Chapter 35: Became the Older Brother of a Top Star

These days, whenever he had some free time, Jung Young-hoon had a habit.

It was checking the reactions of people on the kids' YouTube channel.

There were only two videos, yet the number of subscribers exceeded 300,000, and each video had over 2 million views.

- Feeling healed today~

- Doing 1 sibling a day.

- I'm checking in too~.

- It seems like 1 sibling a day is trending ㅋㅋㅋ

The phrase "1 sibling a day" was particularly common in the comments.

It meant that people were visiting the channel once a day to see the siblings.

- Haven't they decided on a group name yet?

- What will be their group name when they debut?

There were also quite a few comments asking when they would decide on a group name.

Jung Young-hoon muttered with a hint of disappointment.

"The half-half siblings were good."

Half-seasoned, half-fried.

Wasn't that a name that suited them perfectly?

But his sigh was short-lived.

- Will there be a video from Hongdae this time?

- I'm waiting for that!

- When will the Hongdae video be uploaded?

"Hongdae video?"

When had the two of them gone to Hongdae again?

Come to think of it, he had heard that they planned to go busking if the opportunity arose.

"Could they have gone there while I was working late yesterday?"

He quickly tried to leave the channel and search for the video.

But there was no need.

"What, what is this?"

In the algorithm-recommended video list, a familiar silhouette appeared.

Not just one, but over ten videos all showed the same silhouette.

Anyone could tell it was the image of his daughter and son.

He clicked on the video as if in a trance.

Ding, ding, ding.

A guitar sound, like a small rabbit hopping on guitar strings, flowed out.

It was a rhythm and melody that made his shoulders move involuntarily.

Then,

Yuna's voice, full of playfulness, seeped into the melody.

Following that,

Bang! Bang! Bang!

When Jung Yun-seong hit the neck of the guitar with his fist, it sounded like knocking on a door.

The two of them shouted into the microphones simultaneously.

Jung Young-hoon burst into a smile at the sight.

It seemed the people filming the video felt the same way.

This song made Jung Young-hoon think of a morning scene.

Yun-seong and his wife waking up their sleepy daughter.

Yuna, who had been sleeping a lot lately.

But she didn't just sleep all day.

When Yun-seong and his wife woke her up, she would somehow drag her heavy body to the living room.

And the reason was in the lyrics.

Yuna forced her heavy eyelids open to see her beloved family.

A smile spread across Jung Young-hoon's face as he listened to the song, just like the one on Yuna's face.

The two of them, looking happiest when singing, sang into their respective microphones.

After about 3 minutes, the song ended.

Thunderous cheers and applause erupted.

As the person filming the video briefly panned the camera, a crowd appeared in the video.

The number of people was so great that the cheers they made distorted the sound.

"Ha ha. Those kids, really."

Even when they were dealing with chicken cravings, they managed to capture their daily life in their songs.

Especially the playful melody and the overwhelming, almost unfair, quality of Yuna's voice suited the song perfectly.

And the lyrics, which clearly told their story.

Just watching them made you smile, and the song touched your heart.

Especially when the lyrics mentioned family, Jung Young-hoon felt a lump in his throat.

Why?

It was clearly an upbeat and good song, yet it evoked a strange sense of longing.

"Really, they're geniuses, whoever their parents are."

Even though it wasn't a serious song, it had an emotional depth that moved people.

A beautiful and sweet song, but at the end, it left a sense of longing.

This was their second original song, "Don't Sleep In."

"Are there any other videos?"

Naturally, his hand moved to other videos taken by different people.

It seemed he would spend the whole day watching videos today.

# # #

"Brother? Brother!"

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

"What are you doing? You were just spacing out."

I must have been lost in the video editing without realizing it.

"Why?"

"Well, you've been spacing out a lot lately, so I called you."

Ever since the Hongdae busking, he's been doing this.

How should I put it?

A strong sense of emptiness.

It didn't feel like this after the last Hongdae karaoke, but this time it was much stronger.

Is this the stage emptiness that all performers experience?

They say that after a performance, it feels like falling into a deep pit of emptiness.

He was feeling that very acutely.

"You seem fine, Yuna."

"Huh?"

"Aren't you affected after a performance? Do you feel that emptiness?"

"I'm fine. I have my own method."

Yuna shrugged and made a gesture for him to ask.

"..."

I didn't really want to ask, but if I didn't, she'd probably get upset.

