After a whole typhoon had blown through, before they knew it, Lee Hyoeun’s debut single release date was approaching.
As for the title…
“< to me > Don’t you think I named it so well?”
Meaning literally “to me,” Hyoeun herself decided on the name.
“It’s not too late even now. I’ll give you a chance to change it.”
“No! < to me >. It rolls right off the tongue and feels great!”
Rather than trying to rein in the excited Hyoeun, Hyunseung just waved his hand as if to say do whatever you want.
Normally, it would have been his call.
There must be some meaning for her.
Just this once, he decided to let Hyoeun do as she wished.
And with good reason.
From the way she suddenly overturned an OK’d take and said she wanted to record it once more herself…
And then, judging from the way her emotional line shifted in an instant, it looked as if something had changed inside her, something different from before.
It probably had something to do with “Mom.”
“Hey.”
Hyunseung stopped Hyoeun as she was smirking over articles about herself.
“Are you going to go your whole life without seeing your mom?”
He asked the question he’d been holding back. He’d thought to just let it pass, but it was something they needed to address at least once.
If Hyoeun said she couldn’t ultimately cut her mother off, there’d be nothing the company could do.
But if she said she was cutting ties entirely, he asked so they could take firm measures before her mother showed up again.
“From now on…”
Hyoeun hesitated just a moment, then said:
“I’m going to be my mother’s guardian,” she answered with a small smile.
There it is.
That born busybody couldn’t bring herself to throw her mother away, even a mother like that. Granted, severing blood ties isn’t easy.
“That way I can protect myself from my mom.”
But when he heard what came next out of her mouth, Hyunseung couldn’t help being startled.
“If I’m the guardian, I can keep her inpatient at the psych hospital until her heart stops hurting.”
So she hadn’t just been avoiding things. When had she prepared all this?
“At first I looked into a restraining order, but there’s a time limit, and it’s not like the police will stand watch over me every day…”
“Isn’t there also the option of making sure she’s criminally punished?”
“Even if that happens, it’s not like she’ll be incarcerated forever. When she gets out, she could come for revenge.”
She still seemed afraid of the existence called “mom.”
But at this point, he wanted to tell her it was enough. That she’d fought hard and was overcoming it.
However, what came out of Hyunseung’s mouth was only:
“For now, think only about yourself. Getting my song doesn’t mean everything’s over. The real start is now.”
That was all.
“Mm. I’ll do well so I don’t become a burden to you.”
Hyoeun’s answer was also simple.
In a way, you could say Hyoeun had just finished the hardest, most painful part.
She was alone now.
So she had to grit her teeth all the more and push forward into her future.
“Meddling is banned in showbiz.”
For the moment, the only things Hyunseung could give were bitter warnings and reminders.
“In this field, being too nice is a sin. A sin.”
He couldn’t become her family, nor take responsibility for her life.
“You need to be a little selfish, and a bit shrewder.”
At his words, Hyoeun nodded. Then, cautiously, she spoke.
“But… the debut song will do well, right?”
“What?” Hyunseung shot back at once. Hyoeun fidgeted with her fingers and went on,
“Compared to the singers you’ve handled, I don’t think I have anything exceptional… If it doesn’t do well, it’ll tarnish your name.”
At that, Hyunseung couldn’t hold it in. He burst out laughing.
“Ah, seriously…”
He even wiped away the tears that had formed in the corners of his eyes, then added,
“That’s a fresh new kind of worry.”
Honestly, what should he do with this meddler?
“The instruments I choose always perform wonderfully. Not surprising, since the conductor is excellent.”
Meeting her eyes, he elaborated,
“And even if a song I make doesn’t become a mega-hit, it doesn’t flop. So instead of wasting time on those petty worries, go practice one more time.”
“But what if I’m the exception…”
“Hey, I told you. No meddling in this field.”
“Y-yes…”
At the firm tone, Hyoeun pressed her lips together, grabbed her bag and coat.
She was probably headed off to practice.
“Hey.”
As she hurried out, Hyunseung called her back.
And then, he finally let out another thing he’d been holding in.
“You said you wanted to become a famous singer and find your dad.”
Maybe a brutal reality was waiting.
“If you do find him, think about what kind of fit you’re going to throw.”
He figured he should leave her with at least a pinch of hope.
One true family member who might be somewhere out there.
“You’ve got almost twenty years’ worth built up, right? Shouldn’t you draw up a script in advance?”
At his teasing, Hyoeun answered with a laugh.
“Mm, I will!”
Even now, articles listing the names “Lee Hyoeun” and “HS” were pouring out like a waterfall.
Since he’d woken up early, Hyunseung headed straight into work.
Actually, it wasn’t because he had urgent work. He was remembering what Executive Director Park had said and wanted to try a morning workout.
It was still so early that the gym held a chill rather than its usual heat.
CLANG!
But from a corner of the gym came the repeated sound of a barbell being set down, along with someone’s rough breathing.
He went closer to see who it was.
Of course, Executive Director Park.
“Phew…”
Lifting his sweat-soaked tee to wipe his forehead, he panted for breath.
