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“Can I give you a song?”
“You finally understand me.”
I took out my cigarette. Despite being in the lobby of a studio building, Lim Hyunsoo didn’t stop me.
Yeah, who dares to stop me.
Lim Hyunsoo also looked like he was eager to smoke a cigarette as I flicked the golden cap of the lighter.
“Would you like a smoke?”
“
Didn’t you say you’re an idol?”
“
Ah?”
Come to think of it, can’t idols smoke? While I was fiddling with my chin for a while on something I had never considered, Lim Hyunsoo muttered bitterly.
“Just what are you
”
Lim Hyunsoo sneaked a peek and asked one.
Tak, tak.
When I turned on the lighter and kindly lit it, Lim Hyunsoo trembled as if he had goosebumps.
I looked at him slowly and said.
“Composer, here’s what I want. Please pick a song with a high-quality beat.”
“Is it fancy and simple? Don’t give me orders. Sigh, 
Do you only need one?”
“Yes, I’ll release it as a single. I’ll think about the full-length album later.”
“What’s the concept? Have you decided?”
It was a good point.
When I roughly explained what I was thinking, Lim Hyunsoo took out his notebook from his pocket and start scribbling.
I could only explain the concept in an abstract way because I hadn’t talked to the planning team yet, but when I talked about the genre, Lim Hyunsoo seemed to understand it perfectly.
“I see. I roughly know the direction. Write down the down payment and the period and send the contract.”
“What do you mean contract?”
“What?”
“Before that, what do you mean a down payment?”
There was no way The Dawn’s agency had money to send to Lim Hyunsoo. At least there was no budget for The Dawn’s comeback song. That one thing was certain.
No, but is Lim Hyunsoo still out of his mind? Seeing that he was still talking about the down payment.
I spoke clearly.
“Composer is donating his talent.”
Wake up, in this harsh world.
Lim Hyunsoo opened his mouth wide.
“D-Donating talent? Me? This Lim Hyunsoo
?”
I hummed the chorus of the song with manipulated results I heard earlier.
“Let’s have a drink, us- What I’ve always wanted to say―”
When I sang two more lines, Lim Hyunsoo clenched his teeth.
“I’ll do it. I’ll donate my talent!”
“Wow, thank you.”
“Am I dreaming? I
 I
 become a pushover?”
“It’s not a dream.”
I spoke kindly and glanced at the clock. It was time to add a counter to the down payment.
“It’s 3 o’clock right now. Please send me the first demo by 7 o’clock today.”
“What? In four hours? Are you crazy?”
“You can stop if you don’t like it.”
“That’s
”
“I~ I like you~”
It was the chorus of Lim Hyunsoo’s plagiarized song.
I hummed and smoked heavily as I buried my back on the sofa. By the time the smoke rose like a cloud, Lim Hyunsoo gave up.
“Tell me if this is love~ or not~”
“Okay, I’ll do it! I’ll send it by 7 o’clock!”
“Oh wow, that’s great. Thank you for your enthusiasm.”
It seemed he kept licking his lips and spitting out curses, but it was none of my business.
Ah, Lim Hyunsoo is easy to handle.
I felt better as if I had drank some cider. With a proud look, I watched Lim Hyunsoo write down the concept. Soon, Lim Hyunsoo threw a pencil, having finished writing.
“Write down your number.”
“Yes.”
I accepted it and slowly wrote down my phone number.
[010-XXXX-XXXX Seo Hoyoon]
I look forward to your kind cooperation.^^]
To say that I put in the last emoticon to piss him off would be correct. Seeing it, Lim Hyunsoo grabbed the back of his neck.
It seemed he could figure it all out, so I would have to go soon. There were still a lot of things to do.
“I’ll go, composer. I look forward to your kind cooperation.”
“Wait. You really
 You’re not going to tell anywhere else, aren’t you?”
“Sure, composer. I have a line.”
If it could make money, I would say it; if it couldn’t make money, I wouldn’t say it. It was natural.
