God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 1
As the bus Jun Hyuk was riding entered Sangam-dong, his cellphone rang.
“Hello?”
– This is Jang Jun Hyuk, right?
“Yes.”
– I’m a writer from MV channel. Where are you?
The familiar voice on the phone was that of the youngest writer.
“I’m almost at Sangam-dong.”
– Bus? Subway?
“Bus.”
– Then get off at the Sangam-dong Digital Media City stop and wait there. I’m going to pick you up.
“Okay.”
Jun Hyuk got off at the stop and looked around. He had wandered the downtown area lined with skyscrapers before, but this was the first time he had come here with somewhere to go. It was also the first time he had done something after making plans with another person. He had not known that this exciting and stirring feeling would be so great.
“Jang Jun Hyuk.”
As he turned his head to see who had called his name, he saw the young writer waving to him from a car.
“It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? This is it for your bags?”
She spoke as she looked around the backpack Jun Hyuk was wearing.
“Excuse me? What bags?”
“You’ll be here for a week. You didn’t bring your clothes?”
“I brought my socks and underwear.”
“Hu hu. Good. You’ll have to change your clothes anyway.”
The young writer discussed things Jun Hyuk did not know about and drove the car into MV channel’s building parking lot. She took Jun Hyuk to a personal waiting room fit for a famous singer instead of the participants’ waiting room.
There were already a few people waiting in the room and a rack full of clothing.
“Wow, he might as well be a model. A treasure like this walked in on his own? MV got really lucky. How tall is he?”
“He’s 186 cm.”
“186cm and his looks would make Jang Dong Gun and Won Bin cower. He’ll look amazing on camera. Our Director really has an eye for these kinds of things.”
“What do you think? Do you think you’ll have clothes he’ll look good in?”
“Since the mannequin kills, whatever we hang on him will be fashionable.”
Excluding Jun Hyuk who stood there blankly, everyone fussed and carefully examined him. It was only then that the young writer started to explain the current situation to Jun Hyuk.
“Jun Hyuk. These people are here because of the clothing sponsorship. It’s an extremely rare situation, but you’re a special case. Cooperate with us on this.”
The young writer addressed the people there for the clothing sponsorship again,
“The concept is chic, rebel. Please dress him accordingly since his target will most likely be teenagers.”
Jun Hyuk finally understood what was going on. It was the apparel sponsorship that Yoon Kwang Hun had told him about. It meant that they were going to give him clothes.
He had to wear a t-shirt with a big XOR logo on it with tight jeans. There was even a long and thin chain hanging from the pants.
Jun Hyuk looked at himself in the mirror and smiled slightly. The young writer thought that he was smiling because he liked what he saw in his reflection and laughed as she spoke,
“What do you think? You like it? Is it okay?”
“Yes, I like the chain. My boss really doesn’t like these types of things.”
“Older people usually don’t. Also pick out the clothes you like from this hanger. They’ll be the clothing you wear for the next week.”
“Really? I can pick what I want?”
“Of course. It’s a sponsorship. When the shooting ends, it’s all yours.”
Jun Hyuk had the thought that he had done well to participate in the auditions for the first time.
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 2
The 110 survivors from the area eliminations boarded a bus to a condo in Pocheon, Kyeonggi-do. The contest to select the top 10 would begin while staying at the condo for the next 5 nights and 6 days.
A staff member from the production crew raised the tension so the ride to Pocheon would not be boring,
“There there, everyone listen up. When we arrive at the condo in a bit, the room assignments will start. As soon as the assignments are over, the team mission will start… and five people will make up each team. A band member will be regarded as one member. Place the name tag being passed out now on your chest. If you look at the tags, it says each of your…should I say genres, specialties? Anyway it has a characteristic, so check those and form your teams. And when we start filming, don’t act too restless… Got it?”
As soon as they arrived at the condo, they had to meet in the basement hall without time to even greet their roommates. A set had already been prepared to shoot.
“There there, we’re going to start quickly. Please make your teams within two hours.”
Not everything on the program was filmed according to a script. There are unpredictable situations and the crises these situations create. It seems these are the devices that keep the viewers under suspense. Star Week is the content that participants create, excluding their music.
***
Everyone was busy trying to find the teams they would be working with. A team member was a colleague but also an opponent. One could not be on a team with someone at a lower level who would ruin the mission or with someone who would overshadow others with their talent.
Jun Hyuk slowly started getting annoyed. He even had the thought that he should have listened to Yoon Kwang Hun and began to regret going on the program.
‘Shit, should I just go?’
He was going back and forth like this when two people cautiously approached him.
“Excuse me. Hello. Do you remember us?”
“Who? Oh, the rappers from last time?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, we also passed the area preliminaries. We wanted to thank you then but you left first.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Do you want to be on a team with us? If you’re okay with that.”
“Sure.”
“We’ll try gathering the team members as well.”
“I’m okay with anything, so you can take care of it.”
The two rappers spoke deliberately, but Jun Hyuk consented to go along apathetically. This was because it was easier for him to be on a team when people approached him instead of having to find people to form a team with.
The two rappers ran around looking for people to make up the rest of their team. Once Jun Hyuk agreed to work with them, the rest of the team was formed quickly.
Jun Hyuk was the perfect team member because he was good looking, his guitar skills were amazing… and the best thing about him was that he did not sing. No one knew what their mission song would be, but it was clear that they would need instrumentals to back up the singing. It also would not hurt to take him out of the competition early.
When the recording started, the VJs were busy trying to shoot the bustling participants forming teams.
Jun Hyuk sat still through the tedious period and the VJ who filmed Jun Hyuk during the area eliminations was acting as his personal mark man.
The full-fledged mission started after two hours.
22 panels were hanging on the wall and a question mark was printed on each.
“On the backside of these panels are the faces of 22 senior singers. Each team will choose a panel and check the singer you get. We will commence the contest with the song of your choosing from that singer.”
Jun Hyuk’s team chose singer Park Ki Young. Though it sounds like a man’s name, the picture was of a woman. None of the members knew who Park Ki Young was.
The broadcast staff came in as soon as the 22 teams chose their mission songs.
“This is the team that chose Park Ki Young’s song, right?”
“Yes.”
“Raise your hand if you know Park Ki Young’s songs.”
When no one rose their hands, the staff member pulled out an MP3 player.
“We recorded the songs on this, so listen to it. Both the original and edited songs are in there, so you’ll have to listen carefully.”
The staff member pulled out a music score as well.
“This is the edited score, so raise your hand if you know how to read sheet music.”
Jun Hyuk and a girl rose their hands.
“Okay. You two look at this and teach the kids. Don’t waste any time and hurry up and start practicing. When you’re done, call us.”
Someone spoke to the staff member as he was walking away.
“Excuse me, isn’t the mission song supposed to be one of Park Ki Young’s that we choose and arrange?”
“When you don’t even know who Park Ki Young is?”
“Yes.”
As the replying voice grew confidence, the staff member’s brows went up.
“So? Do we need to prepare all songs by Park Ki Young and present them to you guys? And you guys will listen to all of those songs and choose? You have that much time? Are you guys crazy?”
Everyone looked dejected at the staff member’s biting words and relented.
“Are you good at arranging music?”
“Excuse me? No, that’s not it.”
“Is arranging something that can be done within a few minutes? If you can’t do it, just do what you’re told. And is the broadcast a joke? You’re trying to go on air with a song you arranged when you can’t even arrange music? Save that for your school performance.”
The staff member turned away and put his foot down.
“If you don’t do this properly, your faces won’t make it on air even for a minute. We’ll edit all of your parts out, so get your head on straight.”
When the grunting staff member walked away, the rapper spoke up,
“Shit. I knew this would happen. It was all a show.”
The participants who had only been viewers up until now had just found out a new truth. Broadcast is a show.
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 3
“There there. Let’s hurry up and hear it.”
The song that the staff had thrown at them was ‘Start,’ released by Park Ki Young in 1998. The singer and title were unfamiliar, but most of it was a famous song. It was Park Ki Young’s hit song so well-known that anyone who heard the climax would say, ‘Oh, this song’.
Jun Hyuk heard the song after he read over the music score. It was not bad for a ballad. The arrangement was not bad either. The only problem was that even though five people each with their own talents had come together, the guide was done as if one person was singing the ballad. It was not appropriate for five people.
“Let’s talk about how we’re going to separate the parts.”
Excluding Jun Hyuk, the four must have thought that they could not have the spotlight taken from them, so they argued and laid out their opinions.
“The amount of time each person gets needs to be similar since it needs to be fair and… we need to pick the parts that we all sing together.”
“I looked at last season and when people got greedy and messed up the song, no matter how well any one person sang, everyone was eliminated.”
“But we’re rap… I’m going to go crazy! This.”
Excluding Jun Hyuk, everyone’s faces were dark with a mix of greed and fear, tension and heaviness. Jun Hyuk was suspicious as to whether they had listened to the song properly or not.
Though it is said that the delicate voice is expressing a woman’s one-sided love for a man, but starting from the second half, with the intense guitar sound and short guitar solo, it was a rock ballad.
If an arrangement is not better than the original, it is bound to receive severe criticism. With a bad arrangement, unless it is covered with singing skills superior to that of the original song, it is inevitable that they would receive appraisal that they ruined the song… but everyone was only worried about their own parts and not the music.
The oldest member of Jun Hyuk’s group who looked to be in his late twenties seemed to be trying to take lead of the group and spoke,
“There there. Let’s memorize the lyrics for each of our parts first. It’s over the moment we start tripping up on stage because we can’t remember the lyrics.”
While everyone plugged the MP3 earphones in their ears, Jun Hyuk slowly left the area. He sat in a corner of the auditorium and looked around the room. It was full of more than 100 young people memorizing their songs or practicing with tension and anxiety.
Jun Hyuk held his guitar and started to flick the strings. He was not playing with a chord or picking a scale. He was making random sounds like a child touching a guitar for the first time.
The VJ chasing Jun Hyuk spoke while he was holding his camera,
“What are you doing right now?”
“Oh, this bustle is fun. I’m thinking about to expressing it.”
“Can you be spending your time like this? You’re not going to practice your mission song? You said earlier that you would be playing the accompaniment…..”
“It’s okay. I memorized all of the arranged score.”
“What? Already? You already knew the mission song?”
“No. We saw the score earlier.”
“You can memorize it after looking once?”
“Yes.”
The VJ put down the camera and turned the switch off.
“Really? You can memorize it after seeing it once?”
“Yes. 3 minutes and 24 seconds. It’s short.”
The song was released in the year Jun Hyuk was born. It did not seem like he was lying that he did not know the song because it was as old as he was.
“How about the song that was arranged? Did you memorize all of that as well?”
“Yes. That was even easier.”
“You don’t like the arrangement?”
“No. It was garbage ruining the original song.”
How could he say it was garbage? The music director and arrangers participating in this show were veterans with at least 10 years of experience in this field. Professionals like that did not make garbage.
“Why is it garbage?”
“Music needs to be arranged relative to the instrument… no, to the standard of the singer’s tone. They made the song before they knew who would be singing it. The song that’s been arranged now needs to be ripped apart and fixed at the least.”
The VJ thought what Jun Hyuk was saying made sense.
“Then is there something different that you’re thinking of?”
“No. How can I when I don’t know the teammates who will be singing? I haven’t heard them either. I need to know each of their tones and strong points to arrange it.”
“Then why don’t you tell your teammates you should edit the song again?”
“Oh, I don’t know. It’s a bother. And why do you keep following me?”
He had stopped making a song based on the bustling of the room because of the VJ. The feeling of inconvenience turned into annoyance, so Jun Hyuk went back to his teammates.
They must not have been able to memorize the lyrics yet because they were still concentrating on listening to the music. The rapper who had found Jun Hyuk went over to him and spoke discreetly,
“Do you by chance have any good ideas?”
“No, I don’t have any.”
“Hey… why are you being like this? Last time, you made a great song after just overhearing us rap.”
“I heard you both rap that time. That was possible because I knew the singers’ tonal quality. I don’t know it now.”
“Does that mean you’ll be able to arrange the song after you hear us sing?”
“Yes.”
“Hold on.”
The two rappers went to the other three people who were memorizing their lyrics,
“Let’s ask that person to make the guide for our song.”
“He’s the person who only played the guitar for the area preliminaries, right?”
The girl in her early twenties who had raised her hand along with Jun Hyuk to indicate that she could read music scores had a slightly hopeful expression.
“Yes, his skill is no joke. Even at the area preliminaries, he heard our rap once and fixed the entire thing. We were able to pass that round because of that as well.”
“Why are we trying to do another edit when the arrangement is already here?”
The man in his late twenties who called himself the team leader wrinkled his forehead. It seemed that he thought that his position as leader would be in danger if this young kid did the arrangement and song guide.
“So you’re saying… that kid should give out the parts and complement the song.”
“Yes. Let’s just hear him out first.”
When everyone decided to try listening to Jun Hyuk’s guide, the man in his late twenties could no longer oppose.
“Excuse me, Mr. Jun Hyuk. We’ll sing the mission song, so will you try arranging it?”
“Sure. Should we hear each person’s singing first? Go around and sing the song. From the part ‘I want to tell you’.”
Jun Hyuk was telling them to sing the climax of the song.
“Oh, the two rappers don’t need to sing. If you listen to the song well, the guitar solo comes in three phrases and that’s 12 seconds. You two rap then. 3 phrases. The content is up to you. Since the song is about a woman’s one-sided love, I was thinking that maybe it could be about the man’s thoughts as the object of this one-sided love.”
Jun Hyuk listened to the singing of the remaining three people: the arrogant man in his late twenties, the girl in her early twenties who could read music scores, and a boy who looked to be in his teens but sat without speaking as if he were an old man. Jun Hyuk was silent in thought before he began to speak,
“I’ll play just the instrumental according to the score. You don’t need to sing. But mister.”
The person Jun Hyuk was calling mister was the man in his late twenties.
“Me? What?”
“Mister, you’ll mess everything up if you keep trying to show off how high you can go.”
“What?”
“I’m saying that we’re just instruments. Do instruments show off how high they can go? We’re just five instruments playing one song together. What’s important is the overall harmony. It doesn’t sound good if you force your high notes and try to show off.”
“Are you trying to teach me right now?”
His face had already turned red. How could a kid like this be criticizing him?
“Your tone kind of sucks. No matter how high you try to go with a bad voice, it just becomes noise.”
“This bratty asshole!”
As soon as a fist came at the red face, the two rappers acted quickly and held it back.
“Stop it. What are you doing? The cameras are filming everything.”
The VJ was laughing with a bright face as though he were having fun. Discord between members was a spectacle for the viewers. A fist came towards the camera and hit the man shaking with anger.
“This asshole must have a rag in his mouth. He’s cursing when he doesn’t even know me!”
The owner of the fist was none other than Jun Hyuk.
