Chapter 20: Milk Skin Taeyeon (Part 2)

  Second update, seeking recommendations and collections~

  Also, thank you for the reward from Night Sky Tears and thank you for the evaluation vote from Chongqing Feifei!

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  The summer weather was still sweltering, and as it approached noon, the traffic gradually thinned out. The trees along the sides of the road, which had been rapidly retreating from view, now stood listlessly in the intense sunlight. The continuous hum of cicadas on their leaves poured in through the gaps in the car windows, making one feel drowsy.

  Quan Baogen, carrying An Junhe and Tai Yan, arrived at the building where the studio was located just in time for lunch. The three of them didn't rush to go up, instead casually looking for a Chinese restaurant on this street to fill their stomachs first.

  Outside the car, a heat wave rolled in. The three had just gotten out of the car when they were roasted by the air that seemed to be boiling, and their bodies were covered in greasy sweat stains. Taeyeon stuck out her tongue, panting heavily like a small dog, her pale skin bright red all over. As soon as she got out of the car, she grabbed Ahn Jun-hee and rushed into the restaurant, occupying the air-conditioned corner of the hall, unwilling to move again.

  An Junhe also accompanied her there, letting Quan Baogen go order dishes.

  To be honest, he rarely eats Chinese food in Korea. When he was young, it was because he didn't have the money, and when he grew up, he wasn't interested in this kind of exotic food either. Instead, due to business trips, he went to the neighboring country several times, tasted authentic flavors from various cuisines, and after returning home, he naturally lost his appetite for Korean Chinese food with strong onion and garlic flavor, which was both sweet and spicy.

  It was Taeyeon who seemed very interested, picking up a Chinese menu from the table next to the air conditioner and studying it with great fanfare. Ahn Jun-hee, sitting next to her, teased, "So serious, can you read Chinese?"

  "Of course! Don't look down on people, I've even been to China before!" The girl said with a wrinkled nose, unwillingly.

  "Oh?" An Junhe was skeptical and randomly picked a dish name, asking her: "How do you pronounce this?"

  The girl was suddenly embarrassed, but still insisted, stubbornly saying: "I said you wouldn't understand, don't hit me."

  "Ha, you don't understand, do you? This is Mapo Tofu. Remember it well, so you can fool others later!" The four words "Mapo Tofu" were spoken in Chinese by Ahn Jun-hee, with perfect pronunciation and intonation, leaving Tai-yeon stunned. Even Gwon Bo-geun, who was ordering at a nearby table, looked over curiously. After handing the menu to the waiter and returning, he asked eagerly, "Jun-hee, do you speak Chinese?"

  "Yes, I know some."

  Such a vague statement did not satisfy Guan Baogen, who asked again, "To what extent? Will there be other languages?"

  Taeyeon was also staring at him with sparkling eyes. She had studied Chinese, and Korean schools taught some literary works (such as poetry) and history, which usually required the use of Chinese characters. If you didn't know even half of it, you would be in trouble during exams. Because she had studied it, she deeply understood how difficult the language and writing system of that country were, so she especially admired people who could learn it, just like how she was bad at math and specially revered those who were good at it.

  Seeing Quan Bao's determined expression, An Junhe thought for a moment and told the truth: "Chinese is very fluent, can also write, but the handwriting is not very good. Japanese can also be spoken fluently, but writing is not very good, and English is also possible, with a level similar to Chinese."

  For someone who started a tourism business and couldn't even find a tour guide in the early days, mastering these three languages is inevitable. Among tourists visiting Korea, Chinese and Japanese people are the most numerous, so if you want to attract customers, speaking the same language or a common language is a must, there's no way around it.

  It's not necessary to mention this, but when An Junhe surprisingly spoke three languages, Quan Baogen's frown turned upside down. In Korea, any artist must learn at least one of Chinese or Japanese to facilitate future expansion into the overseas market. Originally, Quan Baogen was preparing to arrange language courses for An Junhe after his debut and worrying about tuition fees, but unexpectedly, he saved on that too, and got two more languages as a bonus.

  After some thought, he suddenly lit up, "Junhe, I remember you only graduated from high school, so to say, all these languages are self-taught?"

  "Ah, self-study!" Just a dream.

  "Wow, with such a talent for learning, it's a pity to have only a high school education. After you debut, I'll help you get in touch with a university and study a major. With an education that's too low, people will look down on you." Quan Baogen said with emphasis and concern.

  Upon hearing this, An Jun He slightly furrowed his brow. He really didn't have any feelings about academic qualifications. In the future, he would also be a high school graduate's diploma holder, and no one dared to say anything about his academic qualifications.

  However, he also knew that the situation was different now. He was no longer the president of a catering and tourism group, but an artist who had not yet made his debut. Some things related to issues of principle could be resisted, while others did not need to be so hardline. Therefore, he did not express any opposition, and in his heart, he was considering which university would be better for him to attend in the future - at least it would give him time to balance his career and family.

  "Is Hyung going to debut?" Next to them, Taeyeon, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, thought in surprise that she knew Ahn Junghyun had only trained for a few months and didn't think he would be debuting so soon.

