While he was sleeping, Hyunseung fumbled around to find the phone that was ringing loudly.
“Who is it… at this hour…”
On the brightly glowing screen in the darkness, the name “Kim Eomma” was displayed.
(Kim Eomma = Mom Kim)
Ah.
Only now could Hyunseung understand Vincent’s irritation just a little.
Even if it was daytime in Korea, here in America it was the dead of night.
And on top of that, he was extremely tired, since he’d just come back from working with Daniel.
Click.
After thinking for about three seconds, Hyunseung answered.
“Hello.”
He had been going to decline, but then he realized he hadn’t made a single call since coming to the U.S.
He hadn’t even told them that he’d started working with Daniel and decided to make the process into a documentary.
They probably already knew, at least, that he was working with Daniel from the articles, but he should tell them anyway, even now.
— Finally, you’re answering!
When Hyunseung brought the phone to his ear with that thought, he heard Kim Woohyun’s lively voice.
“Why are you getting mad the moment I pick up?”
— Because you never answer!
“It’s night here.”
— You don’t usually sleep at night anyway.
“What am I, a bat? I sleep too.”
When Hyunseung complained in a sulky voice, Kim Woohyun continued as if soothing him.
—Then I’ll ask quickly. You answer quickly too.
“What is it?”
—I saw the article that you’re working with Daniel. Is it true?
“Yes. Since I’m doing it anyway, I decided to make the whole thing bigger, and we’re even making a documentary.”
—Huh? A documentary?
“Yes. It can get the name HS out there, and then the label’s position will grow a lot along with it.”
A brief silence followed.
—It’s pretty awkward hearing you say something like that….
Kim Woohyun added slowly, sounding surprised.
—But it’s a really good idea, isn’t it?
“What do you mean by that?”
—No, nothing. No special meaning.
Then he cleared his voice and asked again.
—Anyway, we’ll talk about that in detail when I get to America. But have you ever gone to Jirisan to eat kudzu naengmyeon?
“Yes.”
—Did you do an interview there?
“Yes.”
—No, why?
“They said they’d pay for the meal if I did an interview.”
A hollow laugh came through the receiver.
—You’ve got plenty of money, why do you like free stuff so much?
“When have I ever liked free stuff?”
—You always covet my meal tickets, and ask me to buy you coffee, and you even get free PT from Executive Director Park. If you keep that up, you’ll go bald.
“Isn’t baldness something Director Kim should worry about, when your forehead keeps getting wider by the day?”
—What, you punk?
Kim Woohyun, not getting any advantage back, snapped in irritation.
—I started wearing my bangs down purely for a style change. Not because my forehead got wider!
“Yes, I get it. But what’s the problem with me going to eat kudzu naengmyeon and doing an interview? That’s a program only older folks watch anyway.”
—It’s not really a problem, but someone saw it and keeps posting that it looks like you, along with screenshots.
“Then just say it’s not me.”
At that, Kim Woohyun suddenly lowered his voice and answered like he was whispering.
—Like you said, netizens are kind of unsure right now, but Executive Director Park is making a huge fuss, telling us to take it down.
“Why?”
—He says you’re the head of a company now, so you have to protect your image…
From the way he was talking carefully, it only seemed like he was with Executive Director Park right then.
“For once, the executive director is right.”
Hyunseung said it as if defending Executive Director Park.
“Then let’s do this.”
Before long, as if a good plan had occurred to him, he grinned and added.
These days, Hyunseung was dealing with the inconvenience of having to wear a helmet every time he worked on Daniel’s project.
Normally, it would have finished long ago, but he had to work on every track on the album.
And because they minimized work time considering Daniel’s condition, delays kept continuing.
And on top of that, Daniel’s sudden ideas that popped out were better than expected, and with arrangements being repeated over and over…
Before he knew it, a month had passed.
“Isn’t it stuffy?”
Daniel asked, looking at him wearing the helmet.
“What can I do?”
At first, Hyunseung had tried to set the framing so his face wouldn’t be caught on screen as much as possible, but….
It felt like his range of movement was shrinking, so he gave up.
Well….
His face had already become known to some extent, but.
He didn’t want it to become any more known.
Especially if the documentary capturing the making of Daniel’s final album was released, wouldn’t people all over the world watch it?
Thud!
Hyunseung shut down even the shield he’d kept slightly raised and cut it off at the source.
Someone had already discovered the “kudzu naengmyeon interview thing” that even he had forgotten about, so he needed to be more careful.
‘That aside, I wonder if Eomma handled it well?’
Just as Hyunseung fell into a stray thought for a moment.
“Since the design is awful anyway, just take it off.”
Daniel grumbled with a furrowed brow, like he really didn’t like the helmet design.
“Daniel, your beard is more awful.”
Hyunseung shot back, unconcerned.
Of course.
He heard Daniel muttering something afterward, but he ignored that lightly too.
“Are you all ready?”
At that, Daniel shrugged his shoulders and answered at once in a triumphant tone.
“You can look forward to today.”
“Okay.”
“You won’t have a choice but to give me beer.”
He seemed to have stopped being conscious of the camera now.
Yes.
Just looking at how he was always prowling for beer, ready to pounce.
“Let’s hear it first.”
When Hyunseung said that, Daniel strode into the booth. For some reason, it made Hyunseung laugh.
Heh.
