Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter - Chapter 25



Only Krnovel

Episode 25. The Man Who Plays the Pipe (3)

Hong Young-pil stroked his sleeping son’s head.

“When did you grow so much, our Daeyoon?”

Since my son still comes home from work and runs to me and hugs me, I only measured his growth by his weight.

It’s heavier than before.

It was quite big.

In that way.

But just because they’re children doesn’t mean their bodies grow like bean sprouts.

Rookie father Hong Young-pil realized something today.

With a smile every day.

He came hugging me like before.

Even though he’s grown quite a bit, he still endures the pain with the body of a small child.

I was teased because I was the son of a celebrity who appeared on TV.

Even the son is ignored by his friends because his father makes a funny appearance on TV.

And yet, without any notice at all.

Hong Young-pil had to suppress something rising inside him with a deep sigh at the fact that he had not seen any change.

“Don’t grow up too fast, son.”

Squeak-

Close the door to your son’s room.

I look into the living room, where the lights are still on, and see my wife.

In the kitchen where Hong Young-pil is always welcomed.

“honey.”

“Huh? Are you sleeping, Daeyoon? Would you like to try this?”

Hong Yeong-pil put his mouth to the spoon his wife offered him and swallowed it whole.

“It’s delicious.”

“Right? I think I need to boil it a little longer. Tomorrow, it will be delicious… … .”

My wife’s eyes widen.

Hong Young-pil was held in his wife’s arms.

Even though Hong Young-pil was clearly much taller, he hugged him… … No, it definitely felt like he was hugged.

“I want to do music.”

I definitely thought it was a luxury.

If a rock band did that again now, would they be successful?

Many things have changed in the world.

People these days don’t listen to rock.

Now that I’m older, my challenge is not success, fame, or money.

It doesn’t guarantee anything.

It was rather closer to a predicted failure.

But now that I have a decent living, I feel like dreaming again.

I became a clown for my son, but as a result, my son suffered.

So he uses his son as an excuse to become a proud father to his son again.

People are so cunning.

When one is satisfied, another one becomes empty.

People endlessly yearn to fill that void.

“Oh my. My husband has been patient for a long time.”

“Can I do that?”

“Of course. What’s so difficult about that?”

His wife smiled and patted Hong Yeong-pil on the back.

* * *

Lim Min-guk, the head of Human Entertainment’s actor management division and the president’s younger brother, checked the name of the person on his phone screen and took a moment to catch his breath.

Did the beep sound like “tururur…” twice?

“Oh, yes. Mr. Hong Yeong-pil!”

A moderately high tone that makes the other person feel good just by hearing your voice.

But still, not frivolously, but politely.

Even the faint laughter that could be heard over the phone made you feel closer.

Im Min-guk was the kind of person who made difficult things easy.

– I appreciate the offer, but I have decided not to sign a contract.

“Yes? … … Why?”

Hong Yeong-pil’s answer was so embarrassing that even Im Min-guk, who had been doing difficult things easily, lost his composure.

I didn’t even think to ask why.

Because it is certain that no other place would have called them to match Human Enter’s conditions.

That is the position of the entertainer Hong Young-pil.

Human Entertainment offered fairly generous terms considering its location.

-Is it hard for me to call you?

“yes?”

―Actor Hong Young-pil, or singer, comedian, MC. Something like that. You probably don’t know what to say to me, right? That’s why you always call me Hong Young-pil.

“……ah.”

Im Min-guk groaned briefly.

When Hong Young-pil heard those words, he immediately realized what he had been missing.

Im Min-guk is not a rude person.

Rather, he is one of the people in the entertainment industry who has the most business manners.

The reason Im Min-guk calls Hong Yeong-pil ‘nim’ is not because he is rude, but because his identity is ambiguous.

Even in the age of multi-tainers, everyone has roots.

It is usually called by its roots.

Even if you are active in entertainment, if you are an actor and are continuing to act, you are called actor so-and-so, something like that.

Actually, what?

