Think about it.
Two men wearing sunglasses had entered the concert hall, and one of them had drawn attention before the show even began.
Perhaps because of that, Im Chang-won's gaze kept turning toward those two men in sunglasses.
Like someone debating whether to do something.
‘This is making me nervous.’
“Wow, he can go really high.”
Watching Yujin enjoy the song beside me, oblivious to everything, made me sigh.
Well, Im Chang-won's performance was that good. No, it was a masterpiece.
His handling of the high notes made you wonder how far he could climb.
His performance drew great responses from the audience too.
The audience especially loved the segment where he passed someone a microphone and had them sing.
It had started as an audition segment at his concerts, but the response had been so good that he began holding it during the break at every concert.
Of course, Im Chang-won's signature songs were so high-pitched that they were not easy to sing along to.
“I looooved the moment when we first met!”
Voices cracked like that, but the audience laughed as though even the cracks were entertaining.
Whenever someone sang well amid all that, they gasped in admiration too.
And at last, the moment came.
-Those two over there have been catching my attention for a while.
Im Chang-won's finger pointed our way.
-Yes. You two in sunglasses. Stop looking at each other and look this way.
When we turned toward Im Chang-won, he smiled and asked us a question.
-My attention keeps drifting over there. Out of this entire audience, you two are the only ones wearing sunglasses.
It seemed the sunglasses were attracting attention for no reason.
When we got back, I would have to ask the company to replace them with something else.
-Are you two friends?
Friends?
At the question, we both tilted our heads at the same time.
The question that rose in my mind was, ‘Do I really think of this guy as a friend?’
In my past life, we had been rivals fighting over the rankings, so there had been no friendship between us.
But now?
We had been living and practicing together for over a month.
At this point, couldn't I call him a friend?
I nodded.
-What? Why are you two giving different answers?
Wondering what he meant, I whipped my head to the side and saw Yujin shaking his head.
‘......Ha!’
So that was how he wanted to play it.
-Are you friends or not?
When we both began shaking our heads at the same time, Im Chang-won asked us that.
-Never mind. Which of you is the better singer?
At the question, Yujin confidently thrust his hand into the air.
Then he looked at me beside him with a self-assured smile that seemed to say, ‘I sing better than you, don't I?’
-You do? Staff, please take a microphone to that guy.
A woman in staff clothing approached Yujin and held out a microphone.
-Oh, and take off his sunglasses too.
At Im Chang-won's instruction, the staff member asked permission with an “Excuse me,” and removed Yujin's sunglasses.
“Oh my.......”
The staff member's quiet exclamation at the sight of Yujin's face was picked up by the microphone and echoed through the concert hall.
At the same time, a spotlight focused on Yujin's uncovered face, and it appeared on the giant screen behind Im Chang-won.
“Ah.......”
Seeing his own face on the screen, Yujin scratched his cheek awkwardly.
-Wow, I really agonized over whether to choose those two guys, you know?
They looked unusual, and I spent ages wondering whether giving them a microphone would be fun or a total dud before I finally did it.
-Judging by the audience's reaction, I think I chose well. Now you only have to sing well, my friend.
In truth, Im Chang-won would have liked him to sing well, but if he sang badly, that reversal would be entertaining in its own way, so either outcome was fine.
-What song do you want to sing? You can sing one of mine or another singer's song.
At Im Chang-won's question, Yujin held the microphone, thought for a moment, and answered.
“I'll sing Senior Im Chang-won's ‘To Write.’”
The word senior made the audience tilt their heads, but Im Chang-won did not notice.
-‘To Write.’ Not many people know this song. Okay. Play it for us.
As a gentle piano prelude began to flow, Yujin looked around at the audience.
With a gaze that seemed intent on preserving the scene before him forever, Yujin began to sing.
I think of you
And pick up my pen once more.
Yujin's song was what I had expected. No, it surpassed my expectations.
He sang so well that his talent combined with that face made me want to cry foul.
Im Chang-won's ‘To Write.’ was about someone writing a letter while longing for a lover from whom they had parted forever.
If someday I stand before you
There is so much I want to say.
“Huh......?”
“Hey, are you crying?”
One audience member realized that tears were running down their cheeks.
The same scene appeared throughout the audience, and some people burst into sobs as if remembering lovers from whom they had parted.
Yujin had captured the song's emotional arc so well that the audience became completely immersed.
Even if it is all useless now
I love you.
As he finished the last lyric, thunderous applause poured from the audience.
Tears had ruined the makeup of more than half the crowd, but they paid it no mind and applauded.
-Wow, shit, man. Seriously.
Im Chang-won, who had been listening from the stage, spent a long time searching for an exclamation that could express his admiration. What finally came out was the highest praise he could manage.
-I think you sing better than I do. Want to sing the rest?
The absurd question offering him the stage made the audience erupt in laughter.
-Hey, I'm serious. Why are you laughing?
After delivering an old joke about growing a horn on your butt if you laugh after crying, Im Chang-won spoke to the bewildered Yujin.
-I'm saying that because you were genuinely good. Have you ever thought about becoming a singer?
Im Chang-won had recently established a small agency.
The young man looked certain to make it big as a singer, so Im Chang-won asked out of genuine interest. Yujin looked troubled and glanced at Chanhwi beside him.
After the two exchanged a few words, Yujin raised the microphone again and answered Im Chang-won.
“I'm sorry. I already have an agency.”
At Yujin's answer, both the audience and Im Chang-won stared at him in surprise.