For some reason, to Hyunseung’s eyes, he looked like a true male.
Kind of cool.
Thinking it wouldn’t be a bad idea to learn training from him, Hyunseung sidled up.
Yeah.
Lately he’d often felt his stamina wasn’t keeping up. It might be good to start working out.
Recently, he’d been relying too much on his younger body and burning through his energy.
“Executive Director.”
At his call, Park slowly raised his torso.
“What.”
Spotting him, he added in a teasing tone,
“Are you stalking me? At this point we run into each other too often for it to be a coincidence.”
“What would I possibly lack that I’d stalk you for?”
“Well, there’s that.”
With that, Park lay back down and gripped the bar tight, pressing it up again.
Even someone who didn’t know training well (like Hyunseung) recognized the lift. It’s one of the big three.
The bench press.
Unlike the squat or deadlift, which use the immense lower-body and core muscles, with the bench press your feet aren’t planted to drive. Your back’s on a bench and you’re using ground reaction through that, so the muscles you can engage are far more limited. It’s counted as a difficult lift to move big weight on.
But… how many kilos was that?
“Excuse me, how much weight are you pressing now?”
“120 kilos.”
“So that ‘big three total of 500’ you mentioned wasn’t just talk.”
“Of course not.”
“But at your age, aren’t you pushing it a bit?”
“I told you. There’s a day coming when even this won’t be allowed. Until then, I’ll lift.”
For the first time in a while, Hyunseung’s eyes sparkled.
Somehow, he felt like he’d met the alpha among alphas.
“Please teach me to train.”
“Quit the nonsense and go jog over there.”
“Please teach me.”
“Talking mid-set ruins form. Beat it.”
Silently, Hyunseung watched Park’s hands tremble as he pressed the bar up.
And then, he resolved he had to learn from this man.
Ahh.
Who knows how long the resolve would last? Adding his previous life and this one together, in nearly forty years he’d never been close with exercise.
But right now, he truly wanted to learn. It was the first time in ages he’d felt passion for something other than making music.
CLANG!
He waited for Park to rack the bar so he wouldn’t get hurt, then spoke again.
“I’ll pay well for the PT.”
“What, you punk?”
Park let out a disbelieving laugh, then, only half-joking,
“How much are you going to pay?” he asked.
“As much as you want.”
“And how would you know what I want?”
“As long as it’s within reason, I can manage.”
At that, Park scratched his chin like he was thinking it over, then waved him off.
“The more I think about it, the more it feels like a pain.”
“You said you work out around this time every day anyway. I’ll match your schedule.”
“It’s hard enough doing my own training. If I work out with you, it’ll take way too long.”
“I said I’ll compensate you for the time you spend.”
“No, more than that…”
Shaking his head firmly, Park added,
“Then it’ll look like we’re close.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll say it again. I dislike you very much.”
“Talking about what you don’t even feel…”
At the cute excuse, Hyunseung chuckled, handed over the water bottle he’d brought, and changed the subject.
“Has anything else besides working out changed in your daily life because of my song?”
Downing the bottle, Park muttered,
“Something has.”
“Mm.” Hyunseung prompted, then asked, “What is it?”
“I’ve suddenly got kids to take responsibility for.”
“You already had kids.”
“Before the year’s out, both my son and daughter will wrap up school there and come back to Korea. Now I have to be both mother and father to them. It’s daunting.”
He said that, but Park’s face looked nothing but happy.
Honestly.
Every time he opened his mouth, a whopper came out.
“Then you’ll have to earn even harder. You know how expensive it is these days to raise even one kid in Korea, right?”
“Well, yeah.”
“So think of it as a side job and do PT for me. I’ll make sure you’re well taken care of.”
“I said no.”
“Come on. Thanks to me, you had a dramatic reunion with your kids. Isn’t it a bit much to refuse?”
At that, Park couldn’t quite push back; his lips just moved.
“…”
Silence settled over the empty gym.
“Then…”
It was Park who broke it first.
“Forget the PT fee. My son says he wants to be a singer like Kang Hajun. When he debuts, you write him a song.”
“How old is your son?”
“Ten this year.”
Even as he said it, Park scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.
“Debut ages might be dropping these days, but ten is pushing it, isn’t it?”
“Obviously I mean later…”
Then suddenly, as if something had occurred to him, Park shot up from the bench and asked,
“Hey, you’re kind of friendly with The Moon’s Ahn Jiho, right?”
“Well, he texts sometimes…”
“That’s what people call friendly, punk.”
In Hyunseung’s eyes, Park looked like a beast licking its chops.
Like he wanted something—
There was a faintly manic, unsettling gleam in his eyes.
“I’ll do the PT.”
“Seriously?”
“I’ll even do the challenge.”
“Eh—?”
Then clasping both his hands tight, Park pleaded earnestly,
“When my daughter gets here, set up a meeting for her with Ahn Jiho. Please.”
He looked every bit the hopeless girl-dad.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks.”
And so the deal between the two alpha males was struck.
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