For Just the Two of Us (2)
Fly High, currently airing through episode 15, was racing down the same path of spectacular success as its predecessor. The peak rating for episode 15 alone had hit a staggering 38.8 percent. Effectively brushing up against 39 percent, Fly High was sweeping a drama craze across the entire nation.
It had already surpassed the previous work's highest ratings, and thanks to Fly High's booming popularity, Writer 927's masterpiece Welcome to Cafe Violet was receiving a fresh wave of renewed attention as well.
His first work was already igniting a K-drama frenzy in Japan, and negotiations for the broadcast rights to Fly High had reportedly begun almost overnight.
Now the first episode was starting to air beyond Japan—in the United States, China, and Europe—and procedures were underway to make it available everywhere in the world before long.
Even after Fly High's final episode aired, it would likely follow a similar trajectory to its predecessor.
For the record, Fly High was especially popular among teenagers, resonating with them deeply. So deeply, in fact, that it had even sparked a certain controversy among them.
This was drifting in a slightly different direction from Writer 927's second intention—to give young people dreams and hope.
Korean students, in particular, lived under ferociously competitive pressure. It was severe even among OECD nations.
As this problem surfaced indirectly through Fly High, countless students and parents filed national petitions against the government.
What made it interesting was how extraordinarily fast the state's response to these petitions had been.
South Korea's 23rd president, President Choi Dojin, quickly issued an apology regarding the petitions and declared that he would promptly work out measures with the current Minister of Education—a reasonably solid handling of the situation.
And the reason President Choi had been able to respond so swiftly was simple: he himself was a devoted viewer of the dramas Writer 927 created. A fan, in other words.
The uniquely intense competition among Korean students had been a long-discussed problem for years. After watching Fly High, President Choi had already sensed that the controversy surrounding the issue was only going to grow larger.
Having navigated the crisis with ease, President Choi saw his approval ratings rise instead—and he expressed his gratitude in an article to Writer 927, who had given him such a valuable opportunity.
Of course, the fact that he had even earned the president's patriotic praise was nothing but a burden to Seo Eunwoo.
Anyway.
His second intention may have veered off in a slightly strange direction, but his first intention was unfolding exactly as planned.
"……"
Watching the autumn leaves drift past the window, Lee Hwayang found herself reflecting on how swiftly time seemed to pass.
Today, she had promised to watch the final episode of Fly High together with Seol Soyoung.
Knowing how busy her daughter always was, she had been watching Fly High alone until now—but for the finale, Soyoung had insisted, almost pleading, that they watch it together.
Well… from Lee Hwayang's perspective, there was no reason to refuse her daughter's request.
And so, a short while later.
Just as the mother and daughter were sitting through the commercial break together, the opening of Fly High's final episode began—signaling the end of the third quarter.
A drama she had watched with such immersion that she had laughed and fumed right alongside it from episode 1 through episode 15. Perhaps it was because the protagonist, Bomi, reminded her so much of her own daughter.
So it's already the finale.
Lee Hwayang quietly glanced at Seol Soyoung, whose eyes were fixed on the television.
Once this drama ended, the time would come to finally confess the truth to her daughter.
That in a few days she would be discharged, and that she had decided not to undergo a surgery whose survival odds were uncertain—choosing instead to spend whatever time remained building memories with her family.
Knowing Soyoung's nature, she would respect that choice as much as she possibly could.
Yes……. Soyoung was a kind child, after all.
Putting those stray thoughts aside, Lee Hwayang decided to focus on the drama.
The story of Fly High episode 16 followed each of the leads as they overcame their weaknesses and finally achieved their dreams.
Minjae, played by Kang Haneul, became a global star who swept the Grammy Awards. Jiwon, played by I Dahye, became a teacher at Cheongryong Arts High School to help nurture the dreams of the next generation.
Jin Deokchun, played by Baek Junyeong, rose to the position of principal at Cheongryong Arts High on the strength of his outstanding passion and results. And Bomi, the protagonist played by Seol Soyoung, became Korea's most beloved top singer.
Time continued to flow, and before long the drama reached its final stretch.
Bomi, now active as a singer, held her fortieth concert and invited her friends and teachers from Cheongryong Arts High, standing proudly before them.
