Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: Melboard Hot 100 Entry
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Country music could be called America's folk song without exaggeration.
That was how conservative America could be when it came to country music.
Just half a century ago, it had been exclusively the domain of white people, and even now, many saw it as music belonging solely to America and Americans.
So how had "Going Home"—the song Kim Beomsin had received from Yuin, produced by Ellis, and released—managed to enter the Melboard Hot 100?
It was almost a coincidence, born from an act done without much thought.
For starters, BSK hadn't put so much as Kim Beomsin's face or silhouette on the album cover. They'd even gotten permission to edit clips from a few old Western movies and slap the song over them for the music video.
Overseas, they released it not with the pure Korean title "집으로" but translated as "Going Home."
They'd even listed the artist as BSK, not Kim Beomsin.
No one paid it any mind, which led to a result where, from an American perspective, listeners had no idea if it was sung by an American or an Asian—they just heard the song itself.
It was like a blind audition with their eyes covered.
Thanks to that, Americans who listened to the track without prejudice had no choice but to love it.
And so "Going Home" entered the Melboard Hot 100, powered by a high proportion of American streams.
-Melboard Hot 100 at 69?
-Ballad singer's first time?
-Is this supposed to be a big deal? It's just 69th place lololol
-Yeah, why the fuss?
-69th place lololololol
-Pretty good for a has-been lololol
-Wow, what are you haters above saying?
-They must think Melboard 69th is shit lololol
-Fr real, they think it's a joke lololol
-Why do some kids act like Melboard #1 is an everyday thing, and some of our idols enter it like it's breakfast lololol 69th and they're bragging like crazy up there
But there were people who dismissed it.
With K-POP—more precisely, Korean idols—showing such global success, there was a tendency to look down on the Melboard charts.
Talk emerged that Melboard had lost some of its authority compared to before, or that its criteria had globalized beyond just America, giving Asia the edge.
But no matter what anyone said, it was still the world's most famous and authoritative chart. (Even active idols—or their alumni—rarely made the list as a group, let alone solo.)
In simple terms, "Going Home" was the 69th most-listened-to song in the world in real time.
It was a dream chart entry that any aspiring singer worldwide dreamed of hitting.
On the Korean side, it was a meaningful achievement too.
Up to now, only one rapper and a bunch of idols had entered Melboard, but no other genre's singers had.
Kim Beomsin had done it.
To the many singers who thought you had to be an idol or that Melboard was its own ecosystem, it was a beacon of hope.
"Wait, so how did this happen? Me, on Melboard? Huh?"
...The man himself was baffled and had no idea what was going on.
"Hee-yeon, is this song really that good? I don't get it. I can't figure out why it succeeded."
"I don't know either."
"But you entered Melboard with Volcano—the one you composed that Lady sang and hit big!"
"I didn't know back then either."
"Argh, this doesn't make sense. Okay, Yuin. Let's ask Yuin. If she knew it'd blow up this big."
To shake off Kim Beomsin—who'd been practically living in her studio, bugging her since the Melboard entry—Ellis decided to KakaoTalk Yeonwoo.
"Any reply? Why not just call?"
"Wait a sec."
"Ugh, why keep making me wait when I'm dying to know."
"Reply's here. Yuin's been resting lately, but she's quick."
"What'd she say?"
..."She says she aimed for it."
"Huh?"
"She says she made it with that in mind from the start."
"Oh... really?"
Can you just aim and waltz into Melboard like that?
Kim Beomsin didn't say it, but Ellis read his expression and chimed in.
"It's the kind of person who could pull that off. Even at seven."
"R-Really?"
Yuin really is something else.
Kim Beomsin decided not to overthink it.
* * *
"It worked."
Yeonwoo had targeted America—or more precisely, the Melboard charts—but he'd been uncertain since he didn't know much about the country. Seeing his song enter Melboard made him think so.
"I get the world now."
Not just America, but the world—because Jiyeong had said success in America meant success worldwide.
So, should he aim for the world now?
"Not yet."
He put off jumping rashly into the global market.
This was following Grandma's advice: America was dangerous, so build a bigger base before going all-in.
More precisely, it'd started when he saw a YouTube news clip about a mass shooting in America and got scared off from going.
Some might say just be careful, not everyone gets shot—but after seeing that and searching similar incidents, Yeonwoo couldn't help but be terrified.
