Pen and Paper Translations

Bonus chapter 1 of 2, thanks to Tommykater2.0!

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Kim Woohyun doubted his own ears. What had that kid just said?

“I think I heard you wrong just now….”

“I’m saying I have someone too, someone where the timing was off, so it ended without even starting.”

“Y-you? You do?”

“Why are you so shocked?”

“No, it’s just… with a face like yours, it’s hard to believe something like that happened.”

At that, Hyunseung rested his chin on his hand and let out a short, amused laugh.

‘Honestly, what a shameless king of cringe.’

Sure, from any angle, his face was undeniably handsome, but even so, he was still just a person.

In the end, people always live inside timing.

And if Hyunseung looked back on his previous life, he had missed more than one important person because the timing was off.

First, he had sent his father away without ever properly taking care of him even once as his body grew sicker.

He had pretended not to see his younger sister as her heart crumbled, and lost her, too.

And then he had even lost her, the one who had always been the first to come to him.

Even worse, at the young age of four, the timing went wrong and he lost someone precious.

His mother.

It was the year Hyunseung turned five. On his father’s birthday, his mother went alone to the mart to buy groceries.

Back then, if you wanted to go to a mart instead of a small neighborhood store, you had to cross a big crosswalk and go all the way to the next neighborhood.

Hyunseung knew his mother would have to carry heavy grocery bags back by herself.

But the time overlapped with a cartoon he liked, so he did not follow her out.

Tap, tap.

While he was like that, his father asked him to watch Hyuna.

It was because he thought he should follow Mom out.

Shake, shake.

Hyunseung refused, because the cartoon had just started and he wanted to watch it.

But his father did not scold him or push him. He simply said okay, then was busy hugging baby Hyuna and putting her to sleep.

“I’ll go out and meet Mom on her way back.”

Because he felt uneasy, Hyunseung left the house as soon as the cartoon ended.

Anyway, there was only one road to the mart.

It had been quite a while, so if he headed down that road, he should be able to run into his mother on her way back from the mart.

I hope she bought some tasty snacks.

Thinking something so childish, he was just stepping into the big crosswalk when—

“Oh my, oh my! What do we do!”

The people who had gathered in a crowd were murmuring among themselves.

“Shouldn’t we call it in right away?”

“Hey, miss, get a hold of yourself!”

“Where’s the nearest big hospital?”

It looked like something had happened. He thought it had nothing to do with him.

But then, a sleeve visible between the adults’ legs caught his eye.

Mom. It was his mother’s clothes.

That was definitely a dress his mother often wore. A dress she said his dad had bought her for the first time, and she had smiled brightly and twirled for him.

And the grocery bag thrown down beside her also looked familiar.

“Are you going to help Mom carry the grocery bag? My son’s all grown up now!”

Right. It was that bag, the one he had carried together with Mom, each of them holding one side.

Thud.

Hyunseung’s legs gave out. He dropped straight down, landing hard on his backside.

“No way.”

For a moment he tried to deny it, forcing himself to believe it could not possibly be his mother…

Hyunseung turned and ran home at full speed, like he was fleeing.

He was just… terrified.

It was a scene far too frightening for little Hyunseung to handle on his own.

He ran inside and babbled through a tearful voice as he tried to explain to Dad, but his father, who could not hear, did not understand right away.

As if that were not enough, Hyuna woke up from the commotion and cried so hard it sounded like she could barely breathe.

In short, the house was in chaos.

After calming Hyuna down, his father soothed Hyunseung and faced him directly.

“M my, my mom… she’s collapsed at the big crossw—”

He kept speaking while trying to look away, insisting it could not be.

“N no, it’s not Mom, it’s a woman wearing the same dress as Mom…”

His father immediately told him to watch his sister, then rushed out of the house without even managing to put on his shoes.

Then… when he saw Mom again, she was smiling brightly in her memorial portrait.

All of it…

It was the result of Hyunseung’s careless choice, made within the timing he had been given.

Of course, regret changes nothing.

Thanks to the second life granted like a gift from God, he could regain his father and younger sister, but sadly, his mother did not come back.

Ah.

I should have followed Mom right away instead of watching that cartoon.

Or I should have watched my sister like Dad asked.

No, even if not that…

I should not have run away because I was scared. I should have run straight to Mom.

And I should have shouted, begged someone to please save my mom.

If I had…

Yeah, if I had, maybe she would have lived.

“…Seunga! Hyunseung!”

Hyunseung came back to himself at the voice calling for him desperately.

“Are you okay?”

It seemed the guilt over his mother had swallowed him up again.

That was why he never asked about anything related to Mom, and never tried to learn.

Somehow…

It felt like his mother’s death was because of him.

“I’m fine.”

Hyunseung gave a short, bitter laugh as he looked at Kim Woohyun, who kept checking him with worried eyes.

Then he called him softly.

“Mom.”

It was a nickname he used to call Kim Woohyun as a joke, but now, for no reason, his tongue felt unfamiliar forming the word “Mom.”

“Why are you calling me so sweetly, when it’s not like you?”

“I’m sweet by nature.”

“Yeah right. You’re not the sweet type.”

Kim Woohyun teased him for a moment, then

Snap!

He suddenly flicked his finger and continued with a rather serious face.

“Ah, I get it.”

“What do you get?”

“Why you can have a face like that and still have so many relationships where the timing doesn’t line up. Man, if I were a woman, a guy like you would—”

Hyunseung cut him off like he did not even want to hear it.

“Please leave now.”

Then Kim Woohyun hurriedly sat down on the sofa and asked,

“No, all of a sudden? Are you sure you’ll be okay alone? A minute ago your face turned completely pale.”

“I’m better now, right?”

“Still, you’ve been pushing yourself lately and your condition can’t be great. If something happens…”

“I just thought of something new to work on. If anything happens, I’ll contact you, so please go.”

At that, Kim Woohyun’s eyes widened as he asked back,

“What work? Didn’t you finish everything?”

Instead of answering, Hyunseung just smiled.

Then he grabbed Kim Woohyun’s shoulder roughly and shoved him out the door.

“Hey!”

Creak.

“You’re not going to tell me again, you’re just going to make me curious!”

Kim Woohyun’s grumbling complaint kept coming until the door shut.

Leaving Kim Woohyun behind, Hyunseung sat down in front of his desk.

“Please watch over me.”

Other people’s mistimed timing was timing, sure…

But first, he had to set his own mistimed timing right.

---

Jo Yeri rode in the van, taking in the streets of Seoul with her eyes.

Unlike the rural village where she had lived with her grandparents, Seoul was a city she had always thought looked so cold and barren…

But today, it looked polished, and somehow full of warmth.

That was because the place she was heading to today was the LS Entertainment building.

Ah.

Of course, it was not because it was LS Entertainment that she was excited.

Right.

It was the fact that she was going to “HS’s studio” inside that building. No, it was the fact that she had gotten a call from HS that made her heart race.

In the idol world she belonged to, “HS’s studio” was spoken of like some unknown space. A legendary place that only the chosen could enter.

People even said it was not a real person or a real place, just something made up.

Of course, after HS’s face was revealed, those rumors died out…

But before that, she had been swarmed by fellow idols pestering her to tell them about HS.

Honestly, even now, nothing had changed. Even her own members had begged to come along, and she had only barely managed to shake them off.

“Whew…”

She was going to that place—no, she was going to sing that man’s song—twice now. How could she not be excited and happy?

‘But…’

One question suddenly came to mind. Why did he not give her the MR in advance? When they recorded Peekomi’s Family, he gave them the MR beforehand and told each of them to practice on their own…

This time, instead of giving her the MR, he asked to meet first.

Well, whatever.

This was a shortcut toward her goal of becoming a “skilled” solo singer, not just an idol. What did it matter?

Peekomi’s Family had been a children’s song, so she had not stood out much, but this time it was different. This song was entirely hers.

‘Yeah!’

I’ll show him the skills I’ve honed.

Just then, through the rearview mirror, her manager met her eyes and asked,

“Yeri, you’re full of energy today.”

“Of course.”

With Jo Yeri’s blazing passion, the inside of the van felt heated.

---

Standing in front of the studio, Jo Yeri fixed her collar and neckline one last time.

Then she hooked her fingers at the corners of her mouth, pulling them up, and knocked on the door.

Knock, knock, knock!

Maybe she knocked too hard, because her knuckles ached after striking the thick soundproof door.

But even that was fine.

Why?

Because today, she had sworn she would make a real impression on HS.

If that happened, then even after this project, when she started preparing in earnest as a solo singer, he might give her songs again, wouldn’t he?

Yeah, Jo Yeri! You can do it!

Just as she lit her determination again…

Creeeak.

The door opened, and a handsome face popped out.

“You’re finally here.”

He muttered in a familiar tone and smiled mischievously.

Ah, I’m getting pulled in, pulled in.

No, get it together. You’re not here to date.

She shook her head lightly, then answered with force.

“Yes!”

Then HS welcomed her, opening the door with a noticeably different atmosphere than last time.

“Come in.”

Wait, did HS call me because he likes me as a woman?

“What are you doing? Come in.”

Jo Yeri stared up blankly at HS’s face, which still held a trace of a smile.

‘No matter how I look at it, he seems like a player…’

She had heard there were composers who used their abilities to lure in pretty young female idols and date them.

‘Could it be… this guy too?’

Yeah.

Back then, she did not think much of it, but even when they were recording a children’s song, it felt a little odd that he had called an idol group like hers.

And on top of that…

The fact that he had suddenly reached out to her even though she was not under the same agency.

The fact that instead of giving her the MR, he told her to meet first and called her to his personal studio.

And…

‘He just smiled at me in a way that would make anyone’s heart flutter.’

The more she thought about it, the more everything felt suspicious.

“Wait a moment.”

A sharp wariness settled over Jo Yeri’s face.

“Why me?”

Sure, getting a song from a famous composer would be great, but she did not want it badly enough to sell her smile for it.

“What?”

“The children’s song, and this call too. Why did you choose me?”

At her question, HS frowned and asked back,

“Is there some reason it can’t be you?”

“N no, it’s not that…”

She swept her messy bangs back without thinking.

The kind, gentle smile from a moment ago disappeared, leaving only a cold, icy expression.

Flinch.

In the face of HS’s pressure, Jo Yeri reflexively shrank back.

Then HS laughed playfully again and asked,

“You scared?”

“Huh?”

“I said, are you scared?”

But when she did not understand right away, his expression stiffened again.

No, at this point, isn’t that mood swing?

“N no, I’m not scared.”

Rumors she had forgotten, buried under HS’s fame, resurfaced.

“They say he’s a psychopath.”

“No, they say he’s a hikikomori.”

“I heard he’s a sadist?”

.

.

“So either way, he’s basically crazy, right?”

Why was she only remembering this now? She should have asked her manager to come with her. Why did she tell her to wait in the van?

“Hey.”

Just then, HS leaned forward, met her eyes, and called to her.

“You’re not the only one here, so can you stop overreacting and come in? My arm’s starting to hurt.”

At that, she turned her head and saw HS still standing there, holding the thick soundproof door open with one hand.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

Jo Yeri hurried around past HS and stepped into the studio.

Bang!

At the loud sound of the door shutting, her heart dropped.

But honestly, it wasn’t because of the sound.

“Yeri…”

It was because she was facing the woman inside the studio, a woman who looked like her.