Chapter 954: Nothing Goes According to Expectations (8)

“What’s wrong?”

“Uwaaaaaah!”

“No, I mean... could you at least explain what’s wrong with words...?”

The composers looked up at the sky with aggrieved expressions.

“We got baited again!”

“I thought maybe this time would be different, but of course not...!”

“Everyone, stop looking at the night sky! There’s a universe up there too!”

Watching the composers vent their anger at the ground, I glanced around.

Then I approached the only person here whose expression hadn’t changed at all: producer Saltman.

While sprinkling salt over meat for the barbecue, the composer looked up as I spoke.

“Producer Sol.”

“Hm?”

“Are they acting like this because of me...?”

“It’s not your fault. If you ask me, they all got ahead of themselves.”

“Got ahead of themselves?”

As he flipped the meat over with tongs, he explained.

“They figured your skills improved while you were in America, so maybe now you’d finally be able to make an English track too. Then they heard you still hadn’t written a song yet and started getting all excited.”

“Ah...”

“Fools. Unlike me, they should’ve known from the start it was impossible and not bothered writing anything. Hoo hoo hoo.”

While Producer Saltman praised his own wisdom—

I turned to the composers.

“From this moment onward, no more crying.”

“Uwaaaaaah!”

“Anyone who cries will have a private counseling session with me.”

“Hic...!”

The sobbing immediately stopped.

I stood in front of them with an expression asking them to hear me out for a moment.

“You’re all overlooking something important right now.”

“?”

“Why are you assuming my song will definitely become the title track? One of your songs could be even better.”

“......”

“No, why are you crying again?!”

The composers burst back into tears.

“...What is wrong with them?”

“To be honest, I also don’t think your song’s going to lose, hyung...”

Biju whispered.

“It’s just too good.”

“Really? Still, you never know until you compare them. There really could be an even better song.”

“Uh... that sounds right, but also somehow wrong, hyung.”

The other members nodded in agreement with Biju.

The composers, who had been lamenting the unfairness of the world, finally accepted reality with hollow smiles.

“Ugh. We got tricked again.”

“It’s not like I tricked you...”

A few days ago, Team Leader Na Sangyoon had simply asked, “You really haven’t written anything yet?”

And I’d just answered, “Not yet.”

The composers let out dry laughs before opening their arms wide toward us.

“You made it, kids!”

“Come over here already. Perfect timing, the meat just finished cooking.”

As thick smoke drifted through the yard, we and the managers gathered around the picnic table outside the lodging.

Min Gi hyung said,

“This place is nice.”

“The CEO sent us here. Said if we were going on a training trip, we should stay somewhere good. We really spent two whole months living somewhere amazing.”

The producing team staff spoke as they handed over plates.

Everyone popped hot meat into their mouths and groaned in admiration.

Jiho spoke with teary eyes.

“...Ih’s sho delishush, they shay hardship bringsh blessinghs.”

“You mean, ‘It’s really delicious, and they say blessings come after hard work.’”

“Hehe...”

“And that ‘hehe’ means ‘yes,’ right?”

After patting the cheeks of the younger member whose face was puffed up like a hamster’s, I started eating too.

Maybe because we’d spent hours sweating while learning to cook, the food practically melted in my mouth.

Even Ri Hyuk, who usually ate elegantly, was shoveling food down like crazy.

“Oh dear.”

“He must’ve been really hungry. Want more?”

“Yes!”

The members and I nodded together.

The producing team grilled every last piece of meat they’d prepared for us, and we devoured all of it happily.

Then before we knew it, we were all zoning out while staring at marshmallows roasting for dessert.

“Look at their faces.”

The composers burst into laughter.

Soon, after seeing each other’s faces, we started laughing too.

We really looked awful.

Our hair was all fluffy and disheveled, like country puppies that had wandered through the mountains and come back covered in burr weeds.

Team Leader Na Sangyoon asked,

“What kind of special are you guys preparing for that you worked this hard?”

“It’s a restaurant special.” ℴℴ𝘮

When we explained that the concept of New Universe had been matched to cooking, since cooking would be the theme of the global album, the composers nodded.

“It’s unique, but it does sound like a fun promotion.”

“I think the concept this time is really good. The moment Wooju said the theme was cooking, all kinds of fun ideas started popping into my head.”

“I even started writing immediately.”

While chatting like that, we caught up with the producing team.

What had happened during the past two months, what we’d learned, funny stories, and so on.

And naturally, the topic shifted toward the English songs this time around.

