Sarah Stewart had developed a habit of looking at her phone several times a day.
“Why isn’t he contacting me…?”
Muttering to herself out of nowhere was the norm.
“I even swallowed my pride!”
She slammed her desk and shouted.
And it made sense.
Because Hyunseung said he was establishing a label with Vincent, so she had thrown out the first love call, but after that, there had been no contact at all.
From what she heard through Andrew….
She heard that Vincent promised exclusive distribution through Unice and was going to leave without any disadvantage.
If he was going to set conditions like that anyway, how nice would it have been if he had included her in those conditions and talked about it?
In the middle of that, she even heard news that the construction of the new headquarters building was more or less being wrapped up, so she could not help but feel impatient.
“That weirdo…”
Sarah Stewart stared hard at the contact saved as “Weirdo,” then let out a sigh.
Not long ago, it looked like he released a new song, so it was obvious he would be busy, and that was why she could not push him even more.
“Should I listen to the new song…?”
Before long, Sarah played “Why Does Happiness Begin With You” through NewTube, then checked the comment section.
Scroll, scroll.
Here and there, there were comments written in English too, but for now, the Korean comments were overwhelmingly dominant.
–♬ ♬ ♬
But the melody of the song had a polished structure, enough to go beyond Korea and become a trend across America.
That was what she thought.
Right up until she heard a strange man’s voice.
“Coffee begins with co,”
“Latte begins with la,”
Sarah Stewart narrowed her eyes and focused on the voice.
“Why does happiness begin with you?”
She did not know what it meant, but she could tell it was quite plaintive.
“And why does pain also begin with you?”
For some reason, she even felt embarrassed enough that her cheeks warmed.
Seriously, why did they put this in?
Before a proper verse even started, question marks popped up over Sarah Stewart’s head.
Scroll, scroll.
Maybe it was not something only she felt, because most of the comments she ran through translation were about the “narration.”
Scroll, scroll.
And then, one comment made Sarah Stewart’s hand stop.
HS, I get why he messes around with songs. It’s because you all still worship even a song he made however he felt like. (54 likes)
That comment, once, twice, three times….
Bang!
Exactly when she read it closely for the fourth time, a huge crash rang out.
Tremble, tremble.
Sarah Stewart’s fist, after slamming the desk, trembled faintly.
As if.
As if she herself had been looked down on, humiliation surged up.
“What do they even know about HS?”
Sarah Stewart forced her twisted lips to move and muttered.
Yeah.
It is true that narration that feels detached from the melody makes your focus drop a little.
She admits it feels just a little playful, too.
But HS is not someone who messes around with songs.
More than anything, he is even less someone who would make something however he feels like.
At least, the HS that Sarah Stewart saw was like that.
“Fuck…”
He is the kind of person who is obsessed with a song’s completeness to the point that it makes you want to swear, yeah, to the point that it makes you feel sick.
Just from listening to the melody playing now, and the singer’s breathing, she could tell.
This was absolutely not a song made carelessly.
To create this song, he must have repeated countless rounds of work.
And pulled all nighters, going through hellish recording sessions.
Tap tap tap tap, tap tap tap tap.
As if she had never been upset with HS at all, she abruptly opened her SNS window and continued typing in anger.
“What do they even know about that weirdo?”
After pressing the “Post” button, she kept muttering curses like she still was not satisfied.
“Fuck, Fuck, Fuck…”
A man holding his head high and walking straight through the lobby.
That was Kim Woohyun.
“Kim Wooppa.”
These days inside the company, instead of Division Head, he was being called “Kim Wooppa.”
Of course.
There were not many people who could openly call him “Kim Wooppa,” but just from the murmuring, he could tell.
“Hm.”
Kim Woohyun lifted the glasses on his nose while rolling his shoulders, filled with force. Then he thought.
‘This attention is not that bad.’
Back when Executive Park got attention as “Villain daddy,” he had thought it would be annoying in a lot of ways…
‘Should I do a challenge too?’
The thought crossed his mind that maybe it would be fine even if it got a bit more annoying.
“Hm.”
And it was not like, these days, on Titok, there were not plenty of confession challenges being uploaded where people recited the narration part of “Why Does Happiness Begin With You?”….
Kim Woohyun seriously pondered as he took out his phone.
And then, he checked the closing time of Café Habit.
“Hoo….”
Since that day, he still had not gone back because he did not have the courage…
As expected, even if his status had risen, he still did not have the courage for that.
Slide, slide.
Kim Woohyun, to lift his drooping shoulders back up, opened the real time chart window.
[ TOP 100 ]
1st Why Does Happiness Begin With You, Jung Arin (prod. HS)
2nd I’ll leave it, HS (Prod. Mateo)
3rd It’s Late, But Once Again, Jo Kyungmi and Jo Yeri (Prod. HS)
4th Turn around, Sarah Stewart (Prod. HSxMateo)
5th I’ll stay here, Mateo (Prod. HS)
He did not know whether to call this “of course,” but.
