Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: The Viral Piano Video and First Vlog
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At some point, YouTube video lengths started to vary wildly.
In the past, most were around 10 minutes, topping out at just over 20, but these days, you had videos stretching 1 or 2 hours, alongside simple 3- or 4-minute clips or Shorts popping up nonstop.
With lengths all over the place, the content was just as diverse.
In short, it was a red ocean where creators desperately tried every genre imaginable just to survive.
So how huge would the views have to be for a video of someone silently playing piano for 30 minutes straight, no frills?
Even if it was a world-famous pianist, a video from years ago scraping by with a hundred thousand views might be lucky.
But then a video shattered those expectations and appeared on YouTube.
A clip of a 7-year-old kid silently playing free jazz for 30 minutes hit 100,000 views in a day, then drew crowds from Japan and Korea alike, reaching 300,000 by day two and climbing onto the trending page, where views exploded exponentially.
“……You know, YouTube makes no sense sometimes.”
Chae Hayeon gave that verdict after watching Yeonwoo’s video.
No sense at all.
YouTube was such a brutal red ocean that even big stars’ heavily promoted videos could flop hard, yet here was Yeonwoo, topping trends with nothing special—just 30 minutes of playing—and now breezing past a million views.
Jo Soyeon, who was hanging out with Chae Hayeon after a long time, glanced at her smartphone and chimed in.
“Well, he’s cute, for one.”
Chae Hayeon looked at Yeonwoo on the screen at those words.
His snow-white, chubby cheeks like glutinous rice cakes, his delicate and pretty features that made you blurt out “adorable,” and his lips pursed unconsciously in focus on the piano.
“Cute… yeah. Super cute.”
“Exactly. You see the comments? They’re going nuts.”
“Hmm.”
Chae Hayeon scrolled down to check the comments.
- Yuin’s too cute ㅠ Look at those tiny hands on the piano ㅠㅠㅠ
- I’d kill to pinch those cheeks just once ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
- Is this really a boy? How’s he so pretty? ㅠ
- Ooh ooh, our Yuin’s great at piano too ^^^^ Auntie’s giving pocket money!!
- ㅇㅇㅇ donated 50,000 won
- Keep uploading stuff like this, Yuin. Pocket money from me too
- ㅇㅇㅇ donated 100,000 won
- Ha… just watching heals my soul ㅠ But why’s the playing so good too?
- So this is jazz… Maybe I like jazz?
- Nah, it’s not jazz you like, it’s Yuin doing jazz, right? ㅎㅎ
- Nobody cares how insanely good this kid is at piano ㅎㅎㅎ
- I don’t know piano, but you can just tell he’s amazing?
- Not just amazing, he’s JOOOOOOONNA insanely good
- I’m in music school, showed it to my prof and they were shocked, said he’s better than them
- Came in after seeing the title like “kid thinks he knows jazz?” Nodding and out
- I go to practical music dept, prof’s a jazz guy, says not one jazz person could critique Yeonwoo’s piano
- Why?
- Yeonwoo’s grandma is Korea’s all-time #1 jazz pianist ㅎ All current pros are her juniors ㅎ Gotta beat her to say anything ㅎ
- Forget all that, can we get a vlog too, Yuin kid? ㅠ
- Vlog yes please ㅠ Too cute ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Some comments were just hyping Yeonwoo’s looks and cuteness, but others dove deeper into the music.
Sure, there were the occasional fakes, scams, or baseless hate comments, but they were rare and got wrecked in replies.
“Maybe doing YouTube was the right call after all?”
Chae Hayeon suddenly thought that if he was going to get baseless accusations anyway, better to expose a bit of his life and get that validation.
* * *
Yeonwoo seemed to think the same.
“Sis, should I try a vlog too?”
“Why?”
“Comments here are asking for one.”
“You read all the comments?”
“Yeah!”
“Why……?”
“Dunno, they make me happy.”
Wakana looked at Yeonwoo.
This small, cute, pretty kid had a hidden talent, apparently. The talent for being an attention hog.
Was that even a talent? But for anyone in entertainment, it was essential.
Loving the spotlight and craving attention fueled the drive to keep going.
“But I can’t stick to you every day, right?”
“Yeah, true. You need your own time too, sis.”
Wakana grinned at Yeonwoo’s words and handed him something.
“A camera?”
“Yeah, you do self-cam for the vlog.”
“Oh!”
Yeonwoo’s eyes went wide.
Anyone could see his face lighting up with excitement.
“But when do we start, sis?”
“I’ll handle editing, so wanna try from now?”
“Yeah!”
Yeonwoo nodded, learned how to use it from Wakana, and turned it on.
“This working, sis?”
“Yeah.”
Yeonwoo looked at the camera at her words. His face was on the attached screen.
“Um…… Hello. I’m Yeon—uh, Yuin. Lots of people asked for a vlog, so here goes.”
He switched the screen to show the full studio view.
“This is our company studio. That’s the kitchen over there, this is the sofa. Oh, this is our company engineer sis, Fujii Wakana. Wanna say hi, sis? No? This is the table, we use it for meetings or eating.”
