Read God's Song - Chapter 32 online free - Light Novel Full

Volume 1 / Chapter 32

TL: LightNovelCafe

The 110 survivors from the area eliminations boarded a bus to a condo in Pocheon, Kyeonggi-do. The contest to select the top 10 would begin while staying at the condo for the next 5 nights and 6 days.

A staff member from the production crew raised the tension so the ride to Pocheon would not be boring,

"There there, everyone listen up. When we arrive at the condo in a bit, the room assignments will start. As soon as the assignments are over, the team mission will start… and five people will make up each team. A band member will be regarded as one member. Place the name tag being passed out now on your chest. If you look at the tags, it says each of your…should I say genres, specialties? Anyway it has a characteristic, so check those and form your teams. And when we start filming, don't act too restless… Got it?"

As soon as they arrived at the condo, they had to meet in the basement hall without time to even greet their roommates. A set had already been prepared to shoot.

"There there, we're going to start quickly. Please make your teams within two hours."

Not everything on the program was filmed according to a script. There are unpredictable situations and the crises these situations create. It seems these are the devices that keep the viewers under suspense. Star Week is the content that participants create, excluding their music.Everyone was busy trying to find the teams they would be working with. A team member was a colleague but also an opponent. One could not be on a team with someone at a lower level who would ruin the mission or with someone who would overshadow others with their talent.

Jun Hyuk slowly started getting annoyed. He even had the thought that he should have listened to Yoon Kwang Hun and began to regret going on the program.

'Shit, should I just go?'

He was going back and forth like this when two people cautiously approached him.

"Excuse me. Hello. Do you remember us?"

"Who? Oh, the rappers from last time?"

"Yes. Thanks to you, we also passed the area preliminaries. We wanted to thank you then but you left first."

"Oh, I see."

"Do you want to be on a team with us? If you're okay with that."

"Sure."

"We'll try gathering the team members as well."

"I'm okay with anything, so you can take care of it."

The two rappers spoke deliberately, but Jun Hyuk consented to go along apathetically. This was because it was easier for him to be on a team when people approached him instead of having to find people to form a team with.

The two rappers ran around looking for people to make up the rest of their team. Once Jun Hyuk agreed to work with them, the rest of the team was formed quickly.

Jun Hyuk was the perfect team member because he was good looking, his guitar skills were amazing… and the best thing about him was that he did not sing. No one knew what their mission song would be, but it was clear that they would need instrumentals to back up the singing. It also would not hurt to take him out of the competition early.

When the recording started, the VJs were busy trying to shoot the bustling participants forming teams.

Jun Hyuk sat still through the tedious period and the VJ who filmed Jun Hyuk during the area eliminations was acting as his personal mark man.

The full-fledged mission started after two hours.

22 panels were hanging on the wall and a question mark was printed on each.

"On the backside of these panels are the faces of 22 senior singers. Each team will choose a panel and check the singer you get. We will commence the contest with the song of your choosing from that singer."

Jun Hyuk's team chose singer Park Ki Young. Though it sounds like a man's name, the picture was of a woman. None of the members knew who Park Ki Young was.

The broadcast staff came in as soon as the 22 teams chose their mission songs.

"This is the team that chose Park Ki Young's song, right?"

"Yes."

"Raise your hand if you know Park Ki Young's songs."

When no one rose their hands, the staff member pulled out an MP3 player.

"We recorded the songs on this, so listen to it. Both the original and edited songs are in there, so you'll have to listen carefully."

The staff member pulled out a music score as well.

"This is the edited score, so raise your hand if you know how to read sheet music."

Jun Hyuk and a girl rose their hands.

"Okay. You two look at this and teach the kids. Don't waste any time and hurry up and start practicing. When you're done, call us."

Someone spoke to the staff member as he was walking away.

"Excuse me, isn't the mission song supposed to be one of Park Ki Young's that we choose and arrange?"

"When you don't even know who Park Ki Young is?"

"Yes."

As the replying voice grew confidence, the staff member's brows went up.

"So? Do we need to prepare all songs by Park Ki Young and present them to you guys? And you guys will listen to all of those songs and choose? You have that much time? Are you guys crazy?"

Everyone looked dejected at the staff member's biting words and relented.

"Are you good at arranging music?"

"Excuse me? No, that's not it."

"Is arranging something that can be done within a few minutes? If you can't do it, just do what you're told. And is the broadcast a joke? You're trying to go on air with a song you arranged when you can't even arrange music? Save that for your school performance."

The staff member turned away and put his foot down.

"If you don't do this properly, your faces won't make it on air even for a minute. We'll edit all of your parts out, so get your head on straight."

When the grunting staff member walked away, the rapper spoke up,

"Shit. I knew this would happen. It was all a show."

The participants who had only been viewers up until now had just found out a new truth. Broadcast is a show.

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Volume 1 / Chapter 33

TL: LightNovelCafe

"There there. Let's hurry up and hear it."

The song that the staff had thrown at them was 'Start,' released by Park Ki Young in 1998. The singer and title were unfamiliar, but most of it was a famous song. It was Park Ki Young's hit song so well-known that anyone who heard the climax would say, 'Oh, this song'.

Jun Hyuk heard the song after he read over the music score. It was not bad for a ballad. The arrangement was not bad either. The only problem was that even though five people each with their own talents had come together, the guide was done as if one person was singing the ballad. It was not appropriate for five people.

"Let's talk about how we're going to separate the parts."

Excluding Jun Hyuk, the four must have thought that they could not have the spotlight taken from them, so they argued and laid out their opinions.

"The amount of time each person gets needs to be similar since it needs to be fair and… we need to pick the parts that we all sing together."

"I looked at last season and when people got greedy and messed up the song, no matter how well any one person sang, everyone was eliminated."

"But we're rap… I'm going to go crazy! This."

Excluding Jun Hyuk, everyone's faces were dark with a mix of greed and fear, tension and heaviness. Jun Hyuk was suspicious as to whether they had listened to the song properly or not.

Though it is said that the delicate voice is expressing a woman's one-sided love for a man, but starting from the second half, with the intense guitar sound and short guitar solo, it was a rock ballad.

If an arrangement is not better than the original, it is bound to receive severe criticism. With a bad arrangement, unless it is covered with singing skills superior to that of the original song, it is inevitable that they would receive appraisal that they ruined the song… but everyone was only worried about their own parts and not the music.

The oldest member of Jun Hyuk's group who looked to be in his late twenties seemed to be trying to take lead of the group and spoke,

"There there. Let's memorize the lyrics for each of our parts first. It's over the moment we start tripping up on stage because we can't remember the lyrics."

While everyone plugged the MP3 earphones in their ears, Jun Hyuk slowly left the area. He sat in a corner of the auditorium and looked around the room. It was full of more than 100 young people memorizing their songs or practicing with tension and anxiety.

Jun Hyuk held his guitar and started to flick the strings. He was not playing with a chord or picking a scale. He was making random sounds like a child touching a guitar for the first time.

The VJ chasing Jun Hyuk spoke while he was holding his camera,

"What are you doing right now?"

"Oh, this bustle is fun. I'm thinking about to expressing it."

"Can you be spending your time like this? You're not going to practice your mission song? You said earlier that you would be playing the accompaniment….."

"It's okay. I memorized all of the arranged score."

"What? Already? You already knew the mission song?"

"No. We saw the score earlier."

"You can memorize it after looking once?"

"Yes."

The VJ put down the camera and turned the switch off.

"Really? You can memorize it after seeing it once?"

"Yes. 3 minutes and 24 seconds. It's short."

The song was released in the year Jun Hyuk was born. It did not seem like he was lying that he did not know the song because it was as old as he was.

"How about the song that was arranged? Did you memorize all of that as well?"

"Yes. That was even easier."

"You don't like the arrangement?"

"No. It was garbage ruining the original song."

How could he say it was garbage? The music director and arrangers participating in this show were veterans with at least 10 years of experience in this field. Professionals like that did not make garbage.

"Why is it garbage?"

"Music needs to be arranged relative to the instrument… no, to the standard of the singer's tone. They made the song before they knew who would be singing it. The song that's been arranged now needs to be ripped apart and fixed at the least."

The VJ thought what Jun Hyuk was saying made sense.

"Then is there something different that you're thinking of?"

"No. How can I when I don't know the teammates who will be singing? I haven't heard them either. I need to know each of their tones and strong points to arrange it."

"Then why don't you tell your teammates you should edit the song again?"

"Oh, I don't know. It's a bother. And why do you keep following me?"

He had stopped making a song based on the bustling of the room because of the VJ. The feeling of inconvenience turned into annoyance, so Jun Hyuk went back to his teammates.

They must not have been able to memorize the lyrics yet because they were still concentrating on listening to the music. The rapper who had found Jun Hyuk went over to him and spoke discreetly,

"Do you by chance have any good ideas?"

"No, I don't have any."

"Hey… why are you being like this? Last time, you made a great song after just overhearing us rap."

"I heard you both rap that time. That was possible because I knew the singers' tonal quality. I don't know it now."

"Does that mean you'll be able to arrange the song after you hear us sing?"

"Yes."

"Hold on."

The two rappers went to the other three people who were memorizing their lyrics,

"Let's ask that person to make the guide for our song."

"He's the person who only played the guitar for the area preliminaries, right?"

The girl in her early twenties who had raised her hand along with Jun Hyuk to indicate that she could read music scores had a slightly hopeful expression.

"Yes, his skill is no joke. Even at the area preliminaries, he heard our rap once and fixed the entire thing. We were able to pass that round because of that as well."

"Why are we trying to do another edit when the arrangement is already here?"

The man in his late twenties who called himself the team leader wrinkled his forehead. It seemed that he thought that his position as leader would be in danger if this young kid did the arrangement and song guide.

"So you're saying… that kid should give out the parts and complement the song."

"Yes. Let's just hear him out first."

When everyone decided to try listening to Jun Hyuk's guide, the man in his late twenties could no longer oppose.

"Excuse me, Mr. Jun Hyuk. We'll sing the mission song, so will you try arranging it?"

"Sure. Should we hear each person's singing first? Go around and sing the song. From the part 'I want to tell you'."

Jun Hyuk was telling them to sing the climax of the song.

"Oh, the two rappers don't need to sing. If you listen to the song well, the guitar solo comes in three phrases and that's 12 seconds. You two rap then. 3 phrases. The content is up to you. Since the song is about a woman's one-sided love, I was thinking that maybe it could be about the man's thoughts as the object of this one-sided love."

Jun Hyuk listened to the singing of the remaining three people: the arrogant man in his late twenties, the girl in her early twenties who could read music scores, and a boy who looked to be in his teens but sat without speaking as if he were an old man. Jun Hyuk was silent in thought before he began to speak,

"I'll play just the instrumental according to the score. You don't need to sing. But mister."

The person Jun Hyuk was calling mister was the man in his late twenties.

"Me? What?"

"Mister, you'll mess everything up if you keep trying to show off how high you can go."

"What?"

"I'm saying that we're just instruments. Do instruments show off how high they can go? We're just five instruments playing one song together. What's important is the overall harmony. It doesn't sound good if you force your high notes and try to show off."

"Are you trying to teach me right now?"

His face had already turned red. How could a kid like this be criticizing him?

"Your tone kind of sucks. No matter how high you try to go with a bad voice, it just becomes noise."

"This bratty asshole!"

As soon as a fist came at the red face, the two rappers acted quickly and held it back.

"Stop it. What are you doing? The cameras are filming everything."

The VJ was laughing with a bright face as though he were having fun. Discord between members was a spectacle for the viewers. A fist came towards the camera and hit the man shaking with anger.

"This asshole must have a rag in his mouth. He's cursing when he doesn't even know me!"

The owner of the fist was none other than Jun Hyuk.

Not just Jun Hyuk's team members, but others nearby had to hold Jun Hyuk back as he kicked at the man on the floor. Only the VJ looked as though he had been given a prize as he held the camera. The recording might not be suitable for the broadcast, but it was a VJ's job to catch such a dramatic moment.

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Volume 1 / Chapter 34

TL: LightNovelCafe

When the VJ showed Producer Kim Ki Sik the video of Jun Hyuk fighting, he laughed and questioned him on the situation.

"What are the kids doing now?"

"We barely got Jun Hyuk to stay after he said that he was going to quit everything and leave. And the kid who was hit is huffing about calling the police."

"How did you get Jun Hyuk to stay? That kid doesn't listen to anyone."

"The young writer who marked Jun Hyuk did it. They've gotten pretty friendly."

"Bring the kid who got hit here."

The participant who had gotten hit by Jun Hyuk started his interview with Producer Kim Ki Sik while massaging his face with ice.

"Do what you want,"

He understood what Producer Kim's frosty tone meant. He was giving him pressure. It meant that he needed to pack his bags and leave the condo if he did not keep his mouth shut.

"No, that's not it. It's okay. I'm not a kid or anything….."

"Really? Then the company's legal team is going to go to you with a piece of paper. Sign it."

"What? What paper…?"

"What do you mean what paper? It's a document saying you won't make a problem out of today's events. Got it?"

"Yes."

"You can go. Also, I'll change your team instead. Just know that we'll be doing that."

The participants of 'Tomorrow's Star' were all expendable to the absolute target of raising viewer ratings. Once expendable, they needed to listen to the producer in order to stay in the program at all costs.The expendable person who had been switched into Jun Hyuk's team was someone whose skill was to the degree that he had heard he sang well at his neighborhood karaoke.

Producer Kim Ki Sik who was in charge of the show started his plan to get Jun Hyuk in the top 10.

Two VJs tight with tension stood in front of Producer Kim Ki Sik and were listening to his orders.

"Listen well. You just keep concentrating on Jun Hyuk and film him. And you… you've been here longer than he has, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay then. Jun Hyuk doesn't sing, right? Instead, you have to make him the conductor for the 5-person team mission. He has to be the maestro who does everything from arranging to directing parts for the members. You understand what I'm saying, right?"

"Ah, I get what you're saying."

"Okay. That's Jun Hyuk's theme for this week's 5-person team mission. I'm putting it in your hands."

"Don't worry about it. The two of us will bring back lots of good shots."

They finished preparing the materials to make Jun Hyuk a maestro. Now they needed to convince the viewers that Jun Hyuk was qualified to be in the top 10 even without singing.

The people to persuade the viewers were the judges themselves.

Before Jun Hyuk's team performed as the fourth to be on stage, Producer Kim and the main judges started their conference on the issue.

The main judges of Season 5 were slightly experimental with the addition of two new members.

Along with Lee Sung Chul and the legendary singer and songwriter Yoon Jung Su, singer of 25 years Lee Eun Jin who had been given the nickname 'Diva of the Night Sky' because she did not make appearances in public or on broadcast joined the panel.

Last was Son Jin Young from JYS, one of Korea's top 3 agencies which produced countless girl groups.

"Producer Kim, why are you like this for this season? You're openly pushing for this kid."

"Ha ha. Excuse me just once. Aren't I a person who goes back and forth between heaven and hell based on the viewer ratings?"

"So? You're saying that kid will guarantee viewer ratings?"

"Sung Chul. Who are you talking about?"

Yoon Jung Su who had not seen Jun Hyuk during the area preliminaries was asking.

"There's a kid. A kid who gives me headaches. Oh right, he's the type you would like."

Yoon Jung Su's eyes widened as he was flipping through the files containing each person's history and special characteristics.

"What is this? He got all the way here just by playing the guitar and not singing? And… what? He's an orphan?"

"Yeah. Other than not singing, he's the best. His story's good, he's better looking than Kang Dong Won, the guitar performance is great, he's probably a genius in arranging, and his song analysis is outstanding."

"Seems like he'll get all of the women's texting votes. He could even get to the top 5 on votes alone."

As they discussed Jun Hyuk, Producer Kim Ki Sik said the final defining words,

"This kid is just a star. He has the talent and looks to cover a song. On top of that, he has an unstoppable nature. You know well since you're all stars. One of those people who is bound to become news whatever he does."

Lee Eun Jin who had been listening silently had an opposing expression.

"So you want us to push for him openly?"

"No. I'm asking you to find something in him that will cover his inability to sing. If you can't find anything, I won't hang on to him."

They could protect Lee Eun Jin's pride as this was her first time on the judges' panel. What went out on air was the producer's magic, or editing. She was not such an amateur that she would make a fuss if an edit was made entirely different from her intentions.

Kim Ki Sik was confident. He was certain that the viewer ratings would go up if he made Jun Hyuk a star.

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Volume 1 / Chapter 35

TL: LightNovelCafe

"What is the song?"

"It's Park Ki Young's 'Start'."

"Please start."

Yoon Jung Su tried to create laughter with his play on the song title, but nothing could make the nervous participants laugh. Yoon Jung Su's expression became awkward.

The team members' looked at Jun Hyuk who nodded lightly at them as a signal. The song started with his first guitar stroke and 4 minutes passed.

Everyone on the team had a look of reassurance on their faces that they had finished without making any mistakes and the four judges wore strange expressions. The judges had without a doubt listened to the song with awe and admiration, but their expressions had completely changed once it ended.

Lee Sung Chul was the first to grab the mic and he opened his mouth slowly,

"Um… It was good. This, well…"

Delaying the evaluation, he coughed a few times in embarrassment.

"The song is very good. Everyone sang well… The other teams split up the song but this team was unique and not one person stopped singing. They put in a chord when it wasn't their part… ah… The only one who didn't sing is the person on guitar, right?"

Everyone's eyes settled on Jun Hyuk, but he just blinked back at Lee Sung Chul. Producer Kim who had been monitoring the close-up of Jun Hyuk's face began to laugh again.

"Ha ha. That kid's face is as though he doesn't even care about the judges."

Everyone in the staff room nodded their heads. This was the first time in five seasons that they had seen anyone so arrogant without any sign of tension.

"… And the rap was also really good. The feelings of the man who is the object of the one-sided love that was not in the original song. It was also very funny how you expressed that very indifferently… Who wrote that?"

"Yes, we wrote it."

The two rappers could not hide their happiness from Lee Sung Chul's compliment. However, they had to hide the traces of their laughter because of the following evaluation.

"Yet… It was generally good, but you all made a big mistake. Yoon Jung Su will probably be the one to tell you what that mistake was. I heard the song well."

A mistake? The music and singing were perfect. Did Lee Sung Chul not say that himself? Everyone swallowed and gave Yoon Jung Su their attention.

Yoon Jung Su held the mic and smiled at Lee Sung Chul.

"Have you decided to avoid saying the invectives this season? Why do I have to say the bad things?"

"You have to get some of the abuse online. He he."

Yoon Jung Su fixed his mic and his mood became serious.

"Well… you heard enough compliments, but I'll say it again. The song was really good. At this rate, it could go on a concert stage immediately and there wouldn't be any problem."

The team members became excited again. They might be able to achieve a dream-like whole team pass.

"It was absolutely perfect as not one person showed where their disadvantages lied, and the chords were inserted exquisitely so that not one person stood out more than another. However…"

Everyone swallowed. It seemed like the real assessment was going to start now.

"….. However, that also means that there wasn't anyone who was special. There wasn't anyone that we as the judges were drawn to. To say it another way, should I say it was like food made with ordinary ingredients? It was very tasty, but we couldn't find the ingredients and we couldn't tell what the sauce was."

Yoon Jung Su finished his assessment as the disappointed participants looked on,

"A good performance is the basic. That basic was executed perfectly, but there wasn't anything special. Can I say that everyone was just passable? It felt like that. You worked hard."

The third person to get the mic was the person who had newly joined the judges, Lee Eun Jin,

"The two of you said so many good things that I have nothing to add. Saying that you're passable means that you were short of talent. If you have a weapon, you can't hide it even if you try. It comes out while you're singing. But there wasn't anyone on stage whose weapon showed."

Lee Eun Jin's evaluation continued after a moment of sighing.

"There is someone who does need to receive an excellent evaluation, isn't there? I'm sure you all know who it is. The chef who made admirable food with ordinary ingredients. That person needs to get good ratings for sure."

The team members' eyes naturally shifted to Jun Hyuk and Lee Eun Jin smiled,

"I see you are all telling us who that chef is."

Producer Kim who was watching the evaluation with the most tension put down his worries. He was nervous because there had not been one word said about Jun Hyuk, but Lee Eun Jin who he had thought would be the most biting had moved the way he wanted her to. This was the signal that Lee Eun Jin was sending to Producer Kim Ki Sik.

She was saying that she would cooperate with Producer Kim Ki Sik and help him and not to forget it. She had done Producer Kim Ki Sik a favor and he would have to repay the debt at some time.

Thanks to Lee Eun Jin's judgment, the viewers would not be able to raise issues even if Jun Hyuk went on to the next stage. The chef who made great food with mundane ingredients. This was enough.

The last person to get the mic was Song Jin Young of JYS and she wrapped it up with an intense assessment.

"This is a program that discovers stars through competition. You are all forgetting that. A song that's like acapella? It's nice to listen to. This is a boxing ring, not an afterschool club."

All of the cameras focused on the judges. As the cameras were catching the judges share their thoughts and opinions, Lee Sung Chul took the mic,

"The people who passed this round are… the two rappers and Jang Jun Hyuk."

The two rappers could not hide their excitement and Jun Hyuk remained in the same state. The girl would had been eliminated had tears in her eyes and the boy who had joined the team late was scowling.

"The rappers showed talent in their fun rap and Jang Jun Hyuk showed great capability as a producer. However, you'll have to keep in mind that this program is about discovering stars and not producers. You'll have to show yourself as more than a producer and as a musician on the next stage, or it'll be difficult to advance any further. That is all."

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Volume 1 / Chapter 36

TL: LightNovelCafe

After that, performances that alternated between happiness and sadness continued and with the end of the first round of Star Week, the 40 people who passed were decided. In a matter of 48 hours, 70 out of 110 people had been sent home.

The 2nd round was to start now. From here, half would make it up to the last round of Star Week and the rest would be boarding the bus to Seoul Station, staying for just another day.

Known as the most cruel round, the 2nd round consisted of two people becoming a team to compete with another team performing the same song.

The judges simply chose the better group. With misfortune in choice of partner, no matter how much one shined, there was no way to stay alive. Everything moved according to a plan especially because the production crew organized the teams. There was the production crew that knew this and the naive participants who thought that it was up to luck.

The person who became Jun Hyuk's partner was Nam Seung Hee, an aspiring singer in her mid-twenties who had received the appraisement that she was the prettiest contestant in this season's Star Week.

Nam Seung Hee who dreamt of being a female rapper like Yoon Mi Rae was another one of Producer Kim Ki Sik's hidden cards.

The VJ captured Jun Hyuk's face during his first meeting with Nam Seung Hee. The plan was the flirtation between the ideal boy and girl. It was the meeting of this season's best looking guy and prettiest and sexiest girl. Nam Seung Hee fit the tall Jun Hyuk well with her long and slender legs. When he got a good shot of the two together, the VJ moved busily with excitement.

When the VJ saw Jun Hyuk's expression in the camera, he knew that Producer Kim's plan was working. Jun Hyuk was blushing and could not stop smiling as he looked bashful.

"Hello. My name is Nam Seung Hee."

The Jun Hyuk who shook the hand Nam Seung Hee held out as she laughed was not the rough teenager who threw his fist and cursed, but a young boy who could not hide his awkwardness in front of a girl.

Nam Seung Hee on the other hand did not let her guard down and kept showing a stiff face. In the individual interviews, it was possible to know why she was not unconditionally pleased at becoming Jun Hyuk's partner.

"Do you know what we call Jang Jun Hyuk amongst ourselves?"

"What?"

"It's poisoned apple. Poisoned apple. The poisoned apple that Snow White died after taking one bite."

"Why? Why is Jun Hyuk a poisoned apple?"

"Because you want it and it looks edible, but you die the second you put your mouth to it. The music that Jun Hyuk makes is so perfect that you want to sing it after you hear it… but the end result is that Jun Hyuk is the only one who stands out and the person singing falls… That's why he's the poisoned apple."

The VJ conducting the interview thought that this might be a consummate metaphor.The duo's mission song was Finkl's 'NOW'.

"Do you want to sing the song first? According to the original."

"What? Why do you want me to sing all of a sudden.….?"

"To see the difference between the tone you normally speak in and the tone you sing in."

Nam Seung Hee sang softly to Jun Hyuk's gentle guitar accompaniment. It was just a tone check and it did not matter if her pitch was unstable or if she was not on beat.

When she finished singing, Jun Hyuk looked surprised.

"Um. Have you received professional training?"

"Excuse me? Oh, yes. I have."

"It seems like you've practiced a lot. Your voice became scratchy."

Scratchy? Her voice was not husky in any way, but what could he be talking about?

"Oh, you don't need to worry. It's a good thing. It's become strong. Wait, is there a piano?"

As Jun Hyuk looked around, the staff rushed to set up a digital piano.

"Here, listen to this."

He put his fingers on the keyboard and started to play. While a slow piano sound spread, his right hand started to move faster. It was a colorful melody, but the waiting room was full of an overall slow jazz.

Since the rival teams stopped practicing as they found themselves lost in Jun Hyuk's music, Nam Seung Hee was out of the question.

Nam Seung Hee who had been drunk with the aftertaste of the sound of the piano was swept with embarrassment once she came back to her senses.

"Are you telling me to sing this? Isn't this a piano instrumental?"

"No it isn't because I'll actually only be playing the accompaniment. We'll have to fill the rest with singing."

"This is jazzy but what am I supposed to do? I've never sang jazz before."

"You can start practicing now. Just keep one thing in mind; this is perfect for your voice."

The VJ almost felt awkward at Jun Hyuk's image of leading the opponent in such a straightforward manner as opposed to the 5-person mission. How could he change so much when it seemed like he was just constantly arrogant?

'This kid was no different from an everyday teenager.'

Nam Seung Hee asked for a little time and left her seat at Jun Hyuk suddenly asking her to sing jazz.

"Jun Hyuk, can we do a short interview?"

"Again?"

"What do you mean again? You haven't done that many. Out of all the Star Week contestants, you've done the least. Everyone else will do anything to get an interview."

He convinced a complaining Jun Hyuk and started the interview.

"Why did you choose jazz all of a sudden? It seems like Nam Seung Hee barely listened to jazz music."

"Her tone sounded like a clarinet. But….."

"But?"

"She wants to do hip hop… hah. It was so funny I didn't know what to do. She doesn't fit with hip hop at all."

"Even if her tonal quality is good, she says she can't do jazz."

"She can just sing it slow since I'll fill the rest with the piano. We can save it."

"It seems like you like Nam Seung Hee looking at the way you accommodate her. Yeah?"

Jun Hyuk did not show any shock at the VJ's frank question,

"Yes. She's pretty."

