Chapter 55 : Government Support Project (2)

“Hello~ I’m Choi Lee-seo, the bassist of our band, Group Sound.

Since this is my first YouTube video, I’m going to show you our practice!”

“Soma, what are you doing?”

“Ah~!

It’s not Soma.

It’s Lee-seo!

I’m shooting a YouTube video right now.

To upload somewhere.”

“Where are you going to upload it?”

“I’ll upload it to Su-yeon’s YouTube, and if the response is good and the band gets bigger, we’ll make our own band YouTube and upload it there.”

“Do you really need to upload it to someone else’s YouTube?

You can just upload it from now…”

“It’s important that people watch it.

It’s sad if you upload it and it only gets 10 or 100 views.

You use another YouTube to build a foundation, and then you keep going.

Huh?

This is strategy, this is marketing.”

As soon as Ha Su-Yeon opened the door of the practice room, the first thing she saw was Lee-seo, who was not practicing but holding a selfie stick and talking.

“What are you doing?

You’re always just playing around.

Let’s start practicing.”

“No, I’m shooting a YouTube video right now~ Subscribers, this is what the owner of this channel is really like.

When she’s shooting a YouTube video, she’s all nice and calm and says ‘Hello?’

But that’s all a bit fake…”

Ha Su-Yeon sighed deeply and snatched Lee-seo’s phone.

Lee-seo clung to her, asking for it back.

While the other two watched with interest, Ha Su-Yeon returned the phone to Lee-seo and asked.

“I thought you were doing a live stream or something.

What are you doing?”

“I think it’s time for us to start doing YouTube stuff.

A band YouTube.”

“What does that have to do with this?”

“What do you mean!

Haven’t you seen NewJeans?

They uploaded stuff on YouTube with a real high school girl concept.

What was it?

Anyway, something like that.”

She was rambling, but Ha Su-Yeon summarized Lee-seo’s story like this.

When NewJeans released a new song, they did a kind of fake documentary with a concept of being real high school girls, and it was successful.

So, why don’t we try something like that?

Besides, we are actual high school girls, and we’re actually documenting the process of challenging Band Pioneer, so it might be even more effective.

“Isn’t that just a vlog or something?

Like~ Challenge vlog.

100 days before the college entrance exam vlog.”

Ha Su-Yeon’s feelings of absurdity were expressed by Seo-ha.

“Uh… uh?

Isn’t it… not like that?”

“Choi Lee-seo.

Have you ever thought that it would be convenient if the battery were removable?

The back cover of the phone opens, and the battery goes in and out.”

“Oh…

I’ve never thought about it like that, but it sounds good.”

Lee-seo answered Ha Su-Yeon question naturally without thinking.

At that answer, Ha Su-Yeon looked up at the ceiling without saying a word.

Is this how the world is supposed to be?

Even if young people don’t know about old things.

Maybe later they’ll see a pager and say, “Why did they use this?

It’s much more convenient to carry a cell phone.”

But, putting aside Lee-seo’s lack of respect for the past, the idea seemed It’s okay .

Documenting the process of challenging Band Pioneer on YouTube…

Not only that, but just documenting the life of the band on YouTube.

‘It’s like a kind of challenge diary?’

No matter how good a creative work is, it can’t compare to the realism of real life.

Ha Su-Yeon and the kids challenge the government support project, go through the stages one by one, win, and release an album…

If they could properly document that process and upload it to YouTube, Ha Su-Yeon’s YouTube would also grow quite a bit.

“It does sound good.”

“Right?

Let’s give it a try.”

Certainly, Ha Su-Yeon’s YouTube growth had recently stagnated.

In the beginning, she uploaded one video a day, and until early March, she uploaded one video every two or three days.

But since early March, there have been so many things going on that she hasn’t had time to upload videos.

= Where did this person go?

=Nunna, I’m cold cough cough cough

=I need to practice a new guitar song.

