Chapter 39 of "Becoming the Older Brother of a Top Star"

“Wow-!!”

“Bravo!!”

“Encore-!!”

As our two songs came to an end, the restaurant turned into an audience hall.

They sent us enthusiastic cheers and warm applause.

“Thank you~! Thank you so much~!”

“Sing one more time!!”

“Ah. We’ve already sung three times, and you want more?”

At Yuna’s cute reaction, the people burst out laughing.

We originally planned to sing just one song and quickly leave, but the people’s response was so overwhelming that before we knew it, we had already sung three songs.

“Since our parents are waiting, it’s a bit disappointing, but we’ll come back another time!”

“Ah.”

“It’s so disappointing.”

“I wanted to hear you sing one more time.”

Even as we descended from the stage and returned to our seats, we continued to receive a round of applause.

I felt relieved that we had put on a successful performance.

“Mom~ Dad~. How was our surprise performance?”

Mother’s eyes were already moist.

She tried to act as if nothing was wrong, but the table was filled with tear-soaked tissues.

“Phew. What did you two prepare all this for?”

Father gently patted Mother’s back.

“She cried so much. I’ve never seen your mother cry like this in my whole life.”

“No. No, when have I ever cried like that!”

“Haha. Okay, I get it.”

Then, Father gave us a thumbs-up.

“Thanks to Yuseong and Yuna, I’ve had a really happy day today. Thank you.”

“Hehe. It’s nothing.”

“And thanks to you two, everyone here looks so happy.”

I looked around the restaurant.

When we first came here, everyone was in a quiet and solemn atmosphere, but now, the sound of laughter and chatter could be heard everywhere.

“Musicians who can make people feel happy are not as common as you might think. You two seem to have a talent for that.”

A musician who brings happiness.

His words resonated with me.

“Huh? You mean we don’t have to pay?”

After finishing our meal and getting ready to go home, I heard Father’s voice from the counter where he was settling the bill.

When I got closer, I saw a middle-aged man, not the manager we had seen earlier.

“Yes. Since you gave us such a precious performance today.”

This was the first time such a thing had happened, so Father looked quite surprised.

“And this is a small gift from me. I heard it’s your wife’s birthday today.”

He even went further and presented a bottle of wine for Mother.

“No. You don’t have to go to so much trouble...”

“It’s fine. Compared to the performance you gave us today, it’s nothing. I hope you’ll come back again. And...”

He spoke in a subtle tone, looking at Yuna and me.

“Would you mind taking a photo with me if it’s okay?”

It was not a difficult request, so Yuna readily agreed.

“Of course!”

In the end, Yuna, I, and the man who seemed to be the owner of the restaurant took a photo together.

After taking the photo and getting Yuna’s autograph, the man looked as if he had everything in the world.

“Thank you so much today.”

“No, we’re the ones who should be grateful.”

As we were about to leave, escorted by the staff—

“Hey! You’re still here!”

“Can we take a photo with you too?”

“Can you sign one for me? I’m a fan!”

It seemed we wouldn’t be able to go home early after all.

* * *

Lying on the sofa and doing nothing on a weekend afternoon is something I’ve always enjoyed, both in my past life and this one.

Just lying there like a corpse, doing nothing, is both healing and a great way to relax.

Occasionally turning on my phone to watch NewTube is also a great pleasure.

“Mmm-.”

But I couldn’t keep lying there.

My stomach had been growling for a while, demanding food.

“What should I eat that will make me feel like I’ve had a good meal?”

My parents were not at home, and Yuna and I were the only ones in the house.

There were various side dishes in the fridge, but today, I felt like having ramen.

“Yuna.”

“Mmm~ Come in.”

When I knocked on the door and entered, Yuna was lying on the bed, just like I had been, looking at her phone.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah~ Remember when we sang at the restaurant? Someone uploaded a video of it. I was watching it because it showed up in my feed.”

I had seen the video this morning.

The number of views was surprisingly high, which surprised me.

It was also fun to read the comments from the people in the video.

“But why?”

“Oh. I’m going to cook some ramen. Do you want to eat too?”

Yuna made a “Hmm~” sound and shook her head.

“I’m fine. I’m not hungry yet.”

But I asked again.

“Won’t you want to eat when you smell the ramen I’m cooking?”

“I’m really fine. I mean it.”

I looked at Yuna with a cold, deadpan expression.

“Are you sure? You didn’t eat all of it last time after asking for just one bite, right?”

“Really! I really mean it!”

If that’s the case—

I turned on the stove and started cooking the ramen.

Boil, boil—

I put the noodles and soup base into the boiling water, along with the finely chopped green onions and chili peppers I had prepared earlier.

I also cracked an egg into the pot, and the delicious ramen was quickly ready.

My mouth was already watering.

And I wasn’t the only one whose mouth was watering.

“...”

After turning off the stove, I turned around to see Yuna staring at me blankly.

“Why?”

I asked indifferently, and Yuna swallowed hard before speaking.

“The ramen looks so good.”

“Right? I’m pretty good at cooking ramen.”

