Chapter 114. Rock’n’roll, Hotter Than the Sun (3)

“I did the rearrangement for the title song myself, but I’m planning to let others do the other songs.”

Kim JaeHoon said he understood and asked about other things.

“Did you compose them as well?”

“No, our exclusive composer did it.”

“Oh, your sister?”

KangYoon seemed to be slightly embarrassed by the word ‘sister’ and coughed awkwardly.

“Hmhm… Yes.”

“Wait, didn’t she write this song? ‘Spending time with you’?”

“Yeah. She’s one of our exclusive composers, Muse. I’d like to avoid using the word ‘sister’ while working.”

“Okay.”

Kim JaeHoon was very well aware that KangYoon wasn’t the type to give special treatment to his sister just because of his blood relation. He accepted it and moved on.

“We may not have many people with us, but many of them can compose. There’s me, there’s you, and there’s HyunAh as well. That’s why I wish that each of you should take care of rearranging at least one song by yourselves when you release your albums. For your next album, I’ll do one more, while you and HyunAh will do one each. That will be a total of four.”

“That’s a good idea. But HyunAh’s style is completely different from mine…”

Kim JaeHoon became a little awkward. Lee HyunAh and Kim JaeHoon’s genre of music was different. Kim JaeHoon wondered if she could overcome that difference.

“She’ll just have to widen her musical spectrum this time. Actually, that goes for both of you. You should be able to learn something if you think outside your musical specialties, right? You’ll only grow once your reasoning is more out of the box.”

“That’s true, I guess.”

Kim JaeHoon thought about it for a moment and eventually decided to accept KangYoon’s opinion. It wasn’t like she would rearrange the title track, so he thought that it wouldn’t be bad to broaden each other’s horizons.

KangYoon turned on the PC and showed Kim JaeHoon some scores. There were seven in total

“These songs here are just compositions. There are no lyrics nor is it rearranged in any way. Think of them as sketches. Think about how you can use these in your next album. Also, tell me if you think of any themes for your next album.”

“Okay, hyung.”

KangYoon left once Kim JaeHoon put on the headphones and immersed himself in music.

“Oh wait… I guess I’m sleeping in the living room now.”

Thinking about it, his bedroom was the only place that would work as a studio. KangYoon was chased out of his own room without a choice.

***

The studio was practically Kim JiMin’s own practice room now.

There, Kim JiMin was practicing the song that she would sing at Lunas’s opening event along with Park SoYoung.

“Oh, the lower parts are the problem.”

Kim JiMin exclaimed while looking at the original score.

“It’s fine if you want to play the acoustic guitar. But the reason why the original song was good was due to its bassline. But it’s hard to express bass with just an acoustic guitar.”

“It is….”

Park SoYoung played ‘Together’ on the synthesizer and explained the difficulty of playing it on the guitar.

“Though, an acoustic guitar is good and will bring the cheerful sound to life.”

“Can’t you ask ChaHee-unni for help?”

“No, she should get some rest as well. 5 minutes between performances are really big.”

Kim JiMin shook her head with a hard no, saying that this was her problem. Park SoYoung then suggested something else.

“Then I should add the bassline while maintaining that acoustic feel, right?”

“If possible, I’d like to do it with just a guitar…”

“You aren’t that good yet. If you want to do that, you’d have to be as good as those on TV.”

“Uurgh, you sure are direct with your words. Fine, I get it.”

Kim JiMin grumbled jokingly. Despite that, it would be better to properly indicate what was wrong.

Park SoYoung played the synthesizer while listening to Kim JiMin’s guitar play. The two wrote down what they should fix later with joy.

***

A cafe in Hongdae. A man and a woman were facing each other with guitars in their hands. They were talking to each other while drinking black coffee.

“SeungHye, you didn’t book Wish in September?” (Wish is the name of a club)

The man asked the woman, named Gong SeungHye while chewing the star. He was the leader of an indie band called Straw Valley. Gong SeungHye replied with a frown.

“You’re chewing on your straw again. Anyway, I booked one that’s opening soon.”

“Oh, that one? Isn’t that still under construction? How’s that place?”

Han SangTae asked in surprise. That new concert hall was a little far away from the others, and it didn’t look anything special on the outside. So no one paid attention to it.

However, Gong SeungHye’s words completely surprised him.

“The facilities are just unreal, and the rent is really cheap as well. It’s incomparable to the others. Moreover, they can hold a lot of people, and it’s not far from the subway station so it will be easy for people to find it.”

“How much did it cost?”

That was the most important question. The cost of renting venues to perform in was constantly rising. Everyone was saying that the owners of those places were leeching off poor bands.

Gong SeungHye replied immediately. Han SangTae’s eyes widened after hearing that the cost was much lower than the other places.

