After finishing the fan meeting, Hyunseung had planned to spend some leisurely time.
Because he judged that spending more time with family would be better than a one-time event.
However, it seems this life is not one where he is destined to take it easy.
Since he was given life one more time, is he being told to live even harder?
Anyway, along with the story he suddenly learned about Mateo and Sarah Stewart as father and daughter, he even ended up thinking about the Jo surname mother and daughter he had been avoiding for a while.
And like that, Hyunseung’s project only kept growing bigger.
Of course, since this project was not something he did alone, there were variables, and the first variable among them was…
“Why is this old man not contacting me.”
That Mateo still had not sent any contact at all.
Contact, no…
Only if the audio track comes can he roast or boil Sarah Stewart a little and coax her.
“Should I contact him?”
While Hyunseung was holding his phone and thinking, his gaze shifted to the staff paper sprawled across the table.
‘Mom’
The short working title written on it caught his eye. In Korean, it was ‘Eomma.’
People usually say it is the word you call and hear the most after being born, and just hearing it makes your eyes sting with tears.
But for Hyunseung, even pronouncing it felt awkward, so he had deliberately written it in English.
And he also did not deliberately try to understand the emotions contained in the word ‘eomma.’
Because after hearing the story about his mother that his father told him, he judged it was not an emotion he could dare to understand.
Anyway, the ones who would convey that emotion through the song would be the real mother and daughter.
Of course, that daughter might also protest fiercely if she was told she had to do a duet with her mom, but once she set foot in the recording studio, that would be something he could coax her through.
Unlike the work itself, recruiting the two of them went very smoothly.
So what in the world is Mateo doing right now?
When he said he was making a song for his daughter, Hyunseung had thought he would surely struggle, but he did not think it would take this long.
Right. Before being a dad, he is the world-famous composer, Mateo.
“This won’t do.”
He could not just wait with his hands tied any longer.
“Call him right now…”
Just as Hyunseung lifted his phone with a determined face—
KakaoTalk!
The moment the lock was released, Mateo’s chat window opened.
Looks like I won’t be able to do this work together.
I waited a long time, so it’s a bit troublesome if this is the answer I get back.
Let’s at least hear why.
Normally, with Hyunseung’s personality, he would have found even replying “okay” annoying and just left it on read, but….
He also wanted to try working with Mateo.
More than anything, if a reply came only after so long, it meant he had tried composing countless times and failed in the meantime.
So he should help at least once.
Since his daughter probably would not be curious about his story anyway.
Do you really think so?
Sarah would be like that.
In Korea, there is a saying that timing is everything in any relationship.
What does that mean?
It means this project may be the last timing given to you and your daughter.
The one who had been replying instantly did not answer that last message.
Since the 1 mark disappeared, he definitely read it, and if there was no reply, it meant he needed time to think.
When you look at it….
Mateo had a lot of thoughts and worries.
If you put it nicely, it meant he was a careful type.
If you put it badly, it meant he was timid and small hearted.
In a way, with that personality, he must have wrapped his daughter up and kept her hidden like that.
Because he must have been afraid his one and only daughter would be hurt by a harsh world.
‘I had no idea in my past life.’
Having crossed lives and looked into his inner self, Mateo was nothing more than a timid old man who loved music and loved his daughter.
After thinking for days, the reason he decided not to do the work was the thought that:
‘Anyway, my daughter probably won’t be curious about my story.’
Even that alone made it obvious.
– [ history_wav ]
And now, that timid old man seems to have gathered courage so he would not miss the last timing.
– ♬ ♬ ♬
Hyunseung immediately played the track through a Bluetooth speaker.
– ♬ ♬ ♬
While keeping a similar mood to the track Hyunseung had sent, a strangely faded melody captured his ears.
Scratch, scratch.
Hyunseung grabbed a pen that had been lying around and scribbled words onto the notebook.
『 The timing is off. 』
It was the moment the project album title was decided.
Andrew recited the important schedule he had organized on his beloved tablet, and then—
“And at the end of this month… huh?”
He lifted his eyebrows. Because Sarah Stewart, as if his words did not matter at all, was only staring at her phone.
“Sarah, are you listening to me?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Are you waiting for some contact?”
All of a sudden, Sarah Stewart denied it with an irritated frown.
“No.”
They say a strong denial is an affirmation, and no matter how he looked at it, it seemed like she was waiting for contact.
“Then why do you keep looking at your phone like a puppy waiting for its owner.”
“I said no?”
“Sarah, are you dating?”
“Pardon?”
“Don’t tell me the reason you aren’t putting out a denial article about the dating rumor with HS is….”
“I said no!”
Sarah Stewart snarled with a face bright red.
Oh?
The more she acted like this, the more suspicious it was…
“Alright. But dating is fine, yet you’re at a very important time right now, so it would be good to check the schedule I’m telling you in advance and prepare.”
At his words, Sarah Stewart muttered, “I said no…” for a moment,
then unlocked her phone and locked it again, repeatedly.
Hey.
You have contact you’re waiting for, and you keep saying no.
After Andrew left the studio, Sarah Stewart, left alone, realized she was touching her phone quite a lot.
“Aaah!”
Unable to bear that fact, she was just about to throw her phone…
Bzzzt!
At the vibration in her hand, she flinched and clutched her phone.
“I almost dropped it.”
As h stroked her heart and unlocked it.
“Ah….”
After seeing it was a pointless ad text, she set her phone down with a very disappointed face.
She was absolutely not waiting.
But.
Didn’t he tell her to listen first?
“Listen when I send the files later. But I won’t tell you which song is which.”
She was absolutely not waiting, she was just curious.
“Find it with your own instincts, wisely.”
Yeah, he provoked her first.
“You came all the way to Korea to find me without even a phone, so couldn’t you at least find one track of mine among a few tracks.”
She could find it the moment she listened.
But.
Why isn’t he contacting her?
Before long, Sarah, as if she had given up, put her phone down.
Even if contact came after this, she swore she would never, never be toyed with or fall for it.
Bzzzt!
She won’t look.
Bzzzt!
It probably isn’t HS anyway.
Bzzzt!
Still, it could be something important.
Bzzzt!
Should she check just once?
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[ history_wav ]
Now, which of the two is my song?
— If you get it wrong, you’re singing Mateo’s song without complaining.
After checking the KakaoTalk message from HS, Sara Stewart snorted.
Seriously!
After not contacting her for so long, he was shamelessly even putting the terms of the bet on her.
‘Should I call this HS-like, or should I call him a weirdo, as expected…’
Sarah Stewart stared blankly at the chat window for a moment.
Gulp.
She pulled back the finger that had been hovering in the air and swallowed her dry saliva.
If she really got it wrong, did that mean she had to sing her dad’s song?
‘I hate that…’
Should she just ignore it like she never saw it? Yeah, if that kind of disaster might happen, maybe it would be better not to choose at all.
‘But…’
She was curious. HS’s song, and….
‘Dad’s song…’
From the time her relationship with her dad started going wrong, she had deliberately not listened to songs composed by her dad.
Of course, even if she tried not to listen, she still heard them here and there.
But she swore she had never listened to a song all the way through.
Still, she was curious. Separately from personal feelings, wasn’t this an unreleased track from a world-famous composer?
Before being a singer, Sarah Stewart was also a composer who made songs.
So listening to a good song always excited her.
Gulp.
For a moment, only the sound of saliva going down could be heard in the room.
“Ha.”
As if she had made up her mind, Sarah Stewart let out a short breath and squeezed her eyes shut.
And her finger was pressing the first audio file HS had sent.
– ♬ ♬ ♬
The melody of the intro flowed out slowly.
– ♬ ♬ ♬
It was a tune that made her heart relax on its own if she listened.
With her eyes closed, Sarah Stewart drew sheet music in her head following the flowing melody.
Right.
If she did this, she would be able to tell which one was HS’s song.
How did she know?
Usually, each composer has chords and habits they mainly use. Unless they make it consciously, it inevitably gets reflected in the song.
In that sense, Sarah Stewart had listened to all of HS’s songs, so she was confident she could find it.
Tap, tap.
Up until she played the second audio file.
– ♬ ♬ ♬
The two tracks kept a similar mood, like someone had cut up one well made eight-minute piece into parts.
‘Stay calm.’
Sarah Stewart narrowed her eyes and hurriedly brought over staff paper.
Scratch, scratch.
Then, following the melody that flowed out, she began drawing notes.
There has to be a difference between the two.
Wait.
Is HS testing me?
Could it be that both of these are actually songs Mateo worked on?
“Shi…”
As distrust sprouted and Sarah Stewart seemed to lose her composure, clenching her fist and bristling, it happened.
– ♬ ♬ ♬
As it entered the bridge section, a somehow faded rhythm caught her ear.
Yes.
The way it suddenly went into variation with a low note, that faded rhythm like the color had been washed out.
This.
This was a habit that often showed up in HS’s songs, a method that could be called his signature.
“You think I can’t find it?”
With a triumphant smile, Sarah Stewart hammered on the keys.
— I’ll go with the second audio.
Before long, as if he had been waiting, HS replied.
— You’re really going with the second one? You won’t regret it?
Does he think I’m stupid? You think I’ll fall for it again?
— Yeah, I won’t do that.
— Fine, then I’ll go to the US.
I knew it, my instincts were right, as expected.
Bzzzt!
Just as Sara Stewart smiled in satisfaction.
— There are two of you and one of me, so I’ll match the majority.
More KakaoTalk messages arrived in succession from HS.
‘No way.’
With a sudden ominous feeling crawling up her spine, Sara Stewart asked quickly.
— What do you mean?
She bit her nails in anxiety while waiting for the reply.
Bzzzt!
When she checked HS’s reply that arrived, strength went into Sarah’s fist.
— What do I mean? I mean I can’t miss seeing Misut Sarah singing Mateo’s song.
Then a curse soaked with gloom echoed through the room.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck…”
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