Hyunseung reached the broadcasting station for the Show! Music Core shoot before he even had a chance to check all the missed calls.
Of course, he was still wearing the helmet.
Someone might ask why he had gone to a luxury salon for hair and make-up if he was going to cover it up anyway, but the cost had been worth it for the chance to scout out a prospective in-law.
“Even if they oppose the marriage, they’ll probably allow the dating, right?”
After finishing pre-record-prep in the waiting room, he finally looked at his phone.
[ Missed calls from “Kim-Appa” × 33 ]
When did he call me this many times?
Ring-ring-ring-ring-ring—
He rang Manager Kim back at once.
“Why thirty-three missed calls?”
—I didn’t just call. I blew you up on Kakaotalk and SMS too.
“Did something happen?”
—You’re at the studio, aren’t you?
“Yeah, that’s right.”
—We’ll talk when you get back. Will you be okay on your own?
“I’m not a kid.”
—Fine. Do well and get back safely.
Just as he ended the call, still feeling unsettled—
Knock, knock!
The waiting room door opened and Seo Jini stepped in.
“C-composer-nim?”
She hesitated at the threshold, clearly overwhelmed by the helmet’s flamboyance.
Clack!
Hyunseung lifted the rainbow visor with his hand.
“It’s me. Come in.”
“What’s with that helmet?”
“Had one custom-made for the show.”
“Manager Kim didn’t stop you?”
“He said it looked awesome.”
Jini cocked her head, genuinely baffled.
“No way… Is it re-contract season already…?”
“What was that?”
“Nothing, just surprised you’d actually appear on TV.”
“Tarot told me to,” he muttered, then changed the subject. “Anyway, that childish dance seems to be working.”
“Simple choreo always hits,” she said. “Actually it’s thanks to Kang Hajun that it went viral. I asked him to join the challenge and he acted like it was his own song. He personally DM’d every singer he knows.”
No wonder stiff-limbed Yoon Jaeyi and tin-can robot Jung Arin had joined, then The Moon uploaded their clip in no time.
Even Lee Young-ah and Kim Gwang-jin had done the moves on “viewable radio,” and Moon Beom-jae had surprised everyone with a rock version of A.N.P.
“Even the governor of Gyeonggi-do joined in because Hajun begged his dad,” she added.
Right. Hajun was from a well-off family.
“The governor was beyond anything I imagined, but thanks to him the song’s up to no. 3 today. I should buy Hajun dinner.”
“Make it expensive. He moved a governor,” Hyunseung laughed.
“On that note, why don’t you join the challenge? I’ll treat.”
“Are you crazy?”
“It’s your own song. How’s that crazy? Just wear that awesome helmet and…”
“I can’t dance.”
“Old folks did it, confirmed rhythm-idiots did it, even the governor did it, so what’s stopping you?”
“I’m not doing it.”
“Knew you’d say that.”
The room fell quiet again.
Hmm…
Behind the visor, Hyunseung stared at Seo Jini, lost in thought.
She might take it the wrong way, but…
The truth is, he had released A.N.P only to heat up his contest with himself. He wouldn’t have cared if it flopped. He was sure Choi Jihyun’s solo album would be a hit anyway.
Yet hearing how hard everyone was working to help him stirred a strange feeling.
Much like during the “sauce incident” with Yoon Jaeyi, he felt oddly warm—itchy, unfamiliar warmth from people genuinely helping him.
Something he’d never felt in his previous life.
Knock, knock, knock!
A staffer broke his reverie, announcing standby.
“HS-ssi, please come to set!”
He rose, squared himself before the mirror, adjusted the lapels of his suit, and set the helmet straight.
Pat, pat.
“Did you finish your prerecord okay?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Good. I’ll go nail mine too.”
If they were helping him, he couldn’t just stay silent.
He had to do something, too.
After that whirlwind visit from Yunis Music Group, Manager Kim had barely recovered his sanity.
“Is everyone mostly wrapped up?”
Once he’d re-established contact with Hyunseung, he pulled the team together.
“Group monitoring, long time no see!”
They would all watch the broadcast: Hyunseung’s special-guest spot and, at the same time, Seo Jini’s Korean comeback stage. He connected the live chat feed to the 85-inch TV in the small conference room because good stuff should be seen big.