“Oh, right.”

I looked at the composers.

“Since we’re talking about it anyway, should we listen to the songs?”

“The songs?”

“We can let you hear the song we wrote, , and it’d be nice to hear the tracks you all wrote too.”

“Should we?”

The composers readily nodded.

Apparently they’d been curious about the song I wrote.

“Let’s go inside and talk.”

Someone outside might overhear, so we decided to continue indoors.

The moment we entered the lodging, Ri Hyuk immediately started walking around with headphones on.

Holding some kind of detector in his hand.

“...What’s Ri Hyuk doing? Looking for underground water veins?”

“It’s his hobby. Lately Ri Hyuk’s gotten really into bug detectors.”

“I-I see...”

“But it’s a healthy and useful hobby, at least.”

“Is it...?”

The composers blinked.

Then Ri Hyuk suddenly froze in place, putting one hand over one side of his headphones as though he’d detected something.

After a moment, he sighed in disappointment.

‘Why are you disappointed...?’

‘It’s better if there’s nothing there, Ri Hyuk.’

We all shook our heads.

“He’s definitely the weirdest one in our group.”

“Agreed.”

“I think so too.”

Just as Team Leader Na Sangyoon looked ready to say, Birds of a feather flock together—

I sent him a silent glare.

Then we all gathered in the living room for a music listening session.

“Alright then! It’s time for our producing team to reveal how hard we worked over the last two months!”

“Wooooah!”

“We weren’t just eating and vacationing for two months, you know. We created truly incredible songs.”

“Wooooah!”

Team Leader Na Sangyoon had been nodding and smiling, but suddenly a shadow fell over his face.

“Of course, because of one songwriting monster, our dreams will never come true...”

The members and staff burst into laughter.

When I narrowed my eyes at him, Team Leader Na quickly coughed.

“...Ahem. Anyway, it’s time to confirm the fruits of our efforts. Now then! Let’s listen to the submitted songs one by one.”

Soon, the songs written by the composers began to play.

At first, the members and I nodded along casually to the rhythm—

Then our eyes widened as we stared at the composers.

“!”

“!!”

The composers nodded proudly at our shocked expressions as if to say, See?

I turned toward Composer Yoo Woong with genuine admiration.

“Composer, this song is seriously good.”

“Huh? How did you know I wrote it...?”

“Every composer has a fingerprint. The way it progresses felt like your style, Composer Yoo Woong.”

The composers tilted their heads.

“Really?”

Then I added,

“Wow, this is seriously good. How long did this take to write? Just composing something at this level must’ve taken over a week.”

“It took two months...”

“......”

“......”

I quickly pretended to focus on the music again, but Composer Yoo Woong’s eyes had already grown moist.

I hurriedly added,

“The song really is amazing.”

“Thank you...”

“No, seriously. It’s really good.”

“It’s okay. It’s okay...”

As I felt like I was sinking deeper into a swamp somehow, everyone else burst into laughter.

Ri Hyuk smirked.

“You even asked us before if our songs were already finished versions.”

“Back then I was so upset I couldn’t sleep for thirty minutes.”

“......”

I ignored them and continued listening to the composers’ songs.

Honestly...

‘They all improved so much.’

‘They’re seriously all good.’

The tracks captured the feel of American pop much better than traditional K-pop.

In truth, there wasn’t a massive difference in pure skill level compared to the producing team from two months ago. It felt similar overall.

But that was only because our composers had already been incredibly skilled from the start.

So what had changed?

“The hesitation disappeared a bit, right?”

At Team Leader Na Sangyoon’s words, I smiled and nodded.

Back then, whenever we requested, “We need songs for English-speaking markets,” the composers used to hesitate.

You could hear it in the songs too.

-Can we really go this direction...?

Even when they tried something adventurous, they tended to steer things back toward safer territory midway through.

Maybe because they weren’t fully familiar with overseas trends or listeners’ tastes.

It was similar to a Korean cuisine chef hesitating while trying to make food for American customers.

But after spending two months in America studying and communicating with local composers, the hesitation had vanished.

“What do you think, Wooju?”

“They’re really good.”

“Honestly.”

“They really are. They were already amazing before, but now I honestly feel like I can trust you all completely with our American activities too.”

I looked at the composers with serious eyes.

But nobody looked happy.

“When you say trust us, you don’t mean you’re going to work us to death all day, right? Please say no.”

“You don’t have to rely on us that much...!”

“Wooju. Compared to you, we’re still lacking...”

