Executive Director Park suddenly remembered the time Hyunseung had previously used his voice to make “Villain daddy.”
At first, it was pretty awkward and embarrassing, but the more he listened, the cooler it sounded, and it even gave him a whole new life, so you could say it was a meaningful song.
But this “Why does happiness start with you” of Kim Woohyun’s was still unfinished, yet it was so atrocious it could be called viciously awful.
Yeah.
Just imagining the humiliation Kim Woohyun must have felt listening to it, as a fellow man, was enough to make his body tremble.
─ This is insane…! You damn Gold-Silver-Bronze bastard-!
It seemed Kim Woohyun, the main character of this song, felt the same.
─ You so much as say “venti” again! I’ll only buy you a pellet-sized drop of mouse shit-!
Kim Woohyun, who had been especially soft only toward Hyunseung, left the group Face Talk for the first time, with a furious shout.
But even in the middle of this, that means he’s still going to buy coffee for him in the end.
‘He’s so hopelessly kind.’
If he were Kim Woohyun, he’d lock that brat in a gym right away and put him through training from hell until he threw up.
─ Aww, he left so easily.
But Hyunseung didn’t look like he had any intention of ending the “Kim Mom Humiliation Incident.”
‘That wicked punk….’
Executive Director Park clicked his tongue inwardly as he looked at Hyunseung, thinking he was the most wicked guy in the world.
They were on the same boat now, too, so how could he be that cruel?
If…
If Kim Woohyun is found as a corpse tomorrow, the cause of death will be “death by humiliation.”
─ So, everyone, how was the intro?
As Hyunseung turned off the audio that had been playing and asked, a variety of voices burst out through the speaker.
No.
To be precise, the laughter they had been holding back burst out.
‘You’re all too much.’
Executive Director Park couldn’t laugh. As a divorced man, he shouldn’t make fun of the sincerity of that old bachelor.
More than anything, now he was someone who would truly be eating at the same table as him, like family.
Yeah.
There is absolutely no one who has the right to laugh at him, at his sincerity, at his romance, at his deep and wide love….
No one.
“Pff, pfft-!”
But no one is no one, and—
“Pwahahahahahaha-!”
Funny is funny.
In the end, Executive Director Park let out the laughter he had been holding back.
He laughed so hard that the others were startled and even stopped laughing because of Executive Park’s laughter.
But then, Hyunseung clapped his hands and settled the laughter.
─ Enough of that, and since you all seem to be having fun, we’ll move straight on to the next step.
With those words, he turned the camera.
Then a desk came into view, scattered with coffee and caffeinated drinks, and people heckled him to clean it up.
─ I’m not telling you to look at the desk. Look at the work monitor.
Hyunseung switched the camera again and flared his sharp eyes for a moment.
─ If you tell me what you think love is using abstract words, I’m going to try making it into a song.
He switched the camera again to show the work monitor window.
‘Love? Abstract? Words?’
Executive Director Park didn’t understand what Hyunseung meant, so he couldn’t answer.
And it didn’t seem like it was only him, because the group Face Talk room suddenly went quiet, like someone hit mute.
─ Nothing? Just throw anything out. Are you going to leave the HQ Director’s song unfinished like this?
When Hyunseung urged them, Jung Arin cautiously opened her mouth.
─ Fluffy…?
─ Fluffy?
─ Yes, when you fall in love, your heart gets fluffy, you know.
At that, Hyunseung murmured with a deep hum for a moment.
─ Fluffy….
On screen, Hyunseung’s fingers swept smoothly over the master keyboard and started stamping chords into the session lane.
Tap, tatadak, tap.
Really, did it take about fifteen seconds?
─ ♬ ♬ ♬
The session that played right away sounded like it had roughly turned the word “fluffy” into a melody.
─ Oh, it really sounds similar.
Others reacted like it was fascinating, but Hyunseung only waited for the next opinion, saying, “Next.”
‘Love, into words…’
Executive Director Park fell into thought for a moment. Since he was extremely stingy with the word love, he’d thought about it more deeply than most.
But putting it into a word, he couldn’t get a feel for it.
‘When I looked at my sleeping daughter…’
Executive Director Park recalled the moment he felt the word love.
Late at night, when he fixed the blanket over his sleeping daughter and brushed her hair back.
What he felt then was…
“Throb throb.”
A pain beyond words.
His heart ached.
A heavy responsibility like “I have to protect this child” pressed down on him, and guilt like “I couldn’t be there for this child’s falling asleep moment because I was busy” hurt so much it felt like it would tear his chest out by the roots.
