-Agency in State of Emergency After Sudden Tragedy.
-‘Chanhwi’ Visits the Funeral of His Archrival, ‘Yujin.’
“Fewer people came than I expected.”
Team Leader Gong, who had come to Yujin's funeral hall with Chanhwi and the road manager, looked around as he spoke.
“What do you mean, fewer people? Didn't you see how many were swarming outside the funeral hall?”
“Hey, those are the media. Of course they're here.”
News that Yujin had died at home had been reported online.
His manager had found him after visiting his home to pick him up for his schedule.
According to the police investigation, suicide was the most likely explanation.
Yujin's death shocked not only South Korea but the entire world.
Not long after the online articles appeared, his death was reported as breaking news on terrestrial television.
Reporters from nearby Japan and China rushed to Yujin's funeral hall, and word even spread that people were coming from more distant countries to cover the story.
The entrance to the funeral hall was packed with funeral wreaths sent not only by agencies but also by broadcasters, advertising companies, and every corner of the industry.
Fans who had loved Yujin's songs were permitted to pay their respects with a silent bow in a separate area prepared for them.
Compared with all that, however, the inside of the funeral hall felt so desolate that empty seats remained.
“Honestly. I can't tell whether he was popular or unpopular.”
The agency's CEO and employees were inside the funeral hall, but there was none of the weeping or wailing one would naturally expect in a place like this.
The sight was the answer to the path he had walked until now.
The three quietly paid their respects, then sat in some empty seats.
“I'm going to say hello to the CEO over there for a moment. You two go ahead and eat.”
Once Team Leader Gong left and only the two of them remained, the road manager cautiously called to Chanhwi.
“Chanhwi. Are you all right?”
He was worried because Chanhwi had been in bad shape ever since hearing the news about Yujin.
The moment he heard the news that morning, Chanhwi had rushed straight to the funeral hall, his face deathly pale.
The road manager knew that the two shared a bond deep enough for the public to call them archrivals, so he handled Chanhwi with care.
After thinking about something, Chanhwi spoke quietly.
“I got a call early yesterday morning.”
The moment he heard that Yujin was dead, he had remembered the call from before dawn.
The out-of-the-blue question, ‘Do you enjoy this industry?’ and the bitter farewell, ‘Goodbye.’
At first he had been uncertain, but the instant he heard the news, the memory had returned as the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.
“Should I have said something to him then?”
It was the road manager's first time seeing Chanhwi so dejected, and he struggled to decide what to say.
But the answer came not from him, but from somewhere else.
“Nothing you said would've made any difference.”
Team Leader Gong had returned from greeting the CEO and delivered the words as he sat down.
Chanhwi's eyes sharpened at the caustic remark.
“What did you say?”
“They found an old suicide note in his home.”
Chanhwi's eyes trembled at that.
The note being old meant that Yujin had been planning his death for a long time.
“What did it say?”
Team Leader Gong looked as though he had debated for a long time whether to tell him, but when Chanhwi asked again, he spoke.
“That he had fallen into a rut.”
Because he was always number one.
“That he was tormented by malicious comments.”
A ceaseless stream of deliberately vicious comments must have come from the envy and resentment of other teams' fans.
“And that he had become an alcoholic.”
Chanhwi could vividly imagine Yujin turning to alcohol to forget his pain.
He must have been barely suppressing all those symptoms when he stood onstage at the awards ceremony.
“The note will be in the news soon, and his agency says they'll respond aggressively to the bastards who left those comments.”
Team Leader Gong's words no longer reached Chanhwi's ears.
As Chanhwi mulled over the contents of the note, he finally swore.
“That fucking bastard.”
Chanhwi's face twisted into a savage scowl as he cursed, and his tightly clenched fist showed no sign of opening.
Team Leader Gong did not bother asking whom the curse was aimed at.
The bastards who had left Yujin those comments.
Himself, for failing to prevent Yujin's death.
Or Yujin, for dying over something like that.
Team Leader Gong sighed. Deciding that no good would come of staying any longer, he spoke.
