Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: The Rock Ballad Emperor's Return
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Yoo Jaehyuk.
He began his career as a guest vocalist for Korea's representative rock band Han River, drawing public attention with his high-pitched shouting that ranged from the late third octave. As he started releasing solo rock ballad albums, he began gaining mainstream popularity.
His debut album was a success, followed by back-to-back hits with his second and third albums, sweeping music awards from all three major broadcasters every year he released an album and reigning as the emperor of rock ballads.
The reason he was still talked about as a legend, above all, was that in one of the tracks from his third album, "Glide," he nailed a D6 note in the fourth octave, holding the record for the highest note ever hit by a male singer.
It had been over a decade since such a figure had vanished completely from the scene, not even active.
Fans had begged him just to stay alive, and now the man who had disappeared from the world appeared on the official SSHIN account.
As a participant in the Complete. Vocal. Challenge.
-What's up with Yoo Jaehyuk's voice?
-Rumors about him leaving due to vocal cord nodules must've been true.
-Wow, that's not just husky.
-We can't hear his old voice anymore... But it's good.
-Yeah, it's good.
-Wow, what is this? Tiger-style singing?
-Look at him pulling those high notes with that voice ;;;;
-Even in his prime, he didn't pull that voice often ;;; And he hits it so easily;
-Wasn't it a fourth octave in his prime? Isn't this worse than that?
-Fourth octave is the extreme limit lol. Glide—he only did that live occasionally when he was in top condition lol.
-Yeah, normally our Hyuk bro sang around third octave sol.
-So this is on par with his prime octave-wise?
-Yeah.
-I thought I'd miss his changed voice, but this has its own weird charm.
-Tiger-style for real.
-Sounds like a roar, makes him feel more manly.
-Stirs something in a guy's heart ㄷ
Yoo Jaehyuk's sudden comeback was bound to attract attention.
His video hit 300,000 views in a single day, climbing the trending list, and quickly surpassed 1 million views.
The excitement wasn't limited to YouTube.
The broadcasting world took notice too, and even the news ran short segments on Yoo Jaehyuk's return.
The ripple effect of the rock ballad emperor's comeback was bigger than expected.
But Yoo Jaehyuk didn't respond to the reactions around him. As if he might vanish again.
-Hyung, you're not gonna disappear again like this, right?
-Your voice is great now, please drop a new album ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-Stick with the tiger style, hyung ㅠ
-Miss you ㅠㅠ Do a concert, or even a small venue show ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
As anxious fans flooded the SSHIN official channel with comments, SSHIN's Shin Jiyeong posted an announcement on the official community board.
[Hello, this is SSHIN producer Shin Jiyeong. Our senior Yoo Jaehyuk, who has broken his long silence, will soon meet you all with a new song. Thank you.]
A short and straightforward notice.
But fans couldn't help but go wild. They had waited so long for Yoo Jaehyuk's return.
Even non-fans who saw the newly uploaded video and fell for him reacted the same way.
Though his voice had changed, the wild charisma he exuded, that roaring style that tugged at a man's heart—it had a magnetic pull.
But at this point, people started wondering.
What kind of money did SSHIN have to release albums and sign singers?
Of course, they hadn't officially distributed any albums yet.
They just uploaded tracks to music platforms like Mango and did YouTube activities.
Signing singers?
Chae Hayeon was a YouTuber doing YouTube stuff, not really a singer, so they could sign her without much cash.
Yoo Jaehyuk? He was a former star, so maybe it didn't cost as much as before.
But the future was the issue.
They'd announced Yoo Jaehyuk's album, and Chae Hayeon's popularity was no joke—fans were now demanding her album too.
Releasing even one album wasn't cheap.
No matter how successful producer Jiyeong was, she wasn't at the level to start her own agency alone.
But the question was quickly resolved.
[JOP, Major Japanese Agency, Enters Korea.]
[JOP Korea Branch President Establishes JOP KOREA for Smooth Korea-Japan Exchange.]
[JOP Aims Beyond Importing Hallyu—Signing Korean Talent and Handling Distribution.]
[SSHIN Joins JOP as Sub-Label.]
[JOP Impressed by SSHIN's Potential. Massive Investments Planned for Their Music.]
-JOP? What's that? Some no-name?
-JOP is basically Japan's top agency outside idols lol, and they do album distribution too.
-Why no idols? Are they bad? lol
-They don't handle idols at all lol.
-But how rich is a Japanese agency to jump into the Korean market? Are they big?
-Don't underestimate Japan. Why do you think all our idols go to Japan? lololol Japan's domestic market is huge, they print money without going overseas lolol.
-Fr real, even with China blocking our singers, agencies don't go bankrupt thanks to Japan + Southeast Asia lol.
-JOP does distribution too, so they probably rake in as much as our top three agencies?
SSHIN officially joined as a sub-label under JOP Korea.
As a commemorative gift, of sorts, Tatemura Shuji upgraded SSHIN's workspace into a full-fledged studio.
