It Should Be Fine Just Once
Hello! I'm Baek Yerin!
As soon as Baek Yerin greeted everyone with her bright voice, a massive cheer exploded from the video playing on my phone.
It was a fancam from her university festival performance.
I watched it with a contented smile.
Yeah. The makeup and outfit she wore that day were straight-up legendary.
Why did Baek Yerin's aura keep rising with every passing day...?
She really was the singer who held the undisputed top spot for university festival bookings right now.
"Another Baek Yerin video?"
At that moment, Kim Tae-hwan walked over with a fed-up look on his face.
"Yeah. Want to watch?"
"Watch a fancam of the girl who's supposed to be my rival? Oof, hard pass."
...said the current YouTuber with one million subscribers.
His channel had been growing at an insane pace. He'd received the gold button just two days ago, which meant he'd officially become a major creator with a whopping million followers.
At this rate, he'd easily hit one and a half million sometime next year.
And in my opinion, that wasn't an exaggeration at all.
This guy, Kim Tae-hwan...
'He really does sing well.'
It was something I'd thought back in my previous life while listening to Tae-E's songs. His approach was definitely on another level.
It felt like he took songs and interpreted them in a completely fresh way, twisting the entire genre to suit his own taste.
From what I'd heard, he'd never even attended a vocal academy. He just sang according to his instincts.
In short, he was a massive talent monster.
The reason his channel was exploding in popularity was probably that perfect mix of 'insane talent' and 'middle schooler.'
Which was exactly why...
"You suddenly look really annoying."
"Yeah, that's not something I want to hear from the guy who spends all day studying Baek Yerin videos. Now that I think about it, this is actually pretty surprising."
"What is?"
"From what I remember, you weren't the type to go this crazy over a celebrity. Have I been misunderstanding you this whole time? Or did someone else possess your body?"
"You're writing fanfiction now. In this day and age, who isn't a fan of Baek Yerin besides you?"
"But you're on a whole other level. At this rate, aren't you going to actually faint if you ever meet her in person?"
Kim Tae-hwan snorted with laughter.
From my perspective, though, there was nothing funny about it.
Well...
'There was a time when I almost did.'
I'd held on through pure spite and willpower to achieve a dream I couldn't reach in my previous life.
But these days, it was genuinely difficult.
Living under the same roof and facing Baek Yerin every single day was an unbelievable luxury for me.
When we'd even slept in the same bed a few days ago, I really thought I was going to die.
The end result was that I'd been so nervous I couldn't sleep at all that night.
Kim Tae-hwan gave me a wry smile and continued.
"Well, I guess it's not for me to talk. I've got someone I'm completely obsessed with too."
"...Fuck."
"What? Why are you swearing all of a sudden?"
"Just... fuck."
For a second, I almost punched him in the face.
Because the person he was obsessed with was none other than Ha-on.
But that was my fucking stage name.
"Ah~ The RT Entertainment audition notice just dropped. Maybe I should apply. The timing's a little earlier than I expected, though..."
And just like that, Kim Tae-hwan suddenly fell into serious contemplation about the RT Entertainment audition.
I smiled and tossed out a comment.
"You'll probably get rejected at the document screening."
"Hahaha! Whoa, that was actually pretty good? Funniest thing I've heard in a while."
He seemed to genuinely think I was joking and burst out laughing.
Tsk...
Seeing that confident face made me a little curious about what kind of insane reaction he'd have when he saw the actual results.
The RT Entertainment audition was scheduled for exactly three weeks later.
Which meant I didn't have much to do until then.
So I decided to hole up in my room for the first time in a while and immerse myself in composing.
The last song I'd released to the world was Your Photo, and although I'd written a few tracks since then, none of them had really satisfied me.
No matter who I was, I couldn't keep churning out hit songs in such a short period of time.
If that were possible, I would've already finished Baek Yerin's fourth full album and then some...
Creating the album itself was entirely doable.
The only issue was that the quality of the tracks would be a step down from before, and that was the most critical problem for me.
