Chapter 66: The Direction of the Title Track
At this moment, the top hit song composer.
Billy Vinger was the central figure leading the trends of the third-generation idols, with composition requests pouring in as easily as breathing.
In short, she was an incredibly successful composer.
She had a knack for crafting melodies that were both sensibly catchy and trendy.
Her specialty was creating addictive hooks, almost as if playing with beats.
At first, you’d think, "What is this?", but after listening for a while, it was like magic, pulling you in without you even realizing.
Recently, this cool kind of beat was becoming a trend in K-pop.
Of course, among them, "Yuyoung (spacewalk)" was a somewhat experimental challenge.
The main beat of the song seemed to be well chosen, but the balance between the intro and the highlight didn’t match well.
The melody, though powerful, ended up making the ears tired if listened to for too long.
In some ways, it was a song that just shouted "Gang-gang-gang-gang!" and ended.
It was quite disappointing in many ways…
But it was also tricky to interfere with.
Out of the blue, the CEO of Doubles had taken the song, claiming satisfaction,
Well, that was why she gave it away.
As a composer, it wasn’t a 100% satisfaction, but as long as the client was happy, wasn’t that what mattered?
"It wasn’t going to be a hit song, honestly."
Billy Vinger thought so and sold "Yuyoung" to Doubles.
And then.
After that, she just forgot about it.
She had made the competition song "Betters" for Starf, and with countless requests piling up from here and there, she was so busy composing that she never had a break, so there was no time to worry about lost songs.
A song she sold off would eventually be made public one day.
But then.
A sudden message in the afternoon was something very unexpected for Billy Vinger.
"Request for revisions on the temporary debut song for Stardust?"
Was she seeing it right?
Billy Vinger rubbed her eyes several times after checking the text.
Revisions request?
Re… visions request??
They were a rookie idol group with no manager yet.
No, it was even too early to call them rookies; they were just trainees.
Billy Vinger had a chuckle when she saw the message from Kim Seyoung, the A&R manager.
"A rookie idol, and they’re discussing arrangement directions?"
This was the first time she had encountered such audacity.
What could two rookie trainees, who probably didn’t even know the first thing about composing, want to discuss when they came to her studio?
Oh, this was too much.
Since they were from Doubles, she couldn’t just curse them out.
"Oh my God. This is just ridiculous."
Billy Vinger was notorious for her fiery temperament.
If these were trainees from a small agency with no backing, she would have thrown the sheet music in their faces with that haughty expression.
She had always lived with that powerful "Gang-gang-gang-gang!" style like "Yuyoung's" beat, but when it came to money, she became soft.
"Damn Doubles."
What could she do?
If the client wanted to meet, she had to meet them.
Of course, she wasn’t planning on sending them off easily.
She thought she needed to show them what composing was really about.
Whatever direction they had in mind, she was going to thoroughly show them how it's done and make them regret it.
But then.
"Hello, Composer!"
"I’m Trainee Cha Seongbin!"
The moment Seohan walked into the studio with a greeting.
"......"
The anger she had been brewing instantly melted away.
Billy Vinger froze in place.
"Stardust...?"
"Yes. I’m trainee Do Seohan."
With a soft, youthful look that seemed to have altered the memory of a first love, and a height that was unexpectedly tall for his face.
He already radiated an aura of being a finished product, even though he wasn’t even debuting yet.
Is this real?
"How could someone look like that?"
His mouth corner slightly curled up, as though he was carefully checking his surroundings in the unfamiliar space.
In that moment, it felt like a halo had appeared around him.
After a brief hesitation.
She smiled brightly and swung the door open wide.
"Come in!"
Her voice, now high-pitched with enthusiasm, greeted them.
"How nice to see you in person!"
Arrogant?
What’s wrong with that?
Hey, if a trainee is passionate about his own song, that’s not a bad thing.
This handsome guy wants to give it his all!
‘His passion is quite admirable.’
Yes.
Billy Vinger was totally smitten.
"Did you bring an arrangement sample...?"
At Billy Vinger’s words, both of their faces stiffened slightly.
Gulp.
Seohan swallowed, carefully observing Billy Vinger’s mood.
Composers usually have a very distinct world of their own.
They knew that the arrangement direction they were suggesting could upset Billy Vinger’s mood.
‘She’s probably going to feel quite uncomfortable with this.’
Collaboration like this was something only idols with experience could handle.
If they weren’t trainees from a major company, she wouldn’t have even met with them.
It was lucky that Kim Seyoung had made a strong request.
If it were Cha Seongbin, who lacked some awareness, that might have been different, but Seohan could feel like he was walking on thin ice in this moment.
"Yes, we’d appreciate it if you could check it out."
But there was one thing Seohan didn’t know.
Billy Vinger was actually in a very good mood right now.
