Chapter 8

In the afternoon, Quan Baolan had to audition for a one-act play. Li Zhiyan had no real interest in the role, so she simply accompanied Yoon Ji-hye back to the company. Meanwhile, Park Ji-yeon took Li Zhiyan's place and went with Quan Baolan.

Compared to the bustling atmosphere of the morning TV drama audition, this one-act play returned to the normal state of auditions that Quan Baolan and Li Zhiyan usually attended, with three to five people competing for each role.

As expected, Lin Yoon-a was there again. When she saw that the girl accompanying Yoon was different, her gaze became scrutinizing...

As expected, Quan Baolan's audition failed again.

Since Park Ji-yeon was with her, Yoon didn't have to spend much effort comforting her. He just sent them back to the company as requested, and then he was free for the rest of the day.

Usually, during his "free" time, Yoon would choose to go home and surf the internet, as he had spent most of the summer doing. However, the sudden desire to write songs that appeared in the morning had grown like wild grass in his heart. Of course, there was a bit of a mischievous element to it. Just imagining so many "hit songs" being born from his hands was enough to make his blood boil with excitement!

Moreover, apart from secretly learning French since junior high and joining the art club in high school for some undisclosed reasons, Yoon hadn't really seriously studied anything in the past 20 years. Oh, there was one thing he had learned—Yoon Ji-hye had once forced him to learn guitar to accompany her dance practice at home, but he eventually gave up because he showed no interest.

Since he had decided to learn, he should be serious about it. This attitude might have been the driving force behind why his previous self had completed a Ph.D.!

With the determination of someone studying for a degree, Yoon returned home and turned on his computer...

First, he looked for the course schedule for music composition, then the textbooks. Being a shut-in in 2005, he began to miss iPads and Kindles, as reading e-books in this era was extremely inconvenient!

With no choice, Yoon wrote down the book list and drove to the largest bookstore in Gangnam.

It must be said that although Yoon had the unshakable shut-in traits from his previous life and had become even more reclusive due to various reasons in this life, he seemed to have a bit of a literary person's mark in his bones. Even when he skipped school in elementary school, he would go to the bookstore...

So, coming to this place, which could be called the Korean version of Xinhua Bookstore, Yoon felt incredibly comfortable.

Wandering around the bookstore, picking up a random book, flipping through a few pages, and then putting it back was a great pleasure for him.

After wandering for a while, Yoon finally stood in front of the music theory bookshelf and started reading the book recommended by netizens as the best for beginners.

Yoon was very quiet when reading, which was a good habit. Since he was just reading and not deeply studying or practicing, he read quite quickly.

Perhaps because he was so focused, when he finally looked up from the book, his legs were already numb from standing.

Sometimes, things don't matter until you notice them, and then they become a big annoyance. For example, Yoon, who now wanted to move his legs because they were numb, found it incredibly difficult.

Just as he was struggling to move his legs, a light laugh came from beside him.

Yoon almost instantly recognized that the laugh came from a girl who was amused by his predicament. However, when he turned to see who was laughing at him, his annoyance disappeared.

What pure eyes!

Perhaps realizing that her laughter might have disturbed the man in front of her, the girl's eyes showed a hint of apology, and she quickly bowed to Yoon, saying, "I'm sorry."

"It's... it's okay," Yoon replied, feeling a bit embarrassed.

The girl blushed and bowed again before running off.

Yoon sighed, struggled with his legs for a while, and slowly regained control. He then quickly picked out the books on the list and soon had a thick stack in his arms.

At the checkout, Yoon met the girl again, who was looking at him as if he were a monster. Yoon saw that she was holding a piano practice book.

On the drive home, Yoon kept imagining the scene of the girl with those beautiful eyes sitting gracefully at the piano, her fingers dancing on the keys, white petals falling from the sky, a white scarf fluttering in the wind, and doves flying behind the piano... Well, it seemed something strange had mixed in there.

Regardless, Yoon had fallen into the pit of music composition.

In the following days, Yoon truly adapted to his role as a driver. Previously, at each audition site, he would look around for beautiful girls, secretly observe them, and rate them in his mind. But after that day, at each audition site, he would find a quiet spot, take out a book from his bag, and read.

The only person who occasionally interrupted his reading was Lin Yoon-a, whom he would encounter almost everywhere.

Lin Yoon-a had also gotten used to seeing Yoon at every audition site and would find him to joke around and relax before the audition, which helped ease her nervousness. The man who always sat in a corner reading didn't seem to mind her interrupting his reading and would always patiently join in the light-hearted banter.

Before they knew it, the summer was coming to an end.

"Today is probably the last time I'll be driving you to auditions," Yoon said to the two girls in the car after the afternoon audition.

"Are you starting school?" Li Zhiyan asked.

"I have to register tomorrow. I've chosen more courses this semester, so I won't have much time to accompany you," Yoon explained with a nod.

"It's no big deal," Quan Baolan said weakly, still not fully recovered from the tiring audition. "We've been to auditions on our own before we met you."

Yoon smiled but didn't say anything.

He had been spending almost every day with these two girls for nearly two months, and although they hadn't explicitly said it, their friendship had become... how to put it, very solid.

"Yoon, you've worked hard for two months! Having you around has made things much easier for us," Li Zhiyan said earnestly.

"Zhiyan, you're too polite. Yoon is our younger brother; it's only natural for him to take care of his sisters," Quan Baolan said nonchalantly.

"Baolan is right. There's no need to be so formal with me. Although I might not have time to drive you to auditions because of school, we can still have dinner together occasionally," Yoon said with a smile.

The car fell silent.

After a long moment, Yoon broke the silence.