"Thank you so sincerely for coming to my fortieth concert today. I understand that my friends and the teachers who taught me are here to celebrate this concert with me."
Standing at center stage with a microphone in her hand, Bomi spoke toward the audience, her eyes full of lingering emotion as she recalled the days gone by.
"These are the people who laughed with me, competed with me, and helped each other grow—even though I was full of problems in so many ways. That's why I wanted so badly to tell them how grateful I am, and how much I love them."
Bomi briefly lowered the microphone from her lips and closed her eyes, thinking of someone. Then, in a slightly trembling voice, she continued.
"And there is one person who couldn't be here with us today. That person is the one who first made me dream of becoming a star—perhaps the person who loved me most of all. I'm a little sorry to my friends and teachers who are here, but I'd like to dedicate my first song to the one who made me who I am."
With those words, a thunder of applause rose, and the stage lights concentrated on Bomi alone.
Beginning with a sweet piano melody, Bomi slowly steadied her breath and opened her mouth to sing.
I saw it by chance—
an old photograph of Mom and me together.
The song Bomi was singing was titled Words I Want to Tell You, My Beautiful One. It was a piece she had written longing for her mother, who had died in an accident.
After becoming a star, Bomi had been flipping through an album one day when she came across an old photograph of herself and her mother smiling together.
Born in winter, her mother had been frail since childhood. She had always lived with illness and pain, and because of that she had been hospitalized many times. But in Bomi's eyes, her mother had always been a strong person who never lost her smile. She had always praised her daughter's talent and cheered on her dreams. To Bomi, her mother had been a sanctuary for the heart.
Bomi had wanted to become a star for that mother. She had wanted to sing songs that could comfort a woman who spent nearly all her time in hospitals because of illness and pain, and she had wanted to earn enough money to cover the enormous surgical costs. But Bomi's mother had died in a sudden traffic accident. It had been a heartbreakingly unfair goodbye.
Having lost her sanctuary in an instant, Bomi had wandered for a time—but remembering the words of the mother who had always cheered on her dreams, she had been able to rise again.
That was the story contained in the first verse. The second verse told of how she, left alone, enrolled at Cheongryong Arts High, formed all kinds of bonds, and resolved to run toward her dreams with them now—free of worry and fretting. It was the story of her growth.
And then…….
As the melody of the song gradually drew to a close, the scene shifted from the concert stage to an entirely different place.
A place where the scent of grass carried on the wind lingered in the air, leaving behind a faintly bitter feeling.
It was the grave where Bomi's mother slept.
Approaching her mother's grave, Bomi sank to her knees and recalled that longed-for face.
Her eyes reddened as she desperately held back her emotions.
To her, her mother had always been someone she felt sorry toward.
Her ailing mother had always looked at her with worried eyes. Those eyes had held the fear of who, if she were gone from this world, would take her daughter's side and be someone she could lean on in this harsh life. Even right up until the accident that took her……
But now, she felt she could finally say it.
If her mother heard these words, she would surely wear a bittersweet smile.
That even in a world without her, there were now people she could trust overflowing around her—and that she had even found a strange person who took her side unconditionally, asking for nothing in return.
And that, thanks to them, she had finally achieved her dream…….
So…….
Bomi's monologue ended.
The ending credits slowly began to roll across the screen.
There was no way to hear Bomi's final monologue. The drama called Fly High ended completely right there.
But Lee Hwayang heard it.
……She heard her daughter's voice, unmistakably clear.
At some point, tears had gathered at the corner of Seol Soyoung's eye.
She had no confidence she could hold them back, so she decided not to bother. She simply gazed quietly at her mother, Madam Lee Hwayang.
Seol Soyoung thought.
Did my heart get through? Did the feelings I hold for Mom reach her? Did she sense the things I never managed to express, because I only wanted to be a kind and good daughter?
In the middle of that quiet worry, Seol Soyoung looked at her mother and smiled a small smile.
Ah. I see.
It got through. Thankfully, it got through.
For some reason, Madam Lee Hwayang was smiling as she looked at the daughter who looked exactly like her.
And that smile was so beautiful—
to Seol Soyoung, it simply felt warm.