A Stubborn Bond (1)
I let go of the stand mic and took a step back. Cheers and applause erupted from the audience.
"Huuu…."
I lifted the back of my hand and lightly brushed at the corners of my eyes.
Even I couldn't tell whether these were tears of overwhelming joy or tears that had simply clung on because I still hadn't fully shaken free of the song's sorrowful emotional line.
One thing was certain, though: my heart was pounding like mad.
Whew…….
No matter how many times I'd heard this kind of ovation, I still hadn't gotten used to it.
Settle down, Han Jiyoung. You can't let yourself get swept away by something like this.
I steadied myself. There would be countless days ahead when I stood on stages like this one—days when the roar would be even louder. I had to grow used to this swelling feeling.
Then, cutting through the torrent of applause, the MC climbed to center stage with a bright smile.
"Wow……."
He stood beside me and swept his gaze over the studio, as if he couldn't help but marvel.
"The Way Back—that was truly wonderful. Even backstage, I was fighting tears the whole time I listened. Looks like the audience was deeply moved as well, doesn't it?"
At his words, another wave of cheers and thunderous applause rolled through the seats. More than a few people were still dabbing at their eyes and nodding.
At last the MC turned the mic toward me and asked a question.
"Han Jiyoung, for this semi-final you paired up with the legendary producer Seo Geonwoo. We're all dying to know—what was that process like? What kind of direction did you receive?"
"Ah, that would be……."
After a few rounds of Q&A had passed, Seo Geonwoo spoke from the judges' panel.
"Jiyoung is being far too modest."
He looked up at me, his voice deep and steady.
"I hardly did a thing. The original guide for this song was written for a male vocalist, so I'd been fretting over how to adjust the key and the tone. But Jiyoung simply swallowed it whole and made it her own."
"Oh, is that so."
The MC offered a well-timed reaction, and Seo Geonwoo finished his thought.
"As a composer, I can't remember the last time handing over a song felt this comfortable—and this thrilling. Jiyoung's interpretive ability is nothing short of genius."
That opened the floodgates. The other judges scrambled for their mics and poured out praise one after another.
"Every time I watch Jiyoung perform, I go crazy wondering just how high she can climb. That ad-lib line she changed today—goosebumps. Absolute goosebumps."
Kang Soyoung made no effort to hide her excitement, and Park Jinwoo delivered a calmer but weighty assessment of his own.
"Being able to move an audience to tears without ever over-pouring the emotion—that means she possesses the greatest weapon a vocalist can have. It was perfect."
Once the judges' wave of acclaim had swept through, the MC skillfully wrapped the segment and looked back at me.
"Jiyoung. From the moment you first entered Voice of Legend, you were already under enormous public scrutiny, weren't you?"
I quietly nodded.
"You walked into this brutal audition of your own free will—already sitting at number one on the charts—saying you wanted to be judged on skill alone. Now that you've come this far, I have to ask: how much of the goal you set when you first entered do you feel you've achieved?"
"Yes."
Every eye in the room locked onto me the moment I answered.
"I stood on that stage with nothing but my voice. And so many people are listening to it, loving it…… I'm truly happy. That alone is more than enough proof of why I came here."
Warm, generous applause burst from the audience at my honest reply.
"A truly wonderful answer. And with Han Jiyoung's performance, every stage of the Voice of Legend semi-final has now come to a close!"
A collective sigh of regret rose from the audience, and the MC turned his gaze back to me.
"Han Jiyoung, who crowned the semi-final in spectacular fashion—as you leave this stage, would you share a brief final thought with us?"
I lowered the mic for a moment and glanced toward the dark gate at the back of the stage.
"First……."
I raised the mic again and spoke.
"I'd like to offer my deepest consolation to Kang Minhyuk, who practiced this song with me right up to the end. It was Minhyuk's excellent voice that pushed me, that gave me the stimulation I needed to finish this stage safely. You worked incredibly hard."
After delivering that sincere greeting, I looked straight into the lens of the main live-broadcast camera aimed at us from the front.
"And……."
My lips parted, and a smile rose before I could stop it.
