Chapter 256: Featuring (2)

Kang Ra-Eun already knew what featuring was before stepping foot into the entertainment industry, so she was even more confused about why she had been given such a proposal. The fact that the one proposing it was a singer herself was even weirder.

“Why ask me...? Shouldn’t you be doing it?”

Considering that Han Ga-Ae had been the one to bring it up instead of Je-Woon...

“I’d guess that you were given the offer first,” Ra-Eun surmised.

Ga-Ae was impressed by Ra-Eun’s quick wits.

- That's right. It’s as you’ve guessed, but I told sunbae that I’m too busy with my own album. Still, it’s a bit of a waste to hand such a great opportunity to someone else, so I thought I might as well try asking you since you two are pretty close. Also, you’re a great singer, Ra-Eun.

In the past, Ga-Ae had been the only one who knew Ra-Eun’s singing skills, so she often wanted to let Ra-Eun’s beautiful voice be known to the world in any way possible.

- Je-Woon sunbae also said that he’d love for you to feature in his song. What do you say, Ra-Eun? I don’t think it’s a bad idea for you to try standing on a different kind of stage once in a while.

Back when Ra-Eun had only starred in dramas during her early acting career, she had heard from her seniors that it was important to try out all kinds of things while one was still young. Such experiences would meld with one’s acting and bring out a performance with even more depth and richness. Ra-Eun also agreed with the statement; there was no better teacher than experience. However...

“Singing is a bit...”

She was fine with anything physical, but was still reluctant with singing since she was still not used to singing in the female key. That was why she had always avoided going to karaoke with her friends despite them begging her.

It was natural for Ra-Eun to refuse, considering her personality, but she had owed Je-Woon a great debt recently. She had requested him to make a few posts that gave off the feeling that he was supporting Congresswoman Hong Oh-Yeon during the general election. Like Ra-Eun had hoped, Oh-Yeon had received the support of women between the ages of teens and thirties, allowing her to proudly become a member of the National Assembly.

Although it was a stretch to say that Je-Woon had single-handedly allowed for Oh-Yeon to be elected, it was an undeniable fact that he had been a great help. Although he had reserved her kiss scene as a condition, it was not like Ra-Eun had given him a sure answer, nor had she properly repaid him in any way yet.

‘It might be better to just use this opportunity to repay him.’

Ra-Eun did not like to feel indebted to someone.

“Okay. I’ll talk it over with sunbae,” she replied.

- Got it. Sunbae’s number is... Oh, you probably already have it.

It was obvious, considering Ra-Eun was closer to Je-Woon than Ga-Ae was. Ra-Eun’s head was still filled with the featuring offer even after ending the call with Ga-Ae.

‘Singing, huh...?’

She was experiencing all kinds of things after becoming a celebrity.

***

Even with Ga-Ae’s passionate recommendation and Je-Woon’s interest in her, there was still a process that Ra-Eun needed to go through, which was a test. Ra-Eun arrived at BF Entertainment, Je-Woon’s agency. The building was very refined and massive after the agency became globally famous thanks to Bex.

‘I think it’s bigger than Levanche.’

It was no wonder. Levanche was still only in the domestic market, while BF possessed influence on a global scale.

Ra-Eun met up with Je-Woon at the lobby and was guided to a recording booth on the third floor. The exclusive producer of Bex and several other staff members welcomed Ra-Eun.

“You’re probably the first actress to ever set foot in here, Ra-Eun.”

“It’s an honor,” she replied.

Actors and singers were both in the entertainment industry, but they were in completely different subfields. The only reason that an actor would come to a recording booth was to make OSTs or record narrations.

Je-Woon pointed to a chair and remarked, “You can sit over here.”

“Thank you, sunbae.”

Ra-Eun relieved her thirst with the beverage that the staff members had prepared for her.

“I’d heard from Ga-Ae that your singing skills are no joke,” Je-Woon said.

“No, it’s average.”

“You don’t have to be so modest. I watched the video of you singing at a wedding. You were good.”

Ra-Eun’s wedding song video had been trending a while ago. It was not enough to gauge her true skill since it had been filmed in a hurry with a smartphone, but it was not like she was bad. Ra-Eun continued to deny it even while Je-Woon praised her. She believed that she was only good among her friend group, and was nowhere near good enough to feature in a globally famous artist’s album. Hence, she was planning on taking the test and giving up without regrets if they didn’t believe she was up to par.

“Then before we get down to business...” Je-Woon uttered. “Shall we hear you sing?”

“Okay.”

