Chapter 154 – Episode 154 – Her X Her X Her (3)
I clicked on the link posted on Ye-hwa’s blog.
It immediately took me to a site where I could request work from Ye-hwa.
“Art Deal?”
Da-jeong tilted her head, looking at the site’s name.
It was a site with a cute, charming feel.
“Hmm. It looks like a site where you can trade artistic works. There are illustrations, videos, and it seems you can request work in the audio section.”
“Wow, that’s amazing.”
After browsing the site a bit, I had a general idea of what it was.
Ye-hwa’s request page showcased the music she had created so far.
Along with the link to Ye-hwa’s blog, there was also a link to a site called Sound Max, where all of Ye-hwa’s songs were uploaded.
There was also a review and star rating system, and Ye-hwa’s ratings seemed very good at a glance.
“Oh, but this person has a perfect average rating. And so many reviews.”
“Yeah. She must be pretty famous here.”
Scrolling down, there were detailed terms of service for transactions.
“Oh my gosh, Oppa. The prices are so expensive…”
Da-jeong’s mouth fell open as she pointed at the screen with the prices.
The types of work available were divided into MR, arrangement, mixing, and background music production, with background music production being the most expensive, of course.
[ 4. Background Music ]
– Commission: ₩168,000
– Outsourcing: ₩298,000 ~ Consultation Required
Almost ₩300,000.
It was definitely expensive for Da-jeong.
“Well, it’s because they’re creating a BGM from scratch. Looking at the price, do you not want to commission her?”
“Well… honestly, it’s so expensive that I’m having second thoughts.”
“But wouldn’t it be great to have a song for your comic?”
“Hehe, that’s true.”
Da-jeong looked at the transaction details and asked me.
“But what’s the difference between a commission and outsourcing?”
“A commission is for non-commercial use, and outsourcing is for commercial use, I think.”
“Commercial use… Then I should request a commission, right?”
I couldn’t give Da-jeong a clear answer.
“Hmm. Maybe? Since it’s a free comic, it might be a commission… I’m not sure. I think we’ll have to ask.”
“I want to look at other people too, first.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
Click, click.
Da-jeong browsed the site.
“Oh? This person is ₩50,000.”
Basically, there were many people on the site who were cheaper than Ye-hwa. There were some expensive ones too, but Ye-hwa’s prices weren’t cheap.
“It’s a bit expensive, but still, the first person seems to have the best reviews. What do you think, Oppa?”
Since Ye-hwa’s ratings were overwhelmingly good, Da-jeong went back to Ye-hwa’s page. I nodded in agreement.
“Me too. She’s also a person who sponsored you, so she’ll definitely do a good job. It’s within the price range you can commission with the creative support fund anyway, so ask her.”
Although she’s prickly with me, I think Ye-hwa is the type to work hard at what she’s assigned to do.
Well, even if I ignore the fact that it’s Ye-hwa, her ratings are overwhelmingly good.
“Okay.”
Without hesitation, Da-jeong clicked the button to inquire with the artist.
[ Please sign up and log in. ]
“Ah.”
And she exclaimed. I chuckled.
“You have to log in.”
Da-jeong pouted and filled out the registration page.
“Signing up is the most annoying thing in the world.”
I nodded.
“Agreed.”
******
Ding-
“Huh?”
On the second floor of a cozy cafe.
Ye-hwa, who had stopped by Cafe Delia again today, lowered her gaze at the sound coming from her headphones.
Now, it had become her routine to work in the studio and then finish up at Cafe Delia.
‘I turned off all personal chat notifications.’
There was one notification.
When she clicked on the notification, a message popped up on her laptop.
[ (Art Deal) A new inquiry has been registered for the artist. ]
“Ah… I didn’t block it.”
Ye-hwa muttered quietly.
Ye-hwa took a sip of her drink with her alluring lips.
Recently, her work had been going a bit better.
The work she did in the studio was the same, but when she finished up at the cafe, it was like her mind became more at ease.
She was also getting inspiration quite well.
Thanks to that, she had overcome her slump a little, and now she was writing the songs she wanted quite well.
‘It hasn’t even been a year since I started composing, how could I have a slump…’
Ye-hwa smiled bitterly to herself.
She was someone who had always done well at everything she started.
She had never been stuck on anything, even with studying, which others found difficult.
As a human, she sometimes made mistakes on tests, but she had never dropped below the top grade since high school.
In that sense, composing was a bit of a novelty for Ye-hwa.
