As far as I’ve seen, Baek Kiryang never touched an instrument, in a way that could be considered an obsession.
And yet, despite acting as if he couldn’t even see the small piano set up in a corner of the practice room, he read the sheet music as naturally as breathing. It’s no wonder that all the members sensed that there was something inconsistent about his behavior
“…….”
I had been pretending not to notice the inconsistency. I didn’t want to make assumptions about his personal life that he wanted to keep hidden.
‘Still, since this kind of thing has happened to a member of my team, I need to resolve it.’
The great pianist Baek Kiheon, the pride of Korea, was said to have grown up under the guidance of a first-generation pianist grandfather, a conductor father, and a violinist mother. This meant that Baek Kiryang was born and raised in the same environment.
A typical classical music family that has produced three generations of musicians.
He was a child who grew up hearing the sound of piano keys before words, listening to classical music before nursery rhymes.
And, abandoning the path that everyone naturally expected him to take, that child came to this place.
‘So, all those ridiculous senses of pitch and tempo came from his background.’
What kind of life has that child lived?
“Kiryang-hyung!”
“We’re not going to say anything, please come out!”
“Hyung, why are you acting like this?!”
After running around for a while searching for Baek Kiryang, I noticed the members crowded in front of the private practice room. As soon as they spotted me too, they called out to me urgently.
“Seungbeom-ah, Kiryang-hyung went into the practice room and won’t come out!”
“He won’t even respond to us or open the door. I think he heard something from the PD….”
I made a calming gesture toward the members who were chattering at me nonstop as if asking for help, and spoke in a calm tone, “I’ll talk to Baek Kiryang-hyung, so you guys go back and practice.”
“Are you sure that’s okay?”
“Yeah.”
“…Alright. Please bring Kiryang-hyung with you.”
The members looked downcast at my declaration and slowly walked towards the practice room where they were originally supposed to gather. As soon as they were out of sight, I turned to the door.
“The kids have all gone back. I’m alone. Open the door.”
“…….”
Creak.
Then, after a long moment of silence, the door slowly opened with a creepy friction sound.
When I stepped into the practice room, I couldn’t see anything. The only thing I could detect among the dark shadows was the slightest hint of movement on the floor. I approached him and spoke.
“There’s nothing you can do about what’s already happened. No matter how much you try to hide it, hyung, the fact that you’re the younger brother of pianist Baek Kiheon won’t change, and the fact that your relation with your brother have already been made public also won’t change.”
“…….”
“The only option you have is to leave it behind and move forward.”
Then, an unexpected question came back.
“… Seungbeom-ah, why did you bet on me?”
I clicked my tongue and looked down at the depressed face, soaked with tears.
Just as Baek Kiryang pointed out, while most members were betting on me, Lee Hwayoung, and Lee Danbi, I ended up placing my bet on Baek Kiryang.
The reasons I intentionally chose Baek Kiryang, despite the risks, were varied. For example, I thought that choice would make for a good storyline on the broadcast, or I didn’t want to share the benefits with the other members. However, I already knew that Baek Kiryang wasn’t looking for that kind of answer.
Not a plausible excuse, but the ultimate reason why I acted the way I did. Baek Kiryang wanted to know that.
I calmly opened my mouth, “Because I believe that you will be able to show a good performance in this mission, hyung.”
Then, Baek Kiryang smiled, lowering the ends of his eyebrows.
“…Lie. You’re just taking pity on me, Seungbeom-ah.”
“…….”
“You’re regretting choosing me, aren’t you? You chose me because I seemed to be good at singing, but I’m not performing as well as you expected, and I’m only getting negative feedback from the trainers … I know you’re only doing this because you feel sorry for me, because if you just left me alone, I’d be in bad condition and would disrupt the performance.”
I simply watched Baek Kiryang, who was mechanically rambling self-deprecating remarks, without saying a word. Even though I didn’t offer any response, he continued to mutter.
“I should have stayed quiet to avoid harming my brother’s reputation, just as my parents said. If I was going to go against their wishes, I should have proven myself to everyone and earned their recognition, but instead, I’m just getting pity … what am I even doing right now?”
‘Parents?’
I raised an eyebrow at the sudden mention of his parents. Then, I asked Baek Kiryang, “Harming your brother’s reputation?”
“…..Yeah. My parents hate popular music. They often told me not to tarnish my brother’s reputation by doing something so vulgar that it can’t even be called music.”
Baek Kiryang’s face, as he recited the words that had hurt him, was remarkably calm compared to when he was talking about Frick. Looking at his face, filled with helplessness, I began to slowly grasp where his timidness stemmed from.
‘Baek Kiryang, who abandoned pure music and turned to popular music, must have been a thorn in their eyes.’
In truth, Baek Kiryang’s parents lacked the achievements to match the public’s perception of a ‘
family of geniuses
‘. They initially garnered attention as the children of a first-generation pianist, but they eventually fell out of the spotlight after failing to meet public expectations.
Among them, who remained mere
prodigies
, a true
genius
named Baek Kiheon was born.
The legacy of their parents, which had seemed like an insurmountable wall, was surpassed by their child. The public, with a swift change of heart, began to cheer for them.
‘As expected, musical talent runs in their blood’
and ‘
This is a family of geniuses
’, they started saying these kind of things.
‘The problem wasn’t Baek Kiheon. The real issue was their parents, who clung to and obsessed over his genius image.’
Baek Kiryang’s timid personality didn’t develop overnight.
If I had expected that just a few words of praise could instantly heal the deep-seated insecurities that Baek Kiryang had carried for so many years, that would have been far too naive. A human’s heart didn’t work so conveniently.
