Pen and Paper Translations

On the day that marked exactly one week since Sarah Stewart’s album was released, Hyunseung once again finished getting ready before dawn.

It was to go work out.

Just as he was about to leave through the front door with the lights off behind him,

“Oppaaa…”

His younger sister’s half-asleep voice floated out.

“Why did you wake up?”

“My eyes just opened.”

Contrary to what she said, his sister was rubbing her sleep-heavy eyes open with effort.

“Do you go to work at this hour every day now?”

“Not work. You nag so much about taking care of my health that I am heading out early to exercise.”

“Hey, when did I nag that much….”

“Anyway, stop rubbing those ugly eyes and go back in and sleep more.”

Hyuna nodded with a reluctant look for only a moment.

“Oh, oppa! Did you check this?”

She suddenly dashed clattering into her room, grabbed her phone, came back with an excited face, and asked.

“Check what?”

“Sarah Stewart’s chart rankings!”

Then she shoved the phone screen right up in front of his face.

“But you do not care about stuff like this, right?”

Perhaps thinking he would not react much, she stuffed the phone back into her pocket at once.

“Why are you starting to show me and then stopping?”

When Hyunseung crooked a finger to ask for the phone, Hyuna asked back with a puzzled expression.

“What is with you?”

“What?”

“You usually do not care about chart rankings.”

“It is a song I made.”

“So what, until now were the other songs made by someone else?”

At that, Hyunseung pressed his lips together. It was not wrong. He was not the type to be hung up on results.

Getting hung up does not make the numbers go up anyway.

Of course, he had also never predicted that the results would be bad.

However, if he told Hyuna that this time, to collect a new instrument, the song had to stay at number one on Billboard for three months, she would obviously latch on and pester him.

Let’s gloss over it.

He reached out his hand, motioning for the phone.

“Enough, just give it here.”

Muttering under her breath, Hyuna still handed him her phone.

“You trying to die?”

He frowned as he asked.

No wonder. Her phone’s lock screen was plastered with Ahn Jiho.

Ahn Jiho was a good guy, sure…

No, no matter how good a guy he was, this was unacceptable.

“Ah, no, that is….”

Flustered, Hyuna quickly unlocked the screen.

Then the Billboard HOT 100 chart popped up on the display.

“I checked when the chart update hit at dawn, and Sarah Stewart’s songs entered right away!”

Wherever her finger pointed, the artist name “Sarah Stewart” floated into view.

[ THE HOT 100 ]

.

.

No. 10 Look at me — Sarah Stewart

.

.

No. 23 fuckkkkkk — Sarah Stewart

.

.

.

No. 89 Black angel — Sarah Stewart

Since it reflected a week’s compiled performance, having all three songs inside the HOT 100 was a pretty decent start.

Her name value, Sarah Stewart, surely helped, but the challenge video she posted seemed to have become quite a hot topic not only across the U.S. but in Korea too.

Of course, she did take some flak….

But the marketing effect looked certain, so should he pitch her to upload an even edgier video?

If he promised a lifetime supply of grain powder, she might well do it.

“Oppa.”

Then Hyuna carefully called to him.

“Why is there no promo article or anything this time?”

He firmly mussed her hair with his palm and answered at once.

“Kids do not need to know about that.”

“I am an adult now, you know?”

“The ink on your ID card is not even dry.”

“You are only mid-twenties yourself!”

Oh, right, I am in my mid-twenties.

“Here, have a flick.”

He lightly thumped her on the forehead with a knuckle, then hurried out the door.

Thud!

From inside, he could hear his sister yelling, “Min Hyunseung, you elementary schooler—!” but he pretended not to hear and kept walking.

Step, step.

He mulled over the age he had forgotten to count.

Since coming back, he had not kept track of getting older, but if he added his previous life’s age, he would already be past his mid-thirties.

He really ought to thank God.

For letting him live youth again, for letting him save his father, for letting him chat and laugh with his sister, for giving him the chance to leave home to family seeing him off.

“Today’s workout is going to hit even better.”

A fresh smile rose on his face as he got into the car.

---

Vincent sat on the grand living room sofa, staring at his phone like a puppy that needs to poop.

He had to do the thing he kept putting off…

He really did not want to.

“Fine, there is no need to listen, strictly speaking.”

He briefly flipped the phone face down.

“Ah, but I am curious.”

He turned it face up again and fell into indecision.

“Argh!”

What had put Vincent in such a quandary was whether to listen to Sarah Stewart’s new songs or not.

A whole week had passed since her release, and his dilemma still showed no sign of ending.

On top of that, it was the rare day with no schedule, so if there was ever a chance to listen to Sarah Stewart without worrying about who was watching, it was today.

