You Don't Listen to Rock (7)
"Yes. It's the student council president you all love, Yujin."
"Seol Yujin! Seol Yujin!"
"Yusuke!!!"
"Is there anything you can't do?!"
"He's my man!"
As I pulled out one of my in-ears, the voices of my classmates came through loud and clear.
Yujin, who had also taken out one of her in-ears, was waving to the crowd, her body swaying to the rhythm.
"Honorably, Yujin and I have been tasked with closing out the Hwayeon Stage. And yes, thanks to your support—and the support of a certain someone—we'll be performing two songs. Even though it was incredibly last-minute."
I glanced over at Yujin as I spoke.
Hearing my words, Yujin turned to look at me too... but, well, that was it.
"Ah, just so you know, Yujin is currently banned from speaking. They said it's to make the performance more dramatic later on. That's why she even went and changed her clothes. I really didn't want to wear a dress shirt because of the sweat, though."
Thump, thump!
"See? Not even Shin-chan could stop me right now."
I shrugged, joking around.
Yujin was trying to get her point across in every way possible—stomping her feet, gesturing for me to shut up—but the more she did, the more I wanted to tease her.
But I was the mature one here.
"I feel like I'll be in big trouble if I tease her any further, so let's get straight to the point."
Yujin glared at me sharply, as if warning me that she was watching.
Only after I nodded to show I understood did she finally look back toward the front.
"Here's what you're probably most curious about. Drums, bass, guitar, keyboard. There are clearly only two of us, so why are there four instruments on stage? And just how amazing is this hidden song we're about to play?"
"Yusuke! Are you going to show us the Shadow Clone Jutsu?!"
"As if. ...What we've prepared is a game for you all to guess the song we're playing."
"Ooh...!"
Fortunately, my classmates seemed to find the idea entertaining.
Swallowing the chuckle that slipped out at Min-ho's ridiculous comment, I continued.
"To give you the first hint, the genre of the song is J-Pop. It's by a very famous artist and it's a very famous song, so I don't think there's anyone here who doesn't know it."
"My guess! Mrs. GREEN APPLE, Yoasobi, back number, RADWIMPS, Official HIGE DANDism!"
"I don't know about that, just play some Vaundy!"
The gym instantly turned into a guessing game.
Perhaps because J-Pop was so popular lately, the names of countless artists were thrown around.
"The correct answer has actually been mentioned. I won't say who it is yet since we still have to play, but I'll tell you that they're a solo artist. Now..."
Before the guessing game could spiral out of control, I quickly put my in-ear back in.
"First, I'll be playing the drums."
I pushed the microphone slightly aside, rolled up my sleeves, and gripped the drumsticks.
I turned my head and made eye contact with the music teacher over in the broadcasting booth.
The moment our eyes met—
Tick, tick, tick, tick.
Four counts echoed through my in-ear.
Matching my movements to the steady beat of the metronome, I moved my foot...
Boom—!
Crash—!!
I struck the crash cymbals on both sides and stepped on the kick pedal, starting the performance.
It was a classic 8-beat rhythm.
A simple progression that only required repeating the snare and hi-hat, but...
-Put some soul into it! Soul!
-...So you want a dynamic fill-in? Should I use the double pedal to split the beat even more?
-Oh? I didn't think that far, but I like it. How about a sextuplet triplet right here?
-......?
The girl was making ridiculous demands.
Just because she wasn't the one playing the drums, she was asking for the moon.
Drrr-dum-crash-tatata!
-That's my boy! You can do it!
-...I hate my own talent sometimes.
Well, even I didn't expect to pull it off after only half a day of practice.
Clang—!
I wrapped up the intro with a powerful, wrist-punishing fill-in.
After that, the song settled into a clean, steady beat until the chorus, which might have sounded a bit plain on its own, but...
"Whoaaaaaa!!"
The excited expressions of my classmates, their swaying bodies, and the vibrations of their cheers penetrating my in-ears...
Even without hearing them clearly, I could feel with every fiber of my being how hyped they were.
They shouldn't be getting this excited already, though.
"Bass!!"
Thrum—, thrummm—!!
The bass layered over the drums.
Since its role was to hold down the rhythm alongside the drums, the progression itself was simple, but it was still an ensemble.
As we rode the groove of each other's playing, I could see our classmates bouncing along to the beat.
Ba-dum-tsss—!
Right before the highlight, I stopped playing.
"Are you crazy?!"
"What is this?! What song is this?!"
"Aaaaargh! How could you stop there?!"
The moment I pulled out my in-ears, the crowd's "compliments" flooded in.
