Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: High Teen Rock 'n' Roll's Successful Launch
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[High Teen Rock 'n' Roll Debuts with 7.1% Ratings Success.]
[High Teen Rock 'n' Roll: Rookies' Rebellion.]
[Rookie Actress Lee Sieun Captivates with Her Alluring Voice, Ratings Skyrocket.]
High Teen Rock 'n' Roll had a successful start.
In these days when OTT platforms were gaining ground and ratings had dropped overall compared to the past, breaking 7% on the premiere was a rare feat.
These days, a drama was considered a hit if it started at 5% and held steady at 5% through the finale.
Truth be told, ratings weren't everything anymore.
People preferred streaming on OTT over live viewing, and even broadcasters were starting to care just as much about OTT performance as live ratings.
These days, even if live ratings dipped, strong OTT numbers meant success.
Of course, excelling in both was ideal.
Here, High Teen Rock 'n' Roll climbed to third place on TVM and the HJ network channels, as well as the comprehensive media OTT service TVNOW.
And the next day, episode 2 hit 8.6%, capping off a triumphant first week.
-You all watching High Teen Rock 'n' Roll?
-The story's simple, but the dialogue hits hard. Kim Jina really knows how to write scripts.
-That's the guy who directed the Jomang trilogy? It was pretty good.
-The problem was the CP was an idiot lololol Park Sungkuk got screwed over.
-What's up with Lee Sieun? She's seriously pretty.
-It's not just her looks—her voice is insane.
-I was shocked when I heard her sing.
-I immediately searched for the OST on Mango lololol still listening now.
-Her voice is straight-up cheat-level.
-And the song's great too.
-The song being good was expected since Yuin's the music director.
-We figured it'd be good with Yuin involved, but didn't expect Yuin to be 7 lolololol
-WTF, anyone else just focus on the songs and BGM? That's all I listened to. Yuin's insane.
-Insane, yeah, but 7 years old? lololol
-Is Yuin the reincarnation of Yi Sun-sin or something? How does a kid have that kind of talent?
-If a 7-year-old's already like that, what am I doing...? Time to get a job.
-Fr, I'm an aspiring composer and seeing Yuin just crushed all my dreams. Reality hitting hard.
-22222 I'm in music school too and wanna quit.
-The song's seriously that good.
As expected, the buzz centered on Yuin's track and Lee Sieun's voice.
The High Teen Rock 'n' Roll OST "High Teen Rock 'n' Roll" shot to 4th on the Mango daily chart right upon release.
But it didn't stop there.
The song was great, but Lee Sieun's cheat-level voice had a magnetic pull on listeners.
After hitting 4th on the daily chart, it held real-time #1 starting the next day, claimed the daily #1 that day, and maintained #1 through episode 3's airing, even topping the weekly chart.
Riding that momentum, episode 3 surged to 12.68% ratings—likely thanks to the OST dominating—and episode 4 hit 13.42%, earning it solid "stable success" status.
If it could just hold these numbers through the finale at episode 12, the drama would cement itself as one of the year's standout hits.
This marked a revival platform for Avalon, which had faced shutdown after the all-time low ratings of the Jomang trilogy.
* * *
Of course, Avalon's success was outside Yeonwoo's sphere of interest.
After confirming the OST's meaningful chart success on Mango and wrapping all music work up to the finale footage, he tuned it out.
He had no choice—it was mostly because he still hadn't found the drama itself entertaining at all.
But he remained deeply interested in music directing gigs.
It was the thrill of hearing his tracks in visuals, perhaps?
In that vein...
-[You want to do music for Super Sentai?]
Yeonwoo called Nanase to ask if he could take on music directing for content that piqued his interest.
Super Sentai.
In Korea, known as Sentai shows, famous to kids as Invincible Force or Saurous Force.
-[Yes, I really want to.]
-[Uh, um... H, I'll ask around. But they might turn it down.]
-[Huh? Why? Isn't this season wrapping up and time to prep the next Force?]
Yeonwoo asked Nanase based on his own research.
As he said, with a new Sentai every year, they should be in prep for next year's show.
That said, Sentai music directors weren't exactly iron rice bowl jobs. While a handful of people rotated through, they often brought in fresh directors with lineup changes.
-[It's the rate, I mean, the budget issue...]
Ah, adult circumstances again.
Yeonwoo thought for a moment before speaking.
-[Please tell them I'm fine with volunteer work. I really want to do it. Or even a movie.]
-[...Okay, I'll inquire.]
After hanging up with Nanase, Yeonwoo gazed excitedly at his displayed robot figures.
The colorful robots—thinking of making songs for them and Power Sentai made his chest swell.
"But..."
Music directing, Hades, Yuri & Annosuke.
With all those jobs done almost simultaneously, things had gone quiet.
"Got some free time now."
Well, that wasn't bad.
Yeonwoo started browsing YouTube for new music.
This world was overflowing with genres, instruments, and musicians he didn't know yet.
