Producer with no Regrets - Chapter 394



Only Noblemtl

Episode 394

“They’re all pop songs. With this… … .”

Do you think you’ll win the contest?

It was to the point where one could doubt whether Baek Seol-ha, who was so proud, was truly participating in the competition.

Although music and culture have no borders, language is a huge barrier to accepting other cultures.

Of course, it is much easier to appeal to the audience and judges by singing in Korean rather than in a foreign language.

If lyrics are the soul of a song, singing a pop song makes it much more difficult to convey the singer’s soul to the audience.

“Ha, but it’s a pop song.”

Baek Seol-ha protested timidly.

“It’s English… … .”

One of the reasons why American pop music was able to earn the title of world music is because English is practically a global language.

There are few countries in the world that do not include English in their public education curriculum.

Even those who have no connection to studying can easily know a few English words or sentences.

In other words, music in English automatically gains the right to enter the global market.

In countries where domestic popular music is not developed, music charts are sometimes filled with American pop music.

“I know the songs here, too. But I think it’s a bit difficult to do them as pop songs. It would be better to change them now… … .”

Wise-ra stopped talking after seeing Baek Seol-ha’s expression. Baek Seol-ha was biting her lips like a child who was upset because her candy was taken away.

So, I changed the direction of the question called prestige.

“Why did you decide on a pop song?”

“… … Diva.”

“yes?”

“Pop divas… I’ve admired them since I was little.”

The owners of the songs chosen by Baek Seol-ha are all famous pop stars.

Taylor Swift.

Pink (P!nk).

Kelly Clarkson.

People who rose to the top of the world with just one song.

Seongpil used to call idols, singers, actors, and other entertainers modern-day heroes and gods.

Everyone in the world knows of its existence, and people offer endless praise before the temples of television and the Internet.

Pop stars are the true gods of the modern age, shining constellations on the Olympus of media.

“If I had to fight with someone through song, I would want to fight with a pop star’s song… … .”

Even if the opponent is a teacher, I want to compete with the best songs I know.

I think that to be a competitor, it has to be a hit song that swept the world, not just a song that only Koreans know.

“If we limit it to songs, it’s songs by people I respect the most… … .”

Wisera let out a small sigh that no one else could hear.

‘It’s not for me to say anything.’

I thought that he was so confident and wanted to sing it himself. It wasn’t like other people were trying to tell him what to do.

Wise decided to listen to the songs Baek Seol-ha had chosen one by one on her phone.

The songs of pop stars filled the living room. Listening to them, Wise felt like I was back in elementary school.

“It’s been a really long time. It’s nice to hear from you again.”

“Right?”

“Yes. It reminds me of the old days. I used to check the Billboard charts every week and copy all the songs that were on there onto my MP3 player.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s right!”

“I know it took a long time to search and find it.”

“huh?”

“Aren’t all these music download sites in English? What would an elementary school student know? I was clicking around here and there and ended up installing malware and it was chaos… … .”

“Did you download it illegally?”

“yes?”

“You don’t buy it from a music site… …?”

“No, it costs several hundred won per song. It’s expensive… … .”

“Apologize now! Apologize to them!”

“Back then, everyone did it like that… … .”

“I apologize!”

I apologized.

When I heard Baek Seol-ha’s cries filled with resentment, I couldn’t help but apologize.

“Isn’t that still the case these days?”

“Why are you treating me like a criminal just because I told you a story from the past? I’m proudly listening to you with my Watermelon subscription. Okay?!”

“That’s right.”

“Ha, really.”

Wiseora looked through Baekseolha’s playlist again.

“But, sis, do you know how to sing all of these songs properly? They’re difficult songs.”

“huh.”

“You seem confident. Okay, then. What about the outfit?”

“Shall I show you?”

Seongpil showed me a picture of Baekseolha’s outfit on his phone. It was a light pink princess dress with a large chest.

When Wiserra saw that, her face began to rot.

“You’re singing while wearing something like this?”

“Something like this… … .”

“Did the production team make this? Did they make this decision even though the team leader was there?”

“I can’t help it.”

“I guess there’s nothing I can do!”

Wiserra slammed her palm on the table as if she was angry.

“You’re an idol! You have to show off your identity! Above all, these clothes are so shabby! Are they like princess clothes from a 100-year-old fairy tale? Are you okay with this, Unnie?”

“I’m fine… … .”

Wise sighed, holding the back of his neck.

“The costumes and visuals are a big part of the stage. These strangely wide clothes really create an aura. What do you think is good about this?”

“That’s because the production team writer said that my physical characteristics… … .”

Snow White stuttered as if embarrassed.

