Entertainment Life With A Camera

Please remove this song from the title candidates.

“I can’t even tell what genre it is. It lacks focus.”

Kim Ju-young and Jo Tae-woong’s faces visibly paled at Choi Ji-min’s harsh criticism.

“It must be hard to start from scratch, right? You used to work with Joo-hyuk and Jin-hyuk before, and they were good.”

“…Yes.”

“Well, it’s understandable.”

Choi Ji-min felt sorry for the young juniors who looked unhappy.

‘They are still new to this. It’s normal.’

It was because the previous team had set the bar too high. Kim Joo-young’s work was decent enough.

Choi Ji-min spoke in a gentle voice.

“Guys, don’t overthink it. You know how to hum, right? Just hum for now.”

“How?”

“Just like this.”

Choi Ji-min demonstrated. It seemed like he did it casually, but it soon became a melody.

“Honestly, you shouldn’t sing if you don’t have this sense. You can do it, right? Try it.”

“Ahem, ahem.”

While Jo Tae-woong cleared his throat, Kim Joo-young quickly set up a basic beat.

‘They are all proactive. That’s good.’

Choi Ji-min liked the attitude of the group more than the quality of the song. There was no one who was left out among the members.

“Good, you’re doing well. Tae-woong, you have a good sense too. Don’t focus only on the lyrics, but keep humming and thinking like this. Let’s compose together.”

“Yes.”

Park Jin-hyuk and Park Seo-dam had divided the tasks of composing and writing lyrics, but Park Jin-hyuk had some experience in composing, so he handed it over. Kim Ju-young and Jo Tae-woong were not very experienced yet, so Choi Ji-min thought it would be better for them to collaborate.

“Do you know what the other team, Joo-hyuk’s team, did? They didn’t play instruments well, so they just banged on anything. They banged on their thighs, walls, and even frying pans.”

“…”

“You should also make rhythms like that. And mix them.”

Kim Ju-young felt something that was blocking him was cleared.

“You’re the best at mixing music among your group, right?”

He was not just mixing, but he was also excellent at adjusting the intensity. Mashup was Kim Ju-young’s specialty, and the results were always beyond expectations. He was especially popular in Europe, where they liked EDM music.

“Did I help you a bit?”

“Yes.”

Seeing the brightened expressions of the two, Choi Ji-min also smiled kindly.

“Good. I’ll come again tomorrow, so I hope you’ll show me a good song by then.”

“Thank you!”

Kim Ju-young and Jo Tae-woong bowed their waists and greeted him as he left.

“How was it?”

Lee Jong-soo, the PD who sensed that Choi Ji-min’s expression was not good after leaving the last house, casually asked.

“That team will be the most promising team if they find the right direction.”

“Do you think you helped them find the direction?”

“Well… The next mentor will nail it down, right? I have to go now.”

“Okay, thank you for your hard work.”

Choi Ji-min got into his car, where his manager had started the engine, and took out his phone from his pocket and called someone.

(Hey, did you see them all?)

“You unlucky bastard…”

(What did you say?)

“No, nothing.”

The person on the phone was Lee Byung-hun. Choi Ji-min frowned.

‘He’s jealous of other people’s rice cakes…’

He knew he had good popularity, but how did he gather such kids? They were all attractive.

(How did our kids do?)

“What do you mean how did they do? They did well. Why did you ask me to do this?”

(Just, I wanted to see if you would see them differently.)

“What do you mean differently? They’re the same as you.”

Choi Jimin answered dryly. But he felt like he was being too grumpy for a friend’s favor, so he added more.

“Some of them lack confidence in their abilities… But I think they’ll do better after the training camp is over.”

(Really?)

Hearing Lee Byung-hun’s happy voice, he felt like he shouldn’t have told him.

“Ah, whatever. Stop bothering me and hang up.”

(Take good care of our kids.)

“…Fine!”

Choi Jimin hung up the phone irritably and spoke to the manager who was driving.

