Chapter 267: First Full Album (3)

“I'm sorry if I’m being unnecessarily suspicious, but please check it anyway. I've heard that these cases are surprisingly common."

“Yeah, Hyun-Woo is right. There has been an increase in staff for the Chronos team recently, and I can't be certain that everyone is innocent."

In the otherwise quiet living room, Su-Hwan put a strand of hair, photos, and the sticky note into an envelope and stood up.

“All the cameras have been removed now, so you can rest easy. The company we called today is trustworthy enough to be called on every single tour for Allure."

“But how can we rest easy..."

Since cameras had also been found in the room of the youngest members, Yoon-Chan and Jin-Sung seemed very anxious and would not let go of Su-Hwan.

“Can we just sleep in our practice room?"

“We will move you to a better place soon. That place will have good security," Su-Hwan said resolutely. He seemed troubled.

“But, for now..."

“I’m sorry. We know you are concerned because we didn't handle this situation well, but please, believe me, the accommodation you live in right now is really safe. For the time being, the staff will take turns staying here even if you leave the accommodation."

“Right, okay,” Joo-Han said, patting Jin-Sung and Yoon-Chan on their backs. “I checked all over the place earlier. Even under the toilet seat. There are no cameras now, it's really okay." He signaled to Su-Hwan. “You can go now, hyung. Hyun-Woo and I will take care of the other members. You are busy, so don’t worry too much about us."

“Ah, okay. Please take care of them. Call me if anything comes up."

Joo-Han nodded. Su-Hwan left the accommodation, looking worried.

***

“If you guys are that scared, shall we all sleep in the living room together tonight?"

“All together? Oh!"

“I wonder if all five of us can fit?"

“Oh, yeah,” Goh Yoo-Joon said. “We used to sleep like this all the time when we were trainees. It will be fine."

The two trembling 'rabbits' had not yet entered the room. Yoo-Joon was reassuring Yoon-Chan and Jin-Sung.

Surprisingly, I had already calmed down, but Joo-Han lent me his work equipment to focus on something else since I was the first one who noticed the issue.

Thanks to him lending me his room, I was able to focus on work all day. Should I call it working to vent out my frustration? It seemed like I worked well when I was angry. The part that I had been stuck on during the last work session suddenly cleared up, and I completed the song quickly. It even turned out quite well.

Of course, I hadn’t worked on it alone, but I couldn't help but be pleased that a song that listed my name as the composer turned out this well.

I was listening to it on repeat because I liked it so much when someone knocked on the door.

“Hyung.” Yoon-Chan peeked through the door gap and rolled his eyes before gauging my reaction.

I gestured for him to come in and pulled a chair over from the back. “Hey, Yoon-Chan. What's up?"

“There's nothing urgent. It’s just..."

After Yoon-Chan entered the room, I sensed a strong coffee aroma. He casually placed a cup of coffee for me on the desk and sat down.

“They were out of the soda you like."

“Did you bring this for me to drink? Thanks. I will enjoy it."

As I spoke, Yoon-Chan looked embarrassed and chuckled shyly. “No, I do this every day for Joo-Han hyung..."

Ah, now that I thought about it, I remembered seeing in a profile that Yoon-Chan made coffee every morning whenever Joo-Han or the other members were working late on the songs.

“Yoon-Chan."

“Yes?"

“You are really kind. Thank you so much."

Even though he was trembling with fear from the stalker incident earlier, he still thought about making me a cup of coffee...

Yoon-Chan turned as red as a beet and waved his hand. “Um... So, how's the song going... Is it going well?"

“Song? Ah, it just needs some finishing touches. Want to listen?"

“Can I?"

Instead of answering, I handed him the headset.

‘It might end up being your song, so listen carefully.’

The song played. I pretended to look at the program on the monitor, but I was actually watching Yoon-Chan's expression. As he listened carefully to the song, Yoon-Chan gradually smiled more and more as the song progressed. Soon his eyes sparkled as he looked at me.

“Hyung... Hyung! This is a real gem! The song is so nice, but I lack the words to express how good it is... It's super good!"

Though Yoon-Chan couldn’t express himself properly, his rich facial expressions clearly showed how much he liked the song.

I couldn't hide my smile as I patted him on the back. “Thank you. Do you think it's ready to be sent to the company?"

“Yes! Really. Truly." Yoon-Chan feared he might not express his good feelings enough, so he explained by gesturing with his whole body how much he liked the song.

"..."

