16
## Chapter 16 — We Found a Substitute Vocalist. A Dangerous Monster Showed Up.
In truth, <The Stretched Band> originally had one more member.
Their guitarist—
and vocalist.
In any band, the vocalist was an incredibly precious existence.
And since he also played guitar, it was only natural that his influence within the band had grown large.
He had talent too.
The former vocalist of <The Stretched Band> was still in his thirties and had once debuted with a band in Seoul before eventually returning to Haenam, so he possessed considerable professional knowledge.
At first, everything went smoothly.
<The Stretched Band> worked together tirelessly, aiming to win an award at the upcoming [Time-Traveling Haenam National Music Festival].
But then, one month before the festival—
everything exploded.
The vocalist suddenly announced he was leaving the band.
Even now, Park Sajang, the leader of <The Stretched Band>, vividly remembered that day.
‘What…? You’re leaving the band? Why?! The song’s practically finished already! And the festival’s right around the corner—!’
‘I’m sorry. A better band offered me a position. I’ve gotta make a living too, don’t I? I’m not some amateur like you old guys—I’m a full-time singer.’
To some degree, Park Sajang understood.
Unlike the other members of <The Stretched Band>, the vocalist truly was a professional singer.
For someone who lived off music, moving to a better opportunity was the rational choice.
But the real problem was his attitude—
and the timing of his departure.
‘Even so, couldn’t you at least finish this festival with us before leaving—!’
‘No thanks. What if performing at this festival makes it part of my career record that I used to play in this pathetic band?’
‘…What?’
‘Ah, seriously, pretending to respect a bunch of old geezers has been exhausting. Honestly? Your songs suck too. “A Story I Want to Tell You”? What a joke, hahaha.’
‘You little—!’
As if he’d been holding back resentment for a long time, the vocalist hurled insults at the band while leaving.
A fight broke out that very day, and the band collapsed into chaos.
Afterward, Park Sajang desperately searched for a replacement vocalist.
And that search eventually brought the young man now standing before them.
Still, Park Sajang couldn’t bring himself to expect much from the new substitute vocalist either.
Because the situation was simply too hopeless.
Only one week remained before the festival, and <The Stretched Band>’s original song wasn’t even complete yet.
Even if a young vocalist had suddenly appeared at age twenty-six, there was no way he could fix this disaster.
If he were truly that kind of genius, he’d already be famous nationwide as a singer instead of ending up here.
Even after finding a substitute vocalist…
most of <The Stretched Band> honestly believed they should just withdraw from the festival entirely.
But then—
“If it’s alright with you, could I help finish this song?”
“…E-Excuse me?”
“The song is just too good. I really want to sing it.”
The sincere words of the new substitute vocalist moved the hearts of the members of <The Stretched Band>.
“You think… our song is good?”
“Yes! The emotions inside the song feel so warm that it’s comforting. It’s still unfinished, but even the techniques used to express those emotions are excellent.”
“……”
They were amateurs.
Just middle-aged men gathered together for a hobby.
But their passion for music rivaled that of professionals.
The members of <The Stretched Band> sacrificed sleep to practice and compose.
“You all clearly worked extremely hard on this. Honestly… this song deserves so much better than being buried and forgotten.”
“……”
“I think a lot of people need to hear it.”
Having someone finally recognize all that effort—
there was no way they *wouldn’t* be moved.
Especially Park Sajang, who had suffered more than anyone else while preparing this song.
His eyes even reddened slightly as he replied:
“Thank you, kid. …Thank you so much for saying that.”
“Then… would you allow me to temporarily join <The Stretched Band>?”
At his request, Park Sajang turned toward the other members for their opinions.
But the members simply nodded immediately as though asking why he even needed to ask.
“Of course! From now on, you’re the youngest member of <The Stretched Band>. Let’s put on an amazing stage together!”
And so, <The Stretched Band> officially decided to participate in the upcoming [Time-Traveling Honam National Music Festival] after all.
Together with their newly joined substitute vocalist.
“So then, what should we start with?”
Before the festival, <The Stretched Band> had two major tasks to accomplish.
First—
finish the still incomplete song.
Second—
practice performing together as a full band.
The members had already practiced together countless times, but today was the youngest member’s very first day.
“How about we try syncing our performance first?”
“Sounds good! Let’s do it!”
Following the youngest member’s suggestion, <The Stretched Band> decided to play through the completed sections of [A Story I Want to Tell You].
After receiving the sheet music, the youngest member quickly familiarized himself with the chords and prepared.
‘Hooh… his guitar handling isn’t ordinary.’
Kim Sajang from the Gwangju Live Pub had definitely said he was a great pianist, but apparently the youngest member was highly skilled with guitar too.
The chord progression of [A Story I Want to Tell You] wasn’t particularly difficult, so there probably wouldn’t be any issue with him performing it.
And so, carrying new expectations for the youngest member, the performance began.
—♬♩ ♬♪
Park Sajang quietly admired the smooth introduction.
The youngest member, who had only arrived today, already blended naturally into <The Stretched Band> as though he’d been playing with them for years.
‘This kid’s even more impressive than I thought.’
Maybe he was even better at guitar than the former vocalist.
But then—
—♪♪ ♩~
‘……Hm?’
Park Sajang became startled by a melody that suddenly sounded different than usual.
And he quickly realized why.
Ding ding ding—, ding-di-di-ding.
The guitar was originally supposed to be played with simple strumming here—
but the youngest member was using arpeggios instead.
