NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 14 - The Stage Schedule Has Been Set
Today, Hyeseong Middle School, where I’m currently attending, was peaceful as usual.
The spring breeze I felt while sitting on a bench during lunch time seemed somehow warm and comforting, and the sight of male students playing ball in the schoolyard looked truly lively.
Also, from the music room on the first floor came the sound of clumsy piano playing, and as always, groups of female students were probably chattering and laughing loudly in various corners of the classroom.
Hmm. It was the sight of an extremely peaceful middle school by anyone’s standards.
Well…
“Damn it!! What the hell is this song?!”
It was peaceful but annoyingly noisy.
I looked at the culprit who had shouted with an expressionless face.
Kim Taehwan.
The guy with a Bluetooth earphone in one ear was shouting in an extremely excited voice.
“Are you telling me to listen to that now?”
“Of course! So hurry up and sympathize with me. You must have heard those songs too.”
“Baek Yerin’s songs?”
“More precisely, Baek Yerin and Haon’s songs.”
Baek Yerin and Haon.
These were the names of a singer and composer who had just debuted under RT Entertainment a few days ago.
And the world was now abuzz with their story.
[A historic performance of releasing a 3rd album right from debut despite being a rookie singer. People who bought the album out of curiosity are pouring out extreme praise…]
[The identity of the 3rd album rookie singer surprising the world turns out to be just a 16-year-old middle school student?]
[Baek Yerin’s songs have massively entered the TOP 30 of the music charts! Among them, one song easily took the 1st place just a day after being registered on the music sites, literally causing a great upheaval in the music market]
At first, many opinions claimed it was just noise marketing, but the moment people heard the songs, their reactions instantly became transparent.
On top of that, the identity of the singer who sang the songs was none other than a 16-year-old female middle school student…
Moreover, she was incredibly pretty, had a good voice, and sang so well that she was called a genius singer, earning her the title of ‘cheat character’.
People finally began to understand why Kang Beom-joon had made the bold decision to release a 3rd album for a rookie singer.
For me, it was truly a proud sight.
Because her historic debut had become so special.
Although I worked hard for a few months for this, the hard work didn’t feel wasted at all.
Probably everyone at RT Entertainment would think the same.
─Hah… CEO. We already have so much to deal with, and now there are too many inquiry calls coming in. I feel like cutting the phone lines.
─What are you talking about? I’m getting over a hundred interview requests a day. Let’s all work 24 hours a day together! Hahaha.
─C-CEO! Your nose is bleeding!
Hmm… probably?
I smiled contentedly and said to Kim Taehwan.
“I’ve listened to all of Baek Yerin’s songs. It feels like I’ve suddenly become her fan.”
“Oh, then what do you think about the composer Haon?”
“Why suddenly ask about the composer?”
At my question, Kim Taehwan let out a deep sigh for some reason.
“Don’t you understand what the real core of this situation is? The emergence of a genius singer? Okay. I agree with that part too. But what made Baek Yerin stand out even more was none other than the songs themselves.”
“Hmm…”
“But all these songs of such outstanding quality were created through one person. What do you think this means?”
“That the composer’s ability is excellent?”
“Beyond excellent, he’s just crazy.”
I’m sorry, but that crazy person is right in front of you.
By the way, Haon was my pen name as a composer.
─Why did you choose Haon?
Suddenly, a conversation I had with Baek Yerin a few weeks ago came to mind.
─There’s no particular meaning, my old name was Ryu Haon. I just remembered that and roughly attached it.
─Your current name is a changed one?
─Yeah. My parents went to some temple and a famous monk there recommended changing the name or something…
I don’t know the detailed reason either.
My mother only told me that through that monk’s recommendation, my name eventually changed from Ryu Haon to Ryu Won.
And what my pen name is doesn’t really matter.
What’s important is that by not revealing my identity, Baek Yerin shines even more.
Just looking at the reactions in online communities, everyone was praising the emergence of a genius singer.
If attention keeps focusing on her like this, there won’t be a chance for the composer Haon to surface.
At least, that’s what I thought.
* * *
After all of Baek Yerin’s albums were released, the content of an interview with a famous person was uploaded to various media outlets.
He expressed this opinion:
─While the singer’s talent is clearly outstanding, this is simply because the songs themselves are just good.
If an ordinary person had said those words, they would have been buried without receiving any attention.
But this time, the story was a bit different.
Lee Ji-hak. 50 years old.
A music critic and famous composer. And the current CEO of Queen, one of the top 3 entertainment agencies.
He was a representative figure leading Korean popular music.
─I listened to the songs from the recently controversial album to check what nonsense Kang Beom-joon was up to. And I was shocked. Especially the title track of the 1st album,
And such a person did not hold back his praise.
To the extent of making a request.
─Thanks to this, I couldn’t help but listen to all the songs in the album as if bewitched, and the fact that all these songs were written and composed by one person astounded me. At the same time, I was extremely excited. About what kind of person this composer Haon is… So I hope Kang Beom-joon introduces Haon to the world as soon as possible. He, like Baek Yerin, is fully qualified to receive people’s recognition and attention.
For reference, Kang Beom-joon responded to that interview by appearing in an interview himself and saying this:
Because the composer only wants his songs to be evaluated, there will be no occasion to reveal his identity in the future.
. . .
[Haon’s identity?! Amidst rampant speculation, names of amazing composers keep being mentioned among experts]
[CEO Lee Ji-hak, “There’s no way someone who composed songs of this level is a rookie. If they are a rookie…”]
“See? I told you Haon’s name would surface within a few days.”
Kim Taehwan proudly told Ryu Won the recent news about Haon.
People still focus only on the emergence of the genius singer Baek Yerin and how good the songs are.
For them, those two positive facts alone were enough to feel satisfied.
But the stance of experts working in the industry was a bit different.
They couldn’t help but be curious about Haon’s identity.
Why?
Unlike the singer Baek Yerin, Haon is a composer.
Composers are relatively free from restrictions on their activities.
From the start, people working in the music industry are all more or less the same, so exchanges tend to be active.
Simply put, it means that collaboration becomes possible anytime once friendships are built.
But if one keeps working while hiding their identity, it becomes difficult to make contacts, and a picture is painted of RT Entertainment completely monopolizing Haon.
“So instead, they’re criticizing Haon and RT Entertainment. Saying there must be some dirty reason why they can’t reveal his identity.”
“That’s ridiculous talk.”
“Right. It’s ridiculous talk. But don’t you think RT Entertainment will handle that part well on their own?”
Ryu Won smiled bitterly at Kim Taehwan’s words.
They won’t deal with it at all.
Because there was no need to.
That’s because they still had one ultimate trump card they hadn’t shown to the world yet.
Ryu Won recalled.
The appearance of a certain singer who had shown a truly unforgettable and special moment in life.
“Yerin. Finally, the schedule for your first stage has been set.”
And that moment was not far off now.
Originally, issues get buried under bigger issues.
When the moment comes for Baek Yerin to take the stage and sing in front of people,
That’s when the interest directed at him will completely fade away.
Ryu Won was confident of this.
‘Assuming it ends safely, that is.’
However, recalling a certain incident from his previous life, he felt a bit uneasy.
No matter how good her mentality is, and how bright a girl she is…
“She’s a real genius, a genius. People would be shocked if you told them you only started properly learning to sing a few months ago, right?”
“Your expression acting just now was perfect, wasn’t it? This is the first time a music video shoot has gone this smoothly. As expected, a genius singer is different from the start.”
“These are all gifts from fans that came for you. I didn’t expect this much when a fandom hasn’t even been formed yet…”
Because too much expectation and attention could sometimes lead in a bad direction.