This cutiepie. Should I just give the song to Yoon-Chan? I was tempted to change it a bit and make it a tropical song and gift it to him, but then he might feel bad. It also wouldn't be right to do so because of the many people who had helped me so far, so I managed to suppress the impulse to do anything rash.

"Thank you."

Yoon-Chan left so as to not disturb me further and returned to Goh Yoo-Joon and Jin-Sung. I finished the song and sent it to Producer Do, completing my task.

***

[Chronos Promises Strong Response, No Leniency for Unauthorized Fan Intrusion into Residence]

It was not a fan, but a stalker. YMM quietly began a prosecutor's investigation into the break-in of a stalker into our residence and soon obtained some information about them, including their nationality. Clearly, this stalker was from abroad, and our options to respond were significantly limited. It would be faster and simpler to protect us rather than to punish that individual.

YMM issued a strong warning and made it a big issue but, strangely, there was an explosive increase in 'caller ID blocked' calls to all of us. It seemed that the last article had actually led to sales of our personal information.

Medium-sized agencies like YMM, and even large agencies like YU, often had to give up on some efforts to protect their artists due to the overwhelming number of information-selling stalkers. The stalkers knew this, so crimes continued endlessly.

We kept complaining to the company about the residence we lived in. Fortunately, since the last Allure stalker incident, YMM had been fiercely motivated, and at least they were actively working to catch domestic information-selling stalkers. It seemed High Tension had almost given up, but it was ironic and truly grateful that our company was doing what even the big ones had given up on.

We didn't know when this would be resolved. For now, as Su-Hwan hyung said, we decided to trust YMM and focus solely on our comeback for a while.

The comeback preparations officially began.

“Hyun-Woo, about your song."

It was not selected as the soundtrack, and the decision was made not even after a few seconds of hesitation. Producer Do continued speaking without caring that I was pouting.

“Instead of the soundtrack, let's put it on the album. What do you think?"

“Ah... Ughhh!" I whined and slid off the chair, sprawling on the floor.

It was exactly what Jin-Sung did when he threw a tantrum, and I felt like throwing one now.

I knew it. They had sent Joo-Han's song to the broadcasting stations right away, but whenever I asked about my song, the response was always 'not yet, not yet.'

“Producer..."

“Hahaha, Hyun-Woo, why are you upset? You make me feel bad."

“You told me to give it a try... You told me to try..."

“Yes, Hyun-Woo. You are good at writing songs, better than I expected. I was trying to give both Joo-Han's and your songs a chance to shine."

I had worked so hard to meet the deadline! Despite his apology, Producer Do did not look sorry at all. He just chuckled as if watching a young child throw a tantrum. “Honestly, it was Joo-Han who fit the soundtrack well. Your song is good too, but if we put it where it's sure to fall through, we'd have to wait for it to be evaluated and we would not be able to use it in the meantime.”

“I still wanted to try submitting my song, Producer.”

I understood what he was saying. It if came down to choosing between Joo-Han’s song and mine, during the evaluation period, my song would be rejected. Therefore, rather than waiting for the evaluation period, he was telling me to include it on the album. Having it on one of our setlists was great, but...

“But you could still submit it for evaluation...”

I was disappointed, especially in Producer Do. I felt somehow betrayed. I knew he was decisive and calculated, but still...

“Okay, I'm sorry. Instead, I will help you with its arrangement. I heard from Joo-Han that if it gets rejected, you were going to change it to a tropical style and give it to Yoon-Chan."

“Ahhh! That's only if it gets rejected."

“Get up. Let's talk, little guy." The producer tried to lift me up from the floor, then gave up and sat down, letting out an awkward laugh. “I'm too big to be lifting you easily, man. Get up, quickly. The floor's dirty, kid."

“...I know."

“Since when have you become so familiar with me? You used to hardly talk. Get up, come on."

I felt closer to him since the fun times we had promoting “Joy.” I reluctantly got up while mumbling in my mind. The producer sighed deeply and opened the program with my song.

“Instead, I will help you make this a number-one hit. Okay? You will see the royalty payments Joo-Han always talks about. I will help make sure it hits number one on the charts as Yoon-Chan's solo song."

Producer Do, a pillar of YMM and consistently among the top five in royalty earnings in South Korea for ten years, finally surrendered to my tantrum and offered to help arrange the song for free.

“You are producing Yoon-Chan's first solo song, man. Know that this is an honor. Why would you dislike it when it's a compliment that it’s too good to be only a soundtrack?"

Ultimately, my song fell into YMM's scheming and became Yoon-Chan's solo song instead of a drama soundtrack.