“......Let's go. I think we've done everything we can here. And Manjun, stop stuffing your face with spicy beef soup.”
The road manager, Manjun, who had just lifted a spoonful of red broth, looked resentfully at Team Leader Gong.
“I've only had one bite.”
“Hey now, is the road manager talking back?”
While the two bickered, Chanhwi rose and headed to the shoe rack.
As the other two hurried after him and finished putting on their shoes, someone stopped them.
“Are you leaving already?”
“Oh, Yujin's mother. It's an honor to meet you, but for it to happen on an occasion like this...”
Team Leader Gong was especially uncomfortable around Yujin's mother, who had come to see them off.
And the reason she intimidated him was not merely that she was the mother of a world-famous singer.
Along with Yujin's death, her identity had risen to the top of the portal sites' search rankings.
Yujin had never revealed his family history, so for seven years, no one had known who his mother was.
Then a completely unexpected figure had appeared as the chief mourner.
Master Im Yeo-un, the current heir to South Korea's oldest family of traditional singers.
She was Yujin's mother.
Chanhwi thought her cold features looked exactly like Yujin's.
“Yujin's death is a terrible tragedy. I sincerely hope he can rest in peace.”
“......If I'd known it would end this way, I should've stopped him from becoming a singer no matter what.”
That single sentence revealed the gulf that had existed between them.
Wanting to deny it, Team Leader Gong answered.
“I don't know if this is my place to say as someone from another agency, but I'm sure you've heard it from people at his agency too. Yujin's music was recognized all over the world. Even now, many fans have come to mourn him. I don't believe his efforts were in vain.”
After delivering that passionate speech, Team Leader Gong cleared his throat, wondering whether he had overstepped.
“Thank you for saying that.”
When Im Yeo-un bowed her head, Team Leader Gong waved his hands dismissively.
“Not at all. I'm worried I interfered where I shouldn't have. Then we'll be going.”
Leaving Mrs. Im Yeo-un behind, the three exited the funeral hall and naturally went their separate ways without anyone having to suggest it.
Starting tomorrow, stages without Yujin awaited them.
***
Yujin's death was tragic, but the world did not stop just because people were grieving.
If anything, some singers moved aggressively as though they had been waiting for Yujin to die, and Chanhwi was one of them.
He worked even harder than the previous year, keeping himself so busy that even four bodies would not have been enough.
His efforts finally bore fruit when he won four awards at the 2030 BMA.
After accepting his third award, his name was called for the fourth time.
-The winner of Artist of the Year is Chanhwi. Congratulations!
When the actress at the MC's podium called Chanhwi, he rose from his seat and headed for the stage.
“Congratulations!”
“The eternal runner-up finally took first place!”
Many seniors and juniors congratulated him, but Chanhwi did not look even slightly happy.
When he climbed onto the stage and gave his acceptance speech, Chanhwi said something a little unexpected, unlike the three speeches he had delivered earlier.
“I lost.”
It was a sudden declaration of defeat, but everyone quickly realized who it was meant for.
“In a world without you, I worked even harder than I did in the days when you were here.”
He had even collapsed during a schedule and been taken to the hospital for the first time since his debut.
“Even then, I couldn't break your record.”
It might have sounded arrogant to the singers who had not won, but everyone knew how hard Chanhwi had worked.
Chanhwi added one last sentence.
“Do you like running away after you win?”
***
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“Good. Let's keep this up.”
Team Leader Gong praised Chanhwi with a bright smile.
What had happened was tragic, but with the wall blocking Chanhwi's path now gone, he had no doubt that only a smooth road lay ahead of him.
But Chanhwi never stood on an awards stage again after that.
Like ash left behind after everything had burned away, he plunged into a severe slump.
He was tormented by malicious comments about his harsh words and conduct.
In an attempt to overcome them, he ultimately turned to alcohol and drugs.
And yet...
“......What is this?”
In the mirror, Chanhwi was staring at his own reflection from ten years earlier.