“Yeah, yeah. Your ramen is the best in the world.”

This guy is clearly laying the groundwork for something.

“You said you weren’t going to eat.”

“Can I just have one bite... please?”

Yuna twisted her body and made a strong plea for just one bite.

I sighed and shook my head.

I knew this would happen.

“Go get some chopsticks and a bowl. I knew you’d do this, so I cooked two servings.”

Yuna’s face lit up.

“Wow-! Really? You’re the best, my brother!”

“Go get the bowl.”

“Okay-!”

Yuna quickly ran to get the bowl and chopsticks.

Without being asked, she even scooped a bowl of rice from the rice cooker and set out some kimchi.

“Let’s eat~!”

Yuna blew on the noodles and took a big bite, soon raising her thumb.

“Ah. Your ramen is the best. For some reason, it doesn’t taste as good when I make it.”

“That’s only natural.”

Ramen cooked by someone else always tastes the best.

“Wow-. It’s so delicious. You could be a chef.”

Yuna was constantly exclaiming in amazement over just a bowl of ramen.

I smiled and followed her lead, taking a bite of the noodles.

Thanks to Yuna’s reaction, the ramen tasted even better today.

* * *

Despite being a cable variety show, the program "Tell Your Music" is loved by many viewers thanks to the excellent hosting and talent scouting of its two MCs.

This show often uploads edited videos to NewTube, and there are quite a few people who make it a point to watch every episode.

Today, the PDs and writers were racking their brains to decide who to invite as the next guest.

“How about inviting a girl group this time?”

“An idol group would be good, but the problem is that our show invites at least two music acts. The number of members can get too large.”

Idol groups typically have at least four members and can go up to twelve, making them less desirable for invitations. Additionally, one of the strengths of this show is that it features more than one artist per episode, which viewers enjoy.

Sometimes, they perform songs with unexpected combinations, and if their personalities match, they can create entertaining banter, providing laughter.

“What about inviting an indie band like last time?”

“An indie band?”

“Yes. Last time, we invited a band with some recognition in the indie scene, and the ratings were quite good.”

This show also invites relatively unknown artists or unfamiliar indie bands, not just famous ones.

Of course, it’s difficult to expect high ratings from unknown artists or bands.

“Still, it’s too much of a gamble. Even the teams that got good reactions only managed about half the response compared to when famous artists appeared.”

So, for the time being, they planned to invite only well-known artists.

As the show progresses, the ratings are likely to continue to drop.

To hold onto the ratings, it seemed better to invite well-known artists.

“Oh. How about we ask Ryu Jae-won?”

Ryu Jae-won, known as the "Prince of Ballads," was scheduled to appear as a guest in this episode.

“Hmm. Let me check.”

PD Kim Young-ho carefully sent a text message to Ryu Jae-won, whom he had saved in his contacts.

In response to the question about who he would like to invite as another guest, Ryu Jae-won quickly replied.

- I noticed that the show sometimes invites unknown artists or indie bands.

Indie bands?

Could he be interested in that?

- Inviting unknown artists or indie bands aligns well with the show’s purpose.

- Can I recommend a team? They haven’t debuted yet.

PD Kim Young-ho hesitated for a moment.

He thought Ryu Jae-won would recommend a close colleague, but a team that hasn’t even debuted yet...

Is he trying to push a friend?

- If you watch this video, you’ll understand.

Ryu Jae-won sent a video link instead of the name of the artist.

- I was deeply impressed by this team when I saw them live.

Live?

PD Kim Young-ho tilted his head and clicked on the video link.

The video, which had been uploaded just a day ago, already had over 500,000 views and was five minutes long.

The title read, "L Restaurant’s One-Day Siblings."

“Wait. One-Day Siblings?”

He had heard of them before.

They became famous for busking in Hongdae.

He had only heard about them, but this was the first time he was watching their video.

He quietly pressed the play button.

“...!”

The video, shot on a phone, had poor quality in both picture and sound.

But as soon as he pressed play, PD Kim Young-ho’s eyes widened at the sweet, captivating voice that filled his ears.

‘What? Why is the singing so good?’

An original song created to celebrate Mother’s birthday.

The title was unknown, but the song was filled with the pure love of the two children for their parents.

The lyrics, melody, and voice.

Everything was perfect.

‘He saw this live?’

At first, he thought Ryu Jae-won was trying to push a friend through his connections.

But now, he understood why he was recommending this unknown, undeveloped sibling duo.

Look at the thunderous cheers from the audience at the end of the song.

Even PD Kim Young-ho, watching the video with poor sound quality, felt goosebumps. How much more must the people at the scene have felt?

There was one thing that bothered him—

‘They haven’t debuted and only occasionally perform on NewTube.’

Even if they gained popularity on NewTube, many people wouldn’t recognize them on TV.

But even so—

‘I’m tempted.’

He wanted to invite this duo to the show.

With his long experience as a PD, he could tell.

This sibling duo had the star quality to naturally draw people’s attention.

Their angelic looks.

And their voices, which tickled the ears and made the listeners feel happy.

There was no need to hesitate any longer.