"Oh, you're honest."

The VJ was shocked that he had responded so easily.

While Jun Hyuk was doing his short interlude interview, Nam Seung Hee was on her cellphone getting angry.

"Director, talk to the producer here. They're telling me to sing jazz. They didn't give us an arranged song and the kid who's my partner….."

"Oh, I see. Sorry. I guess I bothered Director for nothing….."

– Nam Seung Hee, listen closely.

"Yes."

– What do you think you are? Are you a singer? What? Jazz isn't a genre I'm pursuing? You want to set your image in hip hop? You're being annoying.

Nam Seung Hee could not say anything in response to the director's harsh words and felt like her head was empty. She had been mistaken for a moment that she had passed the auditions and entered Star Week on her talent.

She realized her position as one of countless aspiring celebrities.

– Listen well. Do you know how much this company spent to get you there? Genre? Character? Do that stuff when you become a singer. Right right, your job is to shut your mouth and do as the broadcast station says. Got it? And your partner is 100 times better than you. You're being carried along with him. Don't call me when you're just a little brat who doesn't know her position!

The director who had hung up after his rant had told her what she needed to do. She needed to hang on to the boy that even the main producer was fussing over no matter what.

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Volume 1 / Chapter 37

TL: LightNovelCafe

"Don't think about it as something difficult. All you have to do is remember the tempo and make sure not to fall behind it or go ahead of it while you sing."

"Are you able to record the piano accompaniment for me? I really don't have the confidence… I think I'm going to lose the beat. I can't keep asking you to play the piano for me… I'll practice on my own."

"Ha ha. I'm telling you it's okay. I'll play it for you 100 or 1,000 times, so let's practice together."

Producer Kim Ki Sik smiled widely as he was monitoring Jun Hyuk openly show his affection for her and kept giving orders to the staff,

"Hey. When Star Week ends, get the kids from Jun Hyuk's team together again. The mission song was Park Ki Young's 'Start' right?"

"Yes."

"Get that song ready for a digital release in the recording studio. It'll go up. And the Finkl song that Jun Hyuk just played on the piano… formally record that too so it's ready for service the day the episode airs. Got it?"

"What? The instrumental? Not the song that they'll sing later?"

"There aren't very many female singers in Korea who can make money singing jazz. It'll sell if the singer is someone at Lee So Ra's level. Jazz that girl sings? Doesn't make sense. It won't make digital sales. But a piano instrumental will work for background music on blogs and cafe franchises."

The staff could tell why Producer Kim Ki Sik was a rising producer in musical variety shows.

He had an eye for screening music, but he was also a businessman who could certainly choose music that would sell and even find the places where the money would come from.

"At any rate, this stage isn't about music. It's eye candy for the viewers. All we have to do is make sure we show them those two flirting. Since we showed them Jun Hyuk's music in the 1st round, we need to highlight the other kids' music too this time. Keep your heads on straight."

Producer Kim Ki Sik had did not care about the same-some rival mission. To avoid any risks, the rival group to go against him was made up of two people who definitely needed to pack their bags.

Producer Kim Ki Sik had a lot of his expectations riding on the last mission. In the meantime, there was the perfect participant to make Jun Hyuk's image. It was a boisterous trash metal band.

They were like firewood to set Jun Hyuk on fire for the last time before he went into the top 10.

They were famous in Hongdae's rock scene. They were Steel Blade.The last 20 participants were eyeing each other wondering who their final partner would become as they gathered to choose the last 10 people to go on live broadcast for the top 10 race. There was certainly someone in this group who was already chosen to go into the top 10 early. If they were paired with that person, they were bound to lose.

However, there was one person who they could win if paired up with. That was none other than Jang Jun Hyuk.

He was better looking than an idol singer and looked more like a model or actor and all of the judges praised him for his producing skills. But he could never go to the top 10 of the 'Tomorrow's Star' program. He was the only participant who could not sing even though it was an audition for singers.

Today's mission was Jang Jun Hyuk's last. All of the participants had the same thought and they were just waiting to become his partner.

The elaborate jazz piano he played in the 2nd round of Star Week. If he just did that much, they could bring in the best backing band and have him perform in the contest.

Jun Hyuk was called into his personal waiting room again and the people representing the clothing sponsor company were waiting for him brightly.

"These are the new products from our winter season. The last broadcast was fall, but this episode will be going out in November. We'll be preparing for the winter season. I'm betting this'll be sold out once it goes on air. Ho ho."

The people from the company held a pair of black jeans and a checked shirt to Jun Hyuk's body to find the right size.

"If you pass today's round and make it into the top 10, we're planning on getting a formal model contract with you."

Jun Hyuk wrinkled his face as he touched the clothes, and turned to the young writer.

"I don't want to wear it. I can just go out like this, right?"

"What? Why won't you wear it? These are going to become the new main pieces of our company!"

The director of XOR yelled in surprise.

"Miss, how am I supposed to wear this when it's so hot I could die?"

Looking at his scowling face, she smiled again and spoke. He was still young. She knew that it would be faster to talk him into it.

"Jun Hyuk. You have to bear it. This is business. Every scene that goes out on TV is money. You may not understand because you're still young, but broadcast means money. You'll be able to touch that money soon."

Eventually, the young writer stepped in. She said the easiest words to convince him,

"This is the last time. It's okay, right?"

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Volume 1 / Chapter 38

TL: LightNovelCafe

"Okay, now two teams are going to get together to form one group. Everyone listen well to see who your partner will be."

The partners were revealed one by one and the luckiest in the 3rd round team selection was not one person, but four.

"The next is the only band that passed the 2nd round, 'Steel Blade' and their partner will be… Jang Jun Hyuk."

The Steel Blade members did not show it, but they were overjoyed that they had gotten one step closer to the top 10. What luck!

"We'll reveal the mission song. It's Jewelry's Super Star."

The song released in 2005 was the first that got Jewelry 1st place. It made the other participants jealous. It was established that it was advantageous to have a fun song.

Once all of the partners and mission songs were revealed, everyone hid their claws and started to greet their partners.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm the vocal, Han Ki Su. Oh, don't punch me because I'm not using formal speech with you. You can use informal speech too. Ha ha."

Jun Hyuk was uncomfortable with the band member who was acting more friendly than was necessary.

"But do you know this song?"

"The mission song? Yeah. You don't know it?"

"No. I don't have CDs of idol songs."

"Then let's hear the song first. We've heard it, but we don't really remember it either."

Everyone listened to the MP3 player. After they listened to the whole song, the members of Steel Blade sighed in relief. It did not seem like there would be any problem changing the song into band music because the song itself was very light.

"What do you think?"

"It's fun."

"Right? We got lucky. It won't be hard to change it to metal."

"I heard you're a producing genius. Do you have any ideas?"

The judges' evaluation from the 5-person mission had become a hot topic between the contestants. A producing genius worthy of the highest praise. Jun Hyuk who made great music without exposing himself could make this into a heavy metal song.

The band leader who was also the vocal had high expectations, but Jun Hyuk made all of those expectations come crashing down.

"Do as you please since we'll be dropped anyway. I'll go along with whatever you want to do."

"What?"

"We can't go to the top 10 anyway."

Jun Hyuk's words that came from out of the blue hit his head hard, "It can't be. Do you know something? Is it already decided? Already?

"No. I don't know that but you guys aren't that good. You just fit in a band to broaden the assortment. There's no way you don't know you guys aren't good, is there?"

They had not anticipated that this young kid would be saying that they would be eliminated because of a shortage of talent. Even the judges had given them compliments on the original song they presented in the area preliminaries. In round 1 and 2, they had received the evaluation that they were a band with feeling.

But he is saying that their skill is poor?

Jun Hyuk kept speaking in a sarcastic tone without paying attention to the members shaking in anger.

"You sir on the drums, say something. Don't you know?"

The vocal, Han Ki Su spoke to Jun Hyuk when he suddenly sought agreement from the dummer,

"Is that right? We're not that good? Let's hear it then. You speak as the genius producer. What's so bad?"

"If you force the high notes and barely hit them, the listeners are the ones who are uncomfortable. A vocalist is someone who can hit the high notes easily. 'Soot' catches on to it. Soot! A person who uses the voice instrument freely and well. That's what we call a vocalist but you have a hard time with the high notes and your voice itself is lacking strength… It's like you're just imitating a rock band."

"Hey! It just sounds like that because my voice is thin."

"What are you talking about? Being thick and thin is an issue of tone. That has nothing to do with strength. Not all metal band vocals are Ronnie James Dio. There's Klaus Meine too."

Han Ki Su's face felt heated as the weaknesses he was aware of were being bothered.

"Fine. Say that's true for me. Then the guitar?"

"Guitars aren't there just to play do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do. It's about expressiveness. Ah, you asshole."

While everyone was confused by the swearing that had come out of nowhere, Jun Hyuk was looking at the guitarist.

"Express this with the guitar. 'Ah, you asshole.' Or um… 'Please excuse me this one time.' Something like that is okay too. Scale, technique… these things aren't important, but you don't know that."

Jun Hyuk went over each member one by one as though he were a judge.

"Can you play the bass all day with one beat? Without a metronome? If you can't do that, you haven't practiced enough. Or you can't keep a beat."

They had not heard such severe criticism since they started performing in Hongdae. This assessment was the same as saying that they were beginners.

They thought that he was going to tear the drummer apart next, but he did not.

"You asked me for an idea on the arrangement, right? I already finished the edit. It's just that you guys probably won't like it."

He had only heard it once. After that, he had been evaluating the band members' skills. When is he saying he finished arranging the song?

"How did you do it?"

At the words that he finished the arrangement, their curiosity overcame their indignation.

"Drum instrumental. The drum is the main. Everyone else is slight and the vocal can be taken out completely. The best thing this band can do is to support the drum."

The VJ marking Jun Hyuk had a vague idea of the music he was trying to pursue. This arrogant young genius only thought about music. He only focused on finding the best of any song. It was certain that he never had the intentions of becoming a star.

Jun Hyuk does not care about things like hitting high notes as the public likes or familiarity that is easy to listen to. He only thinks about the music.

Though it is an old song, it is still by a girl group. He wants to change that into a drum instrumental?

When the drummer heard the words drum instrumental, he raised his hand in surprise,

"No. What do you mean a drum instrumental? It'll never work out. Let's just go with the usual rock. It's easy to change this song to a rock version."

Jun Hyuk ruined the cold atmosphere that the drummer was trying to ease again.

"Oy. Now I know. Sir, you guys are in this state now because you keep giving in. The person with the most talent should have dragged everyone along. The vocal and guitarist don't know that they're not that good because you cover for their singing and guitar."

Eventually, the band leader and vocal left the practice room and the guitarist and bassist followed him to calm him down.

Producer Kim Ki Sik checked what the VJ had filmed since they were in a state where all practice was suspended, and he could not stop laughing. Jang Jun Hyuk said and acted in ways that always made news.

The discord between Jang Jun Hyuk and the other participants would undoubtedly become the best in increasing tension on the program.

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Volume 1 / Chapter 39

TL: LightNovelCafe

"Hey, I said we don't have time. We can't be wasting our time being angry. Let's at least try to do something between ourselves."

"Then what about that asshole?"

"That asshole said himself that he would just go along with whatever we wanted to do. We can give him 2nd guitar or keyboard and he can just pound out the chords."

The Steel Blade members were fuming. The production team had not provided them with an arranged song because they were paired with Jun Hyuk and their turn was fairly early. They needed to move quickly.

It was not hard to make a rock version of the song. They did not do much to the original song but add parts for the guitar, bass, and drum with a guitar solo in the middle in G major in a pentatonic scale. They of course did not forget to add shouting for the vocal.

The band members only looked for Jun Hyuk after they had practiced several times.

"Hey. You said that you would go along with whatever we wanted, right? Just scratch out the chord with the acoustic guitar. You don't have any objections, right?"

Jun Hyuk shrugged to reply that he did not care and began to simply scratch out the chords on his guitar. The sound of his acoustic guitar was drowned out by the strong sound of the electric guitar, but Jun Hyuk did not seem to care.

Eventually, the VJ ran to the main producer. He felt like Jun Hyuk's performance would be too flat.

Producer Kim Ki Sik and the program's general music director stood by Steel Blade and listened to them practice.

"What do you think?"

"What do you mean? You don't have ears? The main producer of a music program? How many years have you been doing this?"

Not certain if it was due to the producer or the music, but the music director looked as though he had a bad taste in his mouth. After listening to the band's music for a while, the producer spoke out of nowhere,

"Then what about that?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The drum instrumental Jun Hyuk mentioned earlier. Making the drum the main."

"That's something I really want to hear, but won't people start changing the channel after 30 seconds of hearing a drum? How many people do you think like – no, know Moby Dick by Led Zeppelin? And the people who like drum solos don't watch our program."

It was the place where the top 10 was to be selected. They could not show a whole song where the drum was the main, but it could work if they edited well and saved the zest. It was unique, an advantage, and a specialty.

"If we go out like this, that band is done."

The music director was speaking quietly, but Producer Kim raised his voice as though he wanted everyone to hear,

"Our program will be done for as well. We've raised the expectations for Jun Hyuk, but if the last stage is in that state… Even if they get eliminated, they'll need to do it so they're remembered."

Producer Kim decided to get help from the music director to resolve this problem. The music director and Producer Kim secretly called Steel Blade into the conference room.

"We heard you guys practicing and honestly, we're disappointed."

"There are 10 teams right now. Two dance, two RB, two ballad, two island and folk, one hip hop, and you guys, metal. You guys are the weakest."

"Weak isn't even cutting it. If you guys go the way you were just practicing, we can't even put 10 seconds of that on air. We have to cut it up and piece it together for about 20 seconds and go straight to the judges. It's that bad."

"Tell us if you don't have the confidence to do it. We'll do the arrangement for you now if necessary."

The band members could not lift their heads while these heads of such a grand show were criticizing them in a manner that was threatening.

"To tell you the truth, the chances of you guys entering the top 10 is below 10%. What can you do? Metal is a subculture in our country. At this rate, you guys are 100% getting eliminated."

The music director looked at the band members and spoke,

"During the 80s, heavy metal was so popular that Japanese band Loudness did a world tour. But what about our country? Sinawi, Buhwal, Baekdusan. People said they were the three greatest guitarists, but they only performed in Korea. You guys think the viewers are going to listen to your music?"

"If you guys get eliminated, all you'll have left are memories. Jun Hyuk on the other hand proved his genius with just two songs in the area preliminaries and Super Week. Even if he doesn't get into the top 10, there are loads of people who are waiting to scout him as soon as this program is over."

"He'll probably be greater once he's done with the broadcast. We put someone like him with you but what are you guys doing? Honestly, even if I don't edit your performance, the judges will probably cut the song after about one minute. There's nothing to hear. I'm sure you guys will hear all types of criticism too. Then you're really ending on the worst note."

Vocal Han Ki Su must have been unable to tolerate the comparisons to Jun Hyuk because he spoke after a long silence,

"Producer. That's not right. Until now, the judges…"

Before Han Ki Su could even finish his words, they heard something that would have been good not to hear at all.

"What about the judges? When they praised you? You think that was sincere? Your music… honestly, it sucks. Sung Chul and Jung Soo started out in bands. You don't know? The broadcast is a show. The judges are matching that."

"In my opinion, Jun Hyuk will arrange the song better than I can. I'm saying this earnestly."

"You guys choose. This is it for what we are thinking. Then do your best."

The two left the room after saying that they did not have an option, not that they were giving them a choice. The members sat still for a while with dark expressions.

In the spirit of rock, they needed to quit everything and leave. However, they were just youths hungry for success.

"Bro, what do we do? Do we do what they say?"

The bassist acted as if he were asking leader Han Ki Su what they should do, but he meant that they should do as they were told to.

"Fine. Since it's gotten to this, let's just stand out in the performance and step all over that kid."

Han Ki Su grit his teeth and emanated anger.

"How?"

"Didn't he say that he would make the drum the main? Do as he says and we'll make him second instead. A second who's just scratching out chords will never stand out. I'm saying let's do that."

Han Ki Su and the guitarist who planned to drown out Jun Hyuk met eyes and nodded. The band members left the conference room and approached Jun Hyuk.

"Look here. Let's forget all of our bad feelings and focus on the mission. I'll be the bigger man since I'm older and apologize."

Vocal Han Ki Su saw Jun Hyuk take the hand that he put forth and felt relief.

"You do the directing for this mission. We'll follow you. That's okay, right?"

"I can really do what I want?"

"Yeah. Do whatever you want."

Jun Hyuk went to the drummer as if he had been waiting to hear that he could do as he pleased,

"By chance, can you do double bass?"

"Huh? Double?"

The drummer winced when the other members looked at him. Until now, he had never performed in double bass and there was only a single bass drum in their practice room.

The drummer glanced at his members and spoke,

"I can't do it yet. I am practicing."

"Hm… I guess we'll have to do it differently."

Jun Hyuk kept mumbling to himself and pulled a notebook out of his bag. It was printed with staff lines and looked like a notebook that a child in elementary school would use.

"Sir on the bass, do you know how to read music scores?"

The bassist nodded as he spoke,

"I'm the only one who reads scores. Everyone else learned by listening to music."

Jun Hyuk's hand drew out the bass line. He ripped the completed score out and passed it to the bassist saying,

"Since the drummer can't play double bass, you'll have to cover him. You'll be able to do it."

"Huh? Uh… I think it'll work but… I'll try it."

Jun Hyuk had created the line so that the bassist would be able to play it. He could do it, he just had not done it before. Jun Hyuk led the drummer by his hand to the drum set,

"I'll perform it while you record it on your cellphone. You can get the song listening to that, right?"

"You can play the drums?"

No matter how much the VJ filmed, Jun Hyuk kept showing new sides to himself and even seemed wonderful.

"I'm not very good at it, but I can play a little. Just think of what I play as the skeleton and put some flesh on it."

Jun Hyuk started drumming lightly to tune the set. He must have liked the sound because he smiled and held the stick properly.

"Okay, start recording. One, two, three, four."

Jun Hyuk signaled the start with the drumsticks and played a heavy bass. While he performed on the drums for four minutes, none of the contestants in the room even made the sound of their breathing. The drummer who had been carefully watching from next to Jun Hyuk had bloodshot eyes. He would have shed tears if Jun Hyuk had played for 10 more seconds.

He had dreamt of Canadian group RUSH's drummer Neil Peart and practiced for countless days to the point where his palms ripped just so he could play the drums like this.

The other contestants had been thinking that Jun Hyuk was a songwriter playing the acoustic guitar. No one could close their mouths when he played the drums with the pressure of a large truck like Metallica's drummer, Lars Ulrich.

The producer ran out to the practice room as soon as he heard that Jun Hyuk was playing the drums himself. He was not able to hear the whole performance, but he felt bliss from what he heard from after the 2-minute mark. The music director who had been watching alongside the producer could not speak properly,

"That… That kid… What is he?"

"What else? He's destined for viewer ratings. We have to make sure he gets into the top 10. He might as well have reserved the real-time rankings for this second half. Ha ha."

The producer laughed excitedly, but the members of Steel Blade could not laugh. Especially not the vocal and guitarist because they did not have the confidence to push past this storm-like drum with their voice and guitar sound.

Jun Hyuk paid no mind to the attention he was being given and spoke to the drummer,

"You recorded everything, right? Do you think you'll be able to get something out of it?"

"I'll have to. But… honestly, I don't think I'll be able to copy it 100%."

Jun Hyuk had instructed him to put some flesh on this skeleton, but he did not even have the confidence to play the skeleton properly.

"Just don't lose the bass then. That's the main point here. If you lose the bass drum, the bassist will stand out. The bass guitar and drum are the house. The guitar and vocal are just the interior, so you'll have to make sure you're ready."

The bassist and drummer loved music. The music they would have to play today was miles away from the music they had been playing until now, that they had already forgotten the friction there had been with Jun Hyuk earlier. All they were thinking was that they wanted to quickly master this great music.

"Is it our turn now? I'm a little nervous."

The vocal and guitarist felt a bit of excitement as they went towards Jun Hyuk. However, Jun Hyuk splashed cold water on their excitement,

"The two of you can just do as you were practicing earlier. The only difference is that you need to pause during the 15 second drum solo in the middle."

"What?"

"I told you just now. The drum and bass are the house and the guitar and vocal are the interior. The judges will be overwhelmed by the grandeur of the house anyway. They won't be able to enter the house, so they won't care too much about the interior."

"Then what about you? What are you doing?"

"What you said before. I'm just going to scratch out some chords."

Jun Hyuk left the two who were left dumbfounded at his absurd answer to help the drummer practice.

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Volume 1 / Chapter 40

TL: LightNovelCafe

The producer gathered the production team and producers for an emergency meeting. The judges who watched Jun Hyuk play the drums on the conference room monitor had the same reaction,

"How many people in Korea can play the drums like that?"

"A monster in the music world is born. Can he play other instruments?"

"Guitar, piano, drum. That means strings, claviers, and percussions. If he does winds, he's done all of them? He can't play the trumpet or flute, can he?"

When the judges could not stop talking, Producer Kim Ki Sik felt more confident,

"What do you think? Don't you think we need to put him in the top 10?"

"We as musicians agree, but do you think the everyday viewer will accept it? There's still no singing. If you want to put him up there, you need to send that band too. There at least needs to be the validation that he created amazing music."

No matter what anyone said, it was an audition selecting singers. How could they put a genius who could not sing in the top 10? Everyone had the same thought. It was a waste to eliminate someone like him.

"The judges just need to give him high praises. I'll edit it somehow to make it acceptable."

Producer Kim Ki Sik was the only one with confidence. Was it not the producer's role to make fiction seem like reality?

"Producer Kim, do it well. Make sure there isn't weird noise that the winner was pre-decided or that we chose based on looks again. In the end, we're the only ones who get cursed at."

Last season, when the handsome, ideal man won by an inch, it got to the point where Lee Sung Chul said that he would never be a judge on the show again.

However, the winner was an outstanding prize. He had female fans everywhere and he showed a sense for entertainment shows. A year later, he is on a popular variety show and he is worth a lot of money. Thanks to this, MV channel had been making a great profit.

"Sung Chul, Jun Hyuk doesn't even have an agency. I'm saying I want to pass a kid like that. It's not about money, so don't worry about that."

Producer Kim Ki Sik already had a picture of how he was going to edit the broadcast until Star Week.

The last of Star Week, the mission stage with the metal band, was going to become the most important component.The last stage of Star Week. When the four members of Steel Blade and Jun Hyuk took their positions, the stage looked packed.

Once the arrangements were done, the order of how the performances would go on broadcast was up to the producer's discretion, and the band was given the last turn because they had a lot of instruments to set up.

"I heard a lot of noise earlier. Did you set everything up well?"

Yoon Jung Su laughed while he asked as if he wanted to ease their nerves.

"Yes, it wasn't really anything. The arrangement came out well too."

"Jun Hyuk did the arrangement?"

"Yes."

They needed to keep reminding the viewers that the following music was Jun Hyuk's work. No matter how little Jun Hyuk has, this song is his song. They needed to point this out.

"Great. Should we listen to it?"

While everyone was tense, Jun Hyuk's gentle guitar stroke adorned the intro. Then the bass came in as if it had been waiting with the drum following.

Vocal Han Ki Su did lose the first beat in the midst of the heaviness, but none of the members paid him any attention. This was a performance where it was overwhelming to successfully carry out each of their own parts.

Until the 1st line sabi (chorus) ended, the four judges moved with the music as though they were feeling the drum's beats.

The drum solo Jun Hyuk had worked with him on came out at the bridge. This was the 15 seconds in which the drummer had to show all of the talent he had not shown as he had been matching his band members' standards up until now.

When the drum solo started, his three members and Jun Hyuk just stared at him intently. This was so they could enter the 2nd verse on time as soon as the drum solo ended.

When 10 seconds of the drumming that sounded like fireworks had passed, Jun Hyuk suddenly stood up with his acoustic guitar.

It was different. An entirely different deployment was unfolding.

The 15 second drum solo was not for the drummer to play as he pleased. That would be an ad lib. The drum solo needed to go as it had been perfectly planned and prepared. It needed to fit in with the complete song and it needed to fuse seamlessly. Had he not polished the 15 second solo to make it perfectly?

However, when 10 seconds passed, the drummer lowered the sound of the bass drum and started to use the tom-tom and snare. It was the type of sound that gives the audience suspense right before a ghost or demon appears in a horror movie.

Due to the change in the drum, the vocal, guitar, and bassist were caught by surprise and the four judges could sense that something was going wrong.

Jun Hyuk approached the drum set with an interesting look on his face.

The drummer did not even realize that Jun Hyuk was standing in front of him. No one could tell if he knew that he was performing something different because all of his focus was on the drum set before him.

Jun Hyuk sat in front of the drum set. The judges now had to look at his back. They did not know when this confounding situation would be over, but Producer Kim Ki Sik did not stop it.

Producer Kim was so thankful that Star Week was pre-recorded that he did not know what to do. This would have been an extreme accident if it had happened during the top 10 live broadcast.

Since the producer in charge was staying still, the judges had no choice but to keep watching. Though they had been caught off-guard at first, as they listened to the drum solo – no, now it needed to be called an ad lib, it gave them marvel.

While the tom-tom and snare had crept in, the hi-hat took over. As the hi-hat steadily released the suspense, a refreshing race began. Jun Hyuk was still on the floor tapping his fingers on the body of the drum, relishing in the rhythm of the drum.

8 minutes passed like this and the drummer held the drumsticks he had been wielding like a whip still. He was out of breath and wiping the sweat off of his forehead when he froze.

It was only then that he realized what he had done.

It was as if time had stopped. Jun Hyuk who was sitting directly in front of the drum set was laughing, and he could see his three members looking devastated. He could also see two judges looking surprised and the other two laughing as though they were having fun from afar.

The drummer was certain of two facts.

They did not finish the mission song and he ruined this entire performance. Once he realized this, he could not lift his head again.

The drummer sat in a silence that seemed to go forever.

"Lift your chin. Why are you like that when you gave such an incredible performance?"

Judge Lee Sung Chul broke the silence.

"I forgot what the mission song was. I don't know why you hid such talent up till now… You may not be able to become 'Tomorrow's Star,' but you can become the best drummer representing Korea. I'm guaranteeing it."

The drummer lifted his head at Lee Sung Chul's compliments. When Yoon Jung Su saw the drummer's face, he asked,

"Why did you start an improvised performance? It was completely different from what you practiced, right?"

"I don't really know what I played. I could only see the drum set in front of me and… it felt like my head was empty….."

Yoon Jung Su burst out in laughter at the stuttering drummer.

