Tae-ha’s suggestion was to start a workplace band.
With that proposal, silence drifted through the studio where the members of Freesia had gathered. Tae-ha decided to break the silence by explaining why he had thought of starting a workplace band in the first place.
“I’ve always thought it would be nice to do music with you brothers again. Especially after I established myself as an actor, I felt that even more.”
At Tae-ha’s words, the members, who had been lost in their own thoughts, suddenly looked up. Tae-ha continued while checking their reactions.
“But the circumstances just didn’t work out as I’d hoped. Even if we want to do music again, we all have our own careers, so we can’t exactly practice excessively. It’s not like we can try being idols again just because we have some time. That’s why I thought of a workplace band.”
The members nodded slowly, as if they resonated with Tae-ha’s words.
Certainly, few people here could afford enough time to try being professional singers again. At most, they could spare three or four hours a day. That was all the practice time they could manage.
Even though their passion for music had been reignited after seeing Tae-ha’s recent song perform well on the charts, this was the reason the members hadn’t been able to easily suggest starting music again. Even if they wanted to take music seriously, they didn’t have the proper time for it.
Furthermore, starting music again meant that everyone who treated music seriously would become their competitor. For members who had spent at least one year as idol trainees, this thought was ingrained in them as a given. They only had enough practice time that made competition impossible, even though blood-sweat-and-tears efforts would still be insufficient.
It was only natural that they couldn’t recklessly touch music again. Honestly, the members felt that coming forward to be singers with their current skills would be disrespectful to those who made music their profession.
But a workplace band was different. If they set their minds to it, they could continue their musical activities even with those constraints. More than anything…
“We don’t have to overdo it to show something impressive right from the start. We can practice slowly and enjoy it, like we’re undergoing rehabilitation therapy. If things go well, that’s great, but if they don’t, there’s nothing we can do about it.”
A workplace band could be started with that kind of mindset.
As the members showed expressions of agreement with Tae-ha’s words, he added one last sincere thought.
“The important thing is that the five of us are doing music together again.”
At the same time, the members’ expressions were filled with emotion. It was inevitable. They hadn’t expected Tae-ha to be thinking so seriously about doing music with them.
Strictly speaking, Tae-ha didn’t have any reason to look out for the other four members. He was already in a position where he could promote as a singer if he wanted to. In fact, TT, who was eager for success, was pestering Tae-ha every day to release a solo album.
Taking first place on the music charts in this day and age was no easy feat. Yet, despite that, Tae-ha was considering musical activities with his members. Since the members knew this to some extent, they couldn’t help but be moved.
Of course, for Tae-ha, this was a natural choice. He wasn’t actually considering a solo career as a singer at all. He believed the song’s success was just a stroke of luck that coincided with the success of the drama.
To Tae-ha, who had never even dreamed of being an actor, let alone a singer, in his past life as Ho-jun, a solo singing career was out of the question. This thought hadn’t changed even though his synchronization with the original ‘Kang Tae-ha’ was now sufficient.
That was right. Currently, Tae-ha considered his identity as Ho-jun and his identity as Tae-ha to be almost completely one and the same. He only separated the two when necessary. This was the result of living as the master of this body for several years.
However, even with this sufficient synchronization, Tae-ha had no ambition to become a solo singer. Ultimately, the reason Kang Tae-ha had dreamed of being a singer was a desire to be loved by someone. But Tae-ha was already receiving plenty of that love as a writer and an actor.
Therefore, there was no reason for him to be greedy for a solo singing career. But activities with the members were a different story. In his current synchronized state, the feeling that if he were to do music, he should do it with his members, was acting strongly within him.
This was also why he had checked the group chat to see if the members were interested in music and why he had considered a workplace band. He wanted to do music with the members. He wanted to achieve the dream that hadn’t been realized. This was Tae-ha’s sincerity. The members were moved because they felt that sincerity too.
After some time had passed, it was Seo Jong-woo, the leader of Freesia, who finally broke the silence.
“A workplace band… honestly, I’m kind of drawn to it.”
When Seo Jong-woo gave such a positive answer, the other members nodded one by one.
“Me too! I don’t think it’s bad at all! No, I love it!”
“Wow… are we really getting back together like this?”
“What instrument should I play? What instruments did you guys know how to play?”
“Leave the drums to me. You know I played drums in the youth praise team at church when I was a kid.”
Indeed, most of the members knew how to play at least one instrument. Choi Jin-woo, the main dancer who spoke last, knew how to play the drums, and the leader, Seo Jong-woo, was good at the electric guitar. The rapper, Alex, had been good at the synthesizer since he was young, and the main vocal, Kim Gun-yul, played the bass guitar well.