Yeonwoo spun around, introducing the studio.
“And finally, this is my workspace. I make most music here. Sometimes read books too. Oh, this is Invincible Saur King. Everyone knows Saur Force, right?”
Yeonwoo kept chattering nonstop.
Wakana, rolling on the sofa watching, called out.
“Yeonwoo?”
“Yeah? What’s up, sis?”
“Aren’t you talking a lot?”
“But I wanna show off our studio.”
With that, Yeonwoo kept talking nonstop and plopped down in the workspace.
“Oh, hey, wanna make a song real quick?”
Yeonwoo fired up the MIDI program and started composing while rambling.
“Today I’m thinking of Uncle Yoo Jaehyuk, so let’s make some rock. Uncle’s got a unique voice, so I tailor the music just for him. That’s why it’s hard for others to sing, or sounds off if they try. Basically, only Uncle nails it perfectly.”
From laying down chords to stacking bass and instruments layer by layer, Yeonwoo showed it all and played the full track.
“Wondering if it’s okay to share everything? Eh, it didn’t turn out great, so I’m deleting it. Oh, and weekends aside, I make at least one song a day like this.”
By the time he’d chattered that much, evening rolled around.
“Ah, gotta head home now. Hm… On second thought, home vlog tomorrow morning. Gotta ask Grandma, Dad, and Aunt if it’s okay to show their faces. Why show Wakana sis’s face? She’s editing, so if she doesn’t want it, she’ll blur it herself.”
Yeonwoo said that and looked at Wakana sis, like “right?”
Wakana made an OK sign with her fingers and said,
“President Yuin. I’m heading out now. Punching out on time is a worker’s virtue, no?”
“Yes, thanks for your hard work. Oh, Wakana sis loves clocking out early. Aunt’s not always thrilled, but I’m fine with it. She needs rest at home too.”
Whether he meant to or not, Yeonwoo dissed his aunt, then said “Guess I’ll head out too” and turned off the camera.
* * *
[Yeonwoo’s Vlog: Office Edition]
Soon after, Yeonwoo’s video went up on YouTube.
As expected—or inevitable?
With interest in Yuin already sky-high and the performance video still buzzing, this vlog hit 100,000 views in hours and rocketed to trends.
-Vlogged after we asked ㅠㅠ Thanks Yuin ㅠ
-Yuin’s a genius ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-Want a kid like that ㅠ
-Yuin’s parents are so lucky, jealous ㅠ
-But our Yuin… kinda too talkative?
-He talks a ton ㅎㅎㅎ
-This isn’t how you do vlogs… ㅎㅎ;;
-Tiny dinos and robot toys in the workspace, kid’s a kid alright ㅎ
-ㅋㅋㅋ Wakana leaving work ㅋㅋㅋ Aunt’s not thrilled ㅋㅋㅋ
-Sneaky aunt diss ㅋㅋㅋ
-Never pegged Shin Jiyeong that way, too much
People watching Yeonwoo chirp like a sparrow couldn’t help but smile warmly.
Meanwhile, comments zeroed in on the song-making part.
-Wow… makes songs way too easy
-Anyone calling Yuin’s composing fake after this are real music illiterates
-Who made him do that and mimic? Mimicking that alone is genius ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ How’s a 7yo doing that ㅋㅋㅋ
-For real ㅋㅋ
-Seeing this hurts my soul more ;;; I grind teeth on assignments and never get songs that good, he just chats and bam ;
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Anyone wanna drop out with me? Yuin shows music ain’t for me ㅋ
-But guys, key point: Yuin didn’t like it so he’s deleting it ㅋㅋㅋ
-Kids, I cut out Yeonwoo’s part and AI’d Yoo Jaehyuk’s voice, check it. Shows why only he fits ㅋㅋ
-Listened… it slaps… And he’s deleting?
-What if someone rips it off?
-Rip-off how ㅋㅋㅋ Only Yoo Jaehyuk can sing it ㅋㅋ Chords so unique, no ref or homage excuses ㅋㅋ
Cyber sleuths still eyed Yeonwoo suspiciously, dragging up doubts for clicks, but as his vlogs dropped, people gradually accepted he was the real deal.
And in the midst of it……
[@SIN_JI0000
Guys I’m not that boomer annoyed at clocking out ㅠ For real ㅠ Believe me ㅠ]
Shin Jiyeong, suddenly branded a boomer by her unexpected nephew’s “exposé,” vented on her SNS.
-Yea yea sure
-We get it, President
-Suuuure you aren’t
…But no one bought it. Or rather, didn’t want to.
[@SIN_JI0000
Ugh so unfair ㅠㅠㅠ Unfair ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
The teasing had a nice ring to it.
-Maybe Yeonwoo dissed on purpose to troll?
-For real ㅋㅋㅋ Genius brat ㅋㅋㅋ
People figured Yeonwoo did it deliberately.
“Sorry Aunt, reaction’s hotter than I thought. But it’s just teasing, they don’t really believe it, right?”
“Argh, if you weren’t my nephew!!!”
…As people thought, Yeonwoo had meant it.