America was a country where presidents had been assassinated and others nearly so.
If presidents were at risk, a kid like him would be in real trouble there.
Jiyeong called it worrying over nothing, but Grandma said it was wise.
Even if Jiyeong said beans could make meju, Yeonwoo—suspicious by nature—planned to follow Grandma completely.
And honestly, it was because of Dad too.
Even Japan, just an hour or two away, was hard to visit for Dad time. America, taking over ten hours? Forget it.
"Time to rest first."
Yeonwoo decided to rest, as Dad suggested.
But how do you rest?
Even if he wouldn't buy beans-into-meju, he asked the most approachable: his aunt.
"Auntie, how do you rest when resting?"
"Hmm... First, reject everything coming in. Work isn't rest."
"Got it. I'll tell Jaehoon hyung to turn it all down."
"Yeah, he'll handle it if you say that."
"Then what?"
"Then?"
"Yeah, what do you do when resting? What do you do, Auntie?"
Jiyeong thought for a moment and said,
"Well... Do what you want? Like hobbies."
"Then I should play music or compose."
"That's work!"
"My hobbies are the same as work..."
..."Sometimes try a new hobby. Or just lie there doing nothing, sleep as much as you want, travel."
"When do you work if you do all that?!"
"Isn't it the opposite? We work to squeeze in these other things. Usually."
Adults seemed so lazy. He loved work at his age, but they preferred play—or even nothing.
Still, since adults did it that way, Yeonwoo decided to try what Auntie said.
Lie still.
..."Auntie, lying still makes melodies pop up. Ddin, ddararan, ddin-ddan, big brass like trumpet or trombone swelling grandly, then fading naturally into a quiet piano solo..."
"Yeonwoo, weren't you supposed to lie still with no thoughts?"
"But they keep coming!"
"How about a nap?"
"Should I?"
Yeonwoo closed his eyes.
The studio sofa was so plush and comfy that neither Chae Hayeon nor Yu Jaehyuk had ever resisted napping there.
Jiyeong even escaped to the studio from HQ work, napped on the sofa when overwhelmed, and called it a day.
Yeonwoo liked the sofa too.
With his studio attachment blanket over him, it felt even better.
But sleep wouldn't come.
Yeonwoo didn't need much sleep for his age.
"Can't sleep, Auntie..."
"Just... do what you want."
"Right."
Yeonwoo sprang up and headed to the workroom.
"Guess I can't be an adult."
Evaluating himself that way, he booted the computer.
First, flesh out that melody from earlier, even roughly.
Now so familiar, making a track took no time.
After checking the new audio file, Yeonwoo went to move it to a folder.
His folders brimmed with tracks he'd made.
Seeing them, he suddenly felt uneasy.
"Time to organize."
He made genre folders and started sorting.
Moving files one by one, he spotted plenty to delete.
Tracks he'd never use? Yeonwoo deleted them boldly.
Like outgrown clothes you keep if you like them, but toss if not—no matter the fit—songs were the same.
Some early, unskilled ones he kept for good melodies to rearrange later; others, well-made but unappealing, he ditched.
Truly unusable? Gone. Regrettable ones went into an "Maybe" folder, subdivided by genre.
Tracks he liked but needed rearranging for others: "Rearrange" folder.
Ones he made that were great but no recipient in mind: "Best" folder.
Finally, tracks made with a specific singer in mind for when they asked or he wanted to give: "Assigned" folder, with subfolders by artist.
The fullest? "Noona Eeshi Eun" folder, then Chae Hayeon, Yuri & Annosuke, Invincible.
And one folder with a single track.
Named: Uncle Kim Beomsin folder.
Inside was a song—if by some chance Kim Beomsin's song hit Melboard top 10, eyeing U.S. expansion—for the follow-up.
Made out of curiosity how far his voice could climb, even if no U.S. interest.
But if not top 10?
Might rearrange for someone else or delete.
Kim Beomsin was a guinea pig for Melboard, but no immediate U.S. plans.
Deep down, Yeonwoo figured "Going Home" wouldn't crack top 10 on Hot 100 or 200.
Datemura Shuji's fairy gauged song or artist success, but Shuji—never a Melboard producer—maybe, or the global wall was that high; either way, Melboard had errors even Yeonwoo couldn't predict.
But even unpredictable didn't mean always negative—Yeonwoo overlooked that, young as he was.