But no song is being uploaded.

I wonder if you’re sick.

I hope you’re doing well.

There were many pleas for videos in the comments, but the number of subscribers definitely increased to the upper 20,000s.

She was making enough money for food, but…

Even though she had recovered the Echorec, Fuzz Face, and Big Muff, she still had a long way to go to restore her pedalboard.

“What do I have to do?”

“So, we shoot the video again from the beginning.

From the part I shot earlier, no, it’ll be more fun if the video itself is like this.

This is more natural…”

The cigarette flame flickered for a moment and was extinguished by the chilly spring breeze.

“Ah, f*ck~” and the lighter was lit again.

This time, as if to light it properly, a loud inhaling sound was heard as soon as the red light touched the cigarette.

“Hee-seong.

What time can we use the studio?”

“Just a moment.

Let me check.”

Hee-seong crouched down and checked the schedule on his phone.

Meanwhile, the man took a deep drag from his cigarette and exhaled.

Even though it was daytime, cigarette smoke filled the street.

Some people walking by frowned at the smell of cigarettes, and some looked at him.

But when he frowned and returned their gaze, the passersby scurried away as if nothing had happened.

He chuckled, finding their reaction quite amusing.

“Hyung, they said 3 o’clock?

3 o’clock sharp.”

“3 o’clock?

Why?

Didn’t they say 11 o’clock last week?

They said we could use it if it was empty in the morning and there were no reservations.”

“That was if it was empty.

Anyway, another team made a reservation yesterday.

They said they need to shoot there first, so we can use it from 3 o’clock.”

“What…

We’ve used that place so many times, they should be considerate of us, f*ck.

They don’t treat regulars well at all.”

Hee-seong thought it wasn’t about treating regulars well, but he didn’t say anything.

There was no point in saying anything because it wouldn’t change anything.

“Where’s Gyeong-yun?”

“He said he just arrived.

Should I tell him to come?”

“Yeah.

Tell him to come straight to the studio.

What about Jun-seong?”

“He said he’s on his way.”

“What the f*ck is he on his way about?

He’s probably just waking up now.

See, there’s no point in bringing in people from outside.

They don’t take the band seriously.

They’re not in the right mindset to make music.

Someone is pouring their life into this, but he’s like, oh, my family is rich.

Ah, fcking bstard.”

At the man’s continuous grumbling, Hee-seong felt like covering his ears.

When did he become like this?

He was a cool and nice hyung when they first started the band together.

So Hee-seong and the man started walking to the studio silently.

Then, a question was suddenly thrown at him.

“Hee-seong.

What if you ask the people who rented it if they can rent it next time?

Tell them we’re in a hurry.”

“Huh?

Of course they won’t agree, right?”

“Well, it’s probably not that urgent for them.

We’re the ones who don’t have time except for today.

We’re probably more urgent than they are.

Take a look at the estimate, and ask them to step aside.”

“I don’t think it’ll work…”

“Hey, kid!

Just ask.

Why are you so f*cking negative?”

Hee-seong was suddenly bombarded with curses.

While everyone on the street was looking at them, the man kept walking, muttering, “This kid really doesn’t get it…”

Hee-seong silently followed behind him.

It was a common occurrence.

“Yoo Seo-ha??

Why are you here?”

“Yoon-hyung?”

The place where Hee-seong and the man arrived was in front of a studio in Hongdae.

Gyeong-yun, who had already arrived, was standing with someone.

“Hee-seong.

Isn’t that Seo-ha?”

“Uh…

It is?”

“Why is she here?”

The person Gyeong-yun was talking to was Yoo Seo-ha.

A promising drummer who was considered a rising star in the Hongdae indie scene.

To borrow the words of an older guy from another band who said that her drumming skills and her mouth were both good, and that if she grew a little more, she could become a pillar of the Hongdae metal scene, she was ‘a third-year high school girl who is better than wild ginseng’.

