Chapter 16.2

“Next time I go to your house, I’ll throw it all away.”

He was talking nonsense again. He was setting up the computer and waiting for it to boot when Jae Young asked.

“You’re not going to work tomorrow, are you? It’s the perfect time to go on a three-day trip on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.”

Wasn’t he also working on the same project? His carefree face made Sang Woo angry.

“How can you play around like that? You’ve been behind schedule lately.”

Sang Woo moved his chair and pressed it against the desk, pointing to a diagram pasted on the wall.

The time they agreed was two months away. The last month will be filled with development-side tests and platform reviews, so it was practically going to be a busy month catching bugs and implementing features. Except for the QA and beta test period, the remaining period was about a week. Now that he quit his part-time job, Sang Woo increased his working hours by subtracting time to study and sleep, but he was anxious.

“On top of that, I also have studies in my department. We have tests in three weeks. I have to come up with a presentation over the weekend.”

“Okay. Then put off the trip and go somewhere with me today.”

“Aren’t you listening? I’m running out of time.”

“I mean, that’s it.”

As always, Jae Young didn’t seem to take Sang Woo’s words seriously. Even if he was picky, Sang Woo asked calmly because he thought he should know what he was thinking.

“Where are we going?”

“The studio I mentioned before. I got some samples and they were okay. Do you want to listen to it?”

“I handed over all authority to you in terms of sound. I’ll leave it to you.”

Jae Young studied music pretty hard.  He looked around the web and received samples, and seemed to have found them through people he knew offline. The studio was introduced by a friend who said he was in a band. It wasn’t a proven place, as it just got established a year ago, but they said they were talented people.

“Good morning, boss. Yes, that’s right. I like the sample you sent yesterday, so I’d like to visit you in person and talk about it in detail. Yes. Oh, any time? Then I’ll leave now. Yes. I’ll be with my business partner. I’ll see you in about 30 minutes.”

Jae Young decided on his own that he was taking Sang Woo and hung up the phone.

Sang Woo had a schedule in mind, but he turned off the laptop without saying a word and organized the lines. In fact, he could’ve sent Jae Young alone, but he liked how he referred to him, so he decided to tag along.

After packing all his things and putting the backpack on his back, Jae Young clung to him, putting his arm around his shoulder.

“Come on, let’s go.”

“That… Say it again.”

“What?”

“You called me something on the phone.”

“What was it?”

“Well… It’s alright if you don’t remember.”

“What is it? What do you want to hear? Honey, honey, is this it?”

‘Crazy bastard.’

Jae Young, who glanced at Sang Woo’s expression, added that he was only joking. Even if it was a joke, how can he say such a thing casually? Sang Woo quickly went down the stairs with goosebumps on his arms.

The studio was in Yeonseok-dong. It was said that it was a neighborhood with many entertainment establishments and foreigners, but among them, the studio was in a dark and narrow alley where security was poor.

Jae Young said awkwardly in front of the alley, “Everything here is nice, except for the parking.”

“Then why did you bring your car? You can’t even see right now.”

“It’s fine because I’m wearing lenses. I need a car to drive after eating out with you.”

“You’re saying you’re going to be fooling around.”

“If we go on a trip, shouldn’t we at least go for a drive together? Where’s your conscience?”

Jae Young muttered and then called the studio owner. He hung up after a few words, and then parked on the side of the road, as Sang Woo felt like he heard he was told to just park anywhere.

Jae Young took out a plate with a phone number from the console and got out of the car. Sang Woo followed him up the iron stairs.

“It’s Jae Young, right?”

“Yes. Hello, boss.”

“Hey, Seung Yong said you were a handsome friend, so it’s true. Did you have a hard time finding the place?”

When the door opened and they entered, a man with a thick beard welcomed Jae Young with a smile. He was bald and wore a gold necklace around his neck. He shook hands with Jae Young and turned to Sang Woo.

Jae Young pointed to Sang Woo with his thumb and said, “He is our developer.”

“Your little friend is great. Welcome.”

Sang Woo held the man’s hairy hand and said, “I’m not a young friend, but a business partner.”

He didn’t mean to be funny, but Jae Young burst into laughter and the other man smiled.