“You said it would be better if it wasn’t revealed… … . Your identity might be exposed… … . That, and… … .”

“And then, what?”

“I agree with what the writer said. No, I want to do it this way. I want to be evaluated only on my songs.”

“……under.”

Wiserra raised the corners of her eyes as if she was laughing.

“‘You want to be evaluated solely on your singing?’ Aha, I get it. You’re that type of person, unnie.”

“Uh, yeah?”

“It wasn’t ‘O Sole Mio in the West’ that looked down on popular music, it was you, Unnie. Listen carefully, Unnie. We have to use any means necessary to attract attention and interest. That’s our ultimate mission. Why would we only choose pretty and handsome people as idols? It’s because it’s easy to get attention!”

Snow White was embarrassed.

I couldn’t understand why Wisera was angry. Rather, I thought that Wisera would support my will and determination.

“Now that people are starting to recognize you, are you feeling a little buoyant and saying, ‘I want to be judged only by my singing’? Are you saying that the pop stars you like are just faceless singers?”

“… … .”

“Our faces and bodies are also our weapons. Sister, I just need people to listen to my songs and watch me dance.”

Wiserra declared proudly.

“You can walk down the street naked.”

“Sarah, that’s not it.”

“Team Leader, I know that too?! It’s a metaphor, a metaphor! Look at what this girl is thinking! While other musicians have to worry about gathering 10 people to a concert, you have oily chest, no, oily stomach, so you say such full-fat words… …!”

“Am I bad?”

Wise-ra stopped shouting. Instead, he focused on Baek Seol-ha, who was trembling as she tried to suppress her rising anger.

“Is it really worth getting yelled at for wanting to be evaluated for my singing… ?”

Wise sighed and looked around anxiously. Then, after finally gathering her composure, she nodded to Baek Seol-ha.

“I know why you are like that too. I’ve seen a lot of people like you. In Korea, the fastest and easiest way to become a singer is to debut as an idol, so there are kids who had no choice but to choose idols. I’ve also seen a lot of kids who look down on idols while saying they want to be idols.”

“I’m not looking down on you… … .”

“I know, sis.”

Wiserra cut off Baekseolha’s words with a single stroke.

“It’s frustrating when the parts you didn’t intend to show are highlighted more than the parts you wanted to show. What I mean is, you have to accept that. I think it’s a good thing that people are interested in any part of you. At least for me. Even if only one out of ten people who are interested in you are interested in your songs, and the rest are only interested in your breasts… … .”

“Look, you’re also putting your heart first!”

“If that number reaches 100 people, then 10 people will listen to your song. If that number reaches 1,000 people, then 100 people will listen to your song.”

“… … .”

“Sister, that’s a weapon. The first thing a musician should know how to do is not singing. It’s getting attention. You can only sing if someone listens to you.”

Snow White still had a sinister expression on her face.

I understood the pressure. Baek Seol-ha must have had these concerns ever since she became an idol.

How much effect would a few words have on a person who has barely had a chance to converse properly?

still…….

“There are plenty of people in the world who are good at singing. So, you have to be good at singing and have a pretty face to become a star. If you are good at singing, have a pretty face, and have a nice body, then that’s perfect. If you are also good at dancing and have a strong fan service spirit… … .”

That’s an idol.

“You’re an idol, aren’t you?”

Snow White did not answer.

No, I couldn’t.

What Wisera said was something that Seongpil would say. Baekseolha couldn’t refute the advice that seemed to come from Seongpil.

Perhaps, what Wisera said just now could have been the advice that Seongpil had given her in the past.

“Okay, guys.”

Seongpil gathered attention by clapping his hands as if he was organizing things.

“It’s good to share each other’s philosophies, but Sera, you came to help Seol-ha today. Help me.”

“What’s with that tone? As if I haven’t been of any help so far.”

“You want me to help you more diligently? Then what kind of costume would be good?”

The three of them briefly discussed competition strategy after that, and then just chatted.

In fact, only Seongpil and Wisera were talking. Baekseolha just thought about Wisera’s words with a dark face.

I had no choice but to chew on it.

What Wiserra said.

‘It’s similar to what Erica said.’

Erica said that if she thought about being evaluated based on her singing alone, it would never end.

K-pop is a broad category, so it’s wrong to be limited to just one.

‘Am I… … strange?’

* * *

Weisera entered the horizontal enter.

As soon as I left the building, which was filled with warm heater air, a cold chill stung my skin.

Wiser walked down the dark road with his hands in his pockets.

‘I should have said okay when the team leader said he’d give me a ride.’

I was just being rude.

‘No, no.’

Seongpil is the enemy.