Like playing an instrument, it wasn’t just about doing it, but it often depended on her condition that day.
Moreover, since it was creation rather than utilization, she had to ride this flow of writing well without missing it.
‘I should refuse.’
Thinking she should try to produce some proper music, Ye-hwa had been refusing almost all small jobs lately.
The transactions on Art Deal weren’t really for the purpose of making money in the first place.
It was a transaction for practice. If she was going to refuse anyway, she thought she should just block the requests for a while, but it seemed she had forgotten to do so.
‘It’s a hassle to send an apology message to each one.’
Ye-hwa let out a small sigh and opened the inquiry.
Click.
“Hmm?”
But when she saw the title, Ye-hwa’s eyes were slightly intrigued.
‘Background music request?’
More than 80% of the requests were for mixing, arrangement, or MR work. Background music requests were relatively rare.
Ye-hwa rested her chin on her hand and looked at the monitor.
‘Oh, and it’s for a comic?’
She slowly read the content, which said they wanted to request background music for a comic. Well, something like that.
There was also a link to the comic.
What kind of comic could it be?
Curious, Ye-hwa immediately clicked on the link.
[ Dragon and I ]
“Huh?”
And Ye-hwa’s eyes widened.
Dragon and I.
One of her favorite small comics that she had been enjoying recently.
To be honest, it had been gaining popularity recently, so it wasn’t really small, but she still thought it was very underrated compared to its drawing skills.
It was also a comic she had quickly sponsored ₩50,000 for, hoping it would do well.
She had planned to sponsor ₩1,000 for each episode as long as the comic continued to be uploaded, but unfortunately, it hadn’t been uploaded for a week.
But she was happy that the notice said they would start serializing again this week, and now, they were requesting background music from her?
Ye-hwa felt a rare sense of excitement.
It was a comic she cherished within her favorite hobby, comics, so her heart was pounding.
‘I have to do this.’
The thought of refusing had already disappeared.
Ye-hwa immediately wrote a reply.
*****
“Oh! I got a reply right away.”
After diligently writing and sending the inquiry, Da-jeong, who was snuggling with me while drawing her comic, said while looking at her phone.
“Where? Let me see.”
“A notification popped up saying I got a reply on KakaoTalk. If I go in now… Ah!”
The reply had a link to a 1:1 open chat room, and it said to discuss the details there.
In fact, there was no need to open a chat room. If they just opened two doors and went out to the cafe, they could meet Ye-hwa looking at her laptop, but I didn’t bother telling Da-jeong that.
Da-jeong immediately entered the chat room and started typing.
[ FantasyYun: Hello! ]
FantasyYun was Da-jeong’s pen name. Why was it that both Su-jeong and her had such terrible naming sense?
[ MellowNyan: Yes, hello~ ]
MellowNyan seemed to be Ye-hwa’s alias. She was introduced as MellowNyan on the Art Deal site, Sound Max, and her blog.
[ FantasyYun: I’m trying to request BGM… Did you see the link I sent? ]
Da-jeong, who was new to this kind of request, seemed a bit nervous and sent the message very cautiously.
Ye-hwa replied to Da-jeong’s message right away.
[ MellowNyan: Of course. I was already enjoying your comic a lot. I was sad that it wasn’t uploaded last week ㅠㅠ ]
“Gasp! Oh, Oppa. This person! They were already reading my comic!”
Da-jeong, who had read the message, made a fuss and tugged at my sleeve.
“Well, of course. She’s the third-highest sponsor.”
“Huh? Third? Ah! Was that this person?”
“Yeah. Didn’t you see? Her blog and the ID that sponsored you are the same. Look.”
At my words, Da-jeong quickly moved the mouse busily to confirm the facts.
“Gasp! It’s true.”
[ FantasyYun: Thank you so much for reading it!! I haven’t been able to upload because I’m a student… I’ve been a bit busy. ㅠㅠ ]
“Busy because you’re a student, huh. You didn’t even go to school last week-. Ouch.”
“It was because of you, you dummy!”
[ MellowNyan: Ah, I see. If you’re a student, are you a college student? ]
[ FantasyYun: No. I’m still a high school student…! ]
[ MellowNyan: Wow. You’re so talented for a high school student. ㄷㄷ ]
Da-jeong’s mouth fell open.
“Hehe, Oppa. She says I’m super talented.”
“You definitely are super talented. I admit it.”
“Ugh. Hiss… You pervert, Oppa! Don’t say that while touching me there.”
