The Daughter of a Conglomerate Family Has Debuted - Chapter 284
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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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The first recording session with Cael Arden was finished.
He was extremely pleased with my recording, and I was also very satisfied with how my voice turned out in this song.
It was a style I hadn’t tried much before, and I thought it might be difficult having to focus on pronunciation.
But it went smoother than expected, and it harmonized quite well with Cael Arden’s voice too.
“Good work. What are you going to do now?”
As I was packing my bag to leave, Cael Arden got up from the sofa and asked.
“What am I going to do?”
I looked at him with an expression that said I didn’t have anything particular to do.
I had promised to work with Han Da-min at the studio in the evening, but there were no official schedules. We couldn’t even go sightseeing since fans had discovered our location.
Then Cael Arden smiled and tilted his head.
“Let’s go. If you don’t have any plans, let’s eat together.”
“Eat together? You and me?”
“Why? Is it uncomfortable?”
Of course it’s uncomfortable. It is uncomfortable, but…
I reflexively nodded.
“Yeah, let’s go. It is dinner time anyway.”
“There’s a decent restaurant nearby. I’d like to introduce it to you.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
But this is unexpected. I thought he’d disappear as soon as work was over, but he’s even suggesting a meal first.
Did he like today’s recording that much?
After confirming my intentions, Cael Arden silently left the recording studio and headed to the restaurant.
A restaurant in the busy district.
Flora’s hotel location had been revealed, and there were actually fans following us everywhere we went, so I wanted to avoid crowded places, but since Cael Arden had personally brought me here, I couldn’t back out after coming this far.
‘When did he even make a reservation?’
I thought he had suggested the meal on the spot, but it seems like he put some thought into arranging this meeting.
But if you were going to be considerate, you should have considered both my situation and your situation and chosen somewhere quieter. Even if I’m only known by my fans, you’re famous enough that most passersby would recognize you.
As expected, the restaurant was extremely crowded. It was already a popular restaurant, and with rumors spreading that Cael Arden had come, it was packed with people.
Camera sounds could be heard from everywhere, along with voices calling out to Cael Arden.
Despite all this, Cael Arden continued walking with surprising composure.
As expected, when it’s not about music, he has no consideration or anything. I managed my expression with difficulty and followed the staff’s guidance to the seat Cael Arden had reserved.
Fortunately, the reserved seat was a private room, so we should be able to eat quietly.
“Are you okay?”
Seeing my stiff expression, Cael Arden belatedly asked.
I shook my head with an awkward smile.
“There are more people than I expected. Next time we eat, please choose somewhere quieter.”
Of course, I probably won’t eat with you again!
He seemed a bit flustered by my words but nodded without saying much.
“I guess I lacked consideration. I was more eager to introduce you to a good restaurant. I’ll be more careful next time.”
Since he seemed to notice that I was uncomfortable, I decided not to say more and let it go. We completed our order with the menu recommended by Cael Arden and his staff and began having a proper conversation.
“But what’s the occasion? Inviting me to dinner? Weren’t you busy?”
At my question, Cael Arden shrugged and tapped the table with his finger.
“Not really? I’m not busy. All the troublesome stuff is finished. More than that.”
He tilted his chin toward me.
“I wanted to have more conversation with you. We’ll be meeting frequently from now on. We should at least be friendly enough to act close, don’t you think?”
Ah, so that’s what it was.
I wondered if he was suddenly impressed by my singing skills when he suggested eating together, but this was also a thoroughly calculated proposal.
Being featured in Cael Arden’s title track and appearing in the music video meant working together with him.
We’ll be doing various broadcasts, interviews, and stages together in the future, and showing only a strictly business relationship wouldn’t really help with activities or image.
It seems like he arranged this meeting to have conversations, become friends in advance, and create some anecdotes. If that’s the case, well, even though it’s unpleasant, I think I can roughly guess his intentions for coming to such a crowded restaurant.
‘It must be for promotional purposes.’
No matter how I think about it, Cael Arden’s personality really can’t be covered up.
If people openly witness Cael Arden having a meal with me, those who see it will naturally wonder why we met, whether it’s a personal meeting or if we’re preparing something.
And they’ll start guessing and anticipating the collaboration between me and Cael Arden that hasn’t even been announced yet.
All those accumulated hints would obviously return as great interest when Cael Arden’s album is released later.
In other words, I’m currently being used under the pretext of having a meal.
‘Ugh…’
He’s really scheming. It’s a personality I don’t want to deal with. He could have just straightforwardly suggested eating once and taking a photo.
But honestly, I’m not much different either, so I can’t really complain.
“Yeah, we’ll be meeting frequently, so let’s get along well. You said earlier that your busy work was mostly finished?”
I also have something to ask Cael Arden.
The conversation we exchanged was ordinary. It mainly consisted of talk about today’s recording, recent work in progress, and equipment being used.
Talking longer than expected, we communicated well.
Since we both work on music, we had similar struggles with music production, and Cael Arden even said he’d give Flora the same equipment he uses as a gift.
Cael Arden said he didn’t listen to K-pop before knowing Flora. In fact, he said he still hasn’t properly listened to Flora’s songs.
Since he’s very picky about genres, not just K-pop, I recommended several songs that might suit his taste.
I played a few songs on my phone right then, and he seemed to like them quite a bit, listening to stories about my music with great interest.
The atmosphere became relaxed and comfortable.
Riding the momentum of the atmosphere, I said:
“Cael Arden, do you happen to know how to rap too?”
“…What?”
When I asked with a bright smile as if trying to please him, Cael Arden rolled his eyes and then nodded.
“I can do it a little?”
“You sing well and rap well too. Then won’t you do a featuring on our song?”
“…Suddenly?”
Cael Arden put down his cola glass and frowned.
I nodded without concern.
“Yeah, please do it. Just simply, about one or two verses. It’s our pre-release song, but the bridge is too boring.”
“You’re telling me to rap?”
Cael Arden’s expression as he pointed to himself was utterly bewildered.
“I’m not that good at it. You have a rapper on your team.”
“I’d like you to do both rap and singing. Let’s give and take with each other. We’re going to meet frequently, right? Don’t you want to? Does it seem difficult?”
I can’t help it if he refuses, but it would be really great if he did it.
The featuring I wanted to ask Cael Arden for was the bridge part of the self-composed song by Han Da-min and me that would (probably) be included as a pre-release track.
A song so exciting that you’d bounce from start to finish.
It’s natural for the composition to be like that since it’s a song made to be exciting, but there was internal feedback that it felt a bit tiring with only bouncy, dopamine-filled parts coming out.
I was thinking it might be good to calm down once before the highlight finale and then enter a dramatic finale.
I said calm down, but I didn’t want to completely disrupt the bouncy, excited atmosphere either.
What method could create an atmosphere change enough to give a breathing space while maintaining the exciting beat and mood? While thinking about this, I came up with the idea of changing the singer entirely.
Putting Cael Arden’s featuring in the pre-release song would be really good both for buzz and musically.
The problem is…
‘He’d probably hate dance songs with a passion.’
How should I persuade him… I pondered repeatedly while fumbling with my phone to find and play the pre-release song.
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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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