"Um... I wrote a song for Baolan Nuna..."

"What?" Li Zhiyan's eyes widened in excitement, like Columbus discovering a new continent.

"I mean, I wrote a song, and I think it would be perfect for Baolan Nuna to sing," Yoon clarified after a moment's thought.

However, there was no response from Quan Baolan.

"Baolan is asleep," Li Zhiyan said with a teasing smile. "When did you start liking Baolan?"

"Ah, Zhiyan Nuna, I just wrote a song for practice and thought it would be suitable for Baolan to sing," Yoon quickly explained.

"Why not me? Why not Ji-hye Unni?" Li Zhiyan asked with a smile, clearly not believing him.

"Once you hear the song and see the accompanying performance, you'll understand," Yoon said.

"Accompanying performance? You can choreograph too?" Li Zhiyan was surprised.

"When you write a song, you need some inspiration. These inspirations together form the accompanying performance," Yoon explained.

"Inspiration? Is your inspiration from Baolan?"

"…Zhiyan, you're being mischievous again," Yoon decided not to argue with Li Zhiyan.

Back at CCM Entertainment, Yoon finally woke up the sleeping Quan Baolan in the back seat. In her dazed and adorable state, Quan Baolan looked at Li Zhiyan, who was staring at her with a mischievous smile, and was completely confused.

"Zhiyan, what are you doing?" Quan Baolan asked drowsily.

"Yoon wrote a song for you," Li Zhiyan said with a slightly jealous tone.

"What song? I can't sing..." Quan Baolan was still not fully awake.

"Are you still asleep? I mean, Yoon, he wrote a song for you! For you!" Li Zhiyan grabbed Quan Baolan's shoulders and shook her.

"A song for me?" Quan Baolan finally understood and looked at Yoon with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Ahem, I've said it before, I wrote it while practicing composition and thought it would be perfect for Baolan to perform," Yoon said, a bit helplessly.

The three of them talked as they walked to the dance studio where Yoon Ji-hye was practicing.

"Ji-hye Unni! I have some news!" Li Zhiyan pushed open the door and, seeing only Yoon Ji-hye inside, pounced on her like a betrayed wife.

"Ah! Zhiyan! What are you doing! Don't wipe your snot on me!" Yoon Ji-hye laughed and dodged, though she was already three months pregnant, it didn't seem to affect her mobility.

"Ji-hye Unni! We've been abandoned by Yoon! He even wrote a song for Baolan! A custom-made one!" Li Zhiyan's pounce missed, but she still managed to tattle.

"Write a song? Yoon, you really wrote a song?" Yoon Ji-hye's gaze towards Yoon changed, and when she looked at Quan Baolan, it was no longer the look of an older sister but more like... a mother-in-law looking at her future daughter-in-law...

"Ah, Ji-hye Unni! Don't listen to Zhiyan!" Quan Baolan's face was red.

"Don't worry, Baolan. Our family is very open-minded. As long as my brother likes you, I won't object. And marrying my brother won't be a bad deal; he's very rich," Yoon Ji-hye said in a comforting tone, then turned to Yoon before Quan Baolan could protest. "Yoon, play the song you wrote for us to hear?"

"Um, it's on my MP3. Is there a sound system here?" Yoon scratched his head.

"Please, my brother, this is a dance studio. Do you think there wouldn't be a sound system?" Yoon Ji-hye patted Yoon's head in exasperation.

Yoon then played the song he had written, titled "Cute Song," from his MP3. Since Yoon was terrible at playing instruments and didn't have the necessary equipment at home, and being a shut-in, he had composed the music entirely using software on his computer. Without a recording device, the song had no lyrics.

When the song finished, Yoon Ji-hye sighed and patted Yoon's shoulder. "Well, this is your first song, so it's worth celebrating." Her tone was full of encouragement. "But why did you say this song is for Baolan?"

"Um... Unni, the song has lyrics," Yoon thought for a moment, then decided to sing it himself.

Seeing Yoon's determined expression, Yoon Ji-hye thought he was shyly confessing and her eyes brightened. "Alright, sing the lyrics with the music."

Yoon then sang the song in the cutest voice he could muster.

The room fell silent.

"Are you complimenting our Baolan by calling her cute?" Li Zhiyan asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "But the lyrics are so childish, with things like 1+1. What does that mean? Are you teaching addition?"

"Um... there's actually a set of accompanying dance moves," Yoon regretted not performing the famous cute dance moves along with the song.

"What moves? Do I look that childish?" Quan Baolan was now furious, on the verge of losing control.

"Um, should I sing it again and perform the moves?" Yoon asked weakly. "Can you turn off the air conditioning? I'm cold."

"You're cold because of your cute song," Yoon Ji-hye was speechless. "If you want to confess, at least find a less embarrassing way! How am I supposed to face Baolan now?"

Yoon cleared his throat and sang the song again, this time with the famous cute dance moves...

Complete devastation.

True, complete devastation.

Yoon Ji-hye even pinched her arm to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

Quan Baolan, who had been furious, now looked dazed, her eyes empty.

As for Li Zhiyan, she was laughing so hard she was on the floor.

"Brother... Baolan is that cute in your eyes?" Yoon Ji-hye finally asked.

Yoon thought for a moment, then looked at Quan Baolan, whose face was red from either embarrassment or anger, and nodded seriously.

"Baolan, I think this song really... is for you," Li Zhiyan said, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

"1+1 equals cute..." Quan Baolan repeated the B-section of the song, her fingers making the corresponding gestures.

"Ah!!!" Li Zhiyan and Yoon Ji-hye screamed in unison. "So cute!!"