He partitioned off a separate pantry area, knocked down walls to merge the recording room with the living room for a bigger booth, and installed new equipment and audio gear.
The old recording room became the vocal booth, and the living room turned into a multi-purpose studio/living room/meeting space.
It was more professional now, but Yeonwoo's room remained untouched.
No one dared touch the first room Yeonwoo ever had, due to his strong attachment to it.
From now on, JOP would handle all non-music business.
So Yeonwoo, Jiyeong, and all the singers under them could focus solely on music.
"Feels great being under someone now?"
With VVX done recording and moving on to choreography, outfits, and album concepts, Jiyeong finally had some downtime. She lounged on the studio sofa, enjoying the rare leisure.
She'd handed off sales and admin work to JOP and ditched her work phone entirely.
No more constant buzzing from business calls interrupting sessions—pure relief.
"Yeonwoo, wanna go sightseeing with Auntie for old times' sake?"
"I'm busy, Auntie."
"Doing what?"
"Gotta finish Uncle Jaehyuk's song."
"You're such a workaholic kid."
"This is play!"
Jiyeong sat up straight and looked at Yeonwoo at his words.
Right, from Yeonwoo's perspective, it might be play.
But wasn't a normal six-year-old supposed to be out at the playground?
"Don't just stay cooped up in the corner of the studio—go to a playground or something."
"It's... cold outside."
Yeonwoo said in horror.
Yeonwoo couldn't fathom why he had to go to a playground in this freezing weather.
Looking at him, Jiyeong said,
"Then play indoors."
"I'm playing indoors!"
"Ugh, get up. Auntie'll show you a whole new world that'll blow your mind."
"...A place like that exists? But I'm busy right now."
"You can take one day off. If a seven-year-old works like you, the cops'll haul the adults away."
Yeonwoo reluctantly got up. Jiyeong took him out.
"Wow...!"
And their destination.
Yeonwoo widened his eyes and looked around.
"Auntie, what's this place? Like an indoor playground?"
"No, this place, Yeonwoo, is called a kids' cafe."
"Ki...ds... Ca...fe...!!"
"Full of stuff you wanna jump into right now, huh? Don't hold back—go wild."
"Yeah... Yeah!!"
Yeonwoo dashed off toward the play area where kids were running around, eyes sparkling.
Jiyeong ordered coffee at the counter and watched him with a fond smile.
He was just a kid at times like this.
"Kids need days like this to play. He's still little."
In Jiyeong's view, Yeonwoo was a workaholic. She worried he'd burn out before even starting elementary school and end up needing therapy.
That's why she felt she had to force these play opportunities on him.
But...
"Huh? A call from JOP?"
The head office(?) called.
Jiyeong couldn't shake the bad feeling, but she couldn't ignore HQ, so she answered.
"Oh, yes. Of course I remember!! Yes, yes—should I say 'Department Head'? Wow, our connection continues?"
Jiyeong cheerfully chatted with an old connection who'd landed a high position as department head at the new JOP Korea.
"Yes? Drama? Why would they want Yeon—er, Yuin? For an OST...? I'll ask Yuin first."
Jiyeong hung up and scratched her head.
Drama OST, huh.
She couldn't just say no on her own—she'd have to ask at least.
As she pondered, cheeks flushed red, Yeonwoo came running back to her with a bright grin.
"Auntie!! This place is the best!! There's a bouncy area, super long slides! Little train too! Gotta ride that later! Oh, right—giant octopus? It spins around!"
"Haha, yeah, have fun."
"Yeah!"
Yeonwoo dashed off excitedly again.
Strange.
It hadn't been long since they arrived at the kids' cafe, but Yeonwoo was already playing with the other kids.
Come to think of it, she remembered doing the same as a kid.
Meeting strangers at the playground and playing without hesitation.
"Good times."
Jiyeong watched Yeonwoo fondly.
That's when it happened.
Unexpected contact from Yoo Jaehyuk.
[Want to form a band.]
Out-of-the-blue KakaoTalk message.
[Band? Suddenly?]
[Gonna gather some kids.]
[Kids? Who?]
Yoo Jaehyuk dropped the bombshell and didn't reply further.
Wait, a band all of a sudden?
Wasn't he a rock ballad guy from the start? Band stuff was just early career, right?
And band activities—how much money and manpower would that take?
"Ah."
No need to worry about that.
JOP would handle it.
"Auntie!"
Yeonwoo came running back.
"Ah, Yeonwoo."
"Auntie, so much to do here! Can I ride the little train? It goes all around! One minute left!!"
Right, she should tell Yeonwoo too. He was the one producing for Yoo Jaehyuk, after all.
"Hey."
"Ung?"
Jiyeong looked at Yeonwoo.
Yeonwoo was fidgeting, eyes on the little train that might leave any second.
Not the right timing.
"Go ride it quick."
"Yeah!!"
Yeonwoo nodded and bolted toward the little train without looking back.
A kid was a kid.