* * *
The two people brought Dojae to an empty conference room.
Even though it was mid-morning, the blinds were down, making the room dim.
Without bothering to turn on the lights, they sat Dojae down on a chair.
Dojae, puzzled, looked at the two.
“Dojae.”
Heungmin, in an unusually serious tone, called Dojae’s name.
The atmosphere was reminiscent of an interrogation.
“Yes, hyung.”
Despite the unpredictability of the situation, Dojae responded calmly.
‘Is something wrong?’
Dojae had only been away from the members for about twenty minutes, talking briefly with Team Leader Jung Heeyoung.
It didn’t seem like anything major could have happened during that time.
“Be honest with us.”
Heungmin looked intently at Dojae and swallowed nervously, his Adam’s apple visibly moving.
“Do you have any secrets?”
There was a mix of excitement and tension in Heungmin’s voice.
Dojae blinked slowly, frozen in place.
When flustered, he tended to become even more composed.
“If by secret you mean….”
He did have one big secret.
That he wasn’t actually Kang Dojae.
It was a secret he had wanted to share with the members, who had become like family to him.
He often felt guilty when talking about his parents or past, as it felt like he was deceiving them.
‘I try to stay as close to the truth as possible.’
But there were many things he couldn’t talk about, which was frustrating.
Handling the secret alone was more difficult than he had imagined.
However, Dojae shook his head internally.
‘There’s no way they could know that.’
In the beginning, Dojae had made quite a few slip-ups.
But no matter how many mistakes he made that hinted at his royal status, neither the members nor the people around him noticed anything.
They just thought he used some unusual words or mannerisms not typical for someone in their twenties.
‘They couldn’t possibly imagine that I came from another dimension.’
Despite adapting quickly, Dojae wouldn’t have believed in a ‘parallel world’ if he hadn’t experienced it himself.
So even if he told them, they wouldn’t believe him.
They wouldn’t take him to a hospital, but….
He didn’t want to cause unnecessary confusion, so he stayed silent.
‘If it’s not that, then the secret they’re talking about must be….’
“Ah.”
When Dojae groaned as if he realized something, Heungmin’s eyes lit up.
Kijoon’s small eyes also widened.
“I was going to tell you anyway.”
“Yeah! Go ahead.”
Heungmin urged excitedly.
“I declined it.”
“Huh?!”
“What…?”
Heungmin and Kijoon both reacted with confusion.
“The drama offer. Isn’t that what you’re talking about? If so, I just turned it down a while ago. I wasn’t trying to keep it a secret; I just hadn’t made a firm decision yet.”
“…….”
“I decided on my own because I didn’t want the members to worry or be distracted.”
“There was a drama offer?”
“…And you turned it down?”
Heungmin and Kijoon asked in succession, listening intently to Dojae.
“You didn’t know?”
Now Dojae was bewildered.
If it wasn’t that, then what secret were they talking about?
He couldn’t think of anything else.
“Why did you turn it down?! What kind of drama was it? Was it really bad?”
Heungmin momentarily forgot what he originally wanted to ask and fired off questions.
Dojae briefly explained the offer he received.
After hearing his reasons for declining, Kijoon nodded in understanding.
Heungmin seemed to understand but still felt it was a missed opportunity.
“You must be getting quite famous. Drama offers and all…. If Louis finds out, he’ll be like ‘Oh my gosh!’ and freak out.”
“To be honest, that was my main concern when I declined.”
If he had taken the role, he could have gotten autographs from actors Louis liked or even invited him to the filming set.
He regretted losing such an opportunity, thinking about Louis, a drama enthusiast.
Kijoon sighed softly and changed the subject.
“We didn’t know you got such an offer.”
“Oh…. Then what secret are you talking about?”
Dojae tilted his head slightly, prompting Heungmin to speak first.
“Well are you Lee Do…?”
If he had been drinking something, he would have spit it out immediately.
Or spilled it all over Heungmin and Kijoon.
‘Do they really know I’m Lee Dojae? How on earth?!’
Dojae’s eyes widened even more as he replied in a daze.
‘From the Korean Empire….’
“The Lee.do active on Soundpie.”
Dojae and Heungmin’s voices overlapped.
Dojae quickly shut his mouth.
It felt like his heart had dropped from a tiled roof.
“Oh…….”
He had completely forgotten about his Soundpie account.
“What did you say?”
“Oh, no. Soundpie…. That’s right.”
Kijoon and Heungmin’s eyes sparkled again at Dojae’s answer.
‘Soundpie’ was a global music sharing site where anyone could listen to or upload music.
Unlike typical music sites that charged for officially released music, Soundpie allowed anyone to easily upload their own music for free.
Paid releases were also possible, but initially, it was better for promotion to release demos for free.
Many artists gained fame through this platform.
Some even debuted through Soundpie.
Even without debuting, some earned income through support while staying at home.
Dojae had started uploading his work on Soundpie two or three months ago.
“I signed up quite a while ago. Back then, I just wanted to listen to music, so I made my ID using my real name without much thought.”
Using his real name, Kang Dojae, still felt awkward for Dojae.
There was no reason for him to display that he was Kang Dojae.