“…That’s insane. Do they get any profit on that? Won’t they raise the prices later?”

“I don’t think so. It’s a venue run by an entertainment company. The owner of that place said that he lowered the cost to make others lower the cost as well.”

“That sounds easy, but the world is hard.”

Han SangTae didn’t easily believe that. Then, Gong SeungHye frowned and gave him more evidence.

“World Entertainment is where The Formidables went to.”

“Lee HyunAh? The place she went to after rejecting Yerang is that place?”

It was a hot issue that Lee HyunAh rejected the offer from Yerang Entertainment because of her band members. Joining a large entertainment company was a dream for all indie bands. Vocalists had an easier time, but the ones playing instruments had a harder time. However, the small entertainment company not only just take in Lee HyunAh, but took in the whole band as well, so many people thought that they were a weird bunch.

When Han SangTae showed signs of changing his opinion, Gong SeungHye added another one.

“Kim JaeHoon belongs there too.”

“Hey, where’s World HQ?”

Han SangTae stood up without hesitation. The return of Kim JaeHoon was a hot issue not just amongst musicians, but to the public as well.

Gong SeungHye chuckled seeing that.

After that, the rumor about Lunas’s low rental cost spread out through the indie bands.

***

It was now one week before the Rock Festival.

White Moonlight was practicing hard. No one, including KangYoon, interrupted them in fear of distracting them, but today, KangYoon had to interrupt their practice as the order of events for the entire festival was here and he brought the cue sheet and the poster for the band.

Lee HyunAh and the band received them from KangYoon.

“Whoa! We’re performing at 2 p.m.?”

She was shocked after reading what was on it.

-P.M. 2:00 White Moonlight

Their names were on the poster and the cue sheet.

This was practically set in stone.

“Whoa… so we will have to perform in the scorching sun.”

Lee ChaHee and Jung ChanGyu were also unable to hide their shock. They were used to performing during night time, and this was the first time they performed during mid-day, not to mention outdoors.

They would perform on a specially constructed outdoor stage, at 2 in the afternoon, when the sun was the hottest.

“But at least we got to take first place. It would be really hard if it was 3 or 4.”

Lee HyunJi consoled everyone that there was still hope. As they were the first to perform, there should be some people with passion before getting scared by the sun. If it was 3 or 4 in the afternoon, it was likely that most of them would get tired and go home.

“We should have had the least name value. You must have worked hard to get that spot.”

Lee HyunJi’s words everyone groan. It was all thanks to KangYoon that they even got such an opportunity.

However, KangYoon continued speaking as though it was okay.

“It was impossible to get a spot in the evening. There were so many famous musicians so they didn’t even listen to my request for a time change.”

KangYoon shook his head. Hearing their conversation, the White Moonlight members became dejected. However, Lee HyunAh spoke cheerfully.

“Oh well. It’s not happening this year, but it will be different next year. Just you wait. I’ll make them put us in the evening.”

“Okay, you promised.”

“If I can’t keep it, I’ll give myself to you.”

“…….”

KangYoon knocked Lee HyunAh on the head lightly before turning around to the others.

“As you all saw, the schedule will be extremely harsh. I can only apologize. I still don’t have enough power yet. I’ll try to let you stand on a proper stage next time. Please forgive me for this one.”

White Moonlight became awkward when KangYoon apologized to them. Actually, it was amazing that they were joining the rock festival at all. But KangYoon was acting like this…

“No, not at all. We’re all thankful to you.”

Kim JinDae represented everyone’s feelings when he said that.

Lee HyunJi spoke up as well.

“We’re still a small company. Let’s assert some of our power once we become bigger.”

“Director….”

KangYoon felt thankful as he was consoled by them even though he was sorry that he wasn’t able to provide a better environment.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Leaving that aside, everyone returned to their respective positions. White Moonlight resumed practice, while KangYoon and Lee HyunJi headed towards their office.

***

The day before their performance.

KangYoon was heading towards K-POP Complex in Goyang, where the rock festival was taking place. It was a general theme park consisting of an outdoor stage, a water park, a gallery, and even some hotels.

KangYoon arrived early in the morning. he put the tag ‘staff’ on his left chest and sat on the front seats of the outdoor stage. He was here to check out the stage for White Moonlight.

There was the staff and the band ‘Dream of Baekje’ on the stage, who were the first to perform today.

“It won’t, like, rain today or something, right?”

“It will be sunny without a single cloud.”

“That will be hot.”

The staff members didn’t know whether to like or dislike the fact that it wasn’t going to rain. KangYoon sympathized with them.

Soon, they began testing the sound for the band. As the atmospheric moisture was high, testing the sound was very difficult.

‘It’s outdoors, but getting the sound right won’t be easy.’

