Inside Hyunseung’s studio, an intense staring contest was underway across the single pane of the recording booth’s glass divider.
Outside the booth, Sarah was glaring at Jamal with displeasure.
Inside the booth, Jamal was glaring back resentfully at Sarah, who was sprawled out occupying a corner of the studio sofa.
“Jamal, are you not going to focus?”
“I’m sorry.”
Naturally, Jamal was the first to lower his eyes upon being scolded by Hyunseung. That didn’t mean he felt good about it, though. How could he?
Not long ago, he had arrived first only to have Sarah Stewart cut in line ahead of him.
And now.
Even though he had finally been called over by his hyung-nim and his turn hadn’t been stolen this time, he couldn’t stand the sight of Sarah Stewart planted in a seat as if she were the producer or something.
Seriously.
Why was she even watching someone else record?
And also.
Why was Hyung-nim letting Sarah Stewart do that?
‘Whew…’
He was utterly displeased by the fact that their time alone had been interrupted, but he couldn’t very well rebel when Hyunseung wasn’t saying anything.
Above all, from what he had observed so far, there was a subtle current flowing between the two of them. No matter how dense Jamal was when it came to that sort of thing, even he could pick up on it.
Which meant…
Sarah Stewart could very well become Hyung-nim’s wife. No matter how much he disliked her, it meant her face might become something he’d have to see every day.
Ah.
Of course, whether Hyung-nim would actually meet with him every day was another matter.
For now, that was just Jamal’s hope.
Right then.
Hyunseung’s eyes sharpened as he asked through the talkback, “You’re singing this while actually understanding the sentiment behind it, right?”
“Pardon?”
“It’s a song about confronting the prejudices of the world, but right now, it feels like the only thing you’re confronting is Sarah Stewart.”
At those words, Jamal ducked his head low, looking as if he’d just realized his mistake.
He was right.
The track Hyunseung had crafted for him this time was like a protest against all forms of discrimination in the world.
That was why he had felt so good while practicing after receiving the song.
When it came to discrimination…
It was something that had followed him like a shadow his whole life.
Yes.
Hyung-nim had gifted him a song that fit him like a tailored suit.
He had felt confident, too.
Confident that he would do great, that he would earn Hyung-nim’s recognition.
Yet.
Because his attention was consumed by Sarah Stewart, he had just spat out the rap without giving a single thought to how he should actually perform it.
Quite literally.
He had merely been spitting out words.
“I-I’m sorry.”
Jamal bowed his head and apologized with utmost sincerity.
Hyung-nim had not only set aside his precious time to produce a track for him, but was also personally directing him.
And yet, here he was, swept up in personal feelings and acting so thoughtlessly.
‘You piece of trash, you absolute fool.’
Presently, Jamal raised his menacing hands and began whacking himself upside the head with loud thuds.
The sight was more than enough to incite terror.
“What are you doing?”
Hyunseung stared at Jamal in sheer horror.
“This won’t do. To get my head straight, I will recite the Ten Commandments once, and then begin the record—”
“No, I’m busy, so let’s wrap this up quickly.”
Hyunseung decisively cut him off and immediately restarted the track. After the Grammy Awards, he never wanted to hear those bizarre Ten Commandments ever again.
Jamal was flustered, but as the instrumental track began playing, he soon nodded his head back and forth as if surrendering his body to the rhythm.
Jamal’s gaze…
Was now fixed firmly on Hyunseung, no longer on Sarah Stewart.
The resolve to do well flared like sparks in his eyes, and his clenched fists tightened with force.
I can do this.
Jamal recalled the emotions he had felt when he first received the track from Hyunseung, and when he first listened to it.
Then.
A feeling resembling courage welled up within him. It was a sentiment so hot that, if left unchecked, it could easily turn into rage.
— Who made the standard of being normal?
Wearing his headphones, Jamal took a step forward and launched into the first bar as if ready to devour the microphone.
And then, he unleashed his fury toward discrimination.
Discrimination based on origin.
Discrimination against Black people.
Discrimination against disabilities.
Jamal was someone who had shuddered under all kinds of prejudice.
So.
He understood that emotion better than anyone else.
— It’s not even funny. Tell him to eat the taffy.
Soon, an unbridled flow and Jamal’s rough voice echoed out, as if ready to tear the room apart right then and there.
Tap, tap, tap.
Hyunseung seemed quite pleased as well, tapping his fingers against the desk.
— It’s just your idea. If you think you’re right, you should know I’m right. fucking you.
Normally, he would have cut him off around this point, but he didn’t stop Jamal, who was not only pouring his soul into the rap but even ad-libbing harsh profanities.
It was proof of how completely immersed and absorbed he was in the track.
Before long, three minutes and forty-five seconds passed, and the take continued unbroken until the outro faded.
“Alright, come on out.”
On top of that, Hyunseung gestured toward Jamal, telling him to step out of the booth.
“R-Right now?”
After stumbling around for over an hour since the recording started.
With just a single critique, the man’s eyes blazed with venom, and he had completely ripped the track to shreds in a single take.
‘See, you could do it all along.’
Hyunseung covered his mouth, where a satisfied smile was spreading, with his hand. If he praised him now, Jamal would definitely get all hyped up and pester him endlessly.
However, Jamal didn’t seem to think Hyunseung had given him an ‘OK’ at all, walking out of the booth while timidly reading the room.
“W-Was the profanity too excessive, by any chance? Or was the diction too aggressive? Should I try it with a bit less force?”
It seemed something was bothering him.
Ah.
I got way too excited. Thinking that, he scratched his buzz-cut hair, but right then…
“No, the recording is done. Get ready to go.”
Hyunseung dismissed his worries and immediately pushed his chair back to stand up.
