Shall We Go See Her Together?
The famous singer-songwriter and CEO of RT Entertainment, Kang Beom-jun.
He was like a benefactor to me—the person who had given me tremendous help in establishing myself as a professional composer.
In that sense, I still remember it vividly.
For some reason, a sly smile spread across Kang Beom-jun's face at my question.
He answered like this.
But in the end, I never got to hear what he truly meant by honest.
I figured it was probably something like, he thought I had real talent for composition so he snatched me up before anyone else could… right?
And then.
I didn't even need to think about Kang Beom-jun's question. I nodded immediately.
My goal as a composer—or rather, my dream.
It was for Baek Yerin to sing my songs.
When Kang Beom-jun first heard that, he laughed so hard I was genuinely startled.
Of course, I could tell there wasn't a single trace of mockery in that laughter.
Well… in the end, I ended up showing him a rather pathetic story that fell short of his expectations.
An artist I loved enough to change my entire life for. An artist I wanted to work with. Then she suddenly passed away, and the song I made while missing her became a massive hit.
It really was a shabby story…
That's why I plan to change that shabby story starting now.
It was roughly five days after I began sending Kang Beom-jun an email every morning asking for his thoughts on my original compositions.
Suddenly, a reply with his phone number came flying back.
Considering he was busy preparing for their first audition or whatever it was, I thought it was pretty fast. Of course, it was only possible because it was Kang Beom-jun.
Anyway.
Seeing his reply, it seemed like I'd safely passed the first hurdle.
Anyone could tell this was the tone of someone who wanted to see my face right away.
But what did asking to meet in person mean?
In most situations, it was the same.
From a talent and ability standpoint, they wanted to snatch me up immediately… but just in case, they wanted to know what kind of person I was before deciding what to do next.
On the other hand, if they met me in person and there were no issues, it meant a high-speed recruitment offer.
Oh, and just so you know, that was never going to happen to me. No matter how good-natured Kang Beom-jun was.
Clatter—!
The moment my energetic greeting ended, the man standing in front of me dropped his phone.
Um… it was clearly a brand-new phone. The screen didn't break, did it?
Along with the natural worry any human would feel, I looked at the man before me.
More precisely, I saw Kang Beom-jun's face, which looked like he'd received a massive shock.
I'd already roughly expected this situation ever since I contacted him saying I'd visit the headquarters in the afternoon and received a reply that he'd come out to meet me at the right time.
He was probably still in denial about reality right now.
The fact that I was a student…
And not just any student—a fresh-faced middle schooler in the prime of youth.
If so, I could roughly predict his next reaction too.
He'd probably ask to confirm whether I was the real Ryu Won who'd sent those emails, just to be sure.
Yep… just as I thought.
He's always been such a transparent person, both then and now.
I followed Kang Beom-jun into the RT Entertainment headquarters building for the first time in a while.
Since it had just been built, the interior looked a little different from what I remembered.
But even that unfamiliar sight wasn't bad at all.
It felt like the beginning of something new.
…Not at all, actually.
Unfortunately, my taste buds in the future wouldn't change much from now.
That was when it happened.
Kang Beom-jun said as he sat on the sofa across from me.
Unlike earlier, after we entered the room he started treating me quite comfortably.
He must have sorted out his thoughts to some degree.
By the way, there was a word in what he just said that caught my attention.
To be honest, I was a little curious too.
How my songs sounded to a professional's ears at this point in time.
In that sense, I decided to test the waters just a little.
Suddenly, the roles had completely reversed and I was the one being questioned.
Personally, Kang Beom-jun usually felt like a friendly neighborhood hyung. But when it came to work, he became a slightly different person.
Just like now, as he looked at me with a rather serious expression.
By the way, figuring out how to answer that question was a bit tricky.
What I thought of the songs I'd composed myself… huh.
The question itself was difficult, and it wasn't something I'd ever thought about so seriously in my life.
But looking at Kang Beom-jun sitting in front of me, an answer suddenly flashed through my mind.
