Chapter 141
Chapter 141
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: Ange and the STAR Music Video
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Ange sat in the conference room of JOP's Korean branch, his heart trembling.
Even a haughty Parisian couldn't help but feel the jitters in this moment.
‘Yoo Jaehyuk is coming.’
His idol from childhood.
The great rock emperor who had instilled the rock spirit in him before he even formed his identity as a Parisian was coming to meet him.
Sure, it wasn't purely for him—there were conditions attached—but he had no complaints about the emperor gracing them with his presence in person.
If anything, to prepare for this meeting, he'd listened to his new songs over and over again—the ones that had emerged after a long hiatus (or revival?).
The super high-pitched shouting that once thrilled him was gone, but they brimmed with a different kind of charm now.
Like the howl of a wounded beast?
That was when he was lost in thoughts of Yoo Jaehyuk.
Someone knocked on the conference room door.
Ange shot to his feet without realizing it.
The door opened, and a small child entered first.
Then Yoo Jaehyuk followed, with a woman behind him.
Ange, about to greet Yoo Jaehyuk, widened his eyes at the sight of the woman.
“Shin Jiyeong?”
“Long time no see, senior.”
“How are you here?”
“Huh? You didn't know? I'm our Yeonwoo's—no, Yuin's—aunt?”
Ange, who had only skimmed the news articles and missed the details, replied with an “Ah, I see” and turned to look at Yeonwoo.
“Hello, I'm Yuin.”
The child gave a cute navel bow and stared straight at Ange.
“……!!”
Coming face-to-face with Yeonwoo, Ange's eyes bulged.
‘What is this?’
For a split second, he thought he saw a blue light flash from Yeonwoo.
Wait, blue light?
Or was it red? No, yellow? Green?
He wasn't sure about the fleeting gleam, but a shiver ran through him all the same.
‘So this is what they mean by geniuses are different.’
Ange had absolute faith in his gut instincts.
And according to that gut, working with this child might...
‘Create something beyond even NGS?’
Meanwhile, Yeonwoo was surprised in his own way.
The Ange he knew had only an indirect connection to music—nothing hands-on.
He couldn't compose, couldn't sing, couldn't dance.
Yet the instant they locked eyes, Ange's gaze had erupted with the four colors of the fairies.
Unlike Ange, who had missed it in that blink, Yeonwoo had seen it crystal clear.
What was that?
What had he seen in him with those shining eyes?
Had he spotted a fairy?
As Yeonwoo stared, Ange approached, crouching down to match his eye level and extending a hand.
“Salut? I'm Ange. They say you wanted me?”
“I'm Yuin—my real name's Shin Yeonwoo. Oh, it wasn't me who wanted you. My aunt recommended you. She said you're the best, mister.”
“The best?”
“Yeah.”
“Right, I am the best.”
No one else might recognize it.
But that was exactly what he wanted.
“And you're the best? I only work with the best—or people who are about to become the best. I don't hand my creations to ordinary folks.”
Yeonwoo could feel the immense pride radiating from Ange.
“Not sure if I'm the best. But...”
Ange gazed steadily at Yeonwoo.
“You can tell just by looking, right?”
Ange's eyes widened at Yeonwoo's probing words, then he let out a chuckle.
“How'd you know? This big bro can spot it right away. Whether the kid's a genius. Whether they can inspire me.”
Ange played it off like a joke, but Yeonwoo suspected there was truth mixed in.
To Yeonwoo's sensitive ears, the other words carried a lilt of amusement, but not the part about knowing at a glance.
That rang with a rock-solid certainty.
Having studied human voices and intonations alongside the fairies—especially Kim Beomsin's—Yeonwoo could discern emotions from voices alone.
So his guess was probably spot on.
“And on that note... you pass.”
“On what note?”
At that, Ange sniffed the air dramatically.
“You've got a scent. The same scent as the NGS leader.”
“A scent?”
“Yeah, a genius scent, you could say. Not quite on my level, though.”
As he said it, Ange reached out to ruffle Yeonwoo's hair but froze midway.
Come to think of it, he'd gotten so absorbed in Yeonwoo that he'd forgotten his original purpose.
Ange turned and bowed deeply to the man watching them both with keen interest.
“Y-Yoo Jaehyuk! I'm a f-fan! I've been listening to your songs since I was a kid—that's how I fell in love with rock!”
“Appreciate it. Want me to sign something?”
Yoo Jaehyuk felt a bit uneasy, like he'd been reduced to a product, but seeing Ange's pure fanboy gaze softened his mood.
He'd always been weak to fans.
“I was hoping...”
Ange began rummaging through his bag.
LPs, cassette tapes, CD albums.
“These are...”
“Things I've collected as your fan over the years. If it's not too much trouble, could you sign them...?”
“Of course. With a collection like this, I couldn't say no even if I wanted to.”
Yoo Jaehyuk smiled warmly as he signed each item one by one.
“But this isn't the time. Senior, let me be direct: will you help our Yeonwoo or not?”
“Help? Why would I?”
“Ah, so it's a no...?”
“I don't do charity work for free. I get paid for my jobs.”
“Oh, right. 'Help' was the wrong word. Shall we talk contract then? Just us adults.”
“Sure.”
Ange started to stand but paused to bow to Yoo Jaehyuk.
“No idea when the new song drops, but I'm waiting.”
