Chapter 80: Lim Doha’s Song

Sizzle-

The sound of meat sizzling. Muyoung watched the meat brown and reminisced about the past. The meat party they all had together at the academy. Come to think of it, Junho bought it back then…….

“Now I’m the one buying it.”

“Huh? Why? Don’t you like it?”

“No. I’m just touched.”

After hearing Muyoung’s muttering, Junho flipped the meat diligently. Bora took a sip of cider and asked Yuchan,

“What are you going to do from now on?”

Yuchan smiled at those words. The answer was already clear.

“I’m going to focus on theater.”

The academy deliberately shunned theater. The director, Oh Seok, had gone down that path himself and suffered greatly, and the acting styles pursued in theater and broadcasting were different.

“I’m finally starting to understand why theater is called the flower of acting.”

Drama is the flower of the writer. Film is the flower of the director. Theater is the flower of the actor, isn’t it? With minimal sound and lighting, they had to stand on stage and carry the play through acting alone.

“It’s so much fun to do it. I also know what I really wanted.”

Yuchan confessed quietly to the director.

“The fact that appearing on TV through dramas or movies was actually a secondary issue. I wanted to act, so I wanted that, but at some point, it seemed like things had gotten reversed. Like I had to do that in order to act?”

“You practiced theater once and became a monk.”

Bora laughed and put some meat on his plate. Looking at Bora, Junho whined silently. Sure enough, the meat went straight into his mouth.

“Even if I starve, I’m going to live like this for a while.”

“Oh well. If that’s your choice. I found it difficult too, but looking back, that time was the most fun. I was happy. Times have changed a lot these days.”

In the past, if it was theater, it was acting, and if it was drama, it was drama. There were often cases where the scope of activity was clearly defined like that. But these days, that boundary has largely collapsed.

“I’ll cheer you on.”

“Thank you, teacher.”

“You were amazing today. Huh? I wonder when you grew up so much?”

Oh Seok ruffled his hair and teased him proudly. The short summer of wandering had ultimately helped him find his way in life. It was truly fortunate.

“I’ll cheer for you too. Be sure to let me know whenever you put on a play.”

“Of course. Didn’t you see earlier? The theater audience was all acquaintances.”

It’s especially like that for the premiere.

Most of the seats were filled by the actors’ families, lovers, and friends. Muyoung smiled and stuffed a huge mouthful of meat into his mouth.

“Oh, by the way, aren’t you going to take a leave of absence?”

“Huh? How did you know?”

“When you went to the bathroom earlier.”

In response to Oh Seok’s question, Muyoung just blinked. It wasn’t certain yet, but it probably would be. With drama filming scheduled, it would be hard to focus on just that.

‘Tuition is also a waste.’

But the biggest concern was still the dormitory. You only had to pay 800,000 won per semester…… The temptation was enormous. There were no maintenance fees or utility bills.

“I’m still thinking about it.”

“What about the officetel you’re living in now?”

“I’ll have to move out in about two weeks.”

Now that the ghost was gone, all that was left was to make a good deal with the landlady, Buyong. Muyoung watched the director carefully and thought.

‘Should I tell the director everything honestly and ask for help?’

Soon, when the drama aired, Buyong would also find out that Muyoung was an actor, not a Dr. Martel employee. It was too risky to say he had performed an exorcism directly.

‘Introduce the director as my uncle…….’

Hmm. The answer wasn’t as clear as I thought.

Muyoung just shook his head at the director, who raised his eyebrows and asked why.

“It’s a vacant house because a ghost lives there, but I’d like you to live there. It’s a nice place.”

“Ghost? Really?”

“Yes. But I’ve never seen one while living there.”

That’s because Muyoung had firmly told the ghost not to. Muyoung pondered deeply and just kept chewing on the meat.

“Yuchan, are you going straight back to the theater?”

“Yeah. Anyway, we have a performance tomorrow, so there’s not much to clean up, but I’m going to get feedback from the team members. What about you and Junho?”

