Chapter 173
Chapter 173
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 174
Chapter Title: Naaran of the Jevchidd Tribe
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Naaran was the daughter of the chief of the Jevchidd tribe, an Oirat-affiliated clan.
Even as nomads, the old tribal structures had largely broken down these days.
But the Jevchidd tribe still gathered in one village at least for the winter.
Then, when warm spring arrived, they scattered into family units for their nomadic life.
That didn't mean they lived far apart from each other.
They had to cooperate when needs arose, so they didn't stray too far.
That's when an unexpected call came from the government.
Famous singers from Korea were coming to visit. They mentioned homi, but she didn't hear the exact reason.
Truth be told, homi wasn't the important part.
"From Solongos? Singers? Who’s coming?"
When she asked her father, the chief, he stroked her head and said,
"Hmm, your dad doesn't know... Yuin? I think it was Yuin. Easy name to remember."
Naaran's eyes went wide at the name Yuin.
"Y-Yuin?"
"Why? You know the singer?"
"She's my age!!"
"Really? What kind of singer is a kid that young? No, the president's secretariat wouldn't lie to me..."
"She's famous as a genius boy! He's topped the Billboard charts and everything—he's amazing!"
"Some prodigy, huh."
"Yeah!"
Naaran's chest swelled with excitement.
She had no idea why, but Korea and its music scene were like a dream to her.
Beautiful, handsome people who could sing appeared on TV and stole her heart.
Naaran's dream was to go to Korea someday and become a singer.
No, she didn't even dare dream that far.
Just attending one of those singers' concerts—or even brushing past one of them once—that was her dream.
She had prayed to the heavens countless times for it.
"Tengri heard my prayers. Or was it Buddha?"
Either way, grateful to the gods, Naaran gathered the village's young people to match their arrival time.
"Sisters, brothers!! Let's go welcome them!"
The rumor Naaran spread quickly reached the tribe's youth, and a procession charging across the steppe formed with her at the lead.
After racing across the steppe for a while, she spotted the bus.
Naaran deftly turned her horse and circled around, chasing after the bus.
"Huh?"
A song she'd never heard before poured from the bus.
It was bright and upbeat, making her feel refreshed—no, exhilarated?
Anyway, a mix of all sorts of good emotions.
Naaran stared at the bus, entranced.
That instant.
Their eyes met.
"Ah...."
In that moment, she was so startled her eyes bulged wide.
Blue, green, yellow, red, orange—five colors flashed brilliantly for a split second.
She rubbed her eyes and looked again, but the light was gone.
Instead, her gaze locked with a boy emitting a strange glow.
Snow-white skin, prettier than a girl—without thinking, Naaran called out the boy's name.
"Yuin...!"
The once-in-a-century genius who shook the world.
Maybe that's why.
His real-life aura outshone even the videos.
Naaran galloped toward the ger where her family waited, with Yuin alongside.
Once the bus stopped.
Finally, the bus doors opened, and the tribe's young people, led by Naaran, welcomed Yeonwoo and his group.
* * *
Yeonwoo looked at Naaran.
Tanned skin, darker black hair and eyes than a Korean's.
But she didn't match the Mongolian look he'd imagined.
He'd thought they'd have rougher, bolder features, but she was pretty.
But that wasn't the point.
Working in the entertainment industry, Yeonwoo was surrounded by beautiful women.
Yet he had no interest.
No, he wasn't old enough for that yet.
What surprised Yeonwoo was something else.
Hovering around this girl—who rode a horse like the epitome of a nomad—were blue, yellow, and green fairies.
And there were so many, it shocked even him.
'More than Hadass. Even more than Teacher Chae Hayeon? No, brighter than Yuri noona or Annosuke hyung.'
Among rookies, he'd never seen anyone shine this much.
To find talent like this in Mongolia.
"Uh, um... I'm Naaran."
"Yeah, I'm Yeonwoo. They call me Yuin. You speak Korean really well, though?"
Yeonwoo had heard from Batbold that many Mongolians heading to Korea for work spoke fluent Korean—more than he'd expected.
But Naaran was a different case.
"I like Korea. So I learned it."
"Oh, self-taught? Impressive."
As he said that, Yeonwoo held out his hand to Naaran.
"You're the one from the tribe we're meeting, right? Jevchidd tribe?"
"Yeah, that's me."
"I came to hear homi."
Yeonwoo got straight to the point. Naaran's face lit up with an "oh."
"You know homi?"
"Yeah, I looked it up. It seemed so amazing and mysterious, I had to come see it myself."
"Homi's special."
Before they knew it, Yeonwoo and Naaran were walking side by side. His colleagues and the tribespeople followed behind.
The tribespeople stared curiously at the rare Korean celebrities, while Yeonwoo's group marveled at the Mongolian steppe.
