Chapter 112
Chapter 112
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: Push for the Prodigy
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The titan of Korean classical music, Park Jeonghun, has been telling everyone in the music scene the same thing lately.
"You have to send that kid to a concours, Yuin."
"They need to scrap the age limit for domestic concours, I tell you. There's no one who plays better than him right now!"
"You've got to raise him right and send him to something like the Chopin Competition! He's the only one who can raise the name of Korean classical music!"
He kept insisting that Yeonwoo needed to enter a concours.
Most classical figures raised doubts—"Doesn't that kid not do classical?"—but no one dared challenge him.
Who would argue with the living legend of Korean classical music, the leader of the pack?
Of course, there were elders who could give him a piece of their mind.
"Isn't that kid the one doing jazz and pop, hyungnim?"
"Then who’s a six-year-old who plays piano as well as him? Well, maybe a few seniors, but still?"
"Urgh..."
Korea had produced a constellation of pianists, including Chopin Competition winners, but there hadn't been a single promising new talent in the last ten years.
It was like a long famine after a bumper crop.
Park Jeonghun believed Yeonwoo could end that famine.
"Look at this. A YouTube video. A little kid who even remakes Chopin etudes in his own style. Is there anyone who can play the Chopin etude he made right now?"
Yeonwoo's arranged "Yeonwoo version" of the Chopin etude had a notorious reputation among classical college students as a piece designed to make them fail.
Most music professors would ask their students, "Can you play this?" and use it for evaluations.
Anyway, Park Jaehong's greed toward Yeonwoo only grew stronger.
He wanted to drag him into the classical world somehow.
But...
"Huh? What's this? Guitar? Playing the guitar?"
Guitars had started popping up in orchestras occasionally these days, but that was just an effort to popularize classical music.
In authentic classical and orchestral settings, guitars had no place.
And yet Yeonwoo was playing the guitar.
-Hi, it's Yuin. Lately, I've been totally hooked on the guitar. I'm practicing it every day. Want to see?
She was totally hooked on the guitar.
Even to Park Jaehong, who knew nothing about guitars, the skill on display was clearly top-level.
"Nooo... A kid who should be doing classical keeps... Sigh..."
The one handing out rice cakes wasn't even thinking about it, but Park Jaehong sighed to himself.
* * *
Whether Park Jaehong sighed or not, Yeonwoo threw himself into the guitar, practiced fervently, and couldn't suppress his innate showmanship, uploading guitar performance videos to YouTube like crazy.
By now, SSHIN's official YouTube channel had just surpassed 5 million subscribers.
Not just from Korea, but fans from Japan flocking to see the daily life of the Music Prince.
Korean subscribers were now outnumbered by Japanese ones.
As a result, Fujii Wakana started adding Japanese subtitles when uploading videos.
But lately, it seemed Japanese subtitles weren't the only ones needed.
"Yeonwoo-kun, have you noticed all the English comments lately?"
Wakana asked Yeonwoo as she edited and uploaded his latest video.
Yeonwoo, who had been about to play a song Wakana wanted to hear on the guitar, paused and said,
"Yeah. You saw too, sis?"
"Yeah. Why are Americans suddenly pouring in?"
"Probably because of Uncle Kim Beomsin."
"Oh, got it."
Americans who heard Kim Beomsin's "Homeward" started wondering who could have made country music that didn't sound remotely Asian.
They probably assumed the composer was American.
But what was this?
-You guys know who composed "Going Home"?
-The song itself was made by an American, right? At least mixed race or something.
-I thought so too.
-A composer with US citizenship living in Korea?
-No, friends, the one who made this song is a kid. 7 years old. About to turn 8.
-What?
-Don't lie.
-This guy's gotta learn to lie properly.
-Eat shit.
-It's true. Go check the kid's YouTube. Here's the link.
-I just watched and it seems real?
-A genius kid famous in Korea and Japan.
-Isn't Korea a communist country? With Kim Jong-un? How'd it spread to Japan?
-The retard above can't tell Korea from North Korea and he's listening to music.
-God... 7 years old doing country? No, music?
The Americans who verified Yeonwoo's identity were shocked.
The videos were in Korean, so they didn't know the full story, but how could you not be shocked seeing a little kid play Chopin, swing jazz, and now guitar?
Amid that, Kim Beomsin's new song dropped.
He performed it at a big concert in New York alongside "Homeward," introducing it to American audiences.
Videos from the concert organizer's official YouTube and audience uploads spread it across the US instantly.
-Wasn't he a country singer?
-What's this song then?
-Oh, this guy's sexy.
-Listening to "Going Home" and now this, his voice is just too good.
-His voice is so sweet.
-He could sing gospel and it'd be great.
-Anyway, not what I expected, but this one's good too.
-I like this one more.
-Me too.
-It's got this unique, fresh beat and melody, but not off-putting or awkward—super addictive.
