Chapter 78

When Yoon Hyun returned home and was packing his things, he noticed the neck pillow he had brought with him but hadn’t used during the trip. The stain on it was probably from the saliva that had dried after Eun Jung had fallen asleep.

Then, Yoon Hyun’s thoughts started to wander...

While Yoon Hyun and Eun Jung were filming "We Got Married," time had already moved into the 2009 award season. Although Yoon Hyun had only one TV drama and a half-variety show on MBC this year, and had no significant achievements in music, this did not prevent him from receiving invitations to the year-end music festivals from major TV stations.

First, there was the "GEE" craze at the beginning of the year. Although the biggest beneficiaries were undoubtedly the Girls' Generation, who had escaped from the Black Sea, Yoon Hyun’s talent for creating hit songs was once again evident. The third album that Girls' Generation subsequently released, which seemed rushed, was actually a struggle by producer Yoo to prove himself as the king of the music industry. Although "GENIS" achieved good results, it still paled in comparison to the brilliance of "GEE."

Because of this contrast, the interaction between S.M. Entertainment and Yoon Hyun decreased significantly. The fourth album of Girls' Generation, which was in production, did not have any intention of inviting Yoon Hyun to write songs.

Next, Yoon Hyun used his own hands to push student IU to the status of a top solo female singer. A mini album with six songs, almost every song had the potential to be a hit. IU became a must-invited guest on various TV stations this year, and Yoon Hyun, standing behind her, was almost an insurmountable mountain.

Finally, at the end of the year, he once again wrote a classic duet love song on a variety show. This song, which had no clear audio source, no original accompaniment, and even the original singer was just a few hums in the camera, had spread like a virus across the internet, just like the "Cute Song" did, sparking countless cover versions.

With the knowledge that Yoon Hyun would release a new personal album in February next year, all the TV stations knew that he would not miss the year-end music festivals, the best platform to promote himself, and thus invited him without hesitation.

And Kim Soo Yeon also accepted all the invitations on Yoon Hyun’s behalf without hesitation.

Including the KBS Acting Awards and the MBC Entertainment Awards, which he was almost certain to win, Yoon Hyun, after a year since his debut, once again experienced the busyness of the year-end.

Fortunately, because Yoon Hyun’s overseas investments were going extremely smoothly, he was not short of money, which reduced many of his commercial commitments.

Considering that he would release his album at the beginning of next year, Yoon Hyun readily agreed to the schedules of the three TV stations' music festivals.

Performing on the music festival stage, although not particularly tiring, the various preparations were indeed quite troublesome.

Especially, this year, Yoon Hyun did not plan to perform alone on the music festival stage.

Because all three major stations had expressed their hope that Yoon Hyun could perform a duet of "Some" with Eun Jung on stage.

However, CCM, Eun Jung’s agency, unlike Yoon Hyun, had many commercial commitments, and she was the most popular member of T-ara, making her even busier.

Or perhaps there were other reasons?

So, before the KBS music festival, Yoon Hyun and Eun Jung did not get a single chance to practice together...

Fortunately, during the filming of "We Got Married," the two had successfully performed a duet on the show.

During the rehearsal, they simply designed some interactions, which completed the stage setup...

"Did anything happen when you went back to the company?" Yoon Hyun asked Eun Jung during a break in the rehearsal.

"No, what could happen?" Eun Jung was a bit puzzled by Yoon Hyun’s concern. "OPPA, when did you start caring so much about me?"

"I’m afraid MBC might have a conflict with your company," Yoon Hyun explained briefly.

"No, everything is fine. We’re still going to the MBC music festival together, right?" Eun Jung smiled.

Yoon Hyun nodded, feeling a bit relieved.

After the rehearsal, Yoon Hyun did not have the chance to greet or chat with the other T-ara members. Eun Jung had wanted to invite Yoon Hyun to sit with them, but their manager blocked him...

It seemed that CCM really had some issues with him... He would have to ask his sister about it later. Yoon Hyun felt a bit depressed and silently thought. Then, he entrusted Kim Soo Yeon to give the neck pillow he had brought to Eun Jung, along with a bit of teasing, to T-ara’s manager...

In the end, at the three music festivals, Yoon Hyun and Eun Jung performed the full version of "Some" together, while T-ara’s new song "BoPeepBoPeep" was drowned out by the audience’s chanting of "GEEGEEGEEGEE."

Besides the music festivals, at the KBS Acting Awards, Yoon Hyun successfully defeated veteran actor Son Hyun-jo and won the Best Actor Award, second only to the Grand Prize. "Infinite Challenge" also won the Audience Choice Award for the Best Program at MBC again.

Winning these awards smoothly, Yoon Hyun was naturally in high spirits, especially the second one, the popularity award for "Infinite Challenge," which made him even a bit emotional, to the point of shedding tears.

The other members of "Infinite Challenge," who were unaware that Yoon Hyun had already decided to leave the show, teased him about it. Indeed, for the "Infinite Challenge" team, having the entire MC team win the Grand Prize, a popularity award voted by the audience was not really a big deal.

But Yoon Hyun said nothing, giving each of the brothers a hearty hug on stage.

Then, at the so-called victory party, which was actually just a gathering of the MCs, Yoon Hyun, who usually avoided drinking, was possessed by the spirit of Bacchus that night, raising his glass and drinking with each of the brothers. Even Liu Jae-suk, who had insisted on not drinking, was forced to down a cup by Yoon Hyun.

This made everyone a bit uneasy...

"Finally, nothing to do tomorrow!" After the party, everyone went home in their assistants' cars. Although Yoon Hyun had drunk a lot with everyone, he was not drunk.

"Tomorrow is free, but you still have something to do today," said his manager, Kim Soo Yeon, with a straight face.

"Today? Aren’t I just going to sleep?"

"It’s already past midnight, Yoon Hyun-ssi," Kim Soo Yeon corrected him. "You have one more thing to wrap up today."

"Oh? What is it?"

"You have two variety shows on MBC."

"We Got Married?" Yoon Hyun suddenly realized, "Is it the last episode?"

"They didn’t say it explicitly, but it sounds like that," Kim Soo Yeon said. "They mentioned hoping to complete the filming before the end of the year."

"Alright, it’s good to wrap it up," Yoon Hyun nodded. Although he had talked to Eun Jung during the rehearsal at the music festival and learned that MBC did not seem to have any major conflicts with them, Yoon Hyun knew that the "We Got Married" production team would have some issues with CCM’s sudden change in the filming schedule.

The car fell silent.

"Let’s do something romantic for the last episode," Kim Soo Yeon suddenly said.

"Oh? Why?" Yoon Hyun, who had been closing his eyes, opened them and looked at Kim Soo Yeon with a hint of curiosity. This was the first time she had commented on his variety show performance...

"Regardless of what you think, from a girl’s perspective, the word 'marriage,' even if it’s just pretend, has a special meaning," Kim Soo Yeon said seriously, or perhaps with a hint of sympathy. "Eun Jung-ssi, even if she will remember this marriage as a ridiculous memory, it will still be something that will come to mind from time to time."

"So?"

"So, leave her with something that won’t make her shake her head and smile bitterly when she thinks about it."

"You’re actually so concerned about Eun Jung?"

"Just as a woman, I feel a bit sorry for her."

"Alright, I understand." Yoon Hyun closed his eyes again.

When he got home, Yoon Hyun didn’t sleep for long before getting up again.

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