Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter - Chapter 15



Only Krnovel

15. Hello, this is 0000.

“It’s really me···.”

Cha Seong-jun mutters as he sticks his face close to the laptop as if he’s going to go inside.

Even though I was wearing a hat, it felt strange to see my face right there on the thumbnail.

Also the video title.

‘[Super super super special legend] A fierce singing battle between a real unknown musical actor and a random passerby! Hongdae’s streets are scorched!’

The title has a provocative confrontational structure called .

“Wow, the title and thumbnail are no joke.”

Is that why?

The number of views counted under the video is already-

“510,000?!”

Reached 500,000 views in one day.

This was a whopping five times higher than the average number of views for Changhyuk’s videos in recent months, which was around 100,000.

And that all in just one day!

“Uh… Let’s take a look first.”

I played the video with a bewildered feeling.

The video was a little over 20 minutes long compared to the actual event that lasted over 2 hours, and many of the actual participants were edited out. There were participants who received little response because the impact of their songs was lacking.

After the two contestants passed by,

Finally, one of the characters in the thumbnail appeared.

A musical actor with warm visuals. It was Hong Kwang-woo.

“As expected, you sing well.”

As Hong Gwang-woo started singing, Cha Seong-jun quietly exclaimed in admiration.

Despite the fact that the rich vocalization and booming resonance on site were not captured in the video due to the nature of street recording, the song was of a much higher standard than the previous contestants. There was absolutely no flaw in vocalization.

As the song ended, there was thunderous applause from the audience, and Changhyuk was seen about to announce the winner.

At that moment, someone from the audience raised his hand and ran out onto the stage.

– Last participant, please introduce yourself.

-···I am C, a pedestrian passing by.

It was C. Cha Seong-jun, a passerby.

Kuung-!

Cha Seong-jun pauses the video for a moment and bangs his head on the desk.

“···I was really out of my mind back then.”

Passerby C…

At the time, I blurted out what I said to hide my true identity, but looking back, I realized that there is no second-year middle school syndrome like this one.

If it is revealed that it is him, it will be a dark history that will be talked about among acquaintances for a long time. Kim Ho-soo and Kang Seung-wook in particular will be excited and wild.

“And what are those baggy clothes?”

It was a stark contrast to Hong Gwang-woo, who had dressed haphazardly on that day of all days, saying he was going to check out the studio.

It’s almost like a prince and a pauper, a swan and a black swan.

In any case, the situation was created in a way that fit the confrontational structure presented in the thumbnail. Perhaps this was also Changhyuk’s editing workplace.

“Well, it’s okay. I already got the reward anyway.”

After barely shaking off my embarrassment and regaining my composure, I resumed watching the video and the song began.

“······.”

Cha Seong-jun, who has returned with a serious expression, listens to the song with concentration.

There were parts where I couldn’t monitor properly because it was so noisy on site, but now I could hear the details of the vocals well.

There are some things I like about it, and some things I find lacking, but still…

“···I think I sang it well?”

It’s not about being self-indulgent, you really sang well.

I know for sure because just a week ago, [Raising an Abandoned Singer-songwriter], hereinafter referred to as [Bangsinki], sang the exact same song to test if it was real.

Compared to that time, my skills have improved unbelievably!

And is it because he sings the song perfectly?

The clothes that looked like rags before the song started actually created a sense of mystery after the song ended.

Like many other talented people, his looks are worthy of his singing voice.

The video ended with the announcement of the first joint winner of Street Karaoke.

When I checked the comments, there were a lot of different impressions.

– What the hell is that, a passerbyㅋㅋㅋ It’s a conceptㅋㅋㅋㅋ

N But you sing really well

n I appoint you as the President starting today.

N crazy president lol

I will welcome you as Mr. N.

– Hong Kwang-woo is awesome! He’s a great musical actor.

N Even handsome. Starting today, I’ll put you on the list of candidates to be my lover.

n Welcome to Hong Kwang Woo’s fan club [Hongbit].

– Is Ji-haeng’s emotional line real? It’s certain that they broke up at least 5 minutes ago.

N It’s so sad

n When I listen to this song, my ex-girlfriend comes to mind

n Corner warrior, wake up from your false dream

N GSK, tell me the address

– My brother is a co-winner

N, you don’t know how to sing? To be honest, it’s a fact that Hong Kwang-woo sings better than you. Their vocal class is different.

n I guess it’s a matter of taste. I liked Haeng-in’s song better. Hong just felt like it was awesome, but Haeng had something that made my heart ache.

Oh, that’s heart disease. You should probably go to the hospital.

