Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: Yeonwoo's Break
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“Yeonwoo, you’ve been working so hard up until now. How about taking a break for a while?”
It had only been a few days since Yeonwoo’s birthday passed when Jihoon made this proposal to him.
“Why?”
“No matter how much you love what you do, repeating the same thing over and over will wear you out eventually. You’re still young, so I’d like you to take it easy and go at your own pace.”
“Hmm...”
Was that true?
Yeonwoo pondered it.
His dad’s words seemed right in some ways and not in others.
Yeonwoo asked others for their opinions.
Jiyeong said,
“You need to rest. I want to rest too. Aaaah! I want to disappear to America!”
He had asked the wrong person. His aunt was no help at all.
So he asked Teacher Chae Hayeon too.
“At an age when you’re growing so much, doing too much could stunt your growth.”
It felt wrong to say it, but it was such a teacher-like response.
He didn’t like science, but this wasn’t very scientific.
What about Aunt Himari then?
“[I agree with your dad. Mannerisms could set in early.]”
So that was it?
He asked Yoo Jaehyuk too.
“Do as much as you can while you can. You might not be able to when you want to later, like me.”
Hmm... Hadn’t he burned out from doing too much?
Yeonwoo also asked Tatimura Shuji and Nanase, who hadn’t returned to Japan yet after his birthday.
“[There’s something called scarcity. Our Yeonwoo has released so many songs in less than two years. The reactions have been great so far, but if you keep going like this, your scarcity will drop. If your value falls, fewer people will seek you out.]”
“[Uncle’s right. Yeonwoo-kun needs to protect your value right now.]”
The two of them talked about business.
Strangely, their words resonated with Yeonwoo the most.
No matter how much he loved music, Yeonwoo craved attention.
He understood that a drop in scarcity and value also meant less interest directed at him, so he decided he should hold back on overly active promotions like he’d been doing.
Just as he knew not to take his family, friends, and food for granted and cherished them, he wanted others to see him the same way.
Of course, from a public figure’s perspective, fans showering him with love was something to be deeply grateful for, but Yeonwoo was still a child who hadn’t received proper love growing up. He didn’t show it, but he always yearned for affection. Fans were no different.
“What do you all think?”
Having quietly made up his mind, Yeonwoo jokingly asked the fairies.
They had been lounging around listlessly but all pointed toward the studio at his question.
It was like they were saying to cut the nonsense and make music.
“You guys only think about music.”
Well, what could he expect from beings born from music?
“Alright, let’s make some music.”
Though he planned to pause his activities, Yeonwoo had never said he’d stop making music, so he headed into the studio with the fairies.
“So! What kind of music should we play with today?”
As Yeonwoo sat in front of the studio setup, the fairies’ factional warfare began.
The jazz fairies, who had strongly influenced Yeonwoo and were led by Heo Ok’s fairy, showed off their power, while the pop song fairies, rising fiercely, banded together in resistance.
On top of that, the classical fairies, emboldened by Yeonwoo’s recent bit of attention, joined in.
Watching the fairies chirp like birds, Yeonwoo spotted some crumpled up in the corner.
“Ah...”
They were even ostracized by the pop alliance(?).
They were none other than the trot fairies.
“I’d forgotten about you guys.”
Feeling sorry for them, Yeonwoo reached out his hand.
The especially small and cute ones—who somehow looked shabby and pitiful—gazed up at him like puppies caught in the rain.
“Want to play together today?”
Like they’d met their savior, their eyes sparkled as they nodded vigorously.
That day, Yeonwoo excitedly created a trot medley.
* * *
“Now that things have quieted down a bit... it should be safe to release it, right?”
Kim Beomsin had kept delaying his single release, wary of SSHIN’s dominance, and now he was checking the Mango chart and hesitating again.
“Hey, Sangcheol. Why no answer? This should be good timing, right?”
“Well, it does feel like the right moment.”
“Say it definitively, man.”
“No, that’s for you, hyung, to decide. Why ask me?”
“You’re really no help at all. What possessed me to start a company with a guy like you?”
At that, Park Sangcheol replied with a sullen face.
“That’s what I want to say...”
“Just... Argh!!”
Kim Beomsin sighed, then shot up from his seat and said,
“The staff have rested enough?”
“Yes.”
“No songs from rising artists about to blow up?”
“Nope, none at all.”
“So my song won’t get buried?”
“Can’t guarantee that.”
“Why?”
“You’re releasing it thinking it’ll definitely do well? It might flop.”
“It’s a Yuin song.”
“Even the great Yuin could get dragged down by you...”
Park Sangcheol finally got a knuckle to the forehead from Kim Beomsin.
“...Kidding. It’s a good song, so it’ll do well. Let’s get it ready right away?”
