Congratulations on Your Award, Haon
The Merit Award.
A special honor given to artists or music industry figures who have made a significant impact on the Korean popular music scene.
The criteria for the Merit Award usually change every year.
For example, it might go to someone who pioneered a new genre or led an innovative shift in popular music.
But this year, the standard focused on the development of Korean popular music.
The entertainment industry was gradually stagnating. Award shows kept showing the same faces year after year. When that pattern repeated endlessly, the market itself had no choice but to stop growing.
In other words, the emergence of fresh new talent was always welcome from the industry's perspective. Especially when those newcomers shone as brightly as these did.
In that sense, this year had seen an incredible string of outstanding rookies.
Baek Yerin, Haon, and even Ryu Se-a, who had taken home the Rookie of the Year award.
And the one person known publicly for discovering all three of them?
Recipient: Kang Beom-jun, CEO of RT Entertainment
“Uh… I didn’t expect to receive this, so I didn’t prepare a proper acceptance speech. But first of all, thank you.”
Kang Beom-jun stood on stage, scratching the back of his head as he spoke.
He understood perfectly well why he was being given the Merit Award.
But the person who had actually discovered those three was someone else…
All Kang Beom-jun had done was luckily receive that kid’s evaluation email and then ride the overflowing current that followed. That was it.
Still.
‘That kid would definitely say something like this.’
It’s my good fortune too. So accept the award with a happy heart.
With that thought in mind, Kang Beom-jun grinned and continued.
“Honestly, if it had been just me, RT Entertainment could never have grown this much in a single year. In that sense, I want to give my deepest thanks to all the family members at RT Entertainment who believed in someone as lacking as me and followed along. To our label’s flagship stars, Yerin and Se-a, and finally… to Haon. Thank you most of all.”
Kang Beom-jun’s speech was the model example for a label CEO.
Even to Ryu Won, it sounded that way.
Especially after hearing someone’s completely insane acceptance speech just moments ago, it felt even more proper by comparison.
But then—
“And with that in mind, there’s something I really want to say to Haon. Please, this year, cut back a little on causing such massive incidents. I’m going to go bald at this rate.”
Hearing those words through the TV, Ryu Won fell into brief thought.
Asking him to reduce the number of incidents meant they were already treating “causing huge incidents” as the default setting.
Like artist, like CEO…
One side was grabbing him by the pants and threatening him, while the other was offering up their hair and begging him to please stop causing trouble.
Was RT Entertainment really going to be okay like this?
But Ryu Won felt relieved.
Because the sudden storm that had swept through was finally over.
Only three awards remained.
Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and Musician of the Year.
And anyone could roughly guess who would take them.
‘Yerin will probably win them.’
Although he himself would receive Musician of the Year, the other two had a high chance of going to Baek Yerin.
If so, a very entertaining scene would unfold where Yerin delivered all the remaining acceptance speeches in a row.
Of course, unlike the two before her, Yerin wouldn’t suddenly go off the rails.
At least, that’s what Ryu Won thought. She didn’t seem like the type of character who would do something like that.
But that was only half right and half wrong.
First, Song of the Year went to Baek Yerin’s Your Photo, which had touched countless people’s tear ducts.
And the following Album of the Year was also awarded to Baek Yerin’s first album, Rewind.
“Thank you so much. So many songs are created throughout the year, and there are so many wonderful people who always give their absolute best and devote themselves to their work. To receive these incredible awards from all of you means the world to me. Thank you once again.”
Baek Yerin continued her acceptance speech in a gentle, beautiful manner that naturally brought smiles to the listeners’ faces.
Watching her, Ryu Won found himself smiling faintly before he knew it.
It was a perfectly Yerin-like acceptance speech, and even the way it ended was clean and elegant.
That was why Ryu Won felt reassured.
Well… there had already been a bit of an accident earlier, but thanks to Yerin, he had a feeling the closing would go smoothly.
After all, only one award remained: Musician of the Year.
But Ryu Won’s eyes suddenly widened at the sight before him.
As if she were doing it on purpose for someone to see…
Riiip—
Because Baek Yerin, who had returned to the center of the stage to accept the award on his behalf, was tearing a piece of paper to shreds.