"It's really vast."
"[I thought BA had the widest green plains in the world, but this is even bigger. No end in sight.]"
"[Who compares a tiny island like Hokkaido to Mongolia?]"
"[Is that what someone from that puny island—half the size of Hokkaido even—should say?]"
"[That's why I don't brag about land!!]"
"[You're just...]"
Hearing Yuri and Annosuke bicker, Yeonwoo chuckled as he walked with Naaran.
"Why are you laughing?"
"My hyungs and noonas behind us are funny."
Naaran glanced back.
The Japanese guy and girl—she knew them too. She had no interest in Japanese music, but she'd listened because Yuin had scouted and raised them.
"You debuted those two, right? Amazing. Making music that good at your age."
Yeonwoo looked at Naaran.
"I think you're more amazing."
"Me?"
"Yeah. How are you so good at riding?"
At his words, Naaran looked at the horse she'd led over by the reins. A Mongolian horse suited to her height.
"For us, it's just normal."
Yeonwoo nodded.
"Music's like that for me."
"...Normal?"
"Yeah."
Something as natural as riding a horse.
Naaran wished she had musical talent instead of horsemanship.
Music... yeah.
"Impressive. But you can't do homi, right?"
"Right. That's why I came to see it. It seems like the most mysterious singing style in the world."
Naaran felt a surge of pride at Yeonwoo's words.
Homi was something the nation worked to preserve, and in Mongolia, they fused it with modern genres like rock to create something uniquely theirs, all to protect traditional homi.
But it was all frog in a well. Outside Mongolia, it was just an interesting curiosity, rarely appreciated properly.
But now it was fine.
Yuin himself—the genius of the century—recognized it.
Naaran stopped in place and opened her mouth.
A clear voice flowed from her lips, soon joined by a higher-pitched sound.
"......!!"
Sygyt, the homi style mimicking birdsong, produced simultaneously.
That wasn't the surprising part.
What shocked him was that a girl like Naaran was doing homi.
It used to be a man's domain, but he'd heard women were starting to perform it too.
Still, even searching Korea, it was hard to find women singing homi.
'To hear this here.'
And the girl's homi was beyond pro level.
As her homi flowed, blue fairies appeared.
But no yellow ones.
'Means homi's not mainstream yet.'
Yeonwoo didn't mind.
It might be now, but if he set his mind to it, he could boost its popularity anytime.
He was confident.
But that wasn't the point.
'What do I do with this kid?'
The girl who'd drawn blue fairies with homi started laughing, soon producing green ones.
She had all the qualities to be a star.
To discover a kid like this in Mongolia from the start (though it had taken a long time to get here).
'But......'
He couldn't act rashly.
She was his age.
He'd stumbled into the music path young, but her?
She was only nine.
Pushing a nine-year-old to debut solo in Korea was tough, and he couldn't easily do much for her here in Mongolia either.
'Don't get greedy now.'
Funny coming from him, but reshaping a peer's life on a whim was funny too.
That's when it happened.
As if responding to Naaran's homi, the young tribespeople following behind burst into homi all at once.
From deep bass to warbling like a nightingale, all blending together...
"Ah...."
Yeonwoo turned.
The homi echoing everywhere matched the vast steppe perfectly.
The wind, the swaying grass, the clouds above—it all resonated with the homi.
Maybe that's why.
The blue fairies born in that moment looked like ancient Mongol warriors charging the steppe.
One by one, starting with Naaran, they stopped their homi.
"What do you think? Is this the homi you wanted to hear?"
"......Yeah. It's the best."
Yeonwoo nodded and looked back.
"Jaehoon hyung."
"Yeah?"
"Get the recorder ready. I think we need it."
"Got it."
Yeonwoo planned to record as much homi as possible on this trip.
Real homi to mix into a track for Damien Cruise's movie.
One small issue, though.
"Is there no heavier homi?"
Theirs was pleasant but lacked grandeur.
"Ah, we're still young. The adults' homi is deeper, with more resonance."
Yeonwoo glanced at the people following.
The women looked youthful, but the men had rugged faces and sturdy builds.
Just like their ancestors, the Mongol cavalry led by the great Genghis Khan.
"Yeah, just sixteen."
Wait, sixteen? High school freshman?
Yeonwoo stared at Naaran in disbelief.
"You're small and baby-faced. And they're your sisters and brothers."
"Liar...."
Yeonwoo couldn't believe her.
But when they reached Naaran's ger and he met her father, it clicked.
A man of gigantic build incomparable to high schoolers, with a face like the Four Heavenly Kings at a temple, stared back at Yeonwoo.
"[So.... You want to hear homi?]"
"...That's what Dad says."
But Yeonwoo wasn't scared.
He could see the blue fairies around him.