“That all depends... on this kid making it happen.”
Yoo Jaehyuk pointed at Yeonwoo.
Ange glanced at Yeonwoo and let out a laugh.
“Then I'd better wrap up this little guy's album work fast.”
“I'm not a little guy—I'm Shin Yeonwoo! Or Yuin!”
“Yeah, yeah, kiddo. Catch you after the contract.”
Ange brushed off Yeonwoo's words and strode out of the conference room.
* * *
With Ange on board, production kicked off in earnest for Yeonwoo's album jacket and music video shoot.
Ange's jackets for NGS were infamous for their uniqueness.
This time was no different—he'd prepared something utterly distinctive.
To match the album title STAR, which evoked both celestial stars and stardom, he rendered the universe using a mosaic technique.
And if you examined the stars closely, you'd spot easter eggs: faces of past legendary stars.
Having crafted this profound jacket, he turned to the music video.
The original plan had been to produce an MV only for the title track sung by Olivia Snow.
But Ange shot that down.
In his eyes, all five tracks on Yeonwoo's debut album were masterpieces, regardless of the singers' star power.
No clear hierarchy among them.
Pushing just one with an MV would be an insult—no, a rudeness—to the others.
His argument won out.
Well, more precisely, Yeonwoo agreed with him, so they went ahead.
“But if I'd known I'd be in the music video, I would've stuck to just Olivia Snow.”
Settling into position on set, Yeonwoo eyed his outfit with utter discomfort.
He was dressed in a tuxedo that looked uncomfortable even to him.
Anyone would peg him as a young pianist stepping out for a concerto with an orchestra.
“It's just cute. What's wrong with it?”
His dad chuckled as he watched, prompting Yeonwoo to puff out his cheeks.
“It's uncomfortable.”
Seeing Yeonwoo grumble in a way so unlike him, Jihoon and Heo Ok burst into laughter.
They'd tagged along on the way to shoot the music video-cum-album-teaser for STAR—the one track where Yeonwoo performed solo without a singer—and they just found their normally unflappable boy whining in unfamiliar clothes utterly adorable.
“Sigh...”
“Oh, Yeonwoo's here! Ah, and these folks?”
In the meantime, Ange—the planner and music video director—appeared before Yeonwoo.
Yeonwoo pulled a sulky face but still introduced the two behind him.
“My dad and grandma.”
“Monsieur, Madam. Pleasure. I'm Ange.”
Ange exchanged greetings with them and turned to Yeonwoo.
“Alright, just walk out like normal, sit at the piano, and play.”
“That's it?”
Yeonwoo eyed the stage.
A single piano stood alone amid walls of green chroma key.
“Nope. Pretend like you're about to play, then kick off your shoes and toss the jacket.”
“...I can do that?”
“Yep. That tux you're wearing? It's oppression. Conservative notions from classicism and all that.”
“You're using some fancy words.”
“Exactly. By shedding it, you break free from those conservative ideas and oppression—fly away freely. In my book, a star is a being unbound by convention. Think of it as a metaphor.”
Yeonwoo got the gist and nodded.
It seemed to carry some artistic weight, but that didn't matter to him.
He just wanted to ditch this outfit and play STAR to his heart's content.
That was all.
Ange read it in his eyes.
He'd worried about a kid with zero acting experience, but this might turn out great.
“No need to force any acting. Channel that discomfort from the tux as you head to the piano. When you shed the clothes, let your real feelings show—no holding back. Then play freely, just like always. That's it. Easy, right?”
Yeonwoo nodded at Ange's instructions.
With that, shooting prep went into full swing.
Once everything was set, Yeonwoo positioned himself outside the chroma key area.
“I'll yell 'Shoot'—er, 'Start!'—and you head in and do exactly what I said!”
“Got it!”
Yeonwoo nodded vigorously, and Ange glanced around before...
“Start!!”
At the call, Yeonwoo looked toward the piano.
He took a step forward.
The fairies fluttered around him.
Unthinkingly, he glanced their way.
Ange's intent had been for him to stare solely at the piano, but Yeonwoo's natural curiosity as he glanced about felt right, so they rolled with it.
He turned his gaze back to the piano, took more steps, and soon sat down.
As he reached for the keys, he caught himself.
Right—shed the clothes first.
The cuffs were already snagging on the keys.
With a frown, he shrugged off the jacket and flung it aside.
The shoes that had bugged him while walking? Off and tossed to one side. While he was at it, the socks followed.
Still not enough—he undid his belt, tossed the bowtie, popped the choking collar button, and rolled up his sleeves.
Finally looking like he could breathe, Yeonwoo placed his hands on the keys and began to play.
STAR resonated from his fingers, and in an instant, Yeonwoo immersed himself in the performance.
Like a virtuoso, his playing brimmed with soul, drawing Ange's eyes inexorably from the monitor to the boy.
In this awkward, uncomfortable setup, Yeonwoo was utterly lost in the piano.
‘Ah...!’
In that moment, a flash from Yeonwoo made Ange squeeze his eyes shut without thinking.
It was a radiance incomparable to any past genius—impossible to behold.
Now, only Yeonwoo's playing filled his ears.
Forgetting he was even the director, he surrendered to it.
Behind his closed lids, countless stars swirled into a galaxy, shining brilliantly.
He shuddered.
