New Single Release

After my call with Seyeon, a question suddenly occurred to me.

…Did I ever say I was taking today off?

I was pretty sure I hadn't mentioned it yesterday.

I dug through the VOD replays, confirmed that I had, in fact, said nothing, and let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew…."

That could have been a disaster.

Telling myself it was a good thing I'd caught it now, I sat down to write the announcement.

I wrote the notice as simply as always and was about to log off when something caught my eye.

Huh? What's this.

Comments already?

Hm, they're piling in faster than usual today.

Well, normally I announce these things a day ahead at least, or by morning — and since I posted this right at my usual stream time, I suppose it's fair.

I magnanimously decided to forgive them.

Anyway, it was almost time to leave, so I got ready.

What should I wear today?

Hmm….

Maybe just my favorite hoodie?

The weather's been getting chilly lately — it's the perfect season for it.

Yeah, hoodie it is.

Having thrown on something casual, I checked the address of the restaurant the composer had sent over.

Thirty minutes by bus, no transfers?

Closer than I expected.

With the route sorted, I tucked my wallet, wireless earbuds, and phone into my pockets and headed out.

I was standing at the bus stop, staring absently at my phone while waiting, when a certain realization suddenly struck me.

Oh, right — I still haven't listened to the song in its released version.

It would be flat-out conscienceless to show up at a dinner celebrating the single's launch without having heard it, so I popped the earbuds in.

I opened the music app on my phone and searched for Seyeon's song in the charts.

That's fast….

Just a few hours ago it had been sitting around #50, and already the new single had settled into the top fifteen.

I tapped the song and hit play.

The title was Moment.

I'd once asked the composer, more out of curiosity than anything, how he'd come to write this song.

According to him:

It was a melody that had simply surfaced one pre-dawn morning, while he sat at his piano in the studio, soaked in some nebulous emotion.

And because he couldn't get that moment out of his head, he'd titled the song Moment.

…I couldn't really relate.

All I took away was the vague impression that genius composers apparently draw inspiration from the strangest places.

Listening to Seyeon's voice, I tapped my card as the bus arrived and took an empty seat.

Hm… sitting here like this brings it all back….

The truth is, there was one more reason I'd decided to feature on Moment.

Before my regression, it had been my commute song.

It was such a gentle, easy-listening track that no matter how many times I reshuffled my commute playlist, it always held the number one slot.

Granted, my featuring had brought a new arrangement with it, so it no longer sounded quite like the version I used to know — but I liked this version better anyway, so no complaints.

Lost in that old nostalgia, I suddenly realized my part had arrived.

Such a nice voice….

I looped the song on repeat after that, watched the music video, lost track of time entirely, and eventually got off the bus and headed for the dinner venue.

This the place?

Ding-a-ling!

"Welcome—"

The part-timer greeting the door on reflex froze solid the moment she saw me.

"You have a reservation under Park Junghyun, right?"

It happened ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠often enough that I ignored it, gave the composer's name, and got shown to the reserved room.

"E-enjoy your meal, ma'am!"

Ah, her voice cracked.

Clearly embarrassed, the part-timer scurried away, and I opened the door promptly, so she wouldn't have to stew in it any longer than necessary.

"Ah! Yeonwoo!"

"Yeonwoo's here?"

I bowed my head in greeting to Seyeon and the composer, then found a vacant seat and sat down.

…Why is it so quiet in here, though?

It had been lively and noisy before I opened the door, but the moment I walked in, the atmosphere turned arctic.

…Am I the kind of person who can't even show up to a company dinner in peace now?

These days people had mostly adapted to my face, and it took a lot to wound me — but this one landed a proper hit for the first time in a while.

"S-so, Yeonwoo. You should introduce yourself."

Ah, right — nobody here knows who I am.

Catching my own oversight at the composer's prompt, I spoke up.

"I'm Lee Yeonwoo. I did the featuring on the track."

"WHAT?!"

She did the featuring?!"

"Wait, why wasn't someone like you in the music video?!"

So the wariness was mostly just them not knowing who I was?

If that's all it was, I could breathe easy — inwardly, at least.

Right, honestly, my face is intimidating, but it's not that bad.

"No, no! For a second I thought a loan shark had come to collect money someone borrowed! Hahaha!"

"Hahaha!"

"Hah! What a sense of humor!"

…So it wasn't quite that bad.

Yeah… it was worse.

Listening to the impressions of people seeing my face for the first time, I revised my assessment back down.

…So it can get that far.

Deciding to smother the turmoil with food, I dug in.

Conveniently, the dinner menu was beef — time to stuff my face with meat for the first time in ages and lift my spirits.

