Taeha decided to participate in the OST work this time as well.
Since the OST for “Fight School” had received such a great response, not only tvM but also Salamander Studio had hoped for this.
They were convinced it would be a huge help in promoting the work.
Taeha also had a certain level of expectation regarding the promotional effect.
However, he didn’t expect a response like last time, such as sweeping the music charts.
After all, something like this happening was miraculous, not something to be taken for granted.
The members of Prequel also didn’t have particularly high expectations in this regard.
They were just happy to be able to release new music.
But one person.
Only TT seemed to think differently.
He was the only one among the people around Taeha who was confident of success.
“It’s usually the case that if a drama does well, the OST does well too. So how could the song for ‘Byeonghwa’ not do well? Especially since Taeha is the one singing it?”
It was a somewhat reasonable statement.
Unless it was a special case, the performance of an OST track tended to follow the popularity of the drama.
And from that perspective, the performance of the ‘Byeonghwa’ OST was worth expecting.
Because there was no way the performance of ‘Byeonghwa’, starring Taeha and Song Ji-eun, would fall below a certain level.
But reaching number one on the music charts was a different story.
No matter how well a drama performed, there were cases where the OST didn’t top the charts.
Ultimately, as in all fields, to reach number one, you needed the skills to be the best.
Above all,
‘While ‘Byeonghwa’ has a high probability of success, its success is not guaranteed.’
Being complacent about success.
That was the fastest shortcut to failure.
For that reason, even though Taeha had run a path of nothing but success so far without a single failure, he had never been complacent about it.
On the contrary, because he always kept the possibility of failure in mind, Taeha could always do his best in everything.
The ‘Byeonghwa’ OST was the same.
Taeha planned to participate in the OST work with the thought that ‘Byeonghwa’ might even fail.
That way, if ‘Byeonghwa’ really encountered unexpected variables, it could receive help from the OST.
In that sense, the song TT prepared was important.
And today was the day to choose one of TT’s songs.
For this, everyone had gathered at Prequel’s practice studio located in Mangwon-dong.
Taeha smiled at TT, who was more confident than anyone about the success of the OST work, and opened his mouth.
“Shall we start listening to the songs you’ve prepared?”
“Ah. Yes, we should. First, song number one.”
And so, Taeha and the other Prequel members listened one by one to the songs TT had composed.
For this work too, they planned to receive songs from various composers to fill the OST list.
But among them, they intended to entrust the main song to TT.
It was only natural, as he had not only shown his potential in ‘Fight School’ but was also one of the composers in the best form in the industry recently.
However, one concerning point was that the OST for ‘Byeonghwa’ was quite different in texture from that of an ordinary drama.
It couldn’t be helped, as the genre of ‘Byeonghwa’ was a historical drama.
On the other hand, TT had almost no experience composing OSTs for historical dramas.
Moreover, hooks using brass instruments like saxophone or trumpet were TT’s unique style and strength.
Given that, the result for ‘Byeonghwa’ could be said to be somewhat different.
But even so, Taeha trusted TT and entrusted him with this work, and fortunately, the result wasn’t bad.
The proof was that songs number one through ten that TT played were all not bad.
They all came out with a quality above a certain level.
Leader Seo Jong-woo seemed to think the same.
“The songs are all good. It’s hard to choose just one.”
At Seo Jong-woo’s words, Alex, Choi Jin-woo, and Kim Gun-yul nodded.
Then TT scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.
“Actually, I couldn’t easily get a feel for it at first, but after holding on and working on it for months, songs did come out.”
That was right.
In fact, TT had been preparing for the ‘Byeonghwa’ OST work for quite a long time.
He had started working on it ever since the script up to episode six came out and the casting offer went to Song Ji-eun.
So, from the finalization of the 24-episode script to the filming of episode fourteen, he had focused almost exclusively on the ‘Byeonghwa’ OST work for close to half a year.
Of course, TT hadn’t done only the ‘Byeonghwa’ OST work and nothing else.
But even considering that, it was a considerable preparation period.
It wasn’t for nothing that TT felt embarrassed by the Prequel members’ praise.
But anyway, producing a result was what mattered.
If effort wasn’t added to talent, no matter how much time was given, no result would have come out.
“Then, shall we vote on which song to use?”
A little while later.
The song that received the majority vote among TT’s compositions was a song called “Waves,” which had a slow tempo and an impressive traditional string instrument bass.
It was a song without keyboards, but since Kim Gun-yul was also handling vocals anyway, it wasn’t a problem.
For reference, all ten songs TT prepared were designed to suit Prequel.
For that reason, there was no need to worry at all about any of Prequel’s members not being able to participate in the work.
However, since there was no one to play the traditional string instruments, they needed to get help from someone else for this part.
Anyway, now that the song was decided, all that was left was to go through a practice period and then start the actual recording.
But before that, there was one problem.
TT scratched his cheek, his earlier confidence gone, replaced with a hint of uncertainty.
“By any chance, would it be okay to entrust the lyrics for this song to someone else?”
This, TT expressing that he wasn’t confident in writing the lyrics for “Waves.”
