Chapter 53: I Became the Older Brother of a Top Star

A female student was hiding under a desk in a dark classroom.

Thud! Thud!

The sound of slippers, or something else, echoed from the hallway outside the classroom.

The female student held her breath, making sure not to let even her breathing be heard.

Thud! Thud!

The slow footsteps gradually faded away.

It should be safe now.

Just as she was about to exhale a deep breath in relief,

Thump-thump-thump-thump!!

“Ah!”

The theater erupted with screams from all directions.

Yuna, who was sitting next to me, was making a huge fuss and causing quite a commotion.

“Ugh. What do I do, big brother? It’s too scary.”

There was no popcorn left to grab.

The same goes for me.

I wanted to scream loudly, but I was so shocked that my body stiffened and I couldn’t even make a sound.

Fortunately, the scary scene passed quickly.

As the scene changed to a bright day, I let out a sigh of relief and reached into the box of popcorn Yuna was holding.

However,

“Hmm?”

There was no popcorn left.

Turning my head to the side,

“...”

I met Yuna’s eyes, her cheeks full of popcorn.

Yuna burst into an embarrassed laugh.

“Hehe.”

You already ate it all?

How long has the movie been on?

Well, she did eat enthusiastically even during the ads.

‘Next time, we should get two boxes of popcorn.’

I’ll get a small one, and Yuna can get a large one.

But usually, it’s the opposite, isn’t it?

“Phew. It was so scary.”

After the movie ended, Yuna and I went outside together.

It’s a currently popular horror movie.

I don’t usually watch horror movies.

When I was young, I watched one out of pride, saying it wasn’t scary, but I couldn’t sleep for a week and didn’t dare go outside at night.

So I stopped watching them, but Yuna suddenly insisted on watching one, so we ended up going together.

“You’re amazing, big brother. You weren’t scared at all during the movie? You looked so calm from start to finish.”

Not at all.

I’m already worrying about how I’ll sleep tonight and how I’ll walk down the street tomorrow night.

Should I carry a cross or something?

“Why did you suddenly want to watch a horror movie?”

While it might be a stereotype, I thought girls usually prefer romantic movies, but Yuna prefers action movies.

She even likes noir and action movies that adults watch.

If it weren’t for the age restriction, she probably would have watched quite a few.

So it was unexpected for her to suggest a horror movie.

“Hmm~ I wanted to watch it once. But it’s too scary to go alone, so I came with big brother.”

“What about your friends?”

“Well, I do have friends, but I’m closest to big brother. They say you should watch these things with your closest person.”

“Is that so.”

Being the closest to me.

It feels good somehow.

“But shouldn’t you be closer to your friends than to me?”

“Where have you heard that? You should be closest to your family.”

Now that I think about it, it’s not a wrong statement.

Still, I’m a bit worried that she might not be able to make friends if she only plays with me.

“If we’re talking about that, does big brother have someone closer than me?”

“...”

This is also not a wrong statement, so I have nothing to say.

Thinking about it, we stick together for lessons on weekdays, go on family trips on weekends, or explore new restaurants together.

It’s definitely a different life from my previous one.

Back then, I used to hang out with a group of friends, go to PC rooms, and play soccer.

Now, I hardly do those things.

But I don’t think it’s wrong.

If I felt isolated and lonely, it would be a serious issue, but right now, I’m enjoying this moment.

‘Yuna seems to be having fun too.’

Living the life of a top star, Yuna has always been suppressed.

I want her to play to her heart’s content, no matter who she plays with.

To make up for all the times she couldn’t play in her previous life.

“Hey, big brother. Do you have any bills?”

“Huh? Yeah, I do.”

“Then let’s go there!”

Yuna pointed to the game area inside the theater.

They say a sparrow wouldn’t pass by a mill without stopping.

Yuna walked briskly into the game area.

“Yeah. Let’s just have fun today.”

The reason we came to the theater today is that the three-day music video shoot has finally ended.

Once the editing and final review are done, we plan to release the music and the music video simultaneously. In other words, the day of our official debut is really close.

We came to the theater to celebrate that.

“Wow. Look at this. It’s so cute.”

The first thing Yuna noticed was the claw machine.

I put in some bills for her to try it out.

“Try it once.”

“Okay!”

But Yuna kept dropping the dolls.

Her control was so poor that it was pitiful.

“This is a scam! It’s ridiculous.”

Well, that’s true.

Claw machines shouldn’t be easy.

“I’ll try.”

In my previous life, I had a habit of playing the claw machine a couple of times whenever I drank at university.

Thanks to the skills I honed back then, I targeted the doll Yuna had almost gotten. When it magically hooked and fell into the chute, Yuna cheered.

“Wow! What? Big brother, how did you do that? Amazing.”

“It’s nothing.”

“I really wanted this one. Thanks.”

I felt a bit proud.

At least I didn’t waste my time!

“There are so many interesting things here. Let’s try this one.”