It doesn’t really matter what you call it.

There are many stars who don’t call themselves “who” or “what”.

There are top stars whose names themselves are like pronouns.

If we become close, we can just call each other brother and sister.

But, that insignificant thing can be something special to some people.

“sorry.”

The immigration office quickly admitted its mistake.

– No. I know that. Everyone does that to me. These days, young people think I’m a comedian. And I’m not a funny comedian.

“… … .”

– Let’s have a meal together instead of coffee later. It was nice to meet you.

The call was disconnected.

Im Min-guk, who had been holding his disconnected cell phone for a moment, smiled bitterly at the man in a suit in front of him.

“I’m sorry. The contract with Hong Yeong-pil… … has failed.”

“Okay, I will report it that way.”

The man slapped the papers in front of him, stood up, and continued speaking to Im Min-guk.

“The promised investment will proceed normally. Our lawyer will come to you with the contract, so please wait and we will contact you.”

“Yes? Uh… … Thank you. Thank you!”

The man who had packed his bags was about to leave when he stopped and looked at Im Min-guk.

“The person who gave me the order told me to proceed with the investment regardless of whether it would work out or not. I clearly said that I would only invest if I signed a contract with Mr. Hong Young-pil. Do you remember?”

“Ah. Yes. Of course. I remember.”

“But why didn’t you catch it?”

Im Min-guk hesitated at the man’s words, then smiled bitterly again.

“It was my fault. I thought that if I gave Hong Young-pil the treatment he couldn’t get anywhere else and gave him a huge deposit, he would do it no matter what… … I didn’t read his mind. There are some people whose job is to be a celebrity… … but there are also people who still live off their dreams. Hong Young-pil is one of the latter.”

“I think the chairman will like that answer.”

The man who showed me a warm smile for the first time just walked out the door.

* * *

Youngpil decided to join, but… … .

“There is no practice room?”

“None.”

At my answer, Youngpil laughs in vain. As the saying goes, “Laughter brings good fortune.” When Youngpil laughs, I feel happy too, so I laugh back.

“Are you laughing?”

“Because you like it when your brother smiles?”

“That… … No. Let’s laugh. Of course, it’s not like that.”

“right?”

He took off his sunglasses and lightly glanced around the coffee shop, chiming in with Yeong-pil.

This coffee shop is nice.

I don’t know much about coffee, so I just drink sweet smoothies or sometimes lemon tea. Even those are bland and tasteless, and the location of the store is old.

It’s a corner place so there aren’t many people. The owner is unfriendly so there aren’t any customers anyway.

Even now, aside from us, the only customer is a man in a suit… … something like that?

I really like that.

I feel sorry for the boss, but honestly, I don’t see any will to do business.

It is moderately obscured by the flower bed outside the coffee shop, so it is not very visible from the outside, but the view from the inside is good.

Cicadas chirp so loudly that the sound can be heard even inside the coffee shop, as if they are sad that summer is coming to an end.

Everything is fine.

“Your face looks really good, but we don’t look good at all. I won’t be able to do even half of my old skills. Then, practice is essential. We need a practice room.”

“Brother, don’t you have money?”

“… … .”

“It’s really hard being in your 50s in South Korea.”

“I received the deposit and things were almost okay, but someone held me back.”

“Who’s holding my ankle? I’m starting to walk on clouds now. Walking on the sky.”

“I have the skills to follow that absurd tongue, so… … I don’t know what to say.”

“Right? Everything will be okay in the end.”

Youngpil sighs and then starts to laugh.

“Really… … I feel like I’ve gone back in time when I’m with you.”

“Back then? When we were preparing and practicing the album together?”

“Oh. I thought I had forgotten everything. I guess I haven’t forgotten a single thing. It comes to mind as if it happened yesterday.”

“Well… it really wasn’t that long ago for me. It was about a year and a half…?”

“Is that so? It’s still amazing no matter how many times I hear it.”

Then suddenly.

The lyrics to the song Youngpil was writing for his older brother flashed through his mind.

