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Chapter 1
While the Daughter Sings, Her Mother Dies, and Her Grandfather Dies
The passageway beneath the stage at New York's MetLife Stadium.
Lara looked down anxiously at the smartphone clutched in her right hand. Rather than feeling excited about the final
concert of the world tour, especially getting to perform on the world's greatest stage, an inexplicable sense of unease
weighed heavily on her.
“Mom... why aren't you answering?”
Lara picked up her phone again and called her mother. But once again, only the ringing tone came through. Even when she
was confined to a hospital bed, her mother had always sent her messages of support. The fact that she wasn't answering
today felt ominous.
“Waaaah~~!”
“A-Pu-u-u-lse~~!”
The excited, lively music and the audience's cheers poured through the wooden wall of the passageway.
Across from her, a performance staff member wearing a red cap continuously talked to someone through his in-ear
microphone while keeping an eye on Lara and the other members. They were Yeonmi, Dmi, and Lin, members of the
multinational four-member K-pop girl group A-Pulse.
Behind the members dressed in dazzling stage outfits, individual lifts had been installed to take them up onto the
stage. The fans' cheers continued to pour through the wooden wall. Lara's heart began beating even faster.
“Uncle Tom. What do you think happened to Mom? I should've left Uncle Tom beside Mom...”
Lara was talking to the doll clutched in her left hand. It was a black doll wearing a red shirt and blue overalls.
Just then, a woman appeared at the entrance of the passageway, making Lara stop talking. The woman carried herself with
confidence. Her brown hair fell to her shoulders in soft waves, while her sharp eyes and thin lips gave her a strong
impression.
Her name was Hajiyoung, the CEO of Almond, A-Pulse's agency.
She was dressed in a black checkered suit paired with a thin red knit top and was smiling. She held a black box in her
hand and glanced at Lara as she walked over. Lara quickly hid her phone behind her back.
Hajiyoung pretended not to notice and walked past her, eventually stopping in front of the last member, Lin.
Still smiling, she held out the box in her hand. Inside were four microphones arranged side by side. Unusually, even the
handles were made of a metallic material shaped like a golden mesh, and each member's name was engraved in English on a
digital display.
“Lin, go out there and captivate everyone.”
Lin, who was from Taiwan, nodded and picked up the microphone bearing her name. Hajiyoung then turned toward the
performance staff standing behind her. The staff immediately made a call to someone and then gestured toward Lin.
Lin stepped onto the lift behind her. A moment later, a loud bang! sound effect rang out from the stage. Then the lift
slowly rose toward the stage.
“Liiiin~~~!”
The thunderous cheers broke through all the way to the passageway beneath the stage. Hajiyoung moved on to the second
member.
“Yeonmi, I'm expecting a perfect performance.”
Yeonmi, the leader and oldest member of the team, grinned and picked up her microphone. When the staff gestured to her,
Yeonmi stepped onto the lift. Just like before, the lift moved with a bang! sound effect and carried her up onto the
stage.
“Yeommi! Yeommi!”
Another wave of cheers for Yeonmi filled the passageway. Hajiyoung moved to the next member.
“Dmi, since we've come to your neighborhood, set the stage on fire. Give them something hot.”
Dmi, the Korean-American mixed member, picked up her microphone, her blue eyes sparkling.
“Don't worry, CEO!”
As Dmi's lift rose with another bang! sound effect, the fans' cheers grew even louder.
Finally, Hajiyoung stood in front of Lara. Her smile remained unchanged.
“What could possibly be wrong for my cute baby to look so gloomy?”
“I can't get in touch with Mom. I have a bad feeling about this, CEO. She should at least have sent me a message of
support.”
Hajiyoung smiled even more brightly.
“Lara. Lara. My adorable baby. This is the most important moment of your life. We're turning the dream we had into
reality right now.”
“But Mom...”
“If I were your mother, I wouldn't contact you either.”
“What?”
“She knows what an incredible stage you're about to perform on. Parents are like that. She probably doesn't want you to
feel pressured, so she can't bring herself to contact you. She's probably sleeping. She'll be wishing for time to pass
quickly so the tour can end.”
“But...”
Just then, a staff member shouted for her to hurry and get ready. Hajiyoung held up her index finger, signaling that she
needed just one minute.
“Focus, Lara. Today is the final day of our tour. Yeonmi, Dmi, and Lin have already gone onstage. You're the only one
left. The performance can't be finished until you go up there. If even one person slips up, it's all over. The
performance will fail, and everyone will be terribly disappointed.”
“...”
