The song had a rhythmic and powerful progression. The melody in the chorus was also strong.
It was only a rough guide, but the clear melody of the repeating chorus made you want to make up lyrics to go along with it. It was also a melody that would go well with the important scenes in the drama where the male and female lead got together.
“Oh…Is it a rookie that composed and sang it? I think it’d go very well with your drama. It’s a very good song. So much so that I’d want to meet this person!”
After listening to the song, Team Leader Shim Joon briefly forgot that they were vying to do the OST Main Theme and innocently said in admiration.
He got the feeling that it was a good song as soon as he heard it, and it had incredible appeal.
A composer of this level could easily write a song good enough to at least be in the B-track of a HIT Entertainment singer’s album.
The musical atmosphere held its own against Do Wook’s. Listening to the rough guide alone was enough to tell that the comfortable music color and pitch were outstanding.
“Oh my, hearing that from an expert gives me a lot of confidence,”
Director Kwon Mi Jung said as she nodded her head. Writer Jung Eun Soo answered with a proud expression,
“It’s most likely a rookie singer…that’s my guess. A fan of mine had sent it to my email.”
“A fan?”
“Yes. Not too long ago, they sent me an email that they had read about ‘Successors’ in an article and that he had composed and sung it himself…”
Writer Jung Eun Soo continued speaking.
“Honestly, at first, I thought to myself that it’s faster to send it to the company when it comes to songs. I’m not too interested in OSTs…and the company takes care of all that. But still, it was from a fan so I couldn’t just ignore it and I gave it a listen.”
“She really liked it. It goes well with the drama’s vibe too, almost as if they’ve seen the drama. Not only is Writer Jung pushing for it but the music director listened to it and liked it too…we’ll see how it goes,”
Director Kwon Mi Jung said with a defeated tone. The actors’ agencies, investment agencies, and the broadcast station were all doing everything they could to get their song included in the OST album, but the main theme song was about to be handed over to an unknown rookie.
At the end of the day, if the song was good and had a positive effect on the drama, the Hwa En Su Production Company had no complaints. However, Director Kwon Mi Jung was personally getting harassed left and right because she was trying to grant Writer Jung Eun Soo’s request.
“I…”
Do Wook, who had been listening quietly, started to speak.
The gaze of the three people, who had been busy talking to each other, fell on Do Wook at once. Do Wook said with a slightly awkward and embarrassed expression.
“I…I’m the one who sent that email…”
Everyone’s eyes widened at what Do Wook said.
“My, my!”
The first to grasp the situation was Director Kwon Mi Jung.
The person who was most out of it was Team Leader Shim Joon. He had no idea at all.
“It’s…It’s your song?”
Do Wook nodded his head as he smiled, embarrassed.
“Wow…”
Team Leader Shim Joon was so taken aback that he could only sputter exclamations. He was also shocked that he couldn’t tell that the voice on the guide was Do Wook’s, even though he had produced albums with Do Wook’s voice ever since he debuted.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I had sent it to her as a fan, so….I had no idea Writer Jung would like it this much either… “
Dazed, Writer Jung Eun Soo responded to what Do Wook said,
“Ah! I was going to respond tomorrow…this is your song? My goodness. I had no idea. How fascinating. No wonder the song is so good. I had heard you’re good at composing, but I guess it’s true.”
“Hoho. I see, you’re seriously so talented!”
Director Kwon Mi Jung complimented him as she applauded.
Do Wook, who had made it a goal to do the ‘Successors’ OST, asked Team Leader Shim Joon to arrange a meeting with the ‘Successors’ production company.
Afterwards, as he waited for the meeting to be set up, he recalled the drama ‘Successor’ that he had watched in the past. Do Wook hadn’t watched all the episodes either, but he remembered enjoying watching episodes 1 to 8.
The OST wasn’t that famous at the time so he couldn’t really remember it, but he immediately recalled scenes from ‘Successors’ that were very popular.
It was a scene where the male and female lead were at the beach with the blue ocean behind them and met for the first time, as well as the confession scene. Recalling those scenes, he got a sense on what kind of song to compose.
Do Wook thought that he couldn’t just wait around to hear back from the production company. There wasn’t much time left until the drama aired, and they might be working on the OST too.
‘I need to do at least something…’
Do Wook’s ambition to work on the OST wasn’t only to fill the gap for KK.
If KK ended up doing the OST for ‘Successors’ and it did well, KK would get acknowledged in the OST market as well.
If the KK members could consistently work on OSTs too, it would be a huge help in the long run.
After much thought, Do Wook had worked on the song in his spare time and had sent an email to Writer Jung Eun Soo.
He wondered if Writer Jung Eun Soo would indeed give the song a listen, but he also thought that she would probably like it if she listened to it.
‘I made the song, already knowing what drama Writer Jung Eun Soo has been writing, so…it’s true that I’m at an advantage. If she’ll only give it a listen…”
Writers don’t directly participate in OSTs, but he calculated that if Writer Jung Eun Soo liked it, it would definitely work in his favor.
The reason he didn’t reveal that it was from KK was that he wanted to emphasize the fact that he had composed the song purely as a fan.
Actually, before Do Wook thought to email the song, there was a song that naturally came to mind when he recalled ‘Successors’, so half of the email was true.
However, there was no reply from Writer Jung Eun Soo even though she had seen the email.
Do Wook was a little disappointed, but he thought there was nothing he could do. It might be that Writer Jung Eun Soo had seen the email but didn’t listen to the song, or it could be that it was his first time composing a OST song so it might be lacking in many ways.
Thankfully, the production company got back to them just in time about setting up a meeting.
The original plan was to win an OST song by mentioning the name ‘KK’. Therefore, when Director Kwon Mi Jung told them that there was already a song Writer Jung Eun Soo liked so it might be hard for KK to do the main theme song, he couldn’t help but feel bummed.
