Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Emperor of Rock Ballads
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The Emperor of Rock Ballads.
That was what they called Yoo Jaehyuk.
He was famous as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Korea who dominated the '90s and early 2000s alongside Kim Beomsin, Kim Hongshik, and Lee Jiseong.
But after developing vocal cord nodules, he suddenly vanished from the scene. Only his close acquaintances and long-time industry veterans knew what had become of him.
To his fans, it was an absurd situation— their favorite singer disappearing without a trace.
- Even if your voice is wrecked, I just want to see you back on stage.
- I don't even need you to sing; I just want some update on how you're doing.
- Honestly, does anyone think he could still pull off that voice now? The guy's pride is sky-high; it'd be too embarrassing for him if he couldn't hit the notes like before.
- Jaehyuk oppa, come back ㅠ
Whenever videos of him singing in the past were uploaded to YouTube, comments like those would flood in.
Yes, people knew.
They knew that all the songs he released used the shouting technique, and after performing on countless stages, vocal cord nodules were inevitable. They knew his voice from his peak days would gradually become impossible to produce.
Even so, more than a decade later, there were still people hoping he'd sing on stage again—or at least give some sign of life.
That weighed heavily on Yoo Jaehyuk.
He might seem like a silent, rough, crude man now, but in truth, he was brighter and more sociable than anyone, a man who loved his fans.
Above all, he loved the stage.
The reason he shunned even his fans and refused to step onto any stage wasn't anything else.
It was because his vocal cords were completely ruined—first aggravated by a hospital's botched prescription, then further destroyed by a belated surgery that went wrong.
But he didn't give up.
He worked tirelessly to return to the stage, to face his fans again.
He visited hospital after hospital, countless times, and tried singing with his damaged voice however he could.
But as time passed, no place could fully heal his wrecked throat. He could sing again, but it wasn't a voice anyone would want to hear.
And so, more than a decade slipped by.
The reality that he could never take the stage again drove him deeper into seclusion, his spirit crumbling bit by bit.
Then one day, while passing by, he heard a song by Kim Beomsin.
They were close like brothers, and he knew every song the man had ever released—yet this was one he'd never heard before.
It turned out to be a new track.
A singer dismissed as a has-been, coasting on past fame, was topping all the music charts.
Yes, up until then, he'd just thought, "Ah, he's made a comeback," and moved on.
But around the time his crumbling heart was on the verge of total destruction.
Around the time he was even contemplating death, he heard another song by Kim Beomsin and thought:
If this song could bring a hopeless case like Kim Beomsin back to his prime, couldn't it create one for me too?
Of course, he didn't really believe it was possible.
He just wanted to try one last time, right before the end.
If the composer refused, or if—even after learning his plight and composing something with care in mind—he still couldn't sing it, then he'd end it all.
And so, with a hollow soul, he headed to the company his niece Jiyeong had told him about.
"Are you messing with me right now?"
The man, who had steeled himself for death and wandered soulless, now glared at Jiyeong with eyes blazing fiercely.
If eyes could kill, it would be Yoo Jaehyuk in this very moment.
But Jiyeong remained unfazed.
"Messing with you? I did tell you not to be surprised, didn't I?"
"......"
Yoo Jaehyuk stared straight ahead.
In front of him was the kid, Yeonwoo.
"The real Yuin...?"
"That's right. Yeonwoo—no, Composer Yuin? Say hello. This is Senior Yoo Jaehyuk."
"Hello, I'm Yuin."
At his aunt's introduction, Yeonwoo responded with a deep bow from the waist.
"Hmm......"
Even the gods were cruel.
To toy with his last shred of hope like this... What did they expect from a child?
Fine, let's say this kid really was Yuin.
But how could such a young child understand his ruined voice and give him a fitting song?
"Haa......"
Yoo Jaehyuk let out a sigh of utter defeat.
"I'll... just go."
As he turned to leave, someone grabbed his hand.
He flinched.
Startled, Jaehyuk looked back.
It was a tiny, soft hand—the owner none other than Yeonwoo.
Yeonwoo looked up at him while holding his hand.
He was a fascinating man.
Every time he spoke, red fairies burst out around him.
It was the first time a voice itself had produced red fairies like that.
But the fairy belonging to Yoo Jaehyuk, who had only just appeared beside him, was different.
Yoo Jaehyuk's fairy shone with a brilliant blue light, no less radiant than Kim Beomsin's or Heo Ok's.
Unlike the gloomy aura surrounding Yoo Jaehyuk, his fairy was passionate; unlike his stern expression, it wore a magnificent smile.
That must have been the real Yoo Jaehyuk.
And so, Yeonwoo couldn't let him go.
"Mister."
"......"
"Wanna sing a song?"
Yoo Jaehyuk halted at the sight of Yeonwoo, with his innocent face, addressing him directly.
"Just try singing for now. Consider it a scam if it doesn't work."
At those words, Yoo Jaehyuk unwittingly let out a chuckle.
"This kid sure talks big."
"Come here, okay?"
Yeonwoo pulled at Yoo Jaehyuk.
The solidly built Yoo Jaehyuk offered no resistance to the child and followed along.
Jiyeong watched the scene with a look of surprise.
Not because of Yoo Jaehyuk—but because of Yeonwoo.
It was the first time she'd seen him approach a total stranger so proactively.
In the midst of it, Yeonwoo pushed Yoo Jaehyuk into the recording booth.
