Inside Hyunseung’s studio, “out to sea” was playing on repeat.
In a way, because it was a fusion new-age track with an Eastern flavor mixed in, he figured it might help with making a sageuk drama OST.
Right.
The truth was, Hyunseung wasn’t the type to directly consume visual media at all—let alone dramas.
For that reason, when he actually went to start work on a sageuk drama OST, it all felt hazy.
Of course, in his previous life he had produced drama OSTs, but most were for romances, so it was enough to turn out sweet, mellow songs made for listening.
But suddenly, a sageuk…?
Ever since school, history class had been what he hated most. He messed up his hair, recalling the lines Ahn Jiho had shamelessly rattled off.
What was it that guy said again?
A period piece that holds the spirit and han of Joseon, and also a suspense-fantasy romance? If it’s a period piece, it’s a period piece; if it’s romance, it’s romance.
What a long-winded description.
Just as Hyunseung was zoning out without starting any work at all—
Knock, knock, knock.
At the familiar knock he perked up like a puppy and turned his head. Soon, Kim Woohyun’s face peeked in through the cautiously opened door.
When their eyes met in midair, Kim Woohyun smiled silently. Ah—he’s Head of Division now.
For some reason, that Division Head Kim’s face carried a hint of apology.
Probably because of the argument they’d had the other day.
You don’t have to feel sorry.
Hyunseung didn’t think he’d handled it perfectly either, and he’d kept typing out apology texts and then deleting them.
Even though I never sent one in the end…
Once again, he felt only grateful to Dad Kim for being the one to yield first.
Soon after, with an awkward face but an even tone, Dad Kim walked in and asked,
“Want a coffee?”
“Venti, right?”
“Why ask the obvious.”
They both let out a little laugh at the same time.
Hyunseung liked the comfort he felt when looking at Dad Kim. The steadiness that came from quietly trusting and looking after each other put him deeply at ease.
Right.
It was a feeling he had never once felt in his previous life.
Or rather…
Maybe he’d just never noticed it because he’d lived without looking around him?
Suddenly, Division Head Kim cleared his throat and, after a moment of feigned nonchalance,
“Thanks to you, I ate well with my mother.”
He tossed out the line. At that, Hyunseung lightly shook his head as if it were nothing.
After that, the two quietly finished their coffees.
As the silence stretched,
“Geum-dong.”
Dad Kim spoke first.
“Either Geum-jjok or Dong-jjok—pick one and stick to it.”
“That one was a genuine slip just now. Anyway, how’s the work going?”
Hyunseung hummed, then shook his head side to side.
“I don’t really know yet.”
“Eun-jjok isn’t there yet?”
“Come on. Pick one and stick to it.”
“Sorry, that one was a genuine slip too.”
At that, Hyunseung cocked his head skeptically.
Pretty sure you meant it…
He brought up his project window and went on.
“Once I start, I think it’ll come quickly, but I haven’t even started.”
“Why on earth not?”
“If I say ‘a period drama that holds the spirit and han of Joseon, and a suspense-fantasy romance’—what does that actually suggest to you?”
“Mm, I don’t know, but it sounds pretty thrilling.”
Question marks filled Hyunseung’s face. Thrilling—what part of that sounds thrilling?
“Looks like you can’t find a handle at all, huh?”
Then, as if he could see right through him, Dad Kim gave a small smile and added,
“I came prepared for Eastie. Figured you wouldn’t read a full script, so I got a concise synopsis.”
“Oh.” Hyunseung let out a small sound of admiration as he took the thin booklet of a synopsis.
“You kid…”
Watching Hyunseung peer over it this way and that like he’d just been handed a secret trump card, Dad Kim smiled, satisfied.
Even if it was something tiny and trivial, he was glad he could help like this.
Flip, flip—
Just as Hyunseung was skimming the few pages of the synopsis—
Ding! Ding! Ding!
A string of uneasy alert tones rang through the room.
Putting on a bit of swagger, Dad Kim pulled out his phone.
“Ever since I became head of division, they won’t leave me alone. It’s a circus.”
“Sure, I’m sure.”
“I was going to grab lunch together for the first time in a while—!”
Then, after checking the messages, his words trailed off.
“What a tiring life…”
The smile hovering on his face drained away, going cold.
“What kind of messages are those?”
Even as Hyunseung asked, Dad Kim kept his eyes fixed on the screen and didn’t answer.
[Team Lead Gwak: We’ve got a bit of a problem.]
[Team Lead Gwak: I’ll send a link.]
[Team Lead Gwak: We should have a meeting, right?]
Instead, his fingers were moving across the screen faster than anyone’s.
Slide, slide—
Before long, his hand stopped; he lifted his head and met Hyunseung’s eyes.
“Hyunseung.”
Then he gently said,
“Want to come to the conference room with me?”
Since his expression was calm yet serious, Hyunseung could only nod.
The OST work…
He could do it after they got back.
In the conference room, the odd current in the air made even sitting there feel uncomfortable to Hyunseung.
“…”
In particular, for a formal meeting, the combination of attendees was strange.
PR’s Team Lead Gwak, and—for who knows what reason—some A&R engineers.
And Division Head Kim and Hyunseung.
