Meanwhile, James headed to the globular venue to film clips of Daniel’s final concert.
He brought all the filming equipment, assembled a team to match it, and finished every bit of preparation long before the rehearsal stage was set to begin.
And then, at the very moment the rehearsal was about to begin, Daniel collapsed.
He knew it was a documentary that would capture Daniel’s final work.
But…
Tremble, tremble, tremble.
The moment he actually captured Daniel collapsing, his hands shook.
‘What if this scene is his last?’
Watching Daniel get rushed into the ambulance, James thought that couldn’t happen.
Someone might scold him and ask how he could think like that while a person was collapsing in front of him.
Well, what could he do?
James was a man who lived with the act of capturing things through a camera as his calling.
To him, being unable to capture a scene like today would be the same as losing one of the most important callings in his life.
‘This can’t be happening.’
Even though enough time had already passed for Daniel to have more than arrived at the hospital, no notice came from HS.
The PD who had come along to assist with the day’s filming tried to persuade him that they should pull out…
But James did not budge.
He even warned them not to lay a finger on the equipment they had set up.
“Wait.”
Of course, if the concert ended up being canceled outright and they went back with nothing to show for it, the loss would be enormous.
The drone filming equipment and specialist crew he had rented to push the overall picture quality to the highest level were being billed by the hour.
And besides…
There was no guarantee Daniel would come back.
It was an unlucky thing to say, but he might never come back at all.
But for some reason, James had faith that Daniel would return.
Yes.
Because he had seen it clearly that day he went to film the final work session.
Daniel’s desperation, and HS’s stubborn persistence.
If it was those two, they would not give up until the very end.
Was it repayment for that faith?
There had been no separate notice, but the concert seemed to be going ahead as planned.
The seats that had been completely empty a moment ago filled up with audience members, and the staff ran around until their feet were sweating.
Matching that…
James also told the personnel stationed all around the venue to stand by.
Clench.
James was certain that depending on what they captured today, the very weight of the documentary itself would change.
Because of that…
He could not go into this with the mindset of, ‘just do it the way I always do’.
“OK.”
Fortunately, it seemed he was not the only one with that resolve, because the personnel stationed in each section also finished their final checks with firm expressions.
And like that, the scheduled concert time drew near.
Blink, blink.
James immediately pressed the camera power button.
No matter how long they ended up waiting, he did not want to miss even a single moment.
Before long, a pitch-black blackout fell, and then the audience lights came on, giving him goosebumps.
For some reason….
He had a kind of instinct rising in him, like this was going to become an incredible concert. No, more than that, like he was going to capture an incredible scene.
Soon, as if a blood-red wave had rushed through the venue, the screen lit up.
And a figure no one had expected at all opened the concert.
It was Vincent.
He knew that singers often went on each other’s stages as guests, almost like mutual give-and-take.
But he had never once heard of a concert where Vincent stood as the guest.
And even more surprising was the fact that the next one up was Sarah Stewart.
She was known to be close enough with HS to have been caught in dating rumors with him several times.
Which meant she would be fully aware that simply appearing as a guest at a concert connected to HS could stir those suspicions up all over again.
And yet, as if none of that mattered in the least, she came off the stage only after singing every single song HS had composed for her.
Vincent and Sarah Stewart.
The heat those two created was hot enough to fog up the camera lens.
Honestly, if not for the fact that this was “Daniel’s documentary,” it was the kind of overwhelming stage that would have been enough to leave satisfied just by filming it.
The Emperor of Billboard and the Goddess of Billboard.
And the audience, having seen the two of them, also looked deeply satisfied.
No.
Not merely satisfied, but moved beyond their expectations and anticipation.
But as if it were still too early to be moved, the tension that had spread thickly through the hall grew sharper along with the blackout.
Soon after, Daniel appeared under the spotlight and raised the microphone with a face so lively it was hard to believe he had ever collapsed.
“Are you ready?”
Those words became the ignition point that set the entire venue boiling.
Aaaaaaah!
With screams that could not even be compared to before, the audience welcomed Daniel, and he, as if determined to meet their expectations, ran across every inch of the stage without leaving a single gap.
As expected, he doesn’t disappoint.
James smiled with satisfaction as he captured that sight through the camera angle.
And then inwardly, he felt proud of himself for not pulling out.
It seemed…
He must have stubbornly stayed just to see this.
Judging by the time and the song order, it was around then that he could feel the final stage slowly approaching.
Flash!
With a short blackout, the stage reset, and on it stood Daniel and a helmeted man holding a guitar.
Vincent! Vincent! Vincent!
The audience, perhaps because they remembered Vincent had come onstage once before wearing a helmet, seemed to assume this was him too.
But James’s eye for detail was sharper than most people’s.
So he knew at once. That man was the real HS.
Gulp.
James swallowed dryly at the inexplicable excitement rising in him.
Before long, his gaze was stolen by HS adjusting the guitar in his hands.
♫ ♬ ♬
He opened the final stage with fairly flashy playing technique.
