Become A Star

Chapter 82

“It’s not my natural voice.”

“I am not sure why you are changing your voice, but stop messing around. Use your natural voice to sing properly.”

“But if I do that, I don’t think it matches the mood of the song well.”

“Different instruments create different moods. Discarding an instrument’s distinctive tone in a bid to match the sheet music is absurd. If you keep doing that, don’t you know that you’ll ruin a song someday?” Kim Joong-Sun looked at Woo-Jin seriously. His question made Woo-Jin feel ashamed. Singing a song in a voice that matched it was just an excuse because Woo-Jin had simply stopped singing with his natural voice at some point. There wasn’t a particular reason for that, but at times Woo-Jin simply didn’t want to listen to his own voice.  

“Recalling my time with you. I found the place we used to go; a garden where another woman is smiling brightly and chatting away.”

“A place where another man is watering the flowers. We wasted your time here, and I’m full of regrets.”

Kim Joong-Sun’s eyes lit up after hearing a voice that was completely different from all the other songs Chae Woo-Jin had sung before.

“Try singing it one more time in the lowest pitch possible, and then in the highest pitch possible. It doesn’t matter if you’re singing in falsetto or your natural voice.” Woo-Jin sang the song two more times per Kim Joong-Sun’s request.

“You…have a very wide vocal range. And you’re very good at using your head voice freely. Quit acting and just become a singer. I’ll take good care of you,” Kim Joong-Sun said with a smile. Instantly, Woo-Jin subconsciously took a couple of steps back. Woo-Jin might have been tempted by his offer for a moment if he hadn’t known about Kim Joong-Sun’s reputation as a brutal dictator to the DS singers.

“I’m satisfied being an actor. Being an actor is my life’s calling.”

“What a shame. I’ll really take good care of you, though.” After hearing his firm answer, Kim Joong-Sun looked pitifully at Woo-Jin and smacked his lips.

“Can I go on The King of the Masked Singers?” Woo-Jin asked Kim Joong-Sun a question to change the subject quickly. In any case, he had to pass this test before talking about the next steps.

“According to my sources, the 'Commander of the Universe' has won three times by now this time around. We’ll find out the day after tomorrow once they air the episode, but the results came as no surprise because he absolutely killed it.”

“I didn’t watch The King of the Masked Singers last week, but I know that you went on the show as a celebrity judge.”

“...”

Kim Joong-Sun looked somewhere else for a moment and cleared his throat. He twiddled his fingers in front of Woo-Jin.

“Red Sun~![1] Forget everything I said, forget everything I said!” Kim Joong-Sun had to watch his mouth because he had signed a non-disclosure agreement. So it wasn’t something he could freely reveal, even though he was on Woo-Jin’s side.

“I don’t remember anything.”

“Good! But I have good and bad news – which do you want to hear first?”

“Let’s start with the bad news.”

Kim Joong-Sun gestured to Woo-Jin to come closer and whispered softly in his ear, “The 'Commander of the Universe' has four wins during this week’s recording. He must have been prepared to win at least five rounds. A contestant needs at least five wins to become The King of the Masked Singers'  legend. Perhaps, he’s going to be fully prepared during the next recording. He’ll probably crush you if you recklessly face him head-on.” He wasn’t trying to scare Woo-Jin, just stating a fact. He absolutely could not afford to take the battles against the Commander lightly.