It was a chaotic mix of slang, but it was clear they loved it.
"Did anyone figure out the song from that?"
"How could we?! It was just an awesome performance!"
"I felt like I almost had it, but you cut it off! Let us hear the guitar!"
"Ah, damn! I know I've heard this somewhere!"
Most of them looked utterly baffled.
Even so, the self-proclaimed J-Pop experts in the crowd threw out various titles in an attempt to guess, but none of them were correct.
"Yujin, do you think anyone got it right?"
Shake, shake. Thump, thump!
"What's going on? I thought at least one person would get it, but nobody did."
"Wait, is it really J-Pop? You're telling me this isn't DAY6?"
"My guess! Spitz's 'Cherry'!"
Shake, shake!!
Yujin crossed her arms in a giant X and shook her head vigorously at their guesses.
Even from the side, I could see her grinning, clearly thrilled that no one had guessed it yet.
"Well, in that case, I guess we have no choice but to jump straight into the song."
"One more chance! Give us one more chance!"
"Opportunity only knocks once. Unfortunately, you missed it."
"Dammit!"
Smirking, I looked toward the broadcasting booth.
As soon as the music teacher gestured that the volume was lowered, I unplugged my in-ear cable from the mixer.
Then, I stood up from my seat...
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"Seriously, is there anything you can't do?!"
In front of the drums sat a guitar. I plugged my in-ear cable into the new gear and slung the guitar over my shoulder.
"Why don't you two just run the whole school..."
Of course, Yujin did the same. She carefully placed the bass she was holding onto its stand and moved over to the keyboard.
"Is 'Yujin' just a synonym for the strongest in the world..."
"No way. Seriously, what even are you guys?"
"As a 34th-generation descendant of the Gangneung Ham clan, I, Ham Yun-seong, acknowledge you. You guys are the GOATs."
While our classmates shouted all sorts of nonsense, we prepared to play.
We were closer now than before. Since she was right next to me when I turned my head, it was easy to check on each other.
Nod.
Yujin tilted her head, gesturing toward the crowd with a sidelong glance.
It was a playful look, telling me to show them what we had.
Twang—, strum—, screeech—!
I stepped on the pedal to engage the distortion.
As the sharp, gritty sound of the lightly plucked strings filled the auditorium, the noisy crowd's attention instantly snapped back to the stage.
"Kyaaaaah! Oh my god, I love this!"
"Whoaaaa?!"
"This is insane!"
Well, the downside was that they had gotten even louder than expected, but at least I had their attention.
Slide...
Leaving the cheers behind, I popped the pick between my teeth.
I loosened my tie slightly with my right hand and swept back my bangs. Yujin, who had finished adjusting her microphone, gave me a nod.
Seeing her bright smile, a faint grin slipped onto my face as well.
I put my in-ear back in and gripped the pick once more.
———.
The space fell dead silent in an instant.
I glanced toward the broadcasting booth, and the monotonous count echoed in my ears once again.
Tick, tick, tick, tick.
Holding my breath, I looked at Yujin, who would be listening to the same metronome beat.
She looked back at me and grinned.
"Let's go."
Crash—!!
The crash cymbal exploded with power.
Although the drums were pre-recorded, the arrangement and progression were identical to what I had just played.
To our classmates, it would feel as if another version of me, hidden from view, was playing live...
Thrum—!
Clang—!!
The bass Yujin had recorded earlier layered over it. Combined with the electric guitar and keyboard we were playing now, the identity of the song—which had been impossible to guess from just the bass and drums—was finally revealed in the intro.
"Sing along with me!"
Yujin, who had kept her mouth shut the entire time, shouted with a bright, childlike smile.
Because of my in-ears, I couldn't hear the crowd's cheers.
Clap—! Clap—!
Hands raised high above heads.
"———!!"
Mouths that refused to stay still.
Along with pure, radiant smiles and excited, restless swaying.
They were expressing with their entire bodies that all of this came from the music we were making, and my heart couldn't help but swell.
"What's the title of this song?!"
Of course, Yujin was jumping up and down in excitement, making me look relatively calm by comparison...
But even so—
"You Don't Listen to Rock!!"
I, too, loved this stage.
A heavy drum and bass.
A guitar and keyboard running wild over them.
The vocals were clean and straightforward, stripped of any unnecessary embellishments.
You had said:
That to make this song stand out, we had to look completely free.
So, our outfits were dress shirts and ties, with our vests cast aside.
Our movements were as dynamic as possible, and our expressions brighter than ever.
Honestly, it sounded obvious.
And I didn't think it would be that hard, but...
