Chapter 71. His First Song is a Hurricane? (3)

Translator: Synopsis

***

KangYoon headed to the café in Hongdae where he promised to meet up with HeeYoon and Park SoYoung. He was taking Min JinSeo with him as well. Of course, she was disguised beforehand so that no one could recognize her.

When they entered the café, HeeYoon was already waiting for them.

“Oppa, over here.”

HeeYoon waved her hand to greet KangYoon, but her expression turned strange when she saw Min JinSeo following KangYoon in. KangYoon didn’t seem to notice that and waved back at her.

“Oppa, you’re here.”

“Did you wait for long?”

“Not really. Who’s that behind you?”

HeeYoon was on guard against the woman KangYoon had brought. Her brother’s girl? She felt rather strange. KangYoon seemed to realize that and introduced the girl.

“HeeYoon, say hello. This is Min JinSeo, who would be going with us today. JinSeo, this is my sister HeeYoon. And she’s her friend, Park SoYoung.”

“Your sister, sir? Oh, hello. My name is Min JinSeo.”

When Min JinSeo took off her sunglasses and scarf, HeeYoon and Park SoYoung were flabbergasted. The idol of all teens, the wannabe, role model – the girl with such titles to her name had appeared before them.

“Mi… Min Jin….”

Meanwhile, Min JinSeo approached her kindlier when she heard that she was KangYoon’s sister. She even expressed her friendliness by grabbing HeeYoon’s hands, and that made HeeYoon shake. KangYoon only shrugged his shoulders.

After greeting each other, the four headed to the concert venue. The concert venue wasn’t that far away from the café. Min JinSeo seemed surprised to find out that KangYoon had a sister and tried to get closer to HeeYoon. HeeYoon also gradually opened her heart to her as well. With Park SoYoung joining the fray, the three soon started bantering loudly

“It’s here.”

Having arrived at the entrance to the concert venue, KangYoon handed in the ticket and lead everyone inside.

“Wow….”

The girls were surprised to see no seats in the audience. They were kind of curious to see a small yet dynamic stage they had only seen through TVs.

“HeeYoon. Do tell me if you feel ill.”

“Okay.”

KangYoon warned HeeYoon to tell him the slightest mishaps. He was slightly worried due to the loud music and the unventilated venue. However, he also thought that it should be fine since she was gradually getting better.

KangYoon and the others could grab their places at the front. They were relatively early. The stage was set with instruments and there was some smoke from the fog machine along with purple lights. The smoke specific to fog machines provoked KangYoon’s nose. He also smelled some stuffy smell unique to underground stages.

With the concert approaching, people started entering. The audience was mostly couples and college students of both genders. People started entering and the empty concert venue started being filled with chatters.

When they were getting loud, darkness pervaded the concert venue. Then, the spotlight shone on the center of the stage. There was one woman standing there. It was Lee HyunAh.

“Hello~!”

“Waaaaaaa—-!”

The people started cheering along with her appearance. When HeeYoon looked around in surprise, all the others were looking at the front with wide eyes.

“Welcome to our, ‘The Formidables’, concert. Let’s have a blast today! Are you ready!!”

“Yeaaaaaah~!”

“Are you ready~!!”

“Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Lee HyunAh’s concert began with a loud shout that filled the venue.

***

??–?–??–?

The sound of a piano rang out in the house. Gye HyoMin closed her eyes and felt the weight of the notes on the piano. She played softly where it needed to be and strong where it required strength to play the melody. The music flowed like flowing water as her playing continued.

Her body was dripping with sweat. She usually practiced continuously once she sat down. Nothing came into her vision when she was practicing.

However.

The practice ended abruptly due to a disharmony. The sound she wanted didn’t come out in the part where the tempo slowly rose.

“Just where did it go wrong!”

Indeed, just where did it go wrong.

Shouted Gye HyoMin. Her head could play it, but her hands couldn’t keep up.

“Aah…….”

A chaotic mind resulted in chaotic playing.

Again and again, she tried, but she kept stumbling.

Even after repeating several times, she was stuck in the same bit.

Chopin Barcarolle.

It was a tricky song that even world-famous pianists found it tricky. It was a rather infamous song that not many people picked, saying it got harder the more you played it. However, there were many people who wanted to listen to it, and she herself had the desire to do this, and she chose this song.

“Aaah……!”

However, her hands didn’t follow her heart.

***

Park SoYoung had already become one with the rest of the audience and was jumping excitedly. Min JinSeo was the same. She even put her arms around someone else’s shoulders and enjoyed the music. HeeYoon couldn’t jump but she still clapped and enjoyed the stage in her own way.