It wasn’t a place that specialized in game music. As if to prove him, there were several posters of hip-hop artists and emotional postcard-style designs on the walls. Unlike the shabby exterior of the building, the interior was well finished, so Sang Woo felt it was a bit trustworthy to say the least. They began talking in a room with three monitors and two synthesizers. The studio owner introduced what he had worked on so far and played some samples of the looped background music.

“These days, the game music trend tends to give a bit of variations so that the code doesn’t appear to be repeated. I picked something that would suit the action genre. What do you think?”

Jae Young, who was listening quietly, winked at Sang Woo. Sang Woo talked about how he felt first.

“I like number two. Unlike the trend you mentioned, short codes are repeated, but there are a lot of them in classic games. However, I want the tempo to be 1.3 times faster than this.”

“Do what my ‘business partner’ says. I’d like you to set the atmosphere. As you can see from the plan, our concept is a little spooky.”

Even before Jae Young was done speaking, the studio owner turned on the music again and manipulated the program. Then the speed increased and went down, and it became a completely different music. It sounded grotesque and addictive. Jae Young laughed with his arms crossed.

“You really are something, boss.”

“Okay, that’s a good conversation. Then I’ll repeat 8 or 16 bars in this way.”

While they were talking, the door suddenly burst open and a tall and thin woman came in with three cups on a tray. She put it down in front of them one by one, the coffee steaming hot. The boss leaned his back on the chair with a puzzled look.

“Why did you suddenly do something you don’t usually do? I don’t ask my staff to do this, so don’t get me wrong.”

“If customers come, we should treat them. Hello, are you the vocalist from Leaf Project?”

The woman who was glancing at the boss greeted Sang Woo and Jae Young with a smile. Sang Woo shook his head slightly, and Jae Young replied with a hello.

“This is the action game team I mentioned yesterday. They’re my friends. This is Yoon Hee, our composer.”

“Oh, that cell phone game!”

The composer stood holding the tray. There was an uncomfortable silence for a while, and the boss told her to sit down rather than standing like that. Then, Jae Young’s phone rang.

“I’m sorry. Just a moment…”

He answered the phone and hung up several times. He was scratching the back of his head with an annoyed expression afterwards.

“Some man got angry and told me to get the car out.”

“That’s the jerk again. We usually get along well, but he must be in a bad mood today. It’s a bit far, but if you turn right at the intersection, there is a paid parking lot. You can move it there.”

“Continue talking with the boss, Sang Woo.”

Jae Young stood up and grabbed Sang Woo’s shoulder slightly and left. Now it was only Sang Woo, the studio owner, and the composer left. The composer sat down in Jae Young’s empty seat and asked the owner.

“Who was it?”

“Seung Yong’s friend.”

“What does he do? Is he a model?”

“I think he’s a design student? I think that’s what I heard.”

“A college student?”

The studio owner dragged the chair in front of the computer and turned on the <Veggie Venturer> plan on the screen.

“It doesn’t look like a student’s work, does it?”

“He did this himself?”

“Yes. It’s a low-budget indie game.”

“They are students, but skills are on a professional level.”

Sang Woo acted differently, but he was actually listening to the whole conversation. His heart was filled with pride at the praises they gave Jae Young. It’s none other than himself who chose the designer. Because he was a business partner who embodied his imagination.

The boss, who was looking through the proposal, sipped his coffee and asked, “Sang Woo, how many staff do you have?”

“Two.”

They exchanged surprised glances. Sang Woo felt like showing off. He wanted to show them that he was working with designer Jang Jae Young who visualized the project, and that he was the developer of <Veggie Venturer>.

“College students these days are cool. I only drank alcohol when I was young,” the boss said as he returned to the table.

The composer, who was looking at the monitor as if she were mesmerized, suddenly turned to Sang Woo.

“Well… Does he have a girlfriend?”

The boss mumbled, “So that’s why you crawled out.”

The composer looked at Sang Woo with her round eyes wide open. Oddly enough, an unpleasant feeling rose at the moment, replacing the pleasure he had just felt. Sang Woo didn’t want to answer anything, but she was waiting.

“There isn’t.”