“Think so?”
Kim Beomsin finally resolved to release the song he’d received from Yeonwoo.
“Tell the promo team to prep!”
“Yes, sir.”
“That it?”
“It’s a digital single. What else is there? Want to do a jacket shoot?”
“Ah... I’m not great at competing on visuals.”
At that, Park Sangcheol made a face like he’d heard something unbelievable.
“Visu...als? Who? What?”
“My face, obviously. If we put my face on the jacket, it’ll cause a stir, right? Young fans might restart my fan club and all that.”
“That’s why middle-aged guys like you get flak these days. Get a grip.”
“Ahem, ahem. Too much?”
“No, really? I’m still the King of Ballads.”
“What era’s king and four heavenly kings are you from? The kids’ll handle it, but no way they’ll shoot a jacket with your face.”
“...No way. I’m still the singer.”
...No way kills the cat.
Just like always from long ago, it happened again this time.
Considering the country genre, BSK replaced the jacket with a lone cowboy hat on a desolate plain.
Kim Beomsin sulked about it for days, but since this wasn’t new, no one paid attention.
Ellis took command, using the know-how from prepping Hades, and hurriedly prepared the digital single release.
The released song’s title was ‘Home’.
The title was in Korean, but ironically, the lyrics were almost entirely in English except for a part in the climax.
It was originally set for Kim Beomsin to write the lyrics, but as Ellis produced it, she took over lyrics too, deciding on English after hearing Yeonwoo’s composition intent.
With K-POP globalizing these days, starting with English pop aimed at the world wasn’t rare, but it felt off because the singer was Kim Beomsin.
Revived with Cold Night or not, he was still an old-school singer.
Kim Beomsin and BSK staff voiced concerns, but Ellis was firm.
“Did anyone think Cold Night would succeed that much from the start?”
No one, including Kim Beomsin.
Despite no expectations, Cold Night exploded and still clung to the top 100 on Mango and other streaming platforms like it was glued there, with no intention of dropping off.
Sometimes it even hit real-time top 20, weekly top 30.
It had even topped real-time charts on rainy days and dominated the top spots during monsoon season.
Some even joked it was a “monsoon pension” since it climbed during rain or monsoons.
This song would be the same.
Ellis thought they couldn’t predict its success either. Better to trust Yuin’s song and go for it. After hearing her, no one raised objections.
Thus, Kim Beomsin’s fourth digital single—and second from Yuin—‘Home’ was released.
The start was modest.
Despite promo as his second collab with Yuin, it barely scraped into Mango’s top 100 and didn’t climb higher.
But no need to despair yet.
Yuin’s songs had been too good and coincidentally topical, succeeding immediately, but for a solo artist—not an idol these days—lukewarm reactions were normal.
After release, now it begins.
Upload singing videos to YouTube, appear on singer cover channels singing it alongside past hits for promo.
Sprinkle in shorts, and people gradually take notice, seeking out Kim Beomsin’s song.
If it’s good and catchy, they keep listening, pushing it up the charts.
Kim Beomsin’s ‘Home’ did just that.
-Isn’t this song ridiculously addictive?
-I feel like a cowboy without realizing it.
-Country sounds so tacky, why’s it so sleek? Yuin magic?
-Nah, country’s steadily loved and modernized.
-Oh, got it.
-But Yuin’s take on country is still refreshingly novel.
-Super addictive.
-Anyone translate the lyrics?
-Run it through Google Translate lol.
-Damn, I’m humming it without knowing.
-Our Yuin really likes Uncle Beomsin? ㅠ
-Is Kim Beomsin her uncle?
-Isn’t Yuin older than her dad?
-At least 10 years older lololol
-Not grandpa level but awkward ㅎ
-My little grandpa’s 10 years older than dad lololol
-Little gramps lolololol
-Kim Beomsin’s gotten old... kinda sad ㅠㅠㅠ
-Let’s say big uncle.
-Yeah.
Good songs climb.
This one started rising and took the #1 spot in two weeks.
The press called it Kim Beomsin’s perfect comeback with this single.
He, who’d once thought himself a has-been, quite liked that.
But something he hadn’t expected was happening.
[Kim Beomsin’s ‘Home’ enters Melboard Hot 100 at #69.]
[The veteran’s fighting spirit? Kim Beomsin charts on Melboard Hot 100!]
[Korea’s ballad singer makes history: Kim Beomsin debuts on Melboard charts.]
“...Wait, why this?”
Melboard chart entry.
Idols these days would celebrate “We’re going world now!”, but for old-school Kim Beomsin, Melboard was another world.
It was like...
“How’d it get in? Don’t you have to apply or something for Melboard?”
He’d woken up in an isekai after getting hit by a truck.