Pen and Paper Translations

After arriving in America, Hyunseung’s family took a limousine provided by Unice and headed to the hotel they had booked.

Since it was a trip with their father, he had booked a five-star hotel in the city center, and the lobby was dazzlingly splendid.

Of course, because Hyunseung was so used to it, he seemed entirely unmoved.

“Wow!”

Everything seemed amazing to Hyuna. With eyes wide and sparkling, she toddled around the lobby.

“Oppa, they’ve got a Mona Lisa painting here! Awesome!”

“That is not the original anyway.”

“Huh? It is not?”

“Are you dumb? Why would the original be here? It should be in a museum.”

“Oh, right…”

Watching her, their father smiled warmly.

“Hey, country mouse.”

Shaking his head as if embarrassed, Hyunseung grabbed his little sister by the scruff and added,

“We will rest a bit and then go out for dinner, so go up to the room first and take good care of Dad.”

Only then did Hyuna clutch his sleeve tightly and ask,

“Go up first? Oppa, where are you going?”

“I have something to do for a moment.”

“You are not working on a trip, are you?”

At that, Hyunseung flinched for a moment.

“No, it is not that, I am just going to look at some instruments.”

He mumbled, glossing it over.

“Look at instruments? Then I will go too!”

“No, Dad would be alone.”

“Then we can all go together!”

He was about to tell his little sister, who had suddenly started throwing a fit, an emphatic no, but…

“If you came on a family trip, you should do everything together!”

Hyuna had no intention of obediently backing down.

—What do you think about going together since your brother is going to look at instruments?

— Sure, let us go together.

— If you are very tired, we can rest together at the lodging!

— I slept soundly on the way, so I am fine.

On top of that, even their father stirred things up, so Hyunseung felt all the more stuck.

“No… seriously, I can just hurry there and back alone.”

“Exactly! As a family, let us all hurry there and back, then rest!”

Shaking his head, he watched his sister stride confidently ahead as if wondering what the problem was.

If there was one woman in the world Hyunseung could never beat, it would be his little sister.

“Well, it will be fine…”

Then he shouted toward the back of his sister’s head.

“Hey, giant turtle.”

“What? Why am I a turtle!”

Where did she think she was going, wearing a backpack as big as her body?

“Your body must be heavy too. Put that shell down.”

“Oh, right!”

Anyway, who would take a girl like that someday? Hyunseung’s worries only grew deeper.

---

Vincent received a call from HS.

Specifically, it was a message (that is, a notice) telling him to come to Sarah Stewart’s studio, and he could not understand why he was told to come there.

And with good reason…

Inside the Unice Music Group building there were plenty of control rooms with much better specs than Sarah Stewart’s studio.

Moreover, the fact that it was Sarah Stewart’s studio, with whom he did not get along, bothered him most.

“Sigh…”

For that reason, Vincent engaged in a needless staring contest with the doorknob.

He needed to open it, but he could not shake the feeling that Sarah Stewart would be behind it, smirking obnoxiously.

At last, as if making up his mind, Vincent took a deep breath and turned the knob.

Clatter, clatter.

But the knob only slipped uselessly, making a strange noise.

“Is it locked?”

Tilting his head, Vincent pulled harder on the knob when…

Creak.

The door suddenly swung wide, and he nearly fell backward.

“What are you doing?”

Barely catching his balance, Vincent found himself facing Sarah Stewart, who was looking at him strangely.

“Why are you fiddling with someone else’s studio doorknob?”

But why was Sarah reacting like that? Could it be that HS had not told her in advance?

Sliiide.

Peeking through the opened door, Vincent glanced around the studio, but it looked like no one was inside.

“That pervy lunatic really does things like a pervy lunatic…”

He was just pulling out his phone to contact the culprit who had created this situation when

“You must really want to remake that song.”

At those words he slowly raised his head to see Sarah with her chin lifted and her smile stretched wide.

Of course. He had known he would have to see that annoying face.

“For the great Vincent to come snooping.”

“That is not it.”

“If not, why have you been skulking around since last time?”

Pressing in on him, Sarah came close and continued.

“I clearly told you. I am the original songwriter, but the arrangement ratio is high, so ask that composer.”

Then, as if to be heard, she muttered to herself,

“Well, he is such a willful oddball that I do not know if he will give permission…”

Snorting, Vincent looked at her as if it were ridiculous.

“Why are you laughing?”

“No, this situation is funny.”

“What is?”

“It is just funny, this situation.”

Apparently HS had not given her any hint. Even more of a pervy lunatic than he thought.

Then, speak of the devil—

“I already gave permission.”

A familiar voice came from behind his head.

Step, step.

At the sound of approaching footsteps, he whipped his head around and saw the pervy lunatic (HS) neatly dressed.

And behind him, an East Asian girl and a middle-aged man were following with eyes wide as saucers.

A team he brought with him from Korea?