Composing and writing lyrics.

Music is fundamentally inspiration.

When you say inspiration, it’s not that inspiration, it’s a brilliant idea.

I hurriedly took a pen out of my bag.

But there is no paper.

“Brother. Don’t you have any paper? Hurry up.”

“Why, why?”

This guy really has no sense.

He quickly reached out and took a square piece of tissue paper that was lying on the table.

It’s moderately firm, so if you use it carefully, you won’t have any trouble writing.

Maybe 5 to 10 minutes passed?

Some pretty plausible lyrics were copied onto the napkin.

You’ll probably have to match it to the song and make some modifications.

If you try singing it like that and there are parts where your pronunciation stands out, you’ll have to fix those too.

but.

The meaning of the lyrics will not change.

I stared at the napkin and then asked Youngpil.

“Brother. Is it the same octave as before?”

“Octave? Why octave all of a sudden?”

“I told you. I’m a sub vocalist and keyboardist.”

“… … Hey. You’re here, so what about vocals? That’s not it.”

“brother.”

“why?”

“Do you think I’m the kind of person who would ask you to sing a song like I’m wasting my time at a karaoke bar?”

At my words, Youngpil makes a bashful expression and sips his empty Americano.

Looking at that, Yeongpil handed his brother a napkin.

“I told you I was composing a song for you, hyung.”

“Huh? Uh… … That’s right.”

“The highest note is 2 octaves of G. But there are a lot of low notes. That’s why I can’t sing it. It’s still unfinished. Now that the lyrics are complete, I have a direction for how to do the song.”

“… … .”

Youngpil looks down at the napkin without saying anything.

someday.

Not too long ago, Taeju hyung saw me and said this to me.

– As for the lyrics, well. Aren’t you having a hard time because you’re too positive?

-You’re still young.

– I’m not saying it’s exactly like this, but… um… … Composing is a flash in the pan, but writing lyrics is an experience and a thought.

―As you gain experience and go through the process of thinking, something will develop inside you, and you too will surely achieve it.

I can compose music, but I feel like I have clear limitations when it comes to writing lyrics.

This is not due to the good or bad of the head.

So, I’m the one composing.

The lyrics were written by Taeju hyung.

That’s the formula for our unreleased first album.

Of course, I participated in writing lyrics for some of the songs, but even those were finished by Tae-joo hyung.

When I look at the lyrics written by Taeju hyung, there is something that makes my heart pound.

In contrast, the lyrics I wrote were a bit childish.

So I asked Taeju hyung this.

―Hyung and Nana, there isn’t much of an age difference, right? But why do you come up with lyrics like this?

-I guess he’s been hurt more than you.

I didn’t understand it at the time, but after going through such a big change in such a short period of time, I think I understand what it means. A little bit.

Youngpil looked at the napkin for a long time and finally opened his mouth.

“What’s the name of this song… …?”

“A fable. You can tell the content by looking at it, but Hong Yeong-pil’s past as I see it. And Hong Yeong-pil’s future that will unfold.”

“… … .”

“They were on TV. Cicadas live for a very long time underground, even though their lifespan is less than a month. It can be as short as five years, or as long as 17 years.”

The inspiration was the cicada’s cry.

And once, a documentary titled The Life of a Cicada that I happened to see in the idiot box I was living in overlapped with Youngpil’s current situation, and the lyrics were extended.

Youngpil picked up the napkin and handed it back to me as if he was holding a silver spoon in his mouth.

“The best signing bonus… … that’s it.”

“So what I’m saying is, practice your vocals too. Got it?”

“Okay, I understand. I’ll definitely call you, so don’t lose your napkin.”

at that time.

Yeong-pil, who was sitting with his back to the window, looked over his brother’s shoulder and saw three or four black sedans approaching at once and stopping in front of a coffee shop.

If it had ended there, I would have just thought it was okay.

In an instant, men in suits get out of the car and start flocking to the coffee shop.

“……what?”