So he knew.
That it was love.
To Executive Director Park, love was pain, endurance, and responsibility.
─ “Throb throb,” that’s just like you, Executive Director Park.
Hyunseung, somehow catching those words, moved his fingers excitedly.
Tap, tatadak, tap.
After that, people started throwing out words one by one like a floodgate had burst open.
─ Tickle tickle.
─ Do you have eczema?
Kang Hajun’s love.
─ Shalalalala?
─ Do you have princess syndrome?
Seo Jini’s love.
─ Drip drip drip drip?
─ That’s such an Ahn Jiho kind of answer.
An Jiho’s love.
─ S-soft soft.
─ That’s kind of bad.
─ I-I’ll try again.
─ No.
Yoon Jaeyi’s love.
─ Twinkle twinkle.
─ Are you a little star?
Lee Hyoeun’s love.
─ Chwaaaaak, does something like this work too? Love to me is like waves.
─ Of course.
Moon Beomjae’s love.
As everyone’s love gathered, the session only grew richer and richer.
Tap, tatadak, tap.
Tap, tatadak, tap.
Tap, tatadak, tap.
They hadn’t even heard the finished result, but Moon Beomjae spoke as if he could already hear something.
─ It feels like the song is getting more and more plausible.
In fact, that was what everyone in the room felt.
At first they wondered, is this a joke? But as the words piled up and the song began to take shape, gaining depth and texture….
They watched Hyunseung’s process seriously.
They were grateful they could contribute something to Hyunseung.
Tap, tatadak, tap-!
Soon Hyunseung’s hand played the track that was more or less finished.
─ ♬ ♬ ♬
The moment they heard the song—
─ ♬ ♬ ♬
In their heads, the phrase “Why does happiness start with you?” from Kim Woohyun was forgotten, and each of them was picturing a scene from a different romance film.
─ ♬ ♬ ♬
The faces on the screen were simply wearing happy smiles.
Jung Arin vowed that today, she would finally carry out the task.
That task was…
To completely empty the laundry basket in Hyunseung’s studio.
Thud, thud.
Since she always valued a clean environment, she couldn’t just pretend she didn’t see Hyunseung’s laundry pile.
More than anything, she also wanted to be of help to Hyunseung, even in something like that.
Thud, thud.
Thinking she could finally deal with that laundry pile, her steps gradually sped up, and she soon arrived in front of the studio.
But Jung Arin ran into an unexpected obstacle.
Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock!
No matter how she pounded like she would break the door down, she couldn’t sense any movement from inside.
“Is he off today?”
She thought about calling, but then put her phone away again, thinking maybe it’s his day off for once and she shouldn’t disturb him.
Yeah.
Since it’s come to this, I’ll do all the laundry “clean” and bring it back as a surprise.
The moment she thought that, Jeong Arin spotted the keypad lock on Hyunseung’s studio door and her shoulders drooped.
He really is more meticulous than you’d think.
Jeong Arin, just in case, brought her finger to the keypad.
Beep, beep, beep, beep.
She entered the most commonly guessed birthday. Yeah, there’s no way he’d set it to a birthday anyone could guess….
Beep-beep-beep-beep-!
She was thinking that as she turned to leave, but the lock cheerfully released, as if telling her to come in.
‘It can’t really be this simple….’
Come to think of it, Hyunseung isn’t the type to show off his birthday, so it’s not a number just anyone would know.
Most people in the company had never even seen his face properly.
Then, shall I just quickly grab the laundry?
Jeong Arin carefully opened the studio door and stepped inside, and the inside was quiet enough to confirm no one was there.
‘Of course. I knew it.’
And the laundry pile set in the corner, just as she feared, was sitting there just like that.
“Geez, seriously.”
She immediately started sorting the clothes by color and neatly stacking them into the bag she brought.
“Uh…?”
Something she absolutely didn’t expect landed in her hand, and her whole body stiffened.
It was….
Underwear.
Yes, Hyunseung’s underwear.
“Oh my, goodness!”
The moment she realized it was underwear and startled, about to throw it—
Beep, beep…
She heard the sound of the keypad being pressed, and Jung Arin looked down at the underwear in her hand. If she got caught like this, she’d look like a pervert who sneaked into someone’s studio to steal underwear.
That can’t happen…!
Jung Arin summoned superhuman strength and sprinted straight into the recording booth to hide herself.
