Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: The Birth of Mirodan
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"Cough! Ack! I'm really sorry!"
Hyun-su, who hadn't expected to spit out his drink like that himself, jumped up from his seat in shock at the sight of me covered in latte in an instant.
At the same time, the few people around us all turned their gazes our way.
'...Thank goodness my makeup is light.'
I usually did my makeup borrowing the memories of the real Kim Suhyun when going out, but it was lighter today, which was truly a relief. If it had been heavy, wiping it off would have been a huge hassle.
"No, it's fine, so please sit down."
I was startled too, but seeing Hyun-su even more flustered than me actually calmed me down.
I sat him back down, hoping to draw the aggro away, but since both of us had looks that were hard to ignore, I could still feel people glancing over.
I wanted to sigh, but that would just make the high school kid in front of me even more self-conscious, so I sighed inwardly and pulled out a tissue to wipe my face.
"Uh... Let me compensate you for the clothes..."
He had spat so forcefully that even my usual white tee was stained brown.
Well, it wasn't expensive anyway, so I shook my head.
"It's just a plain tee, so it's fine."
"Uh... Here, take this to cover up at least..."
With that, he pulled a thin school uniform cardigan out of his bag and handed it to me.
It did feel a bit awkward wearing just the stained white tee, so I quickly took it and put it on.
Honestly, the cafe's AC had me feeling a bit chilly, and the cardigan fit perfectly. Plus, Hyun-su had a slim build, so it suited me just right.
"The cardigan makes it less chilly. Nice. Do you always carry one? It's getting warmer out."
"Ah, the school AC is too strong, so I do."
"Wow."
Carrying a cardigan because the AC is too strong?
I ran my own AC at home too, but school AC must be on another level.
"Uh... Are you really okay with not getting compensated for the clothes?"
"What compensation? If you insist, just give me this cardigan. It fits perfectly, and the design's great."
The cardigan Hyun-su gave me was so well-designed that it could pass for something from a store, school logo aside.
Of course, I wasn't actually planning to take it—I'd said it jokingly—but Hyun-su nodded.
"Got it. I'll give you that cardigan."
"Huh? No, I was joking. Aren't school uniforms expensive these days? This white tee of mine was cheap."
And honestly, what would a full-grown adult do with a school cardigan?
The real Kim Suhyun's high school cardigan from back then was still stuffed in the closet at her parents' house.
"No, think of it as covering the cost of my rudeness too."
But Hyun-su already looked resolved to give it to me.
I really didn't need it, though?
Taking it off and giving it back now would be awkward... I looked down at the cardigan I was wearing.
The school logo on the chest was a bit iffy, but thinking about it, I could even pretend to be a student, and it'd be great for casual outings.
Was it actually pretty good?
"Th...then, I'll gratefully accept it."
It felt a bit like extorting a student, but Hyun-su was probably richer than me.
I'd just noticed—his shoes, the watch on his wrist, everything screamed luxury beyond a typical student.
"Yeah, I have spares."
"Oh, spares, huh."
"Then... shall we get back to talking about the song?"
Once I agreed to take the cardigan, Hyun-su cautiously shifted the topic.
I wanted to break the awkward air anyway, so I nodded quickly.
"Yeah, let's talk about Wonderland."
"Yes. What do you think? The whole song's in that notebook."
"Hmm..."
I recalled the notebook's contents at Hyun-su's question.
The first page was filled with scattered words in disarray.
As the pages turned, those words gradually connected, forming sentences, and soon musical notes appeared one by one.
Watching words scattered everywhere turn into sentences, lyrics, and eventually a full story was fun in itself, but what I liked was the lyrics.
"The lyrics are pretty. Felt more like a Japanese song than Korean."
Burning youth, going straight ahead—words that might seem cringy at a glance were woven in so well.
"Ahaha... You think so?"
"Then my part is here, right? Where the tension drops."
"Oh, you got it right away."
"Could I hear it now, maybe?"
"Ah, sure, of course. Should I send it?"
"Yes."
The melody was written in the notebook too, but now that I'd seen it, I wanted to hear it.
I received the song from Hyun-su and listened.
As expected, it started with upbeat rhythm and high tension.
Where was the calm, mature guy from moments ago? In my earphones, Slim Gold was energetically shouting instead of Hyun-su.
Lyrics and tension overflowing with ambition and confidence to create his own Wonderland, ignoring the stares—then the tension cuts.
The instrumentation gradually fades, revealing inner thoughts.
Not rapid-fire words in the upbeat rhythm, but a slow piano accompanying a candid confession of inner fears, anxieties, hesitations.
Then the beat picks up again, hitting the highlight as the song's tension surges, ending with upbeat instrumentation.
In under four minutes, it poured out ambition and anxiety alike. I smiled.
"So I'm handling the inner part, huh?"
"That's right."
The song was overall high-toned. A high male vocal carries through, then a female low tone anchors it before exploding back.
"Nice."
Not bad at all. With lyrics already done, I just needed to focus on singing well.
"It'll be tough."
"I know. Gotta put the emotion in."
People sometimes mistake it—if the notes aren't high, if the tempo's slow, they think it's easy.
No, compared to songs that build tempo and pitch step by step, holding the whole song steady from a low place without letting notes scatter wildly requires true high skill.
No fast speed, no high notes—just anchoring the song's weight.
Purely with emotion and tone.
Emotion might take time...
But tone? I was born with it.