“......”

Seriously.

The way they looked at me made it seem like I was some evil boss, and I pouted slightly.

Then—

“But they really are all good.”

Junghyun smiled warmly.

“I think every single one of them is strong enough to compete for the title track.”

“Really?”

Because this kid was such a terrible actor that he physically couldn’t give fake compliments, the composers immediately gained confidence.

I agreed too.

There were so many good songs that we didn’t even need to hold separate submissions for tracks to include on our global album.

Just thinking about which songs we’d have to cut already felt painful.

“They’re that good?”

The composers looked doubtful at first, but soon their faces brightened.

“Oh, then maybe we really can aim for the title track?”

“Honestly, even I think we did a great job this time.”

“Seriously, these past two months, I really...”

And then—

A blurry low-quality audio file started playing.

“?”

Along with the sound of someone rhythmically patting their thigh with their palm, a folk-pop style melody flowed out.

My humming filled the place instead of lyrics.

The song gradually developed while the composers and members listened closely—

Then the chorus finally arrived.

“Overcooked~ overcooked~♬”

Everyone’s eyes widened.

“Hyung, what is this?”

“Wooju. What is this? You said you only made the chorus. This is basically a finished song.”

I answered,

“I sketched it out roughly while the members were sleeping in the car. Since I already had the chorus, I just thought up melodies that might fit with it... and recorded them roughly on my phone while we were moving around.”

“......”

“I was so tired I just hummed it casually, but somehow it still worked out.”

“......”

Everyone stared at me blankly while blinking.

Only Ri Hyuk looked thrilled, like, As expected, the experiment succeeded?!

Then Team Leader Na Sangyoon let out a hollow laugh.

“There’s not even any need to debate the title track anymore. So what’s the title of this song?”

“.”

“Overcook...”

The composers showered me with praise tinged with admiration.

“You did well. The song’s really good.”

“You pulled it off again, Wooju.”

“You made the melody unbelievably pretty.”

The composers praised me like proud adults about to hand over a gift.

And at the mention of gifts, something suddenly came to mind.

“But...”

I glanced toward the pile of gift packages near the living room.

“I’ve been wondering for a while now. Were those presents over there prepared for us?”

“No!”

“Definitely not!”

Even though there was clearly a note attached saying “To Wooju,” the composers insisted they weren’t my gifts.

Their faces looked so sulky that I burst out laughing.

Work on progressed smoothly.

-Wooju. Since we’re already talking about it, let’s polish this song a little.

Maybe because they’d rested for so long in America, the producing team was overflowing with motivation.

Everyone was too tired to work long hours, but...

“That was short?”

“La la la la~”

Anyway, in a surprisingly short amount of time, we managed to establish the basic framework of .

Now we still had to go through endless meetings with the TF team to decide how to use it, plus discussions with other departments...

But for now, the start was good.

“You worked hard.”

Suk Hwan hyung welcomed us back to Korea.

“Min Gi told me you wrote another song.”

“Yeah.”

“Send me the file. We’ll talk after the TF team holds the title track meeting.”

“It hasn’t actually been decided as the title track yet...”

“Hey. Everyone here’s watched you for over four years now. At this point, we all know.”

Smiling at Suk Hwan hyung’s words, I handed him the USB drive.

While the underlings distributed souvenirs we’d bought in America to the TF team staff, Suk Hwan hyung adjusted his glasses.

“You heard about the ratings, right?”

“Yeah.”

Smiles spread across both our faces.

While we were in America holding concerts, episode 2 of the driver’s license special for had aired.

And the ratings had risen by a staggering 2.2% compared to episode 1.

[11.1%]

It was an absurdly incredible number.

“Producer Gu Jaeyoung said the driver’s license special could potentially hit 13% at peak.”

“13%...”

“We should push it even higher and head to Antarctica.”

“......”

I glared at the smug math demon grinning beside me.

“This isn’t the time to laugh, you know. You remember I’m allowed to bring managers too, right?”

“I seriously hope you do.”

Suk Hwan hyung laughed.

“If it hits 20%, what’s Antarctica? I’d confidently do national morning exercises while hopping around down there.”

“I’m really remembering this, hyung.”

“Go ahead. Remember it well. Your nickname’s Petty Sun for a reason.”

I nodded while he teased me after finding an opening.

Now I had one more reason to go to Antarctica.

As we talked about the variety show special, we stayed busy after returning to Korea.

There was just too much to prepare.

“Hyung. I think we only need to practice this part of the choreography a little more.”

