The Narrow World and the Music Countdown
Jang Namhun was just as surprised as everyone else.
“Serra unni? Do you two know each other?”
“Of course. When Serra was in Boston, we lived together.”
“Ah, that Korean roommate….”
Yoo Sera and Ju Seojin, both Korean women of similar ages who played music together, had become roommates at the New England Conservatory and Berkeley, institutions that sat only a ten-minute walk apart.
“…The world really is small.”
“Haha. Yeah, it is.”
Watching Namhun’s smiling face on the screen, Ju Seojin found herself smiling too, unable to help it.
Namhun had no idea, but Ju Seojin knew far more about him than she should have.
Yoo Sera had talked about him nonstop for two years.
Because of that, the Namhun on the screen suddenly felt strangely familiar.
“If Sera unni is your friend, then I can call you oppa, right?”
* * *
“The world really is small. I had no idea my daughter was roommates with your friend.”
“Oh my, oh my. We really had no idea.”
Park Sukja felt the same surprise.
A close friend who had lived with her daughter for two years.
That was why she had even greeted Yoo Sera over video calls several times.
Yet she had never imagined that the young woman who came and went at Namhun’s house was her daughter’s roommate.
“Oh, young Namhun, you’d better hurry along now. The kids’ academy class must be ending soon.”
Checking her watch at Park Sukja’s words, Namhun saw that it was already six in the evening.
“Hmm. This is a bit awkward.”
Thursdays at six meant Music Countdown on KJ ENM.
He had missed yesterday’s Music Champ stage because of the crowd, but Music Countdown was the final broadcast for “Saljjakhung!” so he planned to watch.
Originally he had thought to deliver Park Sukja’s luggage, go home, and watch, but the phone call with Ju Seojin had made the timing awkward.
‘It’ll probably be on by the time I get home.’
As Namhun hesitated, his gaze landed on the television in the hospital room.
It happened to be turned off, as if no one was watching.
‘Back in the day you had to put in coins. Now you just turn it on.’
He realized he had been to the hospital room only rarely these past few years.
Since the twins had been discharged, this was the first time.
“Excuse me for a moment, could I watch the TV for a bit?”
“TV?”
“There’s someone famous appearing on the broadcast. It starts soon, and if I arrive home it’ll be over.”
“A famous person? Is it that young lady?”
“No, not Sera… she’s a singer.”
“A singer? Does Namhun young man know any singers?”
“My younger brother debuted as a trot singer this time.”
At Namhun’s words, every patient in the room turned toward him—not just Park Sukja.
A good idea suddenly occurred to Namhun as he felt those gazes.
‘Hold on. Everyone here is in their mid-fifties or older.’
The beds had name and birth-year labels, so he could tell the ages of the six patients in the room.
Two in their mid-fifties, two in their sixties, two in their seventies.
The sixties and seventies were trot generations.
The mid-fifties were not, but still familiar.
That meant turning on the TV here would let Jin Seryeon’s stage be judged by trot fans.
“Oh my. I had no idea you had such a big network. You even know celebrities.”
“Haha. Not really. I just knew her since we were kids… May I?”
“The TV isn’t mine, so go ahead. Watch all you want.”
At Park Sukja’s words, Namhun quickly checked the others’ faces and turned on the television.
The screen filled with three men.
He had no idea exactly which group, but they looked like male idols.
‘Back when Music Top 100 was on, it was still one guy and one girl as the norm.’
The sight of three dark-haired men as MCs was a shock.
[Two, three. Hello~]
The hosting style was unfamiliar too.
[First up, the debut stage, right? Muca? It’s a warm welcome to the comeback stage of Yaeha on Music Countdown for the very first time.]
[K-pop’s strong big brothers, the IDOL DEBUT!]
[Global hot rookie EVELA’s stage is also ready, so don’t miss it!]
[….]
[Finally, the live voting method for deciding first place~ After downloading the KJnet app and going to the Music Countdown voting page, I’ll count on everyone’s votes!]
“Huh. They vote like that nowadays.”
“Yeah, we older folks could never do that.”
Namhun gave a bitter smile at the muttering beside him.
The world had truly changed.
When Music Top 100 was still running, it had been phone or text votes.
He wondered if the idol era had helped create such a systematic element.
‘Well, I probably can’t beat the fandom anyway.’
Ten years ago it had been hard for mainstream pop singers to overcome idol fandom power.
The fact that even their senior, who sold more records than common minor idol Evil Spirits, was one of the few who managed it spoke volumes.
With media now fragmented, mainstream pop was even less effective.
‘By the way, is Candy Pop not coming out?’
He had to start work next week, so this week would be his last music broadcast activity.
Thinking back, he had not seen Candy Pop’s name on Puni Music Show either.
“These days all the singers are so cool and pretty.”
“How do they move their bodies like that?”
“It’s the best time, the best time.”
“When I was young…”
Namhun also had found their reactions fresh, since the middle-aged viewers’ ratings on Music Top 100 had been low.
“The singing is out of it.”
“I can’t even hear what they’re saying….”