“Of course, my baby won't slip up. Right? Lara is a professional. So just finish this performance. Then we can fly
straight back to Korea. Your mother will want you to finish strong and come home. That's what I feel in my heart.”
“...”
“Mm~ My baby. Let's hurry up and finish this damn annoying concert and go back to Korea. As soon as possible.”
Hajiyoung smiled brightly. Lara sighed. Hajiyoung was right. Right now, she needed to focus on the stage.
“Here.”
Hajiyoung held out the box. Lara took a deep breath and picked up her microphone. Hajiyoung gave the box a slight shake.
“Phone.”
Lara reluctantly slipped the smartphone she had hidden behind her back into the box.
“It's Minjeong unnie's. Please give it back to Minjeong unnie...”
“Don't worry. But are you taking Uncle Tom up there too?”
“Ah!”
Lara put the black doll she was holding in her left hand into the box.
“I'll be watching how well Lara does together with Uncle Tom.”
Hajiyoung nodded toward the lift. Lara stepped onto it. The staff hurriedly said something through his in-ear
microphone.
Bang!
A sound effect rang out from the stage, and the lift slowly began to rise. Hajiyoung shouted.
“Captivate everyone, my baby!”
Feeling the movement of the lift, Lara closed her eyes.
‘Mom, wait just a little longer. Lara will be there soon.’
She murmured the words in her heart and took a deep breath.
Eventually, the lift stopped, and she opened her eyes. Blinding lights shone down on Lara. The audience erupted into
cheers.
“Laraaa~!!!!”
“A-Pu-u-u-lse~!!!”
The deafening cheers continued without pause. As if that were her cue, Lara raised her right arm high into the air.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The members moved their bodies in time with the sound effects. Then A-Pulse's song began.
Starting with Lara's voice, the members' parts followed one after another, and everything appeared perfect. One member's
voice was clear and deep, while another's dance movements were powerful and precise. The audience was captivated and
erupted into cheers.
“A-Pu-u-u-lse~!!!”
It was the moment the performance reached its climax.
Hajiyoung's phone vibrated in her pocket. Her expression hardened as she checked it, but soon a smile spread across her
face. She lifted her head again and watched A-Pulse performing with a smile.
*
*
*
The rain was falling steadily.
Screeech~
A black minivan came to an abrupt stop in front of Building C of Gangbuk Palseong Hospital. The car door soon opened,
and a woman in loose tracksuit clothes jumped out. With her cap pulled low over her face, she hurried into the hospital
lobby. A man who looked to be in his mid-thirties got out after her.
“Lara! Slow down!”
But Lara couldn't hear him. There was only one thing occupying her mind.
Her mother.
“Oh! Isn't that Lara?”
Ignoring the people who recognized her, Lara fidgeted impatiently as she waited before stepping into the elevator.
Leaving the manager behind, she pressed the button for the eighth floor. People around her continued whispering as she
breathed heavily.
When she finally got off on the eighth floor, Lara ran down the corridor straight to Room 802.
“Mom!”
The moment she entered the hospital room, she froze.
Her mother lay motionless on the hospital bed with her eyes closed, as though she were sleeping. Normally, even if she
woke up in the middle of a nap, her mother would open her eyes and smile at Lara.
A doctor and nurses stood around the bed with solemn expressions. There was also another woman.
A woman Lara had never seen before.
Her hair was neatly tied back, and she wore a white blouse and checkered skirt. She was clearly not part of the medical
staff. Her expression was gloomy, and tears filled her eyes.
“Mom...?”
Lara took a step forward in a trembling voice. Her mother didn't answer.
“Mom... Lara's here.”
Lara's voice sounded frightened. Perhaps because of that, she slowly approached. When Lara reached the bedside, she
looked down at her mother. Her eyes were closed, and her cheeks were sunken and pale.
“Mom? Why are you doing this? It's scary. Open your eyes. Open them, I said! Lara's here, okay?”
Lara's voice gradually became choked with tears. Tears filled her eyes as she turned toward the medical staff, but they
avoided her gaze.
“I'm sorry.”
This time, Lara turned toward the unfamiliar woman. The woman slowly shook her head, and tears spilled from her eyes.
“No.”
Lara muttered as though she couldn't believe it.
“It's a lie. That can't be true. Mom...”
Before she could finish speaking, Lara suddenly began trembling violently. Her breathing grew ragged.
“Ms. Lara?”
The woman looked at Lara in confusion. The medical staff also sensed something was wrong and began approaching, but Lara
suddenly collapsed to the side.
“Oh! Ms. Lara!”
The woman was standing nearby and quickly caught and supported Lara. But Lara's eyes had already lost their focus. She
went limp in the woman's arms.
