Yeon Cheonguk, who had been brushing off the boss’s words as a joke to calm his nerves, snapped to attention. When he stiffened his expression and turned around, the boss had a serious expression.
“Hyung is worrying out of excessive concern. You’re a sharp kid so you’ll understand what I mean well. You know better how scary the internet is these days. If a tip gets into an internet cafe or daily newspaper, your future singer career might become dark.”
For a moment, perhaps because he’d become sensitive, it seemed like there was a sign of someone outside. Yeon Cheonguk listened toward outside the door. It seemed like he heard footsteps on the stairs, but it was quiet again now. Since they’d opened the door wide because it was hot even with the fan on, the sound of footsteps from ground level must have echoed down to the basement.
After confirming there was no one outside, Yeon Cheonguk gave his answer.
“Kim sunbae, he doesn’t bully innocent kids or anything…”
“That Hwang Jegu kid, he’s been marked as a person of interest by the detective for a long time already, right?”
“…….”
“I heard he’s someone who makes all the nearby thugs unable to move, so I’m worried you might be seeing only one side, Yeon. I’m saying this because I heard things at the police station.”
“…What did you hear?”
“The detective said it’s fortunate the fistfight with the Gangwon Province punks ended at just this level.”
The boss, who hadn’t been able to open his mouth easily while covering it with both hands, sighed. Eventually, he opened his mouth with difficulty.
“I wasn’t going to say this much. Don’t take it too seriously, just take it as reference.”
Just as it was getting frustrating how much he was beating around the bush, the main point appeared.
“He was involved in a murder case before.”
“……What?”
“He was the age of a juvenile offender and was recognized for self-defense, but…. Of course it’s unfortunate, it’s an unfortunate thing but… geez… no matter how much his life was in danger and he was cornered, if he was going to run, he should have run….”
The boss shook his head with a very distressed expression.
“Not just anyone could block a weapon with just their arm and counterattack.”
“…….”
There was a scene that flashed through Yeon Cheonguk’s mind. Under his summer uniform sleeve, a long scar about 20cm drawn along his arm.
Following that, the violent reaction of the old man who’d become a child came to mind. The old man had been extremely afraid of windows. Enough to carelessly mock whether he had trauma from being robbed.
“At the time, a news crew came too….”
Just as the boss was about to add to his explanation, the smoking room door opened. The pot-bellied ahjussi who stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray held a bread hat and sat down firmly in the chair.
“Friend! Let’s start!”
The important story was cut off because of the broadcast official. But anyway, Yeon Cheonguk wasn’t curious about the next words that would come from the boss’s mouth.
The shocking story he’d just heard—he planned to erase it from his head until he heard the truth from the detective ahjussi or Hwang Jegu’s mouth. Yeon Cheonguk stood up from the sofa and dragged his slippers into the recording studio. The boss patted Yeon Cheonguk’s shoulder as he opened the recording studio door.
“Don’t worry about anything! Don’t worry and focus on singing right now. If there’s anything I can help with, you can talk to me or the detective anytime, got it?”
“No, well. It’s fine. I’ll take care of it myself.”
Yeon Cheonguk, who responded in an indifferent tone, entered the sealed room.
He took a deep breath to forget all the things that had just been jumbling his head.
When he closed the door, truly only the song and Yeon Cheonguk, just the two of them, remained.
By the time the deep breathing was ending, the pot-bellied ahjussi and Boss Hyung sitting beyond the glass weren’t even in Yeon Cheonguk’s sight. If this was one of Yeon Cheonguk’s talents, this was one. Once he stood before a song, no one around him was visible.
On the school trip day too, on the Migliore stage too. Even in those two opportunities when he sang in front of many audiences, it was like that. Nothing else existed in the world except himself crossing through the world along with the melody.
Only the song that was flowing life.
When he stood before the microphone, he became free from his surroundings as if isolated in another world. So there was nothing to be nervous about, nothing to make mistakes about.
“Try your most confident one.”
Though he barely advanced to an academic high school out of fear of his father’s discrimination, he ultimately couldn’t attach interest to studying. He was practically a throwaway child, treated like a worthless grasshopper. Still, Yeon Cheonguk had several talents. His innate sense for interpersonal relationships when dealing with people including women. His unexpected diligence. His ability to escape reality without getting too depressed. And,
The heart that loved the moment of singing. Because he felt for himself that only that sincerity was the best without needing to compare with anyone, he could remain indifferent to big and small evaluations.
The song selection was also decided without much worry. Without hesitation, it was the song he’d been singing and stopped recently.
“I’ll try it.”
The intro accompaniment with humming soon began.
*It’s too hard*
*That you’re beside someone else*
*From long before the first day I saw you*
*It must have already been that way*
Though not even a few weeks had passed, he felt different emotions from when he sang the same song on the phone at home. His chest felt heavy and aching as if several pounds of meat had been placed on it.
In a way, it was a good song to pour out painful emotions. Since his heart had grown like a flower in a greenhouse to spit out the harsh pain of unrequited love, Yeon Cheonguk extracted different pain from his body.
Though the shape was different, the depth was similar pain. Despair, frustration, sympathy, pity, envy, longing, his shabby self…. He pulled out the storm-like events covering his life and hurled them out at the top of his voice. While thinking the climax high notes burst out from his body.
*When I see you who I cannot love*
*My aching heart keeps collapsing*
*Can’t I, if you love me*
*Can’t you know my heart a little*
*Or you can think of me as that person*
*If only you’ll be with me*
He appealed with all his strength while thinking his vocal volume several times his body size burst out even beyond the underground recording studio. To understand the pain.
The song that explosively shook inside and outside the sealed room ended.
His throat was parched and his head was also slightly dizzy. Yeon Cheonguk exhaled deeply and opened his eyes. The expression of the official he faced first was puzzling.
“…….”
The pot-bellied man was nodding his head slightly while resting his chin. Seeing him nodding, hope arose that it might be a positive reaction.
“Good. The high note handling isn’t bad. Not becoming falsetto at this level of high notes is a big advantage but….”
“Haah.”
At the praise, a sigh of relief came out naturally. Yeon Cheonguk wiped away a drop of sweat that ran down his cheek. The pot-bellied official continued his review.
“There’s some kuse (*meaning ‘bad habit’) of trying to gloss over pitch or breathing, does this kid originally have a slippery side to his personality too?”
“Ah… haha….”
The official threw a joking question toward the boss. But only Yeon Cheonguk laughed awkwardly while the boss had no answer.
“Boss Kim! Are you sleeping?”
“…….”
Only when the official called out loudly toward the back did the boss come to his senses.
The boss who had been sitting on the sofa listening to Yeon Cheonguk’s song had a noticeably dazed face. Whether he was lost in thought, immersed in the afterglow, or really dozed off couldn’t be determined. Looking at how his earlobes were flushed red, it didn’t seem like he’d been sleeping.
He smiled awkwardly and shrugged his shoulders. It was curious what thoughts he’d been lost in to be unable to come to his senses like that, but Yeon Cheonguk soon turned off his interest in him. It was because the official continued the evaluation.
“No need to sing so heavily. Do you have some worry? You don’t seem like you’re in unrequited love but just a kid whose life is hard!”
When Yeon Cheonguk sort of smiled or not, the official grinned and threw a joke.
“And you brat, you haven’t dated, have you. Do you even know what love is?”
