?June arrived later than his other members for their meeting with the producers. They were already speaking with Ted, their new in-house producer, and it seemed to be a serious discussion.
Jisung and Akira quietly made space for June on the couch and patted the empty spot beside them.
Jisung leaned closer to June and whispered, "They're going to present our title track."
June was surprised. He thought the title track of their song would be revealed later on, so he was hopeful that Jay could convince the higher-ups to let the group create their own title track.
However, it seemed like it had already been decided.
Ted frowned as June arrived, and he didn't even bother greeting the idol.
"As I was saying, this song was produced by none other than myself," Ted said. "Two other producers helped me, and one of them is supposed to meet you guys today, too," he muttered, looking at his watch.
Just then, the door opened, revealing a pretty lady, maybe around late-20s or mid-30s.
Ted smiled as he welcomed the lady, surprising the members of EVE.
In their experiences with the producer, they had never seen Ted smile that warmly before.
"Mari, you're here," he said, leading her to the seat beside him.
Mari smiled at the boys while they bowed in respect. Her gaze lingered longer on one of them, an excited glint in her eyes.
"Sorry, I'm late. I ran into some traffic," she said.
"Oh, that's fine," Ted said, acting like he didn't just snub June when he was late for a valid reason. "We were just getting started anyway."
"By all means, continue with what you're doing. I'm just here to see what the boys think of the song we produced," she said.
"Let me introduce you to the boys first," Ted excitedly said.
"Boys, this is Mari Kim, my partner."
June internally chuckled. Well, that explained why Ted was acting all giddy.
"Partner producer," Mari quickly corrected him.
June's internal chuckle intensified as Ted's face fell. He was in an unrequited love!
"I have been hired by Azure this month as another in-house producer. From now on, Ted and I will be producing for the company as well as overseeing the production of your album," she said.
The members of EVE warmly welcomed her.
Ted looked at Mari like she saved the entire world. He even placed his hand under his chin, and June swore he saw his pupils dilate. He stayed in that state for a couple of seconds, so the atmosphere was quite awkward in those moments.
Jaeyong cleared his throat, finally snapping Ted back to his original, grumpy state.
"Right, where was I?" Ted muttered.
"Your title track," he exclaimed. "You will be hearing it for the first time today. It is already in its finished state, so expect that changes after this moment will only be considered if they are very needed. Otherwise, the version you're hearing today will be the one released on your comeback."
June frowned. He didn't like how Ted subtly insinuated that they wouldn't listen to the members' suggestions in case they didn't like something about the title track.
Truly, Ted's ego was the thing he treasured the most.
Ted was once a part of a bigger company. He had hit after hit after hit, and the group he mainly produced for became one of the biggest girl groups in their generation—BLOODYRED.
However, they disbanded after a disagreement with their company. Ted continued to work with the company even after the group disbanded, but it wasn't the same as before. His works had degraded with other groups, and it seemed like he couldn't break away from his usual sound.
In the end, these groups were heavily criticized for having the same sound as BLOODYRED.
So, naturally, Ted was kicked out of his past company. Azure, being the leech that it is, quickly snatched Ted away with a price lower than his usual commission.
He joined the company only this year, so this was the very first album he worked on with Azure.
The past two songs Ted had presented to EVE were made by different producers, so they didn't have his signature sound.
However, what June was afraid of had finally come.
As Ted played the song, June could already see the articles coming out about EVE releasing a song that sounded heavily influenced by BLOODYRED.
June looked around the room to gauge his members' reactions and saw that they had similar looks on their faces.
They already had this discussion before, and they thought Azure knew better than anyone else about Ted's reputation. However, it seemed like they were more focused on making noise for the team—even if it wasn't good noise.
The song ended with Ted looking proud, Mari looking wary, and the members of EVE looking disappointed.
They were given a chance to choose their title track during their debut album. However, they weren't given any more freedom after that.
"What do you think?" Ted asked. However, even after asking that question, it seemed like he didn't really care about EVE's opinions.
"It's a good song," June said, surprising his members.
Ted, too, was pleasantly surprised, and he was about to thank June for the compliment, but the latter spoke once more.
"But it's not a good song for our team," June added.
Ted's eyebrows furrowed, and Mari, too, seemed a bit disappointed.
"Can you elaborate more on that?" Mari asked.
"I don't know if you're aware of this, Sir Ted, but it seems like every song you put out is similar to BLOODYRED's sound," June bluntly said.
The members of EVE, as well as Jay, looked at June with wide eyes, surprised by his bluntness.
They were relieved to hear June say the words they wanted to say, but at the same time, they were concerned for his well-
being.
Ted didn't like to be disrespected.
"I don't think you know what you're talking about," Ted said, biting his lip in anger.
"I'm not saying this to spite you," June sighed. "I'm just telling my honest opinion. This sounds like something that BLOODYRED would put out. Sadly, they've disbanded and are now successful models, actresses, and soloists. However, they still have a lot of fans. They wouldn't be too happy if we adopted their sound."
"So, you're going to disregard my work?" Ted asked. "Just because it sounds like that group's song doesn't mean that it's not any good."
June sighed. "I didn't say it was bad. I just said it wasn't suited for us. It may pass as a B-side track, but I don't think we can use it as a title track."
Ted scoffed before pursing his lips together in frustration.
"What do you suggest then? That you produce your own song?" Ted sarcastically asked.
However, June took the question seriously.
"Yes," June said. "That's exactly what I'm suggesting."