The emotional delivery would need practice, but that's solvable.
Above all, I liked the song, so I stamped my approval and left the cafe that day.
***
[So you officially signed the contract?]
"Yes, the song's good."
[Oh... That good?]
"I don't know about the rest, but you can look forward to the one I'm on."
[Great. I'll look forward to it.]
"Yes, but of course, we gotta solve this issue first."
[....]
For some reason, the manager's silence left me speechless.
I'd thrown it out as a joke, but maybe it hit like a stone for him.
"Uh... Don't worry too much. I'll handle it."
[You know that makes me more anxious?]
"Huh?"
[Miro-nim, you're so reliable in collabs and group schedules, but your solo streams... I don't know why they make me so nervous.]
"Haha... Confirmation bias?"
[I hope so...]
Well, I get where the manager's coming from. I do tend to speak freely on solo streams. But honestly, I've never crossed that so-called line into truly hate-bait territory.
"But I've always pulled through somehow, right?"
[True...]
"Trust me this time too."
[Alright... Try mediating first, and if not, we'll need more meetings on this.]
"Got it for now."
[Yup, good luck.]
Ending the call with the manager, I slumped back in my chair and sighed.
Whew... Morning meeting for the song collab, afternoon one-on-one with the manager. Busy day.
Am I living too frantically lately?
Thinking that, I prepped for the stream.
Perfect timing—none of the other members were streaming.
Best chance to draw max viewers.
[Miro Major Announcement]
I hit start with the title packed full of aggro.
-???
-What?
-Hi hi
-Miro-nim, my first live
-Graduation ㄷㄷ
-Second song already?
-Who are you to make announcements lol
-Miro-nim, loved the song
-Song requests today?
-Miro ain't karaoke, newbies shut up Daknunsam
Already a dizzying mess of a chat window.
Ignoring it, I got straight to the point.
"Alright, everyone, major announcement time."
-Major announcement ㄷㄷ..
-What is it??
"Don't we need a fan name by now?"
Idols inevitably share their existence with many fans.
And for those fans to bond, don't they need a name to call themselves?
-Yeah we do
-Others made theirs ages ago
-Vote go go
-Candidates??
Chat lit up at the fan name idea.
-Miro so Minotaur?
-Miro broth shortened to Miluksu
-Ao look at these trolly naming senses
-Just simple one go go
-Vote in cafe?
Usually, fan names are decided with fans.
But could a disorganized mass like this decide anything?
This calls for a leader's strong resolve and push.
"Alright, from now on, you're all Mirodan."
-???
-What?
-Already decided?
-Why ask then you idiot
As expected, chat erupted the moment I said it.
"Look at the title again. Where's any talk of discussion?"
[Artisan Miro-nim, 10,000 won donation! Thank you!]
Are you going full dictator now?
-Huh
-What
-(Notepad open)
"Thanks for the 10k donation. Lately, newbies and regulars keep fighting, right?"
-Yeah
-Newbie trolly bastards won't shut up Daknunsam lol
Even as I mentioned it, these viewers wouldn't behave.
Even the big donor chairman who'd just donated was in there trash-talking newbies.
To unite a chaotic interior, a leader needs strong performance.
"Alright, someone chatted: -Newbie trolly bastards won't shut up Daknunsam lol-"
I clicked the chat I'd eyed and pulled up their log.
[Artisan Miro]
-Huh
-Haejang-nim lol
-Fave nick busted lol
"Our big donor, right? Been here since early days. Let's see... 67 temp bans, 3 force kicks? One was me, the other two managers."
Of course, my stream had managers on chat duty.
They picked from early viewers, so even heavy swearing got just a 5-min temp ban. Getting kicked twice by them?
"Chat history... Whew... This bitch, that bitch, old hag... Every curse under the sun?"
-lololololololol
-Is this room always like this??
-Too much ;
-Haejang level check
-Public execution
-Ban him?
-A bit less donation and it'd be permaban already yeah
"Alright, that's enough of that. Next, a newbie. Picking a random new nick."
I put chat on screen and clicked one on the spot, pulling the log.
"Followed today, 15 chats, 0 temp bans, 0 kicks. Super clean."
-Kya lol
-Big things from newbies yeah
-So ban Haejang?
-We gotta chat like saints?
"No, what I'm saying is..."
I scrolled the chairman's log to the top first chat, putting it on screen next to the newbie's.
"See? Pretty similar, right?"
And they were strikingly alike.
-Wow what
-lololololol
-Alt account?
-Early probing lol
"Conclusion: Newbie or chairman, you're both my viewers—Mirodan. No need to pick sides. Representatives, shake hands."
-Kya
-Great Leader Mi Ro
-Why they shaking?
-So Mirodan just decided?
-Is this room always like this?
"Alright, hands out."
Ignoring chat reactions, I focused on the performance.
Reason I picked the big-donating chairman from all those toxic chats? For this exact moment.
[Artisan Miro] : Hand
A viewer with love for my stream, right? Of course they'd play along first.
And with all eyes on it...
The random newbie I picked on screen would extend too, naturally.
I quietly reached under the desk and tapped my phone.
[rlatn5542] : Hand
"Alright, handshake done, everyone. No more fighting from now on."
-Kya lololol
-Record in history?
-Eyes tearing up...
-Hey newbie, this acknowledgment is one-time only
And so, I peacefully resolved the first issue.
Looks like I have leader qualities after all.