Even though I was the one who said it, I didn't fully understand what it meant. But since Kang Beom-jun was the one who'd given that exact impression after first hearing my songs, maybe it would resonate differently with him?
And as if my prediction was spot on—
Kang Beom-jun burst into loud laughter.
Anyone could see that he'd heard a very satisfying answer.
What exactly was an honest song?
It was the highest praise Kang Beom-jun—a man who made music his profession—could give.
To define it, one first had to think about where the rhythm and melody that kept someone creating came from.
Kang Beom-jun believed it came from life itself.
And every life had its own story. Not just common, obvious ones, but stories that had been bottled up inside.
Stories that, even if not everyone could become an artist, anyone could give off a resonance like a song at least once in their life.
Inside those stories might be the speaker's joy and sorrow, anger and regret, all packed tightly together.
Or they might be stories that had to be told, that absolutely needed to be conveyed.
And when those stories were brought out with such honesty, they shook people's hearts violently. Sometimes they could move them to tears or laughter, stirring deep emotion.
So what if such bottled-up stories were released in the form of a song?
That was what Kang Beom-jun considered an honest song.
One that casually shook people's hearts and stirred their emotions. As if digging straight into the weakness of humans, who are creatures of empathy, without any resistance.
Of course, creating such a song wasn't as easy as it sounded.
Most touching songs were obvious. Similar-feeling lyrics, similar atmospheric melodies, and even the high notes shouted out for impact.
But the touching songs made by those who created honest music were fundamentally different in some way.
Because that something couldn't be defined, most people couldn't create such songs. Kang Beom-jun believed that was the true realm of talent.
In that sense, the boy sitting before him right now was a genius. And not just any genius—one who properly recognized his own talent.
When you considered that he was only a fifteen-year-old middle school student on top of that…
Kang Beom-jun, a singer-songwriter with quite a name for himself in South Korea and the CEO of a newly established agency, swallowed hard.
He couldn't help it.
It was a talent so brilliant that comparing himself to it would be embarrassing.
The songs the boy had sent him were at a level that could cause a huge stir in the music industry right now. Especially the last one he'd listened to, Rewind.
Kang Beom-jun was incredibly excited to see what kind of stories that shining talent would bloom into.
At the same time, he wanted to stay right by his side and watch those stories unfold.
In a way, from the moment he'd been asked to review the songs, hadn't he been chosen by the boy?
He was curious why the boy had specifically asked him for feedback, but that was something he could find out gradually…
First, he wanted to hold onto the boy in front of him.
If that was possible, he was confident he could change every plan he'd made.
RT Entertainment's historic first audition? Discovering and nurturing trainees with outstanding talent?
Yeah, all of that was fine.
It was all good, but just for a moment—just a tiny moment—let's push it back in priority.
The boy began seriously considering his proposal.
In a way, it was only natural.
After all, no matter how outstanding his talent was, he was still a teenager who didn't know much about the world yet.
Especially since this was essentially a proposal that forced him to decide his career path. It was plenty to make him hesitate.
In times like this, it was right to give him enough time.
But.
When he heard the question that came back, Kang Beom-jun had a feeling it would be fairly simple.
Of course. For a composer, who sang their carefully crafted song was an incredibly important issue.
Especially at that age, he'd naturally want to give his songs to a singer he liked.
Depending on who it was, the difficulty might change a bit, but it wasn't a particularly difficult request for Kang Beom-jun.
After all, the moment the singer the boy wanted heard his song, they wouldn't be able to refuse the offer.
The songs this boy made had that kind of power.
In that instant, the boy's—no, Ryu Won's eyes changed completely.
If earlier they had been the innocent eyes of a pure boy, now they looked like the eyes of a predator stalking its prey.
And then he began moving at a frighteningly fast pace.
Feeling a chill at how Ryu Won had changed in the blink of an eye, Kang Beom-jun asked urgently.
Kang Beom-jun looked puzzled.
But it didn't take long for that puzzled expression to turn into one of bewilderment.
Because.
The person Ryu Won wanted was far more unreasonable than anything Kang Beom-jun could have imagined…