"Hmm, okay, let’s take a look."
"Yes!"
She coolly accepted the USB Seohan offered and plugged it into the computer.
"Who arranged this?"
"I did."
"Your name?"
"My name is Cha Seongbin."
"Do you know how to use the tools?"
She double-clicked the mouse and opened the file labeled [Yuyoung Guide Track Arrangement Ver.] without much thought, resting her chin on her hand.
Though she was indulging the cocky trainees’ requests, she didn’t expect much from it.
It was said that large agencies even teach composition before debut these days, but to a composer’s eyes, it was still at an amateur level.
Even composers with some years of experience in idol groups were at that level, and these were just trainees after all.
At least, she hoped they would bring out something that could provide advice.
Billy Vinger thought this and closed her eyes.
At that moment,
A song with temporary lyrics added to her guide track began to play from the speakers.
It was Seohan’s soft voice that he had personally recorded.
This is my universe
I swim through the universe-
At a distance of more than 500 light years
What I can reach is only light and me
I fold the universe in half
And will catch up with the flowing time
"Hmm?"
Billy Vinger’s eyes shot open.
The beat wasn’t too much, and it preserved the original song well. The deep house bass rhythm was powerful but still refreshing, and without realizing, her finger started tapping.
Once touched, utopia
That planet is painfully blue
I can’t forget it because it’s so beautiful
I’m stuck in you
Spacewalk to you
Even if I die unable to reach, it’s okay
I’ll run to that planet
Even if I fall down because I can’t reach it, it’s okay
What is this, this vibe?
Is this the same song I had left behind and neglected?
The chords were borrowed as is, but by changing the mood of the bass, it became a completely different song.
The dynamics were clear.
The impact was alive.
And, there was even an addictive quality subtly lingering in the ears.
‘Why didn’t I think of this?’
She had been so caught up in the beat that she didn’t see the bigger picture.
If she had kept holding onto it a bit longer, she might have found a better direction, but it was a song she had carelessly shoved aside.
Billy Vinger was certain.
This was way better than the original I had made.
If the CEO of Doubles had ears, he would agree.
She quickly stopped the song and turned her body.
The trainee, who had seemed like just a light amateur a moment ago, now looked quite different.
"Wait a minute. What’s your name again?"
"Me? Cha Seongbin."
Billy Vinger, unable to believe it, slowly scanned Cha Seongbin again.
A soft smile raised at the corner of his lips, and his face, which had a strangely edgy vibe, contrasted with his youthful, innocent look.
If Seohan was the typical younger-guy type, this one was the very definition of the kind of cool style that young people these days would love.
He seemed light-hearted, but unexpectedly, he had talent.
She hesitated and spoke in a trembling voice.
"Did you arrange it all by yourself?"
"Ah, the direction was set by him."
Cha Seongbin smiled cautiously while pointing at Seohan.
Billy Vinger blinked and turned to Seohan.
"Which… direction?"
"Well, it wasn’t anything huge..."
Seohan cautiously began explaining the direction.
It was Cha Seongbin who had first proposed the idea for the highlight riff the night before.
After they settled on the direction, Seohan grabbed Cha Seongbin, who could arrange, and relentlessly poured out ideas.
"Originally, it was a very fast EDM tempo song, but I thought it might be good to take a bit of the beat off the intro."
"Really?"
"Looking at the album concept, I thought it would suit to preserve this trendy rhythm and add a bit of refreshing sound, so I requested the genre to be deep house bass. I didn’t want it to be just a fresh, light feeling because it’s the debut song, but rather a slightly mature refreshing feel to target the audience…?"
What?
Billy Vinger, without realizing, had her mouth slightly open, listening to Seohan’s explanation.
He was explaining in detail the direction of the song, as if he had a solid framework in his mind, almost like he had pre-planned the song's direction.
What was even more surprising was the answer that came back from her casually asked question.
"Do you know how to arrange?"
"I’ve never learned it."
"Do you know how to use the program?"
"...I don’t."
No, does that make sense?
A kid who doesn’t even know how to arrange is explaining the song as if he’s heard it before, smoothly.
At this point, Billy Vinger was starting to question if this was the same vibe as the song she originally intended to make. She was beginning to get confused.
She stood there for a moment, lost in thought, before snapping back to reality.
"Well, anyway, I like it. I’m into it."
She had brought such a perfect guide track, and rejecting it while talking about a composer’s pride would be a huge loss to her career.
No, rather, she felt like giving these two a ride on her shoulders because they were so charming.
‘Ah, I’m gonna get a sore neck.’
Putting those realistic thoughts aside, she had no choice but to trust these kids.
Seohan’s deep eyes, staring straight at her.
There was certainty in that gaze.
"Let’s start working right away."
She immediately opened her composing tool.