And I was loyal.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be on my way now.”
As soon as I tried to stand up after saying that, Lim Hyunsoo grabbed me urgently. When I turned around, he muttered with a face as if he were seeing a demon or a ghost.
“Who are you?”
“What?”
“Do you have a patron among your relatives? Or a reporter? If not, then what is it? Why is your tongue fluttering like this?”
Me? Of course, I’m a PD who receives a lot of love calls.
“I belong to QBS
”
“Belong to?”
Ring!
[Choices
– I am the cutie pop idol, Houhou!
– I’m Hoyoon-jjang who will captivate you.
– I’m Seo Hoyoon, the star that shines forever.]
‘Wow, it really is something.’
I clenched my teeth. If I wanted to throw up, I didn’t have enough time, so my lines would be randomly selected from the choices. I closed my eyes tightly and said,
“I’m Seo Hoyoon
 The star that shines forever.”
“What
 what did you say?”
“Twinkle twinkle
?”
“Are you really crazy?”
Lim Hyunsoo laughed as if he had lost it. So did I. This one wasn’t in his right mind either.
“You’re such a crazy little
.”
“I don’t want to hear it from the composer
 Well, anyway.”
I roughly nodded my head and was about to leave, but I stopped my steps again.
“Right. I’ll also send you my account number and the price of the tablet, so please ask me the price.”
“
”
Even if I got hit by reality, I couldn’t lose my precious tablet.
***
[Sudden Quest completed:
‘Let’s bring a comeback song!’
PD-nim
 No, Hoyoon-nim, I thought you were a devil!
Reward: Additional 10 Charms]
“Hey, you know, that conversation option
”
[Yes!]
“When does it come out? Is there any standard?”
[It’s up to the system!]
“Fuck
”
I was a fool to expect a proper answer.
I took out my cell phone and checked the messenger.
There were a few messages from the manager and the members.
I ignored them and pressed the conversation with Lim Hyunsoo. I could see the conversation we had over the past few hours.
[Me: Our composer, is it done yet?]
[Me: Knock knock]
There was no answer. I could see that he had read it.  Flipping a little more through it, it was revealed that I had been sending messages like a madman.
[Me: Knock knock]
[Me: Knock knock]
[Me: Knock knock]
[Me: Knock knock]
[Me: Knock knock]
[Lim Hyunsoo: Are you crazy?]
[Me: Our composer, is it done yet?^^]
I sent more messages.
Lim Hyunsoo finally sent the file.
[Lim Hyunsoo: Crazy bastard, it’s done]
[Lim Hyunsoo: Eat it and go away]
He really made a song in four hours. It seemed he had recorded it roughly with lyrics attached to the beat, but I quite liked it.
As expected, his basic skills were holding up. Why did you even plagiarize songs and manipulate results out of unnecessary pressure
 Stupid Lim Hyunsoo.
After listening to the song in the living room, I called Seo Hojin who was washing the dishes.
“Hey, Seo Hojin.”
“What is it?”
“Come here.”
Seo Hojin approached me obediently, perhaps because he had done something wrong to me. But he still looked startled when he saw my face.
Yeah, even someone like me would be surprised too if I was told that Ichon turned 10 years younger. I also got surprised when I looked in the mirror.
“Listen to this.”
“A song? What is this?”
Seo Hojin quietly listened to it. At first, he frowned, not knowing what it was, but then he nodded his head and raised his thumb.
“What’s this, it’s nice.”
I stopped singing.
“Sing the chorus again.”
“What? How can I remember that?”
Seo Hojin wasn’t that talented at singing. It was close to the general public. So it was worth checking further.
“Hyung, was that your song?”
“You don’t have to know.”
“Aish
”
I sent a message to Lim Hyunsoo.
[Me: Composer, is this all you can do?]
[Me: I just played it to my dongsaeng, but he can’t remember it after 5 seconds
 No impact]
[Me: I thought you were better than this
]
As soon as I sent it like that, Lim Hyunsoo called. I leisurely looked at it and was deliberately 15 seconds late.
