A Blank Slate Regression for the Idol That Lost His Original Mindset - Chapter 413

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A Regression Guide for Idols Who Lost Their Original Intent Episode 413

Seo Yehyeon inside the recording booth urgently added to the microphone before I could even play the INST.

“Ah, let’s add just one condition before we start.”

Just how confident is he to even add conditions? When I waved my hand as a signal to speak, Seo Yehyeon said with sparkling eyes.

“If the word ‘again’ doesn’t come out of your mouth more than seven times while I’m recording this song, I’m dropping that damn hyung-nim calling and formal speech.”

I thought he had adapted somewhat since he no longer said not to do it or showed disgust, but apparently not.

But having confirmed once again that Seo Yehyeon didn’t welcome me calling him this way, I decided it was better to keep calling him that.

Anyway, Seo Yehyeon is sometimes more frustrating than Kim Dobin.

If he wants to stop hearing hyung-nim and polite formal speech from me, he should show that he enjoys it and feels proud.

He keeps showing such honest reactions that make me want to continue.

“Oh, hyung-nim. You seem quite confident? Do you think you can succeed in under seven times to propose such a condition?”

Seeing how confident he looked, it seemed he had listened to the guide recording file I gave him during his leave. I was looking forward to seeing how much he understood and digested it.

“Hyung-nim, have you finished warming up your voice?”

“Ah, wait just a moment. Why are you rushing me so much? Other times you wouldn’t even let me stand in front of the microphone until I relaxed.”

“That’s because hyung-nim would make such a death-like expression whenever you stood in front of the microphone and tremble without me even saying anything.”

This was the first time I had waited this eagerly for Seo Yehyeon to start recording. Having raised my expectations this high, he better be prepared for when he disappoints me.

Seo Yehyeon’s individual part of the INST echoed in the recording booth.

Seo Yehyeon’s voice layered over the INST.

I lifted the brim of the military instructor cap that had been pulled down deep enough to cast shadows over my eyes and blinked.

This is… better than expected?

“Oh? Did Yehyeon hyung make a contract with the devil?”

Kim Dobin voiced an exclamation that represented my thoughts.

Even when giving the guide recording, I thought it would be half successful if Seo Yehyeon could just capture this feeling slightly, but Seo Yehyeon had properly digested his part based on the guide recording I gave him.

First, the big framework of this part was definitely established. I could clearly feel it wasn’t luck or just getting by.

The unique feeling that only Seo Yehyeon could bring out, which I couldn’t capture in the guide recording, and the detailed parts that matched the song were slightly lacking, but that could be completed step by step through directing.

“Yehyeon hyung, you could go straight to DTB 5 like this, couldn’t you?”

“The rap skills themselves are… well, they’ve improved slightly from the Cheongru days, but the rap skills themselves aren’t remarkably improved. However, he’s now grasped how to digest his own parts.”

While seriously responding to Ryu Jaehee’s joke-like comment, the smile wouldn’t leave my lips.

I clicked the mouse to stop the INST and rewound it while asking.

“Hyung, how much did you practice?”

“Whenever I had time, I practiced with a pen in my mouth and Caesar sitting in front of me.”

Seo Yehyeon answered immediately with a face subtly showing pride. I had seen him practice pronunciation with a pen in his mouth several times, but to think he practiced the guide recording this enthusiastically too – I was moved.

After experiencing Gyeon Hajun’s rap skills, I had resolved to try to understand Seo Yehyeon during recording, but I never thought it would return with such positive results.

Clap clap, I applauded and sent sincere praise to Seo Yehyeon.

“That was good. Quite good.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, the best recording you’ve done so far.”

“Really?”

Seo Yehyeon, who kept asking as if he couldn’t believe it, smiled brightly and quickly took off his headset. Waving the pen he was holding and squinting his eyes, he asked.

“But why did you already take off the headset? I haven’t said I’m done yet.”

“Isn’t it over? It was a one-take pass, so you’re dropping that damn hyung-nim calling now, right?”

“I said it was good, not that it was perfect, hyung-nim. Hurry up and put the headset back on.”

“Then why did your speech return to normal?”

“Well, I have to be serious when directing.”

“Hey! You just proved with your own mouth that you’re not seriously calling me hyung-nim!”

“Hyung already knows that, so why are you doing this again? If you want to stop hearing hyung-nim, record well today.”

I gave detailed direction to Seo Yehyeon who was reluctantly putting his headset back on.

“Let’s try once more. Everything was good, but bring out more of an enchanting feeling. More dreamy rather than gentle. Right now it’s too gentle. So the feeling isn’t enchanting but like a guide.”

Seo Yehyeon nodded seriously and sang his part again according to the direction. Of course, he wasn’t yet at Gyeon Hajun’s level of perfectly catching requests when thrown at him, but I could still feel his growth.

Maybe I’m receiving excessive emotion from Seo Yehyeon, making his skills seem maximized? That also meant my expectations for Seo Yehyeon were that low.

If Ryu Jaehee had done this, I would have immediately shouted at him to stop joking around and do it properly.

“Good, you’ve brought it up to 90 percent. Hyung, is my request for ‘dreamy’ too abstract? Then try this. Sing with less power in your voice, then whisper just slightly at the end. Rather than murmuring… right, blur it. Try blurring it.”

Seeing Seo Yehyeon’s slightly puzzled expression despite nodding, I gave a simple demonstration.

“Like this. Can you do it? Let’s go again.”

