NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 31 - Once Should Be Fine
[Hello! This is Baek Yerin!]
As Baek Yerin greeted with a bright voice, thunderous cheers flowed from the video on the phone.
It was a fancam video of her university festival performance.
I smiled contentedly while watching it.
Hmm. Her makeup and outfit that day were truly legendary.
Why does Baek Yerin’s form keep improving as time goes by…
As expected of a singer who is overwhelmingly the top choice for university festival bookings at the moment.
“Another Baek Yerin video?”
At that moment, Kim Tae-hwan spoke with a tired expression.
“Yeah. Want to watch too?”
“Watch a fancam of the woman who’ll be my rival? Oh, no thanks.”
…said the current YouTuber with 1 million subscribers.
His channel had been growing rapidly day by day, and he received the Gold Button two days ago. It meant he had become a major YouTuber with a whopping 1 million subscribers.
At this growth rate, he’ll probably easily hit 1.5 million by next year.
And in my opinion, that figure was definitely not an exaggeration.
This bastard Kim Tae-hwan…
‘He sings well.’
It’s something I’ve thought since listening to Tae-E’s songs in my previous life, but his vocal technique is certainly different.
It’s like he interprets songs in a completely different way from existing ones, turning the genre upside down as he pleases.
But I heard he’s never even been to a vocal academy and just sings based on his own instincts.
In simple terms, it meant he was an incredible talent.
The reason for the overwhelmingly steep growth of his channel is probably due to the fact that he’s both a ‘talented person’ and a ‘middle school student’.
That’s why, even more so.
“Suddenly, you look annoying.”
“Yeah. That’s not something I want to hear from someone who spends all day intensively watching Baek Yerin videos. Come to think of it, it’s really unexpected.”
“What is?”
“As far as I remember, you weren’t the type to be so obsessed with celebrities. Have I been misunderstanding you all this time? Or has someone else taken over your body?”
“Stop writing scenarios. In the first place, who isn’t a fan of Baek Yerin these days except you?”
“But your case is way too extreme. What if you actually faint when you come face to face with Baek Yerin?”
Kim Tae-hwan said with a snicker.
But from my perspective, it wasn’t funny at all.
Well…
‘There was a time when I really almost did.’
I endured with sheer willpower to somehow achieve a dream I couldn’t fulfill before.
But these days, it’s really tough.
Living while facing Baek Yerin at home was too much of a luxury for me.
Especially a few days ago when we slept in the same bed, I really thought I was going to die.
The conclusion is that I couldn’t sleep a wink that night because I was so nervous.
Then Kim Tae-hwan continued with a bitter smile.
“I guess I shouldn’t be the one to talk. I also have someone I’m deeply into, just like you.”
“…Shit.”
“What? Why are you suddenly cursing?”
“Just… shit.”
For a moment, I almost punched him in the face.
Because the person he was deeply into was none other than Haon.
But shit, that’s my stage name.
“Ah~ The notice for this RT Entertainment audition came out. Should I apply? It’s a bit earlier than I thought…”
And suddenly, Kim Tae-hwan started pondering seriously about the upcoming RT Entertainment audition.
I smiled and said this:
“You’ll probably fail at the document screening stage.”
“Hahaha! Wow, that was a good one? The funniest joke I’ve heard recently.”
Kim Tae-hwan laughed loudly, genuinely thinking my words were a joke.
Sigh…
Seeing his confident attitude, I was a bit excited to see what kind of crazy reaction he’d show when he sees the results later.
* * *
RT Entertainment’s audition was scheduled exactly three weeks later.
In other words, it meant I had nothing particular to do until then.
So I was thinking of locking myself in my room and immersing myself in composing after a long time.
The last song I presented to the world was ‘Your Photo’, and although I’ve written a few songs since then, I haven’t produced anything that satisfies me that much.
Even for someone like me, it’s impossible to keep producing hit songs in a short period of time.
If that were possible, I would have already finished Baek Yerin’s 4th album and more…
But making an album is certainly possible.
It’s just that the quality of the songs included in the album would be lower than before, and that was the most important issue for me.
