Honestly, working with LIL like this was a big accomplishment for KK, but it was also a huge step for Do Wook’s composer career.
Do Wook was involved in a majority of KK’s title songs and B-track songs as a composer and lyricist, and had definitively established himself as a producer now.
However, as a composer and producer, Do Wook’s opportunities were rather restricted to KK.
Rather than an issue of skill, it was an issue of choice and focus.
The only experience of working on a different singer’s song was working on Hyun Ji’s album that she did with Park Tae Hyung. However, he had worked on that with Brave Only Child, so it wasn’t completely Do Wook’s work.
KK was included in it, but the first song he gave to another singer ended up being for LIL.
‘It’s definitely an incredible opportunity…as a composer too.’
Do Wook, who was out on the dormitory terrace, let out a big breath. His body was huddled because of the cold outside air, but there was nothing like cold weather to clear one’s mind. The spring moon was also shining brightly onto the terrace.
Bathing in the moonlight, Do Wook thought about his dream. His big dream of wanting to leave good songs as a singer and producing good singers.
He didn’t know when he might change bodies again and wake up in the reality that didn’t feel like reality anymore, so Do Wook hadn’t thought of much outside of revenge. Now he was devotedly living as ‘Kang Do Wook’ and even planning for the distant future.
With Do Wook’s current musical insight and composition ability, he honestly could crank out the song LIL wanted with LIL in the center and KK practically in the shadows with a little effort.
However, Do Wook didn’t want to do that.
Just as it was not an easy opportunity to come across, he wanted to show that KK could easily be on an equal footing with LIL.
‘I think it’d be ok to be a little greedy…’
In order to do that, Composer Kang Do Wook really had to do his best.
‘It has to be a song that can persuade LIL after all.”
At that moment, the terrace door opened and Ahn Hyung Seo entered.
“Aren’t you cold?”
“I was just about to go inside.”
“Ok, come in soon. Li Won made ramen~! Have a bite.”
“Uh…”
After the video call with LIL, Kim Won became known as ‘Li Won’ among the members. It was based on ‘Only One’.
There even was a ‘ONLY ONE’ fan page amongst Kim Won’s fan pages. It was a fan page that had diligently taken pictures of Kim Won since the first album. If the fan page master could hear them, they would definitely be very happy.
It was almost midnight. When Do Wook stopped in his tracks after hearing ‘ramen’, Ahn Hyung Seo pulled Do Wook in.
“Have one bite, just one bite!”
It was an inactive period and Manager Oh Baek Ho had lightened up on surveilling the members since they had built experience as well as trust. The members often took advantage of this to have midnight snacks.
However, Do Wook, who was disciplined about his self-care, never joined the members for the late-night snacks.
“You’re going to pull another all-nighter. Aren’t you hungry?”
“Well…”
“You’re not going to say something like…’music is my food’ are you?!”
Do Wook chuckled at Ahn Hyung Seo’s over-the-top words.
“Come and just have one bite. Li Won’s ramen skills are improv-ing!”
“What? It’s improving.”
Jung Yoon Ki squinted as he corrected Suk Ji Hoon. Suk Ji Hoon was the youngest member with an orderly personality, proper etiquette, and outstanding fashion sense, but sometimes it showed that his knowledge was lacking, perhaps because he had been part of the acting world since he was young.
After hesitating for a moment, Do Wook soon headed toward the table with Ahn Hyung Seo.
The smell of ramen was too strong to resist the temptation. Also, as Ahn Hyung Seo said, he planned on working all night on the song, so having a bite would be better for the morning too.
Slurp!
The sound of members sitting together and devouring the noodles rang throughout the dorm.
The six bags of ramen that were boiled in one pot were disappearing in an instant.
“It’s delicious, Won.”
Kim Won smiled wide at Do Wook’s words. Even while smiling, Kim Won was moving his chopsticks and holding the noodles. They cooked one bag for each person, but the speed at which they were eating it was too quick.
“Does anyone want some rice for their soup?”