In truth, listening to her songs was not hard, and even if someone knew, it would not be a problem.

However, Vincent fully recognized Sarah Stewart as his rival, so he could not easily bring himself to listen.

“Emperor of Billboard.”

That was the title the public had given Vincent. It was like a medal earned by a singer who had put up unbroken results from debut onward.

Then, out of nowhere, Austin picked up some girl off the street, and she debuted with a song she wrote and composed herself, and she grabbed a Billboard No. 1 on her very first outing.

That girl was Sarah Stewart.

She also had outstanding talent in composition, so she churned out songs at a frightening pace.

Not long after her debut track, her next single also took the top spot on the Billboard chart.

What is more, her pretty face and mystery concept went over well with the public, and she came to be called the “Goddess of Billboard.”

All within just one year since her official debut.

Yes.

Because of Sarah Stewart, Vincent, for the first time since debut, had to yield the Billboard No. 1 spot to a rookie.

He even tasted the humiliation of losing the Grammy “Record of the Year” trophy he had been nominated for.

For those reasons…

Vincent could no longer look at her as just a younger label-mate singer.

He had never once personally streamed her songs, nor even tried.

So why was he trying to listen now?

“I am curious, I am curious….”

Vincent was the type who could not stand curiosity. If something piqued him, he had to satisfy it to sleep.

In short, Sarah Stewart’s new album provoked his curiosity enough that, for the first time, he thought he should listen.

It was only natural.

The girl who had pumped out music nonstop for a year had, at some point, stopped releasing anything.

From what he casually gathered, because she was not getting what she wanted, she hit a slump and fell into the bottle?

From Vincent’s perspective, it made no sense.

She could just take a song from a famous composer and release it. Why make it that hard?

He got the answer from the grumbling that Andrew would mutter at him.

Yes. Sarah Stewart had some strange conviction that she would never accept songs from other composers.

“Anyway, I cannot understand her.”

Since she was dropping an album after about a year, curiosity was unavoidable.

What kind of songs had she made over that year?

Gulp.

Sunk in his thoughts, Vincent finally seemed to reach a decision and swallowed hard.

Tap, tap-tap-tap!

He played the title track “Look at me” from Sarah Stewart’s new songs.

Soon, the intro flowed from the Bluetooth speakers in the living room.

♬ ♬ ♬

At the same time his heartbeat began pounding in time with the beat.

A strong beat and a rhythmic melody tangled like tightly tied knots and pulled the song along smoothly.

Well… he could at least say it had an intro capable of grabbing an ear.

What do you know about me?

When Sarah’s voice came in, Vincent crossed his arms and gently closed his eyes.

Yeah, just do whatever you want.

As expected, this must be a song she made herself.

If you’re happy when you curse at me, do it.

Sarah Stewart’s voice had, from the beginning, a way of adhering to a song as if recorded together with it.

But I won’t curse you.

Especially as it moved through sustained mid-high notes, her voice shot forward powerfully without wavering.

I’m busy loving myself.

As the song went into its later part, the lilting voice cut across as if swimming sharply over the melody.

“Ah….”

When the track ended, Vincent realized his lips had parted slightly and hurriedly pressed them shut.

Well, it is reasonably all right.

Trying to keep a poker face even though no one was watching, he checked the next title.

‘black angel’?

Judging by the childish title, her naming sense must be poor.

♬ ♬ ♬

Once he had listened to one song, it was easy to play a second.

The next intro came quickly. Unlike the title track, it was quite dark and ominous.

Not bad.

Vincent crossed his legs and lifted a wine glass.

He hated to put it this way, but it was a song that called to mind a wine with hefty body.

Sip.

He drank wine with Sarah Stewart’s music as the snack.

♬ Come deep into the darkness

Suddenly gooseflesh crawled up his forearms, and the wine glass plunged to the floor in an instant.

Clatter!

Vincent went stiff as a board, not even registering that the reddish wine was staining the carpet.

Come deep into the darkness

He doubted his ears. Did Sarah Stewart’s vocal, no, her voice, ever possess this kind of power?

To begin with, it was a part Vincent had never once been able to acknowledge.

You can come in more.

A seductive, sultry voice seemed to lure him to come into her world.

Don’t be scared.

To come deeper, deeper, into the wretched darkness where she lives.

Yes. Like meeting a siren whose beautiful song bewitches people on stormy days.

Darkness isn’t a bad thing

When the track ended, Vincent shuddered as if waking his body from its rigid freeze.

Then he exhaled a breath he had no idea he had been holding.

“Haa….”

Right now, Vincent’s head was filled with a single thought.

“That was dangerous.”