Although everyone’s way of enjoying was different, everyone was indeed cheering for Lee HyunAh’s stage.

‘Cool.’

KangYoon was honestly surprised. Lee HyunAh was shining on the stage. The white light from the band ‘The Formidables’ also stimulated KangYoon’s eyes. KangYoon had also become an audience that cheered.

Like that, a round of exciting music went past and then came a slight rest. Lee HyunAh panted slightly and spoke to the audience.

“The one I’m going to sing this time is our main song.”

“Waaaaaa—.”

The audience cheered. Until now she had only sung remakes of famous songs. It was now the main, so everyone’s focus gathered again.

“It’s a song called ‘Do you have some time?’, and… I’ll continue after I let you listen to it.”

She sent a signal to the drums as if there was no need to speak anymore. The drummer soon ticked four times with the stick. The bass slid and the other instruments entered as well.

“Perhaps I might be busy today – and tomorrow’s no good either – “

When her song started ringing across the stage rhythmically, the audience entered the beat as well with their claps. The rhythmical yet not so fast song made them shake their shoulders.

“At that time – come closer—to me – whoo~.”

The clean tone from the guitar snapped into the beat. The bass also snapped occasionally to follow the guitar. With the voice in the mix, the audience cheered even more.

It was a rather revitalizing song for the audience who became tired after jumping around all this time. However, the melody to the ears was also very addictive. The audience started following the song with the lyrics they had just heard.

“Whoo—let us meet again—“

“Let us meet again. |

Lee HyunAh was overcome with emotions when she heard the audience following her. The number of audience members didn’t matter. What mattered was that they cheered on for her. It felt different but still good to the performances she did before that.

She put all her emotions to it and the song came to the climax. Her voice climbed, and the audience’s cheers climbed as well. Everyone was one.

With that, a song came to an end. Along with a loud applause, cheers filled the venue.

“Thank you.”

Lee HyunAh calmed down the audience that still clapped towards her and grabbed the mic again. When she signaled that she was about to speak, everyone calmed down.

“Was this song okay?”

“Yes!”

“Thank you.”

“Whaaaaaaa— “

Cheers and applause erupted again. She felt overwhelmed with emotions with her first song being acknowledged. However, she calmed herself down again and continued.

“Was the song just now okay?”

“YEESS!”

Everyone said at the same time. She seemed satisfied with the answer and she clapped once and the audience all waved their hands.

‘Good manners.’

Seeing Lee HyunAh on stage, KangYoon could see qualities of a star in her. Not to mention Min JinSeo, HeeYoon and Park SoYoung were completely into the performance right now. The Lee HyunAh on stage was shining. Even though this shouldn’t be something she learned before, she was that talented. With that much, KangYoon could judge that she could definitely succeed.

Lee HyunAh calmed down and spoke on.

“The song just now actually has a little story behind it. You know? I’m actually quite shy.”

“Hahaha!”

Her actions were contrasting to her words, so everyone ended up laughing. Even the band members behind her started giggling. Lee HyunAh pouted slightly. Then, the laughing became even louder.

“I really am though….”

“Lol.”

“Anyway, this is a song I made together with someone who opened a path to the shy me. He was the first one to tell me that my song has potential and has acknowledged my way. He’s here today too. Over there.”

She pointed towards the third row where KangYoon was standing. When everyone’s gazes focused on him, KangYoon looked around before pointing to himself.

“He gave me this song and made me what I am today. Please give him a round of applause.”

“Oooooooh—“

Along with her words, people started clapping towards KangYoon. KangYoon was surprised, but he still eventually greeted the people.

However….

‘He… made her a song?’

Min JinSeo’s expression beneath her thick glasses became extremely dark.

.

.

.

The performance ended and KangYoon had a short meeting with Lee HyunAh. Since she now had fans, he couldn’t stay with her for long. Even so, he greeted her and gave her some flowers before exiting the stage. (T/N: Is this common in the west? Giving flowers to someone is usually to congratulate people.)

“That was perfect!”

“She was awesome!”

HeeYoon and Park SoYoung still seemed to have lingering emotions about the stage. Talking about how they got to take selfies with Lee HyunAh, they were really like every other girl of their age.

“…….”

However, Min JinSeo didn’t speak at all. KangYoon asked her in confusion.

“JinSeo, was today’s performance no good?”

“It was. It was very interesting.”

Though, her expression told the complete opposite. KangYoon felt sorry when he was the one to call her out for this one.

“Was there something that you didn’t like?”

“Not at all.”

“Then what is it? You don’t look well.”

“…….”