When Jung Yoon Ki asked, the members all looked at him. Park Tae Hyung said hesitantly,
“Ah…if we eat rice in addition to this…”
“Me! I’d like to have some!”
Ahn Hyung Seo’s hand shot up.
“Then…Then me too!”
Park Tae Hyung also raised his hand as if he were possessed.
In the end, they all put a bunch of rice into the pot that only had soup left. Only after eating the additional rice did the members start to say they were full.
Do Wook was the first to put his spoon down. Suk Ji Hoon patted his stomach, implying that he couldn’t eat another bite. Ahn Hyung Seo had a small physique compared to the other members, but he was a big eater. Suk Ji Hoon stopped Ahn Hyung Seo, who was just about to grab more rice, saying that he’d get indigestion.
“Is it going well with the song?”
Now that they’d filled their stomachs, they started to talk. Do Wook, who was drinking water when Jun Yoon Ki asked the question, slowly nodded his head.
“Well…”
Do Wook beat around the bush, which was not very Do Wook-like. The truth was that he didn’t have a concrete idea of the genre or general direction to say that it was going well.
“It’s hard…”
Jung Yoon Ki muttered as if he were talking to himself as he wiped his mouth. Everyone knew that it was going to be a tough project. It was especially true for Do Wook, who had said they couldn’t just do everything LIL wanted.
“First, I’m trying to properly understand LIL’s music style.”
“Are you listening to LIL’s albums?”
“I’m watching everything, not just the songs in LIL’s albums but also any covers he did during performances or other singers’ songs he’s done in general. I think that’ll help in understanding his style.”
Do Wook answered Suk Ji Hoon’s question. Do Wook was literally taking in any and all of LIL’s music.
All the members sincerely wanted to help, but they couldn’t figure out how to help.
“Hey, don’t put so much pressure on yourself. It’s ok if we don’t work with LIL.”
Do Wook nodded his head at what Jung Yoon Ki said. It wasn’t possible to not feel pressured, but just the members believing in him and following him was a huge help.
***
Do Wook, who had eaten his late night snack and returned to his room/workshop, was, of course, listening to LIL’s songs tonight as well. Do Wook understood very well the KK members’ uniqueness, strengths, and weaknesses as well as how to highlight them from living together and having done musical activities.
Do Wook was certain that if he was able to understand LIL like he was a 7th KK member, it would be a huge help in working on the song.
‘Even if it’s the same song, each singer sings it differently. What part they emphasize, what part they tone down…the way they breathe is different too…if I can understand that, I could tell what the singer wants to say or what they’re feeling through the song.”
It was when he was deep into listening to LIL’s ‘IN THE DARK’ again.
After knocking, Ahn Hyung Seo came in.
“Is something wrong?”
When Do Wook asked, Ahn Hyung Seo held something out. The black palm-sized object was an external hard drive.
“What is this?”
“What else would be in an external hard drive? Hehe,”
Ahn Hyung Seo replied, laughing wickedly. Do Wook briefly had a blank expression, trying to understand what he meant.
“I felt like you were doing too much on your own. I thought this might help.”
“What?”
Do Wook asked back, implying, ‘what in the world do you mean?’
“Could this be ero–”
“These are videos of LIL’s performances up to now. I downloaded everything from MyTube, as well as videos posted on foreign music sites, and organized it by date.”
Do Wook, who was expecting a different type of video, was embarrassed and accepted the external hard drive.
He was flustered by Ahn Hyung Seo’s prank but soon calmed down.
“I thought it might help if I at least did this. I had been working on it here and there the past few days anyways, and when you said you were listening to LIL’s songs I thought it was good timing.”
“Ah…thank you very much, Hyung Seo. I can’t believe you put all this together. There must have been a lot of it.”
Ahn Hyung Seo said as he laughed,
“There was quite a bit I had already gathered to practice my vocals, so I was able to do it quickly. I also included the video of a performance LIL said that he liked in an interview.”
Gripping the external hard drive tightly, Do Wook thanked him again.