‘Damn, I should close the door…’
Unable to bring herself to close it, Jeong Arin lay flat on the floor, watching for an opening, praying the door wouldn’t open.
Meanwhile, after finishing their meal and returning to the studio, Hyunseung and Kim Woohyun continued their bickering.
“If you use my voice exactly as it is, I’m cutting you off.”
“Are you a kid? Cutting me off?”
“Haven’t you heard that men are kids until the day they die?”
Their bickering started over whether to use “Why does happiness start with you?”
“Then if you cut me off, you won’t transfer to Vincis either.”
“That’s business, so it’s unrelated to what we’re talking about.”
“Okay, okay. Then I won’t use it like that. I’ll put something like Auto-Tune on it. That works, right?”
“Ah, I hate that even more.”
“You’re really hard to please.”
“What, punk? You’re the hardest person in the world to please.”
Hyunseung tried to soften Kim Woohyun by taking him to an expensive place and feeding him, but he still wouldn’t allow it easily.
Well, it would be embarrassing, I guess.
“Me? That’s— mm?”
Just as Hyunseung was brazenly continuing—
“Did you organize this, Director?”
He noticed the laundry pile in the corner had been sorted and organized, and immediately walked over and asked.
“No? But do you want me to sort it and wash it for you?”
“If you’d do that, I’d be grateful.”
“Seriously, you only get polite at times like th—.”
Soon Hyunseung found something strange, cut off Kim Woohyun mid-complaint, and said with a serious face,
“Wait.”
“Why?”
“It’s gone.”
“What is?”
His hands urgently rummaged through the laundry pile, while his eyes searched for something.
“Hyunseung, what’s gone?”
“My favorite underwear.”
“Underwear? Where would it go, just look carefully.”
“I’m telling you it’s really not here.”
“Then buy a new one.”
“No. That underwear was bought for me with my little sister’s weekly pay from her part-time job.”
In a voice that had sunk low, Hyunseung muttered as his favorite underwear wouldn’t appear no matter how much he searched.
“I only wore it once….”
Then.
“Mom.”
He sprang up and called Kim Woohyun with a somehow resolute face.
“I’m not suspecting you, but…”
“Huh?”
“Can I see the underwear you’re wearing right now, just once?”
“That is suspecting me.”
“No, it’s not like that. We’re just making sure.”
“Unbelievable. You’re basically deciding I’m the culprit?”
Kim Woohyun lifted his shoulders like he was dumbfounded.
“It’s not that. You’re the only person who knows my studio password, so it’s a reasonable deduction.”
“Really? I’m the only one who knows? That’s nice— ahem! Anyway, it’s not me.”
He hid his obvious pleased reaction and then cut it off firmly.
But Hyunseung didn’t look like he was going to back down easily. He stepped closer and demanded undressing again.
“If you’re innocent, show me.”
“I can show you, but if it’s not, what are you going to do then?”
Hyunseung thought for a moment, then immediately lifted the corners of his mouth and answered,
“High-end brand suit provision.”
“Deal. Don’t regret it.”
“Yes, go ahead and take it off.”
Kim Woohyun didn’t hesitate at all. He undid his belt and pulled his pants straight down to his ankles.
(T/N: Wtffffffisgoingonhereeeee)
“Now, see?”
Showing off a passionate red pair of underwear, he added,
“I’m wearing underwear my mom bought me too, you know?”
Even then, Hyunseung still didn’t seem satisfied. He said while scanning the various pockets on Kim Woohyun’s suit,
“Then, maybe your pockets too, just once….”
“You little punk?”
“Okay. I’ll just believe you.”
“I’m telling you it’s really not me.”
Finding his outraged reaction amusing, Hyunseung pushed him by the back and gave him an eviction order.
“Okay, I got it, so please go now. I have to finish up the work on ‘Why does happiness start with you?’”
As expected, Kim Woohyun immediately flung off Hyunseung’s hand and shouted like he was having a fit.
“You, you, don’t you dare use that!”
“Ah, whatever. Get out.”
“You, you, seriously, no!”
“I’m pulling an all-nighter tonight, so tomorrow morning too, stop by Habit and please give me one cup of happiness coffee.
But as Kim Woohyun began losing to Hyunseung’s strength, he ended up getting shoved out of the studio by a rough hand.
“You, you, you damn Gold-Dong bastard!-”
Like the Face Talk incident, the door slammed shut with a single strangled scream.
Then.
Hyunseung turned back, sat at the work table, shifted his gaze to the laundry pile, and muttered,
“But seriously, where did my underwear go….”
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