The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 65

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A Former Idol Carries an Indie Band
Episode 65
“Hey.”
Unable to hold back any longer, Kang Min finally opened his mouth.
“Aren’t you going to use the drums?”
Kang Min spun the drum sticks in the air as he asked.
“Last.”
Im Hyun Taek said nothing more and focused on the arrangement.
Im Hyun Taek had deliberately avoided Kang Min.
Because he didn’t like him.
Choi Woo Young, too, had deliberately refrained from speaking with Kang Min.
It was awkward, plain and simple.
Dam Pa’s usual songwriting method involved touching the drums last anyway.
And Im Min Joo simply followed orders.
Somehow, Kang Min had been gradually sidelined.
“Sigh…….”
Still, not wanting to sabotage things, he held back and observed.
The arrangement was moving quickly, after all, and the quality was solid.
‘Let’s see how long this goes on.’
Only after the other instruments were arranged did they move on to the drums.
In the original, the drums were extremely simple.
Since it wasn’t even real drums to begin with, this was where the real creative work began.
“Do you have any ideas for the drum line?”
“No?”
“What? What have you been doing this whole time while we worked?”
Im Hyun Taek raised his voice at Kang Min.
“You have to direct me. Aren’t you leading the arrangement?”
Kang Min stared straight at Im Hyun Taek and didn’t flinch.
Im Hyun Taek gave a hollow laugh and nodded.
“Fine. I get it.”
The tension between the two began to spread through the air.
“The drums will be subtle. Since the guitar and synth are the main focus over the other instruments, we need them to stand out less.”
“Yes, I understand.”
The drum line didn’t deviate much from the original pattern.
Fill-ins were inserted tastefully here and there to frame the entrances of other instruments.
Im Hyun Taek ended up directing the drum arrangement too, and the result was quite decent.
He disliked Kang Min, but he couldn’t assign him substandard work.
The cameras were capturing every bit of this arrangement process, and the team’s overall score was part of the evaluation criteria.
He’d have loved to botch Kang Min’s drum arrangement.
But he had to guarantee the quality of the song.
After the song was complete, they began the proper ensemble performance.
The members started playing from the sheet music covered in pen marks.
The unity was quite good.
Kang Min’s drums, Dam Pa’s guitar, Choi Woo Young’s synth, Im Min Joo’s bass—
And Im Hyun Taek’s vocals layered on top.
They were good enough to pass for an established band.
But that was merely the domain of “ensemble performance.”
The rehearsal was proceeding smoothly.
After the first chorus ended and they were partway through the second verse, Im Hyun Taek suddenly scowled and shouted into the microphone.
“Hey, hey! Drums!”
“Aaah!”
The loud outburst startled Im Min Joo into a shriek.
“What? What is it? Why are you acting like this?”
Dam Pa was also startled and set down his guitar, rushing over to Im Hyun Taek.
Choi Woo Young simply sighed.
“Hey, play the drums properly.”
“What?”
“It’s too loud. Who plays drums at full volume in a rehearsal room? You’re drowning out the vocals.”
Whether it was Kang Min’s drumming or Kang Min himself that bothered him, Im Hyun Taek raised his voice.
“It wasn’t full volume?”
“What?”
“I wasn’t playing at full volume. How much quieter can I play here? Or just make a click track and rehearse without me.”
“Hey, are you talking back?”
“Did I say something wrong?”
Im Hyun Taek looked ready to strike Kang Min right then and there.
Dam Pa blocked him with his whole body.
“I mean, Cha Seo Ha sings fine even when we play much harder…….”
“Hey, what did you just say?”
At the mention of Cha Seo Ha, a killing intent flickered in Im Hyun Taek’s eyes.
“Oh, it’s just that he seems a bit different from our Rooftop’s vocalist.”
Kang Min wore a thin smile.
Seeing Kang Min’s smug grin and hearing Cha Seo Ha’s name sent Im Hyun Taek’s rage through the roof.
“What? Are you serious right now?”
“Oh, oh no, sir! Calm down. Back up, back up. Woo Young! Try to hold him back!”
Dam Pa barely managed to stop a fistfight from breaking out.
Im Min Joo cowered in the corner of the rehearsal room.
The production crew, unsurprisingly, didn’t intervene much and captured everything on camera.
Eventually, as Dam Pa dragged Im Hyun Taek out of the rehearsal room, the practice came to a halt.
* * *
It was true that Kang Min played rather hard.
In fact, Kim Ji Hu would occasionally ask him to play more quietly, saying it was too loud.