Not just Jun Hyuk’s team members, but others nearby had to hold Jun Hyuk back as he kicked at the man on the floor. Only the VJ looked as though he had been given a prize as he held the camera. The recording might not be suitable for the broadcast, but it was a VJ’s job to catch such a dramatic moment.
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 4
When the VJ showed Producer Kim Ki Sik the video of Jun Hyuk fighting, he laughed and questioned him on the situation.
“What are the kids doing now?”
“We barely got Jun Hyuk to stay after he said that he was going to quit everything and leave. And the kid who was hit is huffing about calling the police.”
“How did you get Jun Hyuk to stay? That kid doesn’t listen to anyone.”
“The young writer who marked Jun Hyuk did it. They’ve gotten pretty friendly.”
“Bring the kid who got hit here.”
The participant who had gotten hit by Jun Hyuk started his interview with Producer Kim Ki Sik while massaging his face with ice.
“Do what you want,”
He understood what Producer Kim’s frosty tone meant. He was giving him pressure. It meant that he needed to pack his bags and leave the condo if he did not keep his mouth shut.
“No, that’s not it. It’s okay. I’m not a kid or anything…..”
“Really? Then the company’s legal team is going to go to you with a piece of paper. Sign it.”
“What? What paper…?”
“What do you mean what paper? It’s a document saying you won’t make a problem out of today’s events. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“You can go. Also, I’ll change your team instead. Just know that we’ll be doing that.”
The participants of ‘Tomorrow’s Star’ were all expendable to the absolute target of raising viewer ratings. Once expendable, they needed to listen to the producer in order to stay in the program at all costs.
***
The expendable person who had been switched into Jun Hyuk’s team was someone whose skill was to the degree that he had heard he sang well at his neighborhood karaoke.
Producer Kim Ki Sik who was in charge of the show started his plan to get Jun Hyuk in the top 10.
Two VJs tight with tension stood in front of Producer Kim Ki Sik and were listening to his orders.
“Listen well. You just keep concentrating on Jun Hyuk and film him. And you… you’ve been here longer than he has, right?”
“Yes.”
“Okay then. Jun Hyuk doesn’t sing, right? Instead, you have to make him the conductor for the 5-person team mission. He has to be the maestro who does everything from arranging to directing parts for the members. You understand what I’m saying, right?”
“Ah, I get what you’re saying.”
“Okay. That’s Jun Hyuk’s theme for this week’s 5-person team mission. I’m putting it in your hands.”
“Don’t worry about it. The two of us will bring back lots of good shots.”
They finished preparing the materials to make Jun Hyuk a maestro. Now they needed to convince the viewers that Jun Hyuk was qualified to be in the top 10 even without singing.
The people to persuade the viewers were the judges themselves.
Before Jun Hyuk’s team performed as the fourth to be on stage, Producer Kim and the main judges started their conference on the issue.
The main judges of Season 5 were slightly experimental with the addition of two new members.
Along with Lee Sung Chul and the legendary singer and songwriter Yoon Jung Su, singer of 25 years Lee Eun Jin who had been given the nickname ‘Diva of the Night Sky’ because she did not make appearances in public or on broadcast joined the panel.
Last was Son Jin Young from JYS, one of Korea’s top 3 agencies which produced countless girl groups.
“Producer Kim, why are you like this for this season? You’re openly pushing for this kid.”
“Ha ha. Excuse me just once. Aren’t I a person who goes back and forth between heaven and hell based on the viewer ratings?”
“So? You’re saying that kid will guarantee viewer ratings?”
“Sung Chul. Who are you talking about?”
Yoon Jung Su who had not seen Jun Hyuk during the area preliminaries was asking.
“There’s a kid. A kid who gives me headaches. Oh right, he’s the type you would like.”
Yoon Jung Su’s eyes widened as he was flipping through the files containing each person’s history and special characteristics.
“What is this? He got all the way here just by playing the guitar and not singing? And… what? He’s an orphan?”
“Yeah. Other than not singing, he’s the best. His story’s good, he’s better looking than Kang Dong Won, the guitar performance is great, he’s probably a genius in arranging, and his song analysis is outstanding.”
“Seems like he’ll get all of the women’s texting votes. He could even get to the top 5 on votes alone.”
As they discussed Jun Hyuk, Producer Kim Ki Sik said the final defining words,
“This kid is just a star. He has the talent and looks to cover a song. On top of that, he has an unstoppable nature. You know well since you’re all stars. One of those people who is bound to become news whatever he does.”
Lee Eun Jin who had been listening silently had an opposing expression.
“So you want us to push for him openly?”
“No. I’m asking you to find something in him that will cover his inability to sing. If you can’t find anything, I won’t hang on to him.”
They could protect Lee Eun Jin’s pride as this was her first time on the judges’ panel. What went out on air was the producer’s magic, or editing. She was not such an amateur that she would make a fuss if an edit was made entirely different from her intentions.
Kim Ki Sik was confident. He was certain that the viewer ratings would go up if he made Jun Hyuk a star.
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 5
“What is the song?”
“It’s Park Ki Young’s ‘Start’.”
“Please start.”
Yoon Jung Su tried to create laughter with his play on the song title, but nothing could make the nervous participants laugh. Yoon Jung Su’s expression became awkward.
The team members’ looked at Jun Hyuk who nodded lightly at them as a signal. The song started with his first guitar stroke and 4 minutes passed.
Everyone on the team had a look of reassurance on their faces that they had finished without making any mistakes and the four judges wore strange expressions. The judges had without a doubt listened to the song with awe and admiration, but their expressions had completely changed once it ended.
Lee Sung Chul was the first to grab the mic and he opened his mouth slowly,
“Um… It was good. This, well…”
Delaying the evaluation, he coughed a few times in embarrassment.
“The song is very good. Everyone sang well… The other teams split up the song but this team was unique and not one person stopped singing. They put in a chord when it wasn’t their part… ah… The only one who didn’t sing is the person on guitar, right?”
Everyone’s eyes settled on Jun Hyuk, but he just blinked back at Lee Sung Chul. Producer Kim who had been monitoring the close-up of Jun Hyuk’s face began to laugh again.
“Ha ha. That kid’s face is as though he doesn’t even care about the judges.”
Everyone in the staff room nodded their heads. This was the first time in five seasons that they had seen anyone so arrogant without any sign of tension.
“… And the rap was also really good. The feelings of the man who is the object of the one-sided love that was not in the original song. It was also very funny how you expressed that very indifferently… Who wrote that?”
“Yes, we wrote it.”
The two rappers could not hide their happiness from Lee Sung Chul’s compliment. However, they had to hide the traces of their laughter because of the following evaluation.
“Yet… It was generally good, but you all made a big mistake. Yoon Jung Su will probably be the one to tell you what that mistake was. I heard the song well.”
A mistake? The music and singing were perfect. Did Lee Sung Chul not say that himself? Everyone swallowed and gave Yoon Jung Su their attention.
Yoon Jung Su held the mic and smiled at Lee Sung Chul.
“Have you decided to avoid saying the invectives this season? Why do I have to say the bad things?”
“You have to get some of the abuse online. He he.”
Yoon Jung Su fixed his mic and his mood became serious.
“Well… you heard enough compliments, but I’ll say it again. The song was really good. At this rate, it could go on a concert stage immediately and there wouldn’t be any problem.”
The team members became excited again. They might be able to achieve a dream-like whole team pass.
“It was absolutely perfect as not one person showed where their disadvantages lied, and the chords were inserted exquisitely so that not one person stood out more than another. However…”
Everyone swallowed. It seemed like the real assessment was going to start now.
“….. However, that also means that there wasn’t anyone who was special. There wasn’t anyone that we as the judges were drawn to. To say it another way, should I say it was like food made with ordinary ingredients? It was very tasty, but we couldn’t find the ingredients and we couldn’t tell what the sauce was.”
Yoon Jung Su finished his assessment as the disappointed participants looked on,
“A good performance is the basic. That basic was executed perfectly, but there wasn’t anything special. Can I say that everyone was just passable? It felt like that. You worked hard.”
The third person to get the mic was the person who had newly joined the judges, Lee Eun Jin,
“The two of you said so many good things that I have nothing to add. Saying that you’re passable means that you were short of talent. If you have a weapon, you can’t hide it even if you try. It comes out while you’re singing. But there wasn’t anyone on stage whose weapon showed.”
Lee Eun Jin’s evaluation continued after a moment of sighing.
“There is someone who does need to receive an excellent evaluation, isn’t there? I’m sure you all know who it is. The chef who made admirable food with ordinary ingredients. That person needs to get good ratings for sure.”
The team members’ eyes naturally shifted to Jun Hyuk and Lee Eun Jin smiled,
“I see you are all telling us who that chef is.”
Producer Kim who was watching the evaluation with the most tension put down his worries. He was nervous because there had not been one word said about Jun Hyuk, but Lee Eun Jin who he had thought would be the most biting had moved the way he wanted her to. This was the signal that Lee Eun Jin was sending to Producer Kim Ki Sik.
She was saying that she would cooperate with Producer Kim Ki Sik and help him and not to forget it. She had done Producer Kim Ki Sik a favor and he would have to repay the debt at some time.
Thanks to Lee Eun Jin’s judgement, the viewers would not be able to raise issues even if Jun Hyuk went on to the next stage. The chef who made great food with mundane ingredients. This was enough.
The last person to get the mic was Song Jin Young of JYS and she wrapped it up with an intense assessment.
“This is a program that discovers stars through competition. You are all forgetting that. A song that’s like acapella? It’s nice to listen to. This is a boxing ring, not an afterschool club.”
All of the cameras focused on the judges. As the cameras were catching the judges share their thoughts and opinions, Lee Sung Chul took the mic,
“The people who passed this round are… the two rappers and Jang Jun Hyuk.”
The two rappers could not hide their excitement and Jun Hyuk remained in the same state. The girl would had been eliminated had tears in her eyes and the boy who had joined the team late was scowling.
“The rappers showed talent in their fun rap and Jang Jun Hyuk showed great capability as a producer. However, you’ll have to keep in mind that this program is about discovering stars and not producers. You’ll have to show yourself as more than a producer and as a musician on the next stage, or it’ll be difficult to advance any further. That is all.”
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 6
After that, performances that alternated between happiness and sadness continued and with the end of the first round of Star Week, the 40 people who passed were decided. In a matter of 48 hours, 70 out of 110 people had been sent home.
The 2nd round was to start now. From here, half would make it up to the last round of Star Week and the rest would be boarding the bus to Seoul Station, staying for just another day.
Known as the most cruel round, the 2nd round consisted of two people becoming a team to compete with another team performing the same song.
The judges simply chose the better group. With misfortune in choice of partner, no matter how much one shined, there was no way to stay alive. Everything moved according to a plan especially because the production crew organized the teams. There was the production crew that knew this and the naive participants who thought that it was up to luck.
The person who became Jun Hyuk’s partner was Nam Seung Hee, an aspiring singer in her mid-twenties who had received the appraisement that she was the prettiest contestant in this season’s Star Week.
Nam Seung Hee who dreamt of being a female rapper like Yoon Mi Rae was another one of Producer Kim Ki Sik’s hidden cards.
The VJ captured Jun Hyuk’s face during his first meeting with Nam Seung Hee. The plan was the flirtation between the ideal boy and girl. It was the meeting of this season’s best looking guy and prettiest and sexiest girl. Nam Seung Hee fit the tall Jun Hyuk well with her long and slender legs. When he got a good shot of the two together, the VJ moved busily with excitement.
When the VJ saw Jun Hyuk’s expression in the camera, he knew that Producer Kim’s plan was working. Jun Hyuk was blushing and could not stop smiling as he looked bashful.
“Hello. My name is Nam Seung Hee.”
The Jun Hyuk who shook the hand Nam Seung Hee held out as she laughed was not the rough teenager who threw his fist and cursed, but a young boy who could not hide his awkwardness in front of a girl.
Nam Seung Hee on the other hand did not let her guard down and kept showing a stiff face. In the individual interviews, it was possible to know why she was not unconditionally pleased at becoming Jun Hyuk’s partner.
“Do you know what we call Jang Jun Hyuk amongst ourselves?”
“What?”
“It’s poisoned apple. Poisoned apple. The poisoned apple that Snow White died after taking one bite.”
“Why? Why is Jun Hyuk a poisoned apple?”
“Because you want it and it looks edible, but you die the second you put your mouth to it. The music that Jun Hyuk makes is so perfect that you want to sing it after you hear it… but the end result is that Jun Hyuk is the only one who stands out and the person singing falls… That’s why he’s the poisoned apple.”
The VJ conducting the interview thought that this might be a consummate metaphor.
***
The duo’s mission song was Finkl’s ‘NOW’.
“Do you want to sing the song first? According to the original.”
“What? Why do you want me to sing all of a sudden.….?”
“To see the difference between the tone you normally speak in and the tone you sing in.”
Nam Seung Hee sang softly to Jun Hyuk’s gentle guitar accompaniment. It was just a tone check and it did not matter if her pitch was unstable or if she was not on beat.
When she finished singing, Jun Hyuk looked surprised.
“Um. Have you received professional training?”
“Excuse me? Oh, yes. I have.”
“It seems like you’ve practiced a lot. Your voice became scratchy.”
Scratchy? Her voice was not husky in any way, but what could he be talking about?
“Oh, you don’t need to worry. It’s a good thing. It’s become strong. Wait, is there a piano?”
As Jun Hyuk looked around, the staff rushed to set up a digital piano.
“Here, listen to this.”
He put his fingers on the keyboard and started to play. While a slow piano sound spread, his right hand started to move faster. It was a colorful melody, but the waiting room was full of an overall slow jazz.
Since the rival teams stopped practicing as they found themselves lost in Jun Hyuk’s music, Nam Seung Hee was out of the question.
Nam Seung Hee who had been drunk with the aftertaste of the sound of the piano was swept with embarrassment once she came back to her senses.
“Are you telling me to sing this? Isn’t this a piano instrumental?”
“No it isn’t because I’ll actually only be playing the accompaniment. We’ll have to fill the rest with singing.”
“This is jazzy but what am I supposed to do? I’ve never sang jazz before.”
“You can start practicing now. Just keep one thing in mind; this is perfect for your voice.”
The VJ almost felt awkward at Jun Hyuk’s image of leading the opponent in such a straightforward manner as opposed to the 5-person mission. How could he change so much when it seemed like he was just constantly arrogant?
‘This kid was no different from an everyday teenager.’
Nam Seung Hee asked for a little time and left her seat at Jun Hyuk suddenly asking her to sing jazz.
“Jun Hyuk, can we do a short interview?”
“Again?”
“What do you mean again? You haven’t done that many. Out of all the Star Week contestants, you’ve done the least. Everyone else will do anything to get an interview.”
He convinced a complaining Jun Hyuk and started the interview.
“Why did you choose jazz all of a sudden? It seems like Nam Seung Hee barely listened to jazz music.”
“Her tone sounded like a clarinet. But…..”
“But?”
“She wants to do hip hop… hah. It was so funny I didn’t know what to do. She doesn’t fit with hip hop at all.”