Since HS was a composer and producer, James had expected he could probably handle instruments to a certain extent, but the guitar skill he was hearing now was not something that could be dismissed as merely “to a certain extent.”
“There’s one thing I want before I die.”
Not to be outdone, Daniel seized the microphone and overwhelmed the crowd.
No, that should be corrected.
It was not that he overwhelmed them. It would be more accurate to say he took complete command of the place.
“I’m praying every day to let me sing for you in my next life.”
The audience’s cheers were gradually turning into something closer to screams.
But James could not hear them at all.
“No, sing it together.”
♫ ♬ ♬
Daniel’s singing, which took command of the venue, and HS’s dazzling guitar playing blended beautifully and created resonance.
“Will you do that for me?”
♫ ♬ ♬
James was captivated, as if bewitched, by the sight of the two of them trading melodies off each other in the moment.
“Then even death will be happy.”
♫ ♬ ♬
The camera kept filming them again and again, but James’s gaze was no longer on the camera angle. It was on them.
“Let’s not say goodbye.”
♫ ♬ ♬
His mouth slowly fell open as though his jaw might come loose, but he could not even think to close it.
“Because it’s tacky.”
Only after the final line ended did James finally let out a pent-up breath through his parted lips.
“Huuhk.”
Thud!
At that, Daniel let the microphone drop and collapsed.
“Huh?”
Only then did James snap back to himself and hurriedly check the drone monitor.
Because he feared Daniel might have fainted again.
Then without warning, HS also dropped, collapsing while clutching the guitar to his chest.
Aaaaaaah!
It seemed the people thought it was part of the performance after all.
But James, who had already seen Daniel collapse once during rehearsal, could not take what he was seeing as just a performance.
First, he had to confirm whether the two of them were conscious.
“Bring the drone in closer!”
James shouted urgently to the drone operator, and as he stared hard at the monitor, his eyes narrowed in an instant.
“Hm?”
It was because the two of them were smiling at each other face to face.
Even while their chests were heaving irregularly as though their hearts might burst at any moment, the two of them were smiling with flushed faces.
And smiling brightly at that.
At that moment, James became certain.
“Get both their faces properly!”
That a legendary scene he would never see again in his life had just been born.
In the courtyard of VINCIS headquarters.
A small party was underway. It was too modest to call it a concert after-party.
Naturally, the host was…
“This is the whiskey that is self-evidently known among drinkers to have a great taste. I specially prepared it for this day.”
Daniel, the standard-bearer of drinking and revelry.
“Didn’t you just bring it because you wanted to drink it?”
“If that were the reason, I would’ve drunk it all by myself at home.”
Using as his excuse the fact that he ought to repay Vincent, Sarah, and Hyunseung for rushing over for his concert, he pushed ahead with the after-party.
“But why are we doing that in the yard of my headquarters?”
“Then what, do you want to throw a party in the middle of a bar in Manhattan and land on the front page tomorrow?”
Looking at Daniel, Hyunseung shook his head as though he truly could not help him.
It was not enough that the man had lost consciousness from a shock episode once already, he had then poured everything out on stage and ended up so drained he could not even twitch a finger.
And yet he barged into the headquarters with everyone in tow and started a party as if none of that had ever happened.
Seriously.
He did not know whether this should be called tenacious or foolish.
Clink!
Daniel merely struck his whiskey glass with his clear, bright face.
“So what did he blackmail you with?”
At that moment Vincent asked in a brusque tone, clearly not too pleased with Sarah Stewart being there.
“What are you going to do if you know?”
Without even looking at Vincent, Sarah Stewart shot back with a sullen face.
“Seriously, what a brat.”
And her gaze….
Was fixed on Hyunseung.
“You’re going to bore a hole through his face.”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Sarah Stewart’s stare was so sharp it felt like needles could shoot out of it any second.
And for good reason.
She had been enjoying a quiet vacation after a long time.
But then she got a sudden call from HS, and all her plans were completely shattered.
[ To the globular venue right now ]
Of course, she had gone there of her own will.
[ Lifetime supply of misutgaru ]
It was true that the words “lifetime supply of misutgaru” had swayed her, but that was not the only reason she moved.
It was simply…
That just the fact it was HS calling made her find herself getting into the car and heading straight for the venue.
Sarah Stewart was furious about that fact.
“At this point, I think I’m your slave.”
“What do you mean, slave?”
“If you call, I have to run. That makes me a slave.”
“Correct that…”
But Hyunseung merely shrugged as if he knew nothing at all and added,
“…to instrument.”
At that answer, the three instruments all looked at Hyunseung as if they were fed up with him.
“When the player calls, the instrument has to come.”
Hyunseung only smiled calmly.
Meanwhile, even while they were all laughing and talking like this….
[ Surprise guests Vincent and Sarah Stewart show up at Daniel concert… ]
[ 37 audience members faint while watching Daniel’s final concert ‘and again’… ]
[ Daniel’s concert ‘and again’ to be released next month on Netflix as a documentary! ]
Articles about “Daniel’s concert” were rapidly taking over the front pages of every portal site.
T/N: Please, Netflix… I’ll re-subscribe… *wishful thinking*
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