Chapter 42

Reckless Genius Composer Returns - Chapter 42 (42/482)

The office was bustling.

The sound of typing, the lifting and placing of phone receivers, and the occasional loud and urgent voices all mingled together to create a chaotic atmosphere.

"Hmm—"

Kye Jin-sung, a reporter in the entertainment department for six years, sat at the center of this chaotic office, maintaining his composure as he chewed on the end of a pen, lost in deep thought.

Entertainment Department.

Most people consider the entertainment department to be the graveyard of journalism. The workload is not much different from other departments, but the public perception is that it's a dead-end job. After all, most of the so-called "yellow journalists" are from the entertainment department, aren't they?

And that's not all.

Maintaining relationships with "insiders" and "close associates" often mentioned in entertainment headlines means frequent drinking sessions.

How else would the saying "a reporter's drinking capacity is their information-gathering ability" have come about? Moreover, entering the entertainment department is like hitting a dead end in one's career.

Why?

If you want to become a chief editor or a commentary editor later, you need to be in the political department, right?

How many of his current colleagues initially aspired to be entertainment or sports reporters?

Hardly any.

Who among those who dreamed of becoming a journalist would want to trail after celebrities or write up entertainment show reviews after work?

Who would want to write sensational headlines and articles filled with provocative bikini photos, and be called a "yellow journalist" while making a living?

However, there was such a person. Kