Hyunseung stood some distance away, watching the mother and daughter.
“…”
“…”
Not a single word passed between them. Just from how coldly the air in the room had frozen over, you could tell how awkward things were between the two.
“HS.”
The one who broke the endless silence was Jo Yeri.
Of course, she was calling him, not Jo Kyungmi.
“Yeah?”
Jo Yeri approached with a look that seemed wronged and opened her mouth.
“You never said anything about this.”
“About what?”
“About working with that person.”
At that, Hyunseung’s shoulders rose slightly as he shot back,
“I never said I’d be working alone either.”
Jo Yeri let out a deep sigh at that wordplay.
“Sure, but even so, shouldn’t you have given the singer a heads-up about something like this?”
At the sharp edge in her voice, like she was accusing him, Hyunseung’s thick eyebrows twitched.
Maybe Jo Yeri was startled, because her body gave a small flinch. She pretended she wasn’t, and she did not avert her gaze, but still.
Apparently…
She was the timid type, more than she looked.
“Do you hate that you won’t be singing my song alone, or do you hate it because it’s Jo Kyungmi?”
At his question, Jo Yeri’s body trembled in small jerks again for a moment.
“Both.”
She answered stubbornly. Her eyes did not waver, as if she truly meant it.
“I see.”
Hyunseung replied dryly and scratched at his chin.
He had expected Jo Yeri to show some discomfort, but he had not expected her to be this open about it.
He had thought she would just work through it while feeling awkward and uneasy.
That was why he had deliberately welcomed her so warmly, too.
“Well, it can’t be helped.”
Rubbing his hands together, Hyunseung continued in a flat voice.
“If you hate both, then leave.”
At that, Jo Yeri and Jo Kyungmi, as if on cue, both asked in shock at the same time,
“What?”
“If you don’t like the temple, the monk should leave. You can’t move the temple.”
(T/N: Oooh I like this line)
Hyunseung shrugged with a face so calm it was as if he really meant it, even adding, “Right?”
“W-wait a moment.”
Then Jo Kyungmi, looking completely flustered, stepped in front of him.
“Please don’t do that, and just talk to me for a moment…”
She grabbed him with a desperate face and pleaded.
This makes me look like the bad guy.
Hyunseung signaled with his chin toward the booth as if to say fine, and walked ahead.
Click.
Jo Kyungmi followed him into the booth, glanced out through the window at her daughter’s back as her shoulders shook as if she were furious, then withdrew her gaze.
Hyunseung slid his eyes lightly past the booth window.
Jo Yeri was looking over, too, probably curious.
“Um, Composer.”
At that moment, Jo Kyungmi faced him and spoke cautiously.
“Then I’ll just leave, so could you give the song to my daughter?”
With an awkward expression, she still looked him straight in the eye and asked earnestly.
Her eyes even gleamed, as if to say she could do anything for her daughter.
“That won’t be possible.”
But he could not grant that request.
“I wrote this song with Jo Kyungmi in mind.”
“You listened last time, so you know my daughter’s ability. Yeri can definitely handle it on her own.”
“It’s not about vocal ability. The theme of the song I wrote is ‘mother,’ so what meaning does it have if the daughter sings it?”
At that, Jo Kyungmi pressed her lips tightly together. The composer was saying he would not give the song, and she could not argue further.
“You must have taken time to write a song for us…”
Instead, she bowed and offered a sincere apology.
“Because I’m a worthless mother who doesn’t deserve forgiveness, I ended up taking your time for nothing. I’m truly sorry.”
Watching Jo Kyungmi, Hyunseung’s heart felt heavy.
“I’ll ask you just one thing.”
“Yes, what…?”
“If an absolute being told you in advance that today is your last chance, your last timing to see your daughter, would you still back down like this?”
At that, Jo Kyungmi straightened her half-bent waist and met his gaze in silence.
She seemed to think for a moment, then answered shortly,
“No.”
“Exactly.”
Before long, Hyunseung asked again in a voice so low it was almost oppressive.
“If you knew it was the last time, you wouldn’t give up. So why are you giving up so easily right now?”
In the end, Jo Kyungmi lowered her head again.
“What if this really could be the last time?”
“R-right…”
“Jo Kyungmi, lift your head.”
Like people always do, they unconsciously mistake it for granted that there will be a next time.
Someone had done that, and he had, too.
Right.
Even if you end up worse than strangers with your family, you think one day a chance will come to untangle the thread that got knotted.
You think you have to let them go for now, but if it’s fate, you’ll meet again someday.
You think once you grow a little taller, there will be plenty more days ahead when you can carry groceries with Mom.
Hyunseung had been mistaken, and then settled into that mistake.
And now…
She was mistaken and settling into it.
“First, I’ll talk to her, so could you step out for a moment?”
At his calmer, gentler tone, Jo Kyungmi obediently walked out of the booth.
Click.
Hyunseung stood by the booth door and, pretending to brace a hand on the table, naturally pressed a button.
Then he gestured for Jo Yeri to come.
“Scaredy-cat, if you don’t want to leave, come over here.”