"Seems like you were possessed by a god. Ha ha."

"That's right. That does happen to musicians at times. Though it is a pity that it happened during a competition. It would have been great if it happened during a show."

However, the relentless commentary did not fail.

Judge Son Ji Young spoke with a bad expression,

"You would receive evaluation from the audience if it were your own concert, but you need to be evaluated on how well you digested a mission song. You realize that it's a situation where you stopped playing the mission song in the middle even if you did keep playing, right? That's something that cannot happen. It was a performance that showed what an amateur you are."

Lee Eun Jin's following assessment was the same,

"The evaluation could have been different if the song had been completed when the drum ended. However, when the solo was over, everyone stood there blankly. How could you make such a mistake? Even if it was a great performance, you all need to know this stage was ruined."

The members of Steel Blade lost even the slightest bit of hope they had. The drummer who had brightened up at the compliments hung his head again. What had he done to his members?The evaluation ended at Producer Kim Ki Sik's sign and the results were revealed.

Son Jin Young was holding the mic,

"This mission… there isn't a winner. Jang Jun Hyuk and Steel Blade are both eliminated. You worked hard."

The drummer who stumped back to the waiting room could not lift his face and kept repeating his apologies,

"Shit, just beat me up. If I hadn't done something so stupid… I'm really sorry. I have nothing to say."

"It's okay. As he said, we were just included to sort the range of genres. I'm happy that you were able to show your full talent. That's enough, right?"

Vocal and leader Han Ki Su pat the drummer's back. On the one hand, he was also envious. It was not an easy feat to get compliments from Korea's best singer.

The drummer who had been engulfed in the drum's aftertaste, his busy thoughts, and the regret, picked up his things and approached Jun Hyuk,

"Thanks. I'm relieved because of you. I've gained the confidence to say that I'm a drummer wherever I go."

"Don't be too disappointed that you were eliminated from the auditions. You'll get famous anyway."

"Do you want to give me your phone number? Let's keep in touch. Can I go to the cafe you work at?"

"Sure, mister. I want to perform with you again somewhere down the road."

The drummer spoke to Jun Hyuk who saved his phone number,

"Hey! Why are you calling me mister? Call me brother."

"I'll see you later."

He reaffirmed that this young genius did not open up his heart easily.

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Volume 1 / Chapter 41

TL: LightNovelCafe

All Star Week missions were over, but the top 10 finalists were not decided. There were eight winners because there was another team that had been completely eliminated like Jun Hyuk's.

They needed to pick two more people to complete the top 10.

However, the truth was that the broadcast station had not finished coordinating the last of the contracts they had with the entertainment agencies. The legal and production teams were busy making the final touches.

Once they were finished tuning the contracts with the entertainment agencies, Producer Kim Ki Sik felt like his head was going to explode. They had decided the order of elimination and each team's song selection for the top 10 performances. They had to design the broadcast as if it were a puzzle without any easy pieces.

On top of that, all of this had to align with the contents of the contracts, it had to look natural to the viewers, and the quality of the stages had to be up to par. There were plenty of other audition programs.

His head still hurt when he thought of the verbal abuse they had suffered on the internet last season.

They had put in a song by a girl group that went off a sexy concept without vocals. The participant that had to sing that song was a rock band. The arrangement was good, so they did not think that there would be any issues, but that week's stage theme happened to be 'The Song of My Life'.

The members of the rock band were older than the members of the girl group. In a way, it should have been expected that the viewers would be angry.

Not only did most rock bands not listen to idol or girl group songs, but they got most of their inspiration from British and American rock bands. But it was 'The Song of My Life'! Moreover with a young girl group's song.

This season needed to be perfect. The entertainment market grew by the day. Mistakes could not be tolerated to the point where the company's profits depended on each broadcast.

"Okay. There's only one person who needs to be added to the top 10 no matter what, right? Nam Seung Hee?"

"Yes. We completed the contract with her agency."

Producer Kim Ki Sik and the production team went into the selection process for the remaining two seats in the top 10.

"Then if we confirm the 9 people… it's exactly 10 if we put Jun Hyuk in there."

Producer Jo spoke cautiously,

"But senior, there are some problems if we do it like this."

"I know. You're talking about the fat kid and the girl with the braces, right?"

"Yes. Kwak Hye Sung and Jang Na Rae. The judges have been giving those two good evaluations as well and their prospects aren't bad either. Kwak Hye Sung could hit it big if he just loses a little weight… and Jang Na Rae seems like she could shine once her braces come out and her looks get better with the limelight."

It went without saying that their singing skills were not a joke either.

"Then why aren't there any calls for them? Agencies these days don't have an eye for these things?"

"Well, I guess it's because of Jun Hyuk. The agencies are only trying to get Jun Hyuk. They're good kids in their own rights, but they can't get any attention because Jun Hyuk overshadows them."

Producer Jo shook his head at the thought of the flood of calls. He picked up dozens of calls from agencies asking for a chance to meet Jang Jun Hyuk everyday.

"The problem is that if we don't put these two up, we'll have to edit everything out. There are a few kids in the top 10 who don't sing as well as these two do. Especially if people like Nam Seung Hee advance, we'll really get feedback that we choose the winners by their looks."

"What do we do? Go with top 12?"

"If we do that, we need to get permission to go on air for another week. Are we okay to do that?"

If there was an episode extension, the main writer had an increase in work and income. The main writer was not a full-time employee, but was working on a contract. The number of episodes directly affected the income. It was bound to be a sensitive issue.

"Pil Jae, go to the consultants and see if we can get another week."

"Got it."

Producer Jo and Pil Jae ran to the conference room.

"If we can't get the extension, we can shorten the two-part epilogue to one. That's okay, right?"

Producer Kim looked to the main writer as if seeking consent. He had already settled on going with top 12 finalists.

"So we're decided on doing top 12?"

"Yeah. How much money do we get from the digital sales of two songs? It's not a bad thing."

"Isn't our show going to become top 12 permanently like this?"

"Last season was top 11. It's fine."

They finalized their decision to go with the top 12. Kwak Hye Sung and Jang Na Rae did not know that the two of them had gotten on a train from hell to heaven.

"Then make the order for the broadcast with those finalists. Make sure you check the order of eliminations."

"Yes."

"I'm going to go get interviews from the additional contestants. Oh right, this Thursday is the airing of the first episode. Finish up the editing."

Everyone sighed at Producer Kim's words. They could say goodbye to eating at home for the next month while the program aired. The conference room seemed to be full of the smell of cup ramen and rice rolls already."First, Jung Soo should talk to Jun Hyuk in an interview format. Make it fairly long since I'll be editing the best parts of it….."

"Producer Kim, I'm going to do it honestly. If he doesn't show potential, I'm just going to eliminate him. I'll interview him if you agree to this. If not, give up on Jun Hyuk."

It seemed that Judge Yoon Jung Su felt burdened that he was the person allowing Jun Hyuk to advance to the top 10 when he had just been sitting blankly during the last performance. He hit the wall even before his interview with Jun Hyuk. Producer Kim Ki Sik understood Yoon Jung Su's worries, so he agreed,

"Fine, let's go with the truth. Since he's going out on live television without singing, the viewers will be able to accept him to a certain extent if he can convince you. If you need to eliminate him, do it. I'll give up on him too."

Yoon Jung Su's face became brighter as soon as Producer Kim agreed to his terms,

"Oh right, what agency is Nam Seung Hee in?"

"You're so naive. Why do you think Jin Young came on the show? Ha ha."

"She's in JYS? That girl is?"

"Yes. I think they're trying to make her the second Ji Na. Sexy and pretty good at singing."

"That's possible since Nam Seung Hee's voice is better. Her looks are okay too."

From the regretful look on his face, it seemed like he had been thinking of bringing her into his agency.

"We also decided to let the fatty and brace face advance. Sung Chul and Lee Eun Jin are going to interview them."

"Who? Fatty? Brace face? Oh, Kwak Hye Sung and Jang Na Rae. Yeah, those two were a pity to eliminate. You thought well."

The top 12 were decided and in order to create material for the show, Yoon Jung Su went to meet Jun Hyuk who had already started packing his bags to leave.

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Volume 1 / Chapter 42

TL: LightNovelCafe

"Music is thought."

Yoon Jung Su saw Jun Hyuk in a different light when he responded without hesitation. Amateurs tended to think that music was sacred. Usually, the answers to a question like this was that it was their dream, life, or challenge. That was after much contemplation as well.

"Thought? Why?"

"People have all kinds of thoughts all day without a second to spare. It's because I have music instead of those thoughts."

"There's constantly music in your head?"

"Sometimes it's music and sometimes they're sounds since sounds are also music. No… is music sounds? It's confusing."

Yoon Jung Su thought that fireworks had gone off in his head. Could he have been born with the God-given talent that is said to be lucky to appear once a century?

There is a saying in art and sports: There's only one way a person who tries hard can beat a person born with talent. He can win if the person born with talent quits.

The first people who recognize a gift are parents. Even today, there are countless children who are led to the doors of famous musicians or artists by their parents. They all say the same words,

"We have no doubt that our child is a genius."

However, the reply is also always the same,

"No, he has some talent but he is not a genius. He's simply a little more advanced than the average child. That difference is very insignificant as well."

The parents leaving all say,

"He can't even recognize a genius!"

The former world record for the 100m race for 23 years was 0.16 seconds. But the monster Usain Bolt shortened it to 0.14 seconds in a year while beating his own record.

Usain Bolt's spine is curved due to a congenital disease scoliosis.

As such, there are also people who are born with a talent that others cannot attain with hard work. There is an innate ranking in gifts one is born with.

Yoon Jung Su was curious about the ranking of Jun Hyuk's talent when he said that he constantly heard music,

"Then do you want to become a star through your music?"

"They said that I don't need to make an effort to be a star. They said that I would become a star no matter what because I was born a genius."

"Who said that?"

"My boss."

"Your boss? Oh, the owner of the cafe you work at?"

"Yes."

Could it be that a cafe owner who does not know anything is mistaken in believing that Jun Hyuk's insignificant talent was something incredible? Was this case like with other parents who were under the illusion that their children were geniuses? Is this why Jun Hyuk had such an arrogant personality?

"Why does your boss think that?"

"I never forget a song I hear once and he said that every sound in the world becomes music in my head. All I have to do is get out the music that's in my head. What did he say that was….?"

"Absolute pitch?"

"Yes, that's right. Absolute pitch. He said that only a few people are born with this talent and of them, I'm top quality."

"Remembering music after hearing it once could just mean that you have a really good memory. And getting the music in your head out doesn't mean that you're a genius. That music has to be good."

"Is that right?"

Writing the entire music scores of all instruments in an hour long symphony was impossible with a good memory. This is what the cafe owner said, but music expert Yoon Jung Su was saying something different. Jun Hyuk tilted his head slightly.

Jun Hyuk tried to speak, but was cut off when Yoon Jung Su continued to talk,

"And you've only shown us your arrangements until now. You've never made your own music. Of course the arranging skills you've shown us are outstanding. However, in music you need to have a fundamental creative base. I want to see if you've got creative potential."

At that moment, Jun Hyuk's eyes sparkled,

"I want to do my music as well, but they keep saying stuff about mission songs and won't let me do my own."

"What? Ha ha ha. There is that. Hey, Producer Kim! This is your fault."

Yoon Jung Su yelled to Producer Kim Ki Sik who was filming the interview from a distance. The fast-thinking VJ filmed this scene including Producer Kim Ki Sik who was laughing in shock.

"Then do you have an original song prepared?"

"I have a lot. I can make a few in a day if I put my mind to it."

"What? A few songs in one day? Hah."

The people who created the most songs in the shortest time were children. They made music while constantly humming, but none of the songs were fit to be used.

Teenagers wrote songs by scratching out the guitar chords they are used to hearing. They may not know it themselves, but it was plagiarism. With songs like this, it was possible to make dozens in a day.

"Then should we hear it? What do you think? How about the song you like most out of all the songs you've made so far?"

Jun Hyuk thought for a bit and spoke,

"The song I like most is difficult to play right now. It's a symphony so I need an orchestra."

"What symphony?"

"Yes. Oh… right. There's something I made not too long ago. During the 2nd mission with Nam Seung Hee, I made a song that would be perfect for her tone. I'll play that for you."

Yoon Jung Su was taken aback by the two words, symphony and orchestra, that Jun Hyuk had just said. What did he mean, symphony?

The only famous Korean composer was Yoon Yi Sang. From Kyeongnam, Tongyong, he performed in Germany and was proudly chosen to be in New York Metropolitan Museum's 20 contemporary musicians.

No other composer came to mind. Of course there was a decrease in the number of people composing symphonies these days, but this was an issue of basic skills.

How could a teenager he had thought of as immature talk about symphonies?

Yoon Jung Su wanted to hang on to Jun Hyuk and ask him, but he was already sitting at a piano,

"Teacher, I'll start now."

Jun Hyuk smiled brightly as he started playing the piano. That smile did not disappear until the music ended.

Yoon Jung Su pictured a Pocari Sweat commercial from Jun Hyuk's song. Warm sunlight, a beautiful blue sea. Greece's Santorini with walls as white as a swan.

The piano melody was smooth, beautiful, and clear.

"What do you think? Teacher? Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, it's good. Really."

There was nothing else to say. It was good. Really good. It could be played for at least 20 years.

"You said you made this two days ago? During the 2nd mission?"

"Yes. Nam Seung Hee sang the Finkl song as a jazz song then. But it seemed like ballads are perfect for that girl."

"So you just made a ballad song on the spot?"

"Yes."

"How about the lyrics? What is it about? Did you write them?"

"Oh, I can't write lyrics."

"You haven't written them?"

"No, I'm saying I can't write lyrics. It hasn't been long since I learned hangul… and I'm not very good at expressing emotions with words."

He could not believe that it had not been long since Jun Hyuk learned hangul, but he remembered Jun Hyuk's past and shut his mouth. Expressing emotions. Expression itself is spoken or in writing. Expressing with speech and writing is literature.

Jun Hyuk had learned too little to express himself in words. When Yoon Jung Su did not speak, Jun Hyuk said something unexpected,

"Could you perhaps write the lyrics?"

"What? Me?"

"Yes, you write songs well."

"I don't know. You made the song. You have to write the lyrics according to your emotions. Isn't it weird if I write them?"

"No… I took my emotions and made the song, so couldn't you write the lyrics according to the emotions you felt by listening to it?"

Jun Hyuk's potential had already been confirmed after hearing the song he made for Nam Seung Hee. There was also a reason why he did not sing and was persistent on playing instrumentals. His intention was to give everyone listening to his music the freedom to feel and interpret it.

Yoon Jung Su realized that Jun Hyuk had the capacity to become an impressive musician instead of being just another singer.

Kim Ki Sik who had been filming this entire interview smiled widely as he thought that he had killed two birds with one stone. A song created for one girl. Yoon Jung Su confirmed Jun Hyuk's musicality with this song and the camera had filmed his feelings for Nam Seung Hee.

All that was left was what viewers called the devil's edit.

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Volume 1 / Chapter 43

TL: LightNovelCafe

Producer Kim Ki Sik who had watched the first episode's edit compilation picked out two points of significance as an artist chooses the emphasis of a work.

"Only include Jun Hyuk and Nam Seung Hee's previews. Don't change it or make it with the kids who sing well."

"Do you want to blur their faces?"

"No, both of their faces are their weapons. Just put in 10 seconds of Nam Seung Hee in the middle. Mix pieces of Jun Hyuk's story together and put it in the ending. Just 15 seconds. End it with a close-up of his face. Okay?"

"Isn't it too blatant?"

"So let's see it. We can see which would be better to air. We'll see if Jun Hyuk can or can't beat everyone's singing with just his looks. Don't put Jun Hyuk's story in tomorrow's press release, either."

"Take him out of the press release?"

"Yeah. We're going to pit the 15 minutes of exposure against the whole program without borrowing the strength of a press release."

The limitations of a live broadcast. Jun Hyuk's performance without singing could not bring out the liveliness of the scene. His intention was to see if Jun Hyuk could make up for these shortcomings and get him to the top 5 if it was possible.

"Then, how about the top 10 tournament? You planned everything without any contract violations, right?"

"Yes. We'll progress with this order if you confirm, and start allocating the mission songs."

"Okay. Let's see it."

The contestants in the top 12 would live together for 40 days while preparing for the live broadcast, sweating to be the best. However, that sweat cannot push someone to the top spot. Their dreams were being decided in this conference room following a contract that adults made.

"First, how many are there in large agencies?"

"Four people. We already finished talks with these. There's no need to advance two of them any further. According to their contracts, we only need to get them on the first stage of the live broadcast."

"So they'll be the first two to be eliminated?"

"Yes."

Top 10 decided.

"The remaining two are automatically the next to be eliminated?"

"Yes. Articles saying they are signing with their respective agencies will go out once the program is over, and we'll get 20% of their profits after they debut….."

Top 8 decided.

"The cable channel didn't ask for anything?"

"We aren't told what the contract with the cable channel says. It's not even the top 5 but the early eliminations so….."

"There are three kids without agencies. These are the next people to be eliminated."

"Right."

Top 5 decided.

"You've only planned the rest of the kids to top 5, right?"

"Yes. I'm sure they're thinking that they've chosen through enough if we've reached the top 5."

The broadcast station and agencies knew after going through four seasons that there was enough publicity if they just got to the top 5.

"No one has requested the top 3 yet"

"No."

Up to here was the middle of the betting race where the agencies were gathered. The agencies would watch the broadcast and see the reactions. Following that reaction, they would decide if they would bet more or put their cards down.

"Oh yeah, there's a place requesting the win. Jessica. You know Mango Entertainment, right?"

"Mango? The company that a manager from SN created when he left? Mango keeps pushing for it?

"Yes. Their investors are good and they have two good idol teams. They prepared this girl a lot and are busy trying to make her the 2nd Park Jung Hyun."

It was fully possible. She had received high praises from the judges during the area preliminaries when they did not know which agency she was in. She had proved that her vocals were perfected with four years as a trainee.

"Did they say they signed with a cable channel?"

"Yes. The deal being made is that if they make them 1st place, they take 20% of the profits for 5 years and they'll put the debut song on the top three stations, and on the condition that they make 1st place on the music program, they take 20% of the profits for 2 years."

The total profit they discussed was not just the money brought in from music. Advertisements and TV appearances were also included. The only money they could not take was what was made from performing at events. Since most did not bill their taxes, it was difficult to identify the revenue. If they stopped billing the taxes? They would definitely take it.

"Five years? The condition is good. Most places end it after three years."

"They're asking us to make her number one no matter what."

"Say she wins, who's working on her debut song? Nothing matters if the song sucks… She won't be able to gain popularity."

"They're thinking of taking the safe route. They're going to release a single and work on a remake album. Apparently, they even got the copyrights."

It was evident that they had prepared thoroughly. It was up to Jessica whether this preparation would go on to become a success or end with failure.

"What about the remaining four?"

"There isn't much difference between them. They only asked to be in the top 5 anyway. The conditions are the customary 20% for two years. Their intention is to watch the response and act then."

This is how the size of these youths' dreams were decided. Producer Kim Ki Sik brought up his hidden card Jun Hyuk,

"The problem is Jun Hyuk…. How far should we advance him? Put him in 5th place?"

"I really think I'm going to go crazy."

Producer Jo looked upset as soon as discussion on Jun Hyuk started.

"Because Jun Hyuk doesn't listen?"

"Jun Hyuk doesn't listen but it's also the cafe owner who is his guardian. I tell him I'll link him with an entertainment agency, but he doesn't listen. He says he's not interested."

"I think he's trying to make his own agency with Jun Hyuk as his poster boy. Aren't there a lot of people like that?"

"It's obvious. Even if that cafe owner really makes an agency and tries to train Jun Hyuk, it's impossible and he doesn't know that."

This industry's entertainment market was run on a system. At the center of that system was money and networking.

Just because a Misari cafe owner discovered a kid with talent did not mean that everything went the way he planned. If the cafe owner was in his early 30s, he might be able to settle around 10 years later. However, he was already in his mid-40s. It was an impossible dream.

"So what I'm trying to say is that Dine Music is going after Jun Hyuk the most and they want to do some work. What should I do?"

"Dine?"

"Yes. Dine is big in Japan. They say with Jun Hyuk's looks and skills, he'd do better in Japan than in Korea… Japan's performing arts can't be compared with ours."

"Hm, that sounds good."

As the main producer showed a positive reaction, Assistant Director Pil Jae's face brightened. Producer Kim thought that guy must have at least been invited to drink with Dine Music.

"Right? That's what Dine Music was saying. If he just does two years of promotions, he has the potential to earn at least $100,000 easily after."

"So? How do they want to work?"

"They're going to make the cafe owner into a villainous thief."

"Thief?"

"Yes. He brought on an orphan and didn't pay him anything for his labor. If that wasn't bad enough, he's trying to exploit him for money just because he has a talent in music. He didn't take any measures while he was bothering him for two years and just because he went out on broadcast, he acquired guardianship. This type of story."

"It's true. He he."

"These were revealed as clear facts. I think it'll work too."

The production team sitting in the conference room and Dine Music did not have feelings of animosity or resentment toward the cafe owner, Yoon Kwang Hun. This was just work. Everyone thought this way. They needed to do a good job to make money and to do this, they needed to address whatever made their work difficult.

Yoon Kwang Hun was just an obstacle to their work.

"That's something Dine Music needs to do on their own. We can just forget about it in the meantime. They can go through with it or not."

Producer Kim was certain that Assistant Director Pil Jae had been approached by Dine Music when he quickly started talking after he said to forget about it,

"About that… It seemed like they wanted us to help out a bit."

"Us? How are we supposed to help them?"

"It's obvious that Jun Hyuk will become one of the trending topics next week when the show airs. They said they were going to spread the articles then….."

The assistant director hesitated a bit.

"So?"

"Jun Hyuk can't see the articles. It's all over if Jun Hyuk tells reporters that the cafe owner is like his father."

"So they're asking us to cover his eyes and ears?"

"Yes. He goes into the boarding house this week anyway. If we make sure they don't get internet and phone access… They can end it in three weeks. And we have to make sure the people around him don't say anything as well."

It was certain that this assistant director was deeply involved with Dine Music as he was acting as their messenger altogether.

Producer Kim did not want to reproach him. He had been working as an assistant director in the strenuous world of variety programs for three years. If he had not had these kinds of bonuses, he would have quit a long time ago.

"For free?"

"Excuse me?"

Producer Kim smirked at the assistant director,

"To do that, they need us no matter what. What you just said is that we need to completely cut Jun Hyuk off from the outside."

Assistant Director Pil Jae tried to see whether or not Producer Kim was angry first. Producer Kim had already figured it out that he had gone to the room salon with someone from Dine Music. Fortunately, he did not seem angry.

"We need to prepare the foundation. They're asking us to edit the highlights of the hard life Jun Hyuk had as an orphan and his miserable life for when the broadcast airs. That way, the article about his exploitation as a slave will become bigger news."

No one could speak. This was not just an issue of Dine Music. The broadcast production team was becoming an accomplice. It meant that they were getting actively involved in making one person into garbage.

"Pil Jae."

"Yes."

"Tell Dine Music to come in. Someone higher than an executive. Someone with a say. We need to decide after hearing the master plan. Schedule a meeting for today. The broadcast goes out next week so we don't have time. Oh right, tell the legal team to join the meeting as well."

"I'll do that."

"We need to progress with these things thoroughly since we're taking a lot of risks."

Assistant Director Pil Jae may be content with having drinks, but this did not cut it close for the main producer, Kim Ki Sik. He wanted to receive a secret offer from Dine Music.

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Volume 1 / Chapter 44

TL: LightNovelCafe

As Jun Hyuk had said, people from apparel brand XOR came to the cafe. The XOR officials were edgy while Yoon Kwang Hun read through the contract meticulously.

The broadcast had warned them that the cafe owner was very precise. They still had not thought that he would read through all six pages of the contract.

Yoon Kwang Hun began to speak once he was done reading the contract,

"The main point is this? If he has a scandal during the year after 'Tomorrow's Star' starts, we need to compensate the damages. Is that right?"

"Ah… yes. That is content that is typically included."

"Hm, sir. I guess you haven't heard the rumors yet?"

Yoon Kwang Hun put the contract down and coughed.

"Excuse me?"

"Jun Hyuk punched another kid during Star Week."

"Oh, we know about that."

"He's a kid plenty capable of cursing at the judges. Live broadcast? He doesn't know what that means because he doesn't care about the cameras once he goes into his music. But live like the ideal child for one year? This is asking us not to sign on."

"Hey, sir. You're being too much. Surely he won't cause any accidents on live broadcast?"

"It's true. What I'm most worried about is that he'll say 'You don't know shit and you're being annoying!' if the judges say something he doesn't agree with."

The XOR Manager's face brightened,

"We're grateful if he causes scandals like that. Ha ha."

"Excuse me?"

"The concept of this season's jean is the rebel. We chose Jun Hyuk based on that concept. He doesn't fear the judges and says what he wants? This overlaps with a teenager rebelling against a teacher or adult. Kids like it. The terms you pointed out are in reference to issues like drinking and assaulting someone, drugs, girls."

"What… a 17 year old and alcohol, drugs, girls?"

Yoon Kwang Hun had not even thought of such absurd situations. Did people in the entertainment industry act like adults no matter what age they were on they gained fame?

"If Jun Hyuk becomes famous once the program ends, he'll be called to different places, go to parties for his album release… there will be accidents. Especially with Jun Hyuk, girls will be all over him. He's at an age where he won't be able to say no. That's why kids have management companies. The companies resolve all of these types of accidents. The reason why people like the larger companies is that they stop the articles no matter how big a scandal is. The reporters are scared of them."

They just had to stay quiet until 'Tomorrow's Star' was over. Jun Hyuk was staying in a boarding house until the end of the program anyway. Whatever the XOR official was worried about would not be a problem.

Once the program was over, Jun Hyuk needed to focus on studying abroad and not on become a celebrity as everyone else was assuming.

Jun Hyuk could not bear being ordered around. The life of a celebrity was hard. He had to do what he was told until he became a recognized star.

"Then let's do this. Let's write out what the 'unsavory acts' are specifically. The drugs, assault, girls, et cetera you spoke of. Doesn't a contract need to be specific?"

"That sounds good. We'll change that part. Do you have any other suggestions?"

"Four poster shoots and two promotional video shoots. This video is for the TV?"

"No, it's internet advertising. Of course if Jun Hyuk has enough star power, they could go on TV."

"Then let's agree to that."

"Are you satisfied with the guarantee?"

"I realize that $20,000 for a total rookie is a very generous condition. Isn't it normally $5,000?"