“Home—”

“I’m going on a date!”

Bora said she was going home, but Junho cut her off cheekily. Yuchan looked at him and burst out laughing sincerely.

“Okay. Have a good date.”

The special feelings between the two were all in the past. Junho, who was jealous and anxious like that, seemed cute. He looked at Muyoung.

“What about you?”

“I have to go record a song.”

“Recording? At this time? It’s almost night.”

It’s time to wash your feet and go to bed, not record.

In response to Junho’s grumbling, he just shrugged his shoulders. What do I know? I don’t know about musicians’ circumstances.

“They say your voice usually opens up in the evening. But Ciwon’s schedule didn’t work out, so it had to be postponed.”

“Wow. Ciwon? Ciwon from Zero Term?”

“Ha Muyoung has really made it. Seriously.”

He’s friends with top idols, brothers, and friends, isn’t he? He’s even landed a lead role in a terrestrial miniseries drama. And Jin Gyeongmun’s movie is coming out soon.

Junho seriously grabbed his hand and muttered,

“Even if your value goes up later, you’ll still be a BORNTORE model, right?”

“If the pay is right?”

“Ouch! Please give me a discount!”

“Haha. I’m just kidding. I’m kidding.”

I’ll probably keep BORNTORE going as long as I can. How much has Junho done for me until now? Muyoung said playfully, and Bora gestured.

“You’ll probably have your production presentation and schedule set soon, so get BORNTORE to sponsor you then. I’m going to get one this time.”

“Huh? Really? Is it all set?”

“Yeah. We were their SNS models, remember? You don’t know that my feed went viral, do you?”

Yes. I don’t know.

I’m not used to SNS, and when I go on it, I just check comments and DMs. Even that was limited because it was a company-managed account.

“If you ask the company, they’ll give it to you smoothly.”

Right? In response to Bora’s gaze, Junho nodded vigorously.

“Of course. It’s Muyoung, after all. Full set from head to toe is possible.”

“Just hearing that makes me grateful.”

Saying that, Muyoung scraped up the remaining rice and meat. When he got to the studio, he’d have to sing all day and night, so he had to fill his stomach!

After finishing the meal, he confidently picked up the bill.

“I’ll pay for it today.”

“Ohh— Ha Muyoung!”

“Superstar Ha Muyoung~”

It was a small pork restaurant in an alley, but the fact that he could live like this was something to be grateful for. Muyoung put on a playful, haughty expression and handed his card to the counter staff.

“It was delicious!”

A studio in Seocho-dong. Ciwon, who had finished his schedule, entered with a tired face. The CF shoot that had started in the morning had taken longer than expected.

“Hello.”

“Oh. You’re here? You look tired.”

“It’s already night.”

Even in response to a greeting from a crew member who shared the studio, Ciwon was sharp. He wasn’t eating well, and he had been through so much today. It was understandable that he was sensitive.

‘Today must be that day.’

‘Shh. Let’s pretend we don’t know.’

But he’s going to work there too?

You can see the ultimate level of sensitivity.

The manager, too, had been silent since he came in and was only organizing Ciwon’s bag.

“Where’s Ha Muyoung?”

“He should be here soon—”

As he sighed and changed his clothes, he heard a noise outside.

“Hello! It’s Ha Muyoung! Nice to meet you!”

Unlike the low-pressure Ciwon, Muyoung was in very high spirits. He entered the studio, emitting the smell of meat. Ciwon’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Hello. Ciwon.”

“Did you eat meat?”

“Yes. I ate well because I’m going to record all night.”

“……Lucky guy.”

He replied like that and then went into a small room. The bewildered Muyoung, who had just been scolded, tilted his head and looked at the staff.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No. He’s just having a hard time today. He’ll be twice, no, three times more sensitive than usual.”

“……Really?”

Ko Gyeongmin, who was standing next to him, heard that and grabbed Muyoung’s arm with a worried expression. I’ve heard that when it comes to music, he’s a perfectionist…….

“Come on, let’s do our best. Muyoung.”

