Best Producer Yeong-il
After the awards ceremony ended, Spotlight took home the Best OST award.
Luck had been on our side. Going by past records, Spotlight’s numbers made the win a little shaky, but this year’s OSTs had been a total washout overall, so we managed to snag it right after the Mellow Music Awards as well.
A bright blue wolf grinned from the live awards screen. The person in question was currently mumbling awkwardly on an internet stream.
Augh, seeing my own video come up is so embarrassing…
“For someone so embarrassed, you sure prepared thoroughly. Your acceptance speech is longer than anyone else’s.”
Hey! That’s just because they said I was getting an award, so I got excited and crammed in every single thing I wanted to say.
MAMA had offered to connect her live if she wanted, but Yui had insisted that would mean going to a studio, and she wasn’t about to scrap her “Watching MAMA Together” content for an award that wasn’t even confirmed. She’d just sent in a pre-recorded speech. That was the video playing on TV now.
Viewers ribbed her for being shy while still sending congratulations. Even with a flood of outsiders pouring in, she was still the channel’s owner, so she seemed to be getting the biggest round of applause today.
Good for her.
She’d been staring at the ceremony with pure longing the whole time; snagging even one award was enough. I was happy my song had won, too.
And then came the category where I was nominated.
“Let’s meet the nominees for Best Producer!”
Five names appeared on the screen. Nestled among industry veterans sat my two-syllable composer name, looking completely out of place.
…This feels weird. Being here at all.
I’d already been through it at the Mellow Music Awards, yet my stomach still turned queasy.
Yeong-il’s chances are high, right? MAMA doesn’t factor in fan votes at all. Plus the streaming numbers have climbed even higher since then.
Yui chattered that he’d win unless something crazy happened, which only made my heart pound harder.
The host’s remarks dragged on longer than usual.
“Congratulations! Yeong-il—!”
This time it was only my name ringing out, no shared credit.
Whoa! Composer-nim!! Congrats!
“……”
I’m not Composer Yeong-il, I’m A-il, remember? She told me to be careful and then slipped up herself. Staying silent would’ve looked weird, so I played along.
“Wow, congratulations, Composer-nim.”
Ah, ahem! You’re watching our stream, right? The real power behind Muse Family, the light and the salt! Hehehe
“……I imagine he is.”
Shin Se-young stepped onto the MAMA stage to accept the award on my behalf.
Ahem.
I felt a little bad about unintentionally turning Shin Se-young into a trophy courier. But hey, we never asked her. The CEO just shoved her forward because they were close.
Shin Se-young read out my short thank-you and stepped down.
That was it for the categories where Muse Family still had a shot. The daesangs were left as the highlights, but unfortunately our tracks simply didn’t have enough accumulated data to even make the nominee lists.
Next year, maybe we’ll have a connection to the big ones like Song of the Year or Artist of the Year.
That was pure greed talking. For a guy who used to just pluck guitar strings in the corner of his room, this was already unreal enough. If next year was even half this good, I’d be satisfied.
With that resolve, I started wrapping up my time as guest A-il.
Thank you so much for coming today. Thanks to A-il, the viewers got even more into it!
“I’m the one who should thank you for inviting me.”
The viewers made it painfully obvious how much they didn’t want me to leave. Yui said it was fine if I just went, but somehow I kept thinking of the people who’d been searching for me on my fan café.
Should I let them hear my Martin?
I also kind of wanted a legitimate excuse to show off the new guitar.
Aww, everyone, it’s getting late, and when I brought him I never promised a song—
“Alright then, I’ll do one song of Invisible and head out. I just happen to have bought a guitar.”
Whoa! Really?! You did an encore last time too! You’ve got such good sense…! You’re the best!
I confirmed the flood of cheering chats, then pulled the guitar onto my lap. I adjusted my headphones slightly.
“……I’ll do a short version of Invisible.”
It was a guitar-driven track to begin with, so live was the perfect format.
Drring—
I gently swept the strings with a soft wrist motion, then started alternating my index and middle fingers on the intro chords, drawing out a warm tone.
Even if I can’t see you, it’s alright—
Because I couldn’t see you, it ran deeper.
Because I couldn’t hear you, it felt warmer.
I’ll leave this song in your place.
It wasn’t the clean studio recording, but the sound resonating in a small room had its own charm. Listening to the rough yet clear tone of the acoustic guitar, the song just poured out of me.
Current viewer count: 21,291.
This one’s for everyone celebrating Lunari, Yui, and our company’s wins.
Invisible had always been a thank-you story for the fans. I focused on that essence and sang it with everything I had.
When the song ended, my fingers slowly left the strings. Silence hung for a moment.
……Whoa. The live version is insane. Why are you good at singing too… this is unfair…
I could hear Yui’s muttered string of praise.
“Th-thank you.”
I shyly said goodbye to the viewers and Yui, then left the channel.
“Uuuuugh!”
It reminded me of the old days. Internet streaming plus guitar playing. It was almost exactly like my past broadcasts. If I had to nitpick, back then I barely sang and just played guitar nonstop, but still.
Bzzzt—!
My phone lit up with Yu Nari’s name.
…!
Immersed in MAMA, I’d completely forgotten about the whole Nari situation. My stomach flipped. I’d already promised, so pretending to be asleep felt wrong. I swallowed hard against the nerves and accepted the call.
“…Hello.”
Do-yoon-aaaaah!
Oh?