As everyone’s gaze turned toward him, TT scratched his cheek and spoke.
“It’s not that I haven’t tried writing lyrics myself… but unlike composing, even after trying for months, I don’t feel like I’m improving. So I was thinking we could find a professional lyricist, or maybe one of the Prequel members could write the lyrics directly.”
If the lyrics really weren’t coming out, there was no reason for TT to stubbornly hold onto the song.
Because hiring a professional lyricist wasn’t that strange of a thing.
On the contrary, cases where a composer wrote both the music and lyrics, like with “Rebel Anthem,” “Blue Moon,” and “We’re Getting Closer,” were becoming increasingly rare.
Also, as suggested in the latter proposal, cases where singers participated in the music were also on an increasing trend.
This was especially true for idol groups, which could be seen as a kind of strategy to increase fan immersion.
Of course, since Prequel had the attributes of a workplace band, they didn’t need to worry about such aspects.
It would be good if they did, but it was fine if they didn’t.
For that reason, Taeha was naturally organizing his thoughts toward requesting a professional lyricist.
Finding a professional lyricist wasn’t difficult either.
Because TT surely knew quite a few professional lyricists.
But,
“Huh? Me?”
Not only TT, but all the Prequel members were staring intently at Taeha.
For Taeha, it was a very burdensome gaze.
Thinking that just because someone can write a drama means they can write good lyrics was nothing but a prejudice.
It was the same logic as a pro gamer being good at games not necessarily meaning they’re good at fixing computers.
Taeha explained this part, but TT and the Prequel members’ thoughts didn’t change.
On the contrary, they tried to persuade him.
“We know that too. That the two are completely different fields. But with your versatility, wouldn’t it be sufficiently possible to solve it?”
“That’s right. Try writing it once, and if it doesn’t work out, then we can find a professional lyricist. Well, if you’re really busy, then there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“It’s true Taeha has been very busy lately. But even so, I’d also prefer to make music with Taeha’s lyrics if possible. That would have more meaning for us.”
“Above all, wouldn’t that have more meaning for the fans too? Taeha, who makes up almost the majority of Prequel’s fans, your personal fans would want strong immersion in your musical activities.”
“Actually, I was hesitant to ask because I felt sorry, but I also think it would be better for you to write the lyrics directly rather than using a professional lyricist. Because that would help my immersion too.”
Since everyone was of the same opinion, Taeha had no choice.
Above all, Taeha currently had a bit of spare time.
Although filming was getting more difficult, the tedious travel time to and from the outdoor historical drama set was empty.
Taeha answered, thinking he would try writing the lyrics bit by bit during that time.
“Alright. I’ll give it a try.”
***
On the day when filming resumed and there was episode fifteen filming.
Taeha had a conversation with Im Chan-hyung in the moving vehicle.
“So you decided to write it? The lyrics for the ‘Byeonghwa’ OST?”
“Yeah. Somehow it turned out that way.”
“Will you be okay? You’re so busy preparing for filming and monitoring other people’s performances that you don’t have a moment to spare.”
Im Chan-hyung, who had watched Taeha closer and longer than anyone else at the filming site, knew Taeha’s unique acting routine extremely well.
To maximize the use of his immersion ability, Taeha paid attention not only to his own acting but to everyone else’s as well.
The reason he always stayed at the filming site even in situations where he could wait in the vehicle was precisely because of this.
Of course, at first, Im Chan-hyung didn’t understand why Taeha maintained this routine.
On the contrary, he thought Taeha didn’t trust the director and other actors enough.
He thought Taeha stayed at the filming site because of anxiety.
So he advised Taeha to rest and paid attention to his condition management.
But after watching for a long time, he came to understand.
How much of a quality difference there was between when Taeha stayed at the filming site and when he didn’t.
During the filming of “Fight School,” there was a time when filming proceeded while Taeha briefly left his seat.
And at that time, Im Chan-hyung witnessed it.
The filming, which had been proceeding with focus just moments before, suddenly becoming disorganized.
Even the actors’ performances themselves noticeably worsened.
But as soon as Taeha returned to his seat, the atmosphere changed in an instant, and Im Chan-hyung had no choice but to acknowledge it.
That Taeha always needed to be at the filming site.
Of course, not knowing about the existence of the immersion ability, Im Chan-hyung thought of this merely as the influence the main male lead had on the filming site.
That Taeha’s high presence had a psychological effect on the actors and staff, increasing their concentration.
Anyway, Im Chan-hyung was the person who best knew how much difference Taeha’s presence or absence made to the filming.
For that reason, he also knew how busy Taeha was during filming.
That was why Im Chan-hyung was worried about Taeha, who had unexpectedly taken on lyric writing as well.
Taeha also knew what kind of worry Im Chan-hyung had and nodded.
“I was worried too if I’d be okay, but it turned out I was.”
“Turned out you were?”
“Actually… after deciding to try writing the lyrics myself, I wrote them all on the way home. Want to see?”
Hearing Taeha’s words, Im Chan-hyung, who was blankly staring, finally understood what was being said after a long moment and asked back.
“What? Really?”