Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 061
Chapter Title: Many Hands Make Light Work (2)
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“I can’t tell you how relieved I am that you gave us the green light, Yeonwoo-ssi. Whew. Just thinking about the possibility of it falling through made my vision go blurry.”
The radio writer, whom he’d met once before, laughed in relief. They had just finished drawing up the appearance contract, with the lawyer and Kwon Seonghyeon in tow. Right up until the moment she stamped the contract, she’d been fidgeting anxiously, but the instant the stamp hit the paper, she let out a deep sigh of relief and grinned.
“Wow. I’ve never seen Noona smile so genuinely like this.”
“Joo-ha. I told you to watch your mouth. Especially in front of Yeonwoo-ssi and Seonghyeon-ssi! How can you, a public figure, be so immature?”
Smack!
She smacked the thick, muscled forearm crisply, then turned back to Yeonwoo.
“As I mentioned during the contract, we’ll guarantee you as much autonomy as possible. Just stick to the bare minimum format like listener participation, and we won’t interfere much with the actual show progression. Feel free to do whatever you want.”
At the writer’s kind words, Lee Joo-ha, who’d been squirming, suddenly shot his head up.
“What’s this? Discrimination?”
“If I let you do whatever, you’d just play music nonstop! You’d ignore the letters, the participation segments—everything. How could I leave you to your own devices like that?”
“What’s wrong with my music? Our listeners love it too.”
“Of course they do. But if there’s nothing but music the whole broadcast without a single word of commentary, who’s gonna stick around? What’s a writer for? What’s a PD for? Are you trying to put me out of a job?!”
“No…….”
It wasn’t the first or second time he’d cowered before the much smaller writer. More importantly, Yeonwoo had a question.
“Is it okay to play music I composed myself?”
“No issue on our end. In fact, it’s great—people tune in just to hear his songs, and it’s free promotion. It’s like a special you can’t hear anywhere else. Adds a bit of premium appeal, nothing bad about that…….”
But the problem was that it went too far.
“This guy takes it overboard, though. At first, he’d just play songs nonstop. Wouldn’t even read the scripts I gave him. I seriously thought his brain and body were all beast mode.”
“What? Beast mode…….”
“Why? It’s true, isn’t it?”
“Yeonwoo composes too, though. You gonna say that to him?”
“No? That’s different.”
“……?”
“Yeonwoo-ssi’s clearly not like you. So why treat him the same?”
“Wow…… look at that favoritism.”
From their banter, Yeonwoo gleaned one thing.
‘Good call signing with the radio show.’
Even unpublished demos would be fine to air if he wanted. Other stations might differ, but ‘Midnight Stroll’ had such a strong image built by Lee Joo-ha that listeners actually welcomed it.
“There’s no way you’d agree to some half-baked music nonsense, so why would I object? If you approve of Yeonwoo-ssi’s work, no worries there.”
“Whoa…… Noona’s playing me like a fiddle.”
“That’s the power of a seven-year broadcast veteran writer for you.”
Luckily, it seemed they’d air his compositions too.
“Then our Hansan gets to hear Yeonwoo-ssi’s originals first? Could you let us know when it might be possible? Announcing these in advance gets even better reactions.”
“You’d do that too?”
“Of course! I might seem picky, but Joo-ha sets a high bar. The way you speak without hesitation tells me everything.”
“I’m getting emotional over here…….”
Ignoring Lee Joo-ha, who clasped his hands over his chest and sparkled with admiration from behind, the writer continued.
“He’s a bit slow on the uptake, but not the type to lie about stuff like this. Plus, I’ve heard things…… Give us a heads-up, and we’ll arrange a special episode or whatever. Might even make headlines.”
“Headlines?”
“Yeah. Plenty of places have their eyes on you. The second they hear you’re with us, articles will pop up. From what I know, a couple dramas in pre-production are already sniffing around.”
“Is that so?”
He’d heard similar from Kwon Seonghyeon. The issue was Kwon Seonghyeon’s notoriously biased perspective.
But.
‘I thought they were just hyping me up on purpose.’
Hearing it from the writer made it freshly intriguing. She’d called herself a fan, but this was business. No need for empty flattery post-contract. And somehow, her face beamed with genuine pride—like 100% sincerity.
“Yes. And get this—a friend of a friend was on the Soul Change staff. They said your playing was concert-level, gave them hallucinations or something. Makes me even more excited. Anyway, whatever you do, we welcome it all with open arms!”
Yeonwoo would fill in for Lee Joo-ha two weeks from now. For how relentlessly they’d pursued him, it was surprisingly ample time. When he asked why, the response was:
-Obviously thought you’d say no. Planned to keep begging with three visits and all that, so dragged it out long. Had to pierce the Kwon shield too, so made it extra long. But you approved quick? Lucky break.