Wise recognized Seongpil as his enemy, and he was going to make tears of regret well up in his eyes one day.

I couldn’t crave his warmth any longer.

‘That’s it for today. Yes, that’s the end of the conversation we just had.’

And as an enemy, I evaluated Baek Seol-ha, who was called Wise. A smirk naturally appeared on my lips.

‘That’s funny.’

Even though I was told that it was good to become an idol, I felt full when I actually became popular.

There must have been a time like that for Baek Seol-ha, too. A time when she hoped to somehow become known to people.

‘Our work is expendable.’

It’s a star’s job to take everything they have and turn it into a product that people will covet.

In this world, only a select few people can have commercial value through songs alone.

If you wanted something like that, you should have gone for classical music. No, even in classical music, it’s advantageous to have a handsome and pretty face.

Everything in the world is like that.

Because humans are instinctively passionate about beauty.

‘That’s really funny.’

With that kind of thinking… … .

‘I really liked the song.’

Suddenly, what Baek Seol-ha had said earlier came to mind, and Wise-ra’s steps slowed down.

‘Even when I was at school, I wanted to sing so badly that I thought I was going crazy. I wanted to sing so badly that I screamed during class.’

Wise asked her, “How much do you practice singing?” Then Baekseol started talking about her childhood.

‘There are kids like that, kids who really enjoy studying. I don’t understand it, but there are kids like that. I was like that. I loved singing.’

He said that he doesn’t practice singing often. He says that he doesn’t miss his morning pitch training, but he doesn’t sing as much as he used to.

Wise-ra felt good about beating Baek Seol-ha. She thought that since she had more practice than him, the gap would widen significantly before long.

‘But it’s not like that anymore. I feel like singing has become my life. Do you understand…? So, when I sing, it’s not as fun as when I was young. But it’s not that I hate singing or that it’s boring. Singing has become my life itself… You know, I feel bad if I don’t sing.’

Yeah, I felt good because I think I won against Baek Seol-ha in terms of practice.

But after hearing Baek Seol-ha’s story, I didn’t feel like I had won at all.

‘You said that singing is life. So for me, not singing is… … like standing on the edge of a cliff trying to die. I feel like a bad person. So when I feel like I’m going to feel bad, I sing. Then the pressure goes away. It’s not fun. But it’s not boring either. Hmm, how should I put it? It’s like eating. Hehe, is that weird?’

Because she was an idol with great influence and a musician, she was able to understand Baek Seol-ha’s words.

A person who enjoys singing even after becoming a great singer is a master. A person who enjoys artistic longevity and sings happily until the moment of death.

Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Edith Piaf.

“You came early, Sister!”

“huh.”

After coming to Success Entertainment, Wise gave Noah a light hug and went into the vocal practice room.

It’s a suffocatingly cramped place.

There is only an electronic piano and a chair in front of it, but it seems like it would be full if two people entered.

Wiserra sat down in front of the piano.

I pressed ‘do’.

“… … Hehe.”

I can’t help but sigh.

The first thing that comes to mind is ‘I don’t want to do it’.

‘okay.’

Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Edith Piaf. These are the masters.

And Snow White is first class.

One who makes song his life.

He instinctively felt the power. He wanted to become a first-class person through repeated and painful practice, but he knew that he would never be able to keep up with a first-class person like Baek Seol-ha.

I realized it.

“under…….”

Wise began to play. And then he sang. I have to do what I don’t want to do, but I have to do it. I have to do it persistently today too.

That’s the only way to keep up with the first-class.

It’s painful, but I do it.

‘Do you enjoy singing?’

I had fun once too.

‘Oh, that would be great. You can love singing even when it becomes work. Some people don’t even want to go to karaoke.’

Since you have that kind of mentality, you can say such nonsense about wanting to be evaluated only through your songs.

Wiseora understood Baek Seol-ha.

“Sarah.”

Globe’s Jiyu opened the door slightly.

“You’re past your reservation time here.”

Wise stopped playing the piano. After some time had passed, her fingers began to feel numb and her wrists began to ache.

“What’s next, Sister?”

“Yeah. But if you want to continue, then continue. I can do it somewhere else.”

“I guess it’s full today.”

“Senior Epsilon Minhyuk made a reservation and ran away. There’s one empty spot.”

“To PD-nim… … .”

Why did you run away to hear something from Yoon Sang-yeol? Wi Se-ra, who was about to say that, shook her head.

The boy group Epsilon was created when Yoon Sang-yeol was not at Success Entertainment.

Yoon Sang-yeol produced Epsilon, but he didn’t pay much attention to them. You could say that Yoon Sang-yeol is like a new father, not showing affection to those who are not his blood relatives.