KangYoon kept asking since she looked completely different to her usual self, but she kept quiet. KangYoon left the other two to walk up front and walked next to Min JinSeo. Since he was the one to invite her, he felt some kind of responsibility.

“…Can I ask you one thing?”

“Go on.”

“…Is it true that you made a song for Miss HyunAh like she said?”

KangYoon flinched. He could feel the intense heat in her eyes behind those fake glasses. Since he had never seen such a side of her, KangYoon was shocked. Though, he still spoke without panicking.

“Rather than making her a song…. You know how I receive music lessons nowadays, right?”

“Yes, I heard last time.”

“HyunAh is someone I got to know at that time. And one day, she brought me a song she composed. With her and the professor in charge’s help, I made a tiny melody line. Making a song? I’m still not that skilled yet.”

“…….”

Min JinSeo stopped her steps and faced KangYoon. KangYoon didn’t know why he had to talk about this, but he still spoke to console her. She stared at KangYoon for a little before walking again.

“So, you didn’t make her a song, but gave her help.”

“To be exact, yeah.”

“What the heck, I….”

Min JinSeo’s expression finally brightened. KangYoon couldn’t understand why Min JinSeo was like this. No, he remembered something.

“JinSeo, is it because that I told you that I’ll give you my first song?”

“I’m okay with that now.”

“…….”

KangYoon felt embarrassed now. He coughed awkwardly and walked while looking at the ground when she spoke again.

“I’ll just buy every single one of your songs.”

“…….”

KangYoon grabbed his head in agony thinking about what to do with this girl.

***

After ‘The Formidables’ first stage, the digital single ‘Do you have some time’ went up on a music website.

“Hey hey, we got a comment.”

Kim JinDae became excited after looking at a comment on the website. It was the first comment after 12 hours.

-The song is so good. I’ll look forward to more in the future. Wow!

Although there weren’t many recommendations, that single comment made him overjoyed.

“JinDae-oppa is getting excited again.”

“Leave him be. Today’s an exception.”

Lee ChaHee, the bass player, and Jung ChanGyu, the electric guitar player shook their heads. However, they were actually very happy as well.

While the instruments were getting set up, Lee HyunAh was texting.

– The setting is so hard. T0T Oppa~~ What are you doing right now~?

– Work

She sent a text message full of her heart, but the reply was extremely simple. She couldn’t send anymore when he was at work, so she suddenly became very dejected.

“HyunAh! We’re done!”

Lee ChaHee shouted since speaking in a small voice didn’t seem to work.

“Sorry about that.”

“Your boyfriend?”

“I wish.”

“Whew, then a good mood between the two of you?”

Lee HyunAh dejectedly shook her head at her question. Lee ChaHee patted her back.

“There there! Let’s start now!”

However, Lee HyunAh recovered in time for practice and they started practicing passionately again.

***

“…We are done with liaising the venue. The schedule is 27th and 28th of March at Sejin Recital Hall.”

“That’s good.”

KangYoon explained to Gye HyoMin the current status. Originally, this was something that’s supposed to be told to her manager or the president of where she belongs, but Gye HyoMin was currently without a management company.

She seemed satisfied by his work and put down the papers he gave her.

“Both the venue and the dates are fine. So, all I must do is to focus on the performance now?”

“Yes, unless a natural disaster suddenly collapses the venue, you only need to prepare yourself for that day.”

“Fu, as expected. MG Entertainment isn’t a big company for nothing.”

There was no reason for such a large company to scam her. Moreover, the documents KangYoon gave her had the stamp from the owner of Sejin Recital Hall. She now no longer needed to be worried about scams or anything else. She sighed in relief.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Phew….”

“How is your condition?”

“Not bad.”

“You do not have a management company, are you fine with that?”

“I’ll have to try.”

This was what KangYoon was worried about. The difference between having a management company to take care of everything else other than her performance versus not having one at all was actually very big. This decided her mindset while practicing after all.

“Hmm…. May I observe for the time being then? I need to see how prepared you are for the performance.”

“Okay then.”

“Then I’ll come back in three days.”

KangYoon set the schedule and disbanded.

Three days later.

KangYoon arrived in front of a house with a simplified map. Gye HyoMin’s residence was a house that looked quite spooky. When he was lead inside by the janitor, he could hear beautiful piano sounds.

‘Sounds nice.’

KangYoon became absent-minded by the beautiful piano sound for a moment. The rapidly changing tempo charmed him.

“It’s here.”

Lead by the janitor, he carefully stepped inside.

“Gosh, why!”

However, what he saw as soon as he entered was Gye HyoMin halting her playing and smashing on the keys of the piano.