Pen and Paper Translations

T/N: Jo Kyungmi -> Jo Seongmi; Peekaboo -> Peekomi

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At a single remark from a guy young enough to be his son, Mateo sent the track he had latched onto, like a fish taking the bait.

It was simply because the track HS sent felt like an unfinished story, so he made another track that carried it forward, as if continuing it.

Of course, it carried his sincerity. Sincerity toward his daughter.

Even if that sincerity would never reach her, he still wanted to let it out somewhere. It bothered him that it had to be HS, but he could not take back what he had already sent.

Anyway, the choice rested in the hands of his daughter, Sarah Stewart.

If she declared she would not sing it, the song would vanish into thin air. Because he had made that song thinking only of his daughter.

He had no intention of giving the song to anyone else. Even if it meant the track ended up in the trash.

“Whew….”

No matter how calm and composed he tried to be, after sending the track Mateo could not keep his composure.

He checked his phone dozens of times, and scoured the major portals to see if any related article had been reported.

‘Damn it.’

When Mateo realized that he was waiting for ‘HS’ to contact him, a rage flared up inside him.

But what could he do?

That guy was serving as the bridge between him and his daughter.

Even if it was infuriating, he had to endure it.

Slurp.

Mateo held a strong espresso in his mouth.

Whenever Paul drank this, he used to grumble about why he would drink something so bitter.

At some point, Mateo started buying one cup, then two cups, and before he knew it, he was brewing it himself.

It was probably because his mind and body had been unstable these days.

The blow his daughter dealt him was completely different from the criticism he received from the world. It crushed Mateo dozens of times, no, a hundred times more heavily.

When he looked at his daughter’s lovely face that resembled her mother, strangely, he even felt guilty toward his wife.

In the end, the actions he took for the sake of two women ended up making him let both women go.

Those thoughts surged in like fierce waves, as if they were swallowing his mind whole.

“Ha ha…”

Mateo let out a self-mocking laugh.

And then he scolded himself, thinking, what was the point of regretting it now.

At the same time, the words HS had said in KakaoTalk suddenly came back to him.

In Korea, there is a saying that timing is everything in any relationship.

What does that mean?

It means this project might be the last chance you and your daughter are given.

Mateo muttered words to himself that no one could hear.

“Timing….”

Then he slowly nodded. It meant agreement. That guy was right. Timing matters.

No matter how sincere it was, and no matter that it was not what you intended, if the timing is off, people end up dismissing it all as nothing but an empty shell.

Before long, Mateo downed the last of his espresso in one gulp, then formed a bitter smile, bitter as coffee.

And he made a vow.

Do not have pointless expectations. If he tried to force mistimed things back into place, it might break completely.

He did not want to create anything more that would make his daughter hate him.

Still… Wasn’t ‘a dad she doesn’t even want to think about what kind of dad he was’ better than ‘a dad she loathes to the point it makes her sick’?

Of course, he had the desire to be a ‘good dad’ to his daughter, but that would be him being greedy beyond his place.

But what if, by some chance…

‘What if I really die like this, as no one at all to my daughter?’

That worry that suddenly surfaced made Mateo tremble with anxiety in an instant.

Not just trembling as a figure of speech, but like an aspen standing alone on a freezing winter day, his whole body truly shook.

Shiver.

At this point, when autumn rain had not even fallen yet, just as Mateo was shaking as if he had stepped into a freezer…

Ding!

His phone screen flickered with light, and a notification popped up.

The owner of the notification was HS, whom he hated, yet ironically felt glad to see.

‘To think I was waiting for this punk’s message.’

Mateo swallowed, his throat dry, and cautiously checked the message.

And then his face brightened as he read it.

[ Sarah chose your track, sir. ]

---

Kim Woohyun took a vacation day for the first time in a very long while.

In reality, vacation days were basically a formality, and because of the nature of his job, he had almost never used them.

But today was the medical checkup day he had finally managed to schedule for his mother, so he had submitted his vacation request as far back as two months ago.

“Mom, please have some of this too.”

Kim Woohyun did not slack off just because it was a vacation day.

From morning, he diligently took his mother to the hospital, then went to the Korean set-menu place they often visited.

Of course, it wasn’t because he wanted to see the employee who worked there. Absolutely not.

It was only to eat good food in a nice place with his mother.

“How was your meal today?”

After finishing the meal, he stepped out of the room first to pay, and as expected, Kang Seora was there, smiling kindly.

“It was delicious as always.”

“I’m glad it suited your taste.”

It was just a polite line, part of the service, but Kim Woohyun gained courage from her warm tone.

“Um, there’s something I’d like to say.”

Today, he would finally tell her how he felt.

“Actually…”

But before he could even say it, Kim Woohyun trailed off. Because there was a ring on Kang Seora’s left ring finger.

“Was there anything uncomfortable during the meal, by any chance?”

Kang Seora asked while watching his expression that had darkened.

“Ah, well…”

Kim Woohyun pulled his gaze away from the ring and answered.

“The dessert was too sweet.”

Back when he came last time, there was no ring…

“It was so sweet it felt like too much for me.”

It seemed he had come too late, using being busy as an excuse.

Just like that, Kim Woohyun’s second unrequited love came to an end.

---

Late afternoon.

After spending time with his mother, Kim Woohyun ended up going to the LS Entertainment building, even though it was his vacation day.

To be precise, he went to Hyunseung’s personal studio.

Because with his feelings in turmoil, he could not bring himself to go home.

‘This kid really works hard…’

Just as Kim Woohyun was watching Hyunseung from behind while Hyunseung worked with a headset on…

Whoosh.

As if he sensed the gaze, Hyunseung turned his head and asked.

“Why are you sitting there with a face like someone died?”

At that, Kim Woohyun gave a weak smile and said, “Just because. I wanted to see you working.”

“Why are you suddenly like this? It’s creepy.”

“No, I really got curious and wanted to see it.”

As if he could not bear to hear any more, Hyunseung held up a hand.

Since Kim Woohyun came expecting that kind of reaction, he was not hurt.

More than anything, he was sincere.

Even though his love life was always a string of failures, he felt like, as a parent at least, he’d done well.

He had come running here with excitement, wondering what kind of work Hyunseung would show the world this time.

And because the only place he could speak openly was here.

“How’s the work going?”

“Of course it’s going well.”

At Hyunseung’s confident answer, Kim Woohyun nodded. And at the same time, he thought it was a useless thing to ask.

How could Hyunseung’s work not be going well? What a stupid question.

“But it was surprising enough when you brought those two for the children’s song work, but hearing you’re putting them together as a duet, I still can’t believe it.”

Kim Woohyun clicked his tongue as if he was amazed even thinking about it again.

Jo Yeri, the leader and center member of classymood, called without question Korea’s number one girl group.

And Jo Seongmi, a world famous classical vocalist and soprano.

A song they would sing together.

Of course, the two had worked together in Peekomi’s Family, but that had only gone as far as imitating voices to fit each character, so calling it a duet was vague.

What kind of harmony would they show if they sang properly, for real?

And with their genres and musical colors so different, would it even work?

That expectation and worry crossed his mind at the same time.

“They will be a very well matched pair.”

Hyunseung spoke in a meaningful tone.

“Yeah?”

“Yes. Their harmony will be so good, it’ll be like they’d always been on the same team.”

Kim Woohyun did not question Hyunseung’s confident answer, and simply nodded. If that kid spoke like that, there had to be a reason.

While he was nodding for a long time with boundless trust…

“And there’s another pair too.”

Hyunseung curled up the corner of his lips and added.

“Mateo and Misut Sarah.”

Kim Woohyun didn’t register it right away, and tilted his head for quite a while. Misut Sarah seemed to mean Sarah Stewart…

And Mateo, did that mean ‘that’ Mateo?

The one who recently posted that he acknowledged Choi Jihyun, meaning Hyunseung, as a rival, and then started showing up everywhere as if he had a grudge against HS, meaning Hyunseung?

“W-what does that mean?”

Kim Woohyun stammered in shock.

“Then back then…”

At the same time, he remembered that Sarah had come by recently.

And that he had been shown the door because of it.

“So you had a plan the whole time?”

Kim Woohyun smiled broadly, his lips lifting high.

Scratch.

At that, Hyunseung scratched the back of his head. In truth, it was not that he planned it, but that it basically fell into his lap.

He had simply handled what fell into his lap.

“Yes, well…”

Hyunseung nodded vaguely as he answered, then began speaking in earnest.

“So this album will be a collaboration with Mateo.”

“Seriously, our Geumdongi is going global now.”

“I decided the album title will be ‘The Timing is off.’”

As if translating it in his head, Kim Woohyun muttered, “The timing is off?”

He wanted to ask what it meant, but Hyunseung would not answer anyway.

“The timing is off….”

As Kim Woohyun repeated the album title again and again, a shadow fell over his face. Because it felt like it was being said to him.

“Timing really is important…”

Hyunseung, who was looking at Kim Woohyun strangely, opened his mouth.

“Something happened today, right?”

“Suddenly, I thought how unfortunate timing can be.”

Kim Woohyun added with eyes full of melancholy.

“You know that saying. Love is timing.”

“All of a sudden?”

“When I look back, I always had bad timing with love.”

Then he lowered his head deeply, and added in a voice heavy with sorrow.

“Miyeon too, and Seora too….”

Hyunseung shook his head as he looked at him with a face that could not understand why someone would be sad over something like love.

Right.

How could a guy who’s like a rigid, sealed off robot understand his heart?

More than anything, with a face like that, he would be the one making others ache, not the one aching.

“You’ll never, never understand how I feel.”

“Why wouldn’t I understand?”

“A feeling that ended without even properly starting because the timing was off, you couldn’t possibly know that.”

After hearing Kim Woohyun, Hyunseung fell into thought, humming low to himself again and again, then.

“I do too.”

He added quietly with a face sunk into memories.

“Someone who ended without even starting because the timing was off.”

A faint longing lingered in Hyunseung’s expression.