After parting ways with Executive Director Park and returning to the studio, Hyunseung stared fixedly at his reflection in the mirror.
Should I start working out a bit?
He hardly put on fat and his body took to muscle easily, so he had never really felt the need to exercise.
He was not short, and he did not have a small frame.
But still, the words he had said kept coming back to him.
“As you get older, you have to manage yourself more thoroughly. A day will come when your body will not allow you to lift even if you want to.”
Just as he said, there are things you can do by will, and there are things you can only do if your body allows it.
Right. When he suffered panic disorder in his previous life, he could not do even songwriting which he had thought was the easiest. It was what he wanted.
Now, even if he had returned to his younger years, there was no guarantee something like that would not happen again.
If so, he would need a healthy body to hold up solidly.
That kind of thing, I should try it.
Hyunseung resolved to go to the gym with him sometime soon.
If something good has happened, I should hear how it went too.
Then Hyunseung took his seat in front of the console.
Today, as scheduled, songwriting comes first.
Before that…
[ When you have time, please bring coffee and a light brunch. I always express my thanks for your hard work. ]
He politely put in a room service request to Dad Kim.
In exchange for getting confirmation that the voice inserted in the villain daddy outro section really was “Executive Director Park,” he would be his bellboy for about a month. (Which has never happened.)
“Alright….”
Before he properly began working on the song, Hyunseung opened his notebook. It was a habit that had grown lately.
Not a song that makes money, not a song that suits an instrument well.
It was a habit that started when he began turning someone’s story into a song.
And now, in this moment, he intended to write down another someone’s story.
Rustle, rustle.
Hyunseung scrawled “Lee Hyoeun” roughly, in a way only he could recognize, then traced back old memories.
At first he could not remember at all.
As time passed, the scattered fragments came to mind one by one as if gathering.
“Lee Hyoeun.”
Saying it out loud, the name did not sit naturally on his tongue. No wonder, they had not been close.
In the first place, there were no classmates Hyunseung could say he had been close with.
Even so, what he could recall was this.
“You have to turn it in by tomorrow.”
“It is time to move to the next class.”
“I need your parents’ signatures on this.”
Because Lee Hyoeun had been the main culprit who woke him from his sweet naps.
The girl was always smiling, always noisy, always nosing into everything.
What is she, the activities captain or what?
Even on graduation day, she had trailed after him with a face that looked like she was dying to say hello, and he had ignored her, pretending not to notice.
Because if he acknowledged her, it was obvious only he would be bothered.
Then how did it go?
Some woman who said she was the girl’s mother caused a scene, the place got noisy, and when he turned his head, a document went fluttering down in front of him.
If his memory was right, it was a deposit notice issued to those accepted by early decision.
To the Department of Practical Music, at that.
He remembered thinking it suited an activities-captain type.
But judging by the atmosphere back then and by Lee Hyoeun’s current situation, it seemed she had not gone to college after all.
Ah. What was fortunate amid that was that she had not lost her activities-captain-ish ways.
If he just debuted her properly, she would somehow manage to survive on her own.
“Hm…”
But what circumstances had her living in a cheap rented room.
Of course, now she had found a place with the advance, but it was not common for a young girl to shuttle alone between inn rooms.
If he could learn those circumstances, he felt he could connect the countless motifs that were like dots in his head into a single picture.
Would I just be poking at a sore spot for no reason?
Come to think of it, since when had he been this interested in other people’s business? Strange.
Knock, knock, knock.
As he was thinking that, a familiar knocking sound came from beyond the door.
“I brought the coffee and snacks you requested.”
When he opened the door, locked solidly in three layers, the bellboy (Kim Woohyun) was standing there with both hands full of coffee and snacks.
Come to think of it… it seemed his meddling had started with Dad Kim.
“By the way, did you go home? You did not spend the night at the studio again, did you?”
Looking at Kim Woohyun’s worry-tangled face, Hyunseung let out a small laugh.
Honestly.
Anyone would think he really was his dad.
“I slept at home and just got up early and came in. Division Head, why are you out this early?”
“There is a lot to handle, and now that Hyoeun is family, I was going to stop by when she moves. On a day like that, an adult should be there.”
They say meddlesomeness spreads, and apparently it had spread to him without his realizing.
“Then I will go too.”
Kim Woohyun’s eyes went round as he asked again, “You too?”
“Why are you so surprised?”
“Do you like Hyoeun?”
“I like pretty women.”
“You looks-obsessed punk.”
From Dad Kim’s position, this kind of meddling of his might be baffling.
But right now, he wanted to meddle like this. Since he had said he would make her a singer, he should do it right.
Make her a singer who sings her own story.
“Are you really coming?”
Then, as if he could hardly believe it, Kim Woohyun asked again.
“Yes.”
Nodding, Hyunseung grabbed his coat and added,
“She is an instrument I brought in.”
