Words That Deserve a Beating
It was right after I had roughly decided on a song for the practical exam and was sitting across from Kang Beom-jun, tearing into some chicken.
“Director.”
“What?”
“Be honest with me. What do you really think of my vocals? You’ve heard them plenty of times.”
“They’re not bad.”
……Not bad.
It meant they were neither outstanding nor particularly terrible.
But for the current me, those words felt perfectly fitting.
And because they came from Kang Beom-jun, I trusted them even more.
He let out a small laugh and asked, “Now you’re trying to conquer vocals too? I think it’s pretty decent myself.”
“No. It’s just that a few days ago, Yerin and my sister were talking about my singing. Yerin said she really liked the song I performed, and that part has me a little doubtful.”
“Well… music is a genre where taste varies wildly depending on the environment and values you grew up with. So it’s possible that to someone like Yerin, your singing sounds good.”
“……I suppose so.”
“Then you have absolutely no plans to sing in the future?”
“None at all.”
I answered Kang Beom-jun with firm conviction.
Obviously I didn’t possess the kind of talent that would shine on stage like the people around me.
My tone and vocal power weren’t anything special either.
From the beginning, I had a different calling.
But.
“If a situation ever comes where my voice is truly needed, I intend to sing without hesitation.”
“Oh, that’s a mindset worth praising. Though there’s one thing I’ve been noticing lately.”
“What is it?”
“It seems like you’ve stopped caring so much about hiding your identity. If you were going to be completely thorough, you wouldn’t have gone out with Yerin on weekends or applied to Seolhwa Arts High School.”
I shrugged at Kang Beom-jun’s question.
It was my way of saying I wouldn’t deny it.
“There’s no such thing as an eternal secret in this world. In that sense, I never believed I could hide my identity forever from the start. Besides, I’ve already achieved my initial goals, haven’t I?”
Focusing all attention and buzz solely on Baek Yerin during her debut, concentrating popularity and topicality in a single strike.
Considering the status that sixteen-year-old Baek Yerin currently held, it could be said that I had accomplished my objective to a reasonable degree.
The real issue was that I simply wasn’t the type to keep obsessing over such things and live while thoroughly concealing everything.
“That doesn’t mean I plan to reveal it right now. Like my singing earlier, when a situation arises where revealing my identity becomes necessary, that will be the right time.”
“From my perspective, I’m closer to praying that day never comes.”
“Same here.”
Kang Beom-jun and I wore identical fed-up expressions.
Just imagining that day made it clear how exhausting it would be.
The busiest period for the teachers at Seolhwa Arts High School.
It would probably run from early December, when the new student entrance exams began, until March, when the entrance ceremony was held.
This year in particular, the competition rate for the Practical Music Department—Seolhwa Arts High School’s flagship major—was expected to reach an all-time high.
Ryu Se-a’s performance practice video spreading across the internet had likely played a significant role.
Her performance of Cantabile had earned one of the highest evaluations among all practical performance stages in the school’s history.
From the students’ point of view, it was only natural that such a stage would spark fantasies about performing.
In that sense, it made perfect sense for Ryu Se-a’s stage video to be featured prominently in the new student recruitment announcement.
Still, the teachers didn’t see the sudden flood of applicants as that serious of a problem.
There was a far bigger issue at hand.
The teachers were staring at one famous celebrity’s application documents with grave expressions.
“Baek Yerin? Is there anything left for her to learn at our school?”
“Shouldn’t we be the ones taking vocal lessons from her?”
“She’s probably just here for the diploma. There isn’t a school more lenient about activities than Seolhwa Arts High School.”
It wasn’t exactly rare for active celebrities to enroll at Seolhwa Arts High School.
But Baek Yerin, already evaluated as a finished singer at that age, was an entirely different case.
And she wasn’t the only one.
“There’s also the million-subscriber YouTuber Tae-E and the youngest member of Iris, the popular girl group from one of the top three agencies……”
“The lineup this year is especially flashy.”
“It’s funny that all three were born in the same year. It really feels like fate is playing tricks on us.”
“Bottom line, next year’s Practical Music Department is going to enjoy an incredible golden age. Of course, acceptance isn’t confirmed yet.”
The teachers listening to this chuckled.
Unless the applicants skipped the exam entirely or cursed out the teachers serving as examiners, there was no way they would fail.
“By the way, if all three are vocal majors, the current students are going to lose their minds. When else would they get to work with celebrities like that at this age?”
“Of course, it’ll only happen if those celebrities choose them. Especially Baek Yerin—she’s only ever worked with Haon, so her standards must be incredibly high.”
“It’ll be hard to expect much from the current students. They’re all outstanding for their age, but… they don’t have that overwhelming presence.”
From the beginning, the composition major had always felt lacking compared to the vocal major.