The only person among the members who didn’t know how to play an instrument was Tae-ha.
“Hmm. I don’t know how to play anything, so I guess I should just be the vocal. Or should I learn the guitar and play second guitar?”
Kim Gun-yul nodded at Tae-ha’s suggestion.
“That’s fine too. But don’t push yourself too hard. You’re already taking on two roles in our band. The face and the vocals.”
The members gradually refined the details of how they would form the band. And since they were at it, they even decided on a name for the band. The name Freesia was a bit too much to keep using as it was. However, they didn’t want to lose their identity as Freesia entirely, so they decided on a name.
That name was ‘Free.’
***
Episode 5: 9.12%, Episode 6: 9.93%, Episode 7: 11.04%, Episode 8: 12.51%.
While the viewership ratings for were drawing an upward curve every day, Free’s band activities proceeded smoothly. It was a natural result, as everyone was at a stage where their passion was burning bright after just starting music again.
First, they quickly secured a practice room near Mangwon. Since the members all lived or worked nearby, there were no issues with the location.
Seo Jong-woo worked at a company in Magok, Alex was planning to open a restaurant in Hapjeong, and Kim Gun-yul was working as a vocal trainer in Hongdae. The one who lived the farthest was Choi Jin-woo, who worked as a trainer at a gym in Paju.
For reference, Tae-ha’s home was currently in Sangam, just like his studio. Since everyone’s commute to the practice room was short, they could all gather in one place at 7:30 PM on weekdays to practice.
They received help from TT, who had many connections in the field, when searching for practice room listings or purchasing instruments. In particular, TT was extremely interested in the band Free. This was because he realized that while Tae-ha seemed to have no interest in a solo album, he did have an interest in an album for Free.
“Just keep practicing. I’ll write all the songs for you. That’s fine, right? You’re not talking to anyone else, are you?”
It was a good proposal for Tae-ha, as well as the other members of Free. Once they reached a certain level of skill, a composer who had already proven his ability would give them songs and even produce their album.
Of course, they still had a long way to go to reach that stage. First, they had to possess the minimum skills required of a band. This was why the members of Free were gathering every day to practice.
“Alright. Now that everyone’s here, let’s start practicing. Today’s practice song is Deli Spice’s ‘Confession’, right?”
For their initial practice songs, they chose a few tracks commonly played by workplace bands.
Jaurim’s ‘Twenty-five, Twenty-one’, Hyukoh’s ‘Tomboy’, and Coldplay’s ‘The Scientist’.
These were songs often referred to as the “staples” of band clubs. Since their goal was to quickly improve their skills and find their rhythm together, there was no reason to choose difficult songs.
The atmosphere in the practice room during their four-hour sessions was also very good. Rather than being intense, it was fun; rather than being painful, it was happy. Just the fact that all the members were gathered and playing together sent a thrilling chill down their spines — even if the harmony they created was sometimes a bit discordant.
The fortunate thing was that the members’ skills weren’t stagnant. Rather, they were syncing up faster than expected. Since Tae-ha and Kim Gun-yul sang at the level of main vocals in a decent idol group, the band’s performance only had to be reasonably coordinated for it to sound good.
Even TT, who visited the practice room to check the members’ skills while writing songs, left a comment like this:
“If we set up an album with vocal-focused songs, you could probably debut as soon as next month.”
It was unexpected praise from an expert. However, despite the high praise, Tae-ha and the other members didn’t get ahead of themselves. It just meant they looked that way; it didn’t mean they were ready yet. The members of Free knew better than anyone that their overall skills were still lacking.
Especially for Tae-ha, who was learning the guitar for the first time, a bit more time was needed. However, TT’s praise was enough to boost the members’ motivation, and because of that, the leader, Seo Jong-woo, brought something up.
It happened when they were having a simple beer at Alex’s restaurant after finishing Friday’s practice.
“Since we’ve decided to do this, why don’t we do it properly? Maybe set a goal?”
“A goal? Like, debuting within the year?”
“Ah. Honestly, debut seems a bit difficult, and maybe just performing on a small stage. Let’s decide on a specific stage.”
“That sounds good. Then what stage would be best… I think if we look around, we’ll find a stage that’ll take us…”
Along with the other members of Free, Tae-ha also toyed with his beer glass, thinking about what kind of stage they should perform on. Then, a good idea occurred to him. He had one personal plan he was making for when ended.
Tae-ha made a suggestion to the members of Free.
“How about that stage being my fan meeting?”