Neither ten years ago nor now had the middle-aged crowd’s taste changed.
Visually impressive, but singing was a matter of taste.
“Namhun young man, are all the singers on now like this?”
The phrase “kids’ songs” made Namhun laugh.
If idol music was kids’ songs, then trot was grandfather and grandmother music.
It had been the same ten years ago when he was active.
What had changed was that even the remaining genres had completely vanished from music broadcasts.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Sometimes new attempts like Jin Seryeon’s happened, but rarely.
“Oh, the singers coming out now are my younger brother.”
The moment the song began, he could feel it was different from previous stages.
[It’s embarrassing but let me say Saljjak~kung↓~]
[I like you, I like you~]
Since he had to catch the score, he listened carefully while observing the audience’s reactions.
It was definitely different from an idol stage.
‘Their reaction doesn’t seem bad?’
It was more than not bad.
Performance Evaluation
【Singer - Jin Seryeon】
【Song Title - Saljjakhung!】
【Comprehension - 96】
【Proficiency - 95】
【Immersion - 96】
【Digestibility - 96】
【Condition - 90】
【Audience Reaction - 95】
【Overall Score - 94.8】
【Performance Bonus - +3.3】
【External Effect Bonus - +1.5】
【Final Score - 99.6】
‘99.6?’
Namhun’s eyes widened in surprise.
He hurriedly took out his notebook and checked the score he had scribbled two days ago on Puni Music Show.
Whenever a score appeared, he wrote it down if possible.
Just in case he could use it.
Performance Evaluation
【Singer - Jin Seryeon】
【Song Title - Saljjakhung!】
【Comprehension - 95】
【Proficiency - 94】
【Immersion - 95】
【Digestibility - 94】
【Condition - 89】
【Audience Reaction - 87】
【Overall Score - 91】
【Performance Bonus - +3.3】
【External Effect Bonus - +1.3】
【Final Score - 95.6】
The understanding, proficiency, immersion, and digestibility, already high, had risen again thanks to repeated rehearsals and performances.
He could not prevent the drop from long waiting times, but familiarity had pushed it over 90.
Still, the biggest jump had come from audience reaction.
‘Eighty-seven with the kids was already not bad.’
Six patients in the room could not fully represent trot fans, but…
Ninety-five was an extremely high score.
Besides, Namhun did not think this stage would reach only ninety-five.
Even if they gave ninety-two?
That meant the average would be even higher once his score was subtracted.
‘…If it’s this high, there really is a chance?’
After receiving this score from the elders, perhaps Kang Seongdae’s prediction would come true and a big hit would explode.
Because it had been almost a perfect hundred.
“Then I’ll be going.”
“Yes. I was really grateful to you today.”
After monitoring, Namhun left the hospital room.
‘There are a lot of people here.’
The elevator descended slowly because many people had finished visits and gone home.
‘I hope the kids ate dinner well.’
After waiting a long time, as Namhun got on the elevator, he was about to step out of the building when a woman called him urgently.
“Excuse me, just a moment!”
* * *
Song Mira had always dreamed of the entertainment world since childhood.
Unfortunately, she had not been given the talent or looks to be the star of a glamorous stage.
But she could not give up her dream world.
The compromise had been becoming an entertainment reporter.
If she could not become an idol herself, delivering their stories from nearby might still be fun.
Just getting closer to her dreamed world was enough for satisfaction.
She had joined the mid-sized entertainment magazine Star Frame as a reporter, but reality turned out to be disappointing.
After six months on the job, she had been writing only digital articles in the digital department.
The three-year-senior kept lecturing her, yet their situations were no different.
She went to press conferences, screenings, and showcase events, asked one or two scripted questions, and was done.
That was all she had been given.
To be entrusted with solo interviews or feature stories, she would have needed five years of experience.
But Song Mira had no such intention at the time.
So what should she do?
She had to impress the editor-in-chief that she was special and speed up the timeline.
Song Mira moved energetically, but without connections, she had not achieved anything meaningful.
Just as her spirit and body were worn out, bad news struck.
Her father had been in a traffic accident and hospitalized for a while.
‘Really… nothing goes my way. This is so hard.’
On top of an irregular work schedule, she had to tend to her father.
For a while she could only put off looking for news stories.
* * *
While Namhun was monitoring Jin Seryeon’s Music Countdown stage, the nurses at the ward station were quietly chatting as they organized charts.
“The handsome guardian of Park Sukja, isn’t that the person in the YouTube ad?”
“The one who saved the patient with CPR?”
“Yeah. They say if the judgment had been even a little late, it would have been dangerous.”
“Hmm… but the nurse asked the patient and said she didn’t know the person, that it wasn’t an entertainer.”
“What? What rumor? Some celebrity?”
The interesting rumor that had suddenly appeared in the quiet ward spread quickly among the nurses.
They even sneaked glances at Namhun, who was monitoring at irregular intervals.
“He really is handsome.”
“You can tell from the front too.”
YouTube ad.
CPR.
The dramatic story of a handsome man who saved someone, like an actor, naturally reached Song Mira as she headed toward the restroom.