“Even if her tonal quality is good, she says she can’t do jazz.”
“She can just sing it slow since I’ll fill the rest with the piano. We can save it.”
“It seems like you like Nam Seung Hee looking at the way you accommodate her. Yeah?”
Jun Hyuk did not show any shock at the VJ’s frank question,
“Yes. She’s pretty.”
“Oh, you’re honest.”
The VJ was shocked that he had responded so easily.
While Jun Hyuk was doing his short interlude interview, Nam Seung Hee was on her cellphone getting angry.
“Director, talk to the producer here. They’re telling me to sing jazz. They didn’t give us an arranged song and the kid who’s my partner…..”
“Oh, I see. Sorry. I guess I bothered Director for nothing…..”
– Nam Seung Hee, listen closely.
“Yes.”
– What do you think you are? Are you a singer? What? Jazz isn’t a genre I’m pursuing? You want to set your image in hip hop? You’re being annoying.
Nam Seung Hee could not say anything in response to the director’s harsh words and felt like her head was empty. She had been mistaken for a moment that she had passed the auditions and entered Star Week on her talent.
She realized her position as one of countless aspiring celebrities.
– Listen well. Do you know how much this company spent to get you there? Genre? Character? Do that stuff when you become a singer. Right right, your job is to shut your mouth and do as the broadcast station says. Got it? And your partner is 100 times better than you. You’re being carried along with him. Don’t call me when you’re just a little brat who doesn’t know her position!
The director who had hung up after his rant had told her what she needed to do. She needed to hang on to the boy that even the main producer was fussing over no matter what.
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 7
“Don’t think about it as something difficult. All you have to do is remember the tempo and make sure not to fall behind it or go ahead of it while you sing.”
“Are you able to record the piano accompaniment for me? I really don’t have the confidence… I think I’m going to lose the beat. I can’t keep asking you to play the piano for me… I’ll practice on my own.”
“Ha ha. I’m telling you it’s okay. I’ll play it for you 100 or 1,000 times, so let’s practice together.”
Producer Kim Ki Sik smiled widely as he was monitoring Jun Hyuk openly show his affection for her and kept giving orders to the staff,
“Hey. When Star Week ends, get the kids from Jun Hyuk’s team together again. The mission song was Park Ki Young’s ‘Start’ right?”
“Yes.”
“Get that song ready for a digital release in the recording studio. It’ll go up. And the Finkl song that Jun Hyuk just played on the piano… formally record that too so it’s ready for service the day the episode airs. Got it?”
“What? The instrumental? Not the song that they’ll sing later?”
“There aren’t very many female singers in Korea who can make money singing jazz. It’ll sell if the singer is someone at Lee So Ra’s level. Jazz that girl sings? Doesn’t make sense. It won’t make digital sales. But a piano instrumental will work for background music on blogs and cafe franchises.”
The staff could tell why Producer Kim Ki Sik was a rising producer in musical variety shows.
He had an eye for screening music, but he was also a businessman who could certainly choose music that would sell and even find the places where the money would come from.
“At any rate, this stage isn’t about music. It’s eye candy for the viewers. All we have to do is make sure we show them those two flirting. Since we showed them Jun Hyuk’s music in the 1st round, we need to highlight the other kids’ music too this time. Keep your heads on straight.”
Producer Kim Ki Sik had did not care about the same-some rival mission. To avoid any risks, the rival group to go against him was made up of two people who definitely needed to pack their bags.
Producer Kim Ki Sik had a lot of his expectations riding on the last mission. In the meantime, there was the perfect participant to make Jun Hyuk’s image. It was a boisterous trash metal band.
They were like firewood to set Jun Hyuk on fire for the last time before he went into the top 10.
They were famous in Hongdae’s rock scene. They were Steel Blade.
***
The last 20 participants were eyeing each other wondering who their final partner would become as they gathered to choose the last 10 people to go on live broadcast for the top 10 race. There was certainly someone in this group who was already chosen to go into the top 10 early. If they were paired with that person, they were bound to lose.
However, there was one person who they could win if paired up with. That was none other than Jang Jun Hyuk.
He was better looking than an idol singer and looked more like a model or actor and all of the judges praised him for his producing skills. But he could never go to the top 10 of the ‘Tomorrow’s Star’ program. He was the only participant who could not sing even though it was an audition for singers.
Today’s mission was Jang Jun Hyuk’s last. All of the participants had the same thought and they were just waiting to become his partner.
The elaborate jazz piano he played in the 2nd round of Star Week. If he just did that much, they could bring in the best backing band and have him perform in the contest.
Jun Hyuk was called into his personal waiting room again and the people representing the clothing sponsor company were waiting for him brightly.
“These are the new products from our winter season. The last broadcast was fall, but this episode will be going out in November. We’ll be preparing for the winter season. I’m betting this’ll be sold out once it goes on air. Ho ho.”
The people from the company held a pair of black jeans and a checked shirt to Jun Hyuk’s body to find the right size.
“If you pass today’s round and make it into the top 10, we’re planning on getting a formal model contract with you.”
Jun Hyuk wrinkled his face as he touched the clothes, and turned to the young writer.
“I don’t want to wear it. I can just go out like this, right?”
“What? Why won’t you wear it? These are going to become the new main pieces of our company!”
The director of XOR yelled in surprise.
“Miss, how am I supposed to wear this when it’s so hot I could die?”
Looking at his scowling face, she smiled again and spoke. He was still young. She knew that it would be faster to talk him into it.
“Jun Hyuk. You have to bear it. This is business. Every scene that goes out on TV is money. You may not understand because you’re still young, but broadcast means money. You’ll be able to touch that money soon.”
Eventually, the young writer stepped in. She said the easiest words to convince him,
“This is the last time. It’s okay, right?”
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 8
“Okay, now two teams are going to get together to form one group. Everyone listen well to see who your partner will be.”
The partners were revealed one by one and the luckiest in the 3rd round team selection was not one person, but four.
“The next is the only band that passed the 2nd round, ‘Steel Blade’ and their partner will be… Jang Jun Hyuk.”
The Steel Blade members did not show it, but they were overjoyed that they had gotten one step closer to the top 10. What luck!
“We’ll reveal the mission song. It’s Jewelry’s Super Star.”
The song released in 2005 was the first that got Jewelry 1st place. It made the other participants jealous. It was established that it was advantageous to have a fun song.
Once all of the partners and mission songs were revealed, everyone hid their claws and started to greet their partners.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m the vocal, Han Ki Su. Oh, don’t punch me because I’m not using formal speech with you. You can use informal speech too. Ha ha.”
Jun Hyuk was uncomfortable with the band member who was acting more friendly than was necessary.
“But do you know this song?”
“The mission song? Yeah. You don’t know it?”
“No. I don’t have CDs of idol songs.”
“Then let’s hear the song first. We’ve heard it, but we don’t really remember it either.”
Everyone listened to the MP3 player. After they listened to the whole song, the members of Steel Blade sighed in relief. It did not seem like there would be any problem changing the song into band music because the song itself was very light.
“What do you think?”
“It’s fun.”
“Right? We got lucky. It won’t be hard to change it to metal.”
“I heard you’re a producing genius. Do you have any ideas?”
The judges’ evaluation from the 5-person mission had become a hot topic between the contestants. A producing genius worthy of the highest praise. Jun Hyuk who made great music without exposing himself could make this into a heavy metal song.
The band leader who was also the vocal had high expectations, but Jun Hyuk made all of those expectations come crashing down.
“Do as you please since we’ll be dropped anyway. I’ll go along with whatever you want to do.”
“What?”
“We can’t go to the top 10 anyway.”
Jun Hyuk’s words that came from out of the blue hit his head hard, “It can’t be. Do you know something? Is it already decided? Already?
“No. I don’t know that but you guys aren’t that good. You just fit in a band to broaden the assortment. There’s no way you don’t know you guys aren’t good, is there?”
They had not anticipated that this young kid would be saying that they would be eliminated because of a shortage of talent. Even the judges had given them compliments on the original song they presented in the area preliminaries. In round 1 and 2, they had received the evaluation that they were a band with feeling.
But he is saying that their skill is poor?
Jun Hyuk kept speaking in a sarcastic tone without paying attention to the members shaking in anger.
“You sir on the drums, say something. Don’t you know?”
The vocal, Han Ki Su spoke to Jun Hyuk when he suddenly sought agreement from the dummer,
“Is that right? We’re not that good? Let’s hear it then. You speak as the genius producer. What’s so bad?”
“If you force the high notes and barely hit them, the listeners are the ones who are uncomfortable. A vocalist is someone who can hit the high notes easily. ‘Soot’ catches on to it. Soot! A person who uses the voice instrument freely and well. That’s what we call a vocalist but you have a hard time with the high notes and your voice itself is lacking strength… It’s like you’re just imitating a rock band.”
“Hey! It just sounds like that because my voice is thin.”
“What are you talking about? Being thick and thin is an issue of tone. That has nothing to do with strength. Not all metal band vocals are Ronnie James Dio. There’s Klaus Meine too.”
Han Ki Su’s face felt heated as the weaknesses he was aware of were being bothered.
“Fine. Say that’s true for me. Then the guitar?”
“Guitars aren’t there just to play do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do. It’s about expressiveness. Ah, you asshole.”
While everyone was confused by the swearing that had come out of nowhere, Jun Hyuk was looking at the guitarist.
“Express this with the guitar. ‘Ah, you asshole.’ Or um… ‘Please excuse me this one time.’ Something like that is okay too. Scale, technique… these things aren’t important, but you don’t know that.”
Jun Hyuk went over each member one by one as though he were a judge.
“Can you play the bass all day with one beat? Without a metronome? If you can’t do that, you haven’t practiced enough. Or you can’t keep a beat.”
They had not heard such severe criticism since they started performing in Hongdae. This assessment was the same as saying that they were beginners.
They thought that he was going to tear the drummer apart next, but he did not.
“You asked me for an idea on the arrangement, right? I already finished the edit. It’s just that you guys probably won’t like it.”
He had only heard it once. After that, he had been evaluating the band members’ skills. When is he saying he finished arranging the song?
“How did you do it?”
At the words that he finished the arrangement, their curiosity overcame their indignation.
“Drum instrumental. The drum is the main. Everyone else is slight and the vocal can be taken out completely. The best thing this band can do is to support the drum.”
The VJ marking Jun Hyuk had a vague idea of the music he was trying to pursue. This arrogant young genius only thought about music. He only focused on finding the best of any song. It was certain that he never had the intentions of becoming a star.
Jun Hyuk does not care about things like hitting high notes as the public likes or familiarity that is easy to listen to. He only thinks about the music.
Though it is an old song, it is still by a girl group. He wants to change that into a drum instrumental?
When the drummer heard the words drum instrumental, he raised his hand in surprise,
“No. What do you mean a drum instrumental? It’ll never work out. Let’s just go with the usual rock. It’s easy to change this song to a rock version.”
Jun Hyuk ruined the cold atmosphere that the drummer was trying to ease again.
“Oy. Now I know. Sir, you guys are in this state now because you keep giving in. The person with the most talent should have dragged everyone along. The vocal and guitarist don’t know that they’re not that good because you cover for their singing and guitar.”
Eventually, the band leader and vocal left the practice room and the guitarist and bassist followed him to calm him down.
Producer Kim Ki Sik checked what the VJ had filmed since they were in a state where all practice was suspended, and he could not stop laughing. Jang Jun Hyuk said and acted in ways that always made news.
The discord between Jang Jun Hyuk and the other participants would undoubtedly become the best in increasing tension on the program.
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 9
“Hey, I said we don’t have time. We can’t be wasting our time being angry. Let’s at least try to do something between ourselves.”
“Then what about that asshole?”
“That asshole said himself that he would just go along with whatever we wanted to do. We can give him 2nd guitar or keyboard and he can just pound out the chords.”
The Steel Blade members were fuming. The production team had not provided them with an arranged song because they were paired with Jun Hyuk and their turn was fairly early. They needed to move quickly.
It was not hard to make a rock version of the song. They did not do much to the original song but add parts for the guitar, bass, and drum with a guitar solo in the middle in G major in a pentatonic scale. They of course did not forget to add shouting for the vocal.
The band members only looked for Jun Hyuk after they had practiced several times.
“Hey. You said that you would go along with whatever we wanted, right? Just scratch out the chord with the acoustic guitar. You don’t have any objections, right?”
Jun Hyuk shrugged to reply that he did not care and began to simply scratch out the chords on his guitar. The sound of his acoustic guitar was drowned out by the strong sound of the electric guitar, but Jun Hyuk did not seem to care.
Eventually, the VJ ran to the main producer. He felt like Jun Hyuk’s performance would be too flat.
Producer Kim Ki Sik and the program’s general music director stood by Steel Blade and listened to them practice.
“What do you think?”
“What do you mean? You don’t have ears? The main producer of a music program? How many years have you been doing this?”
Not certain if it was due to the producer or the music, but the music director looked as though he had a bad taste in his mouth. After listening to the band’s music for a while, the producer spoke out of nowhere,
“Then what about that?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The drum instrumental Jun Hyuk mentioned earlier. Making the drum the main.”
“That’s something I really want to hear, but won’t people start changing the channel after 30 seconds of hearing a drum? How many people do you think like – no, know Moby Dick by Led Zeppelin? And the people who like drum solos don’t watch our program.”
It was the place where the top 10 was to be selected. They could not show a whole song where the drum was the main, but it could work if they edited well and saved the zest. It was unique, an advantage, and a specialty.
“If we go out like this, that band is done.”
The music director was speaking quietly, but Producer Kim raised his voice as though he wanted everyone to hear,
“Our program will be done for as well. We’ve raised the expectations for Jun Hyuk, but if the last stage is in that state… Even if they get eliminated, they’ll need to do it so they’re remembered.”
Producer Kim decided to get help from the music director to resolve this problem. The music director and Producer Kim secretly called Steel Blade into the conference room.
“We heard you guys practicing and honestly, we’re disappointed.”
“There are 10 teams right now. Two dance, two R&B, two ballad, two island and folk, one hip hop, and you guys, metal. You guys are the weakest.”
“Weak isn’t even cutting it. If you guys go the way you were just practicing, we can’t even put 10 seconds of that on air. We have to cut it up and piece it together for about 20 seconds and go straight to the judges. It’s that bad.”
“Tell us if you don’t have the confidence to do it. We’ll do the arrangement for you now if necessary.”
The band members could not lift their heads while these heads of such a grand show were criticizing them in a manner that was threatening.
“To tell you the truth, the chances of you guys entering the top 10 is below 10%. What can you do? Metal is a subculture in our country. At this rate, you guys are 100% getting eliminated.”
The music director looked at the band members and spoke,
“During the 80s, heavy metal was so popular that Japanese band Loudness did a world tour. But what about our country? Sinawi, Buhwal, Baekdusan. People said they were the three greatest guitarists, but they only performed in Korea. You guys think the viewers are going to listen to your music?”
