Chapter 56

"Great job!" Yoon Hyun, with a look of satisfaction, vigorously rubbed the head of IU, who had just come down from the stage, her face brimming with excitement.

IU indeed did a great job. The young girl, dressed in a little dress, lightly hopping and singing with a powerful voice on stage, was deeply remembered by many that night.

They remembered her, not just as "Yoon Hyun's student" or "Yoon Hyun oppa's sister."

Moreover, she had a new title: National Niece.

IU's comeback was a success.

Yoon Hyun, who had completed the arduous production work and should have had a good rest, ended up entering a new busy period due to the fans' petition outside MBC on the night of IU's comeback.

It turned out that after listening to IU's nearly perfect comeback performance, Yoon Hyun's fans were very excited but also very reluctant. How great it would be if OPPA sang such a good song himself! So a group of people gathered at the exit of MBC's performance to block Yoon Hyun.

Yoon Hyun, who had never encountered such a situation before, was clearly unprepared.

Just as he started to feel a bit flustered, Park Jeong-won, as a representative, proposed their petition: "OPPA, please release another album!"

In the fans' tearful eyes, Yoon Hyun, who had barely managed to be lazy, could only nod guiltily.

Then, while IU began her promotional tour, Yoon Hyun threw himself into the production of his own album.

First, he confirmed the album, which had to be a full-length album with at least 12 songs. Yoon Hyun started counting on his fingers: "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky," "If," which he retained the copyright for, "Gangnam Style," which had never appeared in a full-length album, "Rolling in the Deep," which had achieved good results on the Billboard last year, and the Chinese song "Beijing, Beijing." That was only five songs! He still needed seven more!

Yoon Hyun felt his brain was about to explode.

Then came even more explosive news. "Infinite Challenge" was going to shoot another music festival!

This was like adding insult to injury!

Yoon Hyun looked up at the sky, speechless.

The music festival, which was held again after two years, had a new idea: the six MCs would invite guests, create their own songs, and then perform on stage.

Unlike last time, there was also a mid-term check.

Perhaps the last time, the girls that Roh Hong-chul brought were too annoying for the audience...

So when "Infinite Challenge," dreaming of recreating the "Gangnam Style" miracle, came to Yoon Hyun, he felt he had dug a huge hole for himself...

Sitting in the recording studio, Yoon Hyun was in a daze.

His phone was sliding aimlessly in his hand.

For this music festival, "Infinite Challenge" not only had to write songs but also find a singer to "assist" in the performance.

Yoon Hyun was now racking his brain to find this assisting guest.

As the saying goes, when you need a book, you regret not having read more. Yoon Hyun felt the same about his friends. Among the people he knew, Lee Gwi-ri and her group were making their final preparations for their debut. Yoon Hyun had visited them at CCM the other day and met the other two girls in their group, watching their performance. He politely said it was good and then left.

Honestly, he thought their debut might not be as bad as IU's, but it probably wouldn't be great either. Since their group wasn't under LOEN Entertainment, he couldn't interfere as much as he did with IU. Otherwise, he would have been as attentive as he was with IU. Out of friendship, he had also agreed to appear in their debut MV, even though he had no idea what the MV would be about.

Speaking of IU, she would have been the obvious choice, but her schedule was suddenly packed by Kim Soo-yeon after her successful comeback last week. When IU pouted and showed Yoon Hyun her schedule, he praised Kim Soo-yeon for being organized and responsible, telling IU to follow her schedule. The next day, "Infinite Challenge" said they wanted to find a singer to collaborate...

Was this self-inflicted suffering in the new era?

Kim Jong-kook had nothing much going on recently, but just thinking about standing on stage with that muscle man made Yoon Hyun feel uncomfortable.

Actually, Yoon Hyun was jealous of his mosquito voice...

The rest of Yoon Hyun's friends were mostly actors. Forget about getting them to appear on a music show like "Infinite Challenge," even for a real year-end music festival, they might not come.

Or... the girls from Girls' Generation?

No, better not. After the episode of "Family Outing" with Kim Tae-yeon, Yoon Hyun had his first real rumor. Although both of them issued statements to quell the issue, according to Lim Yoona, S.M. Entertainment was very unhappy and asked Girls' Generation to minimize contact with Yoon Hyun.

Although Yoon Hyun knew that if he issued a statement now, saying he was preparing a new album and then made a big fuss, S.M. Entertainment would probably drop all their principles and let the nine girls line up for him to choose... Well, that was too evil...

So Yoon Hyun decided not to trouble the girls, whose schedules were already overflowing due to "Gee."

