Chapter 388 - 388

Chapter 388

When all the broadcasts of were over, we started preparing for our next comeback album.

Usually, we just had to receive the already-determined concept in the conference room, so we didn't have to make any special preparations.

This time, Heo Yu-bin was in charge of the overall directing, so the atmosphere in the dorm was completely different from before.

When the project first started, everyone was worried.

"Hyung. Do you think Yu-bin can do it well?"

"Of course Yu-bin will do well. If not Yu-bin, who else would do it better?"

"I believe that too, but this is such a large-scale project. It must be incredibly burdensome.........."

On the first day that Heo Yu-bin left for Sigma Entertainment headquarters for work, Yoo Min-ha asked me in a worried tone while eating breakfast.

I answered positively because I really thought that there was no one more suitable for this project than Heo Yu-bin, not just empty words, but Yoo Min-ha still glanced at the front door, worried.

Soon after, around 1 p.m., Chae Eun-gyu, who was lying on the opposite bed, suddenly spoke to me.

"I wonder if Yu-bin is doing well right now?"

"I think he's busy brainstorming with others."

"He should eat while he does it. He doesn't eat well when he's focused on something."

"But I think he ate well at lunch."

Chae Eun-gyu seemed to feel like Heo Yoo-bin was like a child left alone by the water.

It could be like that from the eldest brother's perspective, but I thought that Heo Yoo-bin, who was now 21, would eat well on his own.

And around 4 p.m., when I came out to the living room and sat down on the sofa for a while, Kang Si-yoon let out a deep sigh as he sat down next to me.

"Yubin is really late from the first day."

"Isn't the first day usually the busiest for a large project like this?"

"I think he's probably really worried about this by now, pulling out his hair. Did he eat?"

"How come you're saying the same thing as Eun-gyu hyung-nim?"

"Oh, hyung said the same thing?"

Kang Si-yoon, who is always optimistic, seemed very worried about Heo Yu-bin, who was carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders.

I looked at his profile and smiled to myself.

Really, I wonder how all the members are worried about the same thing.

And at 7 PM, as soon as I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth, Song Hyung-bin followed me and made a big fuss.

"Yubin hasn't come in yet. Is there something wrong?"

"..... Hyung-nim."

"Oh?"

"This is the fourth time I've heard this exact question today."

"Oh, really?"

Song Hyung-bin made a flustered expression.

"I guess everyone is worried about the same thing."

"I understand, but Yu-bin is a proper adult. I believe he volunteered because he can do it."

"Still. If he comes home late, I'll be anxious."

"He'll come home before 10."

My prediction was right on target.

At around 9:50 PM, Heo Yu-bin came back with a very haggard face.

The members who had been waiting for him without fail came out barefoot to greet him.

"Hey! Why are you coming home so late? I was worried!"

"Eh, eh. Is it late now?"

"You should come home at least by 8!"

"Eh?"

"Stop it, stop."

Song Hyung-bin calmed down Kang Si-yoon, who was about to go wild, by patting his shoulder.

"How was your first day?"

"It was fun! There was a composer I'd seen before, so it was easy to discuss ideas, and since we started everything from the rough draft, it brought back old memories."

"Thank goodness. Was there anything that could be a problem?"

"Well, honestly, it's only the first day, so nothing difficult has been decided yet, so there can't be any problems."

Chae Eun-gyu patted Heo Yu-bin on the head and gave him another word of advice.

"Yu-bin, as I said before, if you have any difficulties, you should definitely tell us. Okay? Don't try to solve it on your own."

"Yes."

Heo Yu-bin answered with a smile. I nodded at him.

"You've worked hard, Yu-bin."

"Hey, I didn't really do much today. I just got some ideas and a rough outline, and I'll do the details later."

"But still, everything starts with the beginning, so you really worked hard today."

"Hehe, thank you, hyung-nim."

Up until this point, I honestly thought there wouldn't be any problems.

All the members knew the importance of the project that Heo Yubin was in charge of, and Heo Yubin also knew that the members were worried about him.

However, as the preparation for the new album passed by a day or two and a week passed, the situations that I had been worried about started to happen one by one.

"Ah! Ah! I really regretted it this time!"

"...I'm sorry, but I didn't regret it at all. Min-ha. I had five lives left."

"But back then, you had eight lives left, so this is a lot of progress!"

Yoo Min-ha put down the game controller as if he was regretting it and sighed.

It seemed like he was really focused on somehow winning against me.

Then, Yoo Min-ha checked the clock on the wall and stood up.

"Huh? It's already 12 o'clock? Hyung, Yubin hasn't come yet?"

"That's right. Today... he's a little later than usual."

"It's not like usual. Hasn't Yubin been a little late for the past few days?"

That's true.

As if the detailed details of the album making had been figured out, Heo Yubin came back from the studio later and later.

Of course, I knew that composing and concept meetings took a lot of time, but the problem was that Heo Yubin was in the studio for too long.

He ate a quick breakfast at 8 in the morning and headed to the studio, spending almost 15 hours there every day.

'Even when he got back to the dorm, he seemed to be making something before going to bed.'

I waited for Heo Yubin with my arms crossed and a worried heart.