‘Maybe it won’t work out…’
Do Wook had been disappointed, but the song that played was the song he had composed.
Perhaps it was because he recorded the guide urgently at the dormitory in his own room instead of the company studio, but you couldn’t hear the voice well and even Team Leader Shim Joon didn’t realize it was Do Wook’s voice.
“If the owner of this song is Do Wook and KK is going to sing…I don’t think there’s any reason at all for the broadcast station to oppose it, huh unni?”
“Oh my, of course, Writer Jung. I just need to appease a few agencies.”
Writer Jung Eun Soo was close enough to Director Kwon Mi Jung to call her unni. The person that supported Writer Jung Eun Soo from her rookie days until where she was today was Director Kwon Mi Jung.
Hearing the two of them talk, Team Leader Shim Joon’s mouth opened wide and automatically turned into a smile. Everything was resolved in one shot thanks to Do Wook’s unexpected email.
It meant that they would have contacted Do Wook anyways if he just waited, but it getting revealed in this setting was very dramatic.
It was clear that Do Wook had completely caught the attention of Writer Jung Eun Soo.
“Oh, but how did you write a song like this? I thought you read the ‘Successors’ script or something. Was it leaked?”
Writer Jung Eun Soo asked Do Wook in a pleasant way.
It wasn’t a bad lie, but Do Wook hesitated a little as he answered.
“Ah…I just looked at stuff like the character introductions…”
“Gee, the more I get to know you the more amazing you are. If you appear in Writer Jung’s drama later, please write the song then too, ok?”
Do Wook said “ok” to Director Kwon Mi Jung and the atmosphere became more friendly.
***
The day of ‘Successors’’ first broadcast.
The KK members were gathered around the dormitory television. It had been a long time since all six of them watched television together.
There was a commercial on the television. As expected of a drama from Writer Jung Eun Soo, there were a lot of commercials.
“When watching a drama, eating chicken is…”
“Tsk.”
Ahn Hyung Seo, who had mentioned chicken, immediately shut his mouth when Manager Oh Baek Ho made a sound. Ahn Hyung Seo was definitely getting pumped up as the day of the comeback got closer.
His body had completely recuperated and his throat had recovered. They even recorded the ‘Successors’ OST without a hitch.
“There’s less than a month left now until the comeback. You need to take care of your body.”
“Ok….”
Ahn Hyung Seo responded, pretending to be disheartened, but Manager Oh Baek Ho wasn’t one to fall for that.
‘There’s exactly 23 days left…’
His gaze on the television, Do Wook reminded himself. The comeback that seemed so far away was close enough to count down the days.
During that time, the KK members had spent all their time at the rehearsal hall except for when recording the in-house production program, and had been eagerly preparing for the comeback.
The choreography, which was difficult to even follow at first, could now be performed perfectly to the point that they didn’t make mistakes no matter how many times they ran through it.
They were finished recording the title song, so now they had the MR playing as they rehearsed for their live performance. The choreography was very difficult, so it definitely was not easy to do it live.
“Oh! It’s starting! Wow!”
Kim Won yelled. The commercial ended, the broadcast station logo popped up, and ‘Successor’’s first episode started.
From the beginning, it was an eye-catching scene with the California beach in the background. Joo Min Ho, who was playing the topless male lead, was playing beach volleyball with beautiful women on the dazzling blue beach.
“Oh…”
The members, including Kim Won, subconsciously dropped their jaws.
Of course it wasn’t because of Joo Min Ho’s toned muscular body. It was because of the beautiful western women playing beach volleyball with him.
“Close your mouth, man. Close your mouth,”
Jung Yoon Ki scolded Kim Won, who was sitting next to him, as he closed Kim Won’s mouth with his hand. Jung Yoon Ki’s pupils were also briefly more dilated than usual, but he came to his senses the quickest.
Afterwards, the content of ‘Successors’ as Do Wook knew it continued. One after another, watching the scenes reminded him of the drama he watched in the past.
When the scene where the female lead, who was doing part time jobs living a poor, hard life, was crying by herself near the male lead’s neighborhood came on, Suk Ji Hoon shook his head and said to himself.
“She’s even pretty when she’s crying. She was really pretty when she was little too.”
Ahn Hyung Seo asked, his eyes shining,
“Hurr, what the heck mangnae*! Are you friends with that beautiful person?”
(TL Note: Mangnae means youngest person)
“We were in a project together.”
“Wow, child actor are definitely on another level…”
Before they knew it, it was the last scene. The male lead, who discovered the female lead crying with a sad expression, grabbed the female lead’s hand and pulled her in.
The female lead, who was surprised by him suddenly grabbing her hand, looked at the male lead before it went to the ending.
And along with the ending, ‘Tell Me’, the ‘Successors’ OST that KK sang, started to play.
The KK members instantly focused.
Tell Me that you like me―
I’ll tell you that I love you―
Tell Me that you only have eyes for me―
The voices of Do Wook and Ahn Hyung Seo singing in harmony melted into the drama. Soon after, Jung Yoon Ki’s rap followed, and the caption started to come out.
-Successors OST, ‘Tell Me’ (KK) will be released at midnight today at Pineapple Music.
People’s response to the drama as well as KK’s OST immediately started to get posted online.
Manager Oh Baek Ho, who had checked his phone, told the members,
“The filming location for the MV shoot has been decided.”
The members, who were letting the drama and OST they sang sink in as they watched the preview, turned their heads towards Manger Oh Baek Ho.
Manager Oh Baek Ho’s expression didn’t look particularly good. He would be going to the filming location with the KK members.
“I think….you guys are in big trouble now.”
—
Next chapter: The KK members arrive at the shoot location and it’s definitely a place nobody expected