Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Stepping into the Spotlight
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“You guys really…… can’t eat anything except the designated meals until you hit your target weight. Got it?”
Shunji swallowed the urge to spit out the rising frustration.
In front of him were two shocked faces: Annosuke and Yuri, reacting to his words.
Just like Yeonwoo had plumped up, they too had gained weight like babies who hadn’t shed their baby fat.
Annosuke’s old clothes were now a bit tight, showing his belly, and Yuri, who always wore form-fitting training clothes, had her side fat blatantly visible.
No matter how much Shunji focused on music, this was unacceptable.
“Throw out the idea that just singing well is enough. Even I changed my mind after seeing those Hadass guys this time. Visuals matter too. The era where people fall for just the voice is over.”
“……Yes.”
“Understood.”
“So, absolutely no eating outside the diet. If I catch you……”
Shunji stroked the scar on his forehead and stared at them before continuing.
“Want me to teach you what happens?”
“N-No, sir.”
“We’ll do intermittent fasting or whatever to lose the weight!!”
Seeing the two stand at full attention, Shunji finally relaxed his expression and stood up.
What to do with these idiots…… Then, suddenly, Yeonwoo came to mind—the one who’d been responsible for these fools.
Most kids would cry and run away calling him a yakuza or whatever just from seeing him, but that kid came running with a bright “Grandpa!” without a hint of fear. The memory felt distant now.
Was it because he was getting old?
He suddenly envied Heo Ok.
“When’s he coming……”
“Pardon?”
“No time for ‘pardon?’—go work out. If you don’t lose the weight, I’ll cut your portions even more.”
Shunji threw an empty threat at Annosuke for reacting to his mutter and strode out of the dorm.
* * *
At that moment, Yeonwoo had returned to his home in Korea.
Jihoon and Jiyeong, welcoming their son and nephew after so long, were at a loss for words.
“Uh, that is……”
“Mom, why’d you let the kid balloon up like this?”
After just over a month, it was shocking how pudgy Yeonwoo had become.
Heo Ok looked troubled as she replied.
“Well…… Our Yeonwoo kept wanting to eat more, like he’s growing.”
“But still…… How much did you feed him?”
“I didn’t feed him—he ate on his own……”
As Heo Ok spoke, recalling Yeonwoo, Annosuke, and Yuri’s eating sprees instead of music practice, Jiyeong gently stroked Yeonwoo’s cheeks.
“Oh man, look at these soft cheeks. Like sticky rice cakes.”
“Euuu, Auntie, stooop!”
Yeonwoo swatted Jiyeong’s hand away and looked at his dad.
“Our Yeonwoo really ate whatever he wanted over there, huh?”
Jihoon just smiled at Yeonwoo. He’d have worried if he’d lost weight, but seeing him well-fed was actually reassuring.
“Alright, it’s been a while since the family’s all together. How about we go out for some food?”
Jihoon looked at Yeonwoo and asked everyone. Jiyeong gasped.
“What? The kid came back looking like a pig, and you want to go eat?!”
“I’m not a pig!!”
“Yeah, where’s piglike about Yeonwoo? He finally looks like a kid his age. Worry about your own gut. All that beer belly that won’t go away.”
“Doon’t talk about bewwy woses……”
“What’s that? Yeonwoo, what do you want to eat?”
To her endlessly harsh little brother but endlessly indulgent son, Yeonwoo answered without hesitation at Jihoon’s question.
“Gopchang! Let’s go eat gopchang!”
“Gopchang?”
“In Japan, they sell it as horumon, but it didn’t taste like Korean beef gopchang, Dad.”
“But gopchang will make you gain even more…… Mmph, mmph……”
“Yeah, let’s go. Gopchang it is.”
Jihoon blocked Jiyeong’s mouth and nodded at Yeonwoo’s words.
The three ordered gopchang and hot pot at their usual neighborhood spot and ate their fill.
On the walk home after finishing the gopchang, Yeonwoo licked his oily lips and put on a serious face.
Now was the moment of truth.
He had to share his thoughts with Dad and get his permission.
He hadn’t done anything wrong, but he felt tense anyway.
Noticing Yeonwoo’s demeanor and sensing something, Jihoon asked.
“Son, got something you want to tell Dad?”
“Huh? Uh, um…… Yeah……”
The words he’d prepared on the flight to convince Dad wouldn’t come.
Stammering, Yeonwoo finally brought up the first item.
“Dad…… I want to quit school and just do music.”
“Q-Quit school?”
“Yeah.”
“Uh, that is……”
Jihoon was momentarily speechless.
Things like “You need school to experience society” or “Study so you can make a living later” flashed through his mind to persuade the kid, but he couldn’t say them.
Yeonwoo wasn’t a typical kid his age—he was working with adults in society, firmly in the superior position, and earning more money than Jihoon had ever made despite his own desperate studying.
“So…… Studying…… Still……”
“I looked it up, and there’s this thing called homeschooling. I can do the necessary studies with that and take the GED to graduate high school, right?”
“Yeah, our Yeonwoo’s got it all planned out.”