YouTube was his tool for discovering them.
Lately, though, Yeonwoo had been searching his own name more often.
Ever since revealing his identity, YouTube videos related to him had exploded.
[Yuin Track Breakdown.]
[Study Just by Reading the Sheet Music: Yuin's Songs.]
[Yuri & Annosuke Debut Showcase, Yuin Solo Cam]
[Digging into Genius Composer Yuin]
[Yuri & Annosuke Yuin Performance Straight Cam]
Six in real-time trending alone.
Yeonwoo smiled warmly at the list, checking them one by one.
Most he'd already watched three times over, but just seeing them lifted his spirits.
"Hm?"
Then a related video caught his eye.
[JOP's Ugly Truth: Evidence They Faked a Boy as a Genius Musician]
[Yuin Is a Fabricated Genius?]
[Yuin: Japan's Classic Fake Genius Ploy]
Yeonwoo's eyebrow twitched involuntarily.
"I'm fake?"
What were these people even saying? With growing irritation, Yeonwoo checked the videos one by one.
They were all shoddy montages packed with conspiracy theories.
The comments had some agreeing, but plenty unfamiliar to him like "racani" or "aggro" blasting hate.
"Damn..."
Yeonwoo scowled and started huffing.
Sure, some defended him, but so many convinced he was fake?
He'd never lied in his life—not in his 7 years—and it grated on him.
It felt like his entire life was being called a sham.
"Nanase was right."
She'd warned that revealing himself would invite skeptics.
Grandma and Aunt had said similar things.
He'd brushed it off inwardly, but seeing it firsthand was unbearable.
Was there a way to shut these people up?
Pondering, Yeonwoo shot to his feet.
"I gotta prove I'm real!"
Just show he wasn't fake.
How?
Like with Chae Hayeon singing, film himself playing or composing.
Yeonwoo flung open the studio door.
Wakana was rolling around on the sofa in the center, with nothing particular to do.
"Sis!"
"Hm? What's up?"
Yeonwoo dashed over and plopped down beside where Wakana lay, saying,
"Help me film a video!"
"Huh? What kind?"
"People are calling me fake! Gonna show 'em I'm not!"
"Who? Which bastard called our great Yuin rep fake?!"
Wakana bolted up, and Yeonwoo, still fuming, ducked back into the studio, grabbed his tablet, and showed her the YouTube vids.
"Whoa, there really are idiots... I mean, bad people exist everywhere."
"Right?! Quick, film me, sis!"
Wakana groaned as she rose.
"Alright, what're we filming?"
"Hm... I'll play piano. Film me playing piano!"
Yeonwoo pointed to the piano in the corner of the studio.
"Right now?"
"Yeah! Gotta be natural!"
"Ooh, staging a natural moment! Music directors are on another level!"
Not sure how directing tied to staging, but Yeonwoo nodded vigorously and sat at the piano.
Wakana grabbed the YouTube camera from the side.
"I'll say 'Suto!' and we start?"
"What's 'Suto'?"
"Suto! SHOT!"
"...Just say 'start,' sis."
"Got it. Ready?"
"Yeah!"
"Ready... Star-t!"
At "start," Yeonwoo didn't play right away—instead, he stood, bowed at the waist.
"Hello, I'm Yuin. Gonna play some piano."
He sat back down, placed hands on the keys, and began moving his fingers.
Wakana had been grinning goofily at his childlike charm, but her expression shifted in that moment.
Yeonwoo playing piano was different.
In just a year and a half, his piano had bloomed into something distinct from his grandma and teacher Heo Ok, or even the influence of Himari.
He'd forged his own path, reaching the pinnacle of jazz piano.
Wakana, who'd started down the engineer path after graduating a top music school and still loved music, watched enraptured, holding her breath.
Moments like this made being this genius's subordinate feel truly honorable.
Amid it, Yeonwoo fluidly swung through jazz, toying with it masterfully.
After about 30 minutes nonstop, he paused.
"This should convince people I'm not fake, right, sis?"
"Uh, well... Doubtful. Skeptics will keep doubting."
"Then I gotta keep showing them."
Yeonwoo nodded firmly, stood, and faced the camera.
"I'll upload videos more often. Thanks for watching."
He bowed again.
"Ooh, nice."
Wakana nodded, grinning in satisfaction, then asked,
"But where we posting this?"
"On the SSHIN channel, right?"
"Hm... Yeah, start there. If it blows up, make your own personal channel, Yeonwoo?"
"Talk to Aunt first, sis."
"Mm."
Yeonwoo dashed back into the studio like his work was done.
Wakana watched him go, muttering about finally having something to do, and opened her laptop.
She considered editing but recalled Yeonwoo's anger over the fake claims and decided raw footage was best.
What for the title?
Ah, perfect.
[Yuin's Free Jazz "This Is How You Do Jazz."]
The quietly uploaded video rocketed straight to real-time trending.