Jamal stared blankly at him.
Right, this was a test.
Without a doubt.
He was testing him.
There was no way Hyung-nim would let him off this quickly.
It had to be an unspoken test to see if he would settle for just this much. In that case, he had to go again!
“I’ll head back into the booth.”
“Why?”
“I want to do another take.”
“It’s fine.”
“I’m not satisfied with it.”
He would prove himself through this test. That when it came to music, he was a man who was never satisfied.
And that he had grown over the past year.
“No. I’m satisfied, and above all, you won’t be able to do better than the take you just did.”
Hyunseung cut him off with utmost finality.
Still.
Jamal wasn’t the type to back down easily either.
“No, sir! I can do better. I’m confident I can!”
“You did more than enough, so stop and hurry up and put on your coat. Just looking at you is making me cold.”
As Hyunseung zipped up his coat to prepare to leave, looking completely serious, Jamal looked at him with wide, astonished eyes.
More than enough?
Does he mean it?
Does that mean I’m approved?
If it wasn’t a test…
Then he had truly earned Hyung-nim’s approval in just a single take?
Soon, the corners of Jamal’s mouth curled high toward the ceiling.
Sarah, too, was looking at Jamal with quite a bit of surprise.
Of course, she wasn’t surprised because he was good at rapping. It was because he had gotten an OK on the first take from Hyunseung.
That was by no means an easy feat.
“It’s over now, right? Let’s go.”
However, there was no time to sit around being impressed. Sarah walked toward the studio door first, urging Hyunseung along.
Hyunseung waved his hand at Sarah, telling her to leave.
Suddenly, just like that?
Telling someone who had sat and waited quietly for nearly two hours to leave?
“Go wait outside first.”
“Why?”
“I have to give Jamal his turn, too.”
Truthfully, she wanted to whine and tell him they should go drink multigrain shakes right this instant, but Hyunseung maintained such a firm stance that she couldn’t press him any further.
Instead.
She glared at Jamal, who was standing there blankly without understanding what was going on.
“Fine. Don’t make me wait long.”
What could she do? The one who liked the other more was the one who had to wait.
.
.
.
Jamal was wearing a face even more shocked than when he learned the recording was done in a single take.
In fact, it was definitely a more shocked expression than when he first received contact from Hyunseung.
He dared say he had never been this shocked in his entire life.
“W-What did you just say?”
Jamal’s lips trembled like leaves battered by a freezing wind as he asked Hyunseung again.
“I said I’ll fix your mother’s ears.”
Yet, Hyunseung’s expression was calmer than ever.
It bore a resolute certainty. As if to prove this wasn’t just some idle nonsense.
“My mother was rejected even for cochlear implants at the hospital. It means it’s impossible with current medical technology.”
“It’s possible.”
“No, it’s impossible.”
“I’m telling you it’s possible.”
“No matter how omnipotent and godlike Hyung-nim may be, how can you fix ears that even modern medical technology can’t cure?”
To Jamal, however, those words sounded like empty talk.
It wasn’t because of a lack of money that he couldn’t fix his mother’s ears.
He had made plenty of money back when he was in the underworld, and he had looked into every possible avenue to cure his mother’s hearing.
However, the only answer he ever received was that it was impossible.
“With money.”
Hyunseung answered immediately in a tone so full of confidence that it bordered on arrogance, seemingly unaware of Jamal’s inner turmoil.
“I make plenty of money, too. Even so, they told me there was no way.”
“Not that kind of money. It turns out it’s possible if you have far, far more money than that.”
If he hadn’t recognized the person in front of him as Hyunseung, he would have snorted right then and there.
Telling him to cut the bullshit.
However, the person in front of him was Hyunseung. Therefore, he had to listen. Even if it was nonsense, he was still his hyung-nim.
He at least had to hear what he had to say.
Jamal pressed his lips tight and stared at Hyunseung with his dark eyes, silently prompting him to continue.
“For the past several years, I’ve been funding a hearing stem cell research lab, and my father underwent the surgery as the first clinical trial. No matter how much money you made, funding a research lab for years would probably have been difficult, wouldn’t it?”
At those words, Jamal’s pupils dilated drastically. He had expected to hear about hearing aids equipped with the latest technology, or some newly developed cochlear implant procedure…
“D-Did the s-surgery go well?”
Jamal asked, trying his best to steady his trembling voice.
If what Hyunseung said was true, and the results were good, didn’t that mean there was hope for his mother, too?
“Unlike an implant, it’s not a surgery that restores hearing instantly. The cells are slowly regenerating. Well, ‘recovering’ would be a more accurate word.”
“I-Is that true?”
“Of course, since it’s someone who lived without hearing sound for a long time, not just a brief period, she’ll need a rehabilitation period.”
Hyunseung’s calm explanation continued.
“It will be a pretty long journey, and it’ll be tough and exhausting. Still, don’t you want to let your mother hear the songs you sing with her own ears?”
Then, he asked in a whisper-like, sweet voice.
It was so sweet that it felt almost like a devil proposing a dangerous pact.
I will make the impossible a reality, so give me your heart.
Yes.
That was what it sounded like.
“I’ll cover everything from the surgery to the rehab center expenses, so just clear your schedule and take good care of your mother.”
That was how much of a miracle it sounded like to Jamal.
“H-Hyung-nim…”
“If you cry, I’m not doing it.”
Hyunseung held up his palm toward Jamal, who was stepping forward with reddened eyes.
Seeing that repulsed expression, it seemed it really wasn’t a dream.
Because in his dreams, he was always so gentle.
Yes.
Only in his dreams.
“Sarah is waiting, so I’m heading out first.”
Of course, even in reality, he was quite a sweet man in his own way.
Leave a Reply