N hahaha, this is crazy. But at this level, isn’t it obvious that they should participate in the year-end King of Kings tournament?

N Hong Kwang-woo? Or President Hang?

N both

“Wow, what is all this?”

I am dumbfounded by the unbelievable situation.

Maybe it was because the video itself was a competition concept, but the endless comments were full of people comparing themselves to Hong Kwang-woo and arguing about who sang better or worse.

Moreover, he was given nicknames like President Haeng and Mr. Haeng.

Is this what it means to become a star overnight?

Anyway, I felt good.

Above all, she has been recognized by netizens as being stricter than the mother-in-law of the eldest daughter-in-law.

“If I had recorded with my face exposed, would I have gotten casting offers from agencies or places like that?”

It was a moment when I was filled with happiness and my wildest imaginations were running wild.

“huh?”

Suddenly, a corner of the YouTube page caught my eye.

There was a bell-shaped notification icon in the upper right corner, right next to the profile image.

There was a number ‘+3’ attached to it.

“Oh, this is!”

Cha Seong-jun is delighted.

The number attached to the notification means that there were that many comments on the video he uploaded.

As expected, Yuna did a good job covering the song~ I thought to myself as I went straight to my channel and read the comments.

Let’s see, what did they all comment?

“Hello, this is MXM Entertainment. I enjoyed listening to the new song of our artist Yuna, covered by D.Vocie. We are collaborating on various projects with various creators, and we would like to propose a meeting to D.Voice······ Huh?”

Hey hey hey?! Hey hey hey hey hey!

*

Meanwhile, at that time,

A rising star in the musical world.

A prince on stage.

Hong Kwang-woo, an unknown musical actor, was at the gym.

“Hoo, hoo.”

Hong Gwang-woo, out of breath, gets off the treadmill.

Then, as he sat on the bench seat and clicked on a YouTube video, his handsome brows furrowed.

Changhyuk’s street karaoke.

It was a broadcast in which the CEO of his agency had recruited him, saying that he would promote him.

‘He’s the younger sibling of an acquaintance of an acquaintance of mine. I’ve already talked to him. Gwangwoo, you’re going to be a star now.’

I initially refused because I had a strong sense of pride as a musical actor.

Why would a professional like you get involved in a playground for amateurs?

But on the other hand, I wanted to slowly get rid of my life of obscurity, so I appeared on the show pretending to lose.

I sang a song from the show that was currently performing, and the audience’s response was good.

At this point, it would have been easy to see that he would win by showing a gap with the general public.

however,

– I’m a passerby.

Things changed when a strange man barged in.

The man’s singing was top-notch, and the audience’s response was enthusiastic.

The voice was appealing, above all else, as was the pronunciation and technique.

Even she felt her heart pounding at the sound of the man’s song.

But since it had already been agreed upon in advance, I thought the result would remain the same.

But,

– Today’s winners are Hong Gwang-woo and Haeng-in!

They clearly said they would push for it, but the results ended up overturning expectations.

The issue that should have been his to monopolize was divided by some random guy.

He smiled brightly and happily at the scene, but after filming was over, he questioned Changhyuk through the representative.

Then he said.

‘Because live broadcasts are originally subject to many variables depending on on-site reactions, this was unavoidable in order to avoid suspicions of fabrication. Also, these days, this kind of rivalry is good for drawing aggro. I will edit it carefully as planned, so please take a look.’

As expected, the video garnered a decent 500,000 views.

Thanks to this, the number of new subscribers to the fan cafe [Hongbit] has increased explosively.

At first, the CEO was going crazy, saying he was going to sue for breach of contract and cut ties with his acquaintances.

‘Look, Gwangwoo, what did my brother say? He said you’d be a star! When I looked at the homepage bulletin board, everyone was going crazy saying they’d come see you! Hahahahaha!’

Let’s see the real effect of the publicity. He changed his attitude as if nothing had happened and said that good things are good things.

As the remaining performances of sold out, congratulations from fellow actors continued.

Meanwhile, some.

‘You sing better than the passersby. But there’s something strangely charming about that person’s voice. It’s like, it makes your heart flutter. It’s not about the technical aspect, but that kind of thing. It’s like a real natural talent.’

‘Hey, even so, a joint win was a bit much, right? But they’re musical actors after all.’

In other words, he sarcastically said that you are a sham who sings only technically without any substance, and that you are an idiot who even draws with amateurs.

Of course, he knew that this was due to his jealousy and envy of them for having become popular overnight when he was less well-known than them.