‘affection?’

Globe found it funny that he came up with that word.

I wanted to appeal to him that if what he was receiving was affection, he could please stop receiving it.

“Where did you go today?”

Jiyu lightly threw a 500ml water bottle at Wiseura. Seeing that the water bottle on the piano was empty, she spilled the water she was going to drink.

Wiser took it with one hand and quenched his dry throat.

“I just came out to play.”

“where?”

“Should my sister know?”

“When I ask you this question, if you avoid answering, it’s called dating.”

Jiyu is a tight-lipped person even within the globe.

If you make up stories that aren’t true, you’ll be easily caught, and even if you avoid talking, strange rumors will spread among Globe members.

I had no choice but to say that it was a matter of power.

“I went to see Team Leader Park. No. I went to see Seol Ha from the Girls’ League. Regarding ‘The Unknown Singer’… … .”

“Brother?”

Jiyu either had never heard the name ‘Baek Seol-ha’ or was intentionally ignoring it, so she immediately called Seong-pil.

“Where have you seen it?”

“Horizontal Enter.”

“Directly to the company?”

“uh.”

“Will you meet me?”

“Then you’re afraid you’ll get hit with salt and get kicked out?”

“Oh, I see.”

Jiyu waved her hand with a big smile. Her bright face continued to shine through the gap until the door closed.

Finally, the door closed, and Weissera was left in silence again.

Wise placed his hands on the keyboard.

‘I have to practice. My homework is due in a few days.’

What an assignment.

I thought that once I debuted as an idol, I would be forever detached from words that gave off this trainee vibe.

Even though she became an idol with great power, she lived under the same stress as a trainee. In fact, she felt more pressure than when she was a trainee.

When I was a trainee, I only had the worries of a trainee, but now I have the worries of an idol too.

The performance was called Wiseura.

Yoon Sang-yeol’s voice comes to mind along with the sound of the keyboard.

‘When I was at Berkeley, I took a singing class. When I was singing, the professor asked me why I sang like that. Every time I sang, he just kept repeating that question.’

He sang to the accompaniment of the accompaniment called Wise.

‘It’s ridiculous. If I tell them the reason, they ask me again why I thought that way. It’s a never-ending question. I repeated that for a whole semester.’

I sang and sang again.

‘Why would you do that? You are lucky to be able to hear this answer right away. That professor wanted his students to painfully realize that the important thing in singing is not to simply reproduce the techniques you learned, but to empathize with the speaker of the song and sing about his life. He wanted them to realize that by repeating just one song hundreds, thousands of times. It took me three months to realize that… … .’

Calling, and calling again.

‘You just had an epiphany in 20 seconds. Okay, then.’

Call.

‘Sing.’

The song was called Wise.

He desperately sang along to the lyrics of a speaker he could not relate to at all.

[Friend

We are born free

[Let your neon light continue to shine brightly]

Those who do not know freedom sing of freedom.

My throat is cracked from long practice.

All the skills she had built up over the years crumbled, and all that came out of her throat was emotion.

Wiserra was finally able to imitate the speaker of the song, to evoke his emotions.

After repeated practice, there was nothing left. Instead, everything was lost. Wiserra’s heart became empty.

‘You must be able to express everything from the innocent laughter of a child to the excited whispering to a lover. When I tell you to do something, you must do it as I say and get the results you want. This is the practice for that.’

I thought it was a power.

This is not the song I want to sing.

That’s not the voice I wanted.

The time I spent practicing wasn’t for this, I wasn’t singing to imitate something I wasn’t.

It was a song to express myself… … .

But right now, that’s probably what his producer wants.

Wisera, the ruins that were created when her life’s unique voice was destroyed.

On top of that, Yoon Sang-yeol will build a new tower.

Wiserra made a mockery of herself.

‘Sister Seol-ha, I hope you like it. You can still sing without feeling any pain… … .’

The flower buds that had been waiting with bated breath to bloom towards the world were roughly torn off by someone’s hand and forcibly revealed their leaves.

The singer, who no longer loved singing, continued practicing until the moon hung over his head.

It continues to be painful.

* * *

Painfully, Sungpil had to continue listening to Baek Seol-ha’s declaration with a sharp look in her eyes.

I really wanted to shut her mouth, but I couldn’t.

Seongpil spoke as if protesting to the people in the office.

“Oh, no. I didn’t order it… … .”

Seongpil remained true to his feelings as if he didn’t care what happened.

“I won’t be ashamed anymore. I’ll be proud. Just like you said, sir. I won’t hide it anymore. I’ll show it off proudly. Because this is the charm I have.”

Snow White shouted refreshingly.

“I will reveal myself!”