So far, Baek Yerin has shown a near-perfect career trajectory.
That’s why I didn’t want to do anything that could leave a blemish on her career.
If there’s one problem here…
“…”
“?”
There was someone who came to disturb me.
Suddenly, I felt someone’s gaze from the direction of the door.
Upon closer inspection, the door was slightly open, and someone was staring at me intently through that gap.
…It was my sister.
She even looked restless to anyone who saw her.
But I knew well.
‘That’s an act.’
Someone who always barges in and always says what she wants to say to me is suddenly acting like this?
It definitely meant she wanted something from me.
And since I could roughly guess what it was about, I had to sigh and ask:
“Is this about ‘Cantabile’?”
“Um… Was it that obvious?”
My sister walked into my room with an uncharacteristically awkward smile.
And naturally sat down on my bed and said:
“You asked me this last year, right? If I sang well. But now I think I can confidently say that I sing well.”
Well…
That must be true.
Last year, when we were talking about ‘Cantabile’, my sister suddenly ran to mom. And it seems she asked mom to enroll her in a vocal academy.
Moreover, she ‘conquered’ the vocal academy in just 2 months and immediately applied to Seolhwa Arts High School’s Applied Music Department.
Her skills were already guaranteed by the fact that she easily passed the highly competitive Seolhwa Arts High School and proudly took the top spot there.
Furthermore, when it came to piano, my sister was a perfectionist, so if that personality applied to singing as well, there would be no problem with her skills.
But right now, I was curious about something much more than how well my sister could sing.
“What’s the reason? Why do you want to sing ‘Cantabile’ so badly?”
This was also something I didn’t hear that day.
Why is my sister so interested in ‘Cantabile’?
Clearly, in my previous life…
─ Not bad.
─ Really?
─ Have you ever seen me lie about anything related to music?
─ That’s true.
─ But honestly, it’s a bit disappointing.
─ W-What?! Which part?
─ Well… At least the problem isn’t with you. Still, I feel a bit relieved.
─ Hm? Relieved?
─ Ah, just talking to myself. Anyway, if you’re going to do it, keep working hard like this. I’m rooting for you in my own way.
I think it passed quite simply like that.
…Or not.
Maybe I’ve been making assumptions about my sister all this time.
“I’ll show you on stage. The reason why I want to sing that song.”
Seeing my sister answer confidently to my question, I couldn’t help but think that.
Hm? But wait a minute.
“Stage? What stage all of a sudden?”
“Ah, there’s a performance practice coming up. I’ve been chosen for the last stage, but coincidentally…”
My sister’s explanation was roughly like this:
A dropout from the composition major created a situation where one student had to prepare a stage alone.
According to the major teacher, in such cases, that one student is allowed to use a personal connection chance.
And coincidentally, Ryu Se-ah had a composer brother who was incomparably superior to the enrolled students.
End of three-line summary.
“But what if I refuse that personal connection chance here?”
“I’d have to sing a common cover song on the last stage that everyone is looking forward to. Then everyone, including the teacher, would be really disappointed in me, the top student, right? Boo-hoo.”
“…”
My sister pretending to cry while somehow grinning.
…Crazy girl.
I wonder if this is how Kang Beom-joon feels when he talks to me?
No, no way.
I’m definitely not like that. Um, surely not.
Anyway, from my perspective, there was no reason to grant my sister’s request.
At the same time, I was in a position where I had no choice but to indulge my sister’s whims.
The fact that I could skillfully handle the piano was entirely thanks to my sister’s help.
In a way, my sister could be considered my first teacher, and if I think of this opportunity as repaying that favor, it’s not such a difficult task.
So.
“Let’s go to RT Entertainment together in about two days. Let’s first check that singing skill you’re so confident about.”
“Does that mean…?”
“You want to sing Cantabile, right? Since you seem to like the melody, let’s keep that as it is. But we’ll have to rewrite the lyrics.”
“Yes! Let’s do that!”
My sister nodded with a purely happy smile.
Facing that smile, I naturally think:
Yeah… Once should be fine.
Just once.
Surely I won’t have to work with my sister again, right?