A staffer spoke up carefully.
“HS-ssi must really be bothered by Choi Jihyun; he never does TV.”
Kim nearly choked.
“Khu-hem!”
Most rank-and-file employees still didn’t know HS and Choi were the same person, so of course it looked that way.
“Commercials ending, special corner up next,” a team leader said, and everyone sat up straight.
The ads ended; the two dazzling MCs shouted, “Show! Music Core!”
—“We’ve invited a very special guest for today’s special corner!”
—“A special guest? Who is it? Tell us, A-min-ssi!”
—“Even Eun-woo-ssi is curious, right? It’s, it’s, it’s—Korea’s top composer, HS-ssi!”
They read the cue cards like grade-school textbooks.
↳ hold up hold up WHAT????
↳ this isn’t a dream, right??
↳ HS on a music show…?
↳ “don’t be shocked” is THE biggest flex lol
Their wooden delivery was mercifully buried by Hyunseung’s entrance.
—“Hello. I’m composer HS.”
↳ ???????????
↳ what am I watching??
↳ and that helmet??
↳ guys we need to buy him a normal helmet
↳ but hot damn that suit—
↳ not just me right? that voice is melting
Even the conference room buzzed.
“S-sir…” a staffer whispered.
“Hm?”
“That helmet…?”
Kim ruffled his hair. “He designed it himself. Let the man live.”
A collective “Ahh…” rustled through the room.
—“As the original creator, could you tell us what you felt when writing A.N.P?”
—“I thought it’d be nice if everyone listening could have fun together.”
—“Indeed! Just as you wished, the A.N.P Challenge is huge! Did you know?”
—“It wasn’t planned, but I’m honored everyone’s joining and enjoying it.”
↳ why do they ALL read like robots??
↳ who wrote this script ಠ_ಠ
↳ even the helmet steals the scene lol
—“Since Seo Jini-sunbaenim is giving her first comeback stage with A.N.P today, how about a word of encouragement as the songwriter?”
No scripted answer? Hyunseung paused.
↳ screen freeze?
↳ wifi lag lol
↳ battery dead in the robot?
Then he delivered:
—“Do well, do it well.”
↳ bro just spoke *banmal* on air?? I’m dead take me
↳ I might marry HS
↳ get in line girls he proposed to me first
Kim watched, oddly proud.
—“Haha, then let’s go straight to Seo Jini’s stage!”
—“Yes, A.N.P!*”
Just before the camera cut away, Hyunseung cleared his throat.
—“Eh…”
↳ ??? more lines?
—“Et-chis….”
↳ HUH????
↳ what just happened
↳ did I hallucinate?
He jerked through a brief, creaky version of the dance.
“Gasp!”
LS staff who knew him well couldn’t believe their eyes.
“Team Leader Han, did I just see what I think I saw?”
“I was about to ask you…”
“Are our eyes broken? Need new glasses…”
Viewers felt the same:
↳ is someone off-camera holding him at knife-point?
↳ must’ve taken a hostage lol
↳ man put his life on the line for promotion
And, at light-speed, a short video was edited and uploaded:
[MuCore] Short but lethal—HS’s A.N.P challenge “Eh… Et-chis”
Meanwhile, at Incheon Airport, Austin was equally stunned while waiting to board.
—“Hello. I’m composer HS.”
The “mad scientist” he’d met at the tailor shop that morning was on TV.
“What the—?”
“Something wrong, sir?” Andrew asked.
A nameplate reading HS sat under the mic.
“That’s the guy from the shop, isn’t it?”
“HS?”
“So the man we came to meet was right there all along?”
In other words, he was one of the two they’d flown so far to see.
—“…so everyone can enjoy it together.”
No wonder the man had fired off a perfect solution after hearing the track once. He was hardly a random passerby.
Has my instinct dulled? Austin rubbed his brow.
—“Do well, do it well.”
He’d brushed right past the guy, and now felt the loss acutely.
—“Yes, A.N.P!”
Then again, he had gotten valuable feedback and confirmed the composer’s brilliance.
Most importantly, now he knew what the man looked like—flamboyant helmet and all. Next time he would find him.
Scratch, scratch.
Austin opened a small notebook and wrote:
“HS wears a gaudy helmet over a suit: villain vibes.”
All in all, not a wasted trip at all.
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