“Yes, hello.”
[Hey! Are you crazy?]
“It’s nighttime, but you seem to be in good health”
When I said that in a loud greeting, Lim Hyunsoo sighed for a while.
[I’ve taken the time to make it but what are you saying? There’s no impact?]
“
Ah, did it bother you?”
[I’m Lim Hyunsoo, you know? The Blue Tiger!]
“Yes
 Sigh, you’re amazing.”
I purposefully yawned as I flipped through the channels with the TV remote control. To let Lim Hyunsoo hear it.
Clatter, I heard the sound of Lim Hyunsoo’s pride collapsing.
[Y-You
]
“I was looking forward to it because you’re such an amazing person, but I’m saddened. Seeing that the Blue Tiger is only this much.”
[
Is the song that bad?]
“Not particularly.”
I dragged on slowly. To make him curious.
Originally, every creator was curious about the reaction to their creations, no matter what kind of work it was.
“It’s exactly like
 It feels like you spent 10 minutes working on a 5-minute guide recording while swearing at me after saying you were thinking of inspiration for three hours.”
[
]
It was correct. Possibly pricked by his conscience, Lim Hyunsoo did not answer for a long time. Then he asked me curiously.
[Did you install CCTV on your way out?]
“Hahaha, you have a very rich imagination.”
[Scary bastard
]
“Anyways, is this all you’ve got?”
I lowered my voice.
At times like this, there was a tone and voice that were just necessary. As you expected from the other person. Instilling hope that he could do more.
“I know the composer well.”
[
]
“I know you can do better. That’s why I’m even more disappointed because the person who’s good at it only did this roughly and spoke of it as if it was his best.”
Seo Hojin, who unintentionally overheard it from the side, trembled. He was trembling with fear.
“If I’m mistaken, it can’t be helped.”
I waited five seconds for an answer. And exactly five seconds later, Lim Hyunsoo answered.
[
You, just wait.]
Then he hung up the phone. I giggled as I couldn’t stand the good feeling.
“Lim Hyunsoo, you with your temper.”
Since he was the best card, I couldn’t just eat a song of this level.
In a little while, probably in about an hour or two, Lim Hyunsoo would contact me again. I could wait until then.
I turned on the TV and stopped at a variety show featuring idols. The person struggling with a toy hammer was someone I knew very well.
Joo Woosung.
He was one of Korea’s most popular idols in name and reality.
‘
Hmm.’
Seo Hojin sat on the sofa and said while peeling a tangerine.
“Ah, isn’t that Black Call’s Joo Woosung?”
“Hn, Seo Hojin knows him well.”
“The way you talk is pissing me off.”
It was a tone of a guy who didn’t know about idols and wanted to show off his shallow knowledge. Perhaps feeling my gaze, Seo Hojin expressed his opinion as if it was unfair.
“I know him, too, you know? I have no choice but to know because my classmates praise him so much. How popular he is in that department
”
“Seo Ho-jin, look up the number of his SNS followers.”
“Yes.”
Seo Hojin held his cell phone for a long time and tapped the screen, then showed me the screen of his cell phone.
“He’s ranked 14th in the country. 11 million people.”
“Is that so? Joo Woosung has grown a lot.”
Right, Joo Woosung was that popular these days.
Well, he was originally popular, but

What was it, Joo Woosung.
I rubbed my chin as I looked at Joo Woosung. And grinned.
I remembered.
Seo Hojin trembled again.
“W-Why are you smiling like that?”
“
”
“I really hate it when hyung smiles kindly
”
“Hojin-ah, tangerines.”
“Yes.”
Seo Hojin was very disciplined and quickly peeled a tangerine and gave it to me. As I received it, I looked at Joo Woosung, smiling brightly on the TV, unaware of his fate.
The freshness of the sweet pulp spread in my mouth.
The next target was confirmed.