The Song That Conquered the World
At first, it was just one person. As soon as a customer who recognized Park Jihun cautiously approached him, the gazes of those around them began to fixate on him. They weren't staring openly, but he could feel the eyes darting back and forth between their phones and his face. Park Jihun set down his coffee cup and said, "......Let's move somewhere else."
Usik, sitting across from him, blinked. "Why? I haven't finished this yet."
"Can't you see people keep glancing over here?"
Usik chuckled. "Hey, that's the fate of a superstar."
"Stop joking around. Are we going or not?" The café felt like a bed of thorns.
"Alright, alright. Let's go get something to eat. You have to turn your stream on later anyway."
"What are we eating?"
"How about sundaegukbap (blood sausage soup)? There's a new place in the next neighborhood that's supposed to be good."
"Sounds good. Let's go."
As they stepped out of the café, a cold wind hit them. A bowl of hot soup sounded like the perfect way to end the day. After walking for about ten minutes, the new sundaegukbap restaurant came into view. Even though it was still early evening, the place was packed.
"This is it."
"It's crowded."
"I told you it was a good spot."
They stepped inside. Fortunately, there was one empty table left in the back. Once seated, they ordered two bowls of soup. That was when it happened.
"Oh?" The man at the counter let out a surprised sound. He froze for a moment before jumping up and rushing over. His face was a mix of shock and delight.
"E-excuse me......" His eyes were locked on Park Jihun. "You're the 'Perpetual Job Seeker', right?"
Jihun looked at the man. The face wasn't entirely unfamiliar. It overlapped somewhere with the impressions that had flashed by when his Shinan was open.
"Wow, it really is you."
"......Who are you?"
"I'm 'SilentRoom'. Don't you remember me?"
"Ah."
"You remember?"
"You're the one who asked for business advice back then."
SilentRoom's face lit up. "That's right. I told you I was scouting locations to open a sundaegukbap shop."
"Yes. I remember."
"Wow, seriously......" He couldn't finish his sentence for a moment. He looked absolutely overjoyed. "You told me back then. You said the location was great, but I should never, ever take on a business partner."
"I did."
"I changed my mind after hearing that." SilentRoom laughed sheepishly and lowered his voice. "I found out later that the guy had a lot of debt and had a bad reputation for money issues at his previous job."
"......"
"I heard he opened a shop with a different friend instead, and they've completely fallen out now. If I had gone into business with him, I would've been ruined in a few months."
Jihun silently scanned the restaurant. It was early, yet every seat was taken. "Business is going well, I see."
"Yes. All thanks to you." SilentRoom smiled. "We even have a line on weekends. Even on weekdays, it fills up by this time."
Usik, listening from the side, exclaimed, "Wow, that's incredible. You completely changed your life just by cutting off one partner."
Jihun didn't say much, just lifted his water glass. Just then, a server brought two bowls of soup and set them on the table. Steam rose from the earthenware pots. SilentRoom immediately told the server, "Bring a special order of boiled pork to table 6 as well."
"Yes, boss."
He then looked at Jihun. "This is on me."
"Oh, that's alright. You don't have to do that."
"No, I insist. I have to at least do this."
Usik grinned. "Thank you, boss. We'll enjoy it."
"Don't mention it. Enjoy your meal."
As SilentRoom walked away, Usik laughed. "Man, my friend who used to be a perpetual job seeker is now getting treated to meals by restaurant owners."
"Enough. Just eat."
"Sure, sure. Digging in."
Usik took a spoonful of the broth and his eyes widened. "Wow, this place really is a hidden gem. This broth is killer."
Jihun also took a spoonful. It was rich. It was no wonder the place was packed. A moment later, the boiled pork arrived. He picked up a piece and popped it in his mouth; it was tender and savory. By the time they finished, the restaurant was even more crowded than before. Outside, a line had already started to form. Usik glanced through the glass door as they stepped out.
"Business is really booming."
Jihun looked inside as well. SilentRoom was frantically serving customers. His face showed more excitement than fatigue. "I suppose so."
