Chapter 158 : Let Them Feel That Way, Whatever
Chapter 158: Let Them Feel That Way, Whatever
As soon as I stepped backstage.
Cheers erupted—no less enthusiastic than those at a music show.
It was all thanks to the street food in my hands.
“Ooooooh. Our youngest.”
“How did you know we were hungry?”
“Let’s eat before Jungbae gets here.”
Garlic tteokbokki and assorted fried snacks from a famous place in Hongdae.
I remembered how they often bought it themselves, so I brought some. I didn’t expect them to be this delighted.
“Feels like you all like tteokbokki more than me.”
The backstage had turned into a snack bar.
Spicy tteokbokki and savory fritters? Irresistible.
With the engineers who’d been working late,
and even Gibong-hyung and Junhyun, who showed up from who-knows-where, the lobby was buzzing.
Junhyun’s jaw dropped when he saw the food on the table.
“Stay, you have a generous hand. How many servings is this?”
“No idea. I just told them to pack everything that was left.”
Junhyun stuffed his mouth with tteokbokki and then looked at me with a wistful expression.
No one was chasing him, but he was gobbling it up like he was possessed.
I slid a small container toward him and said,
“Eat slowly. I’m not taking it from you.”
“But Seo Taeyoon, why aren’t you eating?”
“I already had tonkatsu. Anyway, what are you doing here so late?”
Busan Goblin chimed in at my question.
“We’re working. I’ve been teaching Junhyun how to write songs. He’s got some real sensibility, you know?”
Now that I thought about it, I heard Doubline was already preparing their second album.
Apparently, Busan Goblin, now reborn as Do Gibong, was fully embracing his inner balladeer.
No matter how I looked at it, it felt odd.
He looked like the kind of person who’d die if he couldn’t do what he wanted—
but he’d spent over ten years churning out songs tailored to public taste.
As I stared intently, Gibong-hyung paused with a fritter in hand and asked,
“What are you looking at like that?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Am I that good-looking?”
Look at him acting all slick after that TV flop.
Watching him try to act all serious on variety shows made me sick.
As I sighed with my mouth agape...
Suddenly, a piece of squid fritter was shoved into my mouth.
“Ah... seriously!”
Of course, it was Do Gibong who shoved it in.
He struck a detective pose and muttered like a character from some Japanese manga.
“Coming in at midnight with a ton of snacks and rounding us all up... That means you’ve got something on your mind. Which leads to only one answer! You’re here to tap into the power of collective intelligence, aren’t you? Seo Taeyoon?”
...What’s with that finger?
I swatted away Gibong-hyung’s finger from my face and replied,
“Yes. You’re right. I do have something on my mind.”
The moment I said that—
Clack—Tap—
Everyone simultaneously set down their chopsticks and stared at me.
Bang Gicheol-sunsaengnim crossed his arms and asked with a serious expression,
“What’s going on? Who’s messing with our youngest? Don’t tell me that Manager Park from Daebak Sound came after you too?”
“No, no. You’re right, but that’s not the main issue.”
I briefly laid out my dilemma.
It actually wasn’t that deep.
“What should I do when a client’s request doesn’t align with my values?”
The responses were varied—
but they boiled down to two main answers.
One, follow the client’s request.
If you're a pro, that’s what you do. So forget luxury or whatever and just show them.
The loudest voice, of course, was Gibong-hyung.
“If you want to do a project, you follow their concept. That’s what a commercial composer does. That’s how I’ve survived all this time. Look at me—I wanted my songs to be heard everywhere, so I wrote idol songs.”
“Then why don’t you submit demos to Almond Young?”
“Because I’m not Busan Goblin anymore. I’m Do Gibong now.”
And two, make what you want to make.
That’s the creator’s attitude. If someone’s got a good ear, they should adjust the plan to fit Stay’s song.
The one passionately arguing this point, even raising his voice, was Moon Jungbae-sunsaengnim.
“What? Almond Young? Luxury, my ass. They just don’t get Stay’s songs yet. That’s why they act like this. Once they hear it, they’ll change their minds!”
“...I haven’t written the song yet, though.”
“Anyway! That’s how it is!”
What the heck.
The debate got so heated, it was like a parliamentary hearing.
Do what they say VS Do what you want.
After a fierce back-and-forth that led nowhere, I wrapped it up like this and quietly slipped away.
“I’ll take care of it myself! Just trust me!”
But apparently, they kept bickering and arguing for the next three hours while I was holed up in the studio.
The stubbornness of music people is on another level, seriously.
There’s a phrase that often floats around the internet.
[ Please make it simple, but also glamorous! ]
...It’s the ultimate meme that’s made designers cough up blood.
Confusing requests from clients.
So convoluted that creators feel like fainting with foam at the mouth.
Its siblings include “Make it traditional, but modern,”
and “Not provocative, but still edgy.”
So, why am I bringing this up all of a sudden?
“...What the hell is this.”
Because I was facing that very situation.
The title looked normal enough.
[ FW: ‘Almond Young’ Branding Song Proposal ]
Hmm?
Is this what a song brief usually looks like?
I’d received the pitch request from Almond Young.
“...There really are people who write stuff like this?”
The specific, heavily-restrictive brief left me stunned.
[ Luxurious and dreamy vibe. ]
[ Lyrics must not undermine the brand’s values. ]
[ Edgy, but not provocative. ]
[ No trap beats. Must stay within clean synth-pop. ]
Below that were pages of conditions, comparable to an insurance contract.
While I was racking my brain about how to handle this...