Whose kid was this? Smart without even studying. Homeschooling, even. Was this the thought of a kid who’d just started elementary school?
“Alright, say you quit school and do homeschooling. Music means that much to you?”
“It’s frustrating even now. I have to stop working and come to Korea because of school.”
“You might not want to do music when you grow up. Doesn’t that mean you should keep going to school?”
“I’ll work hard on homeschooling to prepare for that. And even if I don’t want to do music as an adult, I’ll already have plenty of money, so no worries.”
Saying “Money isn’t everything!” felt hollow when Yeonwoo earned such huge sums.
“But your friends……”
“My friends like me. But Dad, my friends are starting to feel more like little siblings.”
This extraordinary kid had reached the point where peers felt like babies.
Come to think of it, no need to worry about friends—he got along great with adults too. Did such a kid really need to hang with age-mates? He was handling it fine on his own.
No longer seeing the need to keep Yeonwoo in elementary school, Jihoon said without hesitation.
“I was gonna think about it for a few days, but I don’t see the point. I’ll look into homeschooling and future education. Then we’ll pull you out of school. Sound good?”
“Thank you.”
Yeonwoo immediately bowed at the waist to his dad.
“Hm? More to say?”
Jihoon noticed Yeonwoo still fidgeting after the bow and asked if there was more.
Yeonwoo hesitated before speaking.
“Dad.”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t want to hide behind Yuin anymore.”
“Huh?”
“I want to reveal that Yuin is me.”
Jihoon was more flustered by this than quitting school.
“S-Suddenly? Why?”
“Every new job means meeting new people, and explaining myself every time is such a hassle.”
“Just for that? Isn’t it dangerous to reveal your talent at such a young age?”
“Getting verified is harder and more annoying than I thought. And after thinking a lot, it doesn’t seem that dangerous.”
Yeonwoo began explaining why he wouldn’t be in danger.
As he went on, Jihoon couldn’t focus on the words.
Trauma-like figures of his mother-in-law and brother-in-law surfaced.
Those schemers who gaslit his wife with their sly faces and eventually kidnapped her and Yeonwoo away.
The years of wandering to find his wife and son, and the wound of her ultimately passing—it seemed to have left a deeper trauma on Jihoon than expected.
Seeing Jihoon freeze in place mid-conversation, Yeonwoo panicked and gripped his dad’s hand tightly.
“……Dad?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Did Datemura Nanase, that woman, convince you?”
Snapping out of his slight trauma, Jihoon immediately thought of Nanase and asked Yeonwoo.
“Who’s Nanase?”
Yeonwoo had never met Nanase even once. With Shunji and Heo Ok always around, she’d had no chance to approach him.
“Then……”
“It’s entirely my own decision, Dad.”
Yeonwoo stated firmly to Jihoon, who was about to name Shunji or Heo Ok.
“Hmm…… I don’t know. Let Dad think on it more. Can we talk later?”
Yeonwoo understood his dad’s position.
He’d agonized over it himself for a long time—what would be different for Dad?
Truth be told, even Yeonwoo might freeze up if his uncle showed up, unable to do anything.
But he knew his uncle and aunt couldn’t appear until he was grown.
Adults weren’t scary.
In fact, he even planned to get revenge for what they did to him and Mom.
Dad probably wasn’t scared of them either. It was the past wounds.
While in Japan, Yeonwoo had been impatient, but now he decided to give Dad time.
And a few days later.
“Yeonwoo.”
On the weekend, back from Japan, Jihoon visited the place where he’d scattered his late wife’s ashes for the first time in a while. He looked at Yeonwoo and said.
“Dad respects you. I respect you doing music, and wanting to focus only on it.”
“Yes……”
“So, Yeonwoo, I won’t oppose revealing you to the world like you want.”
“Thank you.”
“But there’s a condition.”
“What condition?”
“Dad’s wounds from the past are deeper than I thought. Even after your face is out there, I can’t shake the fear of what might happen to you.”
“……I understand.”
At Yeonwoo’s words, Jihoon said, “Our Yeonwoo’s all grown up,” then got serious.
“We’ll hire bodyguards—even if I have to ask JOP for help—and keep them with you always. Until you’re old enough to protect yourself. That’s not too much, right?”
Yeonwoo nodded.
“I think hiring bodyguards is a good idea too. I’m a little scared myself.”
Jihoon stroked Yeonwoo’s head at that.
“You’re scared…… but willing to face it for music?”
Yeonwoo nodded, then cautiously opened his mouth.
“And…… Hiding like this feels like I’m losing to that uncle, that bad guy. I want them to watch me shine in the world from prison, envious and angry.”
“……”
“Too childish, right? But I want revenge that way.”
Jihoon chuckled at Yeonwoo, who seemed embarrassed about sounding childish.
So grown-up yet shy about being treated like a kid—kids gonna be kids.
Kids hate being babied, after all.
“No, Dad wants that too.”
And so, Yeonwoo decided to step out into the world for his music.
The moment to untie his self-imposed noose and soar.