Loving A Triple Threat

Chapter 47: Inspiration

"I'm worried," Gi informed Misha and Suzie.

"Why?" Suzie asked while her tone indicated her care factor was close to zero.

Gi looked at Misha and back to Suzie, "2NE1 are a highly respected group, even if they no longer perform, everyone remembers them fondly."

Misha nodded, "I remember watching them on TV when I was little. They were the biggest group in the world."

"I wouldn't go that far," Suzie said.

Gi paced. Her long elegant strides the envy of the shorter girls. She suddenly turned to face them as inspiration hit, "We should remix and change the choro."

"No!" Suzie exclaimed.

Misha nodded slowly, "Go on."

"There's four of them and only three of us. It's a strong song and there's a lot of rap in the original. It's ripe to twist into a harmony." Gi said.

"How can you keep the pace, and hit the beats if you sing the rap lines?" Misha asked.

Gi talked as if inspired, "That's the thing. We can do both. We overlay rap on a harmony background."

"I dunno Gi," Suzie said, "You're set but we aren't even in contract talks. We can't afford to fail."

Misha nodded, "Reps and agents from every major entertainment company will be at our recital. We can't afford a blunder."

Gi nodded slowly, "I'm thinking about you. It won't affect me if its bland and so-so. But you two need to stand out. Being safe won't help you."

"I'm still not convinced," Suzie said.

Misha shrugged, "Why don't we ask Ms Ling and Ms Moon?"

Suzie nodded and Gi said, "Of course, but I need to get a few arrangement ideas together to present to them. I know Ms Moon will ask to hear them as soon as we bring up the idea."

"You," Suzie corrected. "As soon as you bring up the idea. I'm not sold, but I'll go with whatever the teachers decide."

"Agreed," Misha said. "We'll go with what the teachers decide."

Gi shook her head in disappointment. The pair agreed their potential careers were on the line but wanted teachers to decide the outcome. It dawned on her that she was different to her rival-friends. She would want to take the risk. Do anything she could to get noticed.

"I'll go to my piano now," Gi announced. "Care to join?"

"Nah," Suzie said and wandered off.

"Okay," Misha said and followed Gi to the music room.

Gi looked at the time, she had three hours until practice; she would skip biology and lunch. The other two periods were study. She played the melody of Crush, which wasn't easy due to the amount of synth, but she was able to use her imagination. Most of the song was rap, and it had an awesome synth hook.

"We'll keep the into hook, anyone in the know will recognise it immediately," she said while playing it again. Misha was sitting and listening, she didn't offer any suggestions.

Gi began to sing the verse instead of rapping it. When she finished, she said, "We have to keep the chorus as rap. Other than overlaps we shouldn't mess with it much. But I think we rework all the verse and bridge."

She kept working at it for two hours, reworking parts and slowly but surely Misha began to contribute. By the time they had to leave for practice they were so engrossed in their work that they were almost late. In fact, they would have been, if Ms Moon herself didn't interrupt their creative session.

"Come on you two, Ms Ling will not forgive tardiness," Ms Moon warned.

"Oh my!" Gi said when she realised the time. They packed their things quickly and cleaned the piano, per the rules. Then they ran after Ms Moon to practice hall six.

They arrived short of breath and were immediately greeted by Ms Ling. "I believe you have a surprise for us?"

Gi nodded and Misha looked at the ground. Suzie had her back to the pair.

"Ms Moon, Ms Ling, " Gi said turning from one to another and bowing. "I think we need to make our own arrangement for Crush."

Ms Ling turned to Ms Moon, "I will not interfere Ms Moon, I am only concerned with choreography."

"I heard a snippet in the music room. I am open to it," she said. "Are you ready to present your first draft?"

Gi shook her head, "Suzie is not up to speed with the changes."

"Then you two do your best," Ms Moon instructed.

The rapped and sang and while the song sounded much different it was obvious to their current audience that it was Crush.

Ms Moon concentrated as they sang. She gave nothing away. She tilted her head and looked away, listening and thinking. When they had finished there was deathly silence. The only sound Gi could hear was that of her heart beating, until she remembered to breathe.

Ms Moon looked at her and finally said, "The verse needs more harmonisation and we need to work through the music. It will need to be recorded, you can't use the existing track."

Gi breathed, "Is that a yes?"

Ms Moon nodded, "I quite like it. You are showing growth Gi. This is what a producer would normally do."

"Shouldn't we get a producer then?" Suzie asked.

Ms Ling scowled at her. "Is this all you have to say after all their hard work?"

Suzie looked apologetic, it was a rare sight.

"She is just concerned with her future," Gi stated.

"And rightly so," Ms Ling said, "Miss Kim. If you are committed to this industry you should know by now that it's a fight. If you just skate a long you will be left standing on the sidewalk, forgotten. If you want to progress you have to fight with everything you have."

Ms Moon was not as opinionated as Ms Ling, she normally encouraged students and helped them improve. But on this occasion, she surprised Gi by joining Ms Ling's speech with her own addition. "You are lucky to have Miss Reyn girls. My advice is you work with her and make this the best recital of your lives."

Suzie looked at Gi with jealousy at first, but it soon changed to calculation. "Let's do this." She said as if it was her idea.

Over the next weeks the trio arranged, choreographed and practised their version of 2NE1's Crush under the watchful eyes of Ms Moon and Ms Ling. They recorded the music tracks in the school's studio, it was one of the perks of attending a performance academy. With the help of Ms Moon and the best music students they had the synth track to suit their performance.

Seok and Hyuk focused on their basketball and studies.

Ren was attending auditions while just passing at school.

Jordan was dealing with jealousy and bigotry. The usual for him.

And Sena was lost in his underworld activities.

The next time they all came together was the night of the end of year recitals. Exams were over. Regular studies had concluded.

It was time for the hopefuls to impress agents, scouts and managers from all the major entertainment companies; from JYP to Star Empire. The Branksome Hall Recitals were a must see for talent recruitment and this year was no exception.