Meddling did not suit his temperament, but…
“What is heavy about it?”
Borrowing Executive Director Park’s words, something like meddling, that kind of thing is nothing.
To try it once, compared to what life throws at you, would not be hard.
Grunting, Lee Hyoeun lugged a box toward the place she would move into.
“Ugh…”
Even though the weather was still cold, sweat poured down inside her coat like rain.
This is not as easy as I thought.
She could not drive, and it was not enough stuff to rent a truck, so she had decided to move it herself with her two legs and two arms, but…
“Ugh.”
At this rate, her shoulder would pop out before the box gave.
“I had better rest a bit first.”
With a strange burst of spirit, she set the box on the ground, then took a seat on a bench.
“Mommy! Daddy!”
Just then a cute voice sounded from somewhere, and when she whipped her head around, a girl who looked about four came toddling along, wearing a padded coat bigger than she was.
Behind her, a young couple was walking hand in hand, following their daughter.
“Yeongeun, you are going to fall if you do that.”
“Right, you have to walk with Mommy and Daddy.”
Despite her parents’ restraint, the girl grinned like a rascal and scampered ahead.
“Catch me!”
On the faces of the parents watching, worry and smiles coexisted.
When she was very little, she thought her parents had made faces like that too.
Judging by the faint happy memories that remained.
“Heave-ho.”
Watching the backs of the three recede, Lee Hyoeun picked up the box again and stood.
Right. At least now was not a time to dwell in memories, nor a time to resent the parents who abandoned and abused her.
At long last… she had to break free of the shadow called family that had bound her so tightly she could not budge and stand on her own.
To live her own life…
Even though she tormented her…
Because her mother had not thrown her away…
She let go of her alcoholic mother’s hand.
So, having decided to become a hard-hearted woman who abandoned her only family, she had to become even harder.
Life is about being alone anyway.
Defining herself so, Lee Hyoeun strode on firmly.
Trudge, trudge.
Just then, the place she was moving to started to come into view in the distance.
Honk!
Startled by a horn that sounded from somewhere, she looked around, and there was an SUV.
Soon after, with a whirr, the driver’s window rolled down.
“What are you doing all by yourself?”
Leaning his head out, Hyunseung asked.
“Are you wandering around, showing off your strength to impress the neighbors?”
“What?”
“If not, why are you struggling along carrying a box?”
“Isn’t it obvious by the look? It is moving stuff.”
Getting out of the car, Hyunseung, wearing a what-the-heck expression, took the box from her.
“Who moves house on foot like this so mindlessly.”
“This is all I have anyway, and it is not far…”
“Then you could have told me or the head of division to help. Or at least taken a taxi.”
Strangely, at Hyunseung’s scolding, the tip of her nose burned and she felt on the verge of tears.
It was not because she was scared, nor because it was embarrassing to be scolded over something like this.
If she asked for help…
The fact that there were people who could help…
Why had that become something so piercingly moving.
Plop.
When she lowered her head, a tear drop fell mercilessly to the ground.
“Hey, are you crying?”
Flustered, Hyunseung awkwardly reached out a hand and asked.
“Hey, why are you making the kid cry?”
From the passenger seat, Division Head Kim Woohyun got out and came toward her.
“Hyoeun, that punk talks like that, but he is not a bad guy.”
“Hic, sniff….”
“You know well that Hyunseung is a kid with terrible social skills, right?”
At that, Hyunseung’s eyebrow twitched and he asked,
“Division Head, what is that supposed to mean?”
“No, I mean, let’s calm the kid first.”
“Terrible social skills, you say.”
“Well, it is not wrong, is it…?”
“See yourself home on foot when you go back.”
“Hey, are you going to be petty like that?”
“If you do not like walking, take a taxi.”
Watching the two bicker, Lee Hyoeun burst out laughing without meaning to.
“Pfft.”
Thanks to that laugh, their quarrel paused for the moment.
“You know what happens if you cry and then laugh, right?”
Grinning impishly, Hyunseung spoke to her.
“It is not much stuff, so let’s finish up quick and go get something to eat.”
“Eat?”
“Yeah, over a meal we should talk about your debut song.”
“Debut song? You mean the drama OST? Did some problem come up?”
“That is just a project participation track. I mean your very own debut song.”
At that, Lee Hyoeun clapped both hands over her mouth and squealed, “Kya!”
Because it was something she had not expected at all, she could not help being astonished.
“R-Really?”
“Yeah.”
“You are really going to give me a song?”
Nodding lightly, Hyunseung added casually,
“In return, tell me a bit of your story.”
At that question, Lee Hyoeun tilted her head.
My story? What kind of story?
Seeing her look completely at a loss, Hyunseung scratched the back of his head, then added,
“I mean about that thing you let me pretend not to see back then.”
He had felt it before, but now even more so…
“I do not think I can pretend not to see it anymore.”
Hyunseung was the type who was not good at beating around the bush.
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