The XOR Manager's face brightened. When they were first drafting the contract, they were grappling with $5,000 and were allowed to go a little higher, but the marketing director cut everyone off bluntly. She said that he was a model worth the expense. She also said that he might turn against XOR indefinitely if they went too hard from the beginning. The XOR marketing director had a conviction about Jun Hyuk.

The XOR Manager did not lose his chance when Yoon Kwang Hun showed satisfaction at the guarantee,

"Thank you for recognizing this. It really is a generous condition. Our Director really has an eye for people. Jun Hyuk will become a star. Our Director is sure of it."

The XOR Manager left the cafe saying that he would bring back a revised contract.That night, Yoon Kwang Hun and Jun Hyuk watched the first episode of 'Tomorrow's Star' together at the cafe. Yoon Kwang Hun watched while drinking a beer, waiting for Jun Hyuk to come out, but all that aired of him was 10 seconds after 1 hour and 20 minutes.

"Hey! Did you know you weren't coming out this week?"

"No. They didn't say anything about that."

Jun Hyuk must have been fascinated that he was on TV because he was a little excited. TV has a strange charm. One begins to think that he is special.

Yoon Kwang Hun worried about what he had to do if Jun Hyuk became more concerned about becoming a star than he did about his music, but it was already too late. He brought up another topic to ease his ominous thoughts,

"Is the girl whose preview came on in the middle Nam Seung Hee? She's pretty."

"Right? Truthfully, she does look prettier on the TV screen. I'm going to try to get her to go out with me while we're living in the boarding house."

"Why? She said she's interested in you too?"

"I have to blow her away. I'm going to make her a song. There's no problem. He he."

"Do well with her, but you can't cause any trouble. Oh right, when you go into the boarding house tomorrow, they'll make you do all sorts of things. They're going to make you exercise and dance. You saw last season, right?"

"It's okay. If they bother me too much, I can just quit everything and get out of there. Those people can't cut me. I overheard them talking about how I'll be the factor guaranteeing their viewer ratings this season. Ha ha."

It was understandable since he was a kid who had survived on watching for other people's reactions alone. He would be able to figure out that he is necessary just by looking at the faces of the staff members.

"Anyway, don't act too much on your impatience and go along with what they say for the most part. Do what you can and if there's something you really can't do, don't throw a tantrum and go tell the producer."

"Yes, I understand."

"You're really going out in society now. You were on the boundaries of society when you were living alone, but it's not like that anymore. Now, you have to fit in to a certain extent. You also have to learn to be patient until you become a person that no one can touch."

"Don't worry. Am I a child?"

"You're being cocky. Hey, you're still a kid."

Yoon Kwang Hun felt that his nagging was unusually long and shut his mouth to start cleaning the cafe. Jun Hyuk was like his son, but he did not want to become like other fathers and sons. He wanted to be like an uncle and at times, a close friend.

"Go to sleep early. You have to go all the way to Sangam-dong tomorrow morning. Are you done packing?"

"They told me that I don't need to bring anything. They'll give me all the clothes I need to wear once I get there… even the underwear and socks. I'll just take my guitar."

"Sure. I'll come early in the morning."

"No, that's okay. I can just take the bus."

"It's fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

Yoon Kwang Hun who came early in the morning to drop Jun Hyuk off in Sangam-dong thought he might know how parents feel when they are sending their children far away.

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Volume 1 / Chapter 45

TL: LightNovelCafe

A week later. The 2nd episode of 'Tomorrow's Star' finally started. Yoon Kwang Hun watched the broadcast with interest. However, he turned the TV off when it ended with Jun Hyuk playing Jung Tae Jun's 'Poet's Town'.

He was uncomfortable.

They had only highlighted the dark and pitiful parts of Jun Hyuk's past. They had clearly said that he played eight versions of the song, but they did not even air a full minute of this guitar performance.

Instead, an interview over 3 minutes on his past came out with a scene of him sitting dejectedly alone in the waiting room with melancholic background music and a narration of his depressing story.

It was as he had expected. The broadcast station had taken the direction of concepts like the forced pity and success story. Yoon Kwang Hun went to bed with the uneasy thoughts hoping that they would highlight more of Jun Hyuk's music during Star Week.

The next morning, Yoon Kwang Hun received a phone call from an employee opening the cafe in Jun Hyuk's place,

"You're already at work? You're working hard since Jun Hyuk isn't here."

– Boss. It's crazy here.

"Why? What's going on this early in the morning?"

– Reporters are swarming the front of the cafe.

The strength of a broadcast was scary. It seemed Jun Hyuk had already become a hot topic after his first appearance yesterday.

"It's okay. Jun Hyuk's air time went on broadcast. That'll be why they're there."

– No! I'm telling you that's not it. Boss, go on the internet. It's no joke!

When Yoon Kwang Hun put down the phone and turned on his laptop, he felt as though he had been hit across the back of his head with a stone.

The top three real-time searches on the largest portal site were Jang Jun Hyuk, Tomorrow's Star, and 'villainous cafe owner'.

'Villainous cafe owner?'

This had to be him.

"Hey, I'll call you later. Hang up."

Yoon Kwang Hun read through each article on the portal site and grimaced.

[Tomorrow's Star, Hot Topic Guitarist. Jang Jun Hyuk. 2 Years of Slave Labor?]

[Life of Slavery After a Life on the Streets?]

[Cafe Owner's Identity? A Good Samaritan Taking in an Orphan? A Villain Bothering a Penniless Child?']

[Living at a Cafe? Locked Up?]

Yoon Kwang Hun shut his laptop.

He had worried that Jun Hyuk might get hurt from his past being revealed because of the broadcast, but this was unexpected. The arrows were shooting at his own direction.

"These assholes!"

Yoon Kwang Hun paced his room and picked up his phone,

"Hey, it's me… Starting today, don't go to work until I say otherwise. Close the cafe doors now and just go home. Hang a sign to say that we're temporarily closed."

He lit a cigarette and read the articles again. They made him out to be a villainous thief in subtle wording. It was not something he could keep avoiding. He even thought he might need to go to Jun Hyuk's boarding house and go into a press conference.

Just then, he thought of someone he could consult with. Yoon Kwang Hun hesitated for a moment before he picked up his cellphone. He was reluctant for a while until he dialed the phone number.

To call someone he had not been in contact with for a long time to ask for a favor? Was this not the same as texting a wedding invitation to a long forgotten high school classmate? Nonetheless, this was the only person he had to go to for help. Yoon Kwang Hun hit send.

He heard an overly friendly voice over the phone,

– Wow, is this really Yoon Kwang Hun? How long has it been?

"Is this Seung Ho? You haven't deleted my phone number yet?

– Why would I delete your number? I just haven't contacted you first because it seemed you were avoiding me. How are you?

"Seung Ho, I'll give you the details later, but I need your help. I've fallen into a bit of an embarrassing situation."

– Why? What happened? Are you still working with funds? Didn't you quit all of that to run a cafe and live freely?

"No, that's not it but look at Naver. You'll know then. Look at all of it and call me back."

Yoon Kwang Hun hung up and just got in his car. As he rode the freeway, he saw a milestone that read Hyeyiri. He turned into the direction of the Hyeyiri sign and stopped at the first cafe he saw to order coffee and wait for the phone call.

However, two hours passed and there was no call.

'Shoot. Did I contact him for no reason?'

He drank his iced coffee to cool the burning inside.

Baek Seung Ho was a lawyer at the law firm Future Asset had partnered with at the time when he was making hundreds of millions.

They had been close as they got along well and had gone drinking together two or three times a week, but Yoon Kwang Hun had cut all contact when he lost everything and left the industry.

Yoon Kwang Hun had deliberately avoided anyone linked to his swanky past. But this is when he needed a reliable friend.

He had contacted him thinking that he would help due to the friendship that had before but… was that friendly voice just a courtesy? Yoon Kwang Hun felt embarrassed that he had become a forgotten failure to Baek Seung Ho.

He decided that he needed to find a motel to stay at for the time being because he could not go back to his house or cafe. He left the cafe and walked around Hyeyiri before drinking a beer.

A restaurant employee looked at Yoon Kwang Hun pathetically as he drank a beer before lunchtime, but he did not have the luxury to mind such attention. He was more hurt by the fact that he had become a nuisance to someone than he was by the verbal abuse on the internet.

He left the restaurant once he was in a completely drunken state to avoid the eyes of the restaurant employees. He stopped at a convenience store to buy canned beers and went to a motel. He drank until he passed out in a motel room.

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Volume 1 / Chapter 46

TL: LightNovelCafe

He woke up to his phone's constant ringing. He was scared to pick up the phone. Could it be a reporter? The caller ID said that it was Baek Seung Ho.

When he slid to accept the call, there was a sound so loud he thought the phone was on speaker mode,

– What are you doing that you don't pick up your phone! Do you know how many times I called you since yesterday!

"What? Yesterday? What time is it right now?"

– Good job. You're just at peace. I stayed up all night.

Yoon Kwang Hun opened the motel room's thick curtains and the bright sunlight spilled into the room.

– Did you pass out drinking? Oy. It's a mystery as to how you were a fund manager with such a fragile mentality.

As Yoon Kwang Hun drank a glass of water to quench his dry throat, he came to his senses,

"Did you call a lot yesterday?"

– Look at your call log. Anyway, congratulations. I'll have to buy you a drink later. You've hit 1st place in real-time searches. Ha ha ha."

He almost teared up. He was not yet a nuisance to Baek Seung Ho. There was still a person who was willing to help him.

"I was in 3rd place before, now I'm 1st?"

– Congratulations, you're a famous person. No, are you a celebrity?

"Stop talking nonsense. What do I have to do?"

– Let's check one thing first. Why did you keep Jang Jun Hyuk? You're not one to use an orphan just to save on employee wages. What's your reason?

"I did it for humanity. Why?"

– What gibberish is this? Are you still drunk?

"Hey! If it were you, would you take on the 21st century Mozart to serve in the hall?"

– 21st century Mozart?

"Yeah. Jun Hyuk is a real genius. He's a kid who's received a gift that God gives every 100 years. You… you don't trust my judgment? You know I have an ear for music."

Music was another reason why Baek Seung Ho and Yoon Kwang Hun had gotten close. They were both music enthusiasts regardless of the genre whether it was classic, rock, blues, jazz, et cetera. But Mozart? He was exaggerating.

Whenever we call a helpline, the waiting melody is always Mozart's 'Eine kleine Nachtmusik'. 80% of the world's helpline melodies were Mozart, 10% was Vivaldi, and the last 10% was pop music with royalties to pay.

Hotel lobbies, lounges, and elevators all over the world greeted their clients with Mozart. If Mozart were to receive royalties, he would make the amount to buy his country Austria every year, and his handwritten scores would be worth over $200,000 each.

Mozart shared the title of genius with Einstein. How could he compare Jun Hyuk to a person like that…..

– Well… Let's say that's true. Why did he go out on that audition program? If he's Mozart, he needs to go to New York or Vienna. Why Sangam-dong?

"Honestly, I sent him to be around kids his age and it seemed like he wanted to go out too. He wanted to show his music, so I sent him to get some experience. Who knew it would turn out like this?"

Baek Seung Ho seemed to be organizing his thoughts. He did not speak for a while.

– Do you want to leave this to the discretion of our company? I'll ruin these assholes for you.

"Hey, I don't have money. How can I work with one of the top two law firms in the country? I called to get your opinion."

– Would I take money from you? After I got your call, I had our investigators look into it a bit.

"Already?"

There was a reason why Baek Seung Ho had not called yesterday. After looking at the articles on the portal site, he had even enlisted investigators to determine the circumstances before and after the incident. He had called once he had the reassurance and made up his mind.

He had forgotten. Yoon Kwang had allocated all of his work to Baek Seung Ho because he had liked this kind of work ethic.

– Of course. You think I was playing all day? Anyway, it seems Jun Hyuk really is a treasure as you say. They're playing with the press on the internet. It's a scheme to discredit your guardianship over Jun Hyuk so an agency can take him.

"What the fuck. I knew they would do that."

– You should have kept your treasure hidden. What were you thinking sending him out into the world? It's full of thieves.

"Stop. I'm full of regrets as it is."

– These days, the entertainment industry makes a lot of money from this Hallyu thing. And Jun Hyuk's really good looking. If he really is a music genius as you say, he's a golden egg.

"Then will you take care of it for me? You deal with the money issue as well."

– Let me just ask one thing before that."

"Go ahead."

– Are you trying to raise him yourself? Like making a management agency?

That was greed. It was an era where talent directly became money. If that talent was in the entertainment industry, it was enough to make anyone greedy.

Baek Seung Ho thought that Yoon Kwang Hun might be trying to reclaim the glory of his past through Jun Hyuk.

Yoon Kwang Hun's unexpected reply invalidated Baek Seung Ho's guess,

"No, I was thinking of sending him to America or Europe by next year. I was just going to take responsibility up to there. His talent isn't something anyone can raise or whatnot. If you just throw him into bigger waters, the big fish around him with automatically gather to him."

There was a silence again. Baek Seung Ho's voice came out low after the silence,

– You… really put your heart into it. You don't have any selfish intentions for this. I'm seeing you in a different light.

"Hey, this kid! What are you talking about all of a sudden."

– Okay. I'll take care of this, you just disappear for a bit. Even if the talk gets worse, don't pay attention to it for the time being.

Yoon Kwang Hun fully understood what Baek Seung Ho was saying.

He meant that he was going to wait until the editors had completely ruined Yoon Kwang Hun. Once they had ripped Yoon Kwang Hun apart and made him nothing more than a rag, he was going to sue them for an enormous amount. He was going to empty the pockets of the editors responsible.

"Understood. Oh right, I'm in Hyeyiri right now."

– Okay. Oh, and once people get a hold of your identity, you'll be getting a ton of texts and calls abusing you. Don't turn your phone off because you're angry. I'll send one of our employees right now. Until our employee gets there, pick up all your calls and record everything. Don't say a word in response and just record it. The employee is going to bring a cellphone and a warrant, so sign the warrant and use that phone if you need to call. Give your cellphone to the employee. We'll handle it.

Threatening texts and calls were going to be converted into money. They were about to see the real face of a vicious lawyer.

– Text me the address of where you're at now.

"Alright. And Seung Ho."

– Yea.

"Be careful not to hurt Jun Hyuk."

– Oy. You worry too much. Is Jun Hyuk your son? Rest for a bit.

"Okay. Thanks."

– No problem. It'll be over in three weeks at the most. Hyeyiri's nice. Read a bit, go for walks, and rest. Don't drink.

Once he hung up, his mind was at rest. All he had to do now was wait. Yoon Kwang Hun passed out on the bed again.

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Volume 1 / Chapter 47

TL: LightNovelCafe

The 12 finalists needed to shine for a quality broadcast while living together for around 40 days. Going forward, they would have an expert's help in looking good, their first step to stardom. They believed they had boarded an Autobahn to stardom.

Without knowing what would happen to Yoon Kwang Hun in a week, Jun Hyuk unpacked his belongings with the other 11 contestants in a dormitory not far from Sangam-dong. As soon as they were done unpacking their bags, the staff began going over their schedules.

"First, everyone gets up at 7. You can't talk for two hours after you wake up. You're resting your voice until 9. For those two hours, stretch and wake your body to open your mouth."

These were the first instructions given when starting as an agency trainee. Only the three contestants who were not in agencies felt like they were entering a new world.

"Second, there's a ton of food in the dorm fridge and sink cupboard. It's not there for you to eat, but for advertising. The only thing you guys can have to your heart's content is water. The only food you can eat is what we give you. Third, cameras are filming everywhere except inside the 2nd floor bathroom. Watch the way you act and use the 2nd floor bathroom to take care of your business and to shower. It's good to wash your face on the 1st floor though. Do as you please since you could be wasting your air time. Washing your face will go out on broadcast if the picture looks good."

A world where even washing your face was part of a production. This was the perfect chance for a girl who had confidence in her face without makeup.

"Fourth, be aware of the consequences if you try to escape from the dorm to do something stupid. We were a little lax until last season, but we're going to be extremely strict this time. Listen well. The final selection for the top 12 doesn't go out for another five weeks. That means we can change it whenever we want. If someone tries to Shawshank their way out, they'll be cut right away and someone else will take that spot. Keep that in mind."

Everyone tensed at all of the threats. The staff also let them know that they would only be progressing with fitness and vocal training for a week.

"There's a bus waiting outside, so everyone change into workout clothing. Hurry because we'll be leaving in 20 minutes."

Jun Hyuk rose his hand slowly and spoke,

"I didn't bring any clothes. They told me not to bring anything….."

"Oh, the sponsors prepared everything for you already. They're in the room you were assigned on the 2nd floor, so go change. Also, there are dates written on the tags so make sure you look at that. You have to change every day."

The assignments had been decided so that there were three people to a room, but it seemed that Jun Hyuk's room was the biggest because one wall was full of clothes.

Everyone looked at the sponsored clothing with jealousy. They would all get sponsored clothing for the live broadcast, but they could not help but envy Jun Hyuk who was being sponsored through the dorming period.

In fact, they were more envious that he already had a modeling contract than they were of the clothes. They wanted to ask how much he had received as a guarantee than how many items of clothing he was given, but it hurt their pride to do so.

Everyone scattered off to their own rooms at the words of Kwak Hye Sung who was sharing the room with Jun Hyuk,

"I'm American obese so I could only be sponsored by a clothing store in Itaewon," were the first words out of his new roommates' mouth.There were three trainers waiting at the fitness center.

"The three of us are going to manage your bodies for the next month. If you follow our instructions, you'll be able to have asurprising body even after one month."

The production crew filmed the trainers' friendly greeting and the 12 participants' tense expressions. As soon as the cameras were turned out, their gentle smiles disappeared and the way they spoke changed 180 degrees.

"You! Listen well. You have to lose more than 20kg over a month. What do you think the best method of losing weight is?"

"Exercising well…"

"That's if you have the body of average kids. Don't eat. You need to starve."

Kwak Hye Sung put down his heated face and could not speak.

"We'll be able to see your jawline at the least if you lose around 15kg. It's a nuisance to have your chubby face go out on broadcast. What did the viewers do wrong? Don't you think so?"

It was like this everywhere. Authority needed to be established during the first meeting. They needed to be tied up tightly to be able to digest their schedules. This was the best way to get young kids who were used to doing what they wanted to listen.

"Four pieces of chicken breast and a plate of salad will be the amount of food you have everyday. There's sponsored food in your dorm, right? Things like instant rice, curry, soup? If you try to eat any of that you'll have to starve for a week so be careful."

The three trainers checked each person's bodies and gave prescriptions as though they were doctors.

The trainer looking at Jun Hyuk sighed,

"Whew… You wasted a blessed body. What is this? You're so skinny… What a waste."

"Isn't he worth working with? He'd look great if he just does some strength training."

"Right? We'll feed him some gaynor powder and chicken breast, and try to build his upper body."

"I don't need to exercise because I don't intend on singing with my shirt off."

Jun Hyuk must have been intimidated by the muscular trainers surrounding him because he did not speak in his usual defiant tone. He was very careful.

"We're not building your body so you can sing with your shirt off. Why do you think we're training you guys for free? It's because you guys are going on broadcast. We're going to plaster the change in your body after one month on that wall over there. That's the reason we're trying to make your body look good. Understand?"

The trainer spoke loudly for everyone to hear. Once the dorm life and live broadcasts, everyone was going to understand that the world revolved on money and that they were being made into commodities.

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Volume 1 / Chapter 48

TL: LightNovelCafe

"Pronunciation is first. The purpose of vocal training is to find the right sound, not to teach you how to sing well. All I'm doing is helping you to make the proper sound from your body as an instrument. The first step to that proper sound is pronunciation."

Vocal trainer Ryu Sun Hee's confident attitude and clear voice made the 12 contestants even more nervous. The best vocal trainer who had taught several famous singers.

As they were already tired from spending all morning with the rigorous schedule they had been given by the fitness trainers, it was unnecessary to yell "Don't use strength in your body!" at them.

"Come out and sing the song you're most confident in one by one. Sing the song you're best at. Don't do something hard or something you want to do."

It was necessary to fix the voices they normally spoke with first.

"You try singing first."

Kwak Hye Sung was resentful of his body. He stood out wherever he went. After starving all day and running hard, a gentle song flew out of him gently,

"Another da~y gets further."

Ryu Sun Hee grimaced at the first line of Kim Kwang Suk's 'Around 30',

"Stop. It's not further, it's far.ther. You need to write the lyrics on a piece of paper and read it. Don't sing until you can read it accurately. Got it?"

"Yes."

Everyone sang in turn, but were torn apart in the introductions and had to start practicing reading the lyrics like Kwak Hye Sung. There were two people who did not hear Ryu Sun Hee's criticism. It was 1st place nominee Jessica who was receiving harsh training at Mango Entertainment and Lee Hae Jun who was only 18 years old but had started as a trainee when he was 13 years old.

Since Lee Hae Jun found out he had to share a room with Jun Hyuk, he had been down. He was displeased that the only other contestant in his teens was already receiving celebrity treatment.

Lee Hae Jun had been watching the rules of this industry for five years already. It was a place where he had to stay afloat amidst constant comparison with others. It did not leave his head that Jun Hyuk who was also in his teens was his rival. This opponent was too strong.

It seemed the production crew had given Ryu Sun Hee advanced notice about Jun Hyuk who was up next,

"I heard you don't sing. It looked like they are planning on highlighting the fact that you're going through a survival program without singing. You don't need to receive lessons, right?"

"No."

"Fine. You can watch from the side. It'll help to watch too since these are the kids you'll be competing against."

Jun Hyuk had already been watching the other contestants' vocal training with interest. Singing with accurate pronunciation was the same as making the correct sound with an instrument.

First, there was only correcting pronunciation. As soon as they were given lyrics, the practice room quickly became full of noise with the instructions to practice reading. They seemed like elementary school students clearly reading the text in new textbooks. It was surprising how in a room full of the noise of 11 people, Ryu Sun Hee could pinpoint any one person making even the slightest mistake in pronunciation.

However, watching this interesting scene was only for a moment and the staff quietly took Jun Hyuk out of the room after taking a sudden phone call.

"The schedule got messed up a little. You'll have to go with me right now to record."

"Record?"

"Yeah, do you remember the 1st mission from Star Week? Park Ki Young's song?"

"Ah, yes."

"We got a call that there's no time to record it except for today. All the other kids finished recording. You need to record your guitar instrumental."

"That's really nothing. Anyone can just play it. Honestly, I don't really remember how I played it."

It was just an accompaniment without anything special. It was the type of music that even a decent guitar session man could record easily.

"Ha ha. It's not that simple. Would we do it so easily when we'll be releasing it for digital sales? We're going to trim it and make it much more elaborate. I bet you'll find it interesting once you go and try it."

When he got to the recording studio, the song he played for the mission was already playing.

"It's too weak. Try making it livelier."

"It doesn't mix with the accompaniment. And lower that. That's right. Okay, stop it there."

Everyone else must have finished recording their parts, but none of the people who completed the mission with him were present and five soundtracks were dancing on the recording studio monitor.

The producer who saw Jun Hyuk and staff put out his cigarette,

"Oh sorry. Can you wait a bit? Let's start once I finish this."

Jun Hyuk sat on the recording room sofa and watched the producer playing with all of the sounds through the equipment with interest. For an hour after Jun Hyuk arrived at the studio, they had not even finished the 1st draft of a 3 minute 40 second song.

"Uh… You see."

Jun Hyuk began to speak when he could not take it anymore.

"Oh sorry. Will you wait just a little longer?"

"No, that's not it….."

Jun Hyuk jumped up from the sofa and put his hand on the monitor track,

"This, lower it by 1/7 at 77 seconds. At 96 seconds, I think you can just make this and this higher by about 3/10."

The producer's eyes widened at Jun Hyuk's input,

"Did you learn sound engineering?"

"No. I saw you do it for two hours. This thing lets you see each voice, right?"

"Yeah."

"Let's fix it like that and try listening. The part that stands out too much should have disappeared."

Anyone who heard a WAV file at home will know what a wave is. However, how could he pick out one point and modify it by lowering and heightening it? Even he who had been producing for 10 years could adjust the awkward parts but what Jun Hyuk was talking about was impossible. Fixing it by making by small modifications was all he could do. But how could he find exact modification figures like 1/7 and 3/10?

"Try it."

The engineer adjusted the track as soon as the producer allowed for it. The producer's scowling face lit up when he heard the modifications again,

"Something wasn't right, but this was it."

The producer realized that the broadcast station music director's assessment of Jun Hyuk was not wrong,

"They kept calling you a genius; you really are good. How did you figure it out?"

"I just did."

He just knows by hearing it. It was something he had heard often. It was what people with talent always said.

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Volume 1 / Chapter 49

TL: LightNovelCafe

[How do I explain that? I just know it.]

"They said you're good at making songs but more than that, your ears are impressive. No, I guess they call you a genius because you're good at everything?

The producer forgot about their initial plan to record Jun Hyuk's guitar. He was calculating that Jun Hyuk as the arranger would know much better what instrument needed to be added to make the song perfect.

"What do you think? Since you heard the whole recorded song, what do you think will make it good? We were going to wrap it up with the guitar, but do you think there's something better? I want to know your opinion."

He was someone who had never asked another young singer or idol for their opinion during his recording sessions. His asking for an opinion meant that he was not looking at Jun Hyuk as another teenager, but had accepted him as a musician.

The engineer who had been adjusting the console box stuck out his tongue in surprise. That perfectionist was discussing music with this young child? The producer had never even asked him for his opinion during the three years they had worked together.

"Um, it has a very different feeling from when we performed in during the mission."

"Of course. We made it better to match the recording standard. The other kids recorded for over 12 hours."

"We did it with an acapella feel during the mission… I played the guitar to bring out the rhythm. Now I think it'd be better to put in a percussion than the guitar. Something light with an airy touch to it."

"A percussion you say… Sounds good. You said lightly?"

"Yes."

The picture of Park Ki Young's song being reborn as a perfect acapella song was engraved in the producer's head.

"Good, then let's hear the piano instrumental."

The producer looked excited with anticipation. He had heard that Jun Hyuk's piano was a gem. He had checked that Jun Hyuk had an ear for music, and he would be able to confirm the extent of his talent once he saw his performance skills.

"Excuse me? The piano?"

"Yeah. There's a Finkl song that you played in a jazz version, right? That. I saw the recording."

"But Nam Seung Hee sang that song."

"No, not that. You know the one that you played casually as a guide before Nam Seung Hee sang it for you? I'm talking about that one. Honestly, the version with Nam Seung Hee took away from the piano. The instrumental alone was much better."

