Prince From Another Dimension Becomes An Idol [EN]: Chapter 15

#15.

Turf War.

The act of those who have already settled in looking down on those who come in later.

Turf wars existed even in the Great Han Empire, even within the Imperial Palace.

‘Of course, there was no one who dared to start a turf war with me, though.’

It was common for families who had served as palace servants since the time of King Seonjo [a Joseon Dynasty ruler known for his patronage of the arts and sciences] to start turf wars with newly officially hired palace servants.

‘Solving that was a long-standing task of the modern Imperial Family.’

Dojae had even witnessed a palace servant of the Imperial Prince’s residence repeatedly ordering a new palace servant to run errands as a form of harassment.

Of course, that was a small part of it, and palace servants from public recruitment were even denied promotion opportunities.

In any case, Dojae had seen it often enough in the palace and knew that the culture of turf wars was prevalent in society, whether in the Great Han Empire or the Republic of Korea, so he had somewhat expected it.

He thought he might experience a turf war if he joined Kingdom.

‘Maybe because they were desperate for members, they were actually welcoming….’

But it seemed there was someone who was trying to start a turf war after all.

Dojae rested his chin on the living room table, quietly watching Gyuseong’s back as he did the dishes in the kitchen.

Lui and Woocheol, still minors, had gone to school, so the remaining members had eaten a simple lunch together.

Heungmin and Gijun had gone to their respective rooms to rest, leaving only Gyuseong, who was on dish duty, and Dojae, who was watching him.

Among the members, Gyuseong was known as the quietest and, by extension, the kindest.

‘But he says he hates me.’

Last night.

Gyuseong suddenly declared to Dojae, “I hate you,” as if making a declaration of war, and then pulled the blanket over himself and lay down before Dojae could even answer.

It wasn’t even hot, but he kept doing that even after Dojae stared at him for more than five minutes.

It was an action that would have been believable even if he were ten years old instead of twenty….

Instead of asking more, Dojae considerately turned off the light.

It wasn’t that he was showing generosity to someone lacking, or that Dojae was particularly virtuous.

‘He hates me. How refreshing….’

He was just dumbfounded and intrigued.

In fact, even this kind of treatment was a first for Dojae.

‘Why does he hate me? It must be a turf war. Otherwise….’

Dojae didn’t realize he was thinking like someone with prince syndrome.

No, emperor syndrome.

It wasn’t a syndrome; he really was an Imperial Prince.

Moreover, Dojae was an Imperial Prince who was quite popular in the palace and the empire, if not as much as the Crown Prince.

Feeling Dojae’s piercing gaze, Gyuseong, who was doing the dishes, glanced back.

He quickly turned his head away when he met Dojae’s eyes, clearly showing his discomfort.

It was the first time this had happened, so he didn’t know what to do.

It wasn’t like he had started to harass Dojae separately, so it was even more difficult.

All he could do was watch and hope that Gyuseong’s mind would change.

“Hmm….”

“Is there a problem?”

Gijun asked from behind, having come out of his room at some point.

“Ah. No. I was just about to visit you in your room….”

“Me?”

“Yes. Because of the song revision.”

Gijun, who had come to the kitchen to get water, sat down at the living room table.

“Did you come up with any good ideas?”

His tone was listless, as if he didn’t have high expectations.

But there was also an unavoidable anticipation.

He had been racking his brains for some time, so it was understandable.

“Yes.”

After Gyuseong had really fallen asleep, Dojae had listened to Gijun’s song over and over again in the dark room until dawn.

As expected, the progression of the interlude continued to bother him in many ways.

“I was wondering why that part kept bothering me…. I thought it might be because that part was too heavy.”

“Heavy?”

Dojae nodded.

“But if you try to balance it with the other parts….”

“The interlude is just an interlude, so I don’t think it’s necessary to go with the exact same weight as the main part of the song.”

“Too heavy all the time…. Is that it?”

Gijun stroked his chin as if lost in thought while speaking.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Dojae asked for permission and brought his laptop out of his room.

It was to demonstrate the method he had found.

‘It was a bit difficult because the programs are different from those in the Great Han Empire….’

Kang Dojae’s memory had no information about composing, and Dojae had to search for programs one by one on the internet.

Fortunately, the program usage was similar to that of the Great Han Empire, so it was a relief.

‘Otherwise, I might have had to stay up all night.’

Dojae, who had turned on his laptop, explained.

“I was wondering if it would be better to change the part where hyung [older brother or male friend] used machine sounds here… to a piano performance like this….”

Dojae played Gijun’s version and his modified piano version alternately so that they could be compared.

Gijun frowned even more deeply, as if he was deep in thought.

Gyuseong, who had finished washing the dishes, and Heungmin, who had come out because of the music, were sitting around the living room table.

“What do you think? I think it’s a little better.”

Dojae asked cautiously.

No matter how much he had studied and how excellent his senses were, the owner of this song was Gijun.

If Gijun said no, it was no.

‘But I hope I can be of help.’

He was motivated because he thought it was a song that would be included in the team’s debut album, which was also Dojae’s album.

“Again. Play it again. The entire interlude in the version you made.”

At Gijun’s words, Dojae tapped the space bar, and the interlude mixed with the piano performance flowed out.

The dull part had become much softer.

