Hyunseung had no idea why Sarah was huffing and pressing him for answers.
“Wait, why is she catching the bouquet?”
If I knew, would I be asking?
“Was she single?”
“Yeah.”
“D-Does she have someone she’s marrying?”
“Who knows.”
Judging by her reaction, Sarah was completely in the dark as well.
Then again…
Michelle wasn’t the type to go around broadcasting her private life.
Above all else, she had been CEO Joshua’s secretary, so there was no way Sarah would know.
“Anyway, first off—”
Hyunseung wasn’t dying of curiosity about Michelle’s partner anyway, so he decided to move on. What mattered right now was the recording.
“That’s not what’s important. What are you going to do about the recording right now? We can always continue tomorrow.”
At that, Sarah immediately replied with a resolute expression.
“No, even if I have to pull an all-nighter, I’m finishing this before I leave.”
“Suit yourself.”
“And you have to go to the director’s wedding with me. Got it?”
Ah, she’s actually kind of terrifying when she looks that determined.
“Got it, so just get into the booth.”
…Was what he said, but it ended up being a jinx.
“Ah, yeees…”
Sarah’s declaration about staying up all night to finish it turned into an ironic reality.
Hyunseung wrapped up the two-day, one-night recording camp with Sarah.
However, that wasn’t the end of it; he holed up in his studio for days on end with no intention of coming out.
Of course.
It wasn’t like he didn’t go home at all.
“Ugh, sleep a bit more before you head out!”
Because his younger sister, Hyuna, nagged him relentlessly, he couldn’t stay away even if he wanted to.
“Oppa, I told you that you shouldn’t push yourself like that yet!”
“I know my own body best. I’m fine now.”
Though Hyuna sighed in frustration,
“Fine, just make sure you eat breakfast before you leave.”
She would ultimately give in.
“Yeah, will do.”
And Hyunseung, too, would take a step back.
Even without an appetite, he made sure to finish every bite of the meal his sister prepared before leaving the house.
In truth, those meals were practically all that sustained Hyunseung these days.
He usually filled his stomach with coffee or energy drinks.
Occasionally, he appeased his hunger with desserts Kim Woohyun dropped off.
Scratch, scratch.
Yet, his hands never stopped.
Scratch, scratch.
While he did use composition software, he also had a habit of sketching musical ideas onto sheet music or jotting down notes about the instruments he needed to work on.
Because of this, pencil shavings were scattered across the desk.
Roll, roll.
Beside a notebook left casually open to a random page, a pencil with a blunt, flattened tip rolled aimlessly.
The list written in the notebook was…
Sarah
Vincent
Rice Grain
Rise
Seo Jini
Jung Arin
Moon Beomjae
Kang Hajun
Yoon Jaeyi
The Moon
Lee Hyoeun
Lee Sol
Han Seulgi
Cho Yeri
Cho Kyungmi
It was the list of instruments Hyunseung had in his possession.
Among them, Sarah’s name, written at the very top, was boldly underlined. That line seemed to signal the first step in Hyunseung’s dojo-cracking spree.
“Phew…”
After letting out a long-held breath and scratching his head for a brief moment,
Tap, clatter, clack.
His hands moved, punching in chords. Rather than overthinking it, moving his body was always the best way to clear his head.
As if savoring the sound of each individual instrument, Hyunseung hummed tones under his breath while his hands moved without rest.
Just like that.
One day, two days, a week went by.
Before he knew it, entering his second week of being holed up in the studio, Hyunseung was once again at his desk after catching barely four hours of sleep.
And then, like a man pursued by something, he continued churning out track after track.
And fanatically, obsessively so.
“Hey, look at that.”
“He’s at it again today.”
There were people secretly watching Hyunseung through the crack of the door…
“Do you know what kind of trouble that punk is trying to stir up this time?”
“How would I know?”
“If you, the self-proclaimed mom of our golden child, don’t know, then who would?”
“Come on, if Daddy doesn’t know, how could I?”
It was none other than Executive Director Park and Director Kim.
Whenever they had a spare moment, the two would sneak over to Hyunseung’s private studio and peek at him through the door.
For about a week, they had assumed his fingers were just itching after being away from work for so long.
However, once it stretched past fifteen days, they started to get genuinely worried.
Hyunseung’s working pace was typically on the fast side. Producing a single song usually took him about a day.
Even for projects that gave him a hard time, it never exceeded a week.
And yet, to be cooped up in the studio for over half a month, barely eating and working like that—it was impossible not to worry.
Though their concern was as high as a mountain, they couldn’t bring themselves to interrupt Hyunseung when he was that engrossed in his work.
Whenever they asked what he was working on, he would only say it was a secret.
And even if they told him to take it easy, he wasn’t the type to listen anyway.
“Haaah…”
All the two could do was fret inwardly and watch.
Just then, Executive Director Park’s worry flared up, sparking in an entirely unrelated direction.
“Your mind is so completely consumed by the wedding these days that you don’t even pay attention to the kid. Tsk.”
“Wait, why are you bringing that into this?”
“How much did you go around blabbing about the wedding that even people who’ve barely brushed past you know you’re getting married?”
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime wedding, what’s wrong with making a little noise about it!”
“Who said that! Who said it’s once in a lifetime! A person could do it twice! That’s a prejudice—gasp!“
He had been shouting defensively, but clamped a hand over his mouth the moment he realized his voice was too loud.
It was out of fear that Hyunseung would catch them secretly peeping through the door.
“Shh.”