Right, if they were going to work with him, it would be too half-hearted for the composer to show up alone with just the track.

So he did have some sense.

“Now the culprit of this whole situation is finally here.”

Annoyed, Vincent jerked his chin toward Sarah and added,

“I would prefer if you explained the situation to her on my behalf.”

However, Vincent could not help but feel like an uninvited guest.

Because HS’s group and Sarah were exchanging greetings with each other and looked perfectly friendly, while excluding him.

“Long time no see. But why did you all come together to the studio?”

“I was going to come alone… but they insisted on tagging along.”

“It is fine. My studio interior is spacious, so you can all come.”

Well, HS had given Sarah the title track, so he must have worked together with those team members too.

“Hey, this is heavy. Take it.”

“Oh, my misutgaru!”

“Thank my father. He bought it for you.”

“Your father must be a misutgaru angel. I will drink it well. Thank you.”

Having stepped back to give them time to greet each other, Vincent doubted his ears.

Father?

Wait, wait… then the people with him were not work associates but family?

In that case, why did Sarah Stewart look like she knew HS’s family at least by sight?

“What is a misutgaru angel supposed to be?”

“Unlike someone I know, he gives misutgaru freely without making deals. Then he is an angel, right.”

“I paid the purchase cost. Why am I the oddball?”

“That is just the fee for renting my studio.”

And HS had worked on a song with her too, right? They looked familiar like old acquaintances…

Could they be family? Or longtime friends?

“Hold on.”

Vincent stepped between them and spoke.

“How about we handle my remake first, then you can argue.”

None of that mattered now. The most important thing was to get permission for the remake.

In the first place, Vincent had no expectation for, nor interest in, any song HS had made.

He saw him only as a means to the end of remaking “Black angel.”

“Oh, right.”

As if only now remembering his existence, HS and Sarah both turned their eyes toward Vincent.

“Did you give this person permission to remake?”

Sarah pointed at Vincent and asked.

“Yeah. It is not even really my song, so there is nothing to permit or not permit.”

“But as the arranger, should you not think it over carefully before agreeing?”

“If he remakes and sings it, is that not good for you too?”

Struck right where it hurt, Sarah seemed to run out of words to refute and only smacked her lips.

Watching that, Vincent almost clicked his tongue without meaning to.

Right.

Was this not the Sarah Stewart who kept her head high and said everything she wanted even in front of a great senior like him?

For someone like her to be turned into such a meek lamb.

So then, what exactly was HS? At least visually and temperamentally, he certainly was not a mere ordinary composer…

Then, as if to wrap things up, HS clapped his hands together.

“Anyway, for that reason, I will be using the studio for a few days.”

“You did not say you would be using the studio together with him.”

“Then should I take the misutgaru back too?”

“Ah, damn… I hate the idea of him using my studio.”

Sarah squinted and grumbled, but HS paid no mind and led the “troop” he had brought (his family) into the studio.

“If not for the misutgaru…”

Sarah too, looking frustrated but helpless, grabbed the heavy boxes full in both hands and headed into the studio.

“Ha…”

Staring closely at the box in Sarah’s hands, Vincent thought,

“What on earth is that stuff…”

Apparently the name of the weapon that could move Sarah Stewart at will was “misutgaru.”

.

.

.

Meanwhile, having been dragged into the studio without knowing why, Hyuna sat huddled beside her dad and thought,

Duped. Thoroughly duped.

Had her brother not said they were going to look at instruments? She had thought maybe they would go to a music shop…

But suddenly they entered a forest of luxurious giant buildings, and when she came to her senses, Sarah Stewart and Vincent Mah were standing in front of her.

“Is this a dream?”

To be in the same space as the world-famous Billboard Emperor, Vincent Mah, and the rising star, Billboard Goddess Sarah Stewart.

Moreover, she could not even believe that she was inside the Unice Music Group building where both were signed.

“Ow…”

Hyuna pinched her own cheek hard and let out a groan. That meant this was not a dream…

“Then let us listen to my song first, shall we?”

It seemed her brother was speaking confidently, not cowed even in front of the two singers…

But because he was speaking quickly in English, she could not tell what he was saying.

No.

If it was work-related, Oppa should have told me in advance. He is making the person who tagged along for no reason feel self-conscious.

“D… Dad…”

Unable to believe what she was seeing, Hyuna called to her father without thinking.

“Ah…”

And soon she let out a small sigh. Because her father’s profile filled her pupils.

Right.

He was smiling as if he was proud of his son.

Even though there was no way her father knew just how great Sarah Stewart or Vincent Mah were, nor what they were talking about right then…

Just seeing his son working with people was probably enough to make him feel proud, gratified, and happy.

“Dad…”

With reddening eyes squeezed shut, Hyuna quietly straightened her posture.

Right.

How many chances in life would there be to watch her brother, with her own eyes, working directly with singers?

Maybe coming along without reading the room had been a very good thing.