"Th... Ahem. What's your method?"

"It's very simple. Just think about the happy faces people showed us."

"Happy faces?"

"Yep. When I think about how happy people were, I feel better."

I didn't know such a method existed.

I don't know if it really works, but it's good to hear that it works for Yuna.

But how did she know about this?

Is this also a talent?

"People are already uploading a lot of videos. They're all asking when it will be uploaded to our channel."

"I'm working on it. It's almost done."

There wasn't much to edit.

Just cutting a few parts and showing the essence, so it wasn't difficult, but the problem was the sound quality.

I wanted to show a video with good sound quality, so it took a bit of time.

"Phew, done."

After finishing the upload, I rotated my stiff shoulders.

"Good job, brother."

"You should go home. Why are you waiting here?"

"Hey, how can I go home without you? Does your shoulder hurt a lot?"

Yuna patted my shoulder.

It wasn't particularly soothing, but the thought behind it made the stiffness disappear.

"Hey! You guys!"

At that moment, the PDs burst into the studio.

"Hey, guys. You're here?"

"Hey, how could you go to Hongdae without telling us?"

The PDs must have seen the videos.

"If we had gone without telling you, you would have followed us with all the equipment, right?"

"Maybe...?"

"We'll take care of you two. That's our job."

They are really considerate.

They have a lot to do and no one is paying them, yet they try to take care of us.

It's not because we're the boss's children.

I can feel their warm sincerity.

"Hey, but that original song was really good."

"When did you make such an amazing song?"

"Could you at least let us hear it first? I was really surprised when I heard it."

I wanted to surprise the PDs too.

That's why I didn't show it to them first.

"Was the song good?"

"Good? It's more than good. Didn't you see the reactions? Everyone went crazy."

"It's a song that fits you two perfectly."

A song that fits us perfectly.

As they said, this original song, like the first one, was meant to capture our daily life.

"I'm glad people liked it."

"To be honest, didn't you feel it while making it? That this song would be a hit. Didn't you have that feeling?"

"Haha. If I had the same composing ability as Yun-seong, I would have been drunk on it and made songs like a factory."

"It's a good thing you don't have that talent."

But the chicken cravings and this song weren't entirely my work.

"Well, I didn't make the whole song."

"Huh?"

"Yuna wrote all the lyrics."

The PDs' eyes widened.

"Really? Yuna wrote all the lyrics?"

Yuna crossed her arms and held her head high.

"Of course! Although, the concept was set by my brother."

"Wow. Even if you debut officially later, you won't have to worry about expenses. Your brother composes, and Yuna writes the lyrics."

"Really, you'll make a fortune once the songs are released."

"We have to hurry and make the next original song for a proper album."

We still don't have enough original songs for a proper album.

Even for a mini-album, we need at least 3-5 songs.

"What kind of song will the next original be? Something similar to 'Chicken Cravings' and 'Don't Sleep In'?"

"Hmm. I have a few ideas, but for the first album, it might be better to stick to a similar theme."

"Wow. Is it because you're the boss's son, Yun-seong, that you understand the market so well? You're right. Usually, albums are made according to a concept. That way, it doesn't feel awkward."

Of course, I want to write romantic songs and try different genres.

But for our first album, it's important to stick to a concept.

"Let's all work together this time and release a proper album."

"Sure, we'll help."

"Of course, Yun-seong probably doesn't need much help... but you know, there's expertise."

I'm grateful for their help.

There's a lot to do and a lot to pay attention to in music production, so it's not easy to do everything alone.

With their help, the work will go faster, but-

"I won't be able to come here for a while because I'm busy."

"Huh? Why?"

"Are you doing something else?"

"I have an important exam."

"An exam?"

The PDs tilted their heads, and Yuna explained excitedly.

"My brother is going to enter Jeonho High School."

"What?!"

"Jeonho High School? Isn't that the best high school in Korea?"

"I heard it's really hard to get in."

As they said, Jeonho High School is one of the best in Korea, with a small number of admissions and fierce competition.

"It's a place only geniuses can go to."

"Well, someone like Yun-seong..."

The PDs looked at me with admiration.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm just taking the exam."

"Wow, Yun-seong going to Jeonho High School."

"Then, isn't Seoul National University almost a sure thing?"

These people aren't listening to me at all.

If the news spreads and I fail, it will be really embarrassing.

Chapter 36