It's good to be passionate, but if you push yourself to this extent by cutting off your sleep time, it's definitely not good for your health.

It was just after midnight when Heo Yu-bin came back to the dormitory, limping.

The other members were resting or sleeping in their rooms, so only Yoo Min-ha and I greeted him at the entrance.

"Yu Bin. Are you feeling okay?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm okay.........."

"You look a little tired these days, but are you sleeping well?"

"Y-yes."

Yoo Min-ha looked at Heo Yu-bin's face, which had dark circles under his eyes, with worried eyes.

Then he patted his shoulder a few times.

"You worked hard. Let's go in and rest."

"Okay. But I think I need to listen to the music I composed today again and fix it, so you can go to bed first."

"Really? Then I'll listen too. Isn't it better to have two opinions rather than one?"

"If you're okay with it.........."

I waved my hand at the two same age who greeted me first and went up to the room.

Of course, I thought it was inevitable that Heo Yu-bin would look tired because of his tight schedule.

Still, I hoped that he would do well without harming his health.

However, my hopes were in vain, and Heo Yu-bin's arrival at the dormitory became later and later.

"Did Yu-bin come in yesterday?"

"I think he came around 3 in the morning."

"3 o'clock. 3 o'clock.........."

At one point, Song Hyung-bin asked me with a slightly serious expression.

"Karis, from your perspective, do you think there was a problem with the work process?"

"Hmm.......... I think that if you take on such a large project from the beginning, big and small issues will inevitably continue to arise."

"But I emphasized that if they have any concerns, tell us. Is Yubin planning to shoulder it all by himself?"

From the members' perspective, it's inevitable that they'll feel regretful.

As members on the same boat and colleagues who work together, it's natural to want to help whenever there's something difficult.

However, if the person who's having a hard time doesn't even show it and tries to solve it on their own, it's a little frustrating and very worrying.

On the other hand, if you're someone who creates things yourself like Heo Yubin, you might feel a sense of duty that you have to solve your own problems.

It's better to find a way out on your own rather than relying on others.

It's not that I don't understand this kind of feeling, but from the perspective of an onlooker, it's frustrating because you can't even tell what kind of problem has arisen.

Song Hyungbin tilted his head slightly to the side and agonized.

"I wonder if it would be better to ask Yubin when he comes in tonight."

"In my opinion, even if you ask, there's a high chance that you won't get the clear answer you want."

"Really?"

"Yes. Judging from the fact that he hasn't told us his worries so far, it seems like Yubin is fighting alone so as not to bother us. So I think it would be right to wait for now."

"Haah...."

I looked at Song Hyungbin's worried face and thought of the old days.

When was in full swing, Song Hyungbin had difficulty making decisions due to his abnormal 'indecisiveness' and questioned his own leadership skills.

After debuting, his characteristics blossomed and he was now the leader of Seleste, whose indecisive personality had almost disappeared, but he still couldn't think of a good way to act in this situation.

'It's not that I don't feel frustrated, though.'

There's nothing I can do.

I just have to trust Heo Yubin and wait.

***

Have you ever been this blocked?

"Haa......…."

Heo Yubin let out a deep sigh, clutching his head.

He slightly raised his head and looked at the workroom table, where he saw the energy drink cans he had consumed today.

He had already drank five.

The album work of Seleste that he had dreamed of so much.

It didn't stop at simply including one track, but he had the right to decide on all the songs in the album and even the concept of the title track.

For Heo Yubin, who had dreamed of this moment since he was young, it was the perfect situation..........

"Um, Yubin. I listened to all the tracks. Should I say that they lack a kick?"

"Oh, yes.........."

"What we decided from the beginning was to further increase the popularity that Seleste has shown so far while giving it its own unique color.  But when I look at the tracks now, I feel like they overlap too much with the old feeling."

The tracks that he worked on all night for the past 10 days did not pass the passing grade of the composers who came to help Heo Yu-bin.

The irony here is that Heo Yu-bin himself expected this kind of answer.

It's exactly as it is.

In order to find a popular yet new taste, he listened to a lot of reference materials and thought about it in his head, but he didn't get the 'perfect' feeling he had been dreaming of.

Rather, when he tried to add a new taste, it went against the color that Seleste had built up so far.

So Heo Yu-bin's stopgap measure was to refer to previously released title tracks.

Like , it felt like mixing deep house with a strong bass song.

Or like , it felt like mixing ED M beats with a refreshing bass song.

However, since the bass itself was existing songs, the saying 'it overlaps with the old title track' wasn't wrong.  It has no choice but to come out.

Consecutive failures.

Repeated revisions.

The confident look had long since disappeared.

Thinking back to the feedback he had received yesterday, Heo Yubin grabbed his hair even tighter.

It's not that he didn't think about sharing these worries with the members.

But, but..........

'I don't think I can say it.'

Strangely, whenever he tried to reach out for help, he felt something in his throat pulling his tongue in the opposite direction.

He didn't want to avoid it.

He wanted to solve the problem with the other members.

However, against his will, the trauma that had been embedded in his body since long ago prevented him from doing so.

When did things start going wrong?

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