"Are we recording that too? I don't even remember it… because I played it on the fly."

The producer burst out laughing at Jun Hyuk scratching his head,

"Seemed like it. Ha ha. That's the zest that makes it so you can't help but fall in love with jazz. Music expressing the emotion of that moment. What do you think? Are you in the mood to play piano now?"

The producer had felt it when the broadcasting station gave him the recording of Jun Hyuk on the piano. There was fluttering of attraction to someone of the opposite sex. But there was no way that emotion would reappear in a dingy basement recording studio drenched in the smell of cigarette smoke.

"I think it'll be a little difficult."

Jun Hyuk was fascinated by the machines that could control sounds. He was more curious about how much the machines could alter sounds than he was interested in playing the piano.

"Right? Then let's do this; there's going to be an electric piano at the dorm. Keep in mind that the keyboard weight is set for an upright piano. Play it when you're in the mood. There's a recording function on that, so don't forget to record it."

When Jun Hyuk left, the sound engineer finally opened his mouth,

"Teacher, why are you so amiable to that kid? It's a little weird today after seeing kids tense up in front of your charisma."

"From now on if you see that kid again, be nice to him and be friendly. Got it?"

"What? Why?"

"There's going to be a day when it'll be a huge advantage to your career that you ever worked with him. He's on a completely different level from other kids who come on these audition programs."

As such, Jun Hyuk's talent began to be recognized by the people creating and controlling the music behind the stage before the people on the stage.On the 10th day of dormitory life, Judge Lee Sung Chul visited the dorm. This moment was like a much needed rain during a drought as the contestants had been weary of their monotonous schedules of daily fitness and vocal training.

The pizza Lee Sung Chul brought – though it was for product placement – disappeared quickly because the young children had only been eating the chicken breast and salad meals that the trainers brought.

"Now the 2nd episode aired. You're curious?"

"Yes. How did it go?"

"How do you think it went?"

"Jun Hyuk is totally famous now, right?"

"Huh? Oh, Jun Hyuk? He's a hot topic."

Lee Sung Chul glanced over at Jun Hyuk who was scarfing down his pizza, but quickly looked away. It was true that Jun Hyuk had become a hot topic, but it was with a completely different type of issue that what these kids who were cut off from the outside were thinking of. On top of that, it was with obscene content created for a dirty ulterior motive.

Lee Sung Chul quickly brushed off the guilty mood. The camera was filming. They needed to film happy and animated young children.

"Once the remaining four elimination rounds are aired, it's the live broadcast in five weeks. It's the stage where you guys will have to sing live. In front of an audience."

Live stage. The first moment to becoming a star was when the public was focusing their attention. Just thinking about it made their hearts beat faster.

"The people who go on all six live stages are the winner and runner-up. I'm really curious as to see who will stay alive."

None of the contestants had been told by their agencies when they would be eliminated. The only thing they were told was 'Do well no matter what.' There was also the threat that they would not be left alone if they were eliminated early on.

"The reason why I came today is the mission song for your first live broadcast. Don't you want to know what song you'll be singing?"

24 sparkling eyes pointed to Lee Sung Chul's mouth.

"The first theme is a song of your choosing. We're going to make a stage that shows all of your skills. Except pop. You have to leave that for the next round. This may be a disadvantage for the people who don't have a strong command of Korean, but you still have five weeks left in which you can overcome that with practice."

A song of their choosing was the easiest mission. The fact that they could choose the genre they wanted to do. They did not have to be able to perform all genres. Everyone sighed in relief.

"While I'm here, I'll give you guys a tip. There are many ways to sing. A song that's good no matter who sings it. A song that's easy to sing without high or bass notes. This doesn't show a singer's advantages or disadvantages. It's safe."

No one wanted to sing a song that was safe and did not reveal any advantages or disadvantages. This was not a concert. Coming up to the top 12 meant that everyone lived with a knife by their hearts. Unless there was a competitor who made a big mistake, the person who took the safe route would be the first to be eliminated.

"The second is to cover all of your shortcomings with overwhelming vocals. With this, you can't hear minor mistakes because you're surprising the audience."

Since coming into the dorms, Kwak Hye Sung's face brightened for the first time as he had explosive vocals. He had more confidence in his vocals than he did in his jawline.

"The third is that there's a singer who clearly shows his emotions. This also means that he has a good tone. This can be done with a good that perfectly matches his tone."

That damned word. Tone…..

There were a few people who became frustrated after going through the qualifiers. It did not seem like they were very talented singers, but their singing was easy to listen to. This was the person who was born with a good tone. Though it was unfair that the average person had to make hundreds of times the effort a gifted person does, what could one do? This was a cruel survival competition.

"Figure out what your fortes are and prepare a stage where you can present that personal weapon of yours."

Lee Sung Chul pat everyone's shoulders in encouragement and left the dorm. The production staff started to go over the details of what they needed to prepare next.

It was not surprising anymore. They were embarrassed that they had believed the next mission song was a free choice even for a second.

"Everyone looks like they ate something sour, but stop frowning. It's not that bad."

The staff could understand why the kids were upset. It took a long time to become used to this world where the inside and outside were different.

"The first mission is a free choice song, but it's not a completely free choice. You know the reason, right?"

The issues with copyrights, royalties, et cetera were complicated. They had heard this too many times.

"Starting tomorrow, when you're done with your health and vocal lessons, you'll separate into teams with three people. When you go to the recording studio, you'll work on choosing your song, arranging and practicing it, RM recording, and sound recording. Now, you'll be working with the producer."

When they heard the word producer, they realized that the competition was really starting.

"Since there's a whole month left, wouldn't it be difficult if you spent that whole time practicing one song since you have to sing a different song every week? That's why we have everything set until the 3rd stage."

Could they really sing three songs when they have to go up to the top 8? Everyone gulped.

"Don't think that it'll be a waste of time for the people who don't make it to the third week. We're thinking of making a special stage to broadcast. Use everything you practice. Um… for the second mission, you'll do songs by the four judges. Of course you'll consult with a producer for this as well."

Now was the time to say the hardest part. It reeked of money.

"Third is the idol special. Hey! Don't frown over there."

The production staff saw that a few people grimaced at the mention of idol singers. There were people who had a prejudice against idols. They were held in conceit and thought that they were pursuing a higher standard of music.

"I know there are people here who don't like idols. However, the public likes idols. This is show business. The stardom that you all want so much is the main point of show business."

Under the animosity toward idols was jealousy. The kids who succeeded on video and not audio. They did not try to understand the sweat and tears that came before the video success.

"If you want to work on only the music that you like, you have to leave. You can walk the path of a musician instead of a star."

These kids gathered here were no different. They were of the same classification. They came out on this survival program to become stars, not musicians.

"Lastly, we're going to assign producers… Listen to your producers and you'll get good results since they're all first class. They're also going to change every mission. Don't complain about who got a good or bad producer and don't blame the producers for who had a good or bad result."

The production crew announced the four producers along with the three people who were assigned to each.

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Volume 1 / Chapter 50

TL: LightNovelCafe

Jun Hyuk was put in the same group as Nam Seung Hee and Kwak Hye Sung, and went to the recording studio.

"Oy, welcome. I'm Jo Hyung Joong."

Jo Hyung Joong was in his mid 40s and at one point had established his name as a hit song maker with over 200 songs registered in the Copyright Association. He was a composer and famous producer.

He had a gentle impression and as he made coffee, he took the time to get to know the three rookies better,

"Seung Hee, you like hip hop?"

"Yes, teacher."

"You didn't do hip hop in the qualifiers, right? You sang a ballad."

"Yes. There wasn't a hip hop song in the mission songs."

"If you're a hip hop mania, there's a hip hop audition program but why….."

"That's… My agency….."

"Ah, you have an agency?"

"Yes, I'm in JYS Entertainment. I'm just a trainee. It's my third year."

A slender girl whose voice was fit for singing ballads but she liked hip hop. There was no doubt JYS liked her for her slender body and fresh face, not her ballad or hip hop.

"Well that still means you've gotten recognition since you're in one of the big 3 agencies."

Kwak Hye Sung looked dejected at the talk of agencies.

"I heard Hye Sung doesn't have an agency yet."

"Yes that's correct."

"Have you thought about why an agency hasn't gotten in contact?"

"Because I'm fat?"

Kwak Hye Sung rubbed his bulging stomach. He had lost 2 inches over the last 10 days that had been no different from fasting. His expression remained dark though.

"Hey, your self-criticism is harsh. The reason is simple. They haven't been drawn to you yet."

"Are you saying I don't have charm?"

"That's right. I saw the tapes for all of the elimination rounds. Anyone would agree that you have great vocals."

Jo Hyung Joong gave him a thumbs up,

"Your range is amazing… but that's it. Your high notes and control of your voice can be advantages since there is a lot of music that you can execute. But music isn't about who can go higher or who can be louder. There's an emotion in the song. You need to express that. You're lacking a bit in that area."

His faults that a famous producer had specifically picked out. Kwak Hye Sung could not lift his head.

"Hey… cheer up. You still have a lot of time left. And you have two really strong weapons. Let's use those weapons to make a stage full of emotion. I'll help you."

Jo Hyung Joong smiled warmly at Kwak Hye Sung whose face had brightened and looked at Jun Hyuk,

"So you're Jun Hyuk. Hey, you're as good looking as they said. With that face, you would do better as a model or actor than as a singer."

Jo Hyung Joong thought that if the votes were done fairly, Jun Hyuk would get tons of votes just by standing on the stage.

"But I heard that you don't sing. Why?"

"There are a lot of good singers. I just need people who will sing the songs I make well."

"Ha ha. That's the mind of a typical composer. Okay then, who do you wish would sing your song?"

"Um… Adele, Marvin Gaye, Floor Jansen of Nightwish, John Mayer, Eva Cassidy, Thomas Cloverope, and…"

"Hey, that's too ambitious. Ha ha. There aren't any Korean singers?"

"Of course there are. Lee So Ra, Kim Chang Hwan, Lee Sun Hee, Jeon In Kwon when he debuted, Kim Gun Mo 10 years ago…"

"What? Kim Gun Mo 10 years ago? So not the Kim Gun Mo now?"

"No. I think he's aged a bit."

"You think so? He's still great though. If he meets a song that fits him, he'd be able to get the value out of it. Well… I think it'd be a good idea for you to make a song. You have no thoughts of singing on the live stage as well?"

"No, I'm going to try to stick it out with an instrumental."

"Good. That's cool. I'll help you as much as I can, so try sticking it out. I have expectations to see how much you can advance."

These were not words he was throwing out as a broadcast moment for the cameras next to him. He had heard that Jun Hyuk was only now 17 years old. It was a rarity to find a young child with such a firm sense of music. Aspiring celebrities were all hanging onto the idea of success. Jun Hyuk gave him pride.

This was enough for first meetings and they started preparing for the mission in earnest.

"Seung Hee, I chose a song fit for you but it's a drama OST. It's a slow song but I changed it so it'd be a little fast and light. Listen to it."

When Jo Hyung Joong finished speaking, the person in charge of the recording studio sound system turned on the music. The theme song from a popular drama that had aired not too long ago came from the studio speakers in a different version.

It was not a dance song, but it was youthful and light enough to incite automatic humming. The arrangement could have been perfect for a pretty and cute girl group to sing.

It seemed that with the strength of the original song's popularity and the audience's desire for lively music, everything matched up well and would bring good results.

Jo Hyung Joong saw that Nam Seung Hee looked pleased with the arrangement and turned on Kwak Hye Sung's mission song in succession.

The original version of Kim Kyung Ho's 'The People Who Make Me Sad' played from the speakers. Unlike Nam Seung Hee's song, it had not been edited in any way. Kwak Hye Sung just blinked as he could not figure out Jo Hyung Joong's intentions.

"Hye Sung can easily sing this song, right?"

"Yes."

"Seeing your expression, looks like you're wondering why this song wasn't arranged."

"Oh, yes… because the original song came out all of a sudden."

"The tone of your voice is the arrangement itself."

"Excuse me? My tone?"

He did not understand yet. Jo Hyung Joong just laughed as if this appearance was amusing.

"The arrangement is unnecessary because they both have extreme vocal tones. On top of that, it's possible to dominate the stage with his overwhelming vocals which is his advantage."

In contrast to Kim Kyung Ho's sharp vocals was Kwak Hye Sung's thick and heavy voice. Jun Hyuk who had been still expressed Jo Hyung Joong's intentions.

"That's it. Jun Hyuk and I are cut of the same cloth. Ha ha."

It had not been long since they met, but he could see the flash of talent. No explanation was necessary. He could figure out a producer's motives just by listening to the music. Producers could work comfortably if singers had as much sense as Jun Hyuk did.

"It'll be easy for Hye Sung to practice. There, will the two of you go and start practicing? I think my talk with Jun Hyuk is going to take some time."

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Volume 1 / Chapter 51

TL: LightNovelCafe

Jo Hyung Joong needed to choose a song for Jun Hyuk to perform without singing. Jun Hyuk was not a simple aspiring singer, but a performer. He had accepted Jun Hyuk as a musician whose tastes needed to be respected and that he could not just be thrown a repertoire.

When Nam Seung Hee and Kwak Hye Sung went into a small room in the recording studio, Jun Hyuk showed interest in the studio equipment he had been squinting at,

"Teacher, can you make sounds even without an instrument just by using this machine?"

"Yeah, you can make almost every sound. If you prepare MIDI operations with the master keyboard, you can make the sounds with programs. You can't bring out a great performer's emotion or technique though. If you can't do as well as the machine you're a lower class performer, middle class if you're similar, and A class if you're much better."

"I see."

Jun Hyuk seemed to be disappointed that perfect music was impossible with a machine.

"Why? Are you interested? I guess you want to try producing now?"

"Ah, that's not it. A few days ago, I was at a different studio to record a mission song from the qualifiers… and I saw them fixing the music and making new sounds."

"That's right. Studio equipment can do just about that much."

"I was just wondering. I was thinking I could make the symphony I wrote, but I guess that's impossible."

"What? Symphony?"

"Yes. I've made a few, but I always wanted to be able to hear one of them. There's no orchestra willing to perform a symphony that I made."

Jo Hyung Joong remembered a call he had with judge of Tomorrow's Star, Yoon Jung Su.

[A kid named Jun Hyuk is in your group, right?"]

[Yeah, why? You know him?]

[Watch him with care. He might be an amazing genius.]

This was not the 18th century. It was not an era when teenagers tried to compose symphonies and write sonatas.

It was an era when a few teenagers these days trained diligently to play the music that was created in the 18th century.

But here was a teenager who made a symphony without ever receiving proper education or training in classical music.

"Did you bring your score? For the symphony?"

It did not matter if Jun Hyuk's symphony was not a masterpiece. Jo Hyung Joong did not care if Jun Hyuk had just written something basic. The fact that he had written music for dozens of instruments that would have to play for 30-40 minutes was talent itself.

"The scores are at home. Why? Do you want to see them?"

"Of course. A symphony at your age? I can't believe it. What's the title?"

"I didn't give it a cool title like with old classics. It's just Symphony No.1 in A Major."

This side of him was just a teenager. It showed that he wanted to show off his music.

"Ha ha. I guess if someone were to go through your works later, there would be several Op."

"Is that what would happen? Ha ha."

"Then I guess you have to make your second piece?"

"No. The new one has to be No. 5 since I already made four. Three aren't that good though. Even I can tell that I was trying too hard with those."

Jo Hyung Joong had to wrestle with his work for at least a month to make a pop song that went just over three minutes. The work itself for a symphony was different. Moreover, for four symphonies. Even if they were rubbish, it was important that he had written four.

On top of that, one of them was good enough that he wanted to hear it performed. How did he have to understand this?

This was not the end. Jun Hyuk's continued boasting brought him from being surprised to shocked,

"I only really like one of the symphonies, but I like most of the ariettas I made for the piano and violin."

"What? Are you saying that you've written other songs?"

"Yes. For piano songs… um… I think I have 20? I have around the same for the violin too….."

While Jun Hyuk was trying to count the number of pieces he had on his fingers, Jo Hyung Joong's jaw dropped.

He had heard that it had only been two years since Jun Hyuk started music. The reality was that there had to be less than 10 people in Korea who composed 20 songs even after majoring in classical music.

"How many songs have you made until now? Is that it?"

"No. I'm just telling you about the classical… 70 or 80 for pop music? Of course the ones I actually like don't make up half of them."

"I'm sure you have scores for all of those as well?"

Pop music composer Jo Hyung Joong wanted to see those scores immediately.

"Yes, they're all at home. I wanted to toss the ones I didn't like, but my boss told me I can't do that."

"Your boss? Oh, at the cafe you work at?"

"Yes. Though I hardly do any work."

"Aren't you working while you eat and sleep there?"

"I do eat and sleep there but I don't work. All I do is clean and open the doors in the morning, and close the doors and clean at night. I spent the rest of my time in the practice room my boss made for me in the basement writing songs and playing music."

"You even had a practice room? What instruments did you have?"

Jun Hyuk became excited as soon as Jo Hyung Joong asked about the instruments. He had only the best, so that was of course something to brag about,

"For drums, he set TAMA and SABIAN. Fodera for bass, and for the electric guitar, I have a PRS (Paul Reed Smith), Custom, and two James Tayler BuringWaters. Yamaha for the piano."

Jun Hyuk was listing instruments that would be in a professional band.

"What? You're saying you have all of those?"

"Yes. And the AV receiver in Yamaha while the amp is MESA/BOOGIE). Oh right, the speaker was normally for the cafe but my boss gave it to me. He said it was something really expensive."

"Wow! That's amazing."

"Yes. My boss prepared everything for me saying that my instruments and equipment needed to be expensive and good."

This kind of investment for one teenager to have was excessive. Jo Hyung Joong began to wonder what kind of person the cafe owner was. How could a man who was being torn apart on the internet as some villainous slave driver be willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on one teenager no matter how talented he seemed to be? It did not make sense.

'Typical. You can't believe what you read on the internet.'

Jo Hyung Joong began to feel bad for the cafe owner whose face he did not even know.

As Jun Hyuk carefully raised a question to Jo Hyung Joong who had been lost in thought, he forgot all about the cafe owner,

"Teacher, will you take a look at my score?"

"Your Symphony No. 1?"

"Yes. I'll get it from my dorm tonight."

"Hm… yeah. Let's see it. I'm actually not an expert in classical, but don't you think it's a good song if I say it is? If it's so good that even someone who isn't an expert says it's good? And if I can, I'll show that score to someone I know in the classical field."

Jun Hyuk's eyes widened when he said that he would show the score to someone in the classical field. It could be the first chance to have his music assessed by an expert.

Jun Hyuk knew Yoon Kwang Hun had limitations. Yoon Kwang Hun's understanding of music was incomparable to the average person, but it stopped at that of a music lover and mania.

Yoon Kwang Hun himself knew his own limitations and evaluated Jun Hyuk's music less and less. If he could get the opinion of an expert, he could verify if he really had the talent that Yoon Kwang Hun kept assuring him of.

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Volume 1 / Chapter 52

TL: LightNovelCafe

Jo Hyung Joong who had been watching an excited Jun Hyuk saw the sign the VJ was giving him and brought out the mission song,

"I chose something because I heard you play the piano well. What do you think about this song? I think it could be great if you arrange this into a piano song. You can put in some orchestration too."

The song Jo Hyung Joong had selected was the OST 'From the Sun to the Boy' from Shin Hae Chul's animation 'Soul Cavalry Lazenca'.

"Have you heard this song?"

"No. I've heard Shin Hae Chul's other albums but this is a first."

"Really? Then listen to the original first."

When the elaborate introduction came out of the CD player, Jun Hyuk moved naturally with the rhythm. It was a good choice. It was a song full of the trademark heaviness and pomp of Shin Hae Chul's experimental band N.EX.T. It was like rock opera.

When the song ended, Jun Hyuk opened his mouth slowly,

"Teacher, I would like to do a different song."

"Huh? A different song? Why? You don't like this one? It would sound really good as a piano instrumental. The audience could enjoy it even if it's an instrumental with the original's orchestration in the background."

Jo Hyung Joong looked at Jun Hyuk with disbelief and brought up the rule that they had to abide again,

"Haven't you heard? There are issues with copyrights. If we change the song now, the staff has to go get the rights to that. There's also a problem of royalties. It's hard."

"Then you're saying it's okay as long as there are no copyright issues?"

"Right. Oh, are you thinking of doing an original song? Ha ha."

"Well…"

"Want to hear me out first? During a live performance, if an audience full of young people hear an instrumental they don't know, they're just going to sit there. You won't get any response. There's no producer who will air that on TV."

It was hard for anyone to respond to music heard for the first time. Even if the audience reaction were to be edited, it could not be done in a natural way to hide the awkwardness. The live stage had to be fun.

"It's not an original song… It's a song from about 300 years ago, but would the copyright still be an issue? It's a song that young kids all know, too. It's famous and has been played in many different versions."

"What? Are you thinking of a classic?"

"Yes. I was thinking of doing Pachelbel's Canon. Since there isn't a copyright, the producer and staff don't need to worry."

Jo Hyung Joong fixed his glasses as if trying to hide his frustration. As Jun Hyuk said, anyone would know the song just by listening to the introduction. It was overplayed though.

"Jun Hyuk, that song is already famous for people like George Wilson and Lee Galloway. And if you want to perform classical, you can go on a concurs. You're going out on a competition for popular music."

"Not the piano. I've tried making two versions. The original is three violins but… the first version is three guitars instead of violins. The second is a rock version like the ones you see on YouTube. I wanted to do it like that."

"Change the violins to guitars…..?"

Three guitars. There was nothing to expect if he was just switching the violins to guitars. The rock version of Guitar Kids on YouTube was good, but there was too much of that as well. If you search Canon on YouTube, there were more videos of the song done in electric guitar than there were of the classical version.

Jo Hyung Joong did not like how Jun Hyuk was thinking and he did not bother to hide it,

"Jun Hyuk, the song is good. I'm not saying it's bad. As much as it's a famous oldie, there's nothing new. I don't know how you'll make the new version, but you won't be able to show your own creativity."

The VJ who had been silently filming the two spoke carefully,

"Teacher, what if we try hearing Jun Hyuk play it?"

The VJ wanted to film Jun Hyuk play his two versions of Canon and Shin Hae Chul's 'From the Sun to the Boy' to make more material for the broadcast.

Jo Hyung Joong had forgotten that the camera was filming everything and that this was all content to go on air. It seemed like a good idea to try listening to everything since they still had a lot of time.

"Um… Should we? It wouldn't be bad to listen to everything and choose then, right?"

Jun Hyuk nodded.

"I'll objectively assess which of the three will have the most impact on the audience for the first stage."

Jun Hyuk went into the recording booth and sat in front of the electronic piano instead of the guitar. The VJ focused the camera on him and looked confused,

"Jun Hyuk, I thought you said it was a guitar version?"

"I'll play From the Sun to the Boy first. I only need to play the piano once, so let's finish this first."

Jo Hyung Joong was at a loss for words. He had said that it was his first time listening to the song. He was changing a song he had heard for the first time into a piano instrumental. If he was able to do this, he was in fact the genius that Yoon Jung Su had said he was.

While Jun Hyuk played the piano, the VJ and sound engineer were puzzled and Jo Hyung Joong who had been frozen began to smile widely when the song was ending. Yoon Jung Su had an eye for people. His eye for seeing talent was unmistakable.

Jo Hyung Joong's smile did not disappear until Jun Hyuk finished his song and came out of the recording booth,

"Jun Hyuk, the music stops too much."

The sound engineer had been wondering the same thing. The running time of the song was over five minutes, but there were too many parts where Jun Hyuk stopped and the piano did not even play for four full minutes.

"I thought you said you wanted to put the orchestration in this song. Since it's not a piano solo… I matched it to the orchestra."

Yoon Jung Su was wrong. It was not that 'He could be a genius'; he was a genius.

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Volume 1 / Chapter 53

TL: LightNovelCafe

Jo Hyung Joong could not spend all of his time on Jun Hyuk. He needed to listen to the two people practicing with zeal in the next room.

"Jun Hyuk, let's work together again tomorrow. Can you make a score for the orchestra that goes along with the piano song you just played and bring it?"

"Yes, I'll write that too."

"Okay. Then watch other people practice here. You can watch the MIDI operations you're interested in."

They were not recording formal tracks. They needed to get used to their voices in the mic and practice their mission songs thoroughly.

The future stars dragged home their bodies exhausted from practicing until it was night. They had just completed their schedules that were packed from 7am to 10pm. They could not even go to sleep right away. They needed to show the vocal trainer and producer something better the next day. They needed to find what they were lacking.

Jun Hyuk sat at the desk and started writing out scores. Kwak Hye Sung watched enthralled as the notes filled the pages.

"Jun Hyuk, is this classical?"

"No. It's an arrangement of the orchestra that'll go in my mission song."

"Looks complicated."

"This is pretty simple… I'm going to use around 16 instruments, so it's not that complicated."

"I'm jealous. Really."

Jun Hyuk put his pen down and looked at Kwak Hye Sung,

"What do you envy?"

"Your talent. Not everyone can create a song that a 16-person orchestra will play."

"Not everyone can sing like you sir do."

"You're calling me sir again. Oy, forget it."

Jun Hyuk did not use the nominals 'brother, sister' that everyone in the dorms used comfortably. Older men were 'sir,' 'there' or 'excuse me'.

Jun Hyuk made everyone uncomfortable because it was difficult to become friendly with him, but they gradually became used to interacting with him at a distance.

"Anyway, what good is it if my range is wide. Teacher Jo said it too, I can't bring out the emotion in the lyrics."

The emotion in lyrics… Kwak Hye Sung saw Jun Hyuk smirk and spoke,

"Why are you laughing? Is it weird?"

"I guess you understand all of the lyrics of a pop song? Even when it's in English?"

"That's not it."

"But you still like the song. There are times when we become so emotional we cry even if we can't understand the lyrics. The lyrics are a problem for later."

Kwak Hye Sung went next to Jun Hyuk in order to hear him well while Lee Hae Jun laid on his bed pretending not to listen.

"Have you seen Shawshank Redemption?"

"The movie? The one with Tim Robbins?"

"Yes. The one where he comes out with an old black man."

"I saw that. It was really good."

"In that movie, the main character turns on opera in the prison broadcast studio. The soprano duet so everyone in the prison can hear."

"Oh… That scene?"

Kwak Hye Sung remembered the scene where all of the prisoners stared at the speakers.

"Do you know what that song is?"

"Mozart?"

"Yes. It's 'Letter Duet' from Mozart's opera 'Marriage of Figaro'. What did you think of it?"