Then, Usik turned to Jihun and said, "But you're going to start feeling uncomfortable outside, too."
"......"
"Like at the café earlier, and here. At this rate, won't you be unable to even eat a meal in peace?"
Jihun sighed briefly. "That's why I'm not going to eat out for a while."
That evening, Park Jihun sat at his desk and looked at his monitor. He had just turned on his stream.
"Hello."
Viewers began to enter the chat one by one.
Jihun scrolled through the chat and parted his lips. "I won't be taking requests right away. I'm going to look at the community and comment reactions first. I'll take requests in a bit."
Jihun pulled up the community tabs. Internet broadcasting boards, entertainment boards, and real-time issues appeared on the screen. "I'll just look at the usual ones."
He slowly scanned the list of posts. There were clips of his stream, and some clickbait posts with flashy titles. Under a post that had re-uploaded the video of the Han Yu-na incident, a fight was breaking out over whether it was staged or not.
He flipped through the real-time issues tab and returned to the entertainment board. His cursor stopped in the middle.
[Levinael comeback song teaser is out]
It was posted by an anonymous user. The view count was only 13. Jihun clicked on the post. It contained a YouTube teaser video from their official account. "Let's take a look."
He played the video. It was short. The members' faces flashed by under dim lighting. A snippet of the music video passed, the screen transitioned, and the chorus played. At that moment, Jihun's gaze froze. Even though it was a brief melody, it was familiar. It was the very same chorus people were humming under the billboards in Times Square, New York.
Jihun watched the video to the end in silence. 'So the kid who got a reading back then was a member of that team.'
As the video ended, reactions flooded the chat.
The reactions were generally cold. Then, questions poured into the chat.
Jihun opened his mouth. "My thoughts?"
Jihun continued, "This was the song."
Jihun said as if it were nothing, "This is that song I mentioned before."
The chat exploded.
Jihun smirked. "We'll just have to wait and see." He took his hand off the mouse and said, "That's enough of that, let's take requests now."
A few days passed since Jihun watched the Levinael teaser. It was the first day of their comeback. As soon as the music video was released, the company staff began checking the reactions in real-time. The first few minutes weren't bad, but it couldn't climb any higher. The comments were similar.
Rabin, who was monitoring, bit her lip. Neither the team leader nor the staff could easily speak. The atmosphere grew heavy.
"......It's only the first day of release." Someone said that, but it wasn't a comfort. Half a day passed. Then, a staff member watching overseas reactions shouted in surprise, "Oh? Wait a minute."
Everyone looked at him. He scrolled through the screen and said, "This...... it's getting reactions from overseas short-form platforms and reaction channels?"
"What?" The A&R team leader checked the monitor. Videos of people singing along to the chorus or short edits were popping up one after another. There were only a few at first, but the numbers were growing every time they refreshed.
"Wait, this is for real?"
"No, how is this happening?"
Rabin hurriedly checked her phone. The office air, which had been sluggish until just a moment ago, changed in an instant. Someone muttered blankly, "Is this really happening?"
Rabin looked down at her phone in silence. She couldn't believe the situation. Then, Park Jihun's words came back to her: 「It will hit it big overseas first.」 It was exactly as he had said.
That night, Park Jihun turned on his stream as usual. "Hello." The chat moved much faster than usual the moment he went live.
Jihun scanned the chat. The number of viewers was growing noticeably fast. "Why are you all so noisy?"
Jihun moved his mouse without a word. "Is it that good? Let's listen to it once."
Soon, Levinael's song filled the stream. The reactions of people who had called it ambiguous just days ago had completely flipped.
Jihun watched the screen in silence. The chat was already completely submerged in talk about the song. Then, someone typed in the chat.
Jihun closed the chat after a quick glance. He was about to turn on the priority system when—
Ding-dong! A donation alert rang out loudly.
The chat froze for a moment, then exploded. Along with it, a donation message appeared.
The chat shook even more violently. Jihun cut them off without hesitation. "Get in line."