Fortunately, Hyunseung seemed not to have heard, as he had his headphones on.
In fact, far from merely not hearing, he was so immersed in his work that he hadn’t noticed a thing.
Soon after, just as Executive Director Park let out a relieved breath he had been holding in,
“Could it be that you, too, Executive Director…”
Kim Woohyun cautiously broached the topic.
“I was just saying! It’s a figure of speech!”
Executive Director Park snapped in outrage, telling him not to speak such nonsense.
“I’m going to live as a daddy for the rest of my life.”
He added, thumping his chest near his heart with a burly fist.
Evidently, he still hadn’t recovered from his so-called ‘Villain Daddy Syndrome.’
“Yes, of course, you do that.”
Kim Woohyun replied dryly with a shake of his head as if giving up on him.
Once more, the two anxiously stared at Hyunseung’s back through the crack in the door.
There was one thing they had overlooked.
If anyone saw this scene, they might easily mistake them for lunatics or perverts.
Sure enough.
Passing employees spotted the pair and recoiled in disgust.
“They’re doing that again…”
“Right? Why don’t they just go inside?”
And why wouldn’t they? Two hulking men staring mournfully at another man’s back through a cracked door was bound to look bizarre.
However, because their attention was completely consumed by Hyunseung, they didn’t even realize how strange they looked, nor did they hear the chatter of the passing staff.
“Still, I’m worried he might collapse at this rate.”
They were simply lost in their concern.
“Executive Director, why don’t you step in and drag him to the gym or something?”
“Rather than me, you should lure him out by offering to buy him coffee.”
“Come on, he listens to you a bit more than he does to me…”
“Him? Listening to me? Even a passing dog would laugh at that.”
“Then do you think he’d listen to me? I’d be lucky if he didn’t kick me out…”
They could neither approach him nor stop him.
“This won’t do. That kid’s going to collapse at this rate.”
It was just as Executive Director Park couldn’t take it anymore and was about to push the door open.
“Shh, shh!”
Kim Woohyun grabbed him, desperately holding him back.
He pressed an index finger to his lips and gestured toward Hyunseung with his eyes.
Rustle.
Executive Director Park followed Kim Woohyun’s gaze toward Hyunseung.
‘Hm?’
Hyunseung had taken off his headphones and was tapping on his phone.
Was he waiting for a call? Was the work finished?
Just as those thoughts crossed their minds.
Ring, ring.
The dial tone echoed softly, signaling he had placed a call somewhere.
“It’s been a while.”
Before long, the call connected.
‘A while?’
Their curiosity piqued by Hyunseung’s greeting, the two pressed themselves flush against the door.
“It’s nothing, but in Korea…”
However, they couldn’t hear what Hyunseung was saying clearly.
“A large-scale studio…”
Because his voice drifted over in disjointed fragments, they couldn’t piece together what kind of conversation was taking place.
“The confinement period will be about a month…”
Just then, as if Hyunseung had said everything he needed to say, he moved to hang up.
Terrified of getting caught, the two carefully shut the studio door.
Right.
If they were caught like this, they’d get scolded again.
“Hey, did you catch any of that?”
Executive Director Park grabbed Kim Woohyun and asked.
“I only understood that he’s going to Korea and that he plans to use a large-scale studio…”
“Really? What I heard was that he’s going to confine someone for about half a month.”
“Excuse me? Confinement?”
Belatedly realizing the pitch of his voice, Kim Woohyun clamped his hand over his mouth.
However, how could he not be shocked?
Right.
Putting together the pieces of what they had overheard, Hyunseung was planning to go to Korea soon, secure a large studio…
And confine someone inside it.
He had called someone to notify them of that plan.
Or perhaps.
He had instructed them to prepare for it.
“Haaah, what in the world is going on…”
With his mind in absolute turmoil, Kim Woohyun wiped down his face until his skin flushed red.
No one truly knew what had happened to Hyunseung over the past year, or what he had been doing.
Right.
Because Hyunseung had never clearly talked about it.
Under these circumstances…
For him to suddenly talk about locking someone away…
“Our golden child…”
Unable to fathom what kind of trouble Hyunseung was trying to stir up in Korea, Kim Woohyun felt suffocated.
“I mean, surely he wouldn’t do something actually dangerous, right? …Wait, he might.”
Executive Director Park tried to soothe the panicked Kim Woohyun, but…
“Yeah, if it’s that punk, he’s more than capable of doing exactly that.”
Soon, even he began muttering to himself, growing deeply unsettled.
Shortly after, Kim Woohyun added in denial,
“We must have misheard, right?”
“Huh? Right, we’re at the age where our ears are starting to go deaf.”
“That might be true for you, Executive Director, but I’m not quite at that age yet…”
Then, as if making up his mind, he added with a resolute look.
“Executive Director, how about the three of us grab a drink with Hyunseung for the first time in a while?”
“Now that’s a great idea. Yeah, once alcohol is involved, it’ll be easier to open up and talk about what’s really on our minds. And if we coax him gently, Hyunseung might just change his mind, right? Yeah, he definitely will.”
“Of course, our golden child will surely do that.”
“Right, right! What kind of golden child is he, after all!”
To chase away their anxious thoughts, the two spent a good while shouting ‘golden child’ loudly enough to echo down the hallway.
“Seriously, what is up with those two lately?”
“How would I know?”
Naturally, the employees only looked at them strangely, shaking their heads as they walked by.
T/N: I’ll miss this duo the most TT_TT
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