Chapter 9: Band Proposal

‘It’s definitely different.’

The talent he’d felt before, the talent absent during his time as ‘Seo Myeong-jeon.’ He couldn’t quite put his finger on it yet, couldn’t declare, I have this talent now, so I can become a great musician!

But something was undeniably different.

“Let’s form a band!”

“A band?”

He hadn’t misheard. Myeong-jeon looked up at Yi-seo.

“Yeah, a band.”

“…You and me?”

“Yep.”

“Why would I?”

“Huh?”

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Yi-seo thought. Wasn’t everyone supposed to be eager to join a band?

Well, she didn’t expect some dramatic anime scene where she shouted, “Let’s form a band!” and everyone would cheer and instantly become best friends and achieve musical success…

But shouldn’t Su-yeon at least show some interest? Yi-seo asked again,

“Do you just not like the idea of being in a band?”

“That’s not it.”

Myeong-jeon had also been thinking about forming a band, so that wasn’t the reason.

“But why…”

Myeong-jeon cut her off, raising a hand to capture Yi-seo’s attention, then ticking off his reasons on his fingers.

“First, I don’t know what kind of music you want to play.

Second, your skill… while you have potential, you’re not good enough to be in a band with me.

Third, have you shown me anything else? Any other strengths or qualities? No. So why would I be in a band with you?

Friends shouldn’t be concerned with profit and loss. But a band? There has to be some give and take.”

Su-yeon’s firm and logical rejection left Yi-seo speechless.

‘But… I want to be in a band…!’

“Don’t you want to experience being in a band during your school years?”

“That’s true, but…”

Wanting to be in a band wasn’t enough, and there was a limit to how much you could accommodate different skill levels.

Imagine a K-League level soccer player joining a local amateur team. At first, they could play along, coaching the less skilled players.

But could the team function properly? If the professional played seriously, they’d completely destroy the balance and dominate the local league.

Would the amateur players accept that? Would they just cheer and celebrate their victories without thinking? And what about the professional player?

They’d need at least a semi-pro level team to have some semblance of synergy and allow the professional to play at their full potential.

“Even so, that’s not a reason to form a band with you. There are other kids who play music. They’re probably better than you.”

“But…!”

Yi-seo wrung her hands, wanting to argue but unable to find a valid counterargument. Then she suddenly burst out,

“There are only boys who play music in our school!”

“Why is that…”

Seeing Su-yeon’s confused expression, Yi-seo realized she’d made a mistake.

‘For Ha Su-yeon, that would be a plus.’

She’d never heard of Su-yeon dating anyone. But there were rumors that she used her popularity to manipulate boys. Wouldn’t being in a band with boys just expand her pool of potential victims?

While Yi-seo entertained this strange notion, Myeong-jeon’s thoughts were on a completely different track.

‘Does gender matter? Skill is what matters.’

Didn’t Deng Xiaoping say, “It doesn’t matter whether a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice”? Why would boys be a problem…

“That’s… a bit of a concern.”

“R-Right?”

Myeong-jeon recalled his past. He and his bandmates had lived wild lives. While things might have calmed down over the years, that underlying tendency probably hadn’t disappeared.

So, what if a male bandmate, attracted to ‘Ha Su-yeon’s’ appearance, tried something? If that happened to Myeong-jeon…

“Eek!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Just… a really disturbing thought.”

As Yi-seo tilted her head in confusion, Myeong-jeon thought,

‘To prevent that, I have to form an all-girl band.’

In that case, forming a band with Yi-seo wasn’t such a bad idea. If he included boys, he could easily find skilled members. But if it was limited to girls?

‘Honestly, her skill isn’t bad. She’s relatively less skilled, but in absolute terms, she’s still above average.’

She’d become even better with his guidance. Thinking this, Myeong-jeon picked up his guitar.

“Now that I think about it, forming a band with you isn’t… a bad option.”

“Then…!”

“But I don’t like showing off… but I guess I have to.”

Myeong-jeon felt a bit ridiculous showing off in front of a much younger girl, but he decided to play.

He chose a song he played when he wanted to push his limits: the climax of John Petrucci’s Glasgow Kiss. A tempestuous piece, like a violent sea of notes.

Yi-seo was overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of driving tones. Su-yeon’s hands moved without a moment’s rest, a blur of motion belying the smooth, seamless music.

“I’m not as good as the original artist, but I’m confident in this. There aren’t many people in the world who are more technically proficient than me on the guitar.”

After the two-minute performance, Myeong-jeon looked at Yi-seo. Her stunned expression was quite amusing.