"Wow- it was just like the movie itself. The melody… angels, freedom… that kind of feeling?"

"Right. There's a narration by the old black man as that music comes out, 'That song must be about freedom. It was like birds had left their cage and flew over the prison walls, freedom…'."

Kwak Hye Sung was taking in Jun Hyuk's every word. Even Lee Hae Jun had gotten up at some point and was sitting at the edge of his bed to listen.

"But do you know what those lyrics really mean? That duet is like this; it's a scene of a countess speaking as a maid writes out the letter. That's why the title is Letter's Duet."

"Letter?"

"Yes. There's really nothing to the subject matter. 'Under the pine tree in the bush' 'Pine tree?' 'Yes pine tree' 'Oh, pine tree' 'You understand?' Stuff like that."

"What? The lyrics are like that?"

"Yes. There's no meaning. That's all. Something about winds from the mountains surrounding the pine tree…"

"You don't say."

The thought that that beautiful song is just about a letter to meet under a pine tree. Kwak Hye Sung felt like a fantasy had come shattering down.

"It's far from the emotions of freedom, angels, and wings."

Kwak Hye Sung looked bewildered but could understand what Jun Hyuk was trying to say.

"So what I'm saying is to understand the sound before the lyrics. A singer is a sound. If the melody is great and that sound for that melody is good, people are bound to be impressed."

"Use your voice? Hm….."

"Why sing if you're going to rely on the effect of the lyrics? You would just recite a poem. Don't you think so?"

Kwak Hye Sung was beginning to understand what Jun Hyuk was saying. He even thought he might have wasted his time being satisfied with his ability to hit high notes and having a wide range in the past.

Jun Hyuk looked at Kwak Hye Sung frowning and spoke,

"Sir, do you want me to tell you how you can get to the first stage?"

"Really? What is it?"

"Get them with a high-pitch. Like a soprano."

"Soprano?"

"Yes. Go between high notes and falsettos… You have to show the bass too, right? But instead of hitting the melody with the heavy tone, get that melody with a moderate tone and a wide range."

To Kwak Hye Sung, it did not seem like this advice would be helpful,

"Whew… Do you think that's possible?"

"Everyone is going to think that your sound is like a big iron rod. But it would be as if you are jabbing at people with the tip of a sharp fencing epee. They'll be impressed and they'll be seeing a different side of you. I'm pretty sure the judges will be surprised too. Then the game's over."

"But I can't do what you said. I'm not good with the high-pitch notes and falsetto."

"There's still a lot of time left. And you have a really good vocal trainer, Ryu Sun Hee. Anyway, that's all for my opinion."

Jun Hyuk turned his chair and picked up the pen on the desk again.

"Uh… Jun Hyuk. Who do you think is the best?"

Lee Hae Jun who had only been listening to Jun Hyuk and Kwak Hye Sung's conversation had approached them and spoke carefully.

They had not spoken since they got here and Lee Hae Jun had addressed him for the first time. But he was using informal speech.

He did not know how old Lee Hae Jun was but they looked to be the same age, so he thinking of throwing a punch at first calmed down when he thought of his boss' warning.

Lee Hae Jun thought that Jun Hyuk was not responding because he was thinking of his response.

"Let's see. If we're looking at singing skills alone, Jessie?"

"Oh, Jessica?"

"Yeah. But that girl with the braces… Who is she?"

"Jang Na Rae?"

"Yeah. She improves so quickly I think she'll be the winner in the end."

"Jang Na Rae improves quickly?"

Kwak Hye Sung stepped in because he was surprised by Jun Hyuk's words.

"She improves a lot every day during the vocal lessons. And her tone becomes more and more polished with vocal tuning."

The unexpected Jang Na Rae would grow ominously. That meant there was another strong competitor. It was not something that Lee Hae Jun had wanted to hear,

"She can't get that good in a month."

"Why is it one month? It's one month until the main starts, but an additional six weeks until the last round. She'll grow even more during that period since she'll be experiencing the real stage. And she's learning from a producer right now. If they go against each other today, Jessica will win, but in two months, Jessica can't keep up with braces."

Lee Hae Jun had not thought of the real live stage. Could Jang Na Rae beat Jessica in a matter of two months? They could not know whether Jun Hyuk's prediction would be right or wrong. What does this kid who even the judges call a genius think of him? Lee Hae Jun was becoming curious.

He spoke again carefully,

"What you do think of me?"

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Volume 1 / Chapter 54

TL: LightNovelCafe

"You? I don't know."He clenched his fists at Jun Hyuk who had thrown the words as if annoyed before turning his back on him. It made him mad enough that a kid a year younger was being so rude, but he could not take the insult that Jun Hyuk was acting as though he was not worth thinking of.

Lee Hae Jun was better at enduring than he was at singing. He had endured five years of the strident trainee life. He relaxed his fists and spoke in a low voice,

"Are you saying my singing is so bad it's not worth talking about?"

Jun Hyuk turned his chair around again,

"That's not it. I mean I haven't heard you sing before."

Lee Hae Jun's heart melted. Of course Jun Hyuk had never heard him sing.

"I'm actually preparing to debut in an idol group. I'm the main vocal there."

"Really? Well what does it matter if you can't sing when you're going to be an idol? Isn't stuff like dancing more important?"

He was experiencing this prejudice again. He was sick and tired of this prejudice. People did not realize that this trend was changing.

"It's not. The main vocal of an idol group, especially for a boy group, is really important. That way we can be included in things like OSTs, musicals, and solo albums."

"I'm sure it is. You've been a trainee for a long time, right?"

Kwak Hye Sung understood why the vocal trainer's criticism of Lee Hae Jun had been rare.

"Yes. Five years."

"And you received all your vocal training?"

"Yes."

"No wonder. That's why teacher Ryu Sun Hee doesn't criticize you."

"Sing for us."

Jun Hyuk nodded to the guitar leaning on the wall.

"Right now?"

"Yeah."

Lee Hae Jun hesitated before taking the guitar and started to sing,

"… You'll meet again when you miss her….."

As Lee Hae Jun sang Buhwal's Neverending Story, a few people from downstairs gathered at the door.

"Ooh~ Ooh~"

"Good night."

When his song finished, the people at the door clapped and cheered for him. He hit the high notes well and he had expressed the emotions of the song almost perfectly.

"What do you think?"

Lee Hae Jun felt a little lifted by the applause and put the guitar down to look at Jun Hyuk.

"It won't do. Just beat everyone with exact dancing. Make singing a backup."

No one could breathe at Jun Hyuk's harsh criticism. How could he insult someone to their face without hesitation?

"What's the reason? Am I that bad at singing?"

Lee Hae Jun was barely able to speak.

"Why do you sing?"

"What? What kind of question is that? Obviously it's because I like to sing."

"Hah. Really?"

Lee Hae Jun could not speak because Jun Hyuk laughed lightly.

He liked to sing. That was in the past. It was not like that anymore. Now, singing was tiresome, painful, and boring.

Singing?

It had been long since he had taken the road to money and fame by becoming a star. At this state, he could even become an actor if he was told that it was a faster way to become a star. Singing was not his goal but a road.

"What object do you think your singing is? It's an object made by a technician. It's not even an object made because they liked it but because it sells well. Tell me honestly, you're sick of singing, right?"Lee Hae Jun could not respond to Jun Hyuk's fastball and stayed silent.

"If the person singing is thinking that, how do you think the people listening feel? Music is honest. It can't lie."

Lee Hae Jun could not listen to Jun Hyuk anymore and left his seat. He needed to get some fresh air, or he would throw the punch.

He went outside the entrance and stood on the small grassy lawn, thinking about what Jun Hyuk said. The judges had complimented him saying that he had a well-made vocal. He found it weird that he was so affected by Jun Hyuk's words. He was a teenager just like him even if he was called a genius. His words would not leave his head though.

Singing was not fun.

He could not get over the radical question Jun Hyuk had asked. He was still young, but it was the first time he had been asked that.

"Hey there. Is this the dormitory for Tomorrow's Star?"

Lee Hae Jun jumped in surprise at the voice he heard out of nowhere. He forgot about Jun Hyuk.

"Yes, but who are you? Reporters can't come in here."

"Ah, I'm a lawyer, not a reporter. Is Jang Jun Hyuk inside?"

Lee Hae Jun took the man's business card. Lawyer Baek Seung Ho. Lawyer? Why would a lawyer be looking for Jun Hyuk?

"Ha ha. Don't misunderstand. I have to speak with Jun Hyuk regarding a sponsorship contract. I can meet him, right?"

"You can't come into the house."

"Hey, you're being difficult. It's not a prison or anything. Alright. I'll stay outside, please call him out for me. It'll be quick."

"Okay."

Baek Seung Ho took out a cigarette when Lee Hae Jun disappeared into the house. How great of a broadcast did they think they were making that they locked the kids up in a place like this? He was looking at the blurry shadows of people in the windows when the front door opened and a tall, young boy came out.

"You look better in person."

"Sir, who are you?"

"Me? I'm someone really close to Yoon Kwang Hun. First, take the phone."

Baek Seung Ho took out his phone,

"Hey, it's me… Okay. I just met him… You talk to him first. I'll put him on the line."

A confused Jun Hyuk took the phone from Baek Seung Ho.

"Hello?"

– Is this Jun Hyuk? It's me. How are you? It's not hard? And fun?

"Oh, boss. Yes. I'm doing well. How are you?"

– I'm good too.

"But why does your voice sound like that? Are you sick?"

– No kid. I'm just happy to hear your voice. Jun Hyuk.

"Yes."

– You know that man you're with right now? He's a lawyer at a really big and famous firm.

"Lawyer?"

Jun Hyuk eyed the man smoking a cigarette next to him and kept talking on the phone.

– Yeah, so you can do whatever that man tells you to do. I trust him and he's like a little brother, so listen to him well. You understand?

"Yes. But why? Is something wrong?"

– I said everything is fine. Anyway, have fun. And show everyone how good you are, okay?

"Yes."

– Okay, put that lawyer back on the phone.

Jun Hyuk passed the phone back.

"Hello."

– Tell him well. He has a temper but he's a fast thinker. He's not reckless like the rumors. He's smarter than you think, so he'll understand.

"Alright. Just leave it to me. I'm a lawyer who lives off of words. I'm hanging up."

Baek Seung Ho hung up the phone and smiled at Jun Hyuk,

"Jun Hyuk, you're curious as to why I'm here, right?"

"Yes."

Baek Seung Ho searched for the articles on Jun Hyuk and Yoon Kwang Hun's relationship on his smartphone and showed them to Jun Hyuk,

"Read them slowly. This is what's happening outside."

Jun Hyuk's hand shook as he held the phone. He kept trying to touch the article, but random ads popped up as he kept missing it with his shaking fingers,

"Oh shit."

His hand shook and the swearing was uncontrollable. After the first article, there was another.

[Jang Jun Hyuk's Guardian Villain Boss, Closed Cafe and Ran Away? Location Unknown.]

After reading the articles for a while, Jun Hyuk's face turned red,

"These… these assholes….."

Baek Seung Ho took the phone out of Jun Hyuk's hand and spoke,

"You're angry, right?"

"… Yes."

"What would you like for me to do?"

"Excuse me?"

He felt like he was burning up, but this lawyer was laughing with a cigarette in his hand.

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Volume 2 / Chapter 55

TL: LightNovelCafe

"Do you want me to get an official apology from the people who wrote these articles?"

"Of course. Where is my boss right now?"

"You just spoke with him. He's resting in a place with fresh air. Stop worrying about him and answer me. You want to get a sincere apology and end it?"

"Are you crazy? End it with something like that? We have to ruin them."

"How? Should we go beat them up? Set a fire and run?"Jun Hyuk only knew how teenagers fought and did not know how to finish someone without a physical altercation.

He felt how pathetic he was because all he could do was clench his fists and swear.

"Kwang Hun told me that you're weak against the strong and strong against the weak."

"What are you talking about?"

Jun Hyuk was questioning whether this lawyer who had been smirking at him since they first met was really someone that his boss trusted. In this situation, he should be expressing anger with him or at least being serious. This man was acting as though he were having fun.

"No? I heard you said that you have to be quick-witted and a coward to survive?"

It was only when Baek Seung Ho threw his cigarette on the floor and put it out with his shoe that he stopped smiling,

"Most people are like that. What are you to do? If I act strong in front of someone with power, I'm the only one who gets hurt, no?"

"So are you a coward too?"

"No, I'm not like that. Do you know why?"

"Just say it. Why do you keep asking me questions?"

"Ha ha. You have a quick temper. Actually, I'm really strong. There's almost no one stronger than me in Korea."

"Because you're a really famous lawyer?"

"Yeah. My company is really famous and huge. If I want to, I can ruin them all."

"Then you can ruin all of the assholes who wrote these articles?"

"Of course. I'm going to make them crawl. But there's a problem."

"What's that?"

"My company and I don't exist just to punish bad people. We get paid to do that."

"I have money. I got $20,000 as an advertising model. I'll give you all of it, please ruin them for me."

"$20,000? You can't get someone like me to work for just $20,000. You have to give me ten times more than that. And even that's cheap, but it's because I'm close with Kwang Hun."

Ten times $20,000. It was an amount difficult to even imagine. Jun Hyuk had needed to count the zeros in his modeling fee.

"Shit, so what are you telling me to do? I don't have the money."

The swearing he had been holding back because this man was his boss' close friend came out involuntarily. However, the lawyer did not seem to mind. He was smiling again,

"I'll do it on credit. What do you think?"

"Credit?"

"Yeah. Once this program ends, I'm pretty sure you'll make money. Pay me back with that money."

"Alright. Then you tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"How are you going to finish them?"

Baek Seung Ho thought that he had done enough to prevent Jun Hyuk from quitting the program. Having endurance in order to reach a goal is what it meant to be an adult.

"The best way to finish off an adult is…"

"Money!"

Jun Hyuk spoke before Baek Seung Ho finished his sentence.

"That's right. You're smart. The best way to ruin an adult is to take his money. Not by stealing it, but in a legal way. That's exactly what a lawyer like me does. Our job is to lawfully take money, which is what adults consider most important."

Taking their money. Jun Hyuk remembered when he had mugged kids on the street. There were more people who fought back for their money than they did to avoid getting hit. They fought back harder the more money they had in their pockets. Adults were not different.

"You have to act as if you don't know anything about what's going on. You'll understand because you've gotten into fights before. When the opponent is throwing punches like crazy, you have to step back for a second and wait until he's tired out before you give that last swing. That's what I'm going to do. These guys aren't tired enough yet. In exactly 10 days from now, they're going to be still because they're tired. That's when I'm going to finish them. You understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. I'll make all the people who made Kwang Hun a bad person angrier than you are right now, so just wait. And I'm sure you'll have to make a lot of money to pay me back?"

"Yes.

"So do well on this program. Then you'll be able to make enough to pay back the credit easily. What I mean is that you can't cause accidents. Understand?"

Jun Hyuk understood well enough but did not think that it would be as easy to do.The next morning, Jun Hyuk did not get up from his bed until the staff came into his room.

"Hey, Jang Jun Hyuk! What are you doing? All the other kids are waiting on the bus."

"I'm going to rest today. I'm not in the mood to go out."

"What? We were too lax with this kid… Are you here to play? You think you get to rest because you feel like it?"

Jun Hyuk sat up abruptly,

"Shi… Then? What are you going to do? Are you going to kick me out? Fuck… I'll leave if you want me to. Happy?"

Jun Hyuk laid back in his bed again.

Unlike the rumors about him, Jun Hyuk had obediently followed the schedule. They had worried that he might resist, but they never thought that he would act so rudely.

The staff had been able to put up with teenagers like this cursing for the past 10 years because their seniors had built up with their tolerance with harsher words.

Also, they were positive that something that happened because he changed overnight as if he were a different person. Their first thought was that they needed to check the cameras installed in the dorm and ask the other kids what had happened last night.

The staff slammed the door closed and went back to the bus where the other kids were waiting.

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Volume 2 / Chapter 56

TL: LightNovelCafe

"Really? You're saying a lawyer met Jun Hyuk last night, right? Leave him alone today. Just say he's sick."

Producer Kim Ki Sik had an ominous thought once he hung u

"I'll play the rock version first."

As Jun Hyuk sat in front of the drums in the recording booth, the producer and composers working with Jo Hyung Joong rubbed their sleepy eyes and started watching.

Jun Hyuk's music had already aired throughout parts of 'Tomorrow's Star'. They had been surprised at the 10 seconds shown of Jun Hyuk on the drums, but this was the kid that Jo Hyung Joong had raved about. Everyone wanted to see how impressive he was.

"Teacher, he doesn't need a metronome?"

The engineer preparing to record saw that Jun Hyuk did not have an earphone in his ear.

"Leave him. He'll be able to play one song on beat."

Jo Hyung Joong signaled to Jun Hyuk,

"Okay, you can start since everything is ready."

Jun Hyuk started to swing the drumsticks with force. Everyone focused on the performance, but it was not the drum they had expected. It was a plain drum, maintaining a very simple beat.

The only thing unusual about it was that this simple drumming went on for 8 minutes.

When Jun Hyuk finished his performance and came out of the booth, the sound engineer and Jo Hyung Joong had puzzled expressions.

"Was it too monotonous?"

"Huh? Uh… No. It was really breezy. It's good. But Jun Hyuk, 8 minutes is too long. It's a song to perform. No matter how famous the song is, there isn't an audience willing to hear 8 minutes of it."

"It's 12 minutes."

"What?"

"The whole thing is 12 minutes. In the middle, there are going to be two points without the drums and just the bass and guitar… I held those places in the middle of the drum."

They had not even realized that he held spots in the performance because he kept repeating the same simple rhythm. But 12 minutes?

"Hm, it's too long anyway."

"Then listen to the whole thing and shorten it for me."

Jun Hyuk went back into the booth and spoke,

"The bass goes first… the guitar is second, first, I'll play them like this twice."

The bass and second guitar were also plain. The bass did have a funky rhythm, but there was none of the grandeur shown on the piano.

The last performance started. The performance beginning in glissando (holding strings down with left string while transferring a sound as if sliding) excited everyone watching.

It was fast and magnificent. He played so quickly that the right hand picking the guitar was almost invisible, and the left hand was pressing and pulling the stainless steel strings freely as though they were rubber bands.

"Is… Is he really 17 years old?"

"I… thought so. How old was he when he first picked up a guitar pick?"

They had said that the instruments he knew how to play were the guitar, drum, and piano. He started with music 2 years ago. Just from his performance skills, this was impossible.

"Wow, this is what a performance is. That kid really is impressive. How can he do it in one go without a single mistake?"

"Jo Hyung Joong spoke after seeing the recording studio staff who could not stop admiring Jun Hyuk's performance,

"You heard that as a perfect performance without any mistakes?

"Excuse me?"

"He made a few mistakes. He's just passing the minor mistakes. It's fine as long as it has the effect he wants. That kid's not an amateur. Amateurs only have the thought that they can't make mistakes whether they're singing or playing an instrument."

Jo Hyung Joong shared an episode from his past,

"I've recorded Kwang Suk before. Listening to this, I'm thinking of Kwang Suk."

"Are you talking about Kim Kwang Suk who passed away?"

"Yeah. That was when he performed in Daehak-ro everyday. He was recording his new song holding an acoustic guitar and his voice was cracking. We still couldn't stop the recording. Even that cracking voice made us ecstatic. Music is like that. If it's full of atmosphere and that atmosphere comes out, it's enough."

Jo Hyung Joong's satisfied expression did not go away.

When Jun Hyuk came out of the booth after completing all of the pieces, Jo Hyung Joong applauded him sincerely. He had been a musician for over 20 years. Though he heard the drum, bass, and guitar parts separately, he already heard them as a complete song in his head.

"When did you start learning to play instruments? It's as if you were born holding a guitar pick."

"It's been about 2 years. There's a practice room in the basement of the cafe I work at."

"Really? You really practiced for 2 years and you can play like this?"

He had confirmed again. Talent ignored the laws of time.

The sound engineer let Jo Hyung Joong and Jun Hyuk know that the song had been put together,

"Teacher, the track is complete."

"Really? That was quick."

"The track lengths were exact, so there wasn't much work for me to do separately."

When he pressed the play button, turbulent metal music filled the recording studio for 12 minutes. The guitar pumped intensely, the drum filled the emptiness, and the bass picked up the melody, creating a perfect harmony.

"What do you think?"

Jun Hyuk spoke when the music was over. Jo Hyung Joong was the first professional Jun Hyuk was working with since he had learned music. He wanted to know what an expert thought.

"Honestly, there are no flaws to point out except for one."

"What is that?"

"It's too long. You have to perform this heavy rock song for various audiences. Heavy metal, an instrumental without lyrics, length of 12 minutes. There aren't many people willing to accept all three."

"Hm… Then will you arrange it again?"

"Me? Ha ha ha,"

Jo Hyung Joong laughed cheerfully.

"I can't do that because to me, it's music without any flaws. I must not change it and I don't have the ability to change it. You have to do it."

"I do?"

"Of course. I don't want to take out a single note."

Jo Hyung Joong had more advice to give, but saved his words. Jun Hyuk's version of Canon was a song that unleashed the desire to show off. He must have had this thought while watching the countless electric guitar versions of Canon on YouTube.

I play a lot better. If there is someone who has mastered all existing guitar techniques better than I have, come out. It was a performance that gave off this vibe. In this way, it became long for no reason because he needed to show all of the techniques he had.

However, this useless boasting would automatically disappear if the song was shortened to 4 minutes. They needed to take out all unnecessary parts in order to really get the essence of Pachelbel.

He pushed a Jun Hyuk, brooding in thought as though already thinking of new arrangement, back into the recording booth,

"Then should we hear the version with the three guitars?"

The version where the violin melody from the original song was changed to guitars was completely different. He recorded the slow bass rhythm and calm acoustic guitar without a drum first. When it was difficult to predict what form the complete song would take, Jo Hyung Joong questioned Jun Hyuk as he prepared to record the last melody,

"Jun Hyuk, what are you doing?"

"Excuse me? I'm setting the guitar."

"Why are you doing two?"

"Oh, I'm going to play them together."

"Together? You're going to play two at the same time?"

"Yes, because the performance is important."

It could not be? Jo Hyung Joong thought of one guitarist,

"Are you going to perform in Stanley Jordan's method?"

Stanley Jordan.

He was an American guitarist who was able to play both the lead and rhythm guitars using both hands in methods like tapping and slapping. He could play the treble and bass at the same time in a twin melody.

Like Stanley Jordan, Jun Hyuk put one guitar around his shoulders and one on the stand.

The same melody of 8 bars flowed from the two guitars. This was Canon itself. Canon was a chorus where the the first part was sung followed by the chorus while leaving a certain measure in between. Jun Hyuk imitated the leading melody while playing in a format with successive chords in a temporal flow.

Jun Hyuk's two hands moved elegantly over the two guitars as though there were two people performing.

After hearing both versions of Canon, Jo Hyung Joong's instinct as a producer tingled. He did not know how long Jun Hyuk would survive on the program, but he wanted to put Jun Hyuk's songs together to make an album.

He had already created four songs. Finkl's song NOW in jazz on the piano, the two versions of Canon, and Shin Hae Chul's From the Sun to the Boy.

There was no reason to gather only the songs from the broadcast. This was a child who had the talent to continue creating music.

Jo Hyung Joong's phone rang as he was excited with this expectation,

"Yeah, Producer Kim. Why are you calling?"

– Hi. I just wanted to see if the work was going well.

"Yeah, there's no problem. Don't worry about it."

– Is Jun Hyuk working on the mission song?

"Yeah, there's a lot to think about because all three songs are good."

– Excuse me? What do you mean there are three songs?

He had called to check on Jun Hyuk's state, but heard something unexpected.

"Jun Hyuk arranged a classic and it's no joke. I'm wondering which will be better too."

– You know… we can't change that.

"It's okay. It's a classic without copyrights."

– Copyrights aren't the problem. There's another problem involved…..

"Geez. He's doing so well on his own. Is it a problem with the contract again?"

Jo Hyung Joong spoke with a voice full of irritation. It was obvious that the variety show entertainment production executives and the main producer had agreed to share the profits with the agency holding the copyrights.

– Don't say anything to me. I'm just a wage earner. I have to do what the people higher up say.

"Fine. We'll do the appointed song, but you have to listen to a favor me."

– Sure. Tell me what it is.

"Arrange for an orchestra. We don't need a lot, just 16 people. You can't do students though. You have to get people beyond that."

– Why an orchestra all of a sudden? Can't you work on the MIDI operations?

"Jun Hyuk's piano is really good and the orchestral accompaniment came out nicely. It's a waste to do as a MIDI operation."

– Alright. We have to do that much for you. Also… is Jun Hyuk doing well?

"Yeah. I was careful with him for no reason because you said stuff about him being rogue. He's a good kid and just does music. Why? Did something happen?"

– No, it's nothing. I was just wondering.

It seemed everything was still okay. Producer Kim Ki Sik kept praying that they would pass over this without any problems.

Jun Hyung Joong painstakingly polished the three songs to the point where he would have no problem releasing an album with Jun Hyuk right away. For a week, Jun Hyuk forgot everything and concentrated on creating the best music.

p the call from the staff on site at the dorm,

'A lawyer…..'

Jun Hyuk met a lawyer and would not get out of bed. He was positive the cafe owner had hired a lawyer and Jun Hyuk had heard about what was going on outside. He rushed to the dorm in Ilsan without delay.

When he opened the front door of the dorm, he saw Jun Hyuk laying around the sofa reading a music score. There were cup ramens and canned drinks around the sofa along with the empty dishes and crushed cans that he had already gone through.

"Are you okay? I heard you're sick."

"What? No. I said that I wasn't in the mood."

Jun Hyuk seemed relaxed in comparison to the staff who had been as frantic as if a wooden house had caught on fire.

"Alright. Do you feel better?"

"I feel better now that I've fixed my score and changed it a bit."

Could he be okay after finding out that someone like a parent had fallen into trouble? Producer Kim Ki Sik spoke cautiously,

"Jun Hyuk. Yesterday, was there…"

"Producer. Can you drop me off at Teacher Jo Hyung Joong's studio right now?"

"What? To Jo Hyung Joong?"

"Yes. I need to show him the arrangement of the orchestra part I finished for the mission song."

"O… Okay. But I don't know if he'll be at the studio this early in the morning."

Producer Kim Ki Sik felt intuitively that he was avoiding it. He was deliberately avoiding what happened yesterday and this morning. He did not want to say what had happened.

He is not the type to go past something as if nothing had happened. Could it be that he had ulterior motives? Or had he resigned because he knew that he did not have the power to do anything?

