Chapter 79: The Younger Brother’s Performance

There was a saying: where there’s gain, there’s loss.

That was exactly the case now.

First of all, the fact that Backstage was being reborn as a ‘real’ music studio was something worth welcoming with open arms.

All kinds of stories.

As befitted the name Backstage, there were a lot of behind-the-scenes tales.

Why they created such a space, how they came to such a decision.

It was quite long, but if I summarized it in three lines, it would be this:

We’ll guarantee Stay’s personal studio!

We’ll get all the DJ equipment you want!

Don’t tie yourself down to one particular entertainment company just because of a studio!

“Backstage…… it’s really going to change for real.”

It was a wonderful change.

And adding a recording booth, control room, and even a rehearsal room?

This was an opportunity. A chance to properly learn mixing and mastering.

It was also meaningful.

Cheongseong had come together properly again, and in this amazing studio, I was gaining a real space of my own.

But there was one regret.

Before I knew it, complaints burst out of me.

“Backstage’s tonkatsu was the best in the universe…… I can’t eat it anymore? That’s disappointing.”

“……So is it tonkatsu or the studio? Say it straight.”

“No, I mean, you can get another studio somewhere else, but where else am I going to eat Mr. Moon’s food!”

It wasn’t just empty words.

At that, Mr. Moon smiled in satisfaction.

“Taeyoon, you must be sincere?”

“I only speak the truth!”

“You brat. Still no. My mind’s made up.”

“Aaagh!”

Teacher teased me, saying how could the one who came up with ‘The tonkatsu shop run by a washed-up owner is actually the former vocalist of a legendary band?’ say things like that.

He was right.

After all, the reason Cheongseong had gathered strength again to make music was thanks to the power of the mask.

Putting everything down and enjoying music freely.

That was my goal, too.

Still, it was a shame they wouldn’t be running the restaurant anymore.

A Google rating of 4.9 stars.

How hard was it to achieve something like that?

When I kept showing regret, Oh Jisoo suddenly asked.

“But, sunbae. I’m actually really curious.”

“About what.”

“The tonkatsu.”

“You’re becoming like Taeyoon? Why are you doing this too.”

“No, no.”

Oh Jisoo waved her hands and asked seriously.

“Weren’t you sincere about food? It’s not easy to run a restaurant with such care when it was just a failing shop. What, is there some secret I don’t know about?”

She was right.

Even if it was just a hobby.

For someone that sincere about food, it made sense to feel regret.

Even though business was bad.

The ingredients were always the very best.

Then Moon Jungbae answered as if it were nothing.

As if he’d been asked the same thing dozens of times.

With practiced ease, he replied.

“The rent doesn’t cost me anything, so it’s not a burden.”

“You own a building in Hongdae…… wow, I’m jealous. Did you make that much money back in the Cheongseong days?”

“No. Money my ass. CEO Kim ran off to the Philippines, remember? With all our money.”

Interesting.

That was a story I’d always been curious about but never asked.

I pulled my chair closer and listened carefully to the two of them.

“Then what? Stocks? Crypto?”

“Nope. I don’t even have a stock account. And I’m not the type to do crypto either.”

Then…… how in the world did he become a landlord……?

“This building was inherited. You know the one with the Starbucks over there? That’s mine too.”

Ah?

Nod, nod.

Understood.

“……So that’s the story.”

“It’s nice, but also a bit of a shame.”

“Yeah. It is.”

Taeyoon had returned to being a bedroom DJ.

Wearing his headset, he was just preparing for Sierra’s performance.

The studio.

Once you stepped inside, you couldn’t escape it.

Doing it at home just didn’t feel the same.

You couldn’t turn the sound up as you liked, and you didn’t have the equipment.

That was the scary part about experiencing the best.

“At least you’ll get some rest for a while.”

“True.”

“People need to refresh themselves to do better work. Take this chance to travel, meet some friends. You brat.”

“Hey, stop messing with my hair!”

Dongyun laughed as he tousled Taeyoon’s hair.

How was this Stay?

How was this Seo Rabbit?

