s been hiding his power.
└Idol by day, K-senior by night…??
└So Do Seohan was the real science and math whiz of Stardust….
└There’s no way you could solve those at GED cutoff level… what is this even
At the same time.
Similar reactions were popping up in the comment section.
Seohan, chin propped in his hand, swiftly solving problems, finally glanced at the comments.
"……"
Only then did he realize his mistake.
‘I solved that way too seriously.’
It wasn’t like he was breezing through at a genius level.
Honestly, this level of difficulty was tough since it had been a while.
But still—
Choosing Calculus II had been a mistake on the Self-content Team’s part…!
‘They must’ve given it thinking I wouldn’t be able to solve it.’
Were they aiming to capture a casual moment of him randomly marking answers and chatting with fans?
If they had a plan, a heads-up would’ve been nice….
Honestly, I felt kinda bad.
They obviously expected me to struggle.
"Hmm."
Seohan tried to act natural as he drew a line across the page.
"This is hard…."
—But he’d already been solving it way too seriously. Seohan tugged at his hair, trying to figure out what to say.
This part was harder than solving the actual problem. No matter what I said, it’d sound weird.
So.
I just… decided to keep solving it.
"I did some advanced studying back in middle school… I think it’s slowly coming back to me… or maybe not."
Seohan scratched his head with a small laugh.
The comment section lit up with a fiery response in real time.
-He studied Calculus in middle school, wtf???
-Do Seohan was seriously living his best life… what was I doing in middle school?
-Like peeling an onion, something new comes out every time… but now it’s all good stuff
-I’m telling you, even if Do Hamjji hadn’t become an idol, he would’ve done something impressive. Fr he’s shocking.
His middle school days were actually pretty average.
Since he started training at a young age, he couldn’t help but neglect academics….
Not like anyone would dig that deeply anyway.
Most people would just shrug it off.
Honestly, this might be for the best.
People had been making unnecessary comments about him being some kind of genius or passing the GED.
This way, it just sounded like he’d done some advanced studying.
Not a genius—just someone who started early.
That kind of explanation usually gave people less to argue about.
"……."
—And with that thought, he went quiet again.
Seohan’s expression turned serious.
-Haha Do Seohan’s back in hardcore focus mode
This next problem… was even harder.
"The song’s good."
Cha Seongbin’s studio.
I took off the headset after listening through the sample tracks he prepared.
Filming the livestream had been fun, but at the end of the day, I’m an idol.
I had to get to Billboard, so I decided to focus my schedule on this for now.
And with that said.
The song itself passed the test.
"Personally, I like demo track number two."
Mad genius Cha Seongbin apparently couldn’t be satisfied with just one song and brought three different options.
They had a pop vibe with a simple underlying rhythm—clearly designed with a dance challenge in mind.
Among them, demo number two felt the most upbeat and stylish.
"It’s fresh."
It was the complete opposite of the tough, hard-hitting tracks most boy groups targeting international markets usually went for.
But then again.
There have been times songs like this totally swept the Billboard charts.
"Don’t you think the melody line’s a bit weak?"
"Hmm. I like that it’s light and simple. It doesn’t feel like the bass is lacking…."
However, this so-called pop vibe felt a little ambiguous.
Rather than leaving the final touches to Cha Seongbin, who had only learned about pop indirectly, I figured it’d be better to work with a producer from overseas who could deliver higher accuracy.
“Is Billy Vinger busy?”
“You’re thinking of asking him?”
Cha Seongbin’s question made me hesitate.
Billy Vinger. Without a doubt, he was the composer who had the best chemistry with Stardust even before our debut.
Still….
If his style got mixed in, I felt like it would lean more toward a trendy K-hip-hop vibe.
Instead, I was thinking of a composer with Billboard experience.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to borrow the producing skills of a genius whose songs consistently became global hits.
“Ah.”
Someone came to mind.
“Just a second.”
I gently pushed Cha Seongbin aside and accessed the SoundCloud homepage.
It was a site where you could often find amateur composers’ work.
That guy.
He should still be active here around this time.
Cha Seongbin’s eyes went wide.
“What is it?”
“There was a song I listened to recently and saved. It had a good vibe.”
Elson Telmore.
A genius producer who would become a Billboard giant about three years later.
At this point, though, he hadn’t yet shined like the pearl buried in the mud.
All he had uploaded were a few songs titled “demo 1,” “demo 2,” tucked away in a corner of SoundCloud—no one was going to contact him, and Elson Telmore himself was just making music as a hobby.
Ironically, it wasn’t a major global music company but Doubles who first discovered his talent.
They heard the songs he’d piled up on this very SoundCloud and contacted him, eventually crediting him on the title track of Tiple’s 5th full album.
The result… Billboard Top 10.
It was a total hit.
He’d become the kind of person who, in the distant future, people would throw money at and still not get a song from.
I had to get one now, while he was still that hidden gem.
“Ah, found it.”
Click—
I retraced my memory and located his SoundCloud page, then clicked on the song at the very top.
“This was the one.”
“Oh, yeah? Play it.”
Cha Seongbin nodded with curious eyes.
Click—
The moment the mouse clicked, Elson Telmore’s sample track began to pour out of the speakers….
“…Hey.”
And then Cha Seongbin’s face turned cold.
“Who is this guy?”
Geniuses recognize other geniuses.
Click click.
No matter how many times he scrolled down, the contents of the email in front of him didn’t change.
[Hello, we are K-pop management company Doubles….]
Elson Telmore cupped his face and lightly slapped his cheeks a few times. Since it stung, this wasn’t a dream.
“This is really happening?”
After listening to one of his SoundCloud sample songs, a Korean K-pop company had contacted him.
The main message of the email was that they were deeply inspired by his stylish pop sound and wanted to work with him.
At first, he thought they were scammers.
But then he looked them up—and they were legit.
Doubles was actually a well-known K-pop management company, and Tiple was under their label.
“Shit… Tiple’s songs were freaking good!”
Of course, he said it in English.
Elson Telmore wasn’t totally clueless about K-pop, so he immediately understood just how enticing this offer was.
A top-tier K-pop company offering a total amateur like him the chance to produce a single for Stardust.
You’d have to be crazy to turn that down.
“I’m in!”
It didn’t take long to decide.
Compared to Tiple, Stardust wasn’t very well-known in New York, but after some searching, he saw they were quite famous in Korea.
And then there was Cha Seongbin.
The artist he’d be working with already had several composition credits to his name.
“Kinda intimidating….”
His vibe was a little delinquent-like, but he was very talented. The songs he had worked on fit Elson’s taste perfectly.
And that wasn’t all.
Stardust’s performance.
Seeing the precise, razor-sharp group choreography with his own eyes—moves he himself could never pull off even if all his joints were replaced—was a fresh shock.
“So this is real K-pop.”
He’d only listened to the music before—this was his first time watching the performances.
A pure, sincere admiration spilled from Elson Telmore’s lips.
“It’s amazing… they’re so cool!”
An hour later.
Elson Telmore was still in his seat, completely absorbed in watching Stardust’s performances.
His YouTube algorithm had already led him to their Starf era stages.
“They’re talented kids.”
A stage full of innocence and raw emotions.
Watching the passion that those boys—barely seventeen or eighteen—poured into their performance,
He felt inspiration blooming….
.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, at the same time.
The very talented Korean artists praised by Billboard giant Elson Telmore….
“Waaaagh!”
“Gyaaaah! Catch Do Seohan!”
Were in the middle of a dust-flying pillow fight.