And with famous vocalists joining next year, the teachers had a feeling the gap would widen even further.
Still, the application rate for the composition major had also hit record numbers this time. Maybe they could hold onto a small sliver of hope?
With that modest expectation, the Practical Music Department teachers waited eagerly for the entrance exam day.
The day of Seolhwa Arts High School’s entrance exam finally arrived.
Ryu Won headed to school with a guitar he had borrowed from Kang Beom-jun’s house slung over his back.
Because there were so many applicants, each person had a different exam date.
Fortunately, Ryu Won and Kim Tae-hwan were scheduled for the same day.
Kim Tae-hwan couldn’t hide his surprise when he saw his friend carrying a guitar.
“Whoa, you know how to play guitar?”
“I learned it from my teacher a long time ago.”
“Teacher? Who? Someone famous?”
“Probably.”
“What do you mean, probably……”
Kim Tae-hwan sighed at Ryu Won’s vague answer.
Ryu Won could only smile bitterly.
The reason he had become skilled at guitar was the same as with piano—there had been a teacher.
Why else would he regard Kang Beom-jun as his mentor?
“Other than piano, you said you learned all the other instruments by yourself, right?”
“Yes. So I feel a bit regretful. I can see the lacking parts myself.”
“Then shall I teach you a bit?”
“No way… guitar?”
“Yeah. If I’m going to boast a little, I’m one of the best guitarists in Korea. In that sense, if I teach you, I’ll do it the Spartan way. If you don’t earn a passing grade from me within six months, I’ll charge lesson fees.”
“By the way, how much would those fees be…?”
“Don’t worry too much. I’ll take something other than money. Just think of it as living like a slave at our company.”
“Becoming Baek Yerin’s slave would be welcome, but that part is a bit……”
“?”
Because he had taken in an aspiring composer like me and willingly taught me guitar, Kang Beom-jun couldn’t help but be treated as a mentor by Ryu Won.
Of course, whether he had received that treatment in this life remained somewhat questionable……
Anyway.
“Just so you know, I’m taking the top entrance spot.”
“You actually care about something like that?”
“Only after getting at least the top spot like your sister will it feel like I’m standing at the starting line.”
Ryu Won looked slightly surprised at Kim Tae-hwan’s declaration.
If Ryu Won lived life as the current carried him, Kim Tae-hwan lived by the philosophy of making his one life as fun as possible.
Would a guy like that suddenly show greed for grades?
That was why Ryu Won looked at his friend with pitying eyes.
You won’t get the top spot.
The reason for that thought was simple.
Because Baek Yerin was applying to Seolhwa Arts High School this time.
For her, the practical exam was already irrelevant, and she would clearly excel on the written test as well.
From the beginning, Baek Yerin was a perfect human who was even good at studying……
Which meant everyone beneath her would simply be ordinary people getting along nicely.
“Give it your best… my friend.”
“Yeah. Since I have to beat Baek Yerin too, I need to try hard.”
“Hmm? Why is Baek Yerin suddenly coming up?”
“I suspect she probably applied here.”
“What’s your basis for that?”
“Instinct?”
Ryu Won kept the rest to himself.
That guy’s instincts were truly……
I can never figure them out.
Incidentally, Baek Yerin’s exam was scheduled for tomorrow.
The rumor that she had applied to Seolhwa Arts High School would probably spread like wildfire starting tomorrow.
Kim Tae-hwan turned to Ryu Won, who still showed zero signs of tension, and asked, “So what about you?”
“What?”
“Did you prepare properly for the exam?”
“Only the practical to some extent.”
“And the written?”
“I’ll just do it like usual.”
“So you didn’t study at all… Still, with your usual skills, you should at least get halfway.”
……
Ryu Won had nothing to say in response to Kim Tae-hwan’s brutal honesty.
But there was a reason he hadn’t studied for the written exam.
While preparing for Seolhwa Arts High School’s entrance test, he had arrived at a certain truth.
“No, the practical is worth a whopping seventy percent. If you just nail the practical, you can pass somehow, right?”
“Hmm… That’s not wrong.”
Just words that deserved a beating.
Kim Tae-hwan let out a deep sigh.
It was the kind of thought any student taking the Seolhwa Arts High School entrance exam would have at least once. Unless you were extremely confident in your practical skills, it was basically gambling.
But there was no way this guy didn’t know that……
In other words, he was that confident in the practical?
Just to be sure, Kim Tae-hwan asked, “For the composition major, you have to perform an original song during the practical, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Can you at least tell me the title of your original song?”
The title played a fairly important role in a song.
To the point that you could sometimes predict the mood or quality of a track from the title alone.
In that sense……
“It’s Goldfish’s Dream.”
Upon hearing the title of the original song his friend had composed, Kim Tae-hwan could only think one thing.
Yeah. We’re screwed.