A Cozy Meal and a Fresh Start
Half past eight in the evening.
The gopchang-noodle restaurant in Samcheong-dong buzzed with the lively chatter of its many customers.
And among them sat one person who didn’t quite fit in:
Min Hae-yeon.
‘What on earth am I doing here?’
She scanned the room with an awkward expression, feeling out of place despite the warm atmosphere.
—If you’re free, how about eating together? I haven’t eaten yet either, so I’m starving…
Jang Namhun’s offer only muddled her already complicated thoughts further.
What exactly was this guy doing?
Was he trying to hit on her?
‘Ha… no way a guy this handsome would do something like that. Even if it was just a scam, I’d still say no.’
But he had already introduced himself as a professional songwriter.
Questions kept piling up in her head as she tried to understand the situation.
In the end, Hae-yeon accepted the invitation.
It was her first time receiving a dinner offer from a man this handsome.
After that, her memory grew fuzzy, as if she had been hypnotized by a ghost.
Before she knew it, she was sitting at the noodle restaurant.
Regardless of whether her head was a mess, Namhun looked at the menu and spoke up.
“The sundae-gukbap still okay? It looks like the best place nearby to fill your stomach properly. See? It’s packed with customers.”
Hae-yeon nodded.
“Yes, that’s fine. For a student who eats alone, this kind of place is perfect.”
As a college student who didn’t have anyone to share meals with, Hae-yeon often found herself at noodle shops by herself.
Namhun smiled and nodded in agreement.
“Exactly. It’s nice like that. Quick to get in and out, and no pressure even if you come alone.”
A moment of silence passed, and Hae-yeon casually looked around.
Noticing her unease, Namhun spoke up with a light tone.
“I hope I didn’t drag you away from something important.”
“No, it’s fine. Tomorrow’s a rest day, so I was already planning to attend the workshop.”
“Heard you’re a job-hunting student. Must be tough.”
Hearing the encouraging words, Hae-yeon felt a bit deflated.
“Yeah… I guess so. I’m following around workshops while job-hunting.”
“Huh? I didn’t mean it like that.”
“…Aha.”
Once again, silence fell.
At the next table, a customer called out loudly.
“Umma! Here’s a bottle of Islay!”
Namhun’s sharp observation caught the slight flinch in Hae-yeon’s reaction.
He needed to break this gloomy mood somehow.
“Do you like alcohol at all?”
Hae-yeon’s eyes lit up at the question.
She had been deep in thought and was just thinking about alcohol when he guessed it.
“…I don’t really like it. I have it occasionally for a nightcap.”
Namhun nodded, ordering a bottle of soju.
“You can take the rest home. Let’s have one here.”
Hae-yeon hesitated briefly before nodding.
* * *
Namhun had possessed a strange talent since long ago.
The talent to shatter women’s guarded hearts.
The guys around him always vented their frustration, calling his looks their real talent.
Yoo Sera, who was nearby, laughed at them and said,
—I don’t think like that? Girls actually get more cautious around those kinds of guys. They want to look their best.
—Sera. You’re not a girl, though?
—…I’ll die! Anyway, it just means your looks aren’t the only thing that matters. Personality counts too.
—Isn’t our personality bad right now?
—Yeah.
—That’s real!
Humans feel better just by listening to someone else’s words.
With alcohol added, the awkward atmosphere softened further.
Before long, Hae-yeon found herself spilling her worries, and Namhun listened patiently.
【Performance – Job-Hunting Student in Deep Thought】
【Condition – 40】
‘Good thing.’
Just like how Satoshi only needed to listen to help, Hae-yeon’s condition slowly recovered.
“I heard getting an audition pass isn’t easy. I never even dared to apply.”
“Aha. Workshop applications are chosen by lottery among fans.”
Hae-yeon set down her soju glass and let out a deep sigh.
“But I’m planning to stop. I spent too much time on them while I’m busy job-hunting.”
“Job-hunting, huh? Tough times.”
“Yeah. What about you, oppa? How did you become a professional songwriter?”
Namhun realized there was a misunderstanding in her words.
“Oh, I’m not a professional songwriter.”
“Huh?”
After a while, the nearby area had quieted, and Namhun spoke softly.
“This is a secret, but I’m actually preparing to become a trot singer.”
“A trot singer?”
“Yeah. I used to sing before, but after my dream collapsed… I felt like just a hollow shell. But I had to live, so I kept doing something to earn money. I kept pushing through until now. Before I get too old, I want to sing again.”
Hae-yeon, who had listened, felt a connection with the story.
As someone who followed idols, she was well-versed in the music industry lately.
“Yeah. Nowadays, it’s hard to become a singer unless you’re an idol.”
“Exactly. That’s why I chose trot. Demand still exists for it.”
“You’re amazing, oppa… That must have been a difficult choice.”
“Not amazing. Sometimes you have to choose based on the situation. Don’t overthink it. Just try something you think you’re good at.”
“Good at…”
Hae-yeon took a sip of soju, set the glass down, and spoke quietly after a pause.
“Actually, when I was little, my parents moved to the U.S. for work… I followed them from elementary school. I graduated high school there and came back to Korea.”
Hae-yeon smiled awkwardly and sighed.
“So I’m pretty good at English.”
“You lived abroad? I had no idea. When people leave Korea young, their accent sounds off.”
“Since I was going back, my parents paid attention to bilingual education.”
“Ah I see.”
Many such cases surrounded the musical prodigy Namhun.
‘These kids don’t usually talk about how fluent they are in English.’
If he was that proficient, he was definitely a perfect bilingual.
Suddenly, Kim Changsu’s words came to mind.
