Chapter 36: Vocal Storm

Myeongdong CGV underground parking lot.

As the elevator display shifted from B1 to B2, Kang Jae-hoon held down the door-open button, waiting for Im Yoona to step out of the cabin.

"You're quite the gentleman," Yoona said, her voice laced with a smile.

"You're too kind."

As the two walked side-by-side toward their respective vans, Yoona suddenly asked, "That technique you used earlier—switching between three different age-based vocal ranges simultaneously—could you share some tips?"

"Well, that starts with controlling the resonance chambers..."

"Could you teach me in detail sometime?"

"Why would you need to learn this—" Seeing her brow arch, Kang Jae-hoon quickly changed his tune: "—No problem at all."

Changing the subject, Yoona lowered her voice. "Do you know how to film a vomiting scene?"

Kang Jae-hoon paused. "A vomiting scene?"

As it happened, he had actually studied such performance techniques.

"There's a drunken scene in the second episode of my new drama. The female lead hears that her father is critically ill while at the police station, and she needs to convey a state of both crying and retching." Yoona rubbed her forehead in frustration. "Hyoyeon unnie laughed at me for ten whole minutes when I practiced it yesterday."

"Authentic vomiting usually involves physiological reactions..." Kang Jae-hoon noticed her confused look and adjusted his phrasing. "You can use the handle of a toothbrush to lightly touch the back of your tongue to trigger a gag reflex. Remember that feeling of muscle contraction, then combine it with body language and facial control."

"Facial control?" Yoona tilted her head.

"Shrink your nostrils, squint your eyes, and force your nasolabial folds to double up, like this—"

Kang Jae-hoon scanned the area and retreated to a fire hydrant. He braced his left hand against the wall, gripped his throat two inches below the Adam's apple with his right, and arched his back into a shrimp-like curve. "Ugh—"

Yoona quickly pulled out her phone and started recording. "Can I record this to study later?"

"Sure."

Kang Jae-hoon gripped the structural pillar again, the veins in his neck bulging with each retching motion. The green light from the emergency exit cast a twisted shadow on his back, and the parking lot echoed with the exaggerated sound of "Ugh—."

Yoona’s phone camera followed the angle of his hunch, her hair falling over her shoulders. "Do I need to coordinate it with tears?"

"When you're actually retching, the tear ducts naturally secre—"

"Hey, Kang—"

Kim Dae-won burst around the corner, clutching his car keys, and froze in his tracks. His gaze darted between Kang Jae-hoon’s arched spine and Yoona’s phone screen. "What kind of performance art are you two doing?"

"Teaching a vomiting scene," Kang Jae-hoon said, wiping away non-existent saliva as he straightened up. "She needs it for her new drama."

"Can you teach something more... normal?"

Yoona hit the stop button, pressing her thumb against her lower lip to stifle a laugh. Her eyelashes fluttered under the parking lot lights, and she suddenly tilted her head in a bow.

"Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Kang."

"You're welcome."

She rose and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Oh, right, when do you join the production?"

"End of the month. We have two weeks of filming in LA."

Yoona nodded thoughtfully and stepped back, her hands clasped behind her back, swaying gently. "Well... see you then."

"Mm, goodbye."

The high beams of the van swept over the three of them. Before ducking into the vehicle, Yoona pointedly raised her phone and gave it a little shake.

Kang Jae-hoon stared at the grotesque expression frozen on the screen, his eye twitching slightly.

As the taillights traced an arc behind the pillar, Kim Dae-won grabbed him by the back of his collar and dragged him toward Zone B. "Do you know how many times her manager glared at me just now?"

"Five times?"

"Three, but it was fiercer than when Hwang Jung-min yells at you." Kim Dae-won suddenly picked up his pace. "From now on, no more public acting, Mr. Kang-Gag."

"..."

Inside the van.

Kim Dae-won, a toothpick dangling from his mouth, traced a route on his phone’s map. He suddenly turned around as if remembering something. "Didn't you see me gesturing at you during the media interview?"