“Hey, this won’t do. Let’s make our kids train harder.”

“Huh? They’re already doing a lot, aren’t they?”

“No, that’s not enough.”

He couldn’t fall behind Lee Byung-hun. He shivered with envy and resentment.

***

“Choi Jimin, look at this, you must be so jealous that your stomach is about to burst!”

Lee Byung-hun laughed out loud after ending the call with Choi Jimin. He knew that he would do anything he asked him to, even though he talked like that. He sat comfortably on the chair with a light heart.

Seo Su-ryeon looked at the childish president with a pitying gaze.

“Are the kids doing well?”

“Yeah, I don’t have to worry about them.”

“If you’re so worried, why don’t you go and see them yourself…”

“Choi Jimin will take care of them better, I’m not that talented in music, you know.”

Finding the right direction and the right person was also the president’s job. Lee Byung-hun smiled proudly, looking forward to the synergy effect between Choi Jimin and AWY.

***

Four hours after Choi Jimin left, a luxury sports car entered the ‘Our time’ filming site.

“Bluemix, welcome.”

“Long time no see, PD-nim.”

The second mentor and judge was Bluemix. The staff quickly attached a pin microphone and prepared a seat for him. Bluemix took off his sunglasses and sat on the chair.

Bluemix also had a brief interview time before listening to each team’s songs, just like Choi Jimin.

“How did you come to be here?”

“I have some connections with AWY’s friends from ‘Idol Rapper’. Jin-hyuk told me that he was doing a composing survival, and I thought it would be fun, so I contacted PD-nim first.”

Lee Jongsoo sighed and touched his chin. When he was looking for a mentor and judge, Bluemix suddenly contacted him and asked him casually if he was doing any music variety shows.

At that time, Lee Jong-soo PD gladly hired him, but… he wondered where he got the information from, and the culprit was Park Jin-hyuk.

“Ah, Jin-hyuk is a bit…”

“He’s good at spoiling things.”

But Bluemix was a trustworthy person, so he was lucky. Maybe he only chose such people to spread the information.

“Good. Then, do you have a team that you’re most looking forward to?”

“I’m looking forward to Kim Ju-young’s team.”

Lee Jong-soo narrowed one eye in surprise. He thought Bluemix would definitely choose Park Jin-hyuk’s team.

“Not Jin-hyuk?”

“LoveJ, Jin-hyuk, he’s not new anymore.”

“…”

“How is it? Did I give you a good teaser?”

The PD flinched at the unexpected answer and breathed a sigh of relief.

“You scared me, thank you.”

“Anyway, Jin-hyuk and I are too close. We’ve been working together recently too…”

“I see, then why did you choose Kim Ju-young’s team? Just because they’re new?”

BlueMic answered without hesitation.

“I heard the mashup that JooYoung did for AWY.”

“Did you listen to the teaser on Youtube, and the song on the album?”

“Yes, I was amazed by his sense and talent. I wanted to work with him if possible, but… you know, AWY and I were both busy.”

“I see.”

BlueMic was a popular producer and rapper who took time out of his hectic schedule to record for ‘Our time’.

The PD couldn’t take up his precious time with an interview, so he pointed to the dorm of Kim Ju-Young and Jo Tae-Woong with his hand.

“Okay. Do you want to see that team first?”

“Yes.”

BlueMic got up and dusted off his seat. He carefully opened the front door and saw Kim Ju-Young and Jo TaeWoong wearing headphones and looking at the monitor with serious expressions.

“How about this?”

Jo Tae-Woong tapped the desk.

“It sounds good, right? Wait a minute.”

Kim Ju-Young clicked the mouse and marked the beat.

They were so immersed in their work that they didn’t notice BlueMic entering the house.

“Hello.”

Finally, Kim Ju-Young and Jo Tae-Woong realized his presence when BlueMic tapped the work desk. They hastily took off their headphones.

“Oh, hyung!”

“Is the work going well?”

