The Delight and Fear of Singing

Singing had always been fun.

But standing in front of other people was always terrifying.

Jin Seryeon always had to grapple with this contradictory reality.

—Seryeon-ah. For promo, we're doing some busking at a rest area. Saljjakhung! plus a few other hit songs, thinking 30 minutes to an hour.

Jin Seryeon had already picked up that this was training.

Still, she wasn't too worried.

She'd nailed a broadcast stage with way more eyes on her.

She'd scoured YouTube for busking videos, prepped responses for slip-ups.

Knowing she got super tense, she'd even brainstormed fitting ad-libs.

But there was one thing she hadn't anticipated.

How close the distance was between singer and audience.

"Who's Jin Seryeon?"

Someone's quiet mutter hit her ears like thunder.

Her forcibly pumped-up confidence deflated like a punctured balloon.

Her heart seemed to stutter to a halt, and all her rehearsed lines vanished from her mind.

What do I do?

As the crowd's expressions shifted with growing unease, Jin Seryeon felt sweat breaking out all over her body.

That was when it happened.

Namhun suddenly started pounding the keyboard.

All eyes snapped to him amid the unexpected turn.

Namhun hammered the keys rapidly, producing some mysterious tune.

It wasn't loud, but Jin Seryeon felt like she'd heard the melody somewhere before.

And then Namhun opened his mouth.

"If you're asking who Jin Seryeon is, it's only right to answer."

The audience, Kang Seongdae, Jo Wonhyeong—even they—

What the hell is this nonsense all of a sudden?

Everyone stared at the rambling Namhun with the same thought.

"To dye this world with trot."

But only Jin Seryeon caught on to why he was doing this.

"To blanket this world with music."

It was lines from a famous cartoon character she'd loved as a kid.

He was even playing the BGM on keyboard.

"Spreading song and dance, showering happiness everywhere."

By now, a few onlookers had caught on too.

"This is that, right? Pocket Squad lines."

"Haha. Hilarious. What's this guy suddenly on about?"

"Looks so handsome, but he's totally nuts…."

"They say the normal-looking ones are the craziest."

A Saturday lunchtime rest area.

Pocket Squad had been massively popular for nearly 30 years, so kids and adults alike got it and started chuckling.

"The fairy of trot!"

"Whoa… fairy, huh. Embarrassing for the listener."

Jin Seryeon blushed at the reactions.

"A beautiful future and bright tomorrow await Jin Seryeon."

Namhun wrapped it up, pounding the keys hard with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the same blank expression as before.

Watching Namhun's performance(?) transported Jin Seryeon back to childhood.

Back in elementary school, Namhun had done the exact same thing right before her stage to ease her nerves.

The lines were a bit different now, but the memory thawed her frozen body with warmth.

Oppa, seriously… You make such a huge scene, I have no choice but to play along.

With her tension gone, she forgot her prepped lines again.

This was live busking—might as well go with the flow.

She realized she'd gotten more nervous from overpreparing.

Naturally, she started mimicking her role model senior trot singer Jin Suk's event vibe—the one whose videos she'd watched till her eyes hurt over the past two years.

"Hello~! I'm the fairy of trot, Jin Seryeon. To blow away your road trip fatigue, first song's upbeat! Alright, everyone, hop on the Night Train!"

The sudden vibe shift threw off Ju Seojin on drums.

Wait, first song isn't Night Train?

But Namhun was already hammering the keys.

Complete with fitting effects.

As he played, a train whistle blared.

Toot-toot!

Seeing that, Ju Seojin made up her mind.

...Gotta save that wish coupon, not waste it.

Asking for a drive was out—the difficulty had spiked too much.

Jin Seryeon kicked off singing and powered straight through six songs nonstop.

All fast-BPM dance trot numbers.

No easy feat, but proof her practice hadn't been wasted.

Good job, Seryeon-ah.

Namhun gazed warmly at Jin Seryeon, who'd overcome the crisis.

Now to check the results.

Night Train's total was 89.3 for the first song.

Plus bonuses...

The Top of the Valley shoot had different categories.

Visual Band, huh.

Anyway, his choice had been right.

Real bonus points added.

That said, we almost got negative scores?

He knew from practice that bonuses weren't always pluses.

Without the +20, it'd be 86.8 total—dragging a -3.2 penalty.

The illusion's scoring criteria shifted slightly each time.

Higher bar for broadcast stages, lower for street busking like this.

Audience expectations changed, naturally.

Even accounting for that, stage at only 80?