Jo Yeri had to endure HS’s gaze as he stared down at her.
He had told her to come in, but now that she was inside, his lips were sealed tight like an iron fortress, with no sign of opening.
What had he talked about with Jo Kyungmi?
She had no idea, so she could not recklessly bring something up first, either.
Then HS tilted his upper body slightly and spoke.
“Just answer me one thing.”
“What is it?”
“Why do you hate both?”
Jo Yeri turned it over in her head, trying to decide what to say. First, one thing was clear: HS did not know what things were like between her and Jo Kyungmi.
Right.
If he knew, he could not ask her that.
“I get why you’d want to sing it alone.”
When she only moved her lips without answering, HS seemed frustrated and continued on his own.
“But if someone like Jo Kyungmi, a world-famous soprano, is singing with you, it’ll become a bigger topic. Isn’t that better for you?”
“Well, that’s true, but it’s just…”
“Don’t give me some vague ‘it’s just.’ Give me a reasonable reason, and I’ll let you sing this song by yourself.”
And then, for a moment, he glanced toward Jo Kyungmi, standing beyond the booth with an anxious face.
“Jo Kyungmi said she’d yield to you, too.”
Then he added, staring straight through her.
In that moment, Jo Yeri thought she had to answer well.
Half-baked excuses would not persuade this man.
If she went back with nothing to show for it…
How hard would Go Yuna laugh at her? Yeah, she would pretend to comfort her while twisting the knife. She could already see it.
Stay calm, Jo Yeri.
She worked her head for a while, searching for a plausible excuse—
“Texture!”
As if something struck her, she even clapped her palms together and elaborated.
“Right, our styles are too different. I do pop, and she does classical. If it goes wrong, I could get buried…”
But HS’s face did not show a flicker of wavering.
“From what I saw earlier, you two seem to know each other, but not like it’s a happy reunion.”
If anything, he narrowed his eyes even more sharply and pressed her.
“Isn’t this because of your personal feelings?”
“Yes, Jo Kyungmi and I do know each other.”
They had already clashed in a cold battle of nerves the moment they met—there was no way he would swallow it if she pretended they were strangers.
“But more than that, if I sing with someone like her, I’ll obviously get compared. It’s obvious.”
I have to push the most convincing excuse I can.
“Any idol would hate singing together, wouldn’t they? It’s not like last time when it was just a children’s song…”
And it was not just an excuse, either. It was an excuse with some real truth mixed in.
Before she was her mother, Jo Kyungmi was a soprano recognized by the world. A duet with someone praised as having a heavenly voice…
She would be lucky if she did not end up humiliated.
On top of that, wouldn’t her plan to leave a strong impression on HS collapse, too? Yeah, who would even look at an idol standing next to Jo Kyungmi?
This should be enough for him to understand.
And Mom…
No, Jo Kyungmi—she said she would yield, too.
“That’s something I can adjust properly, isn’t it?”
But HS tilted his head with a face that truly did not understand.
“Do you not trust my skill?”
“It’s not that!”
“Or do you not really want to sing my song that badly?”
“That’s really not it!”
Just as Jo Yeri jumped and waved her hands frantically,
“Then…”
HS rubbed his chin and asked with a meaningful expression,
“Is it that you hate your mom enough to override all of that?”
Jo Yeri stared at HS with a blank face, like she had been struck in the back of the head. What had she just heard?
Before the shock could fade, HS barreled forward with his words again.
“If you knew your mother would die in an accident on the way home today, would you still just let her go?”
“What are you saying?!”
“See? You don’t want that either. And you don’t want to lose the chance to sing my song, either.”
Jo Yeri could not refute him. She could only let out a small groan and curl her hand into a fist.
It was frustrating, but she had nothing more to say. Because he was right.
It was true she resented her mother, but she did not even want to imagine her dying.
And it was also true—desperately true—that she wanted to sing HS’s song.
“Scaredy-cat.”
As if provoking her, HS called her in a teasing tone.
“If it pisses you off, then sing better than your mother, just once.”
Then he patted her shoulder and added,
“Who knows? If you do well today, I might feel like giving you another song later.”
The corner of his mouth was annoyingly smug, and yet oddly tempting.
‘I’ll show you.’
Just as Jo Yeri lit her competitive fire inside,
“Since you’re in there anyway, I’ll play the MR, so practice a bit.”
Standing at the booth door, HS spoke while holding the handle.
“What? Practice all of a sudden?”
“We’re recording.”
“Huh? You said we’d meet first…”
HS’s eyebrow twitched upward like a steep mountain.
“We just finished the meeting, so now we record.”
He informed her with a cold face, like he did not want to say it twice.
“Uh, I have a schedule after this…”
“Is it urgent?”
“It’s not extremely urgent, but…”
“Cancel it.”
Jo Yeri nodded, like she was swallowing something bitter because the rumors about HS floated back up again.
Yeah, I should stop provoking him.
Then, as HS opened the booth door to leave, he suddenly leaned his head back into the booth and added,
“Clear out about three days.”
He did not forget to smile brightly, either.
Seriously.
He’s even more annoying because he’s handsome.
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