A line in the email from KIM Entertainment caught my eye.
It looked like a quote pulled from the director’s words.
If only this line hadn’t been there, I might’ve felt differently.
[ KIM Entertainment is doing great lately, right? Please give us something like that. But more ‘sophisticated’—you know what I mean, right? ]
Yanking someone’s emotions around like a rollercoaster with a single email—that’s a talent too, I guess.
I know what, exactly?
I really don’t know. Either be clear or don’t.
This mishmash of contradictions? That’s exactly the kind of work I hate.
Working according to a guide?
That part’s fine.
Everything needs a concept, and companies have a brand tone they aim for.
But in that case, they should give a clear guide.
A plan without a center will always wobble.
It’s the same with writing music.
If I can’t clearly decide what I want to show, it just ends up as a jumble of notes.
To put it bluntly—
They want it to look cool, but don’t want backlash.
They want it to be hip, but still safe.
They want it stimulating, but not too much.
That was the conclusion I came to.
In other words, it was a cowardly and contradictory concept.
“So that’s what it is…”
Even so, I continued examining the email carefully.
The reason was simple.
Because it came from KIM Entertainment—more precisely, from either Hyung or CEO Kim Minsoo—I figured there had to be a reason behind it.
Maybe they meant, “This is a solid concept, so if you don’t like it, don’t do it.”
Or perhaps, “Even though it’s a solid concept, show them your own sound.”
Wasn’t that the real message?
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have just forwarded an email like this to me.
“Hmm…”
In any case, setting aside the fact that they chose me—
it was clearly an intriguing project.
Something I genuinely wanted to try.
I had already experimented with DJ beats and pop music, so maybe now it was time to take on true commercial music. That kind of confidence was beginning to bloom.
So, I read the email all the way to the end.
Attached was a reference video that had been carefully curated.
[ Jo Malone Perfume Commercial ] x [ Idol Dance Performance Video ]
Click.
I hit play on the video, half-interested.
Were they saying to make something that felt quiet but left an impression?
Strong performance but in a calm way?
What even is that supposed to mean?
...Maybe I just shouldn’t do this?
That thought nearly slipped in.
“Kyaa…”
I downed a strong iced Americano in one shot. My head throbbed a little, but my focus came back.
This alone wasn’t enough to figure it out.
Let’s watch the next video.
[ Chanel 2026 S/S Collection Film ] x [ Jazz Piano Video ]
This one at least made me nod along.
People tend to associate classical music with being elegant and timeless.
It fit the “luxury” image pretty well.
I went on to watch a few more videos.
The intentions behind them were a bit too cryptic for someone like me to fully grasp, but one thing was certain—
The production quality was top-notch.
“Ooh…”
Is this what big company power looks like?
That’s how impressive it was.
If I worked with them, at the very least, I wouldn't have to hear that the background music got buried under the visuals.
Actually, it might even be the opposite.
With this level of video, even a mediocre track could be “disguised” as something spectacular.
That helped calm me down.
And it made me curious.
How would a major company’s ad campaign package my song?
The next day.
With a steady heart, I sat back down in the studio.
Now it was time to actually get to work.
Click.
I opened a new sequence file.
Tried changing up sounds, attaching melodies—made countless attempts.
But in the end, the song turned into something neither here nor there.
“Ugh…”
It felt like chaotic notes were smashing around inside my ears.
I scratched my head the moment I heard it.
What even is this? Why did I make a song even I don’t get?
[ Do you want to delete this? ]
Yes. I deleted the track without a second thought.
Clearly, I wasn’t someone meant to turn someone else’s words into music.
If it doesn’t make sense, then I should answer with my own language.
...Or so I told myself in a lofty tone.
But in reality—
I ended up creating a string of songs that satisfied neither the luxury-loving client
nor my own pride as a creator named Stay.
“Damn it.”
I placed my clasped hands on my head, leaned the chair back, and flopped down.
There has to be an answer.
So why is it so dark?
Whenever my mind feels tangled like this, the best thing to do is just listen to music.
I threw on my treasured Sennheiser HD800S headphones—easily in my top ten gear list.
A gift from Moon Jungbae-sunsaengnim, complete with a perfectly paired amp.
Then, I calmly started playing through the songs I had made.
Starting with <Lunatic Beat>, then <Super Ride>, <More Than Time>, <Ancora>...
Who made this stuff? How is it that I never get tired of listening to it?
That thought carried me all the way to Doubline’s <Crossing Tomorrow>.
“Huh?”
Daaaang—daaaang—
A bell rang in my head.
The inspiration that reminded me of <Avalanche>—
That muse had arrived!
I threw a fist into the air and spun around the studio.
“Whew, whew.”
Even this felt like a workout; I was out of breath.
But the sharp focus in my brain was back.
As expected, when your mind stalls, moving your body is the cure.
“Khahaha.”
A cocky laugh burst out of me—one that could rival Gibong-hyung’s.
The moment I heard <Crossing Tomorrow>, I felt it.
Wasn’t that song originally <War War>?
Do Gibong had camouflaged it, hiding balladic emotions inside a trendy beat.
I took a cue from his tactic.
Operation name: “Maintain a luxurious mood, but sneak in the message I really want to say.”
Damn, if I could pull this off, wouldn’t it be the best way?
It would honor Almond Young’s concept,
while also letting me preserve my own artistic pride.
So, I thought to myself—
“This might actually work.”
Whether it’s video, music, or novels,
creators can guide emotional flow however they want.
Luxury? Let them feel that way, whatever.
I’ll just find my own emotion inside it.