  Her heart suddenly felt a little down, she still remembered that day, in the small practice room, the boy named An Junhe in front of her, with his gentle voice, kept trying to ease her tension and shyness. She was no longer a little girl who didn't understand anything, no longer just seeing boys as playmates. Every word filled with thoughtfulness, every smile bringing a small warmth to her tense nerves, quietly settled into the bottom of her heart, brewing until that quiet and sad song "Lie".

  A serene and beautiful melody, like an invisible giant hand, tightly grasped her heart, making its beat seem to stagnate. The emotions that had been brewing before suddenly burst out at that moment, turning into tears of emotion and sorrow.

  In the season of flowers, which girl has not had a beautiful and romantic dream? A boy who will consider your emotions, holding a guitar to sing for you, even if that song is too sad, even if the boy is just met for the first time, but the sudden impression left by that moment, can't be erased. At that moment, she suddenly wants to follow him from behind, watching him closely, even if it's just silently accompanying him. This has nothing to do with emotions, simply like every fan, yearning to be able to stay by the side of the person they admire, and spend a few ordinary days with them.

  So she said that if she wanted to be a trainee, for her who was young but had many thoughts, this was the only way to reasonably get close to him without getting hurt.

  It's just that I didn't expect that before I could even get close to him, he would already be leaving again...

  After dinner, Kim Tae-yeon became noticeably quieter, and Ahn Jun-he thought she just didn't like talking while eating, so he didn't pay much attention. After dinner, the few of them rushed to that recording studio to start their recording work.

  Originally, a demo didn't have to be so formal. Many singers and composers would just record something casually at home using recording software, only using a recording studio for official recordings. However, both Quan Baogen and An Junhe felt that when submitting their work for the first time, it was better to be more formal, showing more sincerity. At least a carefully produced CD gives a much better impression than a rough cassette tape or MP3.

  Just after lunch, there were not many people in the studio, and there was only one recording engineer waiting inside the recording room. An Junhe apologized for the disturbance to the other party, and then handed over the bento that he had brought with him. Without much ado, he handed over the score and asked the recording engineer to help make an accompaniment with the electronic piano.

  Before the recording started, An Jun-he was separated from the outside by a glass, and he made a gesture to Tae-yeon, but didn't see the girl respond with "add oil", only then did he realize that this child's thoughts seemed to have suddenly become much heavier.

  The accompaniment started at the right time, and for a while, there was no chance to ask, so I put down those thoughts and threw myself into work.

  "The Snowflake" He had practiced it many times, and from the very beginning, he planned to use this song, of course, he wouldn't relax his practice on it until now. Following the accompaniment to sing has almost become an instinct, and many places are also familiar with the application of techniques such as breathing and resonance. The long-term practice has also made him more skilled in emotional input.

  Every time he sings, he recalls the snow of Hanjiang on that day of selection, recalling himself taking a car ride along Hanjiang, hearing this song, seeing the feeling of snow and river water, faintly melancholic and heartbroken, not love, but more mellow than love.

  His vocal line is not as mature and deep as Park Hyo Shin's, but singing a song is not everything that decides the voice line, which can be made up for with skills, only emotions cannot be pretended, a song, only when it has been infused with emotion, does it have soul, and can bring people the most intense feelings.

  At this point, he did better than Park Hyo Shin. Although the demo was just roughly recorded once, the singing voice replayed in the audio had already conquered several people in the room. The employees who stayed behind in the studio didn't know when they all gathered around, silently listening.

  As the last note of accompaniment fell, a warm applause came, and even through the thick glass window, An Junhe seemed to feel the vibration of the sound wave that rushed over.

  Excited, Quan Baogen didn't wait for An Junhe to come out, and rushed into the recording studio, grabbing his neck and shouting: "I've never heard you sing a complete song before, I didn't expect it to be so great! You little guy is really a genius, a genius! Hahaha... If this song isn't selected, I'll immediately commit seppuku to apologize to the world!"

  This bespectacled, normally refined-looking middle-aged man was now talking nonsense.

  After a brief commotion, the recording engineer sent everyone away, after all, there were too many people, and if the song was leaked, he would be in trouble. Moreover, post-production work required a quiet environment and some time.

  While waiting, An Junhe was quietly watching from the side. Later, he wanted to plagiarize not only one song. Even if there were fixed tunes, when they fell into different people's hands, the style would be slightly different. He wanted to learn how to produce and strive to create his own songs in the future. After all, what was the original style of each song? Only he knew clearly.

  Time had passed unknowingly for a long while, and it wasn't until he suddenly turned his head that he realized Taeyeon was nowhere to be seen.

  An Junhe hastily went out to look for her and asked several passing employees outside the recording studio, only to be told that Taeyeon had gone up to the rooftop.

  It was a small building with only four floors, not high and not in a bustling area. The studio occupied two floors, the recording room was on the fourth floor, and at the corner of the stairs, there was a door leading to the rooftop. When Ahn Jun-he found it, the door was slightly ajar, hot air spreading from there, mixed with a very faint singing voice.

  An Junhe reached out to touch the door handle, just about to push it open when he hesitated for a moment, cocking his ear to listen carefully.

  That song is "Snow Flower".