Although it was not a direct help, he didn’t have to find the videos one by one so it definitely helped save time.
“No need to thank me. Then, good luck.”
When he connected the external hard drive he received from Ahn Hyung Seo to the laptop, there were hundreds of videos organized into folders.
There were also some cover videos that Do Wook has not yet seen. Do Wook began to click on the videos in order.
3 am.
Do Wook, who had been watching videos, rubbed his sleepy eyes as he clicked on a video.
‘I should at least wash my face after this video.’
It was a video from right before LIL became famous, a small concert hall performance less than a week after he released ‘IN THE DARK’, his debut song,
It was a video someone in the audience recorded with their cell phone and uploaded, not an official video, so the quality and sound was not good. He thought it might be ok to skip since the sound wasn’t good, but the reason he didn’t skip over it was because the concert playlist for the performance was different from his most recent one.
After singing “IN THE DARK”, LIL covered an unplugged version of a famous singer’s song.
Do Wook, who was a little surprised starting from the accompaniment of the song, opened his eyes wide when LIL’s song began.
‘…this is it!’
He gripped the mouse even harder.
Do Wook finally figured out the direction of the song he’d compose. He shot up from his seat, quickly went to the bathroom and washed his face.
It was time to kick working on the song into high gear.
***
The song guide to send to LIL was almost complete.
Once he decided on a direction, he quickly made progress like a sail in a tailwind.
Do Wook first played the song for the members. The members responded that it was beyond expectations.
The genre Do Wook selected could basically be considered R&B.
LIL was a great vocalist, so it was possible to expect Do Wook to come up with an R&B genre. LIL wanted exciting music and KK had two rappers, so they thought a certain amount of hip hop elements would be included.
However, while the song that Do Wook brought WAS hip hop/R&B, it also had a strong jazz feel. As soon as you heard it, you could tell that a vocalist with a soft music color would fit better than one with powerful vocals.
“The song is very good. It makes me want to hear more.”
Ahn Hyung Seo’s evaluation made Do Wook laugh pleasantly. The key idea Do Wook kept in mind as he made the melody was precisely to make a melody ‘that makes you keep wanting to listen to it.’
Do Wook tried hard to make a melody that makes you want to keep listening to the pleasant beat, one that instantly makes you rhythmically bob your head and tap your feet if you listen to it while walking.
“I thought it’d be a little deep though. Since LIL is a powerful vocalist.”
When Kim Won said that, Do Wook played the video he had watched.
“It turns out LIL has this kind of voice…”
LIL’s voice pierced through the microphone and ran throughout the concert venue even though the sound quality was not very good.
The vocals weren’t powerful. The slightly gentle singing voice was very sweet. His foundations were solid so, of course, it was nice to listen to.
Do Wook was planning on highlighting LIL’s soft tone, which was hidden by his powerful voice, high-pitched tone, and unique voice color.
At the same time, this style of music would go very well with Kim Won and Jung Yoon Ki’s rap as well as KK’s vocals, which included Ahn Hyung Seo.
“Still, LIL will probably want to showcase his unique talents, so I plan on adding some powerful parts in the second half.”
The members nodded their heads when Do Wook said that.
“They might like it because it’s different from the songs they’re used to getting…”
Ahn Hyung Seo muttered. Ahn Hyung Seo was also an incredible vocalist, so he probably knew it too. It was something Do Wook thought of from a vocalist perspective.
‘A good vocalist likes a challenge. They want to show everything they have, so…’
Do Wook hoped LIL would accept the song. It was also an opportunity to show, ‘I can do this kind of stuff too.’
‘Of course it’s hard to be certain.’
Do Wook thought. The possibility that the collaboration with LIL may fall through left a bitter taste in his mouth.
***
And at that moment, Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung, who was doing monitoring at the office, couldn’t believe his eyes.
< [Exclusive] KK! Are they teaming up with global star LIL? >
‘What in the world…!’
—
Next chapter: Word gets out that KK and LIL are doing a collab