“…….”

“…….”

In the meantime, a vague gaze passed between Heungmin and Gyuseong.

It was a gaze that contained both surprise and worry.

It was good. The version Dojae made was better.

After listening to Dojae’s modified version, the two were finally able to realize the problem with the previous version.

He had been called ‘tone-deaf’ by Gijun, but that was because Gijun’s standards were high, not because the remaining members were really below par.

Heungmin looked at Dojae with admiration.

The talent who had appeared out of nowhere had clearly solved Gijun’s problem overnight.

That was also the problem, though….

Heungmin’s gaze turned to Gijun.

‘I hope his pride isn’t hurt?’

It was a question that came to mind automatically.

Of course, Gijun wasn’t that petty.

Still, he was human, so his pride would be hurt if someone else solved something he had been working on for days in one shot.

Gijun was silent for a long time, wondering what he was thinking.

“One more time.”

After silently listening to the interlude of the version Dojae made one more time, Gijun let out a long sigh.

Was his pride hurt after all?

Or, contrary to his thoughts, was Gijun still not satisfied?

Everyone was waiting for Gijun to say something.

“Kang Dojae.”

Gijun called Dojae in a quiet voice, sighed again, and ran his impatient hand through his bangs several times before saying,

“This is it! This. This is it…. Ha, thank you. Dojae, thank you.”

Life returned to Gijun’s eyes, which had seemed listless.

Honestly, his eyes were small, so his pupils weren’t very visible, but you could feel them sparkling.

“Now I can finish the song with peace of mind.”

Gijun muttered as if he had been saved.

Considering that Gijun had been racking his brains all night, it was a natural reaction.

‘I guess that’s why he asked us to listen to it.’

It was also because Huimin had dropped a bombshell by saying he was going to leave the company, so Gijun was even more focused on working on the song.

As the eldest hyung, he wondered if he hadn’t taken good care of Huimin, so he was secretly worried, even though he didn’t show it.

Heungmin raised the corners of his lips.

Heungmin also felt good to see Gijun smiling for the first time in a while.

The corners of Dojae’s lips also slowly rose.

He was happy that he had been a small help to the team, but he also felt that the time he had spent studying alone had not been in vain.

“Why couldn’t I think of this….”

“Originally, when you’re immersed in a song you’ve made, you often can’t think beyond that.”

Dojae replied to Gijun’s mutterings.

He knew it well because he had been studying music on his own without being able to ask for advice from others.

Gijun also agreed with Dojae’s words because he was the type to work on songs alone until they were finished.

“By the way, Dojae. Did you learn composing separately? How much can you do?”

“I learned it on my own, so…. I’ve only composed one or two songs.”

“Really? But you seem to have quite a bit of skill. I should tell the company to let you study more properly…. Ah, practice is hard enough, so I’m definitely not trying to put pressure on you.”

“No. It’s not a burden at all, so don’t worry about it. I want to study. I want to learn more.”

Gijun smiled with satisfaction at Dojae’s proactive attitude.

If there was someone in the team who could compose besides himself, it would naturally be helpful.

“Okay. I’ll finish this song quickly and submit it to the director.”

Gijun thanked Dojae once again and went into his room.

Gijun was probably going to lock himself in his room until the afternoon practice.

“Wow. Amazing. Good job.”

Dojae smiled lightly at Heungmin’s compliment.

Gyuseong looked down at Dojae with confused eyes before quickly going into his room.

Looking at the closed door, Dojae thought quietly.

‘Turning his back on me. As expected… how refreshing.’

***

By the time the grueling dance training was over, it was well past dinner time.

The belatedly given dinner time wasn’t much happier either.

That was because high-calorie foods were restricted for weekday dinners.

The members sat in the middle of the practice room, chewing on dry chicken breasts.

“Let’s eat this and go over it one more time before going home.”

“Really just one time? Isn’t one time going to turn into two, then three, hyung [older brother or male friend]?!!”

Woocheol chirped at Gijun’s words.

Heungmin would have stepped in to stop Woocheol at other times, but Heungmin didn’t stop him separately today because Gijun was in a good mood.

He also knew that one time would actually turn into ten times.

In the meantime, Lui asked Dojae.

“Hyung [older brother or male friend]. I heard before practice that you did something big! Totally awesome.”

“Something big…. Well.”

Dojae replied lightly and took a bite of the chicken breast.

‘It’s definitely dry. To have to eat something like this…. It’s troublesome.’

But it didn’t feel like he was going to choke.

That was enough.

Perhaps he frowned without realizing it as he bit into the chicken breast, Lui stood up and said,

“I’ll get you some water!”

Dojae, who was about to nod habitually, stopped.

“No. I’ll…….”

Lui wasn’t a palace servant, so there was no need for Lui to fetch Dojae’s water.

Even if it was a kindness that a younger brother showed to his older brother….

So, just as Dojae was about to stop Lui,

A sharp gaze pierced Dojae, and Gyuseong was glaring at him.

‘Could it be….’

The moment Dojae wondered, Gyuseong pointed at Dojae sharply.

“You!”

Everyone’s attention was focused on Gyuseong at his quiet shout.

“I, I can’t take it anymore. You tell me before I do.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“The reason you left New.”

At that moment, Lui’s expression darkened.