Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Hiramura Annosuke
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“Yeonwoo, it’s still chilly in Sapporo, so make sure you bundle up in your coat.”
“Yes.”
“And you know you can’t overeat just because it tastes good, right?”
“Mhm.”
“Here, this is Dad’s card. Buy anything you want with it.”
“Yeonwoo has money too.”
“Save yours for later. I won’t feel right otherwise.”
“Okay, I will then.”
“That’s my good boy.”
Jihoon gently stroked Yeonwoo’s head.
After returning from Okinawa, Jihoon had used up all his vacation days, so he had to head back to Korea first.
“Mother, please take good care of Yeonwoo.”
“Go on without worrying.”
“Yes.”
Jihoon gazed at his son, reluctance in his eyes. Yeonwoo looked up at him with bright, sparkling eyes.
It was impressive how composed he was about being apart from Dad—no trace of sadness at all. Admirable, yet a little heartbreaking.
“I’ll get going then.”
“Yes, Dad. Yeonwoo will be right behind you!”
“Yeah.”
Jihoon smiled, gave Yeonwoo’s head one last stroke, and set off down the road.
“Shall we pack our bags now?”
The bittersweet farewell didn’t last long—Heo Ok and Yeonwoo had to hurry and get ready too.
Fresh from Okinawa, the two were now boarding a flight back to Hokkaido.
But their destination wasn’t the usual Sapporo or New Chitose Airport—it was Asahikawa Airport.
It lay farther north than New Chitose, but the flight times weren’t all that different.
“Have you been there before, Grandma?”
Yeonwoo asked as they boarded the domestic Japan flight.
“Hmm… I’ve been to Sapporo for work, but Asahikawa’s a first for me.”
Spots like Biei—must-visits for Hokkaido tourists—were nearby, so plenty of people passed through the area. But she’d never traveled Japan for fun, so Asahikawa felt brand new to her too.
They arrived in Asahikawa City, buzzing with curiosity about the place.
The airport was small, but downtown turned out bigger than expected.
A basin teeming with three hundred thousand souls wasn’t exactly petite.
“Bigger than I thought.”
“Yeah… but Grandma.”
“Hm?”
“It’s cold.”
Heo Ok panicked at his words, yanking a coat from the carry-on and bundling Yeonwoo up.
Tokyo had been sweltering, and Okinawa mere days ago had felt like peak summer—but here? Chilly to the bone.
No wonder: Asahikawa was one of Japan’s coldest cities.
“Speaking of, where’s Shunji?”
With Yeonwoo securely wrapped, Heo Ok scowled and scanned the surroundings.
Unlike Heo Ok’s group, who’d made a quick Tokyo pitstop after Okinawa, Shunji had flown straight from Okinawa through Sapporo and arrived here first.
He’d said he’d meet them at Asahikawa Airport, but no sign of him.
“Call him, Grandma.”
“Right.”
The instant Heo Ok held her smartphone to her ear.
“Hey!!”
A booming voice echoed from afar.
“What’s the holdup? Why so late?”
“Well...”
“What? Did some producer pull the ‘come here, go there’ routine again?”
“No.”
Shunji declared it boldly.
“I couldn’t find where he’d wandered off to.”
“...”
Heo Ok and Yeonwoo exchanged glances.
“So what now?”
“We find him...”
Shunji, who’d bellowed so confidently, wilted under Heo Ok’s piercing glare and hunched his shoulders.
“You can find him?”
“I’ll... try my best.”
Shunji was about to lose his mind from frustration.
He’d been in touch with the kid right up until arriving here—then poof, gone without a trace.
“You don’t even know his home?”
“Checked the house too. They’re tearing their hair out looking for him.”
Heo Ok pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Can’t we ever meet anyone without drama?”
“Tell me about it. Word is, this happens now and then. Kid’s got a real wanderlust.”
“Think a kid like that can cut it as a singer?”
Shunji let out a pained groan.
“But... the talent’s too good to waste. Between recent finds, Yuri and this one top the list.”
Heo Ok couldn’t argue Shunji’s judgment—not after witnessing Yuri’s gifts firsthand.
“Let’s head to the lodgings first.”
“You booked a place?”
“Of course!!”
Shunji never settled for cheap dives.
This time was no exception.
He’d reserved the finest suite in a five-star downtown hotel for Heo Ok and Yeonwoo.
Heo Ok suddenly worried: living in spots like this, did Yeonwoo assume all hotels were this lavish?
What if a rundown one crushed him later?
“Grandma!! The tub here’s massive! Can I take a bath?!”
“Go ahead. Not too hot or cold, you know that, right?”
“Yes!”
Yeonwoo dashed into the bathroom, greeted by a tub big enough for two or three adults.