The reaction was explosive.
The popping beat everywhere blended with Kim Beomsin's voice into something sleek, novel, and addictive that hooked Americans.
"Rhythmical" shot to #52 in its first week, then #12 in the second.
And in the third week, which included the Christmas week dominated by carols,
"Rhythmical" hit #5.
#1 was still Olivia Snow, #2 was the surging newcomer "N Hound" at #3—no, #3—and #4 was "Homeward."
Kim Beomsin had become an incredible singer with two songs in the Melboard Top 10.
-Time to call it?
-Sis?
-Yeah.
-Gimme a shot of national pride for that guy. I'll cover the bill.
-LOLOLOLOL
-For real, living to see a ballad singer on Billboard LOLOL what the hell
-My mom's freaking out ;;; Beomsin oppa made it as a Melboard artist
-Your mom too? Damn.
-But the song slaps for real.
-I'm an aspiring composer and this is straight-up ponjjak.
-For real?
-For real, dissect it a bit and you see LOL this is ponjjak LOL
-LOLOL wtf even more LOL veteran singer conquers Melboard with ponjjak LOLOLOL
-I wanna dissect Yuin's brain, what kinda thinking makes songs like this? LOL
-But ponjjak or not, the song's fire. Country's too foreign for me, I like this better.
-This song's addictiveness is insane.
-Rhythmical as hell, true to the title LOL
Koreans loved it too.
More familiar vibe than "Homeward," hotter reaction, and it even spread to Japan and Southeast Asia.
Ponjjak might seem unique, but its chords and beats faintly permeate Korean pop.
More precisely, it's the upper tier called trot, but anyway—unlike country, it screamed K-POP.
K-POP was a bit subdued on Melboard compared to the old days, but Hallyu still dominated Asia.
The strong Korean flavor of a song charting on Melboard got hot reactions in Japan and Southeast Asia, unlike "Homeward."
That influenced Melboard too.
Since Melboard charts worldwide, not just the US.
Korean idols had thrived on Melboard before thanks to frenzy in the US and Europe, but mostly overwhelming support from populous Asia.
Kim Beomsin was seeing that effect.
Then the third week.
As the year ended and a new one began, Kim Beomsin's "Rhythmical" overtook "Homeward" and Elkind Logan to hit #3.
* * *
"From now on, Yuin is my one true god. Defaming Yuin is defaming me, cursing Yuin is no different from cursing me. Yuin is my light and salt, my father, my life, my joy, my love."
With Ellis, Park Sangcheol, and BSK staff gathered, Kim Beomsin declared solemnly.
Everyone stared at him like he was insane.
"What's this? This vibe? You trying to blaspheme my one true god?"
"Hyungnim... Get a grip. Early dementia or what?"
At Park Sangcheol's words, Kim Beomsin replied with a stern expression.
"Ahem, how dare a mere mortal speak so casually to a Melboard artist?"
"..."
"Sunbae-nim, makeup time. Come down."
"Oh, Ellis, who produced a Melboard artist. You qualify to speak."
Park Sangcheol clutched his head watching Kim Beomsin descend cackling.
He missed the Kim Beomsin who'd been terrified this second single for the US wouldn't succeed.
No, he missed the Kim Beomsin who'd failed albums post-peak and just acted as CEO.
Now, with another #3, Kim Beomsin's ego soared sky-high.
Of course, it was a joke, but jokes wore thin after one or two—Park Sangcheol was the daily punchbag and exhausted.
On the other hand, he got it.
Two songs consecutively in Melboard Hot 100 Top 10? Worth celebrating.
A dream for any singer, achieved in his twilight years(?).
Truth be told, Park Sangcheol was thrilled too. His singer, whom he'd stuck with to the end, became a Melboard artist—heaven for a manager.
"Oh, right. Sangcheol-ah. Did the tributes to our god Yuin arrive?"
With this song's success, Kim Beomsin had sent top-grade Hanwoo beef, massage chairs, and all sorts of gifts to the SSHIN studio. Price didn't matter, but they exceeded 20 million won.
"Dunno? Company shipment, haven't checked."
"What do you mean? You gotta check that! Tributes to the god!!"
"Tributes my ass... Keep calling her god, why not build a temple?"
"A temple?"
"God's got no house, right? Needs a temple to dwell in, yeah?"
Park Sangcheol tossed it out casually, but Kim Beomsin's face turned serious.
"What? What're you thinking?"
"A temple... Hey, Sangcheol-ah. Know any good real estate guys?"
No way, grateful as he was, he wasn't seriously buying a house?
"Hyungnim, for real?"
"What, why? I got money, punk!!"
That's... not the point.
Park Sangcheol was speechless seeing Kim Beomsin turn full cult fanatic.
But wait... a real house?
Then what about me, after decades of service?
Park Sangcheol felt oddly slighted.