‘A mistake? …No, doesn’t seem like it.’
The sudden rearrangement caught them off guard, but the experienced members of <The Stretched Band> immediately adapted to match the new guitar arrangement.
And then—
—♬♪♬ ♩♬ ♪♬
‘……Oh?’
The performance, which originally felt somewhat plain, suddenly became astonishingly rich.
The sweet atmosphere of the introduction deepened the immersion and added dimensionality to the song itself.
‘What the—?!’
Afterward, the youngest member continued spontaneously rearranging portions of [A Story I Want to Tell You].
He didn’t destroy the overall structure—
he only made subtle changes to small details.
But those tiny adjustments completely transformed the song.
‘Was my song always this good?’
For a moment, Park Sajang felt genuine awe.
But as the first verse approached, worry crept into his heart.
The problem was emotion.
[A Story I Want to Tell You] was a song Park Sajang wrote to comfort his son after he failed the college entrance exam.
The emotions parents felt toward their children were more special than anything else.
But this young man obviously didn’t even have children…
Could he truly express the emotions of a parent comforting their child?
Yet contrary to those worries—
—*I saw you crying on your bed in a dark room*
‘……Huh?’
The moment the youngest member began singing the first verse, every member of <The Stretched Band> flinched simultaneously.
—*Even if I tell you it’s okay, you probably won’t believe me*
—*But it really is okay*
Beautiful.
A beautiful song wasn’t created simply through good vocal technique.
Emotion suited to the song.
Only when fitting emotion and excellent singing ability fused together could a truly beautiful performance emerge.
And right now—
the perfect combination of emotion and vocal skill poured into the ears of <The Stretched Band>.
“……”
“……”
The beautiful song ended in an instant, and the members all sat there blankly, still trapped in the lingering aftertaste.
Especially Park Sajang, the composer of [A Story I Want to Tell You], who seemed utterly dazed.
‘What… did I just hear?’
Was that really *my* song? That breathtaking performance?
But the youngest member who sang it simply smiled as though he had no idea what kind of impact he’d just made.
Like a child discovering a brand-new toy, he eagerly examined the sheet music and began suggesting fresh arrangement ideas.
“What if we added narration before the introduction?”
“…Narration?”
“Yes. I think a sincere narration would highlight the emotional introduction even more.”
The ideas the youngest member proposed never damaged the original atmosphere of the song.
Instead, they enriched the emotions further.
And just like that, the song that had remained stagnant for an entire week suddenly evolved rapidly into a far more complete form.
“T-This is…”
“S-Something incredible was just born…!”
“This already sounds good enough to record officially right now…”
And all of this happened within just one hour of the substitute vocalist joining <The Stretched Band>.
At this point, even fools could understand.
The young man introduced by Kim Sajang from the Gwangju Live Pub—
was a genius.
Not merely by Haenam standards either.
The kind of genius rarely seen even in crowded Seoul.
‘Why is someone like this here…?’
The members of <The Stretched Band> stared at him in disbelief and asked:
“…Maknae. Who exactly are you?”
“…Excuse me?”
But the newest and youngest member simply tilted his head innocently, as though he couldn’t understand what the problem was.
Looking at that pure and harmless expression, the members of <The Stretched Band> thought:
This festival—
might achieve results far beyond anything they originally imagined.
---
“Haa…”
Reporter Kim Bori of *Hyeonseong Daily*, who had now been staying in Haenam for a full week, sighed deeply while scrolling endlessly through Instagram posts.
“This creep person… why won’t he show up already?”
No matter how much she searched, creep’s third mural—something she’d expected to appear quickly in Haenam—was nowhere to be found.
“Did White Goose Grandpa maybe lie to me? …No, he didn’t seem like that type of person.”
According to White Goose Grandpa, creep had definitely headed toward Haenam.
Could it be that creep simply wasn’t planning to paint a mural here?
“Huu… not knowing anything about the situation is seriously frustrating.”
Having lived her entire life in Seoul, Kim Bori had no connections in Haenam and could only waste boring days waiting for creep’s next mural to appear.
And just as she continued mindlessly scrolling Instagram—
“…Hm?”
One promotional post suddenly caught her eye.
“[Time-Traveling Haenam National Music Festival]…? Looks like there’s some kind of festival today.”
Looking closer, it seemed to be a fairly famous music festival in the Jeolla region.
Everyone from newcomers to somewhat famous singers would be participating.
And apparently prizes would be awarded to the best performers.
“Oh, this actually looks fun. And admission’s free too.”
The festival venue was also located close to her lodging.
There was still plenty of time before it started, so if she left now, she could probably get a good seat.
More importantly—
she loved music just as much as she loved art.
“Ah… should I go or not?”
After staring at the still utterly silent Instagram feed for a while longer, Kim Bori finally stood up.
“Whatever. Just for today, I’m taking a break.”
For the past week, she had endlessly searched Instagram.
She had even visited places where creep might potentially paint murals—
yet still failed to find him.
“If someone saw me right now, they’d think I was hopelessly in love with creep or something.”
Kim Bori, whose mind had been filled with nothing but creep this entire time, decided to forget about him for one day at least.
“Today I’m putting down the reporter identity and just enjoying music.”
And so, art reporter Kim Bori—
or rather, simply twenty-nine-year-old Kim Bori who loved music—
temporarily forgot about the faceless painter creep and happily headed toward the music festival.