With a bird’s nest on his head, wearing a worn-out tracksuit and munching on bread—he looked exactly like a would-be returning student.

They said you never knew with people.

That was exactly right.

Proud, admirable, yet pitiful.

Still, there was one thing I wanted to tell him.

“Rest is really important.”

Rest didn’t just mean doing nothing.

To Dongyun, rest was like ‘a bridge that finished what you had been doing and prepared you for the next step.’

If you just zoned out when you had free time, you’d fall behind.

That’s how he’d lived, that’s what he’d learned.

He’d seen countless creators who went on break only to end up resting forever.

When busy people stopped working?

They got filled with stray thoughts.

Unnecessary things occupied their minds and made them restless.

What if your bank account was piling up?

That was even more dangerous.

The more money stacked up, the more it made people lazy.

The world of creation was merciless.

In this field, stagnation was regression.

If you wanted to survive, you had to keep producing.

Even during your rest, someone else was endlessly making masterpieces.

The moment you enjoyed your leisure, someone else’s name went on the credits.

That was why Dongyun worried.

Taeyoon hadn’t even shown 10% of his ability yet. But what if, by some chance, he grew complacent like this?

Dongyun’s expression grew quite serious.

Reading his brother’s concern, Taeyoon asked playfully.

“Wow, you’re worrying about me?”

“What worry!”

“You are. You’re worried I’ll just rest forever, right?”

“I said I’m not.”

“But you are. I think you are?”

“Geez, you troublemaker. Why would I worry about you? Isn’t worrying about Seo Taeyoon the most useless thing in the world?”

That’s what he said.

But Dongyun looked fondly at his younger brother.

Writing songs? That much, he’d expected.

He’d always known from childhood that Taeyoon had sharp ears and skillful hands.

But broadcasting was different.

Watching the UTAR videos hundreds, even thousands of times.

Only then did he feel like he was seeing his brother’s true self.

So Taeyoon had this side to him.

He had been…… making music this happily.

Even more than Dongyun had known.

“Are you going to keep working like this?”

“Why?”

“No reason.”

What a waste.

A faceless composer, a DJ with a mask.

A musician hiding his identity.

There were more losses than gains.

What kind of world was it these days?

It was already a world where even expressing yourself to the fullest wasn’t enough.

YouTube, TV, radio……

I wanted to see my younger brother active in all kinds of places.

That was the honest feeling of an older brother and a fan.

“Here, try some of this too.”

“Ah, you should’ve bought gold kiwis. These are just regular ones.”

“Just eat it.”

Dongyun shoved a piece of kiwi into Taeyoon’s mouth and asked.

“You’re working with Signum, right?”

“How did you know?”

“You know. There are no secrets in this business. But do you know this?”

“What?”

“Busan Goblin sent a song to Manny too. Targeting Signum.”

“Yeah, I heard. Ugh, so sour.”

Taeyoon chewed the kiwi thoroughly and swallowed it down.

No matter how much they said it was good for your health, sour was still sour.

Still, there was the sincerity of his brother peeling it for him.

Taeyoon ate up all the kiwi on the plate and continued.

“But is that such a big deal?”

“Hm?”

“I mean, someone said that before too. Going on about Busan Goblin this, Busan Goblin that.”

What was Busan Goblin, that everyone was worrying so much……

That’s what Taeyoon thought.

Even if Grandpa Busan Goblin showed up, it didn’t matter.

Why were they all making such a fuss?

As Taeyoon tilted his head in confusion, Dongyun calmly began to explain.

“It’s a title track war, that’s all.”

“Title track?”

Ah. With a short sigh, only then did Taeyoon nod.

If it was that, he could understand.

Dongyun went on.

“Yeah. Busan Goblin. He doesn’t work unless it’s the title track.”

“Is that important?”

“It’s a matter of pride.”

“Even when your company works with him?”

“Yeah. That’s why it’s tricky. You can’t just rely on name value when trends change so fast. Also……”

Dongyun stared at Taeyoon.

It meant, finish the sentence yourself.