Truth was, the setup was pretty shabby.

Instruments on the sidewalk in front of the rest area building, a banner taped to the wall behind—that was it.

Switching to Ju Seojin hadn't just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠boosted visuals.

If Wonhyeong-hyung had done it, this would've likely been negative too.

Final score: 91.6 points.

"Her voice is great, right?"

"Yeah."

"Now I get why they call her a fairy."

"Yeah. Her voice has this fresh cuteness? And her smiling face is so pretty."

"The girl's got real brightness."

At "rookie trot singer," the crowd had eyed her skeptically.

But Namhun hyped the mood, Seryeon took the baton and launched into song—the vibe flipped.

They stopped judging her skill and just rode the fun atmosphere.

Mid-second song, one grandpa suddenly got into it and shuffled up front to dance.

Seryeon nearly panicked again but recalled Jin Suk's handling—matched his moves with choreography.

As the third song wrapped after Apartment, the even more pumped grandpa pulled a 10,000-won bill from his pocket.

"Take this!"

Another surprise, but Namhun—who'd been watching him—jumped in with quick first aid.

"No hands free, so I'll pass it on later!"

Playing the fourth accompaniment one-handed like a virtuoso drew applause from the crowd.

Namhun pocketed the cash, patted the grandpa back into the throng, and Seryeon regained her footing.

Couldn't jot scores in his notebook mid-accompaniment, but Namhun spotted something.

Wondered why she switched song order. Started with her strongest.

Checking sheets, he noted Comprehension, Proficiency, Digestibility trending down.

But Immersion, Condition, Audience Reaction trended up.

Does vibe affect scores that much?

Sure enough.

The sixth song, Langlang 18, had a new bonus item.

Frenzy Bonus?

The name clicked for Namhun instantly.

He'd faced the crowd the whole time.

Original folks stuck around, others trickled in—now a solid throng.

Young and old, most flushed and cheering, loving Seryeon's stage.

Frenzy indeed.

Even Namhun on accompaniment felt it.

Everyone in the space united as one.

"Ah, EV fast charge is done."

"Already 30 minutes?"

Trot songs ran longer than modern tracks.

Six full sings, and 30 minutes flew by.

Jin Seryeon, who'd gone nonstop, was breathing hard.

"Drink some water."

"Thanks, Oppa."

Namhun flinched slightly at sweat-drenched, grinning Jin Seryeon.

Different from her usual self.

He got why people were going wild for her.

"Sadly, time's up already."

Sighs of regret rose here and there at her words.

"Ah…."

"Already over?"

"This last one's my debut Saljjakhung! Easy dance and sing-along."

Unlike before, she introduced calmly and started singing.

Concerts slot MC time between songs for a reason.

Exhaustion.

Post-Saljjakhung!, Jin Seryeon was wiped out.

"Encore! Encore!"

"One more! One more!"

But the crowd's cheers sparked some mysterious energy.

Encores piled on encores till they filled the full permitted hour.

"Time's really up now—no more."

"Aww."

"No way."

Jin Seryeon beamed at the disappointed faces.

"But I can do autographs."

People surged forward eagerly.

As flustered Jin Seryeon hesitated, Namhun stepped up and bellowed.

"Line up over here!"

His voice boomed so loud, even distant folks turned to look.

"Thanks, Oppa."

Jin Seryeon approached Namhun packing gear.

"No big deal."

"Really, thank you…."

She knew without Namhun, today's busking would've been a disaster.

She wanted to express it, but "thanks" was all she had.

As dazed Jin Seryeon stood there, Wonhyeong approached.

"How many encores was that?"

"Sorry."

"Not complaining. You killed it. Seojin-ssi, good work too."

Ju Seojin just smiled instead of polite denial.

One hour on drums left her whole body aching.

Seeing her rub her arms nonstop, Namhun looked apologetic.

"You okay?"

She started to say yes, but clamped her mouth shut as Namhun took over massaging her arm.

Isn't this... too close?

Her face heated up.

But only she felt it.

Yoo Sera approached and teased her.

"That's why I told you to exercise. Quit holing up in the studio."

"You work out, Unnie?"

"Me? Whenever I can—Pilates, running. Fine, while you're in Korea, run the Han River with Unnie."

"What?!"

Namhun watched the bickering duo resume fighting.

Should've given keys to Sera too?

Three girls might've looked better.

Hmm. Not sure.

Namhun was wrong.

If so, the illusion would've shown on Sera pre-start too.