“It’s not like my ID is a secret.”
Dojae didn’t know the SoundPie IDs used by Kijoon or Heungmin either.
‘Of course, it didn’t seem like those two were uploading their work on SoundPie…’
The tracks Dojae uploaded to SoundPie were short instrumental pieces experimenting with various genres.
There were a lot of hip-hop beats, which were currently trending on SoundPie.
It didn’t feel like he was actively promoting them.
Since the experimental works didn’t quite fit the style of MOST albums, he uploaded them as a form of archiving.
It was also convenient for him to listen to them while on the move.
‘Even if I didn’t promote them, it was surprisingly enjoyable to see a few people listen to my tracks and give them a heart.’
Even if it was just a few people, knowing someone liked his work definitely motivated him.
“Recently, it seems like the number of hearts has increased quite a bit…”
“But how did you know? That I was using that ID…”
“Kang Dojae! You’re incredible.”
After confirming the truth, Heungmin excitedly explained.
“One of my hobbies is finding good beats on SoundPie.”
Dojae knew that Heungmin enjoyed listening to tracks on SoundPie.
And also downloaded them to practice rap-making.
“Recently, I found this really good beat, downloaded it, and started listening… It had a lot of plays and hearts. It was getting hot.”
“No way…”
Dojae hadn’t paid much attention.
‘I thought the number had increased, but was it really getting hot?’
Heungmin quickly continued.
“Yeah. It was by an artist called Lee.do. The more I listened, the better it got, and the most recent track was totally my taste, so I recommended it to Kijoon hyung too. I thought we could maybe work with them.”
“Work with them?”
“Yeah, even though Lee.do’s music style is quite different, it’s still good. I wanted to find a way to collaborate…”
One of the tracks in MOST’s first full album, “This is MOST,” was also a collaboration with an artist Kijoon found on SoundPie.
“But Kijoon hyung listened to it and said it somehow felt similar to your music style! Different, but…”
“Though there were new attempts, the basic sentiment felt similar to yours.”
Kijoon added his explanation.
As expected, Kijoon was sharp.
The fact that they had worked together before also helped him recognize it was Dojae.
“Then I thought about it! The ‘do’ in your name is like King Sejong’s ‘do.’ Lee Do!”
“Yeah, that’s right…”
“We contacted Lee.do saying we wanted to work together, but there was no reply for a long time! So I couldn’t wait any longer and asked you directly.”
Understanding the situation, Dojae blinked rapidly in amazement.
If anyone was more amazed, it was Kijoon and Heungmin.
“Oh. But where did you send the message? I didn’t receive anything…”
“Huh? Of course, it was sent by email.”
Dojae recalled the email he used when signing up for SoundPie.
It was an email he had created temporarily just to sign up for SoundPie.
He hadn’t expected any messages to come there, so he hadn’t checked it.
“Other people might have contacted you too…”
Though Kijoon’s words seemed doubtful, it wasn’t impossible.
“You didn’t only reply to others and keep it secret from us, did you?”
“No way.”
“Anyway, why did you upload all that for free!”
Heungmin scolded, though it was more of a compliment.
“Those tracks weren’t ready for an album yet… Honestly, I didn’t expect anyone to really notice them.”
“Wow, you’re like Dojae Bus!”
“Bus?”
“I mean, even anonymously, if your tracks are popular, that’s really cool.”
Heungmin’s envy was understandable, admiring Dojae’s undeniable talent.
Hearing Heungmin’s envious tone, Dojae tilted his head slightly and smiled.
“Anyway, if Lee.do is you, we can just keep working with you. Let’s definitely include your track in the next album. It’s already good enough. Dojae.”
Hearing Kijoon’s recognition, a big smile spread across Dojae’s face.
“Are you serious?”
“Kijoon hyung doesn’t say things he doesn’t mean!”
“Exactly.”
Concluding their conversation, the three hurried out of the meeting room.
It was time to head to the recording studio.
***
Since they had recording experience and enough practice, recording “Don’t Mess Around” proceeded smoothly.
Back at the dorm, the members were still noisily discussing the shorts they would try on starting tomorrow.
“What are you going to do about your leg hair, Heungmin hyung?”
“I don’t know… The stylists will tell us what to do.”
“They’ll definitely tell you to shave. Yours is way too thick. It looks messy!”
“And are your legs smooth?”
Heungmin did have a lot of body hair.
Proud of his thick hair, Heungmin faced an unexpected challenge.
When Heungmin asked, Woochul proudly rolled up his jeans, laughing.
True to his words, his legs were smooth.
“What the heck. When did you shave?”
“I’m naturally like this.”
“Huh… Having none at all is weird too.”
Heungmin frowned.
Louis and Kyuseong also rolled up their pants, contemplating what to do.
Dojae was also thinking about it, but like Heungmin said, he trusted the stylists to give the right advice.
Leaving the leg hair debate behind, Dojae hurried into his room.
He downloaded a mail app on his phone and checked the email linked to his SoundPie account.
“Who is this…?”
Dojae’s eyes were filled with curiosity as he checked the email inbox.
* * *
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😅🔥