Also, since he had a strong mentality due to living in obscurity for a long time, he would not have taken it lightly in normal times.

But this time, I couldn’t just let it go.

Because I personally experienced the ‘talent’ of the man they were talking about.

‘You guys haven’t heard that guy’s song, so you can’t talk like that.’

I’m sure the result wouldn’t have been much different if other actors had come instead of me.

The suction power that such a thick-skinned man showed was real. Perhaps to the point where it could even be compared to his musical star seniors.

No, now I think that maybe that man was also an unknown singer like me. And he had been singing for quite some time.

‘No matter what, it can’t end like this.’

Hong Gwang-woo had a strong competitive spirit as well as pride.

As I was looking at the comments, it looks like there will be a King of Kings tournament at the end of the year.

Moreover, netizens were inciting a rematch between him and the man.

‘If BJ Changhyuk is sensitive to issues and public opinion, he wouldn’t miss out on such good bait.’

I will recruit these two people by any means necessary.

If that’s the case, we won’t have to rush and we’ll meet again soon.

Let’s have a proper revenge match then.

‘I don’t know who you are, but you’d better brace yourself. Next time, I’ll really sing for you.’

Hong Gwang-woo, who bit his lip, got on the treadmill again.

*

*

*

At midnight that night, at an izakaya in Yeouido.

A room located in the far corner of the store.

Surrounding a table filled with expensive premium soju, six men with flushed faces are laughing.

MXM Entertainment CEO Baek Seok, HYPE Entertainment composition team leader Hong Min-ki, and four new composers under them.

“Just wait and see. These guys will lead the K-pop market in the future.”

“Of course, these are friends carefully selected by the team leader. I’m also looking forward to it.”

“How humble. Who doesn’t know that MXM Entertainment is the trendiest these days?”

“You are too kind.”

A warm conversation takes place between Baek-seok and Hong Min-gi.

Although there is a slight age difference, the two are like comrades in the same unit, having watched each other through hardships since their days as soldiers.

It was Baek Seok who arranged this event using that friendship as an excuse.

‘There’s someone among the new composers that I’m looking for personally. But please don’t worry, I’m not trying to do anything gangster-like. Team leader, you know my personality.’

The person he is looking for is none other than Paradise Sangga-nam.

It was the ‘Ninja Turtle’ that Yuna kept urging to find, day after day.

There was a strong argument that the man was definitely a new composer.

I arranged the meeting today because I thought that if she had the talent to acknowledge it, she would naturally belong to one of the four major entertainment companies.

‘I guess it wasn’t HYPE···.’

Contrary to expectations, the harvest was zero.

When I met him in person and looked at his face, there was no one who looked alike.

In the end, the situation continued with regrets.

That was when.

Brrrrrr-

Baek-seok’s cell phone vibrated.

He was the head of the public relations team.

“I’ll go talk to you for a moment.”

As soon as I left the room and pressed the call button, I heard an urgent voice.

“Chief, I’m here!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Mail, mail!”

So when I asked who the email was from, the PR team leader said, “Oh no, come to your senses. I’m in a hurry.” and told me who the sender was.

At that moment,

“Really?!”

My mind, which had been dizzy, suddenly snaps back to its original state.

“I’ll go right now.”

As soon as I hung up the phone, I went back to my room and bowed.

“I’m sorry, Team Leader, but I think I’ll have to go to that company.”

“Huh? Right now? It’s twelve o’clock now.”

“That’s right, sir. We’re just starting to heat up.”

“Did we make a mistake…?”

The new composers were surprised and asked when he suddenly said he would go back.

On the other hand, Hong Min-ki seemed to have roughly grasped the situation and spoke nonchalantly.

“Oh, Director Baek said Yuna returned. Is that related to it?”

“Yes, that’s what happened.”

“Tsk, that’s too bad. It’s been a while since we last saw each other. Director Baek is busy, you know.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll serve you properly next time. You guys, enjoy your seats and go home. I’ll pay the bill. I’ll add 50 to what you’ve eaten so far.”

“Hey, our Director Baek. You’ve become successful. If you do that, I’ll be grateful.”

“It’s a law firm, what is it? Anyway, thank you to the composers for taking the time today. Our MXM Entertainment is always open, so if the team leader is being mean or something-”

“Hey, you! If you’re going to go, go quickly! Don’t throw me unnecessary glances!”

After exchanging such warm greetings, we immediately got into a taxi.

I told the driver my address when he asked for my destination and then opened my email inbox.

[FW: Hello, this is D.Voice.]

The email I was waiting for had arrived.

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