“Doctor! Quickly!”
The hospital room descended into chaos in an instant. While the doctor and nurses examined Lara, the woman looked down
at her with a hardened expression.
Outside the window, the sound of the rain grew heavier.
---
This damn rain must be getting worse. I can hear the conversations of the mourners in the hall more clearly than before.
“About Gyojun. He's in his mid-forties now, isn't he? And he still hasn't gotten married...”
“Exactly, brother. It's not just Gyojun, either. What about Gyobong? You had two perfectly healthy sons, brother, and
yet you passed away without ever seeing a daughter-in-law... Good grief...”
I can hear the sigh of my fourth uncle from the smaller branch of the family all the way over here. It's almost as if
he's deliberately raising his voice so we can hear him. And then there's the fact that they chose to sit right in front
of the funeral hall.
That's right.
I'm Gyojun, and Gyobong is my younger brother.
“Big Brother passed away without even seeing his grandchildren. He must have had so many regrets.”
Now my aunt is joining in.
“Of course! If it were me, I wouldn't have been able to close my eyes properly.”
“But I heard the eldest at least works at a company overseas? If his job is decent, he could get married whenever he
puts his mind to it. But isn't the younger one the problem? Brother used to worry a lot whenever he drank, saying the
kid wandered around claiming he wanted to be an actor but couldn't make any proper money.”
Why did Father have to tell them things like that?
“Oh, brother. Didn't you hear? The eldest quit that company too. That was the one thing Brother Heeuk was proud of.”
“Why? Why would he quit such a good company?”
“Who knows? Maybe he got himself into some kind of trouble...”
That's not it! I was chasing my dream! My dream! Does Uncle even know what a dream is?
I nearly approached them in a fit of anger to say something, but I held myself back. After spending two days receiving
mourners as one of the chief mourners, my body was exhausted and I couldn't be bothered with anything.
Right. Let's just endure it until today.
“Then what is Gyojun doing now?”
“I heard he's writing...”
“Writing? What kind of writing all of a sudden? Can he make a living from that?”
No, Uncle.
“I don't know.”
“Good grief. Our Brother Heeuk used to work in the counterintelligence unit, but who would've thought that toward the
end of his life, all his children would end up ruining everything... Poor Brother. He's really pitiful...”
“Lower your voice. They might hear you.”
I can hear everything, Uncles. You're saying it precisely because you want us to hear it. And we didn't ruin anything.
Father did that himself.
Normally, I would've said something, but this was a funeral.
And I was one of the chief mourners.
And I was too tired to care.
I squeezed my eyes shut and pretended I couldn't hear them.
Fuck.
Did they really have to talk like that?
On a day like this, in a place like this?
I'd heard that back in the old days, when some of these uncles were struggling to get by, Father had even used his
connections from the counterintelligence unit to find them jobs.
Thinking about that made my emotions surge. I wanted to jump up and shout, Get the hell out of here!
But I held myself back.
I was one of the chief mourners.
Fuck!
I opened my eyes.
Fortunately, Mother and Aunt Kyunghee weren't sitting across from me. They were resting in the room beside the funeral
hall, so they couldn't hear the relatives from the smaller branch badmouthing us.
I just hoped the uncles would finish talking badly about my brother and me and leave before the two of them came back
out.
Those uncles were actually my fifth-degree paternal relatives, my uncles and aunts from my grandfather's younger
brother's side. Ever since I was young, we'd called them uncles rather than using the proper familial title.
I assume other families were like that too.
Or maybe our Jang family was just a bunch of lowlifes.
I strongly suspected our family had bought its genealogy book.
Anyway.
I closed my eyes again.
Life is a marathon, right, Uncles?
Later, when either I or that idiot Bongbong becomes successful, you won't get even a single drop of the gravy...
“Hyung! Hyung!”
I opened my eyes again at the commotion.
It was Bongbong.
My younger brother, Jang Gyobong.
Ever since we were kids, I'd called the guy Bongbong, after the grape-flavored drink Grape Bong Bong.
Behind him, the younger relatives who had gone outside to smoke with him came rushing in. All of them had flushed,
excited expressions.
The mourners, including the uncles from the smaller branch who had been happily badmouthing us, all turned to look at
Gyobong.
“Hyung! Hyung! We've got a huge problem!”
“Lower your voice, idiot. What is it?”
“Third floor. Do you know who's at the funeral room on the third floor? The VIP funeral room.”
“Don't. Know.”
“Lara! Lara is here! You know her, right? A-Pulse's Lara! Nininini~! That Lara!”