Kim Ju-Young and Jo TaeWoong looked unsure and scratched the back of their heads.

“What’s wrong?”

“Um… do you want to listen to it first?”

“Sure.”

BlueMic brought a chair and sat next to Jo TaeWoong. He put on the headphones that he had taken off. Kim Ju-Young played the work song with a nervous expression.

‘Oh… not bad.’

They had solved the problem of mixing genres that Choi JiMin had pointed out to some extent.

“Retro, nice.”

Kim JooYoung worked on the song in electronic, his most confident genre, and in synthwave, which was different from the intense dubstep of Park JinHyuk.

‘But something is off.’

It didn’t seem to meet BlueMic’s expectations. It still felt like they had lost their way.

Kim Ju-Young and Jo Tae-Woong looked at each other as BlueMic kept his arms crossed and thought even after the song ended.

“What is it?”

“Maybe he doesn’t like it…”

Kim Ju-Young slumped his shoulders. Jo Tae-Woong tried to talk to BlueMic who didn’t open his mouth.

“Hyung, what do you think?”

“…Wait a minute.”

BlueMic went outside after a long time of thinking.

He left the front door open, which made Kim Ju-Young and Jo TaeWoong feel like they had to follow him. As they came out timidly, BlueMic dropped a bombshell.

“PD-nim, can I give them the sample source that I made?”

“Wow.”

It meant that they could use BlueMic’s sample source as they pleased with his permission. Kim Ju-Young and Jo Tae-Woong opened their mouths wide.

“Um… that would be unfair. It’s a competition, right?”

Lee Jong-Soo PD stroked his chin and pondered.

“It is a competition, but it’s also true that Ju-Young is not as skilled as Jin-Hyuk or Joo-Hyuk. I think it would be good to give him some guidance with one song using sampling.”

“What do you think, Ju-Young and Tae-Woong?”

“I’ll follow Ju-Young’s opinion.”

Jo Tae-Woong answered without hesitation, and Kim JooYoung groaned and brushed his bangs up.

“Please, take this song out of the title candidates.”

“Are you sure?”

Lee Jong-Soo widened his eyes. Kim Ju-Young had a confident face.

“Yes, I want to try it too. I have to write another song anyway. I’m fine with just that one being a candidate.”

“If you say so… Let’s get the consent of the other teams first.”

The staffs went into each team’s house and gestured them to come out for a moment.

“What’s going on?”

“Oh? It’s BlueMic hyung.”

“Hyung! Long time no see!”

BlueMic raised his hand and greeted them silently as he heard the cheerful voices of the confused AWY members.

“Guys, I have something to tell you.”

Lee Jong-Soo clapped his hands and got the members’ attention. The members were stunned by BlueMic’s sampling offer and Kim Ju-Young’s request to take his song out of the title.

“What do you think?”

“Hey, Kim Ju-Young. Are you really okay?”

Kim Ju-Young nodded his head firmly at Ian’s words. The members, except for Lee Joo-Hyuk and Park Jin-Hyuk, raised their hands to agree with Kim Ju-Young’s opinion.

“Good. How about the leaders?”

Lee Joo-Hyuk, who had been thinking for a while, spoke first.

“I don’t think we need to take it out of the title candidates.”

“Is that confidence?”

“No, it’s not. Ju-Young helped us a lot with our song, but he doesn’t have much experience in writing his own song. BlueMic hyung has a point.”

Lee Jong-Soo smiled slyly. The situation was getting very interesting.

“What about Jin-Hyuk?”

“Ah, I’m tempted by the sample source, but… hyung, give it to me later.”

BlueMic nodded his head.

“Then I’m fine too. Don’t take it out.”

Park Jin-Hyuk smiled brightly and said. He didn’t care if they took it out of the title or not, as long as he got BlueMic’s sample source.

“So, what do you say, Ju-Young?”

Lee Jong-Soo nodded his head. As the situation was settled, Kim Ju-Young, who had been lost in thought, said firmly.

“No, please, take it out.”