Glass and Clay
"How about going solo? With vocals like these, we could debut you at our company."
"Solo?"
"That's right. I happen to be the head of a rather well-known agency. Ever heard of H.A.D? Ah, one of the judges on your survival show is a guy named Woo Yong-dam from Dunkiss, right? Dunkiss is one of our idols. Seo Se-im and Luma are under our company too."
As the representative of an entertainment agency, Won Hasin found the talent who had walked straight into his lap quite tempting.
Of course, the real owner of H.A.D Entertainment, the majority shareholder and the one who truly held the power, was someone else entirely, so his title as president was nothing more than a surface-level position...
Still, I’m not completely powerless.
Just by looking at him, one could tell he was handsome enough to put actors to shame, and if his vocals were that good too, he could probably outdo singers by three or four solid blows.
However much of a paper president he might be, Won Hasin’s eye for talent was not entirely useless.
"How about coming in for a camera test? Hm?"
Won Hasin leaned in with shining eyes and tried to coax Neoul into signing with him.
Neoul thought of Woo Yong-dam, one of the three people who had come as judges and trainers.
He also knew the name Seo Se-im. The song Neoul had covered in his first-ever stage performance, during the first team battle audition, had been Seo Se-im's I'll Come Get You. Baek Yuri seemed to enjoy listening to her songs as well.
He was curious about Won Hasin’s company. But Neoul shook his head.
"To be solo means I would stand on stage without my teammates, does it not?"
"Hm? Yes, of course. A solo act isn’t a team to begin with, so there are no teammates."
"But I wish to stand on stage with other humans."
Neoul placed special emphasis on with.
Being alone was already something he had experienced enough of in the Dragon Palace. Back there, he had isolated himself because he did not want to interfere with his busy family and retainers, but on land, there was no need for that.
Training together until their arms and legs shook, practicing song and dance while preparing for the stage, then standing on that stage and showing everything perfectly, and finally hugging each other and bouncing around because they had done well and worked hard... that had been something special.
Working hard together and rejoicing together had been rather enjoyable. If he were alone, it would feel regrettable and lonely.
"Ah! Then! How about this!"
"...?"
"We’ve got a few good trainees at our company. We’re preparing a four-member group to debut sometime next year, and the kids all have charm and can dance! Everything's good except... huff, we don't have a main vocal candidate, do weee?!"
Won Hasin changed tactics in a hurry and slapped the floor as though he were dying of frustration.
"Of course, they can all sing above average. But at first listen, there’s no distinct color, you know? And then you show up right here! Hm? If you come in as the main vocal, then—whoa!"
Game over, game over! Total finish! You’d just chew up the whole idol market alive, that’s it!
Won Hasin made a slicing motion across his throat and spoke with exaggerated flair.
"If you’re willing, I can bring you in right now and debut you as five members! I’ve got money too! I’ll spare no expense and back you properly! Hm? How about it!"
It was a full-blooded attempt to recruit Neoul by any means possible. Won Hasin stared at him with expectant eyes. Tempting, wasn’t it? Interesting, right? His gaze carried confidence that this time he would not be rejected.
Yet Neoul refused the offer again without a trace of hesitation.
"No."
"Ah, why! Why! Why notttt?!"
Won Hasin shouted in disbelief, and Neoul gently pushed him aside as he thought of the humans he had met so far.
In the blink of an eye, a short time had passed, and during that time he had met many different humans.
"While filming this survival show on Jeju Island... I have found several humans I wish to support. I plan to watch their path and ascend toward the goal together with them."
"You could just watch and cheer for them as a fan!"
"If I debut together with them, I think the future will be more interesting. I have that feeling."
His tone was firm, carrying conviction. A smile spread across Neoul’s face as he continued.
"So I will keep filming Idol Travel. Until the end."
"Tch! How rude! You didn’t even pretend to consider it!"
Won Hasin clicked his tongue and failed to hide his disappointment.
That fish brat. I thought he had zero social skills, but he already made friends? Several of them?
Damn it.
He had even planned to grill beef for him, thinking the kid might not have eaten properly after coming up to land. If he was going to be picky, then he could just eat eggs instead.
Petty irritation surged up in him.
I don’t even have friends, and this half-human, half-mermaid is a total social butterfly? Hmph.
Won Hasin grumbled noisily to himself, then asked Neoul whether he was hungry.
Neoul nodded. He had woken up after sleeping for quite a while and ridden over on an empty stomach, so he was indeed hungry. It was nearly dinner time anyway.
"Fish! Is there anything you can’t eat?"
"Spicy things are difficult for me."
"What, no allergies?"
"What is that?"
"Sigh. If I’m talking to someone who doesn’t even know what an allergy is, what am I supposed to do. Fine. Wait here."
He rummaged through the refrigerator, pulled out ingredients, and before long had whipped up three plates of omurice, complete with eggs laid neatly over fried rice.
Neoul watched him cook with fascination and chattered from the side.
"I saw fire once before in Jeju, but it is still strange to see it again. This is truly fire, yes?"
"Yeah."