His gaze suggested he meant to remember Yujin if the boy turned out to be a singer he did not know, and then Im Chang-won asked another question.
-I don't recognize your face. Are you an idol?
“I'm still a trainee.”
-Ah, a trainee.
Im Chang-won smacked his lips regretfully. Whoever the CEO was, he had certainly recruited a remarkable talent. With that thought, Im Chang-won turned his gaze aside.
-Then is the friend beside you one too?
Yujin passed the microphone he was holding to Chanhwi.
With an expression that said the inevitable had arrived, Chanhwi handed his smartphone to Yujin in exchange for the microphone.
“Yes.”
-It would be a shame to let him do it alone, wouldn't it? Why don't you sing a song too?
Chanhwi gave a faint smile at Im Chang-won's question and asked.
“Then may I sing onstage?”
-Oh?
Im Chang-won let out a disbelieving laugh at his nerve.
He had seen people hesitate when asked to sing or sing from their seats, but this was the first person who had asked to come all the way onstage.
-All right. Come on up. Staff, please guide him over here.
As I left my seat and followed the staff member, the entire audience watched me.
‘I can't do the same thing he did.’
Now that an opportunity like this had come, I intended to show them the best performance I could give.
Chanhwi took the microphone from the staff member, climbed onto the stage, and faced Im Chang-won.
“What are you planning to sing that brought you all the way onstage?”
I had chosen my song before coming onstage, even while Yujin was still singing.
“I'll sing your song ‘I Hate Ballads.’”
“Oh. Dance crew! Could you help this guy for a moment?”
Since he had come all the way onstage, he might as well do it properly.
It was Im Chang-won's way of doing him a generous favor.
Even after the dance crew came onstage, Chanhwi showed no sign of nervousness.
Im Chang-won inwardly admired his spirit and signaled the staff to start the song.
-♩♪
Instead of the piano intro that had repeated so many times, a sudden burst of electronic sound made the audience's eyes widen like children waking from sleep.
As the backup dancers began stamping their feet, the atmosphere onstage transformed.
The concert shifted from sorrowful ballads about love and separation to a pop-style number, and the audience began swaying along.
The intro ended, and the song began in earnest.
Every eye focused on Chanhwi, the youthful man emerging from among the dance crew.
I hate sad songs
I hate tiresome piano melodies.
I want to sing a joyful song
Let's sing R&B, hip-hop, and jazz.
The cheerful rhythm set the audience's shoulders bobbing.
Smiles naturally spread across their faces in the refreshed atmosphere.
Thump.
Chanhwi felt his heart beat.
It was an emotion anyone who had ever stood onstage would know. He felt it again after so long.
Onstage, singers and audiences exchanged emotions.
During a ballad, they shared sorrow; during a pop song, they reveled together.
The audience's goodwill. Feeling that emotion again sent a thrill through his chest and raised every hair on his body.
Chanhwi roamed the stage as if it were his own living room.
He glided from one end of the stage to the other, giving a performance that drew cheers from the crowd.
Gasps of admiration rose from the audience at the odd spectacle of him changing his dance by himself to match the words ‘hip-hop’ and ‘jazz’ in the lyrics.
But lately I have been growing strange
Tears fall when I hear a piano melody in the street.
The song had clearly begun with an electronic sound, but by the time anyone noticed, its tone had changed.
It had shifted into the kind of ballad Im Chang-won prided himself on.
This song, ‘I Hate Ballads,’ used irony: the singer had once hated ballads but grew more sentimental and came to love them as he aged.
I sing until my heart might burst, love must be an infuriating butterfly.
Chanhwi brought the song to its climax by dancing its signature ‘butterfly dance’ with Im Chang-won, then finished his performance.
***
Im Chang-won's concert ended successfully.
As the audience members seated near Chanhwi and Yujin rose to leave, they even offered encouragement, telling the two to succeed.
“Please give me your autograph!”
Perhaps it had been taken out in a rush: a ballpoint pen and a notebook.
Faced with his first autograph request, Yujin did not know what to do and simply printed his name, while Chanhwi drew a practiced signature.
After receiving a few more words of encouragement, Chanhwi and Yujin were finally the only ones left in the audience.
“Let's go now.”
I called Yujin so we could go home, but he remained still, staring at the empty seats.
“Hey. I said let's go?”
What was wrong with him?
When I called him once more, Yujin finally opened his mouth.
“Could I stand on a stage like this too?”
So that was what he had been thinking about.
It seemed the performance just now had left a deep impression on him.
“You could do that and far more.”
At my answer, Yujin turned to look at me.
His doubtful gaze asked how I could be so certain.
I knew because I had seen the future, you fool.
Today's 500-seat venue would look cramped beside the audiences of 1,000 and 10,000 before whom he would someday sing.
The memories he made today would certainly propel him toward those grand stages in the future.
“So get up already.”
As Yujin and I were leaving the concert hall, unexpected luck came our way.
“Hey, you guys in sunglasses!”
***
“Hmm-hmm♪”
In Chanhwi's darkened room, Yujin quietly stared at a photo on his phone.
It was a photo of Chanhwi, Yujin, and Im Chang-won, whom they had encountered on their way home.
Im Chang-won had said that the performances they showed him today had left an impression and invited them to his next concert too.
It would be nice if I could see him as a singer next time.
BZZZT—
Just as he was ending the day in high spirits, a phone call came in.
The instant he saw the smartphone screen, the smile vanished from Yujin's lips.