He rinsed it with the showerhead, plugged the drain, and fine-tuned the water temp.
Yeonwoo loved baths.
Ever since that first long soak—the warm water turning him blissfully limp.
He emerged after pruning up fingers and toes, eyes gone wide.
“Grandma, where we headed?”
Heo Ok had unpacked, slipped into loungewear—now she was dressed to head out.
“Shunji says dinner out. Dry your hair quick and change, Yeonwoo.”
“Yes!”
Yeonwoo grabbed the blow dryer, dried off like a pro, and swapped outfits.
Heart racing, he asked.
“What’re we eating?”
“Something called Jingisukan. Grilled lamb.”
“Lamb?! That fluffy woolly ‘meeeh~’ one?!”
Now that she thought about it, Yeonwoo had never tried lamb. Heo Ok nodded.
Shocked that sheep get eaten?
“Wow... so sheep eat meat too? What about foxes or tigers or crocs, Grandma? Turtles? Sharks?”
...Yeonwoo held zero biases.
“Who knows... probably varies by place and person?”
Heo Ok fudged it, wary of planting prejudices.
Either way, Yeonwoo devoured lamb to his heart’s content that night.
On the walk back.
“Hmm...!!”
Shunji made an odd noise, eyeing the group.
“What? Find the kid?”
“He’s back home. We’ll meet tomorrow.”
They’d tracked down the missing wanderer.
* * *
“Hiramura Annosuke-desu.”
Yeonwoo and Heo Ok stared at the boy before them.
Towering height, thick brows—an unmistakably exotic look.
Heo Ok eyed Annosuke closely before asking.
“By any chance...”
“Right. Pure Ainu blood runs strong. Stands out from mainlanders, huh?”
Spot on.
Japan had begun absorbing them from the 15th century; now, Ainu numbered maybe ten thousand.
Long assimilation policies muddied the count, but anyone could see the Ainu heritage.
“You want to turn me into a singer?”
Annosuke cut straight to Yeonwoo’s group.
Shunji nodded as spokesman.
“Yeah. Sign you to our label. Your singing hooked me.”
Annosuke bowed deeply from his seat.
“Appreciate it. But I’ve got zero interest in being a singer.”
“With that voice? You even posted clips on SNS?”
“To be precise, no interest in Japan.”
Shunji’s face twisted in confusion. Why?
Annosuke paused, lost in thought, then spoke heavily.
“Become a singer, and it’s Tokyo-centric—crowds staring at me. Terrifies me. They might discriminate.”
“Ugh...!”
Shunji groaned. Japan’s full grip on Hokkaido dated to the 17th century—three hundred years of integration.
Assimilation had stripped most Ainu of identity; nearly all saw themselves as Japanese.
Yet prejudice lingered against the centuries-old minority.
Derogatory “tojin” slurs and all.
Okinawa faced similar, but Hokkaido’s subjugation felt especially brutal.
Such hate trickling down to a mere high school senior?
“I’m Japanese too, but this country’s people are vicious. Let me apologize for them.”
Shunji bowed near-dogeza, deadly serious.
Annosuke flustered.
“No need to go that far...”
“Eases my conscience. And I’m dead set on making you a singer.”
“But...”
Shunji silenced him with a raised hand.
“As vicious as we are, Japanese bend over backwards for talented outsiders. Showbiz included. Never scorn a star—they’d expose our dirt to the world.”
Shunji leaned toward Annosuke.
“Use discriminating Japan as your launchpad—to Korea, the world. Hit a U.S. TV show: ‘Japan discriminated against me big time!!’”
“Won’t that draw hate?”
“Some whispers behind your back, sure. But then what? You’ll be global Annosuke. No one’ll dare say it to your face.”
Only Date mura Shunji—the so-called Demon King, living untethered—could avow it with such ironclad certainty.
Weaklings cower before the mighty.
“That’s...”
“Intriguing, no?”
“...But can I really go worldwide?”
“Well...”
Datemura Shunji turned to Yeonwoo. Annosuke’s gaze followed.
“This kid’ll make it happen. Right, Yeonwoo? Or should I say, Yuin?”
“Yuin? Himari’s Yuin?”
No aspiring Japanese musician hadn’t heard of Himari—or her latest collab.
Annosuke’s eyes bugged out, but he nodded fast.
Unlike Jinen Yuri, he bought in quick if it checked out.
Guy right beside him wasn’t some con artist.
Then Yeonwoo spoke up.
“Dunno about the world. Never been. Dunno your shot either. So...”
Yeonwoo met Annosuke’s eyes.
“Show me, hyung. Your potential.”
Yeonwoo could see it.
Behind Annosuke, a blindingly radiant blue fairy and yellow fairy gleamed.
The kind of aura that promised a supernova if he sang.