Producer Kim Ki Sik thought that he did not need to prod Jun Hyuk who did not want to talk about it. There was no need to bother Jun Hyuk yet. They could just monitor his state for a little longer and make him quit the program if they detected anything strange. Fortunately, there was still a lot of time left before the live broadcast.

"He said that he would be at the studio for the time being because of the arrangements."

Producer Kim Ki Sik who was lost in his thoughts took Jun Hyuk to Jo Hyung Joong's studio.Jo Hyung Joong who had fallen asleep at dawn on the studio sofa looked for coffee before he could even open his eyes properly when Jun Hyuk barged in first thing in the morning, waking him up.

While Jo Hyung Joong gulped down his coffee, Jun Hyuk handed him a bundle of scores as thick as a textbook.

"You didn't go to this morning's schedule? Don't you need to go to fitness?"

"I played hooky today because this is more important."

"But why are there so many scores? I told you to configure it for 16 instruments."

"This is 16. I brought the Symphony No. 1 I told you about too."

"Oh right. Symphony No. 1."

Jo Hyung Joong started to look over the score for 'From the Sun to the Boy' slowly. After looking at the score for over 10 minutes, he sighed in admiration,

"Whew- I'll have to tell them to give you the fees for the arrangement."

"Excuse me?"

"There's nothing to change here, so you have to get the arrangement fees and I'll just get the recording fees."

"Do you like it?"

"Hm… I had been thinking of an elaborate orchestral accompaniment, but you made it very refreshing. It's an arrangement that clearly indicates that the piano is the main. But….."

Jun Hyuk fixed his gaze on Jo Hyung Joong who hesitated to speak while waiting to hear what was lacking in his music.

"This song will bring admiration when listening to it on a CD, but the first release is on a stage to the audience and through the TV. I'm worried it'll lack impact. The orchestral accompaniment will go out as the MR and there's just a piano on the stage. It's especially hard to deliver the rich music scene on the TV. That's why the performance becomes an important element."

"You're saying the performance is important, right?"

"Right. But Jun Hyuk, have you decided on this song? What happened to Pachelbel's Canon?"

"I don't need to do it. From now on, I'm not going to do the music I want to do, but what other people like."

Jun Hyuk who had said just yesterday that he wanted to do Canon was saying now that he wanted to play music for others. Why? What had happened to make him change overnight? He had a firm perspective on music unlike other kids these days.

Jo Hung Joong was surprised by the change in Jun Hyuk and wanted to know what the reason was, but did not want to show his curiosity. There was no need to rush when he would find out anyway. Jun Hyuk was someone who could not help but communicate through music.

"Hm… This won't do. I'm getting greedy."

"Excuse me?"

"I want to listen to everything. Pachelbel's Canon, both versions. The recorders will be here in a bit so let's try recording right away."

"No, teacher. We can do that next time…"

"Didn't you say it? You're going to do music that other people want to hear? Let's hear it. I'll pick the music that will make you shine most on stage. I'm a person who knows exactly what the public's preference is. Leave it to me since whatever I choose will be jackpot."

Jo Hyung Joong winked as he laughed and ran into the shower to regain his consciousness.

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Volume 2 / Chapter 57

TL: LightNovelCafe

"I'll play the rock version first."

As Jun Hyuk sat in front of the drums in the recording booth, the producer and composers working with Jo Hyung Joong rubbed their sleepy eyes and started watching.

Jun Hyuk's music had already aired throughout parts of 'Tomorrow's Star'. They had been surprised at the 10 seconds shown of Jun Hyuk on the drums, but this was the kid that Jo Hyung Joong had raved about. Everyone wanted to see how impressive he was.

"Teacher, he doesn't need a metronome?"

The engineer preparing to record saw that Jun Hyuk did not have an earphone in his ear.

"Leave him. He'll be able to play one song on beat."

Jo Hyung Joong signaled to Jun Hyuk,

"Okay, you can start since everything is ready."

Jun Hyuk started to swing the drumsticks with force. Everyone focused on the performance, but it was not the drum they had expected. It was a plain drum, maintaining a very simple beat.

The only thing unusual about it was that this simple drumming went on for 8 minutes.

When Jun Hyuk finished his performance and came out of the booth, the sound engineer and Jo Hyung Joong had puzzled expressions.

"Was it too monotonous?"

"Huh? Uh… No. It was really breezy. It's good. But Jun Hyuk, 8 minutes is too long. It's a song to perform. No matter how famous the song is, there isn't an audience willing to hear 8 minutes of it."

"It's 12 minutes."

"What?"

"The whole thing is 12 minutes. In the middle, there are going to be two points without the drums and just the bass and guitar… I held those places in the middle of the drum."

They had not even realized that he held spots in the performance because he kept repeating the same simple rhythm. But 12 minutes?

"Hm, it's too long anyway."

"Then listen to the whole thing and shorten it for me."

Jun Hyuk went back into the booth and spoke,

"The bass goes first… the guitar is second, first, I'll play them like this twice."

The bass and second guitar were also plain. The bass did have a funky rhythm, but there was none of the grandeur shown on the piano.

The last performance started. The performance beginning in glissando (holding strings down with left string while transferring a sound as if sliding) excited everyone watching.

It was fast and magnificent. He played so quickly that the right hand picking the guitar was almost invisible, and the left hand was pressing and pulling the stainless steel strings freely as though they were rubber bands.

"Is… Is he really 17 years old?"

"I… thought so. How old was he when he first picked up a guitar pick?"

They had said that the instruments he knew how to play were the guitar, drum, and piano. He started with music 2 years ago. Just from his performance skills, this was impossible.

"Wow, this is what a performance is. That kid really is impressive. How can he do it in one go without a single mistake?"

"Jo Hyung Joong spoke after seeing the recording studio staff who could not stop admiring Jun Hyuk's performance,

"You heard that as a perfect performance without any mistakes?

"Excuse me?"

"He made a few mistakes. He's just passing the minor mistakes. It's fine as long as it has the effect he wants. That kid's not an amateur. Amateurs only have the thought that they can't make mistakes whether they're singing or playing an instrument."

Jo Hyung Joong shared an episode from his past,

"I've recorded Kwang Suk before. Listening to this, I'm thinking of Kwang Suk."

"Are you talking about Kim Kwang Suk who passed away?"

"Yeah. That was when he performed in Daehak-ro everyday. He was recording his new song holding an acoustic guitar and his voice was cracking. We still couldn't stop the recording. Even that cracking voice made us ecstatic. Music is like that. If it's full of atmosphere and that atmosphere comes out, it's enough."

Jo Hyung Joong's satisfied expression did not go away.

When Jun Hyuk came out of the booth after completing all of the pieces, Jo Hyung Joong applauded him sincerely. He had been a musician for over 20 years. Though he heard the drum, bass, and guitar parts separately, he already heard them as a complete song in his head.

"When did you start learning to play instruments? It's as if you were born holding a guitar pick."

"It's been about 2 years. There's a practice room in the basement of the cafe I work at."

"Really? You really practiced for 2 years and you can play like this?"

He had confirmed again. Talent ignored the laws of time.

The sound engineer let Jo Hyung Joong and Jun Hyuk know that the song had been put together,

"Teacher, the track is complete."

"Really? That was quick."

"The track lengths were exact, so there wasn't much work for me to do separately."

When he pressed the play button, turbulent metal music filled the recording studio for 12 minutes. The guitar pumped intensely, the drum filled the emptiness, and the bass picked up the melody, creating a perfect harmony.

"What do you think?"

Jun Hyuk spoke when the music was over. Jo Hyung Joong was the first professional Jun Hyuk was working with since he had learned music. He wanted to know what an expert thought.

"Honestly, there are no flaws to point out except for one."

"What is that?"

"It's too long. You have to perform this heavy rock song for various audiences. Heavy metal, an instrumental without lyrics, length of 12 minutes. There aren't many people willing to accept all three."

"Hm… Then will you arrange it again?"

"Me? Ha ha ha,"

Jo Hyung Joong laughed cheerfully.

"I can't do that because to me, it's music without any flaws. I must not change it and I don't have the ability to change it. You have to do it."

"I do?"

"Of course. I don't want to take out a single note."

Jo Hyung Joong had more advice to give, but saved his words. Jun Hyuk's version of Kanon was a song that unleashed the desire to show off. He must have had this thought while watching the countless electric guitar versions of Kanon on YouTube.

I play a lot better. If there is someone who has mastered all existing guitar techniques better than I have, come out. It was a performance that gave off this vibe. In this way, it became long for no reason because he needed to show all of the techniques he had.

However, this useless boasting would automatically disappear if the song was shortened to 4 minutes. They needed to take out all unnecessary parts in order to really get the essence of Pachelbel.

He pushed a Jun Hyuk, brooding in thought as though already thinking of new arrangement, back into the recording booth,

"Then should we hear the version with the three guitars?"

The version where the violin melody from the original song was changed to guitars was completely different. He recorded the slow bass rhythm and calm acoustic guitar without a drum first. When it was difficult to predict what form the complete song would take, Jo Hyung Joong questioned Jun Hyuk as he prepared to record the last melody,

"Jun Hyuk, what are you doing?"

"Excuse me? I'm setting the guitar."

"Why are you doing two?"

"Oh, I'm going to play them together."

"Together? You're going to play two at the same time?"

"Yes, because the performance is important."

It could not be? Jo Hyung Joong thought of one guitarist,

"Are you going to perform in Stanley Jordan's method?"

Stanley Jordan.

He was an American guitarist who was able to play both the lead and rhythm guitars using both hands in methods like tapping and slapping. He could play the treble and bass at the same time in a twin melody.

Like Stanley Jordan, Jun Hyuk put one guitar around his shoulders and one on the stand.

The same melody of 8 bars flowed from the two guitars. This was Kanon itself. Kanon was a chorus where the the first part was sung followed by the chorus while leaving a certain measure in between. Jun Hyuk imitated the leading melody while playing in a format with successive chords in a temporal flow.

Jun Hyuk's two hands moved elegantly over the two guitars as though there were two people performing.

After hearing both versions of Kanon, Jo Hyung Joong's instinct as a producer tingled. He did not know how long Jun Hyuk would survive on the program, but he wanted to put Jun Hyuk's songs together to make an album.

He had already created four songs. Finkl's song NOW in jazz on the piano, the two versions of Kanon, and Shin Hae Chul's From the Sun to the Boy.

There was no reason to gather only the songs from the broadcast. This was a child who had the talent to continue creating music.

Jo Hyung Joong's phone rang as he was excited with this expectation,

"Yeah, Producer Kim. Why are you calling?"

– Hi. I just wanted to see if the work was going well.

"Yeah, there's no problem. Don't worry about it."

– Is Jun Hyuk working on the mission song?

"Yeah, there's a lot to think about because all three songs are good."

– Excuse me? What do you mean there are three songs?

He had called to check on Jun Hyuk's state, but heard something unexpected.

"Jun Hyuk arranged a classic and it's no joke. I'm wondering which will be better too."

– You know… we can't change that.

"It's okay. It's a classic without copyrights."

– Copyrights aren't the problem. There's another problem involved…..

"Geez. He's doing so well on his own. Is it a problem with the contract again?"

Jo Hyung Joong spoke with a voice full of irritation. It was obvious that the variety show entertainment production executives and the main producer had agreed to share the profits with the agency holding the copyrights.

– Don't say anything to me. I'm just a wage earner. I have to do what the people higher up say.

"Fine. We'll do the appointed song, but you have to listen to a favor me."

– Sure. Tell me what it is.

"Arrange for an orchestra. We don't need a lot, just 16 people. You can't do students though. You have to get people beyond that."

– Why an orchestra all of a sudden? Can't you work on the MIDI operations?

"Jun Hyuk's piano is really good and the orchestral accompaniment came out nicely. It's a waste to do as a MIDI operation."

– Alright. We have to do that much for you. Also… is Jun Hyuk doing well?

"Yeah. I was careful with him for no reason because you said stuff about him being rogue. He's a good kid and just does music. Why? Did something happen?"

– No, it's nothing. I was just wondering.

It seemed everything was still okay. Producer Kim Ki Sik kept praying that they would pass over this without any problems.

Jun Hyung Joong painstakingly polished the three songs to the point where he would have no problem releasing an album with Jun Hyuk right away. For a week, Jun Hyuk forgot everything and concentrated on creating the best music.

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Volume 2 / Chapter 58

TL: LightNovelCafe

"Senior, these lawyers are saying that they would like to meet with you."

"Lawyers? What are you talking about?

"A couple of them came."

Producer Kim Ki Sik was annoyed that the legal team was bothering him with legal

matters when he had spent two sleepless days sitting on the cutting room sofa.

The company written on the business card the lawyer handed over was Peace Law

Firm. Lawyer Baek Seung Ho. Producer Kim Ki Sik felt that something was going wrong.

When looking at the number of lawyers and fees of Korea's countless law firms, it was

a giant firm ranked in 1st or 2nd place. And each business card being handed over said lawyer.

What could be happening that three of them came looking for him while flaunting their prestige?

"Why are lawyers of such a big law firm looking for the producer of an entertainment

program?"

"We're just here about some issues regarding Yoon Kwang Hun. Excuse our

intrusion."

"Yoon Kwang Hun? Oh, the owner of the cafe where Jun Hyuk worked?"

"Yes. I am his attorney."

An owner of a small cafe in Misari appointed a lawyer from Korea's best law firm as

his attorney? Producer Kim became even more confused,

"If you're here to talk about the articles going around the internet, you've come to the

wrong place. If you want to file a lawsuit, you have to go to the press offices."

"Ha ha. It's not that bad. Aren't I a lawyer?"

"Then why?"

"We have a couple things to ask."

"Let's end this quickly since I'm busy."

"Oh, sure. When you sent out the press release, did you release information about Jun

Hyuk as well? That he didn't get any wages for the past 2 years, that Yoon Kwang Hun acquired

guardianship of him after he appeared on the program and right before they signed the contract…

Information like that."

He was positive these lawyers had come to the broadcasting station to look for the

people who spread the rumors first. He broke out in a cold sweat,

"I'm not sure. You have to confirm that with the public relations team. The production

team doesn't deal with that kind of stuff."

"Really? I just met with the manager of the public relations team and he said that there

was a request not to release any information on Jun Hyuk. We came here knowing it's a pardon

because we wanted to see if there was a special reason for this."

"Oh, we did request that. We did not want to create news with such provocative

articles."

Producer Kim Ki Sik wanted to run away to the legal team immediately, but he could

not show the slightest sign of this. The lawyer's eyes were watching him and taking note of his

complexion like a wild beast seeking its prey.

Lawyer Baek Seung Ho already knew that the sweat building on Producer Kim Ki

Sik's forehead was not because of the heat.

The person whose secret has been revealed has already lost the fight. Baek Seung Ho

spoke with more vigor than Jun Hyuk swung his drumsticks in order to wave his flag of victory,

"I see. Then one more thing. Is is true that only this broadcasting station knew about

the 'facts' regarding Yoon Kwang Hun and Jun Hyuk's relationship? Jun Hyuk did a lot of

interviews about his past. However, many articles came up just two or three hours after the

program aired. There was even information that they could never know just by watching the

broadcast. What do you think happened?"

"You'll have to ask the press offices. How would I know?"

His anger was proof that he was frustrated. Baek Seung Ho was certain that this main

producer may not be the culprit of the media show, but was an accomplice at the least.

"Pardon the inconvenience. We just asked to check. So the broadcasting station never

leaked information to the press office. We will keep this in mind."

"Excuse me. Did the cafe owner appoint you as his lawyer?"

He was checking a question he did not need to ask. He must not want to believe that

Yoon Kwang Hun had a relationship with such an influential law firm like Peace.

"Yes. He's like an older brother to me, so I said that I would take this case first. And as

you can see, our law firm is treating this as a very important case."

Baek Seung Ho was highlighting that the three lawyers were working together.

"We cannot condone the spreading of such vicious false rumors. We intend to give

legal penalties even to people who leave malicious comments online."

He made his point concrete to Producer Kim Ki Sik who was already at a loss for

words.

"Oh right. We forgot the most important aspect."

Baek Seung Ho pulled a thin manila folder out of his bag and handed it over,

"This is a warrant. I'm Yoon Kwang Hun and Jun Hyuk's counsel. Going forward,

Peace Law Firm will review everything related to their contracts."

As Producer Kim Ki Sik accepted the documents, Baek Seung Ho gave him a friendly

smile. He was certain that he could make the last, decisive move,

"And there's something we would like to propose."

"Propose?"

"Yes. We would like to modify the contract between Jang Jung Hyuk and MV

channel."

"Modify the contract? What nonsense! Both sides have already signed."

Was it not already a much more generous contract compared to the other contestants'?

To modify that? It could not be done.

"Oy, Producer. Isn't that why I'm proposing that we change it? Don't be so

antagonistic."

"Fine. Let's hear it."

"As you know, hasn't Jun Hyuk been the hottest issue for the past 3 weeks? The

viewer ratings for 'Tomorrow's Star' has increased greatly because of that."

"So?"

"If you look at the contract, the revenue was structured so 40% went to the publisher,

40% to the track producer, and the remaining 20% was split between the composer, lyricist,

arranger, performer, and singer. But doesn't this structure make it so that MV channel takes 80%

as the publisher and producer?"

"We're not the only ones who do that. That's the standard in Korea's music industry."

"Yes, I understand. Since publishers are created on idol standards these days, it costs a

lot to produce music. To train idols, you need to buy the song, call in the session men to play the

music, and find a producer… It's expensive."

"A lawyer knows a lot about such things."

"I did a bit of research. Ha ha. Anyway, I heard that Jun Hyuk writes his own songs,

performs, and produces his own accompaniments. He's doing everything on his own. If we

calculate the production costs, isn't it just the recording fee?"

"Is that right? Are you asking to receive the producing profits?"

"You catch on quickly. We need to receive 15% of the production 40%. We were

going to demand half but…"

"This man! Are you crazy? Let's end this if you're going to keep talking nonsense."

Producer Kim Ki Sik stood up from his seat while huffing in anger. This is a proposal

that would be hard to accept even if it were for a legend like Jo Yong Pil. No matter how much

traction Jun Hyuk brought in viewer ratings, how dare they try to claim the production profits.

"Then we will admit Jun Hyuk to the hospital tomorrow. He will need to stay for one

or two months of course."

Baek Seung Ho's low but clear voice stuck in Producer Kim Ki Sik's ears.

"What?"

"Don't you think so? The man who might as well be his biological parent has been

beaten up for the past three weeks as Korea's greatest villain. Don't you think his shock would

be unimaginable?"

Producer Kim Ki Sik could not help but sit back in his seat. The hospital. Even if they

put the bustling media second, they would need to completely edit Jun Hyuk out of the broadcast

airing in three days. The biggest issue was that all of the previews they had aired of Jun Hyuk

whenever they had the chance to would all go to waste if he did not appear on the live broadcast

stage.

Jun Hyuk had created an overwhelming fan base of women in their teens and 20s

because of his good looks. Furthermore, his dramatic 17 year life built a compassion that

gathered even people in their 40s to the TV.

With such high expectations for Jun Hyuk, half of these viewers would disappear if he

were to exit the competition.

"Are you threatening me?"

"Do you hear it as a threat? If you listen to the rest of my words, you will come to

understand that it's a proposal."

Baek Seung Ho knew well that the proposal would not stick with just a threat. In order

to get something, something needed to give.

"Very well. Let's hear the rest; see how far you take this."

"Star Week recording goes out again in three days, right? We will hold a press

conference that day. It'll be a joint press conference for Jun Hyuk and Yoon Kwang Hun. It's

going to end very warmly. Then the media will be abuzz… and that'll affect viewer ratings

directly."

Baek Seung Ho took out a presentation and passed them over,

"Take a look. We have organized the interview contents. You'll know by reading

through it, but the questions are killer. I guarantee viewer ratings will surpass 10% no matter

what."

With Producer Kim Ki Sik who skimmed over the documents in front of him, Baek

Seung Ho went over more of the proposal,

"And every week on the day of the broadcast, we at Peace are going to release our

work one by one. The lawsuit against the press office, lawsuit against the malicious commenters,

et cetera. We'll make it first place in real-time searches every week. It won't be a damaging

agreement to the broadcasting station in any way."

"What if we say no?"

"Didn't I tell you? Jun Hyuk will be admitted to the hospital. It's an end to his

activities. Then track revenues will disappear entirely. All you'll have are one or two songs from

Star Week."

"The contract says that he can't refuse appearing on the broadcast until he's

eliminated…"

"How can a child who passed out from mental shock appear on broadcast? This is a

force majeure. There isn't a single judge in Korea who will send a child hospitalized after

fainting to a stage."

The actress who lays in a hospital bed to avoid a breach of contract. It was a common

scenario. It was common because this method worked.

"And if you refuse my proposal, we won't start this lawsuit that the media will be so

interested in until after 'Tomorrow's Star' is over. Our Peace Law Firm has no intention of

helping you with your viewer ratings."

This meant he was going to make everyone forget about Jun Hyuk during the

broadcasting period.

"I'm sure you're busy, so we'll get up now. Think about it and give us a call by

tomorrow morning. If you don't call us by tomorrow morning, Jun Hyuk will be admitted to the

hospital. Then, good day to you."

Baek Seung Ho left the conference room without looking back. When the lawyers left,

Producer Kim Ki Sik felt numb as if a typhoon had just passed. How could this happen?

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Volume 2 / Chapter 59

TL: LightNovelCafe

Inside the broadcast station elevator, a lawyer who had followed Baek Seung Ho finally began to speak,

"Wow, senior. That was really impressive. How did you think to propose such a deal? I couldn't even imagine that."

"I didn't think of it."

"What? Then who?"

"It's Yoon Kwang Hun's idea."

"Yoon Kwang Hun? The cafe owner?"

"Yeah. That man was a fearsome beast in the past. He's living quietly because he's a wolf without teeth now. He can easily ruin a producer of a broadcast station."

The junior lawyer had a difficult time conceptualizing the cafe owner he had seen once as a fearsome beast. He could not imagine that from that quiet man who had only smiled cheerfully.

"I was only going to confirm the facts with the broadcast station. I was just going to end it after seeing if they spread the subject matter for the tabloids. The broadcast station isn't our target. We need to ruin the press offices and the people making malicious comments since the objects of the lawsuit are these two. The broadcast station doesn't have a link to Yoon Kwang Hun."

"That's right. I thought it was strange as well. Even if they did spread the rumors, it's obvious that they'll pretend they didn't."

"We still need to check. What did you think? That producer seemed to be surprised, right?"

"Yes. I'm certain he has a relationship with that agency you talked about."

"Yeah, but there's nothing we can do. There's no evidence and he's not a direct party. If we shake the press office, they're bound to fight each other. If the agency paid them off, you think they'll stay still? As they do that, I'm sure something more will come out. I was going to wait, but Yoon Kwang Hun said that we need to wield the knife while we had it by the hilt. Later later. It's stupid to rely on later when we don't know how it'll end up."

Baek Seung Ho recalled Yoon Kwang Hun's past when he was like a fearsome beast. He had been the person able to crush a perfectly good company without hesitation in order to guarantee success in future investments.

He used to be a cruel beast who would laugh and say that it was the law of nature for a wolf to eat a lamb.

Life was really unpredictable when seeing a man like now running a cafe while taking care of a talented boy.Producer Kim Ki Sik sat in the conference room alone for a while and then ran to the legal team.

"Ah, Producer Kim. Good that you came. I was going to request a meeting with you."

"Peace?"

"Huh? How did you know? Did they go to you too?"

"Yes. They said they wanted to check a few things….."

"Jun Hyuk must really be a gem. He's only been on air once or twice, but magnate company like this starts managing him. It's a good thing they appeared after our contract with him was already completed. If not, we wouldn't have been able to contract him. They would have made a huge deal that it's an unfair contract."

The legal team looked as though they were relieved that Peace had come later without realizing that Producer Kim Ki Sik was burning up inside.

"That's not why those people came."

"Ah, there's something else, but it doesn't matter for us. It's an issue with the media. But… is that true?"

The rumors that provoked the internet. Age and position had nothing to do with wanting to know the truth behind these gossip articles. The middle aged chief of the legal team had eyes full of curiosity.

"The articles in the media? No. Jun Hyuk and the cafe owner don't have that kind of relationship."

"Really? Then the press offices are dead. He he."

The chief of the legal team laughed sinisterly as though he already knew what was going to happen.

"What? Why?"

"You didn't see the warrant?"

"I saw it. That's not something special, is it?"

"Look at the date it was delegated."

"What about it?"

"The cafe owner signed the warrant the day the first article went out. But it's been three weeks and Peace hasn't done anything.Why do you think they would do that?""What if Jun Hyuk and the cafe owner had held a press conference as soon as the first articles went out? If Jun Hyuk had cried while saying 'Yoon Kwang Hun is like a father to me,' wouldn't it have been heartwarming?"

Producer Kim Ki Sik had a vague idea of why the time the warrant had been delegated was important.

"Didn't they announce gender equality last week? After checking, Yoon Kwang Hun's attorney said that he would review everything. The internet became quiet after the gender equality announcement too. That situation was resolved with this. Peace has been waiting until now. They've been gathering the materials for their counterpunch."

The chief's explanation was no longer necessary. Producer Kim Ki Sik knew enough about Peace's strategy.

"How many articles are there on the internet? Didn't the press offices go overboard and write more when the cafe owner disappeared? Tsk tsk, they wrote articles as undoubtable facts instead of leaving room for suspicion. All of the comments were covered in swearing. Peace has been waiting for that. Now the press office and the people who left comments are all dead."

"It's that bad? But it's a press office….."

"I guess you wouldn't know. Once, there was a scandal about an actress and people commented all sorts of bad things like that she was dirty and a tramp. That actress hired Peace to sue those commenters."

The chief stuck out his tongue while thinking of how severe the people at Peace are,

"They went through criminal proceedings for malicious libel and got fines for $200. And going on to civil rights, they claimed damage fines of $2,000 per person. That's hundreds of people, hundreds. Peace made sure they received every last bit of that."

"Geez."

"When that actress hired Peace, she had agreed to give them all of the compensation as their fees since it doesn't look good for a successful actress to take money from random people."

"Then?"

One question had been answered. Now he knew how a cafe owner had been able to hire Peace.

"Producer Kim, you have no sense. What money does a cafe owner have to hire Peace as his attorney? I bet Peace will take more than 80% of the compensation they receive. This is a lawsuit resulting in at least $10 million."

The cold sweat he showed in front of lawyer Baek Seung Ho was nothing. The events to come were not going to end with the internet press office. The wounded press office might charge Dine Music for the money. This link needed to end at Dine Music.