“So, a band… it’s a good idea, but we need skilled members, not just enthusiasm. I don’t want to spend months teaching basic instrument techniques.”

Yi-seo’s face brightened at the hopeful tone.

“What do you mean by ‘skilled members’?”

“At least better than you. A band is a group, so one less-skilled member is acceptable. Look at Metallica. Their drummer is… and yet they’re a world-famous metal band.”

Myeong-jeon scratched his temple. One weak link in a band was manageable. Two… well, if the music was good enough, it could still work.

“But three is too much. The other two have to be better than you for the band to be balanced. Otherwise, it’s over.”

Yi-seo nodded. The conditions were much better than the initial outright rejection. She could probably find one person, but the other member would be a problem. She’d have to put out some feelers.

Thinking about skilled female musicians… Yi-seo suddenly recalled a video she’d seen last night.

“Come to think of it, I saw a really good guitarist recently. On YouTube. She was a girl, too.”

She seemed like a high school student, maybe she could recruit her as lead guitarist? Yi-seo handed her phone to Su-yeon. This person was also a good guitarist, she wondered how she compared to Su-yeon.

The video showed a three-piece band playing Voodoo Child.

‘That’s… me.’

“Isn’t she amazing? Her guitar playing is… wow… she looks young, too. How can she be so good?”

Looking at Yi-seo’s awestruck face, Myeong-jeon considered revealing that it was him, but decided against it. Was there a need? He had no proof, and he didn’t need to brag.

He was more curious about how this video ended up on YouTube. He hadn’t seen anyone filming.

“Wow, over a million views. It’s trending.”

“A million?”

Myeong-jeon checked the view count again. A million… The title was definitely clickbait-y. [Legendary High School Girl Guitarist’s Busking Performance Turns Heads*]. Cheap, but effective.

“If it has a million views…”

“Yeah?”

“How much money does that translate to?”

“Well… I’m not sure, but I think it’s around 2-3 won per view.”

Myeong-jeon thought hard. Conservatively estimating 2 won per view, a million views would be two million won.

The video didn’t seem edited. Just a simple recording of his performance. Myeong-jeon could easily make something like this, and even edit it better.

‘I could do this. Should I try making money on YouTube?’

After practicing with Yi-seo, Myeong-jeon went home and watched the YouTube video again. The comments were mostly praises: [Amazing guitar!] [The future of Korean rock is bright!] [Does she even know what she’s playing?] [You know Jimi Hendrix, he’s a really awesome musician…] [Guys, check this out @ChoiHyeJin @LeeMinHee], and so on.

[Does anyone know who this is?]

– http://www.mule~~ The people who were there posted a review and the video.

Clicking the link, he found a post written by one of the people he’d busked with.

[Today’s busking was amazing!]

I posted earlier asking for a guitarist, but I’d given up hope.

Then someone offered to come, and I was grateful, but I didn’t know them, so I thought we’d just finish the busking session normally. I figured we’d save the songs we practiced for another time.

But the person who came was a high school? College? Anyway, a young girl.

I wondered if we’d even have any songs in common… and then this happened. She was so good! She knew all the songs I didn’t know, a total genius.

I asked if she could play with us again, but she turned me down T_T I bet we’ll be seeing her on a rock festival stage soon, haha

[http://youtube.co~] Here’s a short video of our performance.

– Wow, insane playing. Is she really a high school student?

– Amazing vibe… haha, that’s what a genius looks like.

Wow~ I saw these guys in Hongdae and thought they were great. But who’s the girl? What’s her story? Haha, I want to recruit her for our band.

– Awesome. The drummer and bassist are also amazing.

– Who is that girl?!?!

> She’s a Mule user.

> Whoa~~

> A beauty like that on this site… why me… sob sob

– Isn’t that Mule user’s ID different? I thought it was a guy;

> Let’s refrain from personal attacks.

– I thought it was a concert!! Jimi Voodoo child!! I thought Jimi came back to life. Absolutely insane.

– Our album recording session was a nightmare because the session musician was terrible. I wish I’d seen this video, I would’ve hired this girl haha

Reading the comments, Myeong-jeon started to formulate a plan.

Band, session work, and YouTube.

‘Play the music I want in a band, and use session work and YouTube to rebuild my equipment. Then I can use the restored equipment for the band, session work, and YouTube, right?’

A virtuous cycle.

Session work would expand his network of musicians, and YouTube would raise his and the band’s profile. And the band’s activities – even though it wasn’t formed yet – would further boost his session work and YouTube presence…

‘A perfect plan.’

Myeong-jeon smiled. It seemed things were going to work out quite well in this life…