By the time I'd inhaled enough beef to feel human again, the composer and Seyeon rose from their seats.

"Alright! Now that the time has come! Shall we have a toast?!"

"The song! Is #11 on the charts right now!"

"Whoa!"

"Amazing! Amazing!"

"So! We're all allowed to eat our fill tonight, right?!"

"Of course! Dinner's on me!"

"Come on, then! Everybody! A toast! 'To this moment!' You say 'to this moment!' Get it?!"

"Yes~!"

"Love it!"

"Now! To this moment!"

"To this moment!"

"To this moment!"

"To this moment."

Social pressure being what it was, I dutifully joined the toast along with everyone else.

But the composer really knows how to run a toast, huh….

Tying it into the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠title of the new single like that….

Compared to a certain someone in our group, it was a completely different league — the man really was overflowing with artistic sensibility.

…Wait, isn't someone in our group also overflowing with sensibility? What gives?

While mentally socking a person who wasn't even present, I took a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠swig of beer.

"Khh…."

Huh? Is this draft beer?

Since when do beef restaurants serve draft beer?

No idea.

Tastes good, so let's just drink.

The signature smoothness of draft beer went down dangerously easy, and by the time I came back to my senses, the whole room was roaring.

"Now! Our MVP of the night! Songstress Bae Seyeon!"

Seyeon stood and bowed to the room.

"Wow!"

"Gorgeous!"

"And the featured vocalist, Lee Yeonwoo!"

I stood, gave a perfunctory little wave, and sat back down.

"Wow!"

"Stunning!"

"And! The man who wrote the song! Yours truly! Park Junghyun!"

The composer rose, puffing out his chest.

"Wooo!"

"The singers covered it! Sit down, old man!"

The music video director, the mixing engineer, the mastering guy, and a whole crowd of friendly-looking staff piled on the composer in good fun.

After a brief round of mutual compliments for everyone's hard work, the composer turned to me.

"Ah! Yeonwoo!"

"Yes, Composer?"

"The name on the song — are you really okay with that one?!"

"Yes."

What's wrong with it?

"Ah! I mean! When the featuring credit showed up, there was just this random string of numbers written there and I went, what on earth… is that?!"

"Same here, hyung! The voice is incredible, but we couldn't figure out who it was for the life of us. Drove me crazy!"

Hm… is it a problem?

"Seriously! You seemed like a kid trying way too hard to be cool— no, wait, Yeonwoo, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you're like that, but still — no singer's name is '105432.' You've got to think about your career."

Considering this was a one-off thing anyway, I didn't see how a career figured into it.

So I'd just mashed the phone keypad and submitted it — was it really that bad?

Granted, I can't claim it completely lacked that 'humble power-user otaku' flavor.

But I figured it was better than something like 『 』, which was pure otaku-core through and through….

"Eh, it's fine. It's not like I plan on doing more of this."

"What?!"

"Yeonwoo! What are you saying?!"

"Are you trying to deal a devastating blow to our industry?!"

"If you won't be an entertainer, who will?! Think it over!"

…Why did these people suddenly turn so passionate?

Weren't these the same folks who couldn't even string a sentence together around me an hour ago?

The music video director in particular lobbied me with wild intensity.

"I'm fine, really. I have my real job, and I want to focus on that."

"…Well, then, I suppose it can't be helped."

"Ah, but it's such a waste, though…."

Anyway, the matter was dropped.

And as the drinking continued, the room drifted toward round two.

Well then, time to head home?

"Huh? Yeonwoo! You're not coming to the noraebang with us?"

"No."

"Why not! You can sing! Belt out one song at least!"

"My hangover's telling me it wants to go home…."

"Ah… yeah, I know the type… wait! You mean you stayed through the whole dinner just for the featuring?! Wow! Yeonwoo, you're so reliable?! You're really twenty?!"

…To be honest, it wasn't the hangover that wanted to go home — it's more of a passive trait.

But with them bigging me up like that, my conscience started to sting….

Or is it? If drinking amplifies the go-home passive, maybe it technically counts as a hangover after all?

Either way, the desire to go home was real, so I rationalized it, traded a few more pleasantries, and closed the conversation there.

"Ahaha… well then, I'll be off."

And so, with my goodbyes said, I made it back home.

"Whew…."

After downing a hangover cure and a tub of ice cream to take the edge off the alcohol, I washed up and was getting ready for bed when Seyeon called.

"Yes? Seyeon?"

"Y-Yeonwoo-nim?! Th-the! Ch-charts! Right n-now!"

Ah, don't tell me—

Listening to Seyeon's alcohol-slurred, imprecise voice, I pieced together the situation and opened the music app to check the charts.

…Maybe I should have gone to round two after all?