Of course. I’m going to do my best! When Muyoung winked to reassure him, Ciwon, dressed lightly, came out.

“Okay. Let’s get started right away. Sit over there. I’ll let you hear the song.”

Muyoung put on the headset as Ciwon instructed. Soon, a melody flowed out. It was a very energetic yet heavy song with a strong beat.

“How is it?”

In response to Ko Gyeongmin’s question, Muyoung gave a thumbs up.

It’s the perfect music for the self-obsessed, arrogant Doha character.

“It’s the best.”

And the chorus is addictive too. I love it!

“The next one has a guide on it.”

It was Ciwon’s voice, probably because he did it himself. But since it was a guide, the lyrics were a mess. It started with Donghae Water and Baekdusan and went on to spew all sorts of alien language.

“Whoa, is the guide usually like this?”

“……? Hey! I told you to prepare properly!”

In response to Muyoung’s question, he frowned for a moment and then shouted. What he had just played was the first guide when the lyrics hadn’t come out yet, and since the lyrics had been completed, there was another one made based on that.

“Huh.”

Muyoung was so surprised that he was about to bite his tongue. The atmosphere froze in an instant. Ciwon ran his hand through his hair and apologized.

“Sorry. Let’s listen to the guide and then go straight to recording. It’s impossible to do it in just one day anyway.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Muyoung listened to the song and memorized the lyrics. There was no need to memorize them anyway, since he’d be looking at them inside. But…….

“Is this part fixed, by any chance?”

“Why?”

“Ah. Um.”

As I read it, there was something that bothered me.

After hesitating, Muyoung finally spoke up.

“Here, the part that goes, ‘Even if the regrets of the distant past come to find me—’, it doesn’t really fit the character.”

The Doha that Muyoung knew was a straight-ahead type who never regretted anything in his life. In response to his words, Ciwon clicked his pen.

“Then?”

“Um. I don’t know.”

I can’t think of a good replacement for that part.

Muyoung smirked, and he drew a line through the lyrics with his pen, as if resigned.

“Then just skip this part for now and take the beginning.”

I’ll have to think about the lyrics again.

If it were a regular OST, this part could be overlooked, but in the drama, this is a song that Doha wrote and composed himself. And it’s the band’s main song. The character’s personality has to come through.

‘This is fucking hard.’

It was Ciwon’s first time doing an OST too. He gestured to Muyoung to go into the booth.

“Let’s just sing it from beginning to end once. And then we’ll take it step by step. For the part you just mentioned, just hum it. Okay?”

It’s like warming up by singing in a karaoke room. Muyoung entered the unfamiliar booth and drew a circle with his finger. Hehe. It’s kind of fascinating.

‘Wow. The sound outside really doesn’t come in.’

It was a completely soundproof booth, cut off from the outside. It was only connected to the outside through a speaker on the inside. When he put on the headset, the song played.

-Sing it lightly.

“Yes.”

Muyoung replied like that and closed his eyes.

Doha, Lim Doha!

The leader of Melligelrin and a music-loving artist.

A man who thinks he’s the best in the world and is a wonderful man worthy of that. A man who, on stage, is not inferior to anyone in the world.

For this moment, Muyoung was Doha.

“It was beautiful sunshine—”

Muyoung opened his mouth as he looked at the lyrics.

Ciwon, who had been listening quietly, raised his head and looked into the booth.

“You’re the type whose voice changes when you sing?”

“But it sounds much better. Your pitch is good too.”

“Didn’t you say you can’t sing? Huh? Ciwon?”

“Your tone is good. It fits the song perfectly.”

Muyoung, possessed by Doha, sang his heart out.

With his stomach full of meat, his friend’s affairs going well, and the ghost gone, it was truly a wonderful night for him.

“You’ll fall for my charm— You won’t be able to escape!”

And he even naturally added lyrics to the part that was supposed to be hummed.

At that moment, the two men felt something strange. Ciwon felt his hunger and sensitivity disappear.