Chapter 72: I Became the Older Brother of a Top Star

"Hmm?"

I tilted my head in confusion at the unfamiliar face I saw this morning.

Thinking it might be a mistake, I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

"What is it, brother? Why are you like that?"

It was Yuna, indeed.

"I didn't expect to see you up at this hour, so I thought I might be seeing things."

"What do you mean? I also go out early now!?"

At that, Mother, who was preparing breakfast, spoke up.

"It's your first day of high school today. You must have been so excited to go to the same high school as him that you couldn't sleep."

"Hehe. I don't want to be late on my first day."

"Is that so?"

There are students who look forward to their first day of school—

Perhaps it's only possible because Yuna is so popular.

The joy of meeting new friends, after all.

It was the complete opposite for me.

Father, as a habit, hugged us from behind and rubbed our faces.

"Keep waking up like this from now on."

"Okay!"

And not long after, Father came out.

"Good morning, everyone~!"

Father, as a habit, hugged us from behind and rubbed our faces.

"Ah! Dad, you didn't shave your beard again!?"

"Oops. Sorry. Did it hurt a lot?"

"Ugh. My cheeks are going to swell up."

"I'm sorry. I'll shave right away."

"It's fine. Eat breakfast first, then shave."

Father's breakfast menu was different from ours.

Since that incident, Mother has been strictly managing his diet, so Father can't eat the meat he loves so much.

"Ugh. Vegetables again."

"If you really want to quit your job quickly, just say so. I'll change your diet."

"Hehe. No, how could I crave meat?"

The only things Father was allowed to eat were vegetables and chicken breast.

"And you. I heard you tried to skip your workout yesterday?"

"Huh?"

"I heard it all from Yunsung. If Yunsung hadn't forced you to go, you would have skipped your workout."

"Oh. Yunsung, you told Mom already?"

"Yes. I can't compromise on this, Father."

There was no way for Father to wriggle out of it.

Because he realized that after that incident, he couldn't compromise on his health.

Thanks to that, Father has lost a lot of weight and his complexion has improved greatly.

"And you must never go to company dinners. If you do, just give a toast and come back. Got it? I've already called all the employees."

"Uh, yeah, sure."

Father, who usually loved company dinners, had even that taken away.

"Ha-. What joy do I have left? Half of my happiness is gone because I can't eat."

"You can fill that with me and brother~."

At Yuna's words, Father burst into laughter while chewing on lettuce.

"Right. I need to fill it with you two. Is there a way? Or how about this? Yuna and Yunsung, you two. Do you want to learn golf? I get bored playing alone."

"Golf? Hmm~. Well, but what about you, brother?"

"Ah-. I was just reading some news articles."

"Wow~. Brother, you're really good at keeping up with those things."

It was a habit.

Just in case paparazzi took pictures of celebrities in the early morning or at dawn, causing some incident, and just in case my assigned celebrity was involved in it.

As a bonus, I read the economic news and chose which stocks to buy whenever I had a chance.

Of course, the stocks I bought never went up.

Because of that habit, I still read news articles every morning.

"Haha. Yuna, it's good to learn things like that. You need to build economic knowledge from now on and understand how the world works to manage money well in the future."

"......"

If Father saw my return on investment, he probably wouldn't say that.

"But, Yunsung. Is there any interesting news?"

"Hmm. Do you know Father Jang Yeon-wook?"

"Jang Yeon-wook? Of course I do! Who doesn't know that name in this industry, or in Korea? Even spies would know!"

Indeed, Jang Yeon-wook's popularity was remarkable.

Of course, as his reclusive life and underground activities ceased, people eventually stopped mentioning his name.

But for now, his legacy was so great that he was mentioned frequently even without any activity.

"There's an article saying Jang Yeon-wook is coming to Korea."

"What?"

"Wow! So is JJ going to resume activities? Is there a new album coming out?!"

Yuna was a long-time fan of JJ.

She knew all the songs on the albums, so there was no need to say more.

"Why did he suddenly come? He rarely comes to Korea."

"Well, maybe he's really here to release a new album, as Yuna said?"

"I don't think so. Jang Yeon-wook said he doesn't want to release any more songs. That's why JJ stopped activities."

"Hmm. Why? He's young, sings well, and makes good songs."

"I can't know what he's thinking. But there must be some reason, right?"

Jang Yeon-wook, the greatest producer in Korean history, and also a singer in his own right.

Like Yuna, Jang Yeon-wook and his sister, Jang Hye-na, dominated not only the music market but also the drama and film markets at one point.

But for some reason, they suddenly stopped all their activities.

"Well, maybe he just got tired of living abroad. He always said his hometown is the best, after all."

Father didn't seem to think it was a big deal.

I was about to let it go, but something suddenly piqued my interest.

'How much aura does this person have?'

As the greatest musician in Korea, his aura must be immense, right?

* * *

"Brother, thank you. Good luck today!"

"Sure. If you need anything, come down and get it."

"Okay!"

It wasn't until Yuna came to our classroom before lunch to pick something up that I fully realized I was attending the same school as her again.

"She's a complete goddess, a goddess."

"Phew. I can't believe such a face really exists."

"Ah. It's so moving. Even I, as a woman, think she's too beautiful."

"Yunsung, you're so lucky. You see that face every day, don't you?"

The students in my class looked at me with envious eyes.

"Actually, Yuna should be the one who's envious. She sees this handsome Yunsung face every day, after all."

"That's true."

"I imagined it. I was oversleeping in the morning, and Yunsung woke me up."