Why Does Happiness Begin With You had climbed to 1st place, beating “I’ll leave it,” the song everyone said no one would be able to break for a while in the music industry.
“Heh heh.”
Kim Woohyun rolled his shoulders again, lifted high, and smiled as if proud.
Ah.
It is not because it is a song with my voice in it.
He is just happy because the song Hyunseung made is doing well.
Really.
Even though, the better the song does, the more people say it was not made as a joke….
All they could do was wait for it to quiet down.
As your status rises and more people like you, there are also more people who hate you for no reason, and who want to drag you down and tear you apart.
Unless it is profanity or criticism at an excessive level, the reality is that there is nothing they can do about it.
More than anything.
That Geumdong guy is probably not the type to care about that or obsess over it.
Also, even if it started like a joke, people who know will know that he is not the type to make it sloppily as a joke.
Knock, knock, knock.
Kim Woohyun pushed aside his many stray thoughts and knocked on Hyunseung’s studio door.
“Here, coffee.”
Just like always, holding coffee.
“Huh?”
The only difference was that it was coffee bought from the company cafe. He still did not have the confidence to face her.
“So it’s not Habit coffee?”
“Drink what you’re given, you punk.”
Hyunseung noticed right away, but as if anything was fine, he received the coffee like a baby bird and drank, muttering.
“If a man pulls out a knife, he should at least slice a radish…”
“I wanted to slice too! But I told you, I confessed and got rejected!”
At the words he let fall so everyone could hear, Kim Woohyun bristled and shouted.
“Still, you’re kind of a celebrity now, so slice one more time.”
Hyunseung spoke sweetly, as if gently luring Kim Woohyun.
“You never know. Maybe her feelings changed.”
At that, Kim Woohyun, muttering, “A celebrity?” as if something came to mind, snapped his fingers and stood up.
“I-I’m going. Good work today too!”
“Where are you rushing off to?”
“I need to do something too, so the song you made does even better.”
Hyunseung drew in a breath, “Tsk.”
“It’s already doing well enough…”
Then, watching Kim Woohyun’s back as he hurriedly ran out, he added.
“Seriously, what kind of trouble are you about to cause.”
He could only feel uneasy.
Meanwhile.
These days, when Mateo opened his eyes, he had developed a habit of immediately brewing coffee and drinking it.
At first, he wondered why people drank this liquid that was nothing but bitter, but after having it repeatedly, he could feel a subtle fragrance and a nutty taste.
“Hm, the beans I changed to smell good.”
Just as he was waking himself up with coffee.
Ding!
The phone that had been quiet rang.
[ Starstagram New notification +1 ]
He did not really do much on his phone, and there was not anyone he kept in contact with, so it usually never rang.
For a moment, he had felt excited, thinking it might be contact from his daughter, but after checking the notification, that feeling sank.
“That can’t be.”
Just as he was about to swipe away the notification.
“Hm?”
Because he pressed something wrong and Starstagram opened, Mateo saw the feed, and he doubted his eyes.
“What is this?”
Because the person who posted the feed was his daughter.
No, more than that.
Because the person tagged in that feed was none other than HS.
“What is it?”
With trembling hands, Matteo hurriedly clicked the content written on the feed.
Surely she is not acknowledging a dating rumor, or suddenly announcing marriage… it’s not something like that, right?
The feed he checked with a nervous heart was far outside what he expected.
Even if it is made as a joke, if the person who made it is an unprecedented genius, then that too becomes a work that pierces through a century.
Matteo looked over the posted content until his eyes nearly fell out, but there was no other additional explanation.
What in the world does this mean?
If she tagged HS, then it must be a post related to HS….
“Hm.”
Mateo checked the comments on the post and he could not understand at all, but people also only said they did not know what it meant, and that maybe the two were lovers.
“Tsk, lovers, what nonsense.”
He clicked his tongue and made a displeased expression for a moment.
“Hmmm….”
Mateo, as if lost in thought, sank into deep contemplation.
Yeah.
He did not know the content, but he could guess that his daughter Sarah had posted something defending “HS.”
And if that guess was right, then if he also defended “HS,” could he maybe earn points with his daughter?
Of course.
He did not have even a single grain of desire to defend that guy.
“Haa….”
Is there no way to defend him without making it too obvious?
Snap!
Matteo, deep in thought, suddenly snapped his fingers with a sound and rummaged through his few contacts.
Brrrrrr.
Then, without a hint of hesitation, he immediately made a call.
Before long, a deep, dignified voice came from the other end.
–Seems like you’ve been calling me more often these days?
“I have something to ask.”
–What is it this time?
“Do you, by any chance… know how to regram on Starsta?”
The person he asked for help was “Paul,” a peer of his, the same age as him.
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