After much deliberation, Yoon Hyun sighed and put down his phone.

Since personal connections were unreliable, he would write the songs first, see who would be suitable to sing them, and then invite them officially...

Should I make more friends in the industry in the future?

Sigh, no, it's too much trouble.

Putting aside his thoughts, Yoon Hyun started preparing to write songs...

But writing songs requires inspiration! It's not something you can just do whenever you want!

So Yoon Hyun couldn't sleep...

"Yoon Hyun xi, have you decided which artist you want to collaborate with on stage?" The "Infinite Challenge" production team came to shoot Yoon Hyun's preparation for the music festival early the next morning.

"Not yet! If you put it nicely, I'm used to being alone, but if you put it bluntly, I'm antisocial and don't have many friends in the industry!" Yoon Hyun said a bit sadly.

"What do you plan to do, Yoon Hyun xi?"

The PD, looking at Yoon Hyun's honest face, suddenly felt a bit panicked.

"Nothing I can do. I'll go out and look for some inspiration for writing songs. Once the songs are written, I'll see who I can invite to sing with me." Yoon Hyun shrugged, looking helpless.

"..." The PD was speechless.

So, with just a simple pair of glasses and a casual hoodie, Yoon Hyun decided to go out.

"Where are you going, Yoon Hyun xi?" The PD was forced to use a portable camera.

"Let's go to Hongdae. There won't be many people there at this time." Yoon Hyun thought for a moment.

"..." The PD was speechless. "It's indeed early, so there won't be many people."

"Finding inspiration with few people around is hard..." Yoon Hyun turned back and sat on the sofa...

The PDs were completely speechless. "Yoon Hyun xi, is it always this difficult for you to write songs?"

"It really depends." Yoon Hyun recalled, "Some are very smooth, like the song I wrote for Jong-kook's brother's wedding, 'Fool for a Fool,' which took only 20 minutes from start to finish. Some are very difficult, like the song I wrote for IU, 'You and I,' which took me almost a week."

"The key is whether you have inspiration?" The PD suddenly understood.

"Exactly. Right now, I don't know who I'm writing for, why I'm writing, or what I'm writing about, so there's no directional inspiration. Also, I've been busy lately, so I haven't had time to clear my mind and organize my thoughts, so I don't have much to say," Yoon Hyun rambled on, "So I really have no starting point for writing songs."

"Actually, everyone is still most interested in your work for this music festival!" The PD said, not sure if it was sincere or just polite.

" 'Gangnam Style' was just a fluke. I can't guarantee that every work of mine will have that kind of impact," Yoon Hyun smiled, "But speaking of which, what do you think about me singing a pure English song?"

"Um... Yoon Hyun xi..." The PD was a bit hesitant.

"Alright, I was just saying. Sigh. If IU weren't so busy recently, I wouldn't be so troubled." Yoon Hyun said, a bit frustrated.

"Then, shall we wrap up the shooting for today?" Seeing that they weren't getting much meaningful footage from Yoon Hyun, the PD decided to call it a day.

"Sure, let's go. I'll go to a cafe for a coffee." Yoon Hyun thought it might be nice to get some fresh air.

So, with his sketchbook in hand, Yoon Hyun went downstairs with the production team.

At his favorite cafe, Yoon Hyun sat in his usual spot and started to daydream.

Watching the people and cars passing by, Yoon Hyun felt that working and relaxing at the same time wasn't so bad.

Then, he forgot that he was there to find inspiration and started drawing in his composition notebook with his not-so-great drawing skills...

Just as Yoon Hyun was completely relaxed, a quarreling couple next to him caught his attention.

Yoon Hyun listened briefly; it seemed the boy was going to the military, and the girl wanted to break up.

Yoon Hyun smiled bitterly. This was quite common in Korea.

After hearing the argument, Yoon Hyun lost interest in staying there.

Bored, he decided to visit his mother and his little niece.

Even when he was busy, Yoon Hyun insisted on having at least one meal with his mother every week. Although his father was still working in China, his mother, who was alone at home, seemed to be in better spirits with her granddaughter's company.

This made Yoon Hyun very happy.

At his mother's house, Yoon Hyun had a good lunch, watched TV with his mother, and chatted for a while.

His mood improved a lot.

If his mother hadn't started mentioning that she noticed her granddaughter growing up and suddenly wanted a grandson, Yoon Hyun might have stayed for dinner.

So, with a smile on his face, Yoon Hyun fled home.

"Finding a girlfriend isn't that easy!" Yoon Hyun grumbled, a bit annoyed.

Then, Yoon Hyun suddenly had an inspiration for writing a song...