In reality, overly loud drum sounds happen in almost any band’s ensemble practice.
Anyone who’s played in a band would have experienced this.
Naturally, Destruction was no exception.
But today, Kang Min’s drums grated on Im Hyun Taek’s ears in particular.
It wasn’t because of Kang Min—it was because his own heart was twisted. But the irritation was unavoidable.
“……Hey, you okay?”
Choi Woo Young sat beside Kang Min and asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
They were an awkward pair, but a fight had broken out, so as the senior, he couldn’t just stay silent.
“We’re stopping the cameras for a moment!”
As soon as the two began talking, the crew paused filming.
Im Min Joo still sat in the corner, muttering dejectedly about how they were done for.
“Hey, don’t you remember the old days?”
Choi Woo Young spoke first.
“The old days?”
“When we were in Skydiver. We fought a lot back then, remember? I got chewed out all the time.”
“Oh, that? I don’t know. I don’t even remember it.”
Kang Min’s cynical reply hit Choi Woo Young hard.
It was a place with some memories, yet this guy had forgotten everything.
“You’ve really changed, haven’t you?”
Choi Woo Young envied Kang Min for always getting ahead of everyone, yet he resented him for it.
But if this kid was achieving results by abandoning his roots, he didn’t want to cheer him on.
“Skydiver was a failed band.”
“Why? If you hadn’t left, wouldn’t that place be more successful than Rooftop now?”
“No, it failed from the moment it abandoned you.”
“Me?”
After becoming a DMC Champion, Kang Min was recruited into the Skydiver band.
After seeing Kang Min’s skill, the band members’ standards rose, and they continuously complained about Choi Woo Young’s abilities.
Eventually, they kicked him out.
Kang Min hated the other members who expelled Choi Woo Young and left the band of his own accord, after which Skydiver fell apart.
The moment Kang Min left Skydiver, he proudly told Choi Woo Young that he’d also quit the band.
But at the time, Choi Woo Young had no peace of mind, and he resented Kang Min for leaving his dream band so effortlessly.
So he hurled all sorts of curses at Kang Min, and after that, the two never saw each other.
“I hated that. How does it make sense to kick out a valued member over just skill? Skill improves with practice.”
“Hey, but of course skill matters. What are you talking about?”
Choi Woo Young asked, bewildered.
“Heart matters more than skill.”
“Heart?”
“Yeah. Unity of heart is more important than ensemble performance. Look at us now. Do you think this is going to work?”
Choi Woo Young looked around the ruined rehearsal room.
It looked like a typical rehearsal room, but somehow it felt messy.
Remembering Im Hyun Taek, who’d started trouble with Kang Min, confirmed that this place had no hope.
“When your hearts don’t align, it’s like this. That’s why Skydiver was always fighting—there was barely any sense of brotherhood.”
“I guess…….”
Choi Woo Young still yearned for the past.
“You’ve been watching me lately, haven’t you?”
“What? No? I haven’t been.”
“Stop it. You came to Banwol Park like that.”
“So you noticed?”
“Yeah, how do I seem to you these days? Don’t I look really good?”
“Yeah, actually you looked amazing.”
“The Rooftop kids and I get along well. It felt like fate from the moment I first saw them.”
Choi Woo Young listened quietly.
“So we jammed on the first day we met, and then I was sure. This was where I was meant to be.”
“Where you were meant to be…….”
That phrase made Choi Woo Young think of a particular band.
Not Skydiver, but another one.
“I watched Odyssey’s second performance. It was the best playing of yours I’ve ever seen. You two get along, right?”
“……When did you become so mature?”
“The place you and I belong isn’t this hastily assembled band, and it’s not Skydiver either. It’s Odyssey and Rooftop.”
After Choi Woo Young listened to everything Kang Min said, he felt a wave of shame.
In the end, what mattered wasn’t jealousy or envy or admiration of others.
It was doing your best in your own place.
“Don’t get so bound by the past. You’ll have many days ahead with Odyssey.”
Remember the past well.
Look squarely at the future.
Live fully in the present.
That was the message Kang Min was sending Choi Woo Young.
To hear such words from a much younger dongsaeng.
Choi Woo Young felt ashamed of himself for being bound to the past.
“I’m sorry, Min. I resented you all this time. I felt like you got kicked out of that great band because of me, and then you just thrived.”
“I get it. From now on, don’t worry about it and live your life. We’re just good friends. Forget about Skydiver.”
“Yeah, thanks, you bastard.”
“Haha…. Don’t they find the cursing inconvenient for broadcast?”