Up until now, Baek Yerin had maintained an almost perfect career trajectory.
That was exactly why I didn't want to create anything that might leave a blemish on her record.
The one problem with that plan was...
"..."
"?"
There was someone here to disturb me.
I suddenly felt a gaze coming from the direction of the door.
When I looked closer, the door was open just a crack, and through that gap, someone was staring at me intently.
...It was my sister.
She looked visibly restless to anyone who saw her.
But I knew better.
'That's an act.'
The person who usually kicked the door open and always said exactly what she wanted was suddenly acting like this?
It definitely meant she wanted something from me.
And since I had a pretty good idea what it was, I could only sigh and ask.
"Does this have something to do with Cantabile?"
"Um... was it that obvious?"
My sister gave an awkward smile that didn't suit her at all and trudged into my room.
She naturally perched on the edge of my bed and said.
"Last year, you asked me, right? Whether I could sing well. But now I think I can confidently say that I really can."
Well...
That made sense.
Last year, after our conversation about Cantabile, my sister had suddenly run to our mom. She'd apparently asked to be enrolled in a vocal academy.
In just two months she'd completely mastered it and immediately applied to the practical music department at Seolhwa Arts High School.
She'd passed the highly competitive entrance exam with ease and taken the top spot, so her skills were already more than proven.
On top of that, my sister had always been a perfectionist when it came to piano. If that personality carried over to singing, there was no way her ability would be lacking.
But right now, there was something I was far more curious about than whether my sister could sing well.
"What's the reason? Why do you want to sing Cantabile so badly?"
This was also something I hadn't heard that day.
Why was she so fixated on Cantabile?
In my previous life...
Not bad.
Really?
Have you ever seen me lie about anything music-related?
That's true.
But honestly, it's a bit disappointing.
What?! Which part?
Well... it's not that there's a problem with you. Still, it feels a bit relieving.
Hmm? Relieving?
Ah, just talking to myself. Anyway, if you're going to do it, keep working hard like you are now. I'm rooting for you in my own way.
It had seemed to end rather simply back then.
...Or maybe not.
Perhaps I'd been brushing over my sister too casually all this time.
"I'll show you on stage. The reason I want to sing that song."
Seeing her answer my question with such confidence, I couldn't help but think that.
Hmm? Wait a second.
"Stage? What stage all of a sudden?"
"Oh, there's a performance practice coming up. I got assigned the final stage, but unfortunately..."
My sister's explanation went something like this.
One composition major student had dropped out, leaving a single student who now had to prepare their stage alone. According to the professor, in cases like this, the student was allowed to use a personal connection opportunity. And as it happened, Ryu Se-a had a younger brother who was a composer on a completely different level from the current students.
Three-line summary complete.
"But what if I refuse that personal connection chance?"
"Then I'd have to sing some generic cover song on the final stage that everyone's looking forward to. Everyone, including the teacher, would be hugely disappointed in me, the top student, right? Sob sob."
"..."
My sister pretended to cry while smirking with her mouth.
...Crazy girl.
I wondered if Kang Beom-jun felt this way whenever he talked to me.
No, no. I was definitely not at that level. Of course not.
Anyway, from my perspective, there was no reason to accept my sister's request.
At the same time, I was also in a position where I couldn't refuse her whining.
The reason I'd become skilled at piano was entirely thanks to my sister's help.
In a way, she was my first teacher. If I thought of this as repaying that debt, it wasn't such a difficult thing to do.
So.
"Let's go to RT Entertainment together in two days. Let me check out that confident singing ability of yours first."
"Does that mean...?"
"You said you wanted to sing Cantabile, right? The melody seems to suit you, so let's keep that as it is. We'll have to rewrite the lyrics, though."
"Yes! Let's do that!"
My sister nodded with a purely joyful smile.
Looking at that smile, the thought came to me naturally.
Yeah... it should be fine just this once.
Just once.
It's not like there would be another chance to work with my sister again.