I hadn’t been to an arcade in a long time, so I didn’t hesitate to spend money and try various things with Yuna.

Basketball, air hockey, fighting games, motorcycle games, and more.

We were so engrossed in the games that we lost track of time.

Just as we were starting to get a bit bored,

“There’s a good coin karaoke here too.”

The finale was, of course, the coin karaoke.

Since it was still early, there was no one in the karaoke booth in the game area.

“People will start pouring in soon after the movie ends.”

“Yeah. Let’s hurry and sing. We need to eat dinner too.”

“Okay. What should we sing~”

Yuna chose a rock-style song she usually doesn’t sing, stood up, and started swaying to the melody.

She was singing the song that people always sing in karaoke, “Chicken Run,” with all her might.

It’s a very high-pitched song, but surprisingly, her pitch didn’t waver.

To think she could handle such a rock-style song with her thin voice.

It was surprisingly fitting and impressive.

“Big brother, hurry and book a slot.”

“Hmm.”

Then I’ll choose something I usually don’t sing.

No, maybe I should sing something I often sang in karaoke in my previous life?

Thanks to Yuna, I was in the mood and chose a hip-hop song.

It was the first time I sang a rap in a long time.

Maybe because of that, I kept stumbling over the lyrics, but I didn’t stop and kept moving my tongue.

“Haha!”

Yuna burst into laughter at the sight.

“Big brother, I’ve never seen you rap before. It’s funny, but surprisingly good, which makes it even funnier.”

I have to admit, it was a bit funny.

While choosing a song, Yuna said to me,

“Soon, we’ll be able to sing our song in karaoke, right?”

Now that you mention it, that’s true.

Once our music is officially released, it won’t be long before it’s available in all karaoke rooms in Korea.

Then we can sing our song anywhere.

It still doesn’t feel real.

Maybe it will feel different when we sing it in a karaoke room.

“Let’s sing one more song before we go, big brother.”

“Okay? What should we sing?”

“Sing this one.”

“Huh?”

“The one you sang in the recording studio last time. ‘Comfort’.”

A song that isn’t very famous right now.

A great song by the singer Hwang Juyong, which comforts and soothes a tired day.

Although the singer isn’t well-known and the song didn’t receive much attention when it was released, it later gained huge popularity thanks to a certain singer.

“Is it in the karaoke?”

I looked for the song with some doubt.

Fortunately, it was there.

“Is it okay to sing this as our last song?”

“Yeah. I really wanted to hear this today.”

I picked up the microphone and closed my eyes.

I let my body follow the melody and started singing.

When I first heard this song, I thought more of Yuna than myself.

Top Star Jung Yuna, who had no one to comfort her or understand her inner thoughts.

The reason I like this song is that the lyrics fit Yuna perfectly.

And surprisingly, the person who made this song famous was none other than Yuna.

Yuna’s performance of this song took the music market by storm.

But I didn’t know that then.

No, no one would have known.

That this song was a message of comfort Yuna gave to herself.

I’ve seen Yuna perform this song on stage.

I recalled the trembling and the comforting touch from that time and put those feelings into my voice.

After finishing, I opened my eyes.

This song always leaves a lump in my throat.

Maybe it’s because I see Yuna singing it, or maybe it’s just the melody and lyrics of the song itself.

“Yuna, are you... crying?”

“Huh? No, why would I cry?”

Yuna tried to hide her reddened eyes and pointed outside the karaoke room.

“Big brother, look outside.”

“...?”

Looking through the glass, I saw that people had gathered around our room.

“Wow!”

“The song was so good.”

They must have been listening to my song.

Soon, people started recognizing us.

“But these two look familiar.”

“Hmm? Could it be the siblings from the video?”

“Oh! Now I remember the voice.”

“It’s hard to see, but it looks like them.”

“Are they really the siblings from the video?!”

The attention was suddenly on us.

Shouldn’t we leave before more people gather?

“Should we go? Before more people gather.”

“Huh? No.”

Yuna smiled, finding the situation amusing.

She opened the door and went outside.

“Yes, it’s us.”

Then she waved to the crowd.

“Wow!”

“It’s really them!”

“Crazy. They’re so beautiful.”

“Hehe. Thank you.”

Yuna saw this as a good opportunity.

“Our album will be out soon! Please listen to it a lot!”

“Oh, really?”

“Ah, I was wondering why the videos weren’t being uploaded. So the album is finally coming out.”

“I’ll definitely buy it!”

“But what was the song you just sang? It was so good.”

“Ah, that’s...”

Thanks to Yuna’s friendly charm, even people far away were drawn by curiosity.

The crowd grew, and soon the game area was packed.

“Can you sing one more song?”

“The last song was so good. Can you sing it again?”

“Did you sing ‘Chicken Run’ just now?”

“Wow. You sang ‘Chicken Run’? I want to hear it too!”

Now this place has turned into a busking performance.