MTLNOVEL Chapter 336
A few days after the Miro Family’s gathering.
Today, I came to visit Hyeon-su’s Workshop for the first time in a while.
It’s the New Year, and I finally decided to drop by.
“Ugh.”
As soon as I entered the workshop, I spotted bodies sprawled across the sofa.
And the smell of alcohol wafted through the air.
How much have these guys been drinking?
“Uh… Is Soo-hyun here? You came early?”
As I walked in, Ah-young, who had been lying under the sofa, sat up groggily.
“Uh… Yes, did you drink a lot yesterday?”
“What… It’s just like this every day lately.”
“Oh, every day?”
They eat this much every day? Amazing, truly amazing.
“What about Hyeon-su?”
“Over there.”
Ah-young pointed to one of the sprawled bodies on the floor.
There was someone with a flamboyant hairstyle among the fallen.
“Does he drink a lot too?”
“Yeah, he’s gotten into alcohol.”
“Oh boy.”
This is a total mess, a complete mess. Is this the average for a band?
Well, it used to be too wholesome back in the day.
It seems Hyeon-su gradually started finding his true self since he became an adult, and this is what happened.
I plopped down onto the remaining space on the sofa.
“Uh, here…”
Ah-young wobbled over to hand me a drink and then sat nearby.
“Sis, you smell like alcohol.”
“Sorry… but it’s just my scent now.”
“Seriously, did the album thing go well like you said last time?”
“Our? It always goes well…”
Ah-young said that and took a sip from her own drink.
“Ahh… It seems like we’re in a good season.”
“Is there really such a season?”
“Well, since Hyeon-su keeps putting out good tracks, I think this might be the peak of our band.”
“Oh…”
The peak, huh.
Well, considering how busy people are nowadays.
“Did you perform yesterday and then drink?”
“Mhm.”
Busy, huh.
Still, this lifestyle looks fun.
Look at Hyeon-su; even with a hangover, lying around with the band vibes like he’s in the middle of a sunny day doesn’t it look like he’s enjoying himself?
It’s hard to believe he was that serious high schooler from three years ago.
“Ah… Sis, water…”
Just then, Hyeon-su, who had been lying down, suddenly woke up.
“You drink it.”
“Lift me up.”
“Seriously.”
Seeing that, I got up instead of Ah-young, took his hand, and pulled him up.
“Thanks… Uh, Soo-hyun? When did you come?”
“I just got here.”
Only when I helped him up did Hyeon-su realize it was me. He looked a bit puzzled but quickly regained his composure and went to the kitchen to get some water.
“He wasn’t like this three years ago…”
“Right?”
While we watched his back, Ah-young and I exchanged glances.
Does alcohol ruin people?
No, well, for someone like Hyeon-su, it might be fine.
I guess he’s just drinking with his older friends in his workshop.
After sitting on the sofa for a bit, Hyeon-su stumbled out after drinking some water.
“Ugh, I shouldn’t have drunk so much yesterday. Sorry for the state of the workshop.”
“No worries… now it really feels like a band.”
I mean, it’s like all bands should drink hard after a show.
Now it finally feels like the image I’ve had in my head for so long.
“…things have been busy lately, so I’ve been drinking as a way of compensation.”
Hyeon-su said that and pointed at the pile of empty bottles scattered around.
From beers to hard liquor, soju, and makgeolli—it’s a trash heap that looks like it collected all kinds of alcohol from this world.
“Don’t drink too much; you’ll end up going down fast.”
“Well… I’ll probably go later than these guys.”
At Hyeon-su’s words, Ah-young, sitting on the nearby sofa, made a shocked face and stared at him.
“Hyeon-su, were you thinking like that?”
“Huh? But you drink more than me.”
“This… it would be rude to wish for the longevity of our older siblings.”
Whether Ah-young was furious or not, watching Hyeon-su casually react from the couch made me realize he’s grown up a lot.
Honestly, I knew he had this potential back in the day, but now he’s truly on par with everyone.
But what can you do? In bands nowadays, the vocalist is the king.
“Anyway, has everyone skipped lunch? Should we order from a Chinese place?”
Well, that’s that, and now it’s about lunchtime, so I thought I’d get something ordered.
These folks need to hangover food, and I need a meal too.
“Chinese sounds good; get me the beef brisket jjambbong.”
“I’ll have the black bean noodles.”
“Am I not a guest here?”
These people, truly.
I opened the app, pointed at the items I just heard, and gestured toward the floor.
“First, wake those people up. They need to decide on the menu.”
We can’t order for just us, can we?
As I said that, Ah-young got up and started waking the people on the floor.
“Hey, wake up! Soo-hyun is here!”
“What…? Soo-hyun?”
“Oh wow, when did you come?”
As Ah-young woke them up, the band members began to stir one by one.
“Y-you came early.”
“Sorry for showing you this kind of sight.”
“It’s all right. We’re ordering Chinese; what do you want?”
“Oh, thank you. Just get us jjambbong; we’ll unify on that.”
Once everyone was up, we ordered from the Chinese place via the delivery app and started chatting.
“By the way, Soo-hyun, it’s been a while since you came.”
“Right? I thought you’d forget my face.”
“Don’t lie, how could anyone forget that face?”
“….”