It was the usual Yu Nari. Not a trace of yesterday’s heavy atmosphere remained.
“Uh, yeah.”
Did you see? Did you see? The stage was good, right? You picked all the colors and the outfit. How was it?
“Yeah, I saw it. With the audience there, more light hit the stage than I expected. We could’ve gone even brighter.”
Heh, I liked it though? It was totally pretty. I’m using a capture of that stage as my wallpaper for a while.
The bouncing excitement came through the phone so clearly it was almost contagious. All the worries I’d been carrying about her right up until the stream started now felt like a dream.
She’s completely fine?
Was I just being delusional?
Maybe. Kind of embarrassing.
I’ll send you a few stage photos I took. Super cute!
I looked through the pictures the grinning Nari sent over.
Yeah, she is cute.
“Oh, these came out great.”
Right?! Heheh. I thought I was gonna die preparing, but now that it’s over it feels so rewarding!
“You worked hard.”
You saw the acceptance speech too, right?
“Yeah, I heard it. You mentioned me for a while.”
Hmph! Of course! Whose credit do you think I’m standing here on! I’ll do even better from now on, so take care of me next year too, okay?
Guess she really had just been on edge before a big stage. Her familiar energy made my wariness melt away. Nari said she’d left the studio and was currently in a company car heading home. One of the new operations support staff was driving her personally, so she was enjoying the full celebrity experience.
At Lunari’s level, she basically is a celebrity.
I chatted along so she wouldn’t get bored on the ride.
But Do-yoon-ah.
“Yeah?”
Did you prepare?
“…Prepare what?”
Alcohol, obviously!
“Ah. I haven’t bought any yet.”
I’d thought we were smoothly moving past it.
Perfect. Then let’s pick some together?
“Together?”
Yeah, you know zero about booze. I’ll choose for you. Something like Isulpangpang would be perfect for you.
I had no idea what that was, but as someone whose alcohol knowledge rounded to absolute zero, I had no reason to refuse the guidance of professional lightweight Yu Nari.
“Okay.”
Great! Then I just head to your neighborhood now, right?
“…What?”
It’s obviously over a call, right?
I was still sputtering in panic when a stifled laugh came through.
I’m kidding! Kidding! Look at you panicking! Like I even know where you live and would just show up~ right?
“Ah, yeah.”
Hehe, sorry. I was so hyped I wanted to mess with you.
“…No, it’s fine.”
Normally I would’ve laughed it off as a joke too, but yesterday’s memory made me briefly unsure whether she was serious or not.
I’m already home, by the way? I’m heading inside now, so just call me when you go to the convenience store! Like in five minutes?
“…Yeah. Hold on. I’m heading out now.”
I stood up from the chair and straightened my clothes. Grabbing my ID so I wouldn’t stupidly leave it behind, I stuffed it in my pants pocket and reached for the door handle.
Alcohol, huh.
I was an adult now. I should try it at least once. The thought that I was finally climbing the stairs to adulthood made my heart race. I stepped out of my room with a determined expression.
“Eek?!”
“Whoa, what the—”
I nearly collided with my little sister right outside the door. Why was she lingering here?
“Ahem! Nothing, I was just passing by. Jeez, you scared me.”
“Uh, sorry.”
“But where are you going this late?”
“Just the convenience store real quick.”
“…Ah, okay? Well, that much is…”
She gave a small nod and I thought she was heading back to her room, but she spoke up again behind me while I was putting on my shoes.
“Oppa!”
“Y-yeah, what?”
“…Congrats on the award.”
An unexpected greeting. My hands paused over the shoelaces.
Had she watched MAMA? She knew I was A-il, so she was probably talking about the Best OST award even though it was just a feature. Man, this was awkward.
“Thanks.”
“…Yeah. If there’s prize money or anything, give me some allowance.”
“……”
My sister disappeared into her room with a thoroughly un-cute closing line. I didn’t find it annoying; instead a small laugh slipped out.
Hearing family congratulate me feels different somehow.
Cringey, yet warm?
During all those years I’d spent locked in my room, I’d kept one foot outside even within the family. Even as I gradually expanded my range of activity, I hadn’t found the courage.
…I should tell Mom and Dad too.
I’d won awards at year-end, and the internet streaming I’d once fled from no longer scared me the way it used to. I felt like I could finally talk about it with my head held high.
I pulled out my wired earphones, plugged them into my phone, and stuck one in my ear.
You outside?
“Yeah. Heading out now.”
Great! Time to properly pick something for the suljji!
“…The what?”
Alcohol loser!
Nari’s voice, now that she was home, had climbed even higher into the upper register.
“Aren’t you the real suljji here…?”
What are you talking about— I only drink that much because it’s me.
I highly doubted she had the right to use that word. This is the same person who got her stream banned for being drunk…?
I was still an unscratch lottery ticket. For all she knew I might handle it just fine. I carefully kept that thought to myself so I wouldn’t get roasted if I turned out to be a lightweight.
Unlike Nari, I was the meticulous type.
I listened to her lively chatter for a bit even before we’d started drinking. Before long I reached the convenience store near home.
It’d been a while. I’d been so busy with one thing after another that I hadn’t come by much.
Compared to the first time I ever set foot in a convenience store… now… it was easy.
After all the different experiences I’d had since then, dropping by the corner store in front of my house was basically free real estate. In game terms, trash mobs.
I pushed the door open with full confidence.