"Kyaa!"

The commotion here was no small matter.

"It's much more fun now that it's a season system."

"Right. It's really good that you and Yuna always appear together and sing."

"Where is the next performance?"

Since we became regular members and switched to a season system, the audience's reaction has been very positive. The broadcasting station was initially worried, but they relaxed when they saw the ratings skyrocket.

They've already planned up to Season 3.

"Sorry. That's a secret. If the location is revealed, too many people will come, and we won't be able to perform."

"Ah, that's a shame."

"Then are you going abroad now?"

"The charm of is busking abroad, right?"

"I'm looking forward to it. I want to see you two dominate abroad."

I was also looking forward to busking abroad.

Of course, there are no concrete plans yet.

"But, Yunsung. Aren't you releasing a second album separately?"

"Aren't you continuously releasing new songs on ?"

"Are you going to release them all at once later?"

The reason this season is particularly popular is that I release a new song every week. Not someone else's song, but original songs by Yuna and me.

The problem is that because I keep releasing new songs, no official second album from the siblings has been released since the first album.

The songs from are released as a separate album, so they can't be called an official second album.

"I'm considering it."

"If you need any musicians, just call us."

"Right. We'll do it for free!"

"Hey. How would Yunsung's album turn out if I called you guys?"

"Oops."

In fact, I was also very conflicted about this.

'This is already a problem.'

The songs I release on are already quite complete, so I can release them without major revisions. But the songs for the second album must be flawless, without a single flaw.

I know it's for the best for Yuna and me.

The problem is that the desire to eliminate flaws and the insistence on perfection are preventing the songs from coming out.

'Frankly, if I were told to compose without thinking, I could do it—'

But I couldn't be satisfied with it.

Of course, people might like it, but it wouldn't be a timeless masterpiece. That's why I didn't want to produce songs like a factory and tarnish Yuna's beautiful voice.

'Something new is needed.'

I needed something new to spark my inspiration, something to stimulate me.

'Is this a creative slump?'

How long have I been in the industry?

But I actually know the solution very well.

Just give up on what needs to be given up.

Abandon perfection and release songs even if they're a bit lacking.

'But it's not easy to give up.'

I didn't want to compromise on music for Yuna and me.

# # #

In the studio, I was once again pondering the second album, jotting down musical ideas that came to mind on sheet music.

There are already hundreds of sheets of music with ideas written down.

Only a few are selected from among them, as if filtered through a sieve.

Is this the pain of creation?

The PDs said they liked the songs I discarded, but I never looked at them again once I didn't like them.

Just then, unexpected news came.

"......Who are you meeting?"

"Jang Yeon-wook! The legendary musician, Jang Yeon-wook! He contacted the agency saying he wants to meet you. The employees are in an uproar."

I was taken aback by Father's words.

Jang Yeon-wook, why would he want to meet me?

"When I heard Jang Yeon-wook returned to Korea, it turns out he wanted to meet you."

"Wow, really?"

"Unbelievable."

The PDs were reacting on my behalf.

"Of course, Yunsung is quite remarkable. He swept the music charts right after debut and now dominates the charts with the songs from ."

"Hehe. That's not all. Yunsung and Yuna are dominating the advertising world too."

"It's understandable to be interested. Jang Yeon-wook also succeeded from a young age."

Jang Yeon-wook wants to meet me.

I thought I would never meet him, given his aversion to publicity.

No wonder people on the internet are constantly criticizing him, begging him to release an album or a movie.

"What are you going to do? If you feel burdened......"

"No, I want to meet him."

"Haha. Right. Meeting such a big shot will probably help you grow. I'll prepare the car. Jang Yeon-wook has a personal building nearby. You'll meet him in the studio there."

"Okay, I'll get ready too."

Then Yuna, who was standing next to me, chimed in.

"Dad, what about me? Can I go?"

"If Yunsung goes, of course you should go too."

"Wow~!"

As a long-time fan, Yuna was overjoyed at the thought of finally meeting Jang Yeon-wook.

Thus, the two of us, receiving the envy and jealousy of the PDs, headed to the meeting place.

"Are you Jung Yunsung and Jung Yuna?"

"Yes."

"Please follow me. I'll guide you."

The entire luxurious building in Cheongdam-dong belongs to Jang Yeon-wook.

Security guards were stationed at the entrance, and we were able to enter with the guidance of a polite staff member.

"What does he do in this tall building?"

From the outside, it looks like a large corporation's building.

But there's no information about what's on which floor.

There's just a lobby with a few staff members and three elevators.

One of them is for VIPs.

"Please go in here."

"Okay."

"Let us know if you need anything."

The two of us soon arrived at a door with soundproofing.

And we carefully opened the door,

"Excuse us~."

We met the real Jang Yeon-wook, who was sitting on a sofa with his eyes closed, listening to an orchestra.

"Ah-."

He opened his eyes upon hearing Yuna's voice and stood up.

"Nice to meet you. Please come in. I'm Jang Yeon-wook."

His honey-like voice and sculpted face made Yuna and me pause for a moment.

"Ah, hello! I'm Jung Yuna. I'm a big fan!"

"Yes. Thank you, Yuna. I'm a fan too. I really enjoy your singing. And Yunsung too."

I couldn't take the hand Jang Yeon-wook extended.

"......Jung Yunsung?"

Because—

'What, what is this?'

An overwhelming aura, unlike anything I've ever felt, was emanating from Jang Yeon-wook, piercing through my body.