“…Haha, last year was hectic with filming, so I couldn’t come.”
Last year was truly much busier than the year before.
Filming as an actor really kept me on my toes.
“Oh right! I’m watching your drama.”
“Wow, you’re watching it?”
“Yeah, it’s popular these days.”
The drama is now past the midway point and charging towards the finale.
Speaking of which, they’ve been asking me at the agency if I’d like to do a few variety shows. I might start filming soon.
“Oh, I watched the drama too.”
“Hyeon-su too?”
“Yeah, this noona keeps urging me to.”
Hyeon-su said that while pointing at Ah-young.
Well, with Ah-young’s personality, she probably recommends it to everyone around her.
“Oh, I’ve seen the highlights too.”
“It’s trending these days.”
“Soo-hyun, your acting was great.”
“Haha… thank you.”
As we chatted with the others in the band about the drama, the delivery arrived, and the band members naturally set the food on the table.
“Oh, usually we don’t move this much.”
“…We’re only doing this because you ordered the delivery, Soo-hyun.”
Watching Ah-young say that with incredulity made me pause for a moment, but soon all the food was prepared, and we properly began our lunch.
“Alright, let’s eat well.”
“This should cure the hangover.”
Seeing the band members zealously slurping the soup, I picked up some sweet and sour pork.
Mmm, this place knows what they’re doing.
Speaking of which, I haven’t had Chinese food in a while.
At home, Mrs. Jang cooks for me, so I rarely order out.
It’s so convenient at the family home.
Thinking about it, when I move out, I’ll have to cook everything myself, which is slightly overwhelming.
…Should I just stick around? Living like a kangaroo doesn’t sound bad.
Of course, I’m fine now, but a few years down the line, they might kick me out.
I even pondered about earning a lot of money just to hire a housekeeper.
“Why are you thinking so hard?”
Ah-young talked to me from the side.
“Nothing, just enjoying Chinese food after a while.”
“Really? We eat it often.”
“Is that so?”
“Yep, we usually order it after performances. We get bored of lunch boxes.”
Ah, right.
They can’t cook at the venue, so ordering makes sense.
Nowadays, delivery is so quick that I bet it would arrive well even in the waiting room.
“Is there no manager here, though?”
Hearing her mention working while performing sparked my curiosity.
Come to think of it, doesn’t Hyeon-su have an agency? It seems like he should.
“We? We don’t really need one. Everyone here knows how to drive, so it’s easier to handle things ourselves. If something comes up, the representative takes care of sending us out, so it’s convenient.”
Hmm, I guess it’s alright since there are a lot of people here.
Well, considering that the band, minus Hyeon-su, has a lot of experience, they could definitely manage without a manager too.
“By the way, Soo-hyun has a manager, right? How is he? He looked kinda scary on the variety show.”
“Oh, our manager?”
“Yeah, he’s bigger than this dude.”
Ah-young pointed at Kang-hyeok, who was almost burying his face in the jjambbong bowl.
Kang-hyeok, still sporting a bald head, certainly looked fit, but not as muscular as Park Kang-seok.
“He’s not that scary. He’s a veteran, so he takes good care of us.”
Thinking Park Kang-seok was scary… I briefly thought that before, but he’s really not that type.
If I had to describe him, he’s more like a grumpy bear style.
“And actually, I haven’t seen him for a while.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, I’m not filming right now.”
I think I might start soon, but since I haven’t done any agency-related work lately, I haven’t crossed paths with Park Kang-seok.
“Huh? Why? Do you have something else to do?”
“Soo-hyun, you know I’m having a concert, right?”
“Oh, really?”
Hyeon-su answered Ah-young’s question.
Hyeon-su, being someone who watches my broadcasts, seems to know about the concert news.
“When??”
“On my birthday.”
“Wow, do you need a session? Should we go play for you?”
For that suggestion, I felt a moment of temptation.
The Slim Gold band playing for me?
…However, unfortunately, there’s not much time left.
I heard all the sound settings have been completed already.
“…No, it’s already all set up.”
“That’s too bad. If it’s Soo-hyun’s concert, we could have made time to perform.”
“I’ll consider it seriously if we have another opportunity.”
Honestly, it would be great if those people performed for me.
Maybe I should’ve said it earlier?
I can’t help but feel pretty disappointed about it.
“But, noona.”
“Yes?”
“Are you not going to sing ‘Serene Lake’ at the concert?”
At that moment, Hyeon-su asked about the concert tracks.
Serene Lake?
I remember not putting that on the concert setlist.
“That one isn’t being performed.”
“Why not? I went through the trouble of creating it.”
“You’re not going to feature, so it would be a bit awkward to perform it alone.”
Hyeon-su might feel disappointed, but it can’t be helped.
After all, this concert needs to be perfect.
Even though I could sing Hyeon-su’s parts, it’s not the same level as performing it at a concert.
However….
“Why can’t you? It’s just a pre-recorded segment; you could still perform.”
“Huh?”
“It’s not as complicated as a full band session. It’s just one track; you could easily add it.”
I was momentarily taken aback by Hyeon-su’s suggestion.
Huh….
“…Should I go record it tomorrow?”
“…Let’s practice a bit first.”
So, Slim Gold is going to participate as guests?
I’d be truly grateful.
Networking pays off as always.