Well, it bought him leisurely time to prep for the radio gig, so all good.
Before parting, the writer’s eyes sparkled again.
“Can’t wait for the day you appear on our show, Yeonwoo-ssi. The day we broadcast your new side to the world for the first time. See you then!”
Her send-off brimmed with eager anticipation.
Sadly, though.
“S-Sorry……!”
The writer’s hopes shattered before they could even take flight.
The news arrived via an unexpected guest, who bowed deeply while fidgeting nervously.
***
He’d been working analog-style with just piano and violin amid the luxury studio’s flashy high-tech gear.
“Yeonwoo-ssi. Sorry, but could you step out for a sec?”
Even Kwon Seonghyeon, who came and went like it was his own place, never bothered him during studio time.
“What’s going on?”
Rising at the surprise, he stepped out—and there it was.
A man bowed so low it seemed his back might snap.
“S-Sorry……!”
“……?”
What was this?
“The original uploader.”
“Uploader?”
Uploader of what?
“His face ring a bell?”
“His face?”
Yeonwoo glanced over, and the man flinched, shoulders trembling. Small and scrawny build. Limbs that looked twig-thin.
‘Come to think of it, kinda familiar?’
Digging into memory, one face surfaced. A camera staffer hauling heavy gear during filming.
“Ah. I remember. But why is he apologizing?”
“Tell him yourself.”
Kwon Seonghyeon crossed his arms, and the staffer stammered through his nerves.
“So…… um. It wasn’t on purpose. I know it could be misunderstood, but please don’t. It was just my personal channel, and I don’t even know how it blew up like that…… It spread so fast, I panicked…….”
After patiently enduring the rambling, Yeonwoo pieced it together.
“So…… you uploaded it? My piano playing?”
***
The staffer’s rambling, excuse-laden apology boiled down to this.
“It…… wasn’t intentional. I know I caused harm and I’m truly sorry, but back then, it was just occupational reflex—no real thought. I recorded it and…….”
Turned out, he’d secretly recorded Salieri possessing Yeonwoo’s arms for that performance. Back in Korea, uploading miscellaneous clips to his personal channel, he’d tossed in vacation footage—including Yeonwoo’s playing—without thinking.
Days had passed since that dreamlike vacation. He couldn’t even recall yesterday’s meal, let alone recent memories. Hidden behind the grand piano, the pianist’s identity escaped him entirely. So he’d thought:
-Pretty good, huh? Pianist at a tourist spot?
And uploaded casually.
But.
‘It blew up big time.’
Views: ten million.
“It exploded so suddenly, I was shocked and rushed to check, then tried contacting…… But Mr. Kwon reached out first…… So here I am.”
For a non-commercial, obscure personal channel to hit like that? Near impossible.
The manager, awkwardly hovering like a third wheel between Kwon Seonghyeon and the staffer, sidled up and proffered a smartphone.
Comments in English and various languages: over 3,000.
Yeonwoo’s eyes went to the top ones.
-World’s most beautiful music. Wouldn’t believe it without hearing!
-Who said classical’s stuffy?! This is classical revolution! Feels like postmodern deconstruction? ㄴWho can explain: (? ㄴMeans it doesn’t sound classically stuffy:)
-Am I the only one who had a weird dream? Fell asleep to this on Nutyube—felt like time-traveling 18th to 21st century! 200+ years of history crumbling and rebuilding before my eyes, like a movie! ㄴJust a good dream? ㄴNah, friend. Wrote that a few days ago—same dream last night! Felt the emotions this time, like I was the protagonist?
-That friend up top! Similar here, but different. ㄴO? Spill! ㄴDreamt I was burning up. Agonizing pain. Then relief—trapped in something stuffy. Struggled out…… It was a giant egg! I’d hatched anew! Like Abraxas in Hesse’s Demian! Overwhelmed with ecstasy—old worries gone!
-I saw visions. Pure bliss washed away pain. Even my unchanging surroundings transformed post-listen. Wife and kid said my aura changed too. This music’s a miracle!
Even skimming, reactions described miracle-like visions.
‘Salieri’s stats influencing them?’
Salieri’s playing evoked emotions. A master’s performance, felt soul-deep, wielded unimaginable power. Even Yeonwoo, music-indifferent, had been entranced.
‘Totally plausible.’
Viewers had donated lifespan after his acting alone—TV no less. Nutyube? Same deal. Salieri’s playing? No contest.
“I-I had no idea it’d blow up like that.”
Fair enough. Zoomed distant shot, subpar audio. Lucky it was an optimized concert hall for resonance. Otherwise, even grand piano’s timbre wouldn’t translate.
But.
‘What a coincidence.’
The venue: historic royal banquet hall. The footage? Massive ripple effect.
Coincidental to a fault.