"What gestures?"

"What was that nonsense about the bedside poster?!"

"Uh... Choi Min-sik sunbaenim also said he wanted to be Girls' Generation's driver during the *New World* promotional period."

The van rolled over a speed bump in the underground garage, and Kim Dae-won glared at him through the rearview mirror. "What kind of status does he have? Your resume only has the words 'Hwang Jung-min’s apprentice' worth looking at." Kim Dae-won yanked the steering wheel. "A nobody trying to ride the coattails of an A-lister? Are you looking to get yourself killed?"

Kang Jae-hoon unscrewed his water bottle. "Not a single reporter followed up after I said it."

The car radio switched to a traffic report; the brake lights of the evening rush hour turned the windshield red. Kim Dae-won turned the air conditioning down two degrees. "If you run your mouth like that again, I’m getting you a toothpaste commercial."

"Is there an endorsement fee?"

"..."

The roar of the engine swallowed the manager's curses.

The next morning.

The search term #KangJaeHoonVocalMonster suddenly landed at number seven on the NAVER trending list.

Without any promotional efforts from the agency, the speed at which this topic climbed caught the attention of industry insiders. In particular, the clip of Kang Jae-hoon’s vocal performance at the preview—transitioning from youth to old age—surpassed 500,000 views within four hours.

Netizen comments were polarized:

@LoveCilantroD: [Everyone, look closely at this behind-the-scenes! The transition from a young boy's voice to a weary old man's is textbook quality. I've listened to it so many times my headphones are worn out.]

@ClearWindPlaysWithClouds: [Hwang Jung-min’s apprentice? No wonder his lines are so solid, but voice acting is ultimately a side path. Young man, you should focus on serious dramas.]

@BrightMoonReflectingIceAndSnow: [I suggest the Baeksang Arts Awards add a category for voice actors. The ability to craft an elderly vocal range shown in this clip surpasses even some veteran actors who are formally trained (purely technical discussion).]

@WhyDoesTheWindRise: [Suggesting his vocal cords be declared a national treasure! My grandfather thought my phone had become possessed when he heard that part where he went from 16 to 60 (laugh-cry).]

@KimchiMixedWithRamen: [Objectively speaking, the technique has highlights, but calling it "monster-level" is too exaggerated. I suggest gaining more experience before buying promotional articles.]

@CokeWithoutIce: [Agencies are so good at hype nowadays. Can you really call someone a successor to Chungmuro just for dubbing? Get a proper supporting actor award before trying to compare yourself to the big names.]

...

In the SEM conference room, the PR team was debating how to handle the negative controversy surrounding Kang Jae-hoon online.

Hwang Jung-min’s face, still sporting stage makeup for a wound, appeared on the video conference screen. "Ignore it. At the end of the day, an actor has to speak through their work."

"Ha, that approach doesn't work for little Hoon—what work does he have?" Kim Mi-hye sneered. "A bit-part actor with two minutes of screen time in *Ode to My Father*?"

"Didn't he join *The Heirs*..." Hwang Jung-min’s voice trailed off.

The hum of the air conditioning vents and the whirring of the projector fans wove into an awkward background noise. Hwang Jung-min gave a tactical cough. "So... Dae-won, do you have a plan?"

"How about a radio show?" Kim Dae-won suggested. "Use different vocal ranges to dub classic movie scenes. Use talent to shut the haters up."

"That’s feasible." Kim Mi-hye made the call. "Dae-won, go coordinate with the production team and see which radio show aligns with the movie's preview next week."

"Understood."

After the meeting, Kim Dae-won stood by the floor-to-ceiling window and dialed Kang Jae-hoon. "Find a few classic movies and memorize the lines."

A lazy, sleepy voice came through the receiver. "Is there an audition?"

"No," Kim Dae-won said, looking down at the congested Gangnam Avenue. "You're going to be a human voice changer."