Ex-Idol's Role Afterwards

Chapter 2: You Were an Idol?

Taejin followed and walked slowly down the steps, staring at the multitude of posters stuck to the walls.

"I've already set up the camera, but we will have to do some adjustments so that it can professional and suits you. I have a certain look I'm going for, you see." Yuseom said at end of the staircase, looking up at Taejin who finally took his last step down to the basement. "I want it to look like a recording but the bottom part of your face will be hidden by the muffler in the shot so that the main feature will be of your eyes. We're going to be up close, so I brought makeup. I thought about maybe retouching it afterwords,  it it might be easier to just do it now. You can trust me with makeup, I've done them for school plays, my actor friends, and once for a part time job."

Taejin nodded his head. "Okay. Is it going to be a one take?"

Yuseom shook his head. "No. Singing, we'll have you record for maybe two hours or so and splice them together. You're here late enough after your job, so I don't want you to stay here for long. That would be rude of me. But, I would like the footage to be one take. Or close enough that it doesn't matter. It's simple, protects your privacy, and looks effortless. Now, follow me. My dad's probably annoyed at me for taking so long."

Yuseom opened the door to one of the three studios.

"Dad! I brought our celebrity!" Yuseom smiled brightly.

Taejin stepped in afterwards and looked around. Despite the shoddy appearance from outside, the room and equipment were decent and looked clean. He then turned his eyes onto Yuseom's father who was sitting at the chair next to the control panel. His appearance was not one of a producer or singer, but someone who was a white-collared worker. Slicked back hair, frameless rectangular glasses, and a very ordinary pale middle-aged face with a hint of sharpness in his features. Taejin could see the resemblance between the two as they spoke to each other.

Yuseom then turned towards Taejin. "So, this is my father. Kim Doyoung. He'll be the guide and I'll be watching on the side."

Doyoung smiled at Taejin. "I heard about you, and I listened to your voice. It seems that you were trained, just rusty. What was your previous job if I may inquire?"

Taejin, who felt no need to hide anything from these people who were near strangers and held a friendly, approachable aura around them, decided to reveal.

"I was part of a K-pop idol group at DEW Entertainment."

Yuseom looked surprised. "Eh? I assumed you were some celebrity, but for DEW?! Their only male group is only a few months old and they're in their early twenties. Did DEW really have other idol groups?"

Taejin nodded his head. "I debuted 12 years ago. The group disbanded after seven years."

Yuseom took his phone out quickly. "Wait, let me look this up."

"Ah, Taejin-ssi, I would like to talk about your song you picked to cover." Doyoung spoke up and Taejin looked up at him. "I think you should sing something much newer. You are a low tenor and have a particularly melodic quality that is very sweet to the ears. There's a slight twang that initially differentiates your voice from most K-pop idols. You also sing very soulfully and you put out the emotions very clearly as if you're crying out, which is something we can use to our advantage. So, I think your voice would really suit today's pop music to then boost it and make it your own."

"Wait!" Yuseom interrupted suddenly and he shouted with surprise. "If you're talking about DEW, their first idol group was in 2010. The actor Jung Wonho was an idol!? What? A-and Lee Seungwoo was also part of it as well? Dad, you know Lee Seungwoo, he's a regular on that celebrity radio talk show we listen to at night! Kim Inseong, he's on the covers of so many magazines as a runway model and is a brand ambassador for so many brands! Shin Hamin, he was the producer of the song of a streamer that I watch! Geez, how did I not know about all of this?"

Hearing his members' graceful ascension to popularity, he couldn't help but feel proud. However, it was a reminder of how he could've joined them. But with that thought was a spiral of other thoughts. None of them succeeded as singers, or even dancers. The thing they trained so hard for wasn't even the reason they got famous. And why Taejin couldn't either. Singing was all he ever has known.

"But... the last member, his name is Lee Taewoon. He did a lot of advertisements and photo shoots in famous magazines the first couple years. And he stopped activity after leaving the group. And his picture kinda looks like you..."

Taejin curved his lips up into a slight smile. "Yes, I changed my name after we disbanded and when I quit the entertainment industry. Then, I took my mother's maiden name when my parents divorced."

Yuseom's voice softened. "Oh, I'm sorry for bringing that up."

Taejin shook his head. "It's not of concern. Mr. Kim, what is it that you recommend me singing?"

"Ah, yes. I was thinking about perhaps you sing Wicked by SOLSEA. It's a girl group song, but their members are known for their powerful vocals and it's a lower octave song, so it wouldn't make any large clashing between the bass of your voice and the higher pitched song of today's pop hits. It will also catch attention because it's a male cover, which is on the rarer side when it comes to K-pop girl group songs. So... We can go with a few different styles. Singing it like how they sing it, singing it a bit more sultry, more emotionally vividly, or we can see how you sing it in your own style." Doyoung explained, moving his hands a lot, as he looked at Taejin with a serious expression.

Taejin nodded his head. "Sure, I'll try that. I don't know the lyrics very well, so if you don't mind me singing along with it..."

Doyoung smiled. "No, of course not. I sprung this up on you so suddenly, it's really only my fault. I just think singing such an old and iconic song should wait until there is enough hype around your name and you can make a big impact. I'm not discrediting your singing abilities, but I think it would be simpler to go with Wicked as a new singer. It's a much newer song and they are still doing promotions for the song, so it will be more likely to be seen. The other song, it's older and there aren't many people who search for covers of it outside of the large music show collaborations. So, perhaps it's when you start to build up your name and we can have this cover explode. Your voice sounds perfect for the song, so I don't want you pondering on that part."

Yuseom then turned to Taejin, putting his phone back. "Oh, I wasn't really sure about this. But, do you want to use your real name when I post the video, or should we come up with a stage name?"

Taejin blinked and looked at the recording booth.

"Jin. Write it in English."