"The Sea Witch said fire is terribly hot and dangerous. How do humans use such a thing so calmly to cook food? Humans must be very brave."
"You think so?"
"Yes. You are so brave that even though you cannot breathe in the sea, you keep going out into it, do you not? I do not understand. Are humans without fear?"
"Why wouldn't we be? We do have fear. But our urge to leap in is even bigger."
"...!"
At Won Hasin’s answer, Neoul understood something.
The reckless challenge of humans, which he had thought he could never understand, was not so different from what he himself was doing now.
Neoul did not find land only fun and interesting. Deep in his heart, there was certainly worry and fear about this strange world.
But his desire to plunge into this unfamiliarity, to see, hear, know, and feel everything, was far greater, which was why he could act so boldly.
So that’s it.
He had thought humans and merpeople were completely different, but perhaps they were not so different after all.
Feeling lighter, Neoul sat down at the table and praised Won Hasin.
"Representative Won Hasin, I think you cook even better than our royal head chef."
Won Hasin, who had been grumbling the entire time, straightened his shoulders with pride.
"Dong-dong’s an idiot and never knew what I was capable of, but this fish knows a thing or two."
Feeling rather pleased with himself, Won Hasin hummed to himself, thinking he would graciously grill beef for these sea brats tomorrow instead of eggs.
Then Dong-dong started complaining about the meal.
"Prince. How can you compare the cooking of a mere land fish to the cuisine of the finest chefs of the sea? And not a single crustacean in it! How can one live on such nutritionally worthless food?"
"Ha! Do you even know how good eggs are for you? On land, they call this a perfect food. Perfect food! I put potatoes, onions, carrots, and broccoli in the fried rice too! It’s packed with nutrition!"
Won Hasin snorted and even neatly wrote the words "Dong-dong" and "Fish" with ketchup. On his own omurice, he drew a heart.
"Fish, eat more if you’re still hungry. There’s some fried rice left."
He slid the plate over to Neoul, and for Dong-dong he lazily set the dish on the table without so much as telling him to sit.
"Impudent Dong-dong can eat it or not."
Then he polished off his own portion and kept muttering, "Mm, delicious. Really delicious."
Dong-dong, who had been enduring his hunger out of pride for a while, finally gave up and took up his spoon after seeing even Neoul enjoy the omurice and then help himself to more from what was left.
"Bweh..."
"Hey! Don’t spit it out!"
"Tastes bad... urgh..."
"Argh! Fine! I’ll buy you crustaceans! What kind of kid goes more than a month eating nothing but fish and shellfish!"
After Dong-dong spat out that he couldn’t eat it, Won Hasin threw both hands up in complete surrender with a look of utter defeat and ordered red snow crab and shrimp for delivery.
"Eat it and clean up properly!"
Then he fled to his room, claiming he had a shellfish allergy.
Neoul finished the fried rice cleanly, and when the delivery food arrived, he snuck a few plump shrimp beside Dong-dong and ate them too.
* * *
After the meal, Neoul followed Dong-dong into another room.
In the middle of the room stood a very large desk. A stranger sitting in front of it greeted them with a bright smile. She was a woman wearing glasses, with her hair neatly tied back.
Dong-dong already knew her, apparently, because he looked thoroughly exhausted.
After a brief introduction, the woman handed Neoul a thin workbook and began the lesson.
And then hellish Hangul study began.
"All right. Read out loud and copy each line ten times~"
"Kieok. Nieun. Digeut..."
"You’re doing great~! Just a little more effort, and let’s finish to the end!"
He wrote consonants and vowels ten times each with the pencil he held for the first time, then learned the principles of Hangul and, saying "ga, na, da, ra..." out loud, wrote them ten more times.
After that came "ga-gya-geo-gyeo-go-gyo-gu-gyu-geu-gi, na-nya-neo-nyeo and so on."
While Neoul learned the basics of Hangul, Dong-dong was doing sentence dictation. She, who had already been assigned to Won Hasin before Neoul, had begun Hangul study immediately and had been forced into daily tutoring, so her progress was a little faster than Neoul’s.
As Neoul repeatedly copied the same letters like training drills, he flexed his aching hand and asked the tutor,
"If I learn only this, will I be able to read something called 'comments'?"
"Comments? Internet comments? Of course you’ll be able to read them. You’ll be able to read anything written in Hangul. You’ll be able to read and write letters too, send messages to friends, and watch movie subtitles. You’ll be able to do everything."
"Oh..."
"If you memorize just what you learned today, you’ll be able to read most sentences. Korean is difficult, but Hangul is the easiest script in the world."
The expression on Neoul’s face, which had been straining as he wrote and mouthed the letters, brightened.
There had been more than a few times when he had felt frustrated not being able to read. To think he would soon be able to read the comments written by the audience who had watched his stage all by himself made him excited.
When Baek Gi-yeom had shown him comments the night before, he had not said it out loud, but it had stung a little that he could not know what they said without borrowing someone else’s help.
I will study hard and read them all.
Once they moved on to final consonants, he started to feel a little dizzy, but Neoul opened his eyes wide and steeled his resolve.
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