Pen and Paper Translations

T/N: Bonus chapter 4/4. Thank you for reading!

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Hyuna suddenly had this thought.

‘What kind of combination is this?’

Turning her head, she saw her father silently staring straight ahead beside her, a pair of siblings, and Sarah Stewart, whose very presence here seemed unbelievable.

She couldn’t speak up during the fan meeting that had already begun. If cheers hadn’t erupted from the crowd, an immense awkwardness would have filled the air.

“Alright, these are the questions left by the fans who came to today’s fan meeting. Oh my, there are so many!”

As the Q&A time arrived, cheers bordering on screams erupted from the venue.

“From these, we’ll pick exactly 10 questions for HS to answer personally. I wonder which ones will be chosen!”

Soon, along with suspenseful sound effects, the seats began rumbling with a thump, thump. Even when music played, vibrations came in time with the beat—it seemed like a consideration for the hearing impaired too.

‘He really put a lot of thought into this.’

The MC plunged his hand deep into the box, rummaged around, then pulled out a single sheet of paper and held it high.

“The first question!”

Everyone’s heads instinctively followed the paper upward.

“Hey, Oppa, tell us your MBTI! Yes, it’s the hottest question right now! What’s HS’s MBTI?”

Even with his helmet on, Hyuna could vividly picture her brother’s flustered expression.

“I am…”

Just as he seemed about to speak, a silence fell. Did her brother even know his MBTI?

“Um, from what I’ve seen, HS is C.H.I.C…”

Sure enough, just as the MC was about to intervene due to the prolonged silence—

“It’s T.”

A short answer burst out of Hyunseung’s mouth. Probably that alone would let everyone deduce he’s a T. And as his sister, she could say for sure: he definitely was.

WAAAAAAAAAAAH—!

But seriously, is being T really something worth cheering that loudly for…?

“Let’s pick the second question right away. We’ll move a bit faster now.”

“Yes, let’s go.”

“I’m curious about your height and weight.”

“My height is probably 183 cm, and my weight… I’m bulking up lately, so I’m not sure.”

“What are your hobbies?”

“Gym.”

“Who’s your favorite singer?”

“I like old instruments… no, I mean, I like Mr. Moon Beomjae and Mr. Kim Kwangjin the most.”

“Which song you’ve written do you like the most?”

“Oh… um, I think ‘Dear my Beethoven’ is probably my favorite.”

“Tell us about your ideal type!”

“Probably a woman who’s the opposite of me?”

“I heard you’re especially close with Moon Jiho. Is there anything you really want to tell him?”

“I don’t know if we’re especially close, but I’ll do it.”

After that, predictable questions and answers flew back and forth rapidly. Yet the fans responded to even those mundane answers with uniformly enthusiastic cheers.

She still couldn’t believe her own brother was the top composer of the era, commanding this level of popularity. He was just a masked man who never showed his face.

“Masked Man!”

Amidst it all, even the little girl Dohee cheered for him at the top of her lungs.

‘Should I do it too…?’

Just as Hyuna thought that and was about to shout “Etch,”

“Huff, huff—”

Two men with an inexplicably intimidating presence rushed breathlessly into the VIP section.

“Oh, you’re here!”

“Ahjussi!”

Judging by the brother-and-sister pair who recognized them, they didn’t seem like bad people…

‘W-who are they?’

But their rough, noir-film looks had Hyuna scared stiff.

“Huh?”

Then, the larger of the two men pointed at her and spoke.

“You’re Min Hyunseung’s sister, right?”

“Huh?”

“I can tell just by looking at your face.”

Then, the slightly smaller man also looked at her and recognized her.

“Huh? Seriously, you’re the spitting image of Geumdong?”

All eyes in the VIP section immediately turned to her. Hyuna found the situation overwhelming and terrifying. Two men with looks straight out of a noir film were talking about her—enough to terrify anyone.

Could it be… that her brother was caught up in some trouble, and that’s why they came looking?

‘N-no way…’

Just as Hyuna was running through every possible scenario—

“Seriously, why did that guy hide such a gem away at home? He’s exactly the kind of talent our Team 1 desperately needs!”

“Executive Director, if the brother is on Team 2, then naturally his sister should be on Team 2 too. That’s only fair!”

“What kind of nonsense is that? The first one to grab her gets her.”

The two men suddenly started bickering over her.

“Um, excuse me, did my brother do something wrong…?”

“Huh?”

“D-did he… take out a loan? Um, how much…?”

Hyuna was completely off base, trembling like a leaf. If that was the case, she was going to say she’d become a doctor and pay it all back, so please just go home today.

“Hey, Kim Woohyun, your looks are making the kid misunderstand.”

“I’d say the Executive Director’s looks are closer to that type.”

“Oh? You’ve grown a lot? Talking back too….”

“Huh? Wait, just a moment.”

At that moment, the smaller-built man cautiously approached her father and asked,

“You’re Hyunseung’s father, right?”

Hyuna answered on her father’s behalf.

“My father… can’t hear…”

At her words, the smaller man let out a small “Ah.”

─ Hello.

He greeted them awkwardly, using sign language. Not knowing any more signs, he simply waved his hands. Seeing this, Hyuna relaxed a little.

“What should I tell him?”

She asked with a slight smile.

“Tell him I work with Hyunseung… no, that I’m someone who received a lot of help from Hyunseung?”

“Yes, just a moment.”

Hyuna met her father’s puzzled gaze, then continued in sign language.

─ They work with my brother, and it seems he helped them a lot. They probably want to greet you, Dad.

Her father was momentarily startled, then abruptly stood and bowed deeply.

“Oh, there’s no need to stand up.”

The two men, flustered, bowed repeatedly, almost as if performing a formal bow to her father.

“Pwahah.”

Hyuna couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the sight.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

She immediately apologized; she felt that if she got on the wrong side of those imposing men, she might vanish without a trace.

Instead, they looked surprised—no, pleased, like they’d discovered ore.

“Even her smile is talent. Talent Team 1 needs.”

“No, not really. Talent Team 2 needs her.”

Anyway…

“First, Hajun’s stage is about to start. Could you please sit down now?”

“Oh, right. We should listen when a talent speaks.”

“Of course! Since a talent is speaking, we’ll sit down quickly.”

Their faces, exchanging incomprehensible words, looked like hyenas starved for days.

---

Meanwhile, Jin Misu stood with her hand on her chest, lost in a trance.

She was a woman of incredible luck, having won tickets to both HS’s first and second fan meetings… Indeed, what she felt at this one was that it was more substantial. In other words, HS must have prepared that much more. Not just the capacity… From the merchandise to the facilities, there wasn’t a single thing lacking.

Then, the MC glanced at the cue card and flashed a satisfied smile.

“Alright, everyone! Since this is a Five Senses Fan Meeting, we’ve prepared diverse stages so you can enjoy a variety of music!”

He continued in a voice that heightened anticipation.

“Please welcome the first special guest, Kang Hajun, hailed as the ultimate golden boy of this era, with a roaring applause.”

Jin Misu muttered without realizing it.

“No way.”

Just seeing HS is an honor enough, and now Kang Hajun too! What kind of generous fan meeting is this! Godlike!

‘I’m gonna get distracted!’

Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!

As the stage went dark, a roar erupted, far louder than any cheer before. It was so immense, Jin Misu wondered if this was actually Kang Hajun’s fan meeting. She covered her ears just as the deafening cheer peaked.

─ ♬ ♬ ♬

She sensed the subtle vibrations through her seat: the song had begun.

“Huh.”

Kang Hajun primarily worked in Japan, making it difficult to even see him in person. She never imagined she’d actually get to see him perform live.

─ Do you remember that song I sang while watching you by the seaside?

As Kang Hajun’s clear, beautiful voice filled the air, Jin Misu covered her mouth.

─ Like the shimmering waves embroidering the sea, you sparkled.

His sweet voice was so intoxicating it felt like he was singing just for her, nearly taking her breath away.

“Uh…”

Just as her entire focus was stolen by Kang Hajun, a strange feeling made her turn her head. For some reason, her brother had his eyes tightly closed.

‘Is he sleeping?’

Just as Jin Misu was about to gently touch him—

“Ah…”

Jin Siwoo’s head swayed lightly with the vibrations from the chair. It seemed he was feeling the music with his entire body.

And soon after… a smile spread across his lips. It was the one he used to wear when listening to music as a child. Yes, the smile he only wore when he was truly happy.

‘Silly guy, still loving music like this…’

Jin Misu watched him and wiped away the tears welling in her eyes. She was so glad she’d dragged him out here, even if against his will.

---

Hyunseung was lightly stretching before taking the final stage. On stage, the MC was dragging out time by conducting a lottery draw.

“Huh…”

Hyunseung gripped the black cloth fragment in his hand tightly. An unusual tension washed over him, causing his whole body to tremble.

Past life and present life—nearly forty years combined—he’d scarcely felt tension. He hadn’t attached meaning to things as ‘important’: exams, college entrance, military service, discharge… not even the day his first self-written song was released.

He’d simply lived like water flowing, believing that as long as he made money, it didn’t matter what he did—no purpose, nothing important.

Ah, of course that doesn’t mean life had been ordinary.

In his past life, it was glamorous enough that he couldn’t freely visit the cafe near his house because of obsessive fans. Even though those fans, when public opinion turned, replaced placards with the knife called hateful comments and drove him into a corner…

Still, he’d developed a belief that this life would be different. Because now, something important had entered his life.

Yeah. When you’re about to do something for what matters, it’s only natural to feel nervous.

Tap, tap.

Lost in thought, someone tapped his shoulder.

“Let’s go up now.”

Hyunseung turned his head at the words and saw Ahn Jiho grinning.

This guy—why is he smiling like an idiot?

“Yeah.”

Nodding lightly, he glanced around; the area was filled with people who’d come to help him.

“Should we shout a rallying cry before we go up?”

“Is that really necessary?”

“Still, it’d be nice to shout together once.”

Choi Jeonghyuk slyly gathered the people, holding out his hand.

“How about ‘Eungheon, Eungheon, Eungheon’?”

“Choi Jeonghyuk, you’re dead.”

Soon, one by one, hands stacked atop Choi Jeonghyuk’s.

“Fighting!”

With the rallying cry, everyone’s hands shot high into the sky.

Strangely enough… a series of resolves seemed etched upon their faces.