Stars in the Sky and Pure Love
The filming schedule for Stars in the Sky and Pure Love lasted a full three weeks. Three weeks was by no means a short time. By the time this shoot wrapped and we returned to Korea, November would already be right around the corner.
My goal for the year had been to release a full album, but…
The reality was that it looked virtually impossible. Originally I had wanted to drop the full album in early December, but the break I planned to take after Singer Star had stretched on longer than expected. At least I had already chosen all the songs Blooming would perform going forward. That was something to be grateful for amid the misfortune.
It meant I could stop worrying about that and focus solely on my own album.
I opened my laptop inside the train heading from Spain to Italy.
My laptop, recently upgraded from an old model to the latest version, booted up far faster than before. Considering it used to take nearly two minutes just to start, this was a tremendous improvement.
I glanced sideways. Beyond the window, even in the deep of night, endless golden wheat fields stretched out endlessly. On the opposite side, the women were sound asleep.
They must have been utterly exhausted. Not only Baek Yuyeon but every single female cast member had put on sleep masks the moment they boarded and immediately passed out. In the midst of them all, I alone sat elegantly working on my laptop.
Naturally, simply opening a composition program didn’t mean good inspiration would strike instantly. I left the program running and looked around once more. That was when my eyes fell on a book resting on Saki’s lap.
“Stars…”
The novel she had been reading before falling asleep was Stars by the French author Alphonse Daudet. In Korea it was famous for its similarities in content and theme to the story “Shower,” but it was actually a world-renowned romance novel. Since I had read it in my youth (back in my twenties during my previous life), the plot and setting still came to mind fairly clearly.
When I turned my head back to the window, the French wheat fields and the countless stars studding the night sky filled my vision. The southern European night sky, washed clean of Mediterranean humidity, was so clear it sent chills down my spine. The stars embedded in the darkness sparkled as if they might shatter the train window and pour inside at any moment.
The novel’s final line replayed automatically in my mind.
The most delicate and brightest of all the stars lost its way,
came down, and fell asleep resting upon my shoulder…….
Stéphanette, the young lady who had fallen asleep on the shepherd’s shoulder. The thoughts the shepherd harbored were pure white emotions stripped of any sexual desire, condensed solely from reverence and affection.
As if possessed, I began filling the empty measures in the composition program. The intro started with acoustic guitar and banjo, creating a pastoral, fluttering atmosphere.
In the bridge, the mood flipped in an instant. Just like the young lady’s heart trembling at the shepherd’s actions, the notes shook roughly.
My fingers glided across the keyboard. The scales stacked layer upon layer without pause, and the song rapidly took shape.
Thanks to that I hadn’t gotten any sleep, but in exchange I had almost finished the song. Maybe it was a fair trade?
The moment I drank the red medicine, a powerful wave of drowsiness crashed over me.
I was done for.
Han Yul was a male vocalist considered top-tier even among national team singers. He could reach the upper range of the third octave with a husky tone no one else could replicate. On top of that, he composed and wrote lyrics for his band’s songs, so the public called him a genius.
That was precisely why Han Yul believed there were no true geniuses in this world. Because he himself was no genius—just an ordinary person who worked relentlessly. Everyone around him who was called a genius backed it up with grueling effort.
That was why he couldn’t believe the existence of the little kid sitting in Saki’s arms, staring back at him with half-lidded eyes. Until now, Han Yul had secretly assumed that everything shown about Seo Siyeon on Singer Star had been manipulated. After all, it made no sense for a child who looked that adorable to sing well, compose well, and write great lyrics.
If her face had been average, he might have at least pretended to believe it. But for someone with an idol-crushing pretty face to also possess such talent? He simply couldn’t accept it.
So even when he was cast for this show, he hadn’t held high expectations for Seo Siyeon. After seeing her play guitar perfectly, he had thought, Oh? She’s pretty good. After watching the video of her rainy-night performance, he thought, What the hell is this kid? After hearing her ballad arrangement of “Viva la Vida,” he had felt, Wait, is she for real? And now, after she whipped up an entire song in less than half a day, he had simply given up on thinking altogether.
Logically speaking, a creature like her shouldn’t exist in this world.
Still, that was that. Han Yul tried to listen to the track with a cool head and analyze it. But perhaps because he hadn’t listened to many songs lately, or maybe because he had been stuck on hard rock for so long, even though the atmosphere felt familiar, he couldn’t quite find the right words to describe it.
Only after hearing Saki’s doubtful guess while she held Seo Siyeon did the genre finally click for him.
Han Yul spoke out of habit, then panicked and clapped a hand over his mouth.
Everyone present in this room had left a significant mark on the Korean music industry. From Siyeon’s perspective, it was worth staying awake to hear their evaluations no matter how tired she was.
Next it was Han Yul’s turn. He couldn’t come up with the right words in his head to describe how he felt about the track.
After saying that, Siyeon promptly passed out on the spot.
When she opened her eyes again, Siyeon was already lying in a bed inside one of the lodging rooms.
Her last memory had cut off while she was nestled in Saki’s arms, babbling about the song with the others. She must have fallen asleep right there in Saki’s embrace.
She hadn’t slept that long after all. Only three hours had passed since she dozed off. When she opened the door to the lodging and stepped outside…
The night view of Italy filled her eyes all at once. She stared at the sight in a daze. It carried a different kind of romance from the starry sky she had seen from the train earlier, and for a moment she was at a loss for words.
That made sense. The person in front of her had once been called the pinnacle of third-generation idols. Even before K-pop had achieved global success, an FYG-level artist would have been quite popular in the West. It wasn’t strange at all that she had visited Italy many times.
I enjoyed the night view like that.
I wondered how good a cocktail would taste while looking at a scenery like this… but then I realized I still had over ten years left before I could legally drink, and could only feel a deep sense of despair.
So I shot a slight glare at the innocent Saki, who was cracking open a beer can beside me.