“If you guys get eliminated, all you’ll have left are memories. Jun Hyuk on the other hand proved his genius with just two songs in the area preliminaries and Super Week. Even if he doesn’t get into the top 10, there are loads of people who are waiting to scout him as soon as this program is over.”
“He’ll probably be greater once he’s done with the broadcast. We put someone like him with you but what are you guys doing? Honestly, even if I don’t edit your performance, the judges will probably cut the song after about one minute. There’s nothing to hear. I’m sure you guys will hear all types of criticism too. Then you’re really ending on the worst note.”
Vocal Han Ki Su must have been unable to tolerate the comparisons to Jun Hyuk because he spoke after a long silence,
“Producer. That’s not right. Until now, the judges…”
Before Han Ki Su could even finish his words, they heard something that would have been good not to hear at all.
“What about the judges? When they praised you? You think that was sincere? Your music… honestly, it sucks. Sung Chul and Jung Soo started out in bands. You don’t know? The broadcast is a show. The judges are matching that.”
“In my opinion, Jun Hyuk will arrange the song better than I can. I’m saying this earnestly.”
“You guys choose. This is it for what we are thinking. Then do your best.”
The two left the room after saying that they did not have an option, not that they were giving them a choice. The members sat still for a while with dark expressions.
In the spirit of rock, they needed to quit everything and leave. However, they were just youths hungry for success.
“Bro, what do we do? Do we do what they say?”
The bassist acted as if he were asking leader Han Ki Su what they should do, but he meant that they should do as they were told to.
“Fine. Since it’s gotten to this, let’s just stand out in the performance and step all over that kid.”
Han Ki Su grit his teeth and emanated anger.
“How?”
“Didn’t he say that he would make the drum the main? Do as he says and we’ll make him second instead. A second who’s just scratching out chords will never stand out. I’m saying let’s do that.”
Han Ki Su and the guitarist who planned to drown out Jun Hyuk met eyes and nodded. The band members left the conference room and approached Jun Hyuk.
“Look here. Let’s forget all of our bad feelings and focus on the mission. I’ll be the bigger man since I’m older and apologize.”
Vocal Han Ki Su saw Jun Hyuk take the hand that he put forth and felt relief.
“You do the directing for this mission. We’ll follow you. That’s okay, right?”
“I can really do what I want?”
“Yeah. Do whatever you want.”
Jun Hyuk went to the drummer as if he had been waiting to hear that he could do as he pleased,
“By chance, can you do double bass?”
“Huh? Double?”
The drummer winced when the other members looked at him. Until now, he had never performed in double bass and there was only a single bass drum in their practice room.
The drummer glanced at his members and spoke,
“I can’t do it yet. I am practicing.”
“Hm… I guess we’ll have to do it differently.”
Jun Hyuk kept mumbling to himself and pulled a notebook out of his bag. It was printed with staff lines and looked like a notebook that a child in elementary school would use.
“Sir on the bass, do you know how to read music scores?”
The bassist nodded as he spoke,
“I’m the only one who reads scores. Everyone else learned by listening to music.”
Jun Hyuk’s hand drew out the bass line. He ripped the completed score out and passed it to the bassist saying,
“Since the drummer can’t play double bass, you’ll have to cover him. You’ll be able to do it.”
“Huh? Uh… I think it’ll work but… I’ll try it.”
Jun Hyuk had created the line so that the bassist would be able to play it. He could do it, he just had not done it before. Jun Hyuk led the drummer by his hand to the drum set,
“I’ll perform it while you record it on your cellphone. You can get the song listening to that, right?”
“You can play the drums?”
No matter how much the VJ filmed, Jun Hyuk kept showing new sides to himself and even seemed wonderful.
“I’m not very good at it, but I can play a little. Just think of what I play as the skeleton and put some flesh on it.”
Jun Hyuk started drumming lightly to tune the set. He must have liked the sound because he smiled and held the stick properly.
“Okay, start recording. One, two, three, four.”
Jun Hyuk signaled the start with the drumsticks and played a heavy bass. While he performed on the drums for four minutes, none of the contestants in the room even made the sound of their breathing. The drummer who had been carefully watching from next to Jun Hyuk had bloodshot eyes. He would have shed tears if Jun Hyuk had played for 10 more seconds.
He had dreamt of Canadian group RUSH’s drummer Neil Peart and practiced for countless days to the point where his palms ripped just so he could play the drums like this.
The other contestants had been thinking that Jun Hyuk was a songwriter playing the acoustic guitar. No one could close their mouths when he played the drums with the pressure of a large truck like Metallica’s drummer, Lars Ulrich.
The producer ran out to the practice room as soon as he heard that Jun Hyuk was playing the drums himself. He was not able to hear the whole performance, but he felt bliss from what he heard from after the 2-minute mark. The music director who had been watching alongside the producer could not speak properly,
“That… That kid… What is he?”
“What else? He’s destined for viewer ratings. We have to make sure he gets into the top 10. He might as well have reserved the real-time rankings for this second half. Ha ha.”
The producer laughed excitedly, but the members of Steel Blade could not laugh. Especially not the vocal and guitarist because they did not have the confidence to push past this storm-like drum with their voice and guitar sound.
Jun Hyuk paid no mind to the attention he was being given and spoke to the drummer,
“You recorded everything, right? Do you think you’ll be able to get something out of it?”
“I’ll have to. But… honestly, I don’t think I’ll be able to copy it 100%.”
Jun Hyuk had instructed him to put some flesh on this skeleton, but he did not even have the confidence to play the skeleton properly.
“Just don’t lose the bass then. That’s the main point here. If you lose the bass drum, the bassist will stand out. The bass guitar and drum are the house. The guitar and vocal are just the interior, so you’ll have to make sure you’re ready.”
The bassist and drummer loved music. The music they would have to play today was miles away from the music they had been playing until now, that they had already forgotten the friction there had been with Jun Hyuk earlier. All they were thinking was that they wanted to quickly master this great music.
“Is it our turn now? I’m a little nervous.”
The vocal and guitarist felt a bit of excitement as they went towards Jun Hyuk. However, Jun Hyuk splashed cold water on their excitement,
“The two of you can just do as you were practicing earlier. The only difference is that you need to pause during the 15 second drum solo in the middle.”
“What?”
“I told you just now. The drum and bass are the house and the guitar and vocal are the interior. The judges will be overwhelmed by the grandeur of the house anyway. They won’t be able to enter the house, so they won’t care too much about the interior.”
“Then what about you? What are you doing?”
“What you said before. I’m just going to scratch out some chords.”
Jun Hyuk left the two who were left dumbfounded at his absurd answer to help the drummer practice.
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 10
The producer gathered the production team and producers for an emergency meeting. The judges who watched Jun Hyuk play the drums on the conference room monitor had the same reaction,
“How many people in Korea can play the drums like that?”
“A monster in the music world is born. Can he play other instruments?”
“Guitar, piano, drum. That means strings, claviers, and percussions. If he does winds, he’s done all of them? He can’t play the trumpet or flute, can he?”
When the judges could not stop talking, Producer Kim Ki Sik felt more confident,
“What do you think? Don’t you think we need to put him in the top 10?”
“We as musicians agree, but do you think the everyday viewer will accept it? There’s still no singing. If you want to put him up there, you need to send that band too. There at least needs to be the validation that he created amazing music.”
No matter what anyone said, it was an audition selecting singers. How could they put a genius who could not sing in the top 10? Everyone had the same thought. It was a waste to eliminate someone like him.
“The judges just need to give him high praises. I’ll edit it somehow to make it acceptable.”
Producer Kim Ki Sik was the only one with confidence. Was it not the producer’s role to make fiction seem like reality?
“Producer Kim, do it well. Make sure there isn’t weird noise that the winner was pre-decided or that we chose based on looks again. In the end, we’re the only ones who get cursed at.”
Last season, when the handsome, ideal man won by an inch, it got to the point where Lee Sung Chul said that he would never be a judge on the show again.
However, the winner was an outstanding prize. He had female fans everywhere and he showed a sense for entertainment shows. A year later, he is on a popular variety show and he is worth a lot of money. Thanks to this, MV channel had been making a great profit.
“Sung Chul, Jun Hyuk doesn’t even have an agency. I’m saying I want to pass a kid like that. It’s not about money, so don’t worry about that.”
Producer Kim Ki Sik already had a picture of how he was going to edit the broadcast until Star Week.
The last of Star Week, the mission stage with the metal band, was going to become the most important component.
***
The last stage of Star Week. When the four members of Steel Blade and Jun Hyuk took their positions, the stage looked packed.
Once the arrangements were done, the order of how the performances would go on broadcast was up to the producer’s discretion, and the band was given the last turn because they had a lot of instruments to set up.
“I heard a lot of noise earlier. Did you set everything up well?”
Yoon Jung Su laughed while he asked as if he wanted to ease their nerves.
“Yes, it wasn’t really anything. The arrangement came out well too.”
“Jun Hyuk did the arrangement?”
“Yes.”
They needed to keep reminding the viewers that the following music was Jun Hyuk’s work. No matter how little Jun Hyuk has, this song is his song. They needed to point this out.
“Great. Should we listen to it?”
While everyone was tense, Jun Hyuk’s gentle guitar stroke adorned the intro. Then the bass came in as if it had been waiting with the drum following.
Vocal Han Ki Su did lose the first beat in the midst of the heaviness, but none of the members paid him any attention. This was a performance where it was overwhelming to successfully carry out each of their own parts.
Until the 1st line sabi (chorus) ended, the four judges moved with the music as though they were feeling the drum’s beats.
The drum solo Jun Hyuk had worked with him on came out at the bridge. This was the 15 seconds in which the drummer had to show all of the talent he had not shown as he had been matching his band members’ standards up until now.
When the drum solo started, his three members and Jun Hyuk just stared at him intently. This was so they could enter the 2nd verse on time as soon as the drum solo ended.
When 10 seconds of the drumming that sounded like fireworks had passed, Jun Hyuk suddenly stood up with his acoustic guitar.
It was different. An entirely different deployment was unfolding.
The 15 second drum solo was not for the drummer to play as he pleased. That would be an ad lib. The drum solo needed to go as it had been perfectly planned and prepared. It needed to fit in with the complete song and it needed to fuse seamlessly. Had he not polished the 15 second solo to make it perfectly?
However, when 10 seconds passed, the drummer lowered the sound of the bass drum and started to use the tom-tom and snare. It was the type of sound that gives the audience suspense right before a ghost or demon appears in a horror movie.
Due to the change in the drum, the vocal, guitar, and bassist were caught by surprise and the four judges could sense that something was going wrong.
Jun Hyuk approached the drum set with an interesting look on his face.
The drummer did not even realize that Jun Hyuk was standing in front of him. No one could tell if he knew that he was performing something different because all of his focus was on the drum set before him.
Jun Hyuk sat in front of the drum set. The judges now had to look at his back. They did not know when this confounding situation would be over, but Producer Kim Ki Sik did not stop it.
Producer Kim was so thankful that Star Week was pre-recorded that he did not know what to do. This would have been an extreme accident if it had happened during the top 10 live broadcast.
Since the producer in charge was staying still, the judges had no choice but to keep watching. Though they had been caught off-guard at first, as they listened to the drum solo – no, now it needed to be called an ad lib, it gave them marvel.
While the tom-tom and snare had crept in, the hi-hat took over. As the hi-hat steadily released the suspense, a refreshing race began. Jun Hyuk was still on the floor tapping his fingers on the body of the drum, relishing in the rhythm of the drum.
8 minutes passed like this and the drummer held the drumsticks he had been wielding like a whip still. He was out of breath and wiping the sweat off of his forehead when he froze.
It was only then that he realized what he had done.
It was as if time had stopped. Jun Hyuk who was sitting directly in front of the drum set was laughing, and he could see his three members looking devastated. He could also see two judges looking surprised and the other two laughing as though they were having fun from afar.
The drummer was certain of two facts.
They did not finish the mission song and he ruined this entire performance. Once he realized this, he could not lift his head again.
The drummer sat in a silence that seemed to go forever.
“Lift your chin. Why are you like that when you gave such an incredible performance?”
Judge Lee Sung Chul broke the silence.
“I forgot what the mission song was. I don’t know why you hid such talent up till now… You may not be able to become ‘Tomorrow’s Star,’ but you can become the best drummer representing Korea. I’m guaranteeing it.”
The drummer lifted his head at Lee Sung Chul’s compliments. When Yoon Jung Su saw the drummer’s face, he asked,
“Why did you start an improvised performance? It was completely different from what you practiced, right?”
“I don’t really know what I played. I could only see the drum set in front of me and… it felt like my head was empty…..”
Yoon Jung Su burst out in laughter at the stuttering drummer.
“Seems like you were possessed by a god. Ha ha.”
“That’s right. That does happen to musicians at times. Though it is a pity that it happened during a competition. It would have been great if it happened during a show.”
However, the relentless commentary did not fail.
Judge Son Ji Young spoke with a bad expression,
“You would receive evaluation from the audience if it were your own concert, but you need to be evaluated on how well you digested a mission song. You realize that it’s a situation where you stopped playing the mission song in the middle even if you did keep playing, right? That’s something that cannot happen. It was a performance that showed what an amateur you are.”
Lee Eun Jin’s following assessment was the same,
“The evaluation could have been different if the song had been completed when the drum ended. However, when the solo was over, everyone stood there blankly. How could you make such a mistake? Even if it was a great performance, you all need to know this stage was ruined.”
The members of Steel Blade lost even the slightest bit of hope they had. The drummer who had brightened up at the compliments hung his head again. What had he done to his members?
***
The evaluation ended at Producer Kim Ki Sik’s sign and the results were revealed.
Son Jin Young was holding the mic,
“This mission… there isn’t a winner. Jang Jun Hyuk and Steel Blade are both eliminated. You worked hard.”
The drummer who stumped back to the waiting room could not lift his face and kept repeating his apologies,
“Shit, just beat me up. If I hadn’t done something so stupid… I’m really sorry. I have nothing to say.”
“It’s okay. As he said, we were just included to sort the range of genres. I’m happy that you were able to show your full talent. That’s enough, right?”
Vocal and leader Han Ki Su pat the drummer’s back. On the one hand, he was also envious. It was not an easy feat to get compliments from Korea’s best singer.
The drummer who had been engulfed in the drum’s aftertaste, his busy thoughts, and the regret, picked up his things and approached Jun Hyuk,
“Thanks. I’m relieved because of you. I’ve gained the confidence to say that I’m a drummer wherever I go.”
“Don’t be too disappointed that you were eliminated from the auditions. You’ll get famous anyway.”
“Do you want to give me your phone number? Let’s keep in touch. Can I go to the cafe you work at?”
“Sure, mister. I want to perform with you again somewhere down the road.”
The drummer spoke to Jun Hyuk who saved his phone number,
“Hey! Why are you calling me mister? Call me brother.”
“I’ll see you later.”
He reaffirmed that this young genius did not open up his heart easily.