It was something he learned after meeting him, but Daniel was more “childish” than expected. He already knew that Daniel liked alcohol, cigarettes, and women.
That was information you could find just by searching a wiki.
Daniel himself even went around talking openly about how he liked alcohol, cigarettes, and women without any hesitation.
Anyway.
Separate from that, the man himself was “childish.” His speech, his actions, even his appearance made you doubt his middle-aged status.
Aside from being extremely thin because he was sick, he always dressed flamboyantly for work too, like someone heading to fashion week.
These days he said he was going to grow a beard, or something?
Even that was patchy and not stylish at all, but he looked like he was quite pleased with it.
And that wasn’t all.
He was someone drunk on “style,” and along with that, “romance.”
Not long ago, he went on and on until his mouth went dry, saying the sunset from the villa on the island he owned was a magnificent view, and that was romance.
Ah.
He even added that romance doubled when there was a woman by your side.
And on top of that, a person who was sick would constantly say, out of habit, that he wanted to drink “alcohol,” and he’d get caught using the excuse of “getting some air” to go smoke, too.
Even his smiling face was bright, as if he didn’t have a single worry.
“Ah, ah—.”
Watching Daniel warm up his voice beyond the booth, Hyunseung suddenly had a thought.
Maybe.
Those things were what made him a legendary musician.
Doing what he liked without hesitation, and that childish heart that purely loved music.
Usually, if you stay in the music market a long time, you get worn down.
Yes.
Activities that make sense on paper.
Music that makes money.
Managing your public image.
You get hung up on those things, and cling to them.
“Let’s go.”
Hyunseung pressed the talkback and thought. He needed to show that side of him to the public.
His un-grown-up side.
His pure side.
The ways he was outright crazy.
Daniel adjusted his headset and grinned.
Moon Juhye was extremely satisfied, because now there were quite a few people who believed her.
Not long ago, she even received an email to LS Entertainment’s official email address.
[ On behalf of HS, we are sending a small gift to an HS fan. Please write the address where you would like to receive the gift and reply. Thank you. ]
At first, she thought maybe it was a request to take down her post, but it wasn’t.
Anyway, from this, it was clear the man she’d seen on screen really was “HS.”
Instead, another problem arose.
With the new semester starting soon and needing to study, her “fangirling” had started again.
“HS…”
Whether at her desk, on the toilet, or sitting at the dining table, she endlessly continued “HS-sickness.”
Actually, she didn’t even need the gift.
Just the fact that she’d sat where HS had sat was enough to make her chest swell with happiness.
Of course.
If they gave it to her, she’d accept it gratefully.
But what kind of gift would it be?
Could it be an HS photo card?
Juhye ran her happiness circuit, smiling foolishly as she stared at HS’s preview in the background.
“How can a person be like this?”
Captivated by HS’s side profile, she was picking at her food when.
Smack!
At the impact on her back, she couldn’t even scream, only writhing.
“You brat, I told you to put your phone down when you’re eating!”
“Ah, that hurts!”
“You’re a senior next year, and you’re going to do that? How are you going to get into college?”
“I will! I’m going, I said!”
“Then have you even thought about which school, what department you’re going to?”
“That’s….”
Juhye couldn’t answer and trailed off. She still hadn’t decided her path yet.
Ding-dong!
Just then, the doorbell rang.
“Who is it?”
She was able to escape her mom’s difficult question.
Only then did Juhye try to eat in peace, when.
“Juhye, this came for you.”
Her mom, back from the front door, held out a delivery box.
“What is it?”
The moment she carefully looked at the sender written on the package, Juhye put down her chopsticks and ran straight into her room.
Because the sender name said “HS.”
Tremble, tremble.
With fingertips suddenly shaking, Juhye carefully opened the box.
“Huh?”
Inside was a neatly packaged helmet.
It was.
Of course, a helmet with the flame mark that could be called HS’s signature.
Even though.
It wasn’t the photo card she’d hoped for, she was satisfied with just this.
“Since he sent it, should I try wearing it?”
The moment Juhye lifted the helmet to try it on.
Thud.
Something fell out from inside.
“Hm?”
It was a pure white envelope.
Rustle, rustle.
When she picked up the envelope while wearing the helmet, the pounding of her heart thundered loudly in her ears.
“To Joovely.”
When she saw the neat handwriting on the letter paper inside, her heart jolted even harder.
“Th-this is hand, hand… handwritten?”
Because it wasn’t printed. It was handwritten.
“Hello, I’m composer HS. First, thank you for taking interest in someone like me.
Even though it was a short interview clip, I was surprised by your discernment in recognizing that it was me. You have a discernment I’d want to work with, a truly enviable discernment.
Of course, I believe it was only possible because you have looked at me with affectionate eyes for a long time.
However, I earnestly ask that you take down the post you uploaded. As my fan, you would know, but I do not want my face to be exposed.
So I would be grateful if you would keep the fact that the man in the interview is me as a secret just between Joovely and me.
Thank you for always supporting and loving me, and though it is lacking to call it a gift, I am sending the helmet along with this letter.”
As Juhye read the letter, adding little “Yes, of course” interjections, and then.
Thud!
She suddenly collapsed with a loud crash.
“Ah, for reference, the helmet I sent is the helmet I actually used to wear.”
It was because she fainted after reading the last sentence.
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