Thanks to Seo Yehyeon following my direction well right away, the atmosphere was also unprecedentedly warm.

“Good, good! Let’s go straight to the next part without a break!”

Clap clap!

When I spoke cheerfully while clapping, Seo Yehyeon blinked with a “huh?” expression.

“Not taking a break? You always rested after finishing one part.”

“That’s because hyung used to take 30 to 40 minutes per part. Now we moved quickly. Are you already tired? Or was that seven times per part?”

Seo Yehyeon shook his head left and right at the question of whether he was already tired, but nodded up and down at the question of whether it was seven ‘again’s per part.

“It should be seven times for this entire song. Including the joint parts.”

“Why the joint parts?”

“Alright, I’ll exclude the joint parts. Just hyung’s individual parts.”

I was being very generous. His effort in practicing enough to make the guide recording worthwhile was commendable.

“You’re running out of breath when connecting there and there, right? So when hyung tries to secure breath around here, this part becomes weak, you know? You need to maintain it continuously.”

I didn’t know when I lived in rap heaven, but after experiencing Gyeon Hajun’s rock-bottom rap skills, directing at Seo Yehyeon’s level became much easier.

Approaching with the mindset of ‘this must be difficult too’ rather than ‘you can’t do this?’ was good for me, good for Seo Yehyeon, and since the recording studio atmosphere didn’t freeze, good for the other members too – it was a path where everyone became happy.

To think I didn’t know this eternal truth until now. Including before regression, I must have lost several years – I thought, then realized I didn’t do Rev’s directing before regression and just counted this round.

“Still, I can see you practiced, hyung. The attempt was good. You breathe after this ‘lost paradise’ part ends. Okay? Let’s try again.”

Continuing the directing, I uttered the seventh ‘again.’ The recording was now heading toward the final stages.

After finishing the last verse, I smiled kindly at Seo Yehyeon who was looking at me with hopeful eyes.

“Let’s do the last verse once more, hyung-nim.”

That was the eighth ‘again.’

Seo Yehyeon’s right not to be called hyung-nim went down the drain like that. It absolutely wasn’t because I didn’t want to do what Seo Yehyeon wanted that I added one more ‘again.’

“Aaaaah! You’re doing this on purpose!”

Seo Yehyeon grabbed his head and threw a tantrum into the microphone.

“Hyung-nim, would I do this for my own pleasure? I’m doing this to improve the song quality. We’re ending recording in a warm atmosphere for once, and I don’t want to spoil it either. Let’s do the last verse once more and quickly finish this song. Stretch the ending part slightly and make the last phrase tempo one beat slower. With a slightly teasing feeling.”

“The last phrase?”

When I nodded, Seo Yehyeon thought for a moment then raised his hand as a signal that he was ready.

After perfectly finishing the last verse too, Seo Yehyeon puffed out his chest and came out of the recording booth majestically like some triumphant general.

“Hyung-nim, do you think the guide line I gave you was helpful?”

“Yeah, recording became much easier. Before, no matter how I sang, you always told me to redo everything, so I was a bit discouraged, but now that the path is clearly presented from the start, well.”

Seo Yehyeon, who had been making a sullen expression upon seeing me as if not being able to stop the hyung-nim calling was such a resentful matter, nodded and answered obediently.

“So, did this recording meet your expectations?”

“Can’t you tell from finishing it in just eight tries?”

When I chuckled and replied, an uncontainable beaming smile appeared on Seo Yehyeon’s face. If he could just keep doing this, I’d have no other wishes, really.

Ryu Jaehee, who entered the recording booth next, finished recording smoothly since he had done the guide recording for this song, and Gyeon Hajun never failed to meet my expectations in vocals as always.

In the recording studio where everyone was happy, only one person wasn’t happy.

“Dobin, again. Your pitch wavered just now.”

“Again. This isn’t an upbeat song. Match the mood.”

“Again. I said match the mood, not mumble the lyrics.”

“Let’s go again.”

“Cut it. Don’t continue, cut it. Doesn’t the singer himself feel frustrated? Again.”

As soon as I stopped the INST saying let’s take a short break, Kim Dobin burst out of the recording booth and grabbed Seo Yehyeon, shaking him frantically.

“Yehyeon hyung! How can you escape from hell alone and leave me behind!”

“Dobin, I really care about you, but I don’t want to walk back into that ‘again’ hell to be with you.”

“Eden hyung! Please give me a guide recording too!”

“I’m a rapper and you’re a vocalist. Instead, I give you detailed focused directing one by one.”

“I want to switch to being a rapper too!”

“Seeing how energetic you are, it looks like you can keep going. Come on, let’s go back into the booth, Dobin.”

Seo Yehyeon, who had once again escaped alone from the hellish cycle, waved cheerfully at Kim Dobin as he trudged back into the recording studio.

* * *

“Wow, now that I think about it, this is my first time producing for your group. Even though we’ve known each other for so long.”

“I usually do it all myself. I wanted to compare a bit with this song, so I asked you, hyung. If you get too comfortable, you fall into mannerisms, you know.”

“This brat is trying to use me as a control group. Oh, and just so you know, I don’t go easy on you just because you’re a close friend, okay?”

“I heard that before when we did the year-end music festival project group.”

For the last song that would be included in the music video filming, Jiwon hyung took charge of the producing himself.

Still, since all our members have basic skills, Jiwon hyung’s producing, which he thought would go smoothly, hit an unexpected obstacle.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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