"Ah. It's not working...?"
It had been almost two years since I played the bass, and I had only been learning the keyboard for three months.
I realized all at once how greedy I was being, trying to sing on top of all that.
So, I understood.
"Hey, what are you doing? Are you playing around right now?"
"Hey"?
"Are you playing around"?
You could have said it gently like you usually did, but your feedback was dead serious.
You picked apart my mistakes so thoroughly that I wondered if you were really the one who had been dragged here against your will. A surge of frustration welled up inside me.
What was this? Was he taking advantage of the situation?
Was he just letting it all out because he finally had the chance?
...Well, I knew better than anyone that you weren't that kind of person.
Instead of wallowing in self-pity, I practiced.
Even after our practice sessions ended, I went home and cut back on sleep to practice the bass and keyboard. The progress I made felt incredibly satisfying to me, but...
Wait, you want me to express even more?
If I went any wilder than this, I'd have to perform like someone possessed. What if I lost my pace and made a mistake? I was a total mess just a few days ago!
Pouting, I argued back out of a tiny—really, just a tiny bit of—spite. But you answered without even changing your expression.
You told me it was fine if I forgot how to play the keyboard, and to just do whatever I wanted.
That if I couldn't enjoy it like I was doing now, it would all be meaningless.
...I was stunned.
I was sure I had acted perfectly.
I thought I had smiled as if nothing was wrong, even when I kept making mistakes because it had been so long since I played. But you knew exactly what was in my heart, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
I was the one who suggested we do this together.
I was the one who suggested we play two instruments each.
And yet, I was the one who kept messing up during practice...
And I was the one who shamelessly laughed it off as if it were nothing.
It would have been normal for you to get angry.
I had almost wanted you to get angry.
Because then, my competitive streak would have kicked in, and I would have forced myself to make it work.
Because I wanted to find an excuse, any excuse, to cast off the weight that was dragging me down.
"Let's call it a day."
So when you ended practice early, saying we couldn't go on like this, I felt a secret sense of relief.
Even though it solved nothing, I was cowardly relieved.
I was such a fool.
"Go somewhere with me tomorrow."
Even though I had known you for five years...
Like an idiot, I had forgotten what kind of person you were.
"...Where are we?"
"Just put on the wristband."
A live music club in Hongdae.
You took me to the second-floor balcony, where we had the best view of the band.
It was an indie band I had never heard of.
The songs they sang, the crowd of barely thirty people, the shabby interior—none of it matched the grand stage I had dreamed of, but...
"...Wow."
My heart pounded.
Without realizing it, my mouth fell open as I was swept away by the atmosphere they created.
Even though the music wasn't my usual style.
Even though it wasn't a stage filled with roaring cheers.
I listened, completely losing track of time, and when they announced the end of the set, I screamed for an encore at the top of my lungs.
And then.
And then...
"Let's go practice."
I wanted to be someone who shone on stage, just like them.
"Follow me."
It was a sudden request.
Yet you smirked as if you had been waiting for it and led the way, while I followed behind, still dazed by my own words.
Yes, just like always, you knew exactly what I was thinking.
I pulled up a rough sheet music on my phone and played the bass along to it. The rhythm, which had always lagged a little, locked in perfectly that day.
Even my pitch, which usually faltered when I focused too hard on the keyboard, stayed clean and steady.
"...I did it. I actually did it!"
"Yeah. You did. We can go with this."
I jumped up and down right there.
Even I couldn't believe I had pulled it off, but you just nodded as if it were only natural and asked to run it one more time.
That was when there were barely two days left until the festival.
For my sake, you spent the remaining two days living in the practice room with me.
And then———
"Don't mess up up there, girl. I'll be watching, and I'll give you a piece of my mind if you do."
"A real woman doesn't sweat the small stuff. Isn't that how the saying goes?"
You believed in me until the very end.
You supported me, time and time again.
So—
"Let's go, Yujin."
This stage is for you.
"One last time!!"
I took my hands off the keyboard and ran to the front of the stage.
It was completely unscripted, but you smoothly filled the gap with an ad-lib as if you had been expecting it all along.
———!!
Believing in you, who believed in me, I sang with everything I had.
I sang while holding your gaze.
Even though you probably don't know the feelings behind my song...
If my song can reach you even a little bit more.
If my heart can be with you just a little longer.
I will sing song after song, acting like a spoiled child to you.
Even if it ends in heartbreak—
"Whoaaaaaa!!"
"The treasure of Hwayeon Middle School!!"
"I'm crying!!! I'm listening to rock starting today!!!"
I will navigate my way through this love.