Despite that, the staff members had good skills and were able to set the sound in time. KangYoon was relieved by that. It looked like he could trust the staff members with the sound.

The problem occurred after 11 o’clock. The shade disappeared and the sun started scorching down on the audience seats.

“It’s so hot….”

KangYoon took out his parasol that he had prepared beforehand. He felt that the heat was getting better… or not. It didn’t get any cooler at all. KangYoon felt like this under the shade, so it would be even worse for other people who were working in the sun. He felt pity for the staff and the band.

‘What do I do with our kids?’

He was worried about their health. Moreover, what if a member of the audience got heatstroke? It would be very unnerving if someone collapsed during a performance. Although the primary responsibility was with the host, it would be really complex if things went to the court.

However, he couldn’t pull them out now. Then reduce the time? That wasn’t good either. The audience would want to enjoy as many songs as possible. Everyone paid for their ticket after all.

KangYoon had mixed feelings

‘I guess we’ll have to prepare more water.’

He could only give them more water to stave off the heat. This method was the most simple one. Personal parasols and tents weren’t allowed, so the only way was with water.

‘So it comes down to money again.’

KangYoon had a look at the sheet provided by the host. He had a look at the number of water bottles provided by the host and shook his head.

‘How am I supposed to last one hour with just this?’

500 people.

700 bottles of 500ml water.

That was provided by the host. Would that suffice under the scorching sun? KangYoon was skeptical.

He then called Lee HyunJi. He asked her to order 1000 bottles of 500ml water for tomorrow. That should suffice for 500 people to drink and even sprinkle some of it. Lee HyunJi suggested that they should put White Moonlight’s logo on the bottles, and KangYoon gave the okay immediately.

The people on the stage fought against the heat while testing the sound, and checked their movement lines.

Then, when it became noon, people started entering the venue one after the other. There were couples in light clothing, and some people seemed to die-hard fans and seemed to have planned to live here for the next few days.

Then it became time.

“Hello!”

“Waaaaaa!”

The curtain to the Rock Festival opened with Kang TaeCheon from Dream of Baekje’s commentary. They were a band focused on metal. The vocalist’s voice was powerful and grabbed the audience.

-You shout every day — saying boring–

“Waaaa—!”

The audience was here to play so everyone jumped around. They weren’t just jumping around, though.

They sprinkled water, threw it, got drenched… and did everything they could to stave off the heat with the water bottle given to them by the host. They jumped, cooled themselves, and jumped again. Due to that, the water ran out very soon.

“Phew, so hot.”

“SO HOOOOT!”

The audience was drenched with water and sweat. However, without realizing that, the band on the stage went on without a stop. The audience kept jumping around as though they were enchanted. One frail-looking lady seemed to have lost focus on her eyes.

Seeing that KangYoon wrote down the things he needed.

‘Water is important.’

Dream of Baekje should have received the same 700 bottles as well. There were around 500 people in the audience as well. However, the water seemed lukewarm at best due to them being prepared a long time ago, and thanks to that, some of the audience grumbled even while drinking it.

In the end, it all came down to the fact that this was under the sun. Everyone had a good time, but KangYoon was instead focused on the chances of an accident. It was likely that White Moonlight’s performance tomorrow would turn out the same way.

‘The current temperature is 32.1 degrees centigrade. Moreover, it feels even hotter due to the humidity. Tomorrow won’t be that different.

KangYoon calmly watched Dream of Baekje’s stage and thought about what he could do to support White Moonlight’s performance tomorrow.

“Everyone, Are you hot?”

“Yeees!”

“ARE YOU HOOOOOT?”

“YEEEEEEEEEEES”

“Then let’s blast off the heat with a song. Are you ready?”

“YEES!”

The audience’s passionate voice rang out through the venue. However, they didn’t have any water to cool them off anymore.

Without evening realizing that Dream of Baekje kept continuing on with their songs.

However, due to the fatigue from the heat. the audience started returning to their seats. It started off with just one or two, but in the end, dozens left the standing seats at the front.

‘So it turns out like this.’

KangYoon shook his head. This happened within the first 30 minutes of the stage. The audience at the very front enjoyed their time without knowing what was happening at the back. However, the number of people leaving the standing seats were unceasing.

In the end, only ? of the people remained after one hour.

“Thank you.”

“Waaaaa.”

There was no encore call due to the heat. Although they tried to win against the heat through singing, they ended up losing to the heat.

KangYoon could clearly predict what kind of face the band members would have after leaving the stage. They would feel empty, confused, and even angry.

[Arrrrrrrrrrrrgh!]

Just as he had expected, KangYoon was passing by the back of the stage when he heard that grunt.

‘Looks like I should prepare well.’

There was no guarantee that the same thing won’t happen to White Moonlight tomorrow.

KangYoon resolved himself to win this fight against the heat.