"I don't know if Mom is watching this live broadcast right now. But…… Mom, I think I'm standing here because of all the support you've always given me. Thank you."
"Yes! Thank you for those remarks!"
At the MC's booming voice I awkwardly lowered the mic, and the gate behind the stage opened once more.
"Now! Let's welcome to the stage the four survivors who clawed their way through the hellish death match of the semi-final!"
Including Han Doyun and myself, the final five lined up side by side at center stage.
"That was a truly nail-biting competition. Everyone, once more—a thunderous round of applause for these five extraordinary candidates for legend!"
The audience roared at the MC's prompting.
Then he set down his cue sheet and lifted his voice another notch.
"While we were speaking with Jiyoung, production informs me that the judges' scores and the live audience vote have both been fully tallied."
The stage lights dimmed the instant he finished speaking.
"Right now—we will reveal the final rankings of the semi-final!"
The massive LED board mounted behind us flared to life, and the profile photos of us five survivors appeared in a row. Beside them, red bar graphs began to form.
Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep—!
A cheerful yet heart-clenching electronic tone filled the air as the bars shot upward at a terrifying speed. The rankings flipped and scrambled in real time. The contestants standing next to me swallowed dryly, unable to tear their eyes from the board.
The first to lock into place was fifth.
When his rank solidified, Han Doyun didn't look disappointed in the slightest. He simply beamed as if making it this far was already more than enough, and bowed a full ninety degrees toward the audience.
Third and fourth locked in next, one after the other.
Now only two graphs were still climbing: mine, and Choi Harin's—the survivor from Producer Kang Soyoung's team.
Be-ree-ree-ree-ree—!
On the board, my graph and Choi Harin's traded the lead again and again, racing each other toward the top of the screen. Voices chanting "Han Jiyoung!" and "Choi Harin!" tangled together until the studio seemed ready to split open.
Honestly, I don't care who comes in first…….
I tried to stay cool inside, but watching my own bar climb with my own two eyes, I couldn't help the competitive spark that stirred in me.
And then, at last—
Thock—!
Choi Harin's graph stopped first.
Mine climbed another handspan higher, then locked into place at the very peak, flashing brilliantly.
"Congratulations! The long-awaited first place of the Voice of Legend semi-final stage goes to Han Jiyoung!"
The MC's roar was joined by a blast of pyrotechnics at the front of the stage.
Boom! Pop-pop-boom—!
"Whoa."
A rain of multicolored confetti and glittering gold foil poured down over the stage. I brushed the bits from my hair and swallowed a dry laugh.
Anyone watching would think I'd already won the whole thing.
The final was still ahead of us, and the celebration scale was wildly over the top.
Once the excitement settled a little, the MC stepped back to center and took control again.
"All five of you—truly well done making it this far. Now only one stage remains: the long-awaited final round!"
The final round.
At those words, a cool tension settled once more among the five of us who had been celebrating only moments before.
"But everyone—you didn't really think Voice of Legend would end in ordinary fashion, did you?"
A mischievous smile curved the MC's lips. I narrowed my eyes slightly. What kind of stunt were they pulling now?
"I will now announce the rules for the final round. On the final stage…… the producers you work with will be completely replaced!"
Startled voices broke out among the contestants.
"You will take the final stage with a brand-new producer and a completely new original song of an entirely different color. The matching method is very simple."
The MC pointed to the board behind us. The screen slid over, and on the left appeared our five contestants' rankings and profile photos; on the right, the five judges' profile photos.
"Based on the contestants' semi-final rankings and the cumulative team scores of each producer, reverse-order matching will be applied. In other words, the first-place contestant will be paired with the fifth-place producer!"
A classic survival-show rule designed to rebalance the strong.
"Well then—shall we check the matching results?"
The board graphics swirled into motion, and white lines began to form between the contestants' profiles and the producers', connecting them one by one.
My eyes, of course, followed the line stretching out from my own first-place photo. As first place, I would meet the fifth-ranked producer. The line extended, extended—and finally stopped in front of one face.
"You've got to be kidding me."
For the next two weeks, I would have to prepare the final stage—with Kim Taesung.