Slide, slide.
Fewer than ten people sat in their seats, each with a serious face, each staring at their phone. It was hard not to feel how off it was.
“…”
Normally he would have ignored it and played a game on his own phone.
But somehow, this time even Hyunseung couldn’t brush aside the mood.
Clack.
Then Team Lead Kwak shut his laptop and spoke.
“Manager, these bastards have a paper company with a subsidiary in China. It’s going to be hard to get a tail on them.”
At that, Division Head Kim dragged a hand roughly down his face and sighed.
“Ha… these punks…”
Sensing something had blown up, Hyunseung stole a sideways glance at the engineer’s phone beside him.
And then—
“What the hell?”
He snatched the phone and scowled, his brow grinding together.
[Composer HS hosted a wild drug party at a certain club in Gangnam…]
[HS caught entering a hotel with a man… Are the gay rumors true?]
Obviously malicious articles were being updated in real time.
The phone he was holding slipped and scraped onto the tabletop.
Damn it… Even though he’d come back in time, it looked like the buried memories—maybe even the panic disorder—were still there.
The fact that a single rumor piece like this could make his hands shake, even a little…
All eyes turned to Hyunseung at once.
“Hyunseung, you okay?”
At Kim Woohyun’s question, Hyunseung shoved his hands into his pockets and answered like it was nothing.
“Yeah, it just slipped.”
Then he jerked his chin toward the phone on the table and asked,
“But what are those articles?”
His question dissipated in the air like smoke. No one could answer.
But instinctively, he knew. Just like in the last life, he was once again the target of a witch hunt.
Honestly, he’d wanted to live quietly in this life. Peacefully, steadily, looking after his family and his people—that was all.
In the end, was what was going to happen going to happen anyway?
Was everyone going to turn their backs on him again, and disappear? Was he going to lose everything and end up alone again?
He’d wanted to live a life different enough from the last to call it clearly different—was that too much to ask?
“…Min Hyunseung! Min Hyunseung!”
Lost in his thoughts, he snapped back at the sound of someone calling him urgently from somewhere.
“Huh? Were you calling me?”
“What were you thinking so hard about?”
“Nothing.”
“What do you want to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“You saw the articles. Do we ignore them until they die down, or fire back right away?”
Kim Woohyun’s face suddenly took on a deadly look as he added,
“Or should we track down every last son of a— who added even a single line of bullshit to your story and crush them?”
Startled, Hyunseung jerked his head up.
“But seriously, who put in the time to lovingly scribble this kind of crap?”
“It’s definitely someone who’s never laid eyes on HS even once.”
“Do these bastards just have too much time? They should come help with our workload.”
Suddenly, everyone jumped in as if they’d been waiting.
“J-just a second.”
Hyunseung looked over the faces one by one and then asked, brow furrowed,
“Aren’t you going to ask me what’s true?”
“Pff—pfff—!”
Everyone except Hyunseung burst out laughing at once.
“Pfft—you, who basically lives in the studio, hosted a wild party? If you said you ran a wild recording hell, maybe.”
“Right, shouldn’t we ask them to correct it to caffeine addict, not drugs? Heh—heh.”
As Hyunseung looked around, baffled, Kim Woohyun added seriously,
“It’s absurd, but even if you were gay—so what? You’re a composer; all that matters is the music.”
“I could have done it. Maybe I am that kind of guy.”
At his muttered line, Kim Woohyun snorted and shot back,
“I know your eating habits, and I can’t tell if you’re that kind of guy?”
Then Hyunseung’s head slowly lowered toward the table. He bit down on his lower lip.
“So what do you think we should do?”
He had people who believed in him with a fierce, unreasoning faith; people who would put his misfortune ahead of their own.
That alone was enough.
“Let’s just… let it pass. If we rebut it, it’ll only make more noise.”
Kim Woohyun grunted, dissatisfied, then said,
“Sorry, but this time we’re not doing it your way.”
“…What?”
“I’ve already decided. It’s because we let things slide that these people keep forgetting their place.”
“Then why ask me?”
“Anyway, as head of division, I can’t just let this go.”
He laid his hand flat on the table and added, firm,
“They touched someone in the LS family. We’ll mobilize Legal and find them no matter what.”
The way he looked—very much like a head of division—made Hyunseung let out a small laugh.
He pushed back his chair and stood.
“Then I’ll go set out some water and say a prayer.”
“Okay. You just trust me and get back to work.”
With a short “Okay,” Hyunseung left the conference room.
He was walking the hallway alone, but it didn’t feel like he was alone.
Ding—!
At that moment, a text came in from his little sister.
[Dad and I are always on your side.]
[I’ll scold all the idiots talking nonsense.]
Looked like she’d seen the rumor pieces.
Suddenly, he felt a rising hope that maybe, this time, he might actually live a life different enough to call it clearly different from the last.
A life where, just once, he could lean on someone’s shoulder and say he was having a hard time, and offer his back without worrying about being stabbed.
A life like that.
T/N: In the original Korean, Hyunseung really does refer to him as “김 아빠” (Kim appa, i.e., “Dad Kim”). It shows up in Hyunseung’s POV/narration. 🥹
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