‘I heard that many older guys were after her, so why did she suddenly come here?

Didn’t she run away to avoid those people?’

She used to be a regular at Hongdae live clubs, but she suddenly disappeared from the second half of last year.

Because of that, all sorts of strange rumors were circulating.

“What are you doing here?”

“Ah…

I came here to record today.”

“Really?

Recording?”

“Oh.

Is that Seo-ha?”

“Huh?

Gyu-sik, Hee-seong, what are you guys doing here?”

As soon as he saw Seo-ha, Gyu-sik started to lower his voice slightly.

Hee-seong waved at Seo-ha, finding that a bit pathetic.

“We came to record too.

We’re regulars here.

We heard it was empty in the morning, so we came to see if we could use it for free.

What are you here to record?”

“Oh.

We came to record for Band Pioneer.

What about you guys?”

Band Pioneer.

They had also come to this recording studio to participate in the support project.

As the conversation was about to continue, the studio door opened.

“Seo-ha.

Why aren’t you coming in?”

“Ah, just a moment.

There are some people I know.

I’ll be right in.”

The person who opened the door and looked outside was a girl with a slightly receding hairline and long hair.

Hee-seong and Gyu-sik froze for a moment at her considerable beauty, and she bowed her head slightly and went into the studio.

“Who is that?”

“Our band leader.”

“Seo-ha, you’re in a band??

So that’s why you weren’t coming to Hongdae?

Because you were in a band.”

Then some small talk follows.

How did you get into a band, what kind of music do you play, what’s the lineup…

Seo-ha barely managed to answer the questions filled with 20% curiosity, 30% s*xual interest in Seo-ha, and 50% hostility towards a competitor.

A four-member band?

The genre is blues, J-pop, anime music, alt-rock…?

What…

You should be doing metal, why are you doing something weird?

“Hyung.

Seo-ha is right here.”

“Hey.

Is Seo-ha the kind of person who cares about that?

Seo-ha.

Why are you like this?

You shouldn’t be like this.

I told you I would help you grow back then.

Don’t waste your time with some weird friendship band or something.”

Gyu-sik poured out his feelings as if he truly cared for Seo-ha.

Gyeong-yun also said, “Don’t waste your talent playing with amateurs.”

“No, we’re all good at music.”

“How good can high school students be?

Someone like you is really good.

Hey.

Look at me.

Friends from that time won’t help you anyway.

If you’re going to do music, it’s really helpful to build connections while being in a band and making music.”

Hee-seong wondered how long this farce would go on.

Seo-ha didn’t seem to have any interest, and he had never heard the music they played, so how long would they keep this up?

Moreover, although others might not have noticed, Seo-ha’s expression was gradually worsening.

“Seo-ha.

Are you still not done talking?

We already started recording.”

Just then, the studio door opened again.

The high school girl from before walked up to them.

“Ah, I’ll be right there.”

“You should have come sooner if you were going to be quick.

I’m sorry, but we have to record.

I’ll take her now.”

Then the high school girl tried to take Seo-ha inside.

Just before the situation ended, Gyu-sik suddenly spoke.

“Hey.

We’re in a band too.”

“Yes.”

“Can we observe the recording?

Just for a little while.”

Gyu-sik’s question was based on some unconscious thought of wanting to scout the competition to beat them, and some unknown hostility.

“Huh?

Oppa, no, we have to record for the support project…”

“It’s okay to watch for a little while, right?

Can’t we?”

Originally, Seo-ha should have refused.

But since they were acquaintances and older, she couldn’t refuse so flatly.

“Why do you want to observe?”

“Well, I’m curious.

They say you’re a new rookie band, and I’m curious about your skills.”

Gyu-sik’s tone was dripping with emotions he couldn’t hide.

Traces so thick that everyone else could recognize them…

“Sure, why not.”

But for some reason, Su-yeon smiled slightly and allowed them to observe.