Ch.4747. Strap

“Everyone’s been practicing, right? No excuses like ‘I couldn’t practice because I was preparing for exams,’ okay?”

Seo-eun warns the 23rd generation members with a smile.

Just like cramming before exams,

band practice was the same way.

Backing down any further would mean giving up on the quality of the performance!

None of the 23rd Spirit members wanted to compromise on the quality of their music.

“Should I give some intense feedback then?”

Hana, who brought her guitar after a long time, unzipped its case.

An SG guitar, reminiscent of devil’s horns, with a deep cherry red color.

With the strap attached, it seemed she was planning to play standing up from today.

“Lee Suhyeok.”

While the other members were busy with their own preparations, Suhyeok was absorbed in strumming his unplugged guitar.

The setlist was packed with new songs.

He needed to memorize the sheet music.

He needed to listen to the tracks.

He wanted to copy every detail from the original artists for each song.

But the time given to him was far too short.

Suhyeok had never practiced with such a tight deadline before, like a time attack.

Therefore, his anxiety was doubling, weighing him down.

The difference in quality between songs was noticeable.

And it was clear that even audience members who weren’t avid band listeners would notice this.

The typical overthinking of loners always assumed the worst-case scenario.

“Hey!”

Only after Hana tapped his shoulder did Suhyeok snap out of his own world.

“Huh?”

“Suhyeok. How about practicing standing up from today?”

“Ah… okay. Got it.”

Suhyeok had always played sitting down.

Until now, there had been no reason to play standing up.

What if he tried to show off by wearing the guitar and moving around in his studio apartment, only to bump into something like a bookshelf!

Damaging the instrument would be nothing short of a disaster.

Suhyeok took out a never-used strap from his bag and attached it to the strap pins (the metal pins connecting the guitar to the strap), struggling with the stiff leather holes.

He slings the guitar over his shoulder.

An awkward gesture.

Suhyeok could feel the atmosphere change dramatically just from that.

“Oh…”

Just as he was feeling overwhelmed by the realization that the performance was right around the corner, Hana’s sly remark came from behind.

“Hey. Are you going to play with it up that high?”

“Huh?”

“The guitar. Are you going to play with it raised almost to your chest like you’re in a school recital?”

Obviously, the height of the guitar changes depending on how you adjust the strap length.

There was no set standard.

Even professional guitarists varied their positions according to preference and necessity.

However, there was one clear point:

If you positioned the guitar too high, it wouldn’t look dynamic or cool.

“Um… is it too high?”

Suhyeok tried playing the song he had been practicing just moments ago in his current position.

The feeling itself didn’t seem much different from playing while sitting, so it felt comfortable.

Instead of answering, Hana took a photo with her phone to show Suhyeok how he currently looked.

“Hmm…”

Even to Suhyeok, it was clear that from a visual standpoint, it didn’t look cool at all.

That was something even Suhyeok was concerned about.

“If you can only play in that position, I won’t force you, but try playing with it lower once.”

“Okay.”

“Hold the guitar. I’ll adjust the strap for you.”

Hana moved close to Suhyeok. Like a wife fixing her husband’s tie, she pulled the strap taut.

Her slender fingers flowed down Suhyeok’s shoulder.

Suhyeok’s strap was the leather one that came standard with Fender guitars.

While it was a basic item, it wasn’t cheap if purchased separately.

It was also durable enough to last a long time without needing a replacement.

“How is it?”

After Hana finished adjusting, Suhyeok’s guitar position was much lower.

“Um… just a moment.”

Suhyeok tried to form the chords he was familiar with.

“Hmm?”

His finger movements weren’t smooth.

His expression furrowed at the strange sensation, as if his wrist was bent.

Suhyeok instinctively realized this was a significant disadvantage.

“Huh…?”

Confused, he tried playing the chorus of “Standing Luxury,” a song he had prided himself on mastering perfectly a month ago, rather than one he had just started practicing.

“Suhyeok, are you ready?”

Seo-eun asked as if wanting to start practice, but he couldn’t give a hasty answer.

Hana, being a guitarist herself, could identify the problem as soon as she saw his reaction.

“Lee Suhyeok.”

“Yes?”

“From today, all practice sessions must, absolutely must, be done standing up.”

Once the members finished setting up their amplifiers, the band practice began.

The song they were going to practice was a new one they were starting today.

“…Suhyeok.”

Seo-eun wasn’t smiling. And Suhyeok knew exactly what that meant.

“Didn’t you practice?”