“Biju, when are we eating...?”

“If we eat now our bodies will get sluggish. Let’s finish first.”

“......”

“Want some chocolate?”

“Mhm.”

Practice for , the unit activity song Biju and I would be promoting, was finally nearing its end.

“Frank. Please check the songs I sent by email.”

-Got it.

“We’re planning to start recording soon. Would you like to attend?”

-I’ll have to check my schedule. Though honestly, Wooju, you’ll probably be driving the cast like trapped mice anyway, so I doubt you even need me there...

“What do you mean ‘driving them like trapped mice’? I just enjoy giving advice.”

Work on the musical numbers for with famous musical producer Frank Chow was also wrapping up successfully.

On top of that there were New Universe variety meetings, global album preparations, cooking practice, South American tour prep, variety filming prep, and more.

At this point, I genuinely started wishing there was a superpower that could create clones.

Wouldn’t that be amazing...

-Kim Deoksun! Tell me which one you like better between Sun Wooju 1 and Sun Wooju 2!

-Yeah, Grandma! What about me, Sun Wooju 3?!

No.

That would actually be a terrible idea.

As I wandered down the company hallway lost in imagination, a sharp voice interrupted me.

“What were you thinking about?”

“I was thinking it’d be nice if I had clones, but now that I imagine it properly, it sounds awful.”

“Really? I think it sounds nice.”

Ri Hyuk smiled as he said it’d be fun to form a debate club with his clones.

Seeing how soaked in sweat he was, he’d probably just come from practice.

“Were you practicing?”

“Yeah. Sort of.”

“How’s it going? Going well?”

“I think I can win.”

Ri Hyuk nodded confidently.

Our main vocalist was thoroughly preparing for the upcoming competition program .

“I’m going to wash up, so head to the cafeteria first.”

“I’ll buy snacks and wait.”

Ri Hyuk lightly waved before heading toward the basement shower room.

Meanwhile, I headed upstairs to the cafeteria.

Tonight, we’d be watching the variety show airing with company staff and monitoring reactions in real time after all the hard work everyone had put in over the last few days.

And the program we were about to watch was—

[Seojun Lives at the Supermarket]

The childcare variety show where the members and I had taken care of the Yeoul siblings.

The producing team staff were happy.

‘This is heaven.’

‘Korea is the best.’

No matter how nice the weather was or how beaches appeared after walking just a little in LA, America still wasn’t Korea.

Korea—with family, friends, and hot gukbap always readily available—was the best.

On top of that, after resting for two whole months, it honestly felt like their work efficiency had skyrocketed.

“...Let’s keep that fact a secret from Wooju.”

“If he finds out, he’ll give us even more work.”

“Wouldn’t he give us more anyway?”

“Still, maybe we can at least make him feel a little guilty?”

“Wooju doesn’t have that kind of thing. The triangle inside his heart is a circle. A perfectly round one too, just like his face.”

They were adding various sounds to the original version of they’d received from Wooju when—

The door to the nearby A&R office opened, and they heard a crowd of people moving noisily through the hallway.

“Where’s everyone going?”

The producing team opened the office door and asked.

“We’re going to monitor a variety show.”

“A variety show?”

“You know that program the kids filmed last month while babysitting those little children? Seojun.”

“Ohhh...”

Apparently the group had appeared on yet another variety show while they were gone.

“But why is A&R going to monitor a variety show?”

“While you were away, we worked on a song that’s going to appear on that show...”

The A&R staff suddenly looked emotional.

“Ah, I’m tearing up all of a sudden.”

“Minji even changed her phone wallpaper from Wooju to Jiho.”

“She switched back to Wooju eventually... But after enough time passed, I gradually recovered. A fan’s heart sways like reeds in the wind, but eventually returns to its original direction.”

“But it swayed a lot.”

“......”

The producing team tilted their heads while listening.

‘Worked on a song?’

‘What kind of song would be used for that?’

Even while away at the workshop, they’d still remotely handled all important company artist work from America.

“...Wait. A song’s going into a childcare variety show?”

“Wooju wrote a children’s song while filming that show. The song turned out way better than expected, so we’re preparing an official release.”

“Oh. A children’s song.”

The producing team froze.

“A children’s song?”

“Yes.”

“You’re officially releasing a children’s song? Seriously?”

“Yes. Seriously.”

The composers on the producing team slowly turned to look at each other.

“?”

“??”

While they’d been absent from the company, something deeply bizarre had apparently happened.