It was the paper he had handed her a few days ago.
The one with his acceptance speech written on it.
About three minutes earlier.
Baek Yerin had finished her own acceptance speech and stepped down from the stage.
Instead of returning to her assigned seat, she waited in the shadows where the cameras couldn’t reach.
She had to go back up anyway.
To accept the final award of the 25th Korean Music Awards on someone else’s behalf.
So Baek Yerin took out a single sheet of paper from her pocket.
The one with that person’s acceptance speech written on it.
As she reread its contents, a faint smile somehow formed on her lips.
Had she ever thought she would read the contents exactly as written?
Probably not.
Not when she first received it, and not even at this very moment…
Why?
‘It’s such a shame.’
People didn’t know.
What kind of person the composer named Haon really was.
What he looked like, how he spoke, what kind of personality he had. They knew none of it.
All they knew were his songs.
Was that enough?
At least, Baek Yerin didn’t think so.
She wanted to tell people.
How wonderful he was. How warm he was.
And for that…
Click.
Baek Yerin stepped back onto the stage.
With the MC’s explanation, Baek Yerin once again stood at the center of the stage.
She looked straight into the camera facing her.
Because she thought he would be watching right about now. The person who should have been here to receive this award in person.
So Baek Yerin gave the bright smile she always showed in front of him.
And then…
Riiip—
She tore the paper she had received from him cleanly in half.
In a way, it was a kind of warning.
A warning that the acceptance speech he had written would never be announced to the world.
Still, she wasn’t planning to make any confessions in this situation, so she hoped he wouldn’t worry too much.
This was a place to celebrate his greatness, after all.
…She was simply.
“First of all, congratulations on your award, Haon. The title ‘Musician of the Year’ really suits someone like you.”
Using this moment, she was simply conveying the words she hadn’t been able to say until now.
“The reason I’m standing here in Haon’s place is because I truly wanted to express my gratitude to him. The singer named Baek Yerin would never have appeared in this world if it weren’t for Haon.”
It might be true, or it might not.
Baek Yerin had certainly been born with the destiny to become a singer.
But the Baek Yerin who stood here now was only able to do so because the composer named Haon existed.
“Actually, I didn’t really have any dreams. I didn’t have the luxury of thinking about such things. But after hearing the songs you gave me and receiving your encouragement, I finally found a dream.”
Baek Yerin smiled bitterly as she spoke.
She couldn’t say what that dream was here, but…
There was one thing she could say clearly.
“In the final verse of Rewind, my personal favorite song, there are these lyrics: ‘This time, I’ll be your light.’ Those words somehow felt like something Haon was saying to me. To me, Haon is an incredibly cool and radiant person.”
Just as she said, Haon—no, Ryu Won—was like a ‘light’ to Baek Yerin.
Someone who was always cool, admirable, endlessly warm and comforting.
That was why Baek Yerin remembered every moment she had spent with him so far.
Every single one of those precious, happy moments…
Recalling those cherished memories, Baek Yerin opened her mouth once more.
And those words were precisely—
“Haon! Thank you for being that kind of person to me. I respect you so much, and I will begin anew with fresh determination. So that I can continue walking alongside someone as wonderful as you in the future.”
Using this stage, those were the final words Baek Yerin wanted to convey to Ryu Won.
With those words, she bowed her head in gratitude. And with that, the proxy acceptance speech for Haon came to an end.
Well… it had turned into Baek Yerin’s fresh, heartfelt confession scene rather than Haon’s acceptance speech, but the atmosphere suggested that was perfectly fine.
After all, the girl who had achieved the incredible feat of winning four awards at the Korean Music Awards had poured her heart into conveying her feelings like that. Who could possibly criticize her?
And that included the person who had received the confession.
‘If anyone should be grateful, it’s me.’
Ryu Won slowly closed his eyes as he recalled the sincerity Yerin had conveyed to him.
All those words of gratitude she had given him…
were exactly the same words he had wanted to say to her.
Thinking what a foolish pair they were, Ryu Won let out a small chuckle.