Once inside, Yoo Jaehyuk surveyed the interior.
A familiar condenser mic caught his eye; on one side were a dynamic mic and a USB mic, seemingly set up to suit user preferences.
Unconsciously, he touched the pop filter covering the mic.
And without realizing it, his body trembled.
Exactly four years ago.
Back then, Yoo Jaehyuk had his own recording studio.
He'd clung to hope until the very bitter end, only to smash everything in despair when his voice refused to return to its former glory.
In any case, facing a recording booth and equipment after so long, he couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.
His blood boiled.
He was, inescapably, a born singer.
-Mister, can you hear me?
From beyond the booth, he saw the kid talking through the talkback.
"......"
Yoo Jaehyuk was a bit startled to see the boy beyond the glass.
The bright, cheerful child was gone.
The sharply gleaming eyes belonged to a composer and producer facing the singer who would perform his song.
"I hear you."
-Mister, I'll play the MR for one of your songs. Give it a try.
"...My song."
He panicked.
It wasn't his song anymore. How could something he couldn't sing be his?
But the backing track had already started.
His debut song.
A track he poured his heart into with his bandmate, the friend who'd formed the band with him.
But right around debut, that friend had been killed in a drunk-driving accident while delivering food.
Yoo Jaehyuk debuted carrying that song they'd made together, shouldering his friend's dream as well.
The song, first unveiled in a Hongdae rock cafe, must have been blessed by his late friend—it got him on TV stages and brought nationwide fame.
'Firmament.'
That was the song's title.
The intro urged him on.
Hurry and sing.
Overlay your voice on this fantastical melody.
Amid the flashy bass, drums, and guitar, he opened his mouth.
"Fly up to the blue sky, I fly up...!"
The moment he sang that one line, he froze cold.
There was no soaring voice, sharp as a hawk shooting toward the heavens.
His vocal cords jammed shut, scolding him not to sing.
He stood dazed as the backing track played on.
Yeonwoo stopped the MR and looked at Yoo Jaehyuk, then at Kim Beomsin's fairy beside him—and the one that had just joined, Yoo Jaehyuk's.
'What do you two think?'
Kim Beomsin's fairy clenched its throat tensely, while Yoo Jaehyuk's pointed at him and shook its head.
'You're saying too much tension in the throat, and you're saying... what? That mister can't sing anymore?'
At the question, Yoo Jaehyuk's fairy shook its head.
Then it opened its mouth.
A burst of shouting technique erupted from Yoo Jaehyuk's fairy, audible only to Yeonwoo.
Casually demonstrating the shouting technique, the fairy pointed at Yoo Jaehyuk and shook its head again.
'Ah, you're saying not to sing like you? That shouting technique? That style?'
Only then did Yoo Jaehyuk's fairy nod.
Yeonwoo pressed the talkback.
"Mister, you're putting way too much force in your throat."
-...I know.
Trying to force the sound out made him tense his vocal cords without realizing. He knew it was bad technique.
"And why are you trying to sing like you used to? Even if you do, the shouting won't come out, mister."
Yoo Jaehyuk flinched at those words.
Yeah, thinking about it, that was right.
He was still trying to use the shouting technique's vocalization.
No, truth be told, it was the only way he knew how to sing.
He hadn't learned systematically; he'd developed his style by mimicking TV clips, radio, even books with his natural voice.
-Try relaxing your throat.
Beyond the booth, Yeonwoo fiddled with something and started the song again.
"...!"
The intro flowing out was unmistakably Firmament, but the key was different.
Not high, but low.
It seemed adjusted for his current voice.
Yoo Jaehyuk opened his mouth, relaxing his throat as much as possible to match the key.
"Fly up to the blue sky, I fly up......"
The voice came out more smoothly than before.
-Again, but put force in your belly this time!!
"Fly up to the blue sky......"
-Again!! Mister, I said belly, not throat!!
"Fly up to the blue sky, I fly up...!"
The voice came out much better than before.
But that was it.
Still an unpleasant sound.
Even Yeonwoo beyond the booth acknowledged it.
Red fairies were bursting out wildly as he sang.
But Yeonwoo didn't want to stop there.
The moment Yoo Jaehyuk sang, his fairy pressed right up to the booth glass, staring at him.
It was the first time Yeonwoo had seen it.
A fairy shedding tears. While gazing at its own original self, no less.
Yoo Jaehyuk's fairy had waited endlessly inside him.
For the moment his original self would sing again.
Even this pathetic song, growled out with that beastly voice spewing red fairies—it was moving enough to bring tears.
'Wait, beastly?'
A sudden thought struck Yeonwoo. He searched YouTube on the computer for animal sounds.
He listened to low growls, roars, howls.
'Sounds like mister's voice.'
No, Yoo Jaehyuk's was rougher.
But those carnivores were spewing red fairies just like him.
Did people hate hearing tigers roar, wolves howl, or growl?
No.
Sure, hearing it right in front of you might inspire terror.
Terror?
Wait, what if...
'Red fairies... aren't always bad notes, are they?'
Yeonwoo decided to test it.
-...Um, hello?
While Yeonwoo was distracted, the awkward Yoo Jaehyuk called out to him cautiously.
"Mister, hold on a sec."
Yoo Jaehyuk fell silent at the sight of Yeonwoo firmly extending his hand.
The mighty Yoo Jaehyuk, tamed by a six-year-old.
And somehow, it didn't feel bad.
Yoo Jaehyuk quietly watched the child.