—D-Sync is starting to think about overseas tours, but it’s hard to find good employees. If they speak languages, other skills suffer, and those with skills can’t speak languages.
—Changsu, don’t try to recruit Nami. He’s busy practicing.
—Tsk.
Thinking about it, Hae-yeon was exactly the kind of person Kim Changsu was looking for.
Fluent in English, senior in marketing at a prestigious university.
No experience, but she was well-versed in the idol industry.
“Being good at English is a big advantage in Korea. No need to worry about job hunting, right?”
Hae-yeon laughed at Namhun’s slightly exaggerated praise.
【Condition – 55】
“Aha.”
“What field are you thinking of for a job?”
“Um… I’m interested in social media marketing. SNS is really popular these days.”
The photo-sharing app that Hyeyoon kept uploading pictures on after he bought her a new iPhone came to mind.
“Instagram?”
“More interested in YouTube. It’s the YouTube era now.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. These days, even idols are shifting their promotion from TV to YouTube.”
As Hae-yeon said, YouTube was just beginning to seize media dominance.
“I see.”
Namhun was a complete outsider to this world, but after listening to Hae-yeon, he had learned a lot.
He had received help and encouragement, and the meal he bought out of gratitude had turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
“I have a channel too. Want to see?”
“YouTube channel?”
Namhun’s eyes widened in curiosity.
“It’s not amazing or anything. Just a channel where I upload videos with only the vocal separated by removing other sounds like MR.”
Namhun looked intrigued.
“MR removal? What’s that?”
Hae-yeon pulled out her phone and showed Namhun her YouTube channel.
The channel name was ‘Hidden Vocal Power of K-pop Idols.’
About 100,000 subscribers.
Average views between 100,000 and 200,000—quite high.
The current top K-pop group, JTC, had videos exceeding 1 million views.
Namhun’s eyes widened in admiration.
“Wow, the views are huge.”
At the same time, his sensitive hearing picked up something special in the video.
“But this vocal separation is too clean. It doesn’t seem like just running a program.”
He had always asked engineers questions whenever they used programs during original studio practice sessions.
If cleaning up the voice with a program was easy, he wouldn’t have needed to hire someone for MR removal.
It must have taken enormous time and effort to create it from scratch.
Hae-yeon smiled awkwardly.
“Huh? How did you know? It’s not clean with just the program. I adjust the frequency separation for each vocal range and fine-tune it myself. A lot of effort is needed to make the voice sound perfect.”
Namhun nodded with admiration.
“This isn’t something anyone can do. You really poured a lot of passion into it. I can feel your love for idols.”
Hae-yeon blushed shyly.
“So that’s why you make money from this channel?”
“No. My channel doesn’t make money. Music is in the videos, so copyright is an issue.”
“Ah I see. Still, it’s rewarding since people watch a lot. You’ve achieved your original goal.”
“Yes. But lately, I regret starting the channel for no reason.”
Namhun asked with a puzzled expression.
“Why?”
Hae-yeon fiddled with her soju glass and spoke quietly.
“I follow music broadcasts, and it turns out there are actually a lot of idols who can sing really well. But it’s sad that they get buried under the preconceived notion of being idols. That’s why I started the channel to highlight talented singers, but it seems to have turned into poison.”
“Turned into poison? How do you mean?”
“Many similar channels have appeared. Most of them make videos with malicious intent to attack idols. It feels like it’s all my fault… I feel sorry.”
‘Such a kind-hearted person.’
Even in her own difficult situation, she was worrying about others.
“Don’t think like that. You started with good intentions. It’s not your fault that others misused it. Don’t blame yourself too much.”
Hae-yeon’s eyes reddened from Namhun’s sincere words.
“Thank you, oppa. For saying that…”
【Condition – 70】
She hadn’t reached 90, but she seemed much more energetic now.
Namhun left the noodle restaurant with Hae-yeon and casually asked,
“By the way, since you’re a job-hunting student, I have a question. Have you thought about working at an entertainment company? I know one.”
* * *
She thought only big corporations with good specs would do, but Hae-yeon’s answer was positive.
She at least wanted to do an internship during vacation.
Since she still had time until graduation, she decided to discuss it with Kim Changsu when she started working at D-Sync next week.
The next day, the order for the washing machine arrived.
—Washing machine installation technician here. I’ll be visiting soon.
Namhun had worked hard to earn money, but he felt no joy in spending it.
It all slipped away as he earned it.
So, looking at the brand-new washing machine in the box, his heart felt strangely warm.
It was like finally stepping onto the path of living a proper life after a long tunnel.
‘I’ll gradually build everything from here.’
Like the countless ordinary people he envied.
“Will it be installed in the current washing machine’s place?”
“Yes, thank you if you do.”
Namhun stepped outside the villa to avoid disturbing the installer and stretched lightly.
Thinking back, this was the first time he had bought a new appliance with his own money.
Until now, he had only used optional products attached to the rental house.
The clear sky above him caught his eye casually.
‘Mom, Dad… did you feel this way too?’
Hyeyoon, who was fourteen years younger than Namhun, didn’t remember, but he recalled his parents’ happy face after buying their first TV.
—Son. Is our TV big enough?
—Yeah, really big!
His parents, who possessed talent in a normal household, had a long journey raising him while pursuing music.
Just like starting with nothing right after marriage.
From the outside, they looked like glamorous musicians, but they raised the eldest son Namhun in a single room.
It was narrow and uncomfortable, but it remained happy memories for Namhun.
‘I’ll definitely pay back the love I received to my children.’
As he waited for the washing machine installation to finish, a familiar face approached.
“Youngster Namhun. You said you ordered a new washing machine, right?”