The chief of the legal team had a hunch that something was wrong when he saw Producer Kim Ki Sik's cold sweat,

"But why are you like that? Is there a problem?"

"Oh, no."

"What is it? We're not involved, are we? Hurry up and tell me before the problem gets bigger."

"The truth is… It seems that someone on our end was drinking with a person at some agency and talked about the two people's relationship. And that was spilled to the press office through that agency."

"Whew… That's fine. I was surprised. I knew the articles had gone up too quickly."

"It'll be okay, right?"

"It's fine. It's just something he said drunk. If you're looking at it legally, the problem is the person who wrote the article. Is everything you say while you're drinking the truth? That's just a personal thought or guess. The person who wrote it without checking the facts is at fault. There's no power in the spoken word. It needs to be printed, photographed, or recorded. It needs to be detailed. Don't worry."

"Ah, okay. Thank you."

They could slip out of it and they could end the connection. Producer Kim Ki Sik thought that he needed to hurry up and tell the director of the entertainment station this and cut their ties to Dine Music.

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Volume 2 / Chapter 60

TL: LightNovelCafe

Producer Kim Ki Sik who came out of the Director's office seemed to be at peace. The Director was not someone who had reached his position on a gamble. Their contract with Dine Music did not even mention Jang Jun Hyuk's name. There was no connection in the first place because it says that among the finalists of 'Tomorrow's Star,' it indicated as 'the person who signs with Dine Music.'

The Director was also in agreement that it would not be damaging to share some of the profits that Jun Hyuk brought in because he brought in a lot of profits oriented to the viewer ratings. On top of that, it was not a song but an accompaniment. Jun Hyuk was needed more for the viewer ratings than track sales.

The Director fully understood that the attorney was right in saying that if Jun Hyuk were to disappear to the hospital, they would lose both the viewer ratings and the profits. The answer was simple if they calculated it a few times.

Instead, the Director did not forget to tell him to negotiate until the end. His order was to lower the 15% producer revenue that the attorney had requested to 10%.

The attorney was not stupid. He would have demanded 15% knowing that they would try to lower it, so he would be willing to accept 10%.Jun Hyuk finished recording all three songs over the last week. He had only left the orchestral accompaniment for the piano version of From the Sun to the Boy to perfect it more.

Jun Hyuk rejected the usual recording system. He wanted to record the violin, viola, cello, oboe, et cetera all together instead of recording each separately.

He thought that the sound of the different instruments having a conversation while pulling each other along could not come out if recorded as separate tracks.

However, they needed to push the recording for the orchestra for two days. The broadcasting station needed Jun Hyuk for something more important, so they had emptied his schedule for two days to send him outside.

"Boss."

"What's this? How many times have you been on air and you still look like this? You don't look like a celebrity at all. Ha ha."

"What? I thought you would have been suffering, but you've put on weight."

Jun Hyuk and Yoon Kwang Hun wanted to hug each other, but they were Korean men who found such sappy things awkward. All they did was hold hands as they faced each other.

A lot of reporters were already waiting at the press conference that Peace Law Firm had prepared. As they were in the waiting room on one side of the conference room, it felt as though the two had not seen each other in months, not 20 days.

"I just rested. I didn't even look at the internet. I spent my days eating, sleeping, and listening to music, so I just gained weight."

"I guess I was the only one worrying."

"That's why I told you not to think about it and just focus on your music. Did you make your mission song?"

"Yes. The sound is unbelievable when you're working with experts with good recording studio equipment. I really like it."

"Then that's enough. This is all over after today. Focus on your music more starting tomorrow."

"What's over? It's all over if the press conference goes well."

Baek Seung Ho who had been watching their reunion silently looked at them with blazing eyes,

"Jun Hyuk, listen well. You can't curse at the reporters or get mad at them during the press conference. If you do, the press offices won't write about the truth, but about your swearing and temper. Then everything we endured until now will go to waste. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"What did I say the best revenge against adults is?"

"Money."

"That's right. We'll ruin them with their money… So be aware."

"Okay, don't worry about it. I won't lose my temper."

Yoon Kwang Hun's eyes widened as he listened to their conversation,

"Seung Ho, you… What are you saying to Jun Hyuk? What is this about money? You're talking nonsense to a kid."

"You stay put. Is Jun Hyuk a child? I heard he got $20,000 for his modeling fees. And I'm sure he'll be making some money from the music he released on the last broadcast. Jun Hyuk isn't a child anymore. Don't treat him like a child when he's out in society making money on his own, and a lot of it, and a lot more of it than most adults at that."

Yoon Kwang Hun stopped speaking when he saw Baek Seung Ho's somberness. He was right. Jun Hyuk was now on his own, working with experts. As he thought that, Jun Hyuk seemed to have grown a lot.

"Okay, let's go out. Let's hurry up and get this finished so we can go and drink."

The three men went out into the press conference."I am Lawyer Baek Seung Ho of Peace Law Firm. First, I'd like to thank everyone who came here to report the truth."

As Baek Seung Ho politely greeted the reporters, the cameras started flashing.

"Please direct your attention to this video."

The conference room light turned off and a screen covering one wall lit up. Lawyer Baek Seung Ho had prepared for the press conference as though it were an investment presentation.

A middle-aged man came up on the screen,

"Hello, I am pianist Go Sae Won. I studied the piano in France and Italy, and I am a lecturer at a university as well."

Go Sae Won spoke for a while about when Yoon Kwang Hun came looking for him with a young genius a year ago and gave him lessons. He explained how Yoon Kwang Hun strived to help Jun Hyuk excel at the piano.

When the video was over, dozens of e-mail messages in English showed up on the screen.

"These messages are already in the documents. Professor Go Sae Won has been communicating with schools in Europe and Yoon Kwang Hun in America for admissions since before Jun Hyuk entered the audition program. Any school would be happy to accept a talented person like Jun Hyuk, so Professor Go Sae Won and Yoon Kwang Hun have been going through them carefully."

Baek Seung Ho paused to see the reporters' reactions and spoke again,

"The reports that Yoon Kwang Hun intended to create an agency to leech off of him are unfounded. He just wanted to give Jun Hyuk a good memory to leave Korea with from the audition program."

As the reporters began to murmur, a picture of Jun Hyuk's practice room came on the screen.

"This is a picture of the practice room that Yoon Kwang Hun created for Jun Hyuk in the basement of his cafe. Jun Hyuk made as much music as he wanted and worked on training his instrument skills here."

Another picture came up on the screen of the instruments and equipment.

"These are the instruments and equipment that Yoon Kwang Hun set up for Jun Hyuk. All of the specs are detailed here as well. To put it simply, the only people who have equipment like this are top-class bands. To get all of this, Yoon Kwang Hun had to get a mortgage loan on his apartment and has invested over $100,000."

The reporters started to murmur more when they heard about the $100,000 and mortgage loan.

"Jun Hyuk worked at the cafe because of his kind thinking that he would like to help Yoon Kwang Hun in any way he could. The only work Jun Hyuk did was to clean the cafe before it opened and once it was closed. He never even washed the dishes. He spent the rest of his time focusing on his music."

A few reporters who had caught on quickly sent text messages to their offices. They were telling the offices that they need to block any articles that spoke negatively about Yoon Kwang Hun.

"The results are in Jun Hyuk's music shown on the audition program. Within 2 years, Jun Hyuk is showing skills in playing instruments, composition, and arrangement that even experts recognize."

Baek Seung Ho got a glimpse of Yoon Kwang Hun and spoke again,

"Oh right, Korean and English. Yoon Kwang Hun taught him himself along with how to read and write music scores."

The reporters typed faster and the cameras did not stop flashing.

"I would like to ask how many parents there are in Korea who are willing to invest over $100,000 in their children while going in debt."

When Baek Seung Ho gave the sign, the lights of the conference room flickered on and it became bright again.

"He took in a child who isn't related to him in anyway off the street and helped him become an impressive musician. Doesn't it fall short to reward him? Everyone has been accusing such a man of being a villainous thief."

The sound of the reporters typing stopped. Baek Seung Ho stopped talking and kept the silence. He was giving them time to think of how serious the rumors they had spread were.

"Now, any reporter who thinks they have the right to ask these two people questions can ask now."

None of the reporters tried to ask questions. The silence continued before someone finally spoke,

"I would like to ask Jun Hyuk, how do you feel right now?"

It was a cable reporter who had not made a big issue out of the news because it was a cable broadcasting station. Jun Hyuk took the mic and took a deep breath to calm his anger,

"How do you think I feel?"

The reporter was surprised by Jun Hyuk's unexpected response, but did not show it.

"Jun Hyuk. Please tell us how you feel instead of asking us."

"How would you feel if your parents were getting cursed out by the world? Does it make sense to ask that question?"

"Jun Hyuk, calm down. This isn't a place for us to let out our anger."

Yoon Kwang Hun held Jun Hyuk's hand, nervous that he would jump out of his seat in anger.

"This is a question for Yoon Kwang Hun. Why did you disappear instead of explaining the situation?"

The reporter had continued questioning. Yoon Kwang Hun who had been trying to calm Jun Hyuk down became angry as well,

"Why did you people write articles without checking the truth? I saw that articles came up within 2 hours after the first broadcast with Jun Hyuk aired. It was late at night. What was so urgent? Explain? Isn't it right for you to explain why you put out articles without checking the facts in the first place?"

Yoon Kwang Hun felt Jun Hyuk's he was holding tighten.

"I think you're the one who needs to calm down."

Jun Hyuk smiled brightly at Yoon Kwang Hun. The reporters who saw this could not ask questions any longer. Their smiles answered everything. The broadcast station's camera zoomed in on their faces. This was the best scene from today's press conference.

Just then, the question that all of the reporters wanted to ask came up,

"Are you preparing for a lawsuit with the last article?"

Baek Seung Ho took the mic as if he had been waiting for the question,

"We have not made the decision yet. Peace will decide after consulting with them both. We will end the press conference here. Thank you."

The three men left the flashing behind them and came out of the conference room.

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Volume 2 / Chapter 61

TL: LightNovelCafe

Yoon Kwang Hun and Baek Seung Ho talked about the days when they were close as they drank in a hotel room.

"Is that true? Our boss was that successful?"

Jun Hyuk was repeating the same question in disbelief as he ate the food they had ordered as room service.

"Yeah. Kwang Hun was the king of Yeouido. Everyone knew who he was."

"Hey kid. You didn't believe me all this time? Wow… I feel betrayed….."

"Well… who would believe it? It doesn't make sense that someone who used to move hundreds of thousands of dollars and made over a million is running a cafe that doesn't even do very well."

'Back in the day…..' Of the adults who said that they had been really great back in the day, he had never seen someone who really had been. Jun Hyuk had not believed anything Yoon Kwang Hun had said.

"But sir, were you really going to send me abroad?"

Jun Hyuk had heard that Yoon Kwang Hun and Professor Go Sae Won were looking into famous schools abroad where he could study for the first time at the press conference. He was grateful, but a little sad.

"Oh, I didn't tell you. Nothing is decided yet. We were just looking into it. Why? You don't want to study abroad?"

"I don't know. I do want to go, but it's scary… and I also get the feeling that I just want to lock myself in a recording studio and make music."

Baek Seung Ho who was drunk at this point, emptied his glass and spoke,

"Oh right. I was curious about that too. What is he going to study when you say he's like Mozart? Shouldn't he just go straight to releasing his music with a debut? I thought you said music was just spilling out of his head. What more can he learn?"

"You're so ignorant. You don't think Mozart learned the theories of music? Mozart's father, Leopold Mozart, was a famous piano teacher in Salzburg. Do you know how many books he wrote on music? Mozart was home schooled on music from an impressive teacher from birth."

Yoon Kwang Hun was also drunk,

"Jun Hyuk's lacking theory the most. He needs to know the theories to get the notes of the music spilling out of his head more elaborately so he can make music. No genius can make music without knowing the theories. I'm sure understanding it will be quick."

"That's not it. Isn't a genius someone whose music is naturally made to the theories? What are you going to do if learning the theories messes up Jun Hyuk's talent?"

The two men kept speaking their opinions. To Jun Hyuk, this just looked like a drunk banter.

Adults fought over useless things when they drank too much. He did feel good that there were now two adults who worried about his future.

While their voices grew louder, Jun Hyuk was lost in thought.

Did he need to learn theory? Would the music in his head become more stylish if he learned the theories?

No. Good music, stylish music, what could this be? What was Teacher Jo Hyung Joong's method to making stylish music?

These thoughts kept coming up in Jun Hyuk's mind without rest.

Baek Seung Ho yelled loudly as if trying to interfere with Jun Hyuk's thoughts,

"Stop! Turn on the TV. The broadcast is going to start."

Jun Hyuk bolted up and when he turned on the TV, 'Tomorrow's Star' was about to start. Since it was still about the area preliminaries, Jun Hyuk should not be making an appearance.

However, to raise viewer ratings, the broadcast started with highlights from Jun Hyuk and Yoon Kwang Hun's press conference. After that, they showed scenes of Jun Hyuk's area preliminary auditions that had not come out on broadcast before.

They showed the guitar version of Jung Tae Chun's 'Poet's Town' that Jun Hyuk had arranged on the spot along with the surprised faces of the judges. For a broadcast that only aired for 1 hour, it could have been seen as a special on Jun Hyuk because all of the clips regarding him added up to 15 minutes.

"I have to admit the people at the broadcasting station are fast. When do you think they prepared all of this?"

The 10% viewer rating that Baek Seung Ho promised may have been incorrect, but it was definitely twice the rating of last episode.

Baek Seung Ho who had been drunkenly cursing the broadcasting station stood up shakily. When he went home, Yoon Kwang Hun and Jun Hyuk became quiet.

"Jun Hyuk."

"Yes."

"What are you thinking about?"

"What? No, it's nothing. Just."

"Don't worry too much. You don't have to study abroad if you don't want to."

Yoon Kwang Hun knew that Jun Hyuk had become much more quiet when talk of studying abroad came up.

"It's not that I don't want to. I don't know."

Yoon Kwang Hun pat Jun Hyuk's shoulder gently like a father and teacher,

"Then just do what you want. If you decide later that you want to study, you can do it then. You're only 17. It's not too late even if you decide to study 10 years later."

"The thing is… I don't know what I want to do right now."

Yoon Kwang Hun knew better what Jun Hyuk wanted to do now. Make music. He wanted to make the melodies in his head into concrete sound. That was all.

When Jun Hyuk said he did not know, it probably meant that he did not know what he needed to do to prepare for his future.

He had said that making music on the audition program was fun. Is it not definite that he is enjoying himself because he can hear the melodies in his head with his own ears?

"Everyone is like that at your age. The kids who are in high school, studying for college entrance exams are just studying to go to college. They choose their schools and majors according to their exam scores. You're much better off compared to them. It's already decided what you're going to do."

Jun Hyuk could not believe that he was better off than other kids his age because he had never even attended school.

"Most kids just choose to be a lawyer or doctor to make a lot of money because they're smart. I was like that too. When I was going to school, economics major was really popular because it was easy to get hired at a large company. That's why I just decided to do it."

"What did you really want to do?"

"Honestly, I still don't know."

"What? You still don't know? Geez."

17 year old Jun Hyuk was having trouble believing that a man over 40 had gone through life without knowing what he wanted to do.

"It's like that since I didn't know until college that I would become a stockbroker. When I graduated, I just found employment at a financial firm that would pay me a lot. When I was working, I saw that people with MBAs were paid much more than I was, so I quit and went to study abroad. That's how it progressed. I just fell into the excitement of making money later. After I lost everything… I started this cafe thinking I'll just live while listening to music."

This was something difficult for young Jun Hyuk to understand. There weren't very many people in the world who did what they wanted to do. No, it was rare for people to even know what exactly they wanted to do.

"But I have a dream now."

"A dream?"

"Yeah, you know what it is?"

"What is it? Is it… me?"

"Yeah. I want to make it so that your music doesn't stop as the world makes a full turn. So for the 365 days in a year, your music is playing from somewhere at any time. It doesn't matter if it's classic or pop since there will be someone to listen to it."

Jun Hyuk spent the entire night talking to Yoon Kwang Hun about the future and dreams as such, and went back to the dormitory.

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Volume 2 / Chapter 62

TL: LightNovelCafe

"Have you modified the contract?"

"Yes. Since Producer Kim agreed to the win-win strategy, we decided to be satisfied with the 10% as well."

Baek Seung Ho who had come to irritate him early in the morning was smiling.

"You talked big, but we didn't reach over 10%."

"Well, I was surprised too. I thought it was a popular audition program, but the average viewer rating only reached 2%. I thought it would be at least 5% and was saying that it would be doubled."

Producer Kim Ki Sik's expression toward a Baek Seung Ho who was making fun of the program's low viewer ratings was not amicable.

"4% is still double your ordinary viewer rating, and it was 6% at the parts with Jun Hyuk. Isn't this proof that our offer isn't that bad?"

This information had not been updated on the portal broadcast program yet. Only the broadcasting station knew the viewer ratings. How did Baek Seung Ho know?

"Don't be too surprised, Producer Kim. The director of Peace pestered the director of MV channel this morning to find out the viewer ratings. The president of MV channel must have had to get up early this morning even though he's a late sleeper. Didn't he get into work early today?"

The president? Producer Kim Ki Sik remembered that Peace was the best law firm in the country.

"I guess our director knows the director of Peace well?"

Producer Kim Ki Sik's voice suddenly became careful.

"Of course. A while ago, your director… Oh right. I can't tell you this. We need to maintain confidentiality between the lawyer and client. Basically, our Peace once saved your director who was in a very uncomfortable situation. Since then, the two directors have been very close. Oh, and our director is older."

Producer Kim Ki Sik thought he was in a cold sweat again. It felt like his life was being shortened by 10 years every time this lawyer showed up.

"So our director must know all about this situation with Jun Hyuk."

"Of course. He has a lot of interest in it."

The director is interested in a lawsuit between a press office and Peace? He had the thought that there could be failure where the sparks were.

"Producer Kim, what are you thinking about?"

"Oh, it's nothing. But why have you come to meet me? Isn't everything settled if you've modified the contract?"

"Oy, do you think I'm here to hang out? I came to give you information."

"Information?"

"Yes. This week is the start of Star Week broadcasts, right?"

"Yes."

"You'll have to increase Jun Hyuk's air time. On the day of the broadcast, we're going to put on a big show."

"A show?"

"Yes. We have four boxes of captures of the false rumors the press spread and the malicious comments people left online that we've gathered. We're going to take all of this and go to the prosecutor to sue them for defamation. Won't the viewer ratings go up again if it gets noisy?"

"This… Do I have to say thank you for this?"

"I'm not saying this to hear a thank you. I'm just letting you know for when you're editing the show. I'll be going then."

Baek Seung Ho who had nodded his goodbye turned around as though he had forgotten something,

"Oh right, do you know Dine Music?"

"Excuse me? Di… Dine Music? Of course I know them. They're a fairly large-scale agency. But why are you suddenly asking about Dine?"

"If what our investigators found out is correct, it seems Dine made the request to the press offices to take Jun Hyuk. We're thinking of submitting this information from our investigation to prosecution as well."

Baek Seung Ho pretended that he did not notice Producer Kim Ki Sik's surprised face and left the office. Since he had thrown the stone, there would be a wave.Producer Kim Ki Sik sprinted to the Director's office. Once Peace had mentioned Dine Music, they could not wait much longer.

"Director, this could be bad for us if the problem becomes bigger."

"You worry too much, man. You just worry about the viewer ratings. What would you have done if we didn't have Jun Hyuk?"

"Director!"

The director of the entertainment station seemed to be calm even after hearing the overturning news.

"Hey, are you the president of Dine Music? Did you convince Dine Music to try to take Jun Hyuk? Did you spread the content for the articles? Dine did all of that. And… that law firm is just filing a lawsuit against the press office. What's the issue?"

"Don't you think that's why they're being like this? If a rumor spreads that the source of the articles was us….."

"Our name will never come up. No, Dine Music's name won't even come up. You don't know why? Even if it's a press office releasing tabloids, how can they say that they received money to write articles?"

The internet press office would claim the confidentiality statement and protect the source until the end in the spirit of a reporter. Instead, Dine Music and its artists would suffer the malicious articles that result. Dine Music would have to compensate the press office for everything, whatever that would be.

"Is that Baek Seung Ho a policeman? A prosecutor? You think he's doing this because he wants to catch the bad guys? That man is a lawyer. Lawyers hate standing in front of a judge in the court most. You know how bothersome a lawsuit is?"

"Then?"

"He's just throwing us a bone. He's just letting it slip that they're going to sue and prosecute Dine Music soon. Then Dine will tell the press office… and if the press office is embarrassed that they wrote articles without checking facts, they'll try to come to an agreement. If the media outlets that are the subjects of the lawsuit give them enough money, it'll all be over. Lawyers are asking for money, not justice. Lawyers find justice with money."

Producer Kim Ki Sik finally realized the situation. All the lawyer had to do was let it slip that they were going to start a lawsuit. But he had also unnecessarily said that he knew the director of their broadcasting station well, so that he would be surprised.

His goal was to make them discuss these issues with Dine Music. Producer Kim felt once again that the director had not gotten to his position on a gamble. He knew the flow of this issue too well. This could not have happened once or twice.

"Let it slip to Dine Music like the lawyer wants. Let them figure out with money amongst themselves. And you just worry about the viewer ratings. When is Jun Hyuk coming out until?"

"He's coming out three times."

"Watch the ratings and eliminate him. Keep advancing him if the ratings are good."

"He's going to make the first live stage really well. We're going to watch that and make our decision."

"Alright, let's do it right this time. Do you know how much it costs to take care of all three meals in the countryside with these viewer ratings? We spend way too much money and the viewer ratings are only . There's talk saying that we should get rid of this. Let's work hard."

Producer Kim Ki Sik was embarrassed that he had made such a big deal for no reason. There was one thing he had gotten out of it though. He had basically gotten permission to do with Jun Hyuk as he pleased.

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Volume 2 / Chapter 63

TL: LightNovelCafe

In the two days that Jun Hyuk had been away, Kwak Hye Sung and Nam Seung Hee had finished recording their first mission song. Jo Hyung Joong's studio was in the midst of mastering the track for release.

"Jun Hyuk, you're here? You had a rough time?"

"No, I'm okay."

The smile did not disappear from Jo Hyung Joong's face as he welcomed Jun Hyuk.

"Well, things like this happen in life. Let it all go if it's been taken care of."

"Yes."

Jo Hyung Joong spoke with a backpack over his shoulder.

"Sorry to do this as soon as you get here, but let's go out. We need to work from another place."

"Where are we going?"

"To record the 16 instrument orchestra. We don't have a recording booth large enough to fit 16 people."

"There's a booth that fits 16 people?"

"Yeah. There are places abroad that are large enough to fit entire orchestras. The studio we're going to now can fit around 20 people. They usually record movie OSTs there."

Orchestral accompaniments are usually recorded once the MIDI operations are completed and each instrument is recorded separately. One violinist played the 1st and 2nd violin. They did not play together to record, but played separately and combined the tracks.

However, there were times when everyone recorded together in order to express the full emotion. The disadvantage was that as there were more people playing, they needed to keep replaying the piece if anyone made a mistake. Therefore, the cost and time made it common to record by track.

A recording studio in Gangnam had a booth that looked like a compact concert hall as if showing that it was used for recording tracks in movies. The 16 performers were already tuning their instruments in the studio.

"Teacher Jo, let us know whenever there's something you don't like. Aren't we just instruments that are part of this music?"

The senior violinist who was the Concertmaster exchanged greetings with Jo Hyung Joong with humility. Though their fields were different, Jo Hyung Joong was an overwhelming presence as a producer in popular music. Jo Hyung Joong was not someone to underestimate even in the world of classical.

"You're too kind. Is there anything for me to touch? I'm sure something like this will be easy for you. And this is Jun Hyuk, the pianist and arranger."

The Concertmaster was surprised when he heard that Jun Hyuk was the arranger and pianist. This was the person who had made news on broadcast and online this week. He assumed that he would be good on the piano, but did not think that he would be able to arrange music.

"Oh, this is him. I thought he would be shy because the MIDI file I received was light… but his image is so different."

Jun Hyuk's image was so different from that of ordinary arrangers who locked themselves in the recording studio and wrestled with the master keyboard.

"Good, good. His looks are good and his music is as good as his looks. Ha ha."

The Concertmaster laughed for a bit and took his place to start playing.

"Who is going to command?"

"That man just now is going to do it."

"He's just a violinist."

"Yeah. Since the song is short and simple… the senior violinist usually takes the lead. There isn't someone to command."

Jun Hyuk's face turned dark at Jo Hyung Joong's explanation.

"I see. This song is easy to lose the timing in without a commander… I guess they're really skillful performers?"

"Of course we brought in A class people. They're performers of Fine Philharmonic. They're fairly famous. It'll be fine."

The performers who had been facing the two people saw the Concertmaster nod lightly to them to send them a signal as he began to move his bow with power.

When the elaborate stringed instruments started and the introduction ended with 2 verses as though fireworks had gone off, Jun Hyuk got up from his seat.

"Teacher, let's go. I think it'll be better to do the MIDI operations and make the orchestra parts with the equipment."

"What? Why… Why do you say that?"

Jo Hyung Joong stuttered as he looked up at Jun Hyuk in surprise.

"What can we expect from performers who can't even read the scores? I don't need to hear anymore."

The performers who had been watching Jun Hyuk's actions and words, stopped playing. Their faces were more distorted than the surprised face of Jo Hyung Joong.

"Hey! Hold on. What did you just say?"

The Concertmaster could not hold back any longer and yelled while the rest of the performers looked on in disbelief. They had never even heard such insulting words from the conductor. The machines are better? They could not read the score?

"You didn't hear me? I said that you can't even read the score properly. Did you hear me well this time?"

They could not believe Jun Hyuk who was yelling with a frown. No arranger made a judgment after just two verses no matter how the music did not come out the way they had intended.

They could not just stand back and watch if he was just copying a maestro he had seen in a movie or drama.

There were a few performers who had left their seats, and the Concertmaster came storming at Jun Hyuk with his violin.

"There there, let's all calm down. Since Jun Hyuk arranged this song, let's listen to his opinion first. Jun Hyuk, you have to explain carefully. It's rude if you act like this all of a sudden."

Jo Hyung Joong grabbed Jun Hyuk's wrist and blocked him from the Concertmaster. From the Concertmaster's stance, it seemed like he might throw his fist. He needed to get out of this troublesome situation. It was social etiquette to respect each other when they were not friendly and had met for the first time.

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