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 1
As the bus Jun Hyuk was riding entered Sangam-dong, his cellphone rang.
“Hello?”
– This is Jang Jun Hyuk, right?
“Yes.”
– I’m a writer from MV channel. Where are you?
The familiar voice on the phone was that of the youngest writer.
“I’m almost at Sangam-dong.”
– Bus? Subway?
“Bus.”
– Then get off at the Sangam-dong Digital Media City stop and wait there. I’m going to pick you up.
“Okay.”
Jun Hyuk got off at the stop and looked around. He had wandered the downtown area lined with skyscrapers before, but this was the first time he had come here with somewhere to go. It was also the first time he had done something after making plans with another person. He had not known that this exciting and stirring feeling would be so great.
“Jang Jun Hyuk.”
As he turned his head to see who had called his name, he saw the young writer waving to him from a car.
“It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? This is it for your bags?”
She spoke as she looked around the backpack Jun Hyuk was wearing.
“Excuse me? What bags?”
“You’ll be here for a week. You didn’t bring your clothes?”
“I brought my socks and underwear.”
“Hu hu. Good. You’ll have to change your clothes anyway.”
The young writer discussed things Jun Hyuk did not know about and drove the car into MV channel’s building parking lot. She took Jun Hyuk to a personal waiting room fit for a famous singer instead of the participants’ waiting room.
There were already a few people waiting in the room and a rack full of clothing.
“Wow, he might as well be a model. A treasure like this walked in on his own? MV got really lucky. How tall is he?”
“He’s 186 cm.”
“186cm and his looks would make Jang Dong Gun and Won Bin cower. He’ll look amazing on camera. Our Director really has an eye for these kinds of things.”
“What do you think? Do you think you’ll have clothes he’ll look good in?”
“Since the mannequin kills, whatever we hang on him will be fashionable.”
Excluding Jun Hyuk who stood there blankly, everyone fussed and carefully examined him. It was only then that the young writer started to explain the current situation to Jun Hyuk.
“Jun Hyuk. These people are here because of the clothing sponsorship. It’s an extremely rare situation, but you’re a special case. Cooperate with us on this.”
The young writer addressed the people there for the clothing sponsorship again,
“The concept is chic, rebel. Please dress him accordingly since his target will most likely be teenagers.”
Jun Hyuk finally understood what was going on. It was the apparel sponsorship that Yoon Kwang Hun had told him about. It meant that they were going to give him clothes.
He had to wear a t-shirt with a big XOR logo on it with tight jeans. There was even a long and thin chain hanging from the pants.
Jun Hyuk looked at himself in the mirror and smiled slightly. The young writer thought that he was smiling because he liked what he saw in his reflection and laughed as she spoke,
“What do you think? You like it? Is it okay?”
“Yes, I like the chain. My boss really doesn’t like these types of things.”
“Older people usually don’t. Also pick out the clothes you like from this hanger. They’ll be the clothing you wear for the next week.”
“Really? I can pick what I want?”
“Of course. It’s a sponsorship. When the shooting ends, it’s all yours.”
Jun Hyuk had the thought that he had done well to participate in the auditions for the first time.
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 2
The 110 survivors from the area eliminations boarded a bus to a condo in Pocheon, Kyeonggi-do. The contest to select the top 10 would begin while staying at the condo for the next 5 nights and 6 days.
A staff member from the production crew raised the tension so the ride to Pocheon would not be boring,
“There there, everyone listen up. When we arrive at the condo in a bit, the room assignments will start. As soon as the assignments are over, the team mission will start… and five people will make up each team. A band member will be regarded as one member. Place the name tag being passed out now on your chest. If you look at the tags, it says each of your…should I say genres, specialties? Anyway it has a characteristic, so check those and form your teams. And when we start filming, don’t act too restless… Got it?”
As soon as they arrived at the condo, they had to meet in the basement hall without time to even greet their roommates. A set had already been prepared to shoot.
“There there, we’re going to start quickly. Please make your teams within two hours.”
Not everything on the program was filmed according to a script. There are unpredictable situations and the crises these situations create. It seems these are the devices that keep the viewers under suspense. Star Week is the content that participants create, excluding their music.
***
Everyone was busy trying to find the teams they would be working with. A team member was a colleague but also an opponent. One could not be on a team with someone at a lower level who would ruin the mission or with someone who would overshadow others with their talent.
Jun Hyuk slowly started getting annoyed. He even had the thought that he should have listened to Yoon Kwang Hun and began to regret going on the program.
‘Shit, should I just go?’
He was going back and forth like this when two people cautiously approached him.
“Excuse me. Hello. Do you remember us?”
“Who? Oh, the rappers from last time?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, we also passed the area preliminaries. We wanted to thank you then but you left first.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Do you want to be on a team with us? If you’re okay with that.”
“Sure.”
“We’ll try gathering the team members as well.”
“I’m okay with anything, so you can take care of it.”
The two rappers spoke deliberately, but Jun Hyuk consented to go along apathetically. This was because it was easier for him to be on a team when people approached him instead of having to find people to form a team with.
The two rappers ran around looking for people to make up the rest of their team. Once Jun Hyuk agreed to work with them, the rest of the team was formed quickly.
Jun Hyuk was the perfect team member because he was good looking, his guitar skills were amazing… and the best thing about him was that he did not sing. No one knew what their mission song would be, but it was clear that they would need instrumentals to back up the singing. It also would not hurt to take him out of the competition early.
When the recording started, the VJs were busy trying to shoot the bustling participants forming teams.
Jun Hyuk sat still through the tedious period and the VJ who filmed Jun Hyuk during the area eliminations was acting as his personal mark man.
The full-fledged mission started after two hours.
22 panels were hanging on the wall and a question mark was printed on each.
“On the backside of these panels are the faces of 22 senior singers. Each team will choose a panel and check the singer you get. We will commence the contest with the song of your choosing from that singer.”
Jun Hyuk’s team chose singer Park Ki Young. Though it sounds like a man’s name, the picture was of a woman. None of the members knew who Park Ki Young was.
The broadcast staff came in as soon as the 22 teams chose their mission songs.
“This is the team that chose Park Ki Young’s song, right?”
“Yes.”
“Raise your hand if you know Park Ki Young’s songs.”
When no one rose their hands, the staff member pulled out an MP3 player.
“We recorded the songs on this, so listen to it. Both the original and edited songs are in there, so you’ll have to listen carefully.”
The staff member pulled out a music score as well.
“This is the edited score, so raise your hand if you know how to read sheet music.”
Jun Hyuk and a girl rose their hands.
“Okay. You two look at this and teach the kids. Don’t waste any time and hurry up and start practicing. When you’re done, call us.”
Someone spoke to the staff member as he was walking away.
“Excuse me, isn’t the mission song supposed to be one of Park Ki Young’s that we choose and arrange?”
“When you don’t even know who Park Ki Young is?”
“Yes.”
As the replying voice grew confidence, the staff member’s brows went up.
“So? Do we need to prepare all songs by Park Ki Young and present them to you guys? And you guys will listen to all of those songs and choose? You have that much time? Are you guys crazy?”
Everyone looked dejected at the staff member’s biting words and relented.
“Are you good at arranging music?”
“Excuse me? No, that’s not it.”
“Is arranging something that can be done within a few minutes? If you can’t do it, just do what you’re told. And is the broadcast a joke? You’re trying to go on air with a song you arranged when you can’t even arrange music? Save that for your school performance.”
The staff member turned away and put his foot down.
“If you don’t do this properly, your faces won’t make it on air even for a minute. We’ll edit all of your parts out, so get your head on straight.”
When the grunting staff member walked away, the rapper spoke up,
“Shit. I knew this would happen. It was all a show.”
The participants who had only been viewers up until now had just found out a new truth. Broadcast is a show.
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 3
“There there. Let’s hurry up and hear it.”
The song that the staff had thrown at them was ‘Start,’ released by Park Ki Young in 1998. The singer and title were unfamiliar, but most of it was a famous song. It was Park Ki Young’s hit song so well-known that anyone who heard the climax would say, ‘Oh, this song’.
Jun Hyuk heard the song after he read over the music score. It was not bad for a ballad. The arrangement was not bad either. The only problem was that even though five people each with their own talents had come together, the guide was done as if one person was singing the ballad. It was not appropriate for five people.
“Let’s talk about how we’re going to separate the parts.”
Excluding Jun Hyuk, the four must have thought that they could not have the spotlight taken from them, so they argued and laid out their opinions.
“The amount of time each person gets needs to be similar since it needs to be fair and… we need to pick the parts that we all sing together.”
“I looked at last season and when people got greedy and messed up the song, no matter how well any one person sang, everyone was eliminated.”
“But we’re rap… I’m going to go crazy! This.”
Excluding Jun Hyuk, everyone’s faces were dark with a mix of greed and fear, tension and heaviness. Jun Hyuk was suspicious as to whether they had listened to the song properly or not.
Though it is said that the delicate voice is expressing a woman’s one-sided love for a man, but starting from the second half, with the intense guitar sound and short guitar solo, it was a rock ballad.
If an arrangement is not better than the original, it is bound to receive severe criticism. With a bad arrangement, unless it is covered with singing skills superior to that of the original song, it is inevitable that they would receive appraisal that they ruined the song… but everyone was only worried about their own parts and not the music.
The oldest member of Jun Hyuk’s group who looked to be in his late twenties seemed to be trying to take lead of the group and spoke,
“There there. Let’s memorize the lyrics for each of our parts first. It’s over the moment we start tripping up on stage because we can’t remember the lyrics.”
While everyone plugged the MP3 earphones in their ears, Jun Hyuk slowly left the area. He sat in a corner of the auditorium and looked around the room. It was full of more than 100 young people memorizing their songs or practicing with tension and anxiety.
Jun Hyuk held his guitar and started to flick the strings. He was not playing with a chord or picking a scale. He was making random sounds like a child touching a guitar for the first time.
The VJ chasing Jun Hyuk spoke while he was holding his camera,
“What are you doing right now?”
“Oh, this bustle is fun. I’m thinking about to expressing it.”
“Can you be spending your time like this? You’re not going to practice your mission song? You said earlier that you would be playing the accompaniment…..”
“It’s okay. I memorized all of the arranged score.”
“What? Already? You already knew the mission song?”
“No. We saw the score earlier.”
“You can memorize it after looking once?”
“Yes.”
The VJ put down the camera and turned the switch off.
“Really? You can memorize it after seeing it once?”
“Yes. 3 minutes and 24 seconds. It’s short.”
The song was released in the year Jun Hyuk was born. It did not seem like he was lying that he did not know the song because it was as old as he was.
“How about the song that was arranged? Did you memorize all of that as well?”
“Yes. That was even easier.”
“You don’t like the arrangement?”
“No. It was garbage ruining the original song.”
How could he say it was garbage? The music director and arrangers participating in this show were veterans with at least 10 years of experience in this field. Professionals like that did not make garbage.
“Why is it garbage?”
“Music needs to be arranged relative to the instrument… no, to the standard of the singer’s tone. They made the song before they knew who would be singing it. The song that’s been arranged now needs to be ripped apart and fixed at the least.”
The VJ thought what Jun Hyuk was saying made sense.
“Then is there something different that you’re thinking of?”
“No. How can I when I don’t know the teammates who will be singing? I haven’t heard them either. I need to know each of their tones and strong points to arrange it.”
“Then why don’t you tell your teammates you should edit the song again?”
“Oh, I don’t know. It’s a bother. And why do you keep following me?”
He had stopped making a song based on the bustling of the room because of the VJ. The feeling of inconvenience turned into annoyance, so Jun Hyuk went back to his teammates.
They must not have been able to memorize the lyrics yet because they were still concentrating on listening to the music. The rapper who had found Jun Hyuk went over to him and spoke discreetly,
“Do you by chance have any good ideas?”
“No, I don’t have any.”
“Hey… why are you being like this? Last time, you made a great song after just overhearing us rap.”
“I heard you both rap that time. That was possible because I knew the singers’ tonal quality. I don’t know it now.”
“Does that mean you’ll be able to arrange the song after you hear us sing?”
“Yes.”
“Hold on.”
The two rappers went to the other three people who were memorizing their lyrics,
“Let’s ask that person to make the guide for our song.”
“He’s the person who only played the guitar for the area preliminaries, right?”
The girl in her early twenties who had raised her hand along with Jun Hyuk to indicate that she could read music scores had a slightly hopeful expression.
“Yes, his skill is no joke. Even at the area preliminaries, he heard our rap once and fixed the entire thing. We were able to pass that round because of that as well.”
“Why are we trying to do another edit when the arrangement is already here?”
The man in his late twenties who called himself the team leader wrinkled his forehead. It seemed that he thought that his position as leader would be in danger if this young kid did the arrangement and song guide.
“So you’re saying… that kid should give out the parts and complement the song.”
“Yes. Let’s just hear him out first.”
When everyone decided to try listening to Jun Hyuk’s guide, the man in his late twenties could no longer oppose.
“Excuse me, Mr. Jun Hyuk. We’ll sing the mission song, so will you try arranging it?”
“Sure. Should we hear each person’s singing first? Go around and sing the song. From the part ‘I want to tell you’.”
Jun Hyuk was telling them to sing the climax of the song.
“Oh, the two rappers don’t need to sing. If you listen to the song well, the guitar solo comes in three phrases and that’s 12 seconds. You two rap then. 3 phrases. The content is up to you. Since the song is about a woman’s one-sided love, I was thinking that maybe it could be about the man’s thoughts as the object of this one-sided love.”
Jun Hyuk listened to the singing of the remaining three people: the arrogant man in his late twenties, the girl in her early twenties who could read music scores, and a boy who looked to be in his teens but sat without speaking as if he were an old man. Jun Hyuk was silent in thought before he began to speak,
“I’ll play just the instrumental according to the score. You don’t need to sing. But mister.”
The person Jun Hyuk was calling mister was the man in his late twenties.
“Me? What?”
“Mister, you’ll mess everything up if you keep trying to show off how high you can go.”
“What?”
“I’m saying that we’re just instruments. Do instruments show off how high they can go? We’re just five instruments playing one song together. What’s important is the overall harmony. It doesn’t sound good if you force your high notes and try to show off.”
“Are you trying to teach me right now?”
His face had already turned red. How could a kid like this be criticizing him?
“Your tone kind of sucks. No matter how high you try to go with a bad voice, it just becomes noise.”
“This bratty asshole!”
As soon as a fist came at the red face, the two rappers acted quickly and held it back.
“Stop it. What are you doing? The cameras are filming everything.”
The VJ was laughing with a bright face as though he were having fun. Discord between members was a spectacle for the viewers. A fist came towards the camera and hit the man shaking with anger.
“This asshole must have a rag in his mouth. He’s cursing when he doesn’t even know me!”
The owner of the fist was none other than Jun Hyuk.
Not just Jun Hyuk’s team members, but others nearby had to hold Jun Hyuk back as he kicked at the man on the floor. Only the VJ looked as though he had been given a prize as he held the camera. The recording might not be suitable for the broadcast, but it was a VJ’s job to catch such a dramatic moment.
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 4
When the VJ showed Producer Kim Ki Sik the video of Jun Hyuk fighting, he laughed and questioned him on the situation.
“What are the kids doing now?”
“We barely got Jun Hyuk to stay after he said that he was going to quit everything and leave. And the kid who was hit is huffing about calling the police.”
“How did you get Jun Hyuk to stay? That kid doesn’t listen to anyone.”
“The young writer who marked Jun Hyuk did it. They’ve gotten pretty friendly.”
“Bring the kid who got hit here.”
The participant who had gotten hit by Jun Hyuk started his interview with Producer Kim Ki Sik while massaging his face with ice.
“Do what you want,”
He understood what Producer Kim’s frosty tone meant. He was giving him pressure. It meant that he needed to pack his bags and leave the condo if he did not keep his mouth shut.
“No, that’s not it. It’s okay. I’m not a kid or anything…..”
“Really? Then the company’s legal team is going to go to you with a piece of paper. Sign it.”
“What? What paper…?”
“What do you mean what paper? It’s a document saying you won’t make a problem out of today’s events. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“You can go. Also, I’ll change your team instead. Just know that we’ll be doing that.”
The participants of ‘Tomorrow’s Star’ were all expendable to the absolute target of raising viewer ratings. Once expendable, they needed to listen to the producer in order to stay in the program at all costs.
***
The expendable person who had been switched into Jun Hyuk’s team was someone whose skill was to the degree that he had heard he sang well at his neighborhood karaoke.
Producer Kim Ki Sik who was in charge of the show started his plan to get Jun Hyuk in the top 10.
Two VJs tight with tension stood in front of Producer Kim Ki Sik and were listening to his orders.
“Listen well. You just keep concentrating on Jun Hyuk and film him. And you… you’ve been here longer than he has, right?”
“Yes.”
“Okay then. Jun Hyuk doesn’t sing, right? Instead, you have to make him the conductor for the 5-person team mission. He has to be the maestro who does everything from arranging to directing parts for the members. You understand what I’m saying, right?”
“Ah, I get what you’re saying.”
“Okay. That’s Jun Hyuk’s theme for this week’s 5-person team mission. I’m putting it in your hands.”
“Don’t worry about it. The two of us will bring back lots of good shots.”
They finished preparing the materials to make Jun Hyuk a maestro. Now they needed to convince the viewers that Jun Hyuk was qualified to be in the top 10 even without singing.
The people to persuade the viewers were the judges themselves.
Before Jun Hyuk’s team performed as the fourth to be on stage, Producer Kim and the main judges started their conference on the issue.
The main judges of Season 5 were slightly experimental with the addition of two new members.
Along with Lee Sung Chul and the legendary singer and songwriter Yoon Jung Su, singer of 25 years Lee Eun Jin who had been given the nickname ‘Diva of the Night Sky’ because she did not make appearances in public or on broadcast joined the panel.
Last was Son Jin Young from JYS, one of Korea’s top 3 agencies which produced countless girl groups.
“Producer Kim, why are you like this for this season? You’re openly pushing for this kid.”
“Ha ha. Excuse me just once. Aren’t I a person who goes back and forth between heaven and hell based on the viewer ratings?”
“So? You’re saying that kid will guarantee viewer ratings?”
“Sung Chul. Who are you talking about?”
Yoon Jung Su who had not seen Jun Hyuk during the area preliminaries was asking.
“There’s a kid. A kid who gives me headaches. Oh right, he’s the type you would like.”
Yoon Jung Su’s eyes widened as he was flipping through the files containing each person’s history and special characteristics.
“What is this? He got all the way here just by playing the guitar and not singing? And… what? He’s an orphan?”
“Yeah. Other than not singing, he’s the best. His story’s good, he’s better looking than Kang Dong Won, the guitar performance is great, he’s probably a genius in arranging, and his song analysis is outstanding.”
“Seems like he’ll get all of the women’s texting votes. He could even get to the top 5 on votes alone.”
As they discussed Jun Hyuk, Producer Kim Ki Sik said the final defining words,
“This kid is just a star. He has the talent and looks to cover a song. On top of that, he has an unstoppable nature. You know well since you’re all stars. One of those people who is bound to become news whatever he does.”
Lee Eun Jin who had been listening silently had an opposing expression.
“So you want us to push for him openly?”
“No. I’m asking you to find something in him that will cover his inability to sing. If you can’t find anything, I won’t hang on to him.”
They could protect Lee Eun Jin’s pride as this was her first time on the judges’ panel. What went out on air was the producer’s magic, or editing. She was not such an amateur that she would make a fuss if an edit was made entirely different from her intentions.
Kim Ki Sik was confident. He was certain that the viewer ratings would go up if he made Jun Hyuk a star.
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 5
“What is the song?”
“It’s Park Ki Young’s ‘Start’.”
“Please start.”
Yoon Jung Su tried to create laughter with his play on the song title, but nothing could make the nervous participants laugh. Yoon Jung Su’s expression became awkward.
The team members’ looked at Jun Hyuk who nodded lightly at them as a signal. The song started with his first guitar stroke and 4 minutes passed.
Everyone on the team had a look of reassurance on their faces that they had finished without making any mistakes and the four judges wore strange expressions. The judges had without a doubt listened to the song with awe and admiration, but their expressions had completely changed once it ended.
Lee Sung Chul was the first to grab the mic and he opened his mouth slowly,
“Um… It was good. This, well…”
Delaying the evaluation, he coughed a few times in embarrassment.
“The song is very good. Everyone sang well… The other teams split up the song but this team was unique and not one person stopped singing. They put in a chord when it wasn’t their part… ah… The only one who didn’t sing is the person on guitar, right?”
Everyone’s eyes settled on Jun Hyuk, but he just blinked back at Lee Sung Chul. Producer Kim who had been monitoring the close-up of Jun Hyuk’s face began to laugh again.
“Ha ha. That kid’s face is as though he doesn’t even care about the judges.”
Everyone in the staff room nodded their heads. This was the first time in five seasons that they had seen anyone so arrogant without any sign of tension.
“… And the rap was also really good. The feelings of the man who is the object of the one-sided love that was not in the original song. It was also very funny how you expressed that very indifferently… Who wrote that?”
“Yes, we wrote it.”
The two rappers could not hide their happiness from Lee Sung Chul’s compliment. However, they had to hide the traces of their laughter because of the following evaluation.
“Yet… It was generally good, but you all made a big mistake. Yoon Jung Su will probably be the one to tell you what that mistake was. I heard the song well.”
A mistake? The music and singing were perfect. Did Lee Sung Chul not say that himself? Everyone swallowed and gave Yoon Jung Su their attention.
Yoon Jung Su held the mic and smiled at Lee Sung Chul.
“Have you decided to avoid saying the invectives this season? Why do I have to say the bad things?”
“You have to get some of the abuse online. He he.”
Yoon Jung Su fixed his mic and his mood became serious.
“Well… you heard enough compliments, but I’ll say it again. The song was really good. At this rate, it could go on a concert stage immediately and there wouldn’t be any problem.”
The team members became excited again. They might be able to achieve a dream-like whole team pass.
“It was absolutely perfect as not one person showed where their disadvantages lied, and the chords were inserted exquisitely so that not one person stood out more than another. However…”
Everyone swallowed. It seemed like the real assessment was going to start now.
“….. However, that also means that there wasn’t anyone who was special. There wasn’t anyone that we as the judges were drawn to. To say it another way, should I say it was like food made with ordinary ingredients? It was very tasty, but we couldn’t find the ingredients and we couldn’t tell what the sauce was.”
Yoon Jung Su finished his assessment as the disappointed participants looked on,
“A good performance is the basic. That basic was executed perfectly, but there wasn’t anything special. Can I say that everyone was just passable? It felt like that. You worked hard.”
The third person to get the mic was the person who had newly joined the judges, Lee Eun Jin,
“The two of you said so many good things that I have nothing to add. Saying that you’re passable means that you were short of talent. If you have a weapon, you can’t hide it even if you try. It comes out while you’re singing. But there wasn’t anyone on stage whose weapon showed.”
Lee Eun Jin’s evaluation continued after a moment of sighing.
“There is someone who does need to receive an excellent evaluation, isn’t there? I’m sure you all know who it is. The chef who made admirable food with ordinary ingredients. That person needs to get good ratings for sure.”
The team members’ eyes naturally shifted to Jun Hyuk and Lee Eun Jin smiled,
“I see you are all telling us who that chef is.”
Producer Kim who was watching the evaluation with the most tension put down his worries. He was nervous because there had not been one word said about Jun Hyuk, but Lee Eun Jin who he had thought would be the most biting had moved the way he wanted her to. This was the signal that Lee Eun Jin was sending to Producer Kim Ki Sik.
She was saying that she would cooperate with Producer Kim Ki Sik and help him and not to forget it. She had done Producer Kim Ki Sik a favor and he would have to repay the debt at some time.
Thanks to Lee Eun Jin’s judgement, the viewers would not be able to raise issues even if Jun Hyuk went on to the next stage. The chef who made great food with mundane ingredients. This was enough.
The last person to get the mic was Song Jin Young of JYS and she wrapped it up with an intense assessment.
“This is a program that discovers stars through competition. You are all forgetting that. A song that’s like acapella? It’s nice to listen to. This is a boxing ring, not an afterschool club.”
All of the cameras focused on the judges. As the cameras were catching the judges share their thoughts and opinions, Lee Sung Chul took the mic,
“The people who passed this round are… the two rappers and Jang Jun Hyuk.”
The two rappers could not hide their excitement and Jun Hyuk remained in the same state. The girl would had been eliminated had tears in her eyes and the boy who had joined the team late was scowling.
“The rappers showed talent in their fun rap and Jang Jun Hyuk showed great capability as a producer. However, you’ll have to keep in mind that this program is about discovering stars and not producers. You’ll have to show yourself as more than a producer and as a musician on the next stage, or it’ll be difficult to advance any further. That is all.”
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 6
After that, performances that alternated between happiness and sadness continued and with the end of the first round of Star Week, the 40 people who passed were decided. In a matter of 48 hours, 70 out of 110 people had been sent home.
The 2nd round was to start now. From here, half would make it up to the last round of Star Week and the rest would be boarding the bus to Seoul Station, staying for just another day.
Known as the most cruel round, the 2nd round consisted of two people becoming a team to compete with another team performing the same song.
The judges simply chose the better group. With misfortune in choice of partner, no matter how much one shined, there was no way to stay alive. Everything moved according to a plan especially because the production crew organized the teams. There was the production crew that knew this and the naive participants who thought that it was up to luck.
The person who became Jun Hyuk’s partner was Nam Seung Hee, an aspiring singer in her mid-twenties who had received the appraisement that she was the prettiest contestant in this season’s Star Week.
Nam Seung Hee who dreamt of being a female rapper like Yoon Mi Rae was another one of Producer Kim Ki Sik’s hidden cards.
The VJ captured Jun Hyuk’s face during his first meeting with Nam Seung Hee. The plan was the flirtation between the ideal boy and girl. It was the meeting of this season’s best looking guy and prettiest and sexiest girl. Nam Seung Hee fit the tall Jun Hyuk well with her long and slender legs. When he got a good shot of the two together, the VJ moved busily with excitement.
When the VJ saw Jun Hyuk’s expression in the camera, he knew that Producer Kim’s plan was working. Jun Hyuk was blushing and could not stop smiling as he looked bashful.
“Hello. My name is Nam Seung Hee.”
The Jun Hyuk who shook the hand Nam Seung Hee held out as she laughed was not the rough teenager who threw his fist and cursed, but a young boy who could not hide his awkwardness in front of a girl.
Nam Seung Hee on the other hand did not let her guard down and kept showing a stiff face. In the individual interviews, it was possible to know why she was not unconditionally pleased at becoming Jun Hyuk’s partner.
“Do you know what we call Jang Jun Hyuk amongst ourselves?”
“What?”
“It’s poisoned apple. Poisoned apple. The poisoned apple that Snow White died after taking one bite.”
“Why? Why is Jun Hyuk a poisoned apple?”
“Because you want it and it looks edible, but you die the second you put your mouth to it. The music that Jun Hyuk makes is so perfect that you want to sing it after you hear it… but the end result is that Jun Hyuk is the only one who stands out and the person singing falls… That’s why he’s the poisoned apple.”
The VJ conducting the interview thought that this might be a consummate metaphor.
***
The duo’s mission song was Finkl’s ‘NOW’.
“Do you want to sing the song first? According to the original.”
“What? Why do you want me to sing all of a sudden.….?”
“To see the difference between the tone you normally speak in and the tone you sing in.”
Nam Seung Hee sang softly to Jun Hyuk’s gentle guitar accompaniment. It was just a tone check and it did not matter if her pitch was unstable or if she was not on beat.
When she finished singing, Jun Hyuk looked surprised.
“Um. Have you received professional training?”
“Excuse me? Oh, yes. I have.”
“It seems like you’ve practiced a lot. Your voice became scratchy.”
Scratchy? Her voice was not husky in any way, but what could he be talking about?
“Oh, you don’t need to worry. It’s a good thing. It’s become strong. Wait, is there a piano?”
As Jun Hyuk looked around, the staff rushed to set up a digital piano.
“Here, listen to this.”
He put his fingers on the keyboard and started to play. While a slow piano sound spread, his right hand started to move faster. It was a colorful melody, but the waiting room was full of an overall slow jazz.
Since the rival teams stopped practicing as they found themselves lost in Jun Hyuk’s music, Nam Seung Hee was out of the question.
Nam Seung Hee who had been drunk with the aftertaste of the sound of the piano was swept with embarrassment once she came back to her senses.
“Are you telling me to sing this? Isn’t this a piano instrumental?”
“No it isn’t because I’ll actually only be playing the accompaniment. We’ll have to fill the rest with singing.”
“This is jazzy but what am I supposed to do? I’ve never sang jazz before.”
“You can start practicing now. Just keep one thing in mind; this is perfect for your voice.”
The VJ almost felt awkward at Jun Hyuk’s image of leading the opponent in such a straightforward manner as opposed to the 5-person mission. How could he change so much when it seemed like he was just constantly arrogant?
‘This kid was no different from an everyday teenager.’
Nam Seung Hee asked for a little time and left her seat at Jun Hyuk suddenly asking her to sing jazz.
“Jun Hyuk, can we do a short interview?”
“Again?”
“What do you mean again? You haven’t done that many. Out of all the Star Week contestants, you’ve done the least. Everyone else will do anything to get an interview.”
He convinced a complaining Jun Hyuk and started the interview.
“Why did you choose jazz all of a sudden? It seems like Nam Seung Hee barely listened to jazz music.”
“Her tone sounded like a clarinet. But…..”
“But?”
“She wants to do hip hop… hah. It was so funny I didn’t know what to do. She doesn’t fit with hip hop at all.”
“Even if her tonal quality is good, she says she can’t do jazz.”
“She can just sing it slow since I’ll fill the rest with the piano. We can save it.”
“It seems like you like Nam Seung Hee looking at the way you accommodate her. Yeah?”
Jun Hyuk did not show any shock at the VJ’s frank question,
“Yes. She’s pretty.”
“Oh, you’re honest.”
The VJ was shocked that he had responded so easily.
While Jun Hyuk was doing his short interlude interview, Nam Seung Hee was on her cellphone getting angry.
“Director, talk to the producer here. They’re telling me to sing jazz. They didn’t give us an arranged song and the kid who’s my partner…..”
“Oh, I see. Sorry. I guess I bothered Director for nothing…..”
– Nam Seung Hee, listen closely.
“Yes.”
– What do you think you are? Are you a singer? What? Jazz isn’t a genre I’m pursuing? You want to set your image in hip hop? You’re being annoying.
Nam Seung Hee could not say anything in response to the director’s harsh words and felt like her head was empty. She had been mistaken for a moment that she had passed the auditions and entered Star Week on her talent.
She realized her position as one of countless aspiring celebrities.
– Listen well. Do you know how much this company spent to get you there? Genre? Character? Do that stuff when you become a singer. Right right, your job is to shut your mouth and do as the broadcast station says. Got it? And your partner is 100 times better than you. You’re being carried along with him. Don’t call me when you’re just a little brat who doesn’t know her position!
The director who had hung up after his rant had told her what she needed to do. She needed to hang on to the boy that even the main producer was fussing over no matter what.
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 7
“Don’t think about it as something difficult. All you have to do is remember the tempo and make sure not to fall behind it or go ahead of it while you sing.”
“Are you able to record the piano accompaniment for me? I really don’t have the confidence… I think I’m going to lose the beat. I can’t keep asking you to play the piano for me… I’ll practice on my own.”
“Ha ha. I’m telling you it’s okay. I’ll play it for you 100 or 1,000 times, so let’s practice together.”
Producer Kim Ki Sik smiled widely as he was monitoring Jun Hyuk openly show his affection for her and kept giving orders to the staff,
“Hey. When Star Week ends, get the kids from Jun Hyuk’s team together again. The mission song was Park Ki Young’s ‘Start’ right?”
“Yes.”
“Get that song ready for a digital release in the recording studio. It’ll go up. And the Finkl song that Jun Hyuk just played on the piano… formally record that too so it’s ready for service the day the episode airs. Got it?”
“What? The instrumental? Not the song that they’ll sing later?”
“There aren’t very many female singers in Korea who can make money singing jazz. It’ll sell if the singer is someone at Lee So Ra’s level. Jazz that girl sings? Doesn’t make sense. It won’t make digital sales. But a piano instrumental will work for background music on blogs and cafe franchises.”
The staff could tell why Producer Kim Ki Sik was a rising producer in musical variety shows.
He had an eye for screening music, but he was also a businessman who could certainly choose music that would sell and even find the places where the money would come from.
“At any rate, this stage isn’t about music. It’s eye candy for the viewers. All we have to do is make sure we show them those two flirting. Since we showed them Jun Hyuk’s music in the 1st round, we need to highlight the other kids’ music too this time. Keep your heads on straight.”
Producer Kim Ki Sik had did not care about the same-some rival mission. To avoid any risks, the rival group to go against him was made up of two people who definitely needed to pack their bags.
Producer Kim Ki Sik had a lot of his expectations riding on the last mission. In the meantime, there was the perfect participant to make Jun Hyuk’s image. It was a boisterous trash metal band.
They were like firewood to set Jun Hyuk on fire for the last time before he went into the top 10.
They were famous in Hongdae’s rock scene. They were Steel Blade.
***
The last 20 participants were eyeing each other wondering who their final partner would become as they gathered to choose the last 10 people to go on live broadcast for the top 10 race. There was certainly someone in this group who was already chosen to go into the top 10 early. If they were paired with that person, they were bound to lose.
However, there was one person who they could win if paired up with. That was none other than Jang Jun Hyuk.
He was better looking than an idol singer and looked more like a model or actor and all of the judges praised him for his producing skills. But he could never go to the top 10 of the ‘Tomorrow’s Star’ program. He was the only participant who could not sing even though it was an audition for singers.
Today’s mission was Jang Jun Hyuk’s last. All of the participants had the same thought and they were just waiting to become his partner.
The elaborate jazz piano he played in the 2nd round of Star Week. If he just did that much, they could bring in the best backing band and have him perform in the contest.
Jun Hyuk was called into his personal waiting room again and the people representing the clothing sponsor company were waiting for him brightly.
“These are the new products from our winter season. The last broadcast was fall, but this episode will be going out in November. We’ll be preparing for the winter season. I’m betting this’ll be sold out once it goes on air. Ho ho.”
The people from the company held a pair of black jeans and a checked shirt to Jun Hyuk’s body to find the right size.
“If you pass today’s round and make it into the top 10, we’re planning on getting a formal model contract with you.”
Jun Hyuk wrinkled his face as he touched the clothes, and turned to the young writer.
“I don’t want to wear it. I can just go out like this, right?”
“What? Why won’t you wear it? These are going to become the new main pieces of our company!”
The director of XOR yelled in surprise.
“Miss, how am I supposed to wear this when it’s so hot I could die?”
Looking at his scowling face, she smiled again and spoke. He was still young. She knew that it would be faster to talk him into it.
“Jun Hyuk. You have to bear it. This is business. Every scene that goes out on TV is money. You may not understand because you’re still young, but broadcast means money. You’ll be able to touch that money soon.”
Eventually, the young writer stepped in. She said the easiest words to convince him,
“This is the last time. It’s okay, right?”
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 8
“Okay, now two teams are going to get together to form one group. Everyone listen well to see who your partner will be.”
The partners were revealed one by one and the luckiest in the 3rd round team selection was not one person, but four.
“The next is the only band that passed the 2nd round, ‘Steel Blade’ and their partner will be… Jang Jun Hyuk.”
The Steel Blade members did not show it, but they were overjoyed that they had gotten one step closer to the top 10. What luck!
“We’ll reveal the mission song. It’s Jewelry’s Super Star.”
The song released in 2005 was the first that got Jewelry 1st place. It made the other participants jealous. It was established that it was advantageous to have a fun song.
Once all of the partners and mission songs were revealed, everyone hid their claws and started to greet their partners.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m the vocal, Han Ki Su. Oh, don’t punch me because I’m not using formal speech with you. You can use informal speech too. Ha ha.”
Jun Hyuk was uncomfortable with the band member who was acting more friendly than was necessary.
“But do you know this song?”
“The mission song? Yeah. You don’t know it?”
“No. I don’t have CDs of idol songs.”
“Then let’s hear the song first. We’ve heard it, but we don’t really remember it either.”
Everyone listened to the MP3 player. After they listened to the whole song, the members of Steel Blade sighed in relief. It did not seem like there would be any problem changing the song into band music because the song itself was very light.
“What do you think?”
“It’s fun.”
“Right? We got lucky. It won’t be hard to change it to metal.”
“I heard you’re a producing genius. Do you have any ideas?”
The judges’ evaluation from the 5-person mission had become a hot topic between the contestants. A producing genius worthy of the highest praise. Jun Hyuk who made great music without exposing himself could make this into a heavy metal song.
The band leader who was also the vocal had high expectations, but Jun Hyuk made all of those expectations come crashing down.
“Do as you please since we’ll be dropped anyway. I’ll go along with whatever you want to do.”
“What?”
“We can’t go to the top 10 anyway.”
Jun Hyuk’s words that came from out of the blue hit his head hard, “It can’t be. Do you know something? Is it already decided? Already?
“No. I don’t know that but you guys aren’t that good. You just fit in a band to broaden the assortment. There’s no way you don’t know you guys aren’t good, is there?”
They had not anticipated that this young kid would be saying that they would be eliminated because of a shortage of talent. Even the judges had given them compliments on the original song they presented in the area preliminaries. In round 1 and 2, they had received the evaluation that they were a band with feeling.
But he is saying that their skill is poor?
Jun Hyuk kept speaking in a sarcastic tone without paying attention to the members shaking in anger.
“You sir on the drums, say something. Don’t you know?”
The vocal, Han Ki Su spoke to Jun Hyuk when he suddenly sought agreement from the dummer,
“Is that right? We’re not that good? Let’s hear it then. You speak as the genius producer. What’s so bad?”
“If you force the high notes and barely hit them, the listeners are the ones who are uncomfortable. A vocalist is someone who can hit the high notes easily. ‘Soot’ catches on to it. Soot! A person who uses the voice instrument freely and well. That’s what we call a vocalist but you have a hard time with the high notes and your voice itself is lacking strength… It’s like you’re just imitating a rock band.”
“Hey! It just sounds like that because my voice is thin.”
“What are you talking about? Being thick and thin is an issue of tone. That has nothing to do with strength. Not all metal band vocals are Ronnie James Dio. There’s Klaus Meine too.”
Han Ki Su’s face felt heated as the weaknesses he was aware of were being bothered.
“Fine. Say that’s true for me. Then the guitar?”
“Guitars aren’t there just to play do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do. It’s about expressiveness. Ah, you asshole.”
While everyone was confused by the swearing that had come out of nowhere, Jun Hyuk was looking at the guitarist.
“Express this with the guitar. ‘Ah, you asshole.’ Or um… ‘Please excuse me this one time.’ Something like that is okay too. Scale, technique… these things aren’t important, but you don’t know that.”
Jun Hyuk went over each member one by one as though he were a judge.
“Can you play the bass all day with one beat? Without a metronome? If you can’t do that, you haven’t practiced enough. Or you can’t keep a beat.”
They had not heard such severe criticism since they started performing in Hongdae. This assessment was the same as saying that they were beginners.
They thought that he was going to tear the drummer apart next, but he did not.
“You asked me for an idea on the arrangement, right? I already finished the edit. It’s just that you guys probably won’t like it.”
He had only heard it once. After that, he had been evaluating the band members’ skills. When is he saying he finished arranging the song?
“How did you do it?”
At the words that he finished the arrangement, their curiosity overcame their indignation.
“Drum instrumental. The drum is the main. Everyone else is slight and the vocal can be taken out completely. The best thing this band can do is to support the drum.”
The VJ marking Jun Hyuk had a vague idea of the music he was trying to pursue. This arrogant young genius only thought about music. He only focused on finding the best of any song. It was certain that he never had the intentions of becoming a star.
Jun Hyuk does not care about things like hitting high notes as the public likes or familiarity that is easy to listen to. He only thinks about the music.
Though it is an old song, it is still by a girl group. He wants to change that into a drum instrumental?
When the drummer heard the words drum instrumental, he raised his hand in surprise,
“No. What do you mean a drum instrumental? It’ll never work out. Let’s just go with the usual rock. It’s easy to change this song to a rock version.”
Jun Hyuk ruined the cold atmosphere that the drummer was trying to ease again.
“Oy. Now I know. Sir, you guys are in this state now because you keep giving in. The person with the most talent should have dragged everyone along. The vocal and guitarist don’t know that they’re not that good because you cover for their singing and guitar.”
Eventually, the band leader and vocal left the practice room and the guitarist and bassist followed him to calm him down.
Producer Kim Ki Sik checked what the VJ had filmed since they were in a state where all practice was suspended, and he could not stop laughing. Jang Jun Hyuk said and acted in ways that always made news.
The discord between Jang Jun Hyuk and the other participants would undoubtedly become the best in increasing tension on the program.
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 9
“Hey, I said we don’t have time. We can’t be wasting our time being angry. Let’s at least try to do something between ourselves.”
“Then what about that asshole?”
“That asshole said himself that he would just go along with whatever we wanted to do. We can give him 2nd guitar or keyboard and he can just pound out the chords.”
The Steel Blade members were fuming. The production team had not provided them with an arranged song because they were paired with Jun Hyuk and their turn was fairly early. They needed to move quickly.
It was not hard to make a rock version of the song. They did not do much to the original song but add parts for the guitar, bass, and drum with a guitar solo in the middle in G major in a pentatonic scale. They of course did not forget to add shouting for the vocal.
The band members only looked for Jun Hyuk after they had practiced several times.
“Hey. You said that you would go along with whatever we wanted, right? Just scratch out the chord with the acoustic guitar. You don’t have any objections, right?”
Jun Hyuk shrugged to reply that he did not care and began to simply scratch out the chords on his guitar. The sound of his acoustic guitar was drowned out by the strong sound of the electric guitar, but Jun Hyuk did not seem to care.
Eventually, the VJ ran to the main producer. He felt like Jun Hyuk’s performance would be too flat.
Producer Kim Ki Sik and the program’s general music director stood by Steel Blade and listened to them practice.
“What do you think?”
“What do you mean? You don’t have ears? The main producer of a music program? How many years have you been doing this?”
Not certain if it was due to the producer or the music, but the music director looked as though he had a bad taste in his mouth. After listening to the band’s music for a while, the producer spoke out of nowhere,
“Then what about that?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The drum instrumental Jun Hyuk mentioned earlier. Making the drum the main.”
“That’s something I really want to hear, but won’t people start changing the channel after 30 seconds of hearing a drum? How many people do you think like – no, know Moby Dick by Led Zeppelin? And the people who like drum solos don’t watch our program.”
It was the place where the top 10 was to be selected. They could not show a whole song where the drum was the main, but it could work if they edited well and saved the zest. It was unique, an advantage, and a specialty.
“If we go out like this, that band is done.”
The music director was speaking quietly, but Producer Kim raised his voice as though he wanted everyone to hear,
“Our program will be done for as well. We’ve raised the expectations for Jun Hyuk, but if the last stage is in that state… Even if they get eliminated, they’ll need to do it so they’re remembered.”
Producer Kim decided to get help from the music director to resolve this problem. The music director and Producer Kim secretly called Steel Blade into the conference room.
“We heard you guys practicing and honestly, we’re disappointed.”
“There are 10 teams right now. Two dance, two R&B, two ballad, two island and folk, one hip hop, and you guys, metal. You guys are the weakest.”
“Weak isn’t even cutting it. If you guys go the way you were just practicing, we can’t even put 10 seconds of that on air. We have to cut it up and piece it together for about 20 seconds and go straight to the judges. It’s that bad.”
“Tell us if you don’t have the confidence to do it. We’ll do the arrangement for you now if necessary.”
The band members could not lift their heads while these heads of such a grand show were criticizing them in a manner that was threatening.
“To tell you the truth, the chances of you guys entering the top 10 is below 10%. What can you do? Metal is a subculture in our country. At this rate, you guys are 100% getting eliminated.”
The music director looked at the band members and spoke,
“During the 80s, heavy metal was so popular that Japanese band Loudness did a world tour. But what about our country? Sinawi, Buhwal, Baekdusan. People said they were the three greatest guitarists, but they only performed in Korea. You guys think the viewers are going to listen to your music?”
“If you guys get eliminated, all you’ll have left are memories. Jun Hyuk on the other hand proved his genius with just two songs in the area preliminaries and Super Week. Even if he doesn’t get into the top 10, there are loads of people who are waiting to scout him as soon as this program is over.”
“He’ll probably be greater once he’s done with the broadcast. We put someone like him with you but what are you guys doing? Honestly, even if I don’t edit your performance, the judges will probably cut the song after about one minute. There’s nothing to hear. I’m sure you guys will hear all types of criticism too. Then you’re really ending on the worst note.”
Vocal Han Ki Su must have been unable to tolerate the comparisons to Jun Hyuk because he spoke after a long silence,
“Producer. That’s not right. Until now, the judges…”
Before Han Ki Su could even finish his words, they heard something that would have been good not to hear at all.
“What about the judges? When they praised you? You think that was sincere? Your music… honestly, it sucks. Sung Chul and Jung Soo started out in bands. You don’t know? The broadcast is a show. The judges are matching that.”
“In my opinion, Jun Hyuk will arrange the song better than I can. I’m saying this earnestly.”
“You guys choose. This is it for what we are thinking. Then do your best.”
The two left the room after saying that they did not have an option, not that they were giving them a choice. The members sat still for a while with dark expressions.
In the spirit of rock, they needed to quit everything and leave. However, they were just youths hungry for success.
“Bro, what do we do? Do we do what they say?”
The bassist acted as if he were asking leader Han Ki Su what they should do, but he meant that they should do as they were told to.
“Fine. Since it’s gotten to this, let’s just stand out in the performance and step all over that kid.”
Han Ki Su grit his teeth and emanated anger.
“How?”
“Didn’t he say that he would make the drum the main? Do as he says and we’ll make him second instead. A second who’s just scratching out chords will never stand out. I’m saying let’s do that.”
Han Ki Su and the guitarist who planned to drown out Jun Hyuk met eyes and nodded. The band members left the conference room and approached Jun Hyuk.
“Look here. Let’s forget all of our bad feelings and focus on the mission. I’ll be the bigger man since I’m older and apologize.”
Vocal Han Ki Su saw Jun Hyuk take the hand that he put forth and felt relief.
“You do the directing for this mission. We’ll follow you. That’s okay, right?”
“I can really do what I want?”
“Yeah. Do whatever you want.”
Jun Hyuk went to the drummer as if he had been waiting to hear that he could do as he pleased,
“By chance, can you do double bass?”
“Huh? Double?”
The drummer winced when the other members looked at him. Until now, he had never performed in double bass and there was only a single bass drum in their practice room.
The drummer glanced at his members and spoke,
“I can’t do it yet. I am practicing.”
“Hm… I guess we’ll have to do it differently.”
Jun Hyuk kept mumbling to himself and pulled a notebook out of his bag. It was printed with staff lines and looked like a notebook that a child in elementary school would use.
“Sir on the bass, do you know how to read music scores?”
The bassist nodded as he spoke,
“I’m the only one who reads scores. Everyone else learned by listening to music.”
Jun Hyuk’s hand drew out the bass line. He ripped the completed score out and passed it to the bassist saying,
“Since the drummer can’t play double bass, you’ll have to cover him. You’ll be able to do it.”
“Huh? Uh… I think it’ll work but… I’ll try it.”
Jun Hyuk had created the line so that the bassist would be able to play it. He could do it, he just had not done it before. Jun Hyuk led the drummer by his hand to the drum set,
“I’ll perform it while you record it on your cellphone. You can get the song listening to that, right?”
“You can play the drums?”
No matter how much the VJ filmed, Jun Hyuk kept showing new sides to himself and even seemed wonderful.
“I’m not very good at it, but I can play a little. Just think of what I play as the skeleton and put some flesh on it.”
Jun Hyuk started drumming lightly to tune the set. He must have liked the sound because he smiled and held the stick properly.
“Okay, start recording. One, two, three, four.”
Jun Hyuk signaled the start with the drumsticks and played a heavy bass. While he performed on the drums for four minutes, none of the contestants in the room even made the sound of their breathing. The drummer who had been carefully watching from next to Jun Hyuk had bloodshot eyes. He would have shed tears if Jun Hyuk had played for 10 more seconds.
He had dreamt of Canadian group RUSH’s drummer Neil Peart and practiced for countless days to the point where his palms ripped just so he could play the drums like this.
The other contestants had been thinking that Jun Hyuk was a songwriter playing the acoustic guitar. No one could close their mouths when he played the drums with the pressure of a large truck like Metallica’s drummer, Lars Ulrich.
The producer ran out to the practice room as soon as he heard that Jun Hyuk was playing the drums himself. He was not able to hear the whole performance, but he felt bliss from what he heard from after the 2-minute mark. The music director who had been watching alongside the producer could not speak properly,
“That… That kid… What is he?”
“What else? He’s destined for viewer ratings. We have to make sure he gets into the top 10. He might as well have reserved the real-time rankings for this second half. Ha ha.”
The producer laughed excitedly, but the members of Steel Blade could not laugh. Especially not the vocal and guitarist because they did not have the confidence to push past this storm-like drum with their voice and guitar sound.
Jun Hyuk paid no mind to the attention he was being given and spoke to the drummer,
“You recorded everything, right? Do you think you’ll be able to get something out of it?”
“I’ll have to. But… honestly, I don’t think I’ll be able to copy it 100%.”
Jun Hyuk had instructed him to put some flesh on this skeleton, but he did not even have the confidence to play the skeleton properly.
“Just don’t lose the bass then. That’s the main point here. If you lose the bass drum, the bassist will stand out. The bass guitar and drum are the house. The guitar and vocal are just the interior, so you’ll have to make sure you’re ready.”
The bassist and drummer loved music. The music they would have to play today was miles away from the music they had been playing until now, that they had already forgotten the friction there had been with Jun Hyuk earlier. All they were thinking was that they wanted to quickly master this great music.
“Is it our turn now? I’m a little nervous.”
The vocal and guitarist felt a bit of excitement as they went towards Jun Hyuk. However, Jun Hyuk splashed cold water on their excitement,
“The two of you can just do as you were practicing earlier. The only difference is that you need to pause during the 15 second drum solo in the middle.”
“What?”
“I told you just now. The drum and bass are the house and the guitar and vocal are the interior. The judges will be overwhelmed by the grandeur of the house anyway. They won’t be able to enter the house, so they won’t care too much about the interior.”
“Then what about you? What are you doing?”
“What you said before. I’m just going to scratch out some chords.”
Jun Hyuk left the two who were left dumbfounded at his absurd answer to help the drummer practice.
God’s Song
Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 10
The producer gathered the production team and producers for an emergency meeting. The judges who watched Jun Hyuk play the drums on the conference room monitor had the same reaction,
“How many people in Korea can play the drums like that?”
“A monster in the music world is born. Can he play other instruments?”
“Guitar, piano, drum. That means strings, claviers, and percussions. If he does winds, he’s done all of them? He can’t play the trumpet or flute, can he?”
When the judges could not stop talking, Producer Kim Ki Sik felt more confident,
“What do you think? Don’t you think we need to put him in the top 10?”
“We as musicians agree, but do you think the everyday viewer will accept it? There’s still no singing. If you want to put him up there, you need to send that band too. There at least needs to be the validation that he created amazing music.”
No matter what anyone said, it was an audition selecting singers. How could they put a genius who could not sing in the top 10? Everyone had the same thought. It was a waste to eliminate someone like him.
“The judges just need to give him high praises. I’ll edit it somehow to make it acceptable.”
Producer Kim Ki Sik was the only one with confidence. Was it not the producer’s role to make fiction seem like reality?
“Producer Kim, do it well. Make sure there isn’t weird noise that the winner was pre-decided or that we chose based on looks again. In the end, we’re the only ones who get cursed at.”
Last season, when the handsome, ideal man won by an inch, it got to the point where Lee Sung Chul said that he would never be a judge on the show again.
However, the winner was an outstanding prize. He had female fans everywhere and he showed a sense for entertainment shows. A year later, he is on a popular variety show and he is worth a lot of money. Thanks to this, MV channel had been making a great profit.
“Sung Chul, Jun Hyuk doesn’t even have an agency. I’m saying I want to pass a kid like that. It’s not about money, so don’t worry about that.”
Producer Kim Ki Sik already had a picture of how he was going to edit the broadcast until Star Week.
The last of Star Week, the mission stage with the metal band, was going to become the most important component.
***
The last stage of Star Week. When the four members of Steel Blade and Jun Hyuk took their positions, the stage looked packed.
Once the arrangements were done, the order of how the performances would go on broadcast was up to the producer’s discretion, and the band was given the last turn because they had a lot of instruments to set up.
“I heard a lot of noise earlier. Did you set everything up well?”
Yoon Jung Su laughed while he asked as if he wanted to ease their nerves.
“Yes, it wasn’t really anything. The arrangement came out well too.”
“Jun Hyuk did the arrangement?”
“Yes.”
They needed to keep reminding the viewers that the following music was Jun Hyuk’s work. No matter how little Jun Hyuk has, this song is his song. They needed to point this out.
“Great. Should we listen to it?”
While everyone was tense, Jun Hyuk’s gentle guitar stroke adorned the intro. Then the bass came in as if it had been waiting with the drum following.
Vocal Han Ki Su did lose the first beat in the midst of the heaviness, but none of the members paid him any attention. This was a performance where it was overwhelming to successfully carry out each of their own parts.
Until the 1st line sabi (chorus) ended, the four judges moved with the music as though they were feeling the drum’s beats.
The drum solo Jun Hyuk had worked with him on came out at the bridge. This was the 15 seconds in which the drummer had to show all of the talent he had not shown as he had been matching his band members’ standards up until now.
When the drum solo started, his three members and Jun Hyuk just stared at him intently. This was so they could enter the 2nd verse on time as soon as the drum solo ended.
When 10 seconds of the drumming that sounded like fireworks had passed, Jun Hyuk suddenly stood up with his acoustic guitar.
It was different. An entirely different deployment was unfolding.
The 15 second drum solo was not for the drummer to play as he pleased. That would be an ad lib. The drum solo needed to go as it had been perfectly planned and prepared. It needed to fit in with the complete song and it needed to fuse seamlessly. Had he not polished the 15 second solo to make it perfectly?
However, when 10 seconds passed, the drummer lowered the sound of the bass drum and started to use the tom-tom and snare. It was the type of sound that gives the audience suspense right before a ghost or demon appears in a horror movie.
Due to the change in the drum, the vocal, guitar, and bassist were caught by surprise and the four judges could sense that something was going wrong.
Jun Hyuk approached the drum set with an interesting look on his face.
The drummer did not even realize that Jun Hyuk was standing in front of him. No one could tell if he knew that he was performing something different because all of his focus was on the drum set before him.
Jun Hyuk sat in front of the drum set. The judges now had to look at his back. They did not know when this confounding situation would be over, but Producer Kim Ki Sik did not stop it.
Producer Kim was so thankful that Star Week was pre-recorded that he did not know what to do. This would have been an extreme accident if it had happened during the top 10 live broadcast.
Since the producer in charge was staying still, the judges had no choice but to keep watching. Though they had been caught off-guard at first, as they listened to the drum solo – no, now it needed to be called an ad lib, it gave them marvel.
While the tom-tom and snare had crept in, the hi-hat took over. As the hi-hat steadily released the suspense, a refreshing race began. Jun Hyuk was still on the floor tapping his fingers on the body of the drum, relishing in the rhythm of the drum.
8 minutes passed like this and the drummer held the drumsticks he had been wielding like a whip still. He was out of breath and wiping the sweat off of his forehead when he froze.
It was only then that he realized what he had done.
It was as if time had stopped. Jun Hyuk who was sitting directly in front of the drum set was laughing, and he could see his three members looking devastated. He could also see two judges looking surprised and the other two laughing as though they were having fun from afar.
The drummer was certain of two facts.
They did not finish the mission song and he ruined this entire performance. Once he realized this, he could not lift his head again.
The drummer sat in a silence that seemed to go forever.
“Lift your chin. Why are you like that when you gave such an incredible performance?”
Judge Lee Sung Chul broke the silence.
“I forgot what the mission song was. I don’t know why you hid such talent up till now… You may not be able to become ‘Tomorrow’s Star,’ but you can become the best drummer representing Korea. I’m guaranteeing it.”
The drummer lifted his head at Lee Sung Chul’s compliments. When Yoon Jung Su saw the drummer’s face, he asked,
“Why did you start an improvised performance? It was completely different from what you practiced, right?”
“I don’t really know what I played. I could only see the drum set in front of me and… it felt like my head was empty…..”
Yoon Jung Su burst out in laughter at the stuttering drummer.
“Seems like you were possessed by a god. Ha ha.”
“That’s right. That does happen to musicians at times. Though it is a pity that it happened during a competition. It would have been great if it happened during a show.”
However, the relentless commentary did not fail.
Judge Son Ji Young spoke with a bad expression,
“You would receive evaluation from the audience if it were your own concert, but you need to be evaluated on how well you digested a mission song. You realize that it’s a situation where you stopped playing the mission song in the middle even if you did keep playing, right? That’s something that cannot happen. It was a performance that showed what an amateur you are.”
Lee Eun Jin’s following assessment was the same,
“The evaluation could have been different if the song had been completed when the drum ended. However, when the solo was over, everyone stood there blankly. How could you make such a mistake? Even if it was a great performance, you all need to know this stage was ruined.”
The members of Steel Blade lost even the slightest bit of hope they had. The drummer who had brightened up at the compliments hung his head again. What had he done to his members?
***
The evaluation ended at Producer Kim Ki Sik’s sign and the results were revealed.
Son Jin Young was holding the mic,
“This mission… there isn’t a winner. Jang Jun Hyuk and Steel Blade are both eliminated. You worked hard.”
The drummer who stumped back to the waiting room could not lift his face and kept repeating his apologies,
“Shit, just beat me up. If I hadn’t done something so stupid… I’m really sorry. I have nothing to say.”
“It’s okay. As he said, we were just included to sort the range of genres. I’m happy that you were able to show your full talent. That’s enough, right?”
Vocal and leader Han Ki Su pat the drummer’s back. On the one hand, he was also envious. It was not an easy feat to get compliments from Korea’s best singer.
The drummer who had been engulfed in the drum’s aftertaste, his busy thoughts, and the regret, picked up his things and approached Jun Hyuk,
“Thanks. I’m relieved because of you. I’ve gained the confidence to say that I’m a drummer wherever I go.”
“Don’t be too disappointed that you were eliminated from the auditions. You’ll get famous anyway.”
“Do you want to give me your phone number? Let’s keep in touch. Can I go to the cafe you work at?”
“Sure, mister. I want to perform with you again somewhere down the road.”
The drummer spoke to Jun Hyuk who saved his phone number,
“Hey! Why are you calling me mister? Call me brother.”
“I’ll see you later.”
He reaffirmed that this young genius did not open up his heart easily.