On the day I explained the concept to the members, Baek Kiryang clearly let down his guard toward me.
It was something that was possible because this child’s underlying desire for a strong figure to rely on and my own tendencies fortunately coincided. The fact that I was the only one he let in, while all the other members were denied entry, was consistent with this pattern.
It wasn’t a common case.
Most people chose their parents as the beings they could rely on. They didn’t just hand that role over to a complete stranger.
But Baek Kiryang didn’t do that.
He wasn’t able to do that.
“I want to be recognized too. I want to become a proud existence like my older brother. Is it too selfish of me to wish for that while pursuing my own dreams?”
‘….I have no confidence because I’m being compared to my older brother. This goes way beyond that simple feeling.’
Parents are a child’s entire world.
The attacks from that world, which is supposed to protect and love you, are more deadly than anything else.
It consumed your self-esteem without you being able to resist, and when you finally managed to pick yourself up, you found yourself standing before those who had grown up being loved. In front of them, you would feel so intimidated and insignificant, ashamed of your own appearance.
“I can never even come close to Nicholas’s level……”
That must be the kind of life Baek Kiryang had lived.
“I have to do well … I have to prove myself and be recognized by everyone … if the part when Trainer Seezy criticized me goes out on broadcast, they will surely get angry again. No, they will be disappointed.”
‘Was this the reason why he was so overly concerned about Frick or the other trainers’ reactions?’
“What exactly did you hear from the PD?”
“…He said my parents contacted the production team. They apparently protested, saying, ‘
We did not consent to our son’s appearance, so please have him leave the show
‘. It’s not surprising, though. They did the same thing last time too.”
It wasn’t just Frick who caused Baek Kiryang so much distress.
In fact, what he struggled with the most was seeing his own appearance, who wasn’t recognized even by his seniors in the same popular music industry, being shown on broadcast and having his family see that.
‘This situation has become complicated.’
Now that pianist Baek Kiheon had revealed his relationship with Baek Kiryang to the public, their parents would have persecuted Baek Kiryang even more, conscious of the public’s gaze.
While the eldest son was raising the family’s reputation, the second son—who had gone astray on his own and was being humiliated outside—would be nothing more than a stumbling block to them. No more, no less.
Baek Kiryang had come here to hide because he was afraid of having to face the same realization again.
“I couldn’t say anything there and just ran away, like a coward.”
I couldn’t completely understand this child’s life, personality, or the environment he grew up in. As it was, I was a complete stranger to him, having not even known him until this program started, and it hadn’t been long since I got to know Baek Kiryang’s family.
But that very fact meant there was something I could do.
“If you don’t want to, you can just say no. You’re an adult now, so you have the right to make choices about your own life and live with the consequences.”
I could show him what kind of choices were considered normal for
ordinary
people.
“Hyung, no matter how hard you try, if it’s not the way they wanted, your parents will never acknowledge you. So, just live selfishly. Don’t worry about what your parents want, and live the way you want to.”
“I can’t do that!”
“I don’t think so. Hyung, you never had any intention of quitting anyway. That’s why you just ran away without saying anything.”
When I calmly voiced his inner thoughts, Baek Kiryang turned pale and asked blankly,
“….What?”
‘Could it be that he didn’t realize it?’
His blank expression showed he had no clue what I was saying, so I impatiently clicked my tongue and explained further.
“Not taking any action is also a kind of choice. Look, in the end, you didn’t accept the offer to leave the program. I’m sure that even if I hadn’t come here to pick you up, you would have gone back to the practice room on your own, hyung. That’s the kind of person Baek Kiryang is.”
Confidence is the lifeblood of an idol.
I, who knew that better than anyone else, chose Baek Kiryang as my member based on a single question.
Has Baek Kiryang ever, even once, belittled his own singing skills?
“To be honest, isn’t it a waste? I’m so stubbornly holding on to you like this because it’s such a waste to give up when your talent is too good to just let go of. If I arrange it the way I want, you’ll adjust to it? I chose you because you seem to be good at singing, didn’t I? People who actually have no pride in their own skills can’t say things like that. That’s pure arrogance.”
“That’s not what I meant….”
Perhaps recalling the words he had said to me before, Baek Kiryang looked at me with a trembling gaze.
“There’s no way that’s not what you meant. You finished the recording in one take on purpose, didn’t you? You were conscious of Lee Hwayoung. You wanted to compete with him once. If you wanted me to pretend not to notice, you should have done it in front of someone else, not me.”
“…….”
“People show more through their actions than their words. Sometimes, even the inner selves that they themselves aren’t aware of. Look at you now, hyung. Despite receiving all kinds of bullying with that timid personality, you’re still staying in this place until the very end. You can’t give up on your dream, no matter what.”
“I……”
Baek Kiryang closed his mouth without being able to refute. Unable to hide his confused feelings, he stared blankly at his own hands. It seemed like he was reflecting on his past actions.
And not long after, he shifted his gaze back to me. This time, his eyes held no trace of the same fear as before.
“Hyung, the advisor you chose hates lies.”
“…….”
“So, at least in front of me, stop pretending to be that ridiculous coward and just follow me quietly. I’ll become the reliable presence you always desired, hyung.”
Baek Kiryang, who had been quietly listening to me, finally broke his silence.
And without trembling, he asked,
“Seungbeom-ah, what should I do?”
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Translator’s Corner:
I’m too parentless to be happy with this arc, I TOOK ONE HOUR BREAK JUST TO LISTEN TO IU – MY SEA AND CRY, IS THIS HEALING OR JUST HURTING MY WOUNDS??????????
but seriously, this is the first time I met a MC with this level of talk-no-jutsu after Naruto. Like ??????? Bro go set up a consultant office maybe ???