“Wow, now your tone’s back? And we’re not even filming right now anyway.”
Around the time the misunderstanding between the two was resolved.
“Um, um…….”
Im Min Joo approached with a fading voice.
“We should probably start practicing again soon…….”
“Oh, right. I’ll go get him.”
Kang Min stood up.
“Hey, I’ll go.”
“No. I should go.”
Kang Min left the rehearsal room and set off to find Im Hyun Taek.
* * *
The moment Kang Min stepped out of the rehearsal room, he could pinpoint Im Hyun Taek’s location.
Dam Pa’s loud voice was coming from the restroom as he tried to calm Im Hyun Taek down.
Kang Min headed straight for the restroom.
“Aren’t you going to practice?”
At Kang Min’s voice, both Dam Pa and Im Hyun Taek turned around at once.
“Whoa. Sir, you can’t hit him. We don’t know when the cameras will come!”
“I know…….”
Im Hyun Taek breathing heavily.
His sudden rage had welled up uncontrollably, leaving him unable to calm down at all.
Kang Min confirmed there were no cameras nearby and boldly entered the restroom.
Kang Min stood directly in front of Im Hyun Taek.
Originally he’d only come to say they should resume practice.
But thinking about it now, he was too fed up.
“Hey, Hyun Taek.”
“Hey?”
“Why haven’t you changed at all since the Band Slam?”
“What?”
“Our Rooftop released an album and went on broadcasts, but why is Destruction still the same? Still starting fights like back then.”
Im Hyun Taek felt his mind flip like a switch at Kang Min’s provocation.
Smack—!
Kang Min suddenly felt a burning sensation on his left cheek.
Pain rose shortly after.
“Uh, uh! Hey, sir! Why are you hitting the kid! Hey, Min, you okay?”
“You fucking idol-wannabe bastard. Playing bands with those idol kids and going on broadcasts went straight to your head?”
Even as his cheek throbbed, what came to mind first wasn’t the pain but Cha Seo Ha’s voice.
‘Just be yourself and let loose.’
Apparently the leader’s words were something he needed to internalize.
“Yeah, I don’t see much. Knockoff bands like Destruction.”
“What? Do you want to get beat down?”
“Yeah, come on then. Hit me. Hey, Im Hyun Taek. Do a hundred people listen to your album? Do ten people come to your shows? You making any money? Oh, sounds like you’ve picked up some part-time work?”
Kang Min wasn’t holding back anymore.
Just being himself.
“Wow, this fucking guy…….”
“Listen, Im Hyun Taek. Practice instead of trying to bring others down. Stop being an old-timer in the band scene. Guys like you are why the scene stagnates. Get it?”
Im Hyun Taek had been taking cheap shots at Rooftop since the Band Slam.
After that, whenever he ran into people in the band scene, he’d slander Rooftop, saying they had no roots.
Naturally, that had reached Kang Min’s ears.
And though Kang Min didn’t know it, Im Hyun Taek had even posted malicious comments about Rooftop on band community forums.
Maybe if it were Cha Seo Ha, he’d have handled Im Hyun Taek more diplomatically.
But genuine rocker Kang Min had no such gentlemanly methods in his arsenal.
He was just kind and ordinary around his friends—a mere otaku.
With anyone who threatened his happiness, he was ruthless.
“Hey, Im Hyun Taek. Don’t you want to catch up with us? So why don’t you guys ever practice? Why do you just go drinking all the time? Shit-talking Rooftop at every get-together.”
“That, that’s…….”
“You think I don’t have close friends in the band scene?”
Im Hyun Taek was left speechless.
“I’ll admit you’re good. But after eight years, you should be better than this. Did you think you were good at something? You just put in the time, that’s all.”
“Hey, Min. That’s enough…. And the casual speech too…….”
Dam Pa’s anxiety climbed as Kang Min showed no restraint.
Im Hyun Taek looked ready to strike Kang Min with his fists.
“I’ll keep today’s hit secret, so straighten up. If you’re unhappy, then improve.”
“This, this fucking guy…….”
“And if you want to improve, practice instead of tearing down others. Manage Destruction properly, whatever it is, and get in more ensemble sessions.”
Kang Min headed back toward the rehearsal room but caught sight of the production crew arriving belatedly in the distance.
“Let’s get back to rehearsal, sirs! We’re running out of time!”
The moment he spotted the cameras, Kang Min switched to formal speech.
Watching Kang Min, Dam Pa had one thought.
‘Wow, damn. That guy’s cool as hell.’

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