Otherwise it’d sound like an industry insider badmouthing a writer.

So Taeyoon clearly continued his brother’s words.

“It’s kind of like a gukbap flavor, right? Always the same taste. Honestly, it feels worn out? Predictable? No matter the singer, the songs all end up sounding similar.”

“You thought that too?”

“Yeah. How should I put it. The songs are good. Not just good, but too good. Maybe that’s the problem? It’s not the singer that stands out, but only the song.”

“Oh, Seo Taeyoon. You’ve gotten a bit seasoned, haven’t you?”

The brat. He’d really become part of the industry.

‘Self-replication.’

He could’ve summed it up in one word, but he explained it at length.

“……What?”

Of course, his younger brother just blinked and asked back.

Dongyun chuckled softly and answered.

“Nothing. Just, your way of putting it was good.”

He felt proud.

Whenever, wherever, before whoever.

Choosing your words carefully was a good habit.

Especially for someone like Taeyoon, who was just beginning to attract attention.

It was an essential virtue to remember.

There were always plenty of people who twisted others’ words and spread them around.

Whether his brother was thinking that or not,

Taeyoon just tossed out his words casually.

“I don’t know about that……. I just want our kids to stand out. Not the song.”

“Huh? Our? Our kids? You’re close with the Signum boys?”

Dongyun pulled his chair in close.

Signum.

The group the industry was paying the most attention to.

They had appeared backed by none other than Manny Entertainment.

They’d tried hyping themselves as a band and whatnot all over the place.

But in the end, they were nearly crushed by the sheer skill of UTAR, a ‘real’ band……

‘So they just switched lanes immediately.’

If live music was hopeless, then they’d at least excel at performance!

That strategy worked pretty well.

Rather than awkwardly fiddling with instruments, it looked better to run confidently around the stage.

Their variety sense wasn’t bad either.

Their YouTube channel, where they laughed and played games among themselves, was doing quite well.

Boyish charm.

It was always a winning keyword.

“I don’t know if calling it close is right. But we get along like brothers, yeah? Calling me hyung, hyung all the time, it’s cute. So we had a few meals together, I checked out their practice room, stuff like that.”

Cute, huh.

You being happy about getting little brothers is even cuter, you brat.

Dongyun swallowed the words and just watched Taeyoon for a moment.

This new song—what genre is it.

What side of Signum inspired it.

Did you write the lyrics this time too?

This hyung…… was really curious about the song.

There were so many things he wanted to ask, but he couldn’t.

They were a rival company, after all.

Prying about a song wasn’t professional. You had to respect business ethics.

So in the end, he just said this and stood up.

“No matter what color you add, in the end the only thing that remains is the color you originally had. Signum…… I’m curious what their color is. I’ll look forward to it.”

Was it common for a composer to withdraw a song if it wasn’t the title track?

No.

A normal composer would prefer their song to be included even as a B-side track.

Just getting a song pitched at all was hard enough.

But it was different for composers with big name value or those intent on protecting their brand.

Busan Goblin was exactly this kind of case.

‘This feels bad.’

Manny Entertainment’s A&R team junior staff, Assistant Manager Go Minseo, sensed it.

Today was definitely not going to go smoothly.

When they mentioned the title track hadn’t been confirmed.

Busan Goblin, whose real name was Do Gibong, slowly opened his mouth.

“You’re joking, right?”

Go Minseo, brain running at full speed!

That meant, ‘What kind of nonsense are you spouting here?’

Do Gibong made a faint ‘sseup’ sound and spoke again.

“Ah! Since you’ve only recently joined as assistant manager, I guess that could happen.”

That must’ve meant, ‘Ignorant rookie who doesn’t know who I am, keep quiet.’

“You must be really busy these days? Team Leader isn’t usually late for meetings. And the Director isn’t here either.”

That one was easy.

It meant, ‘How dare you send some lowly assistant when I’m here.’

Okay, message received.

Go Minseo’s instincts were sounding alarms.

This wasn’t just a normal power struggle.

It was a declaration that he would never, under any circumstances, allow his song to be used as a B-side track.

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