Ra-Eun finished the remaining beverage in the glass. It was a habit of hers to constantly drink before singing. She quickly looked around after entering the booth. The walls were built to be soundproof, and a lone standing mic stood in the middle. Every single thing about this place was unfamiliar to Ra-Eun. She recalled the time when she had come to a filming set when she had first debuted.

‘It feels similar.’

Ra-Eun tied her hair back with the hair tie on her wrist so that the strands wouldn’t bother her while singing.

“Ah, ah.”

She quickly warmed up her voice and placed down the lyrics sheet under the mic.

Je-Woon, who was standing outside the booth, said to her, “Give us a hand signal when you’re ready. We’ll turn on the instrumental tune.”

“Okay.”

Ra-Eun took a deep breath and gave them an OK sign with her hand. She was ready. The song that Ra-Eun had chosen, ‘Autumn Letter’, began to play through the headset that she was wearing. It was the only one out of her eighteen go-to songs that was sung by a woman.

‘I always used to sing in the male key at karaoke.’

However, there was no need for that anymore since her voice was now that of a woman.

‘I guess being able to sing the songs I want in their original key is also a benefit of becoming a woman.’

Ra-Eun had unintentionally found yet another plus of being a woman. It was a slow-tempo folk song with an acoustic guitar as the base. Ra-Eun stood before the mic and began to sing.

The scorching summer has left,

And autumn has arrived with a breeze.

I will write a letter with all my heart,

With the falling autumn leaves in hand.

Ra-Eun’s serene voice traveled beyond the booth. The producer and Je-Woon exchanged glances.

“Ra-Eun is far better than we had expected, isn’t she?” the producer mentioned.

“She is," replied Je-Woon.

Not even he had noticed her phenomenal talent as a singer. Ra-Eun continued to sing while they were taken aback.

Before winter comes,

Withering away the autumn leaves,

I will send you

A letter of love.

Ra-Eun passed the high-pitch section without issue. She did not even seem to have had any difficulty with it. Her flawless and lovely voice soothed the hearts of everyone listening. She could act, run a business, and was even a great singer.

“What can't Ra-Eun do exactly?” the producer shortly remarked.

Je-Woon unconsciously nodded.

***

The test result was without a doubt...

“You pass.”

However, Ra-Eun was not entirely happy. Before singing, she had thought that maybe she should sing badly on purpose and fail so that she wouldn’t have to go through the hassle of featuring in a song. However, she had changed her mind in the middle. Her desire to repay the debt that she owed to Je-Woon as soon as possible won in the end.

Not only that, Ra-Eun’s personality did not tolerate half-assing anything that she did. Adding her competitive nature to her desire to repay a debt, she had ended up passing the test.

“Your tone of voice happens to be exactly the one we’re looking for, and I think it’ll fit really well with my title track. So, what do you say?”

The choice came down to Ra-Eun. There was no reason to think long and hard about it.

“If I can be of help, I’ll do my best.”

‘Thank you so much, Ra-Eun.”

And like that, Ra-Eun had joined Je-Woon’s solo album production. However, that aside...

“Is the song complete?” she asked.

The title track was the most important part of Je-Woon’s album. Je-Woon glanced toward his producer, whose face had frozen. Ra-Eun could tell what the answer was from his face.

“Not yet, it seems.”

Her remark stabbed the producer right in the heart.

***

The melody was done, but the song itself was nowhere near complete. Ra-Eun had expected to feature in the song right away, but the reality had been underwhelming in her perspective.

‘No, think positive. The more time I have, the more I’ll be able to practice, right?’

It all came down to how one thought and how well one used the time given to them. Now that it had come to this, Ra-Eun decided to polish her singing skills to the point that music fans from all over the world would be satisfied with her voice.

“What will you be doing in the meantime, Je-Woon sunbae?” she asked.

“Me? Well, I’ll be working on the other songs.”

There were to be a total of three tracks in Je-Woon’s first album, and the two B-side tracks were already complete.

“Our producer works super fast once he gets on a roll, but in exchange, he’s way too slow when he can’t get inspiration. As for right now, it’s the latter.”

“I see.”

Production jobs were usually like that. Although Ra-Eun had never worked on music before, she could understand what the producer was going through for some reason.

“But Ra-Eun. Why have you been hiding your singing skills until now when you’re so good?”

“Because I’m not really used to singing in front of others.”

“But you were really good despite that. You looked confident, and...” Je-Woon slurred and continued in embarrassment, “You were extremely pretty.”

Ra-Eun had never checked for herself what she looked like when singing. She had a few male acquaintances who liked girls that could sing.

‘I guess Je-Woon sunbae is one of them’

Even if he was, it did not matter since he was already head over heels for Ra-Eun.