“No… that’s not it…”

Suhyeok bit his lip hard.

But to others, it might have seemed like he hadn’t prepared at all.

His playing was truly a mess.

He lagged behind the beat every time the chords changed.

Every part where the bass and guitar should have been in sync was completely off.

“But why are you like this?”

Hana, unable to watch anymore, stood up to defend him.

“Suhyeok has never played standing up before. This is his first time.”

“Hmm?”

Seo-eun’s eyebrows formed the shape of the number eight.

“So you did practice, but the issue is playing standing up itself? Is that right?”

Suhyeok nodded slowly.

“Want to try sitting down?”

Playing the exact same song while sitting, the stability felt completely different.

And the difference was so obvious that all members could feel it at once.

“Hmm… let’s practice sitting down for now.”

The president had to make a decision.

Having Suhyeok practice standing up at the expense of ruining the band practice wouldn’t help anyone here.

This was an issue Suhyeok had to overcome with his individual skills.

It was a problem that wouldn’t be solved unless he dedicated separate time to it.

“Suhyeok, you should stay behind later and practice playing standing up on your own.”

Seo-eun didn’t need to say it; Suhyeok was already planning to do so.

The band practice gradually found its rhythm.

Only Suhyeok played sitting down, while the rest of the members were doing their best to get into condition for the stage.

“Good! That’s it for today. Tomorrow, let’s aim to complete the entire song.”

Only after repeating all the songs they had practiced tirelessly did Seo-eun release the members.

Everyone was packing up to leave, but Suhyeok couldn’t.

He had to stay behind to practice playing standing up.

“What’s up, Suhyeok? Aren’t you leaving?”

“No, I’m going to practice.”

“I see.”

After confirming that Seo-eun and Juyeon had left first, Hana deliberately waited until Choi-gang left as well.

“Then let’s practice together.”

“No, no. Because of me—”

“What are you saying? I was going to practice at home anyway, so I might as well do it here.”

Any reason would do.

And it wasn’t a lie either.

Hana really was planning to practice when she got home.

“Hey, I’ll give you a tip for playing standing up. Look.”

It wasn’t actually a very helpful tip.

In the end, the most important thing for getting used to a new posture was the amount of practice.

Suhyeok tried playing all the songs standing up right there, and it took about an hour just to get comfortable with it.

Of course, he hadn’t even started practicing the new songs yet.

“When you’re done with that, you should practice your performance too.”

“Performance?”

“You’re not planning to play like a wooden puppet on stage, are you?”

Right now, he was standing still and focusing on producing precise sounds, but on stage, visual elements had to be considered too.

Together.

Excitedly.

Showing that you’re enjoying the music was also part of preparing for the performance.

After hearing Hana’s words, Suhyeok seemed to have an idea and started playing the guitar while swaying his body awkwardly.

“Is… is this how I should do it?”

“Hey. What are you doing?”

Hana burst into laughter.

Ah, she thought this should be posted on Instagram stories.

It was too good to keep to herself.

Even kindergarteners at a school recital would do better than that.

“Isn’t this how it’s done?”

“Sure. You do it that way then.”

Suhyeok scratched his head as Hana’s voice remained full of mischief.

“We have a song with a twin solo in this performance too, right? We haven’t started it yet.”

“Yeah.”

Twin solo.

A term referring to a section where both guitars play solos.

It was one of the parts Hana was most looking forward to in this performance’s setlist.

“When we do that, we should do something like this.”

She approached Suhyeok with her guitar.

Turning her body 180 degrees, Hana gently leaned her back against Suhyeok’s, putting her weight on him.

What followed was the solo part that Suhyeok hadn’t even touched yet.

From behind Suhyeok, where he couldn’t see.

Hearing the triplet notes from the other side, Suhyeok felt his heart pounding.

Was it because of this back-to-back position?

Or was it the performance itself that moved him?

He didn’t know.

All he knew was that this moment could only be described as “thrilling.”

“What do you think? Wouldn’t it look powerful if we did this on stage?”

-Creeeeak

Instead of an answer, it was Juyeon opening the practice room door.

She blinked and then quietly closed the door again.

Hana, who had been leaning her back against Suhyeok, felt her face flush even though they hadn’t been doing anything strange.

“What… what’s up with her? Why did she come in and leave?”

“I don’t know…”

Meanwhile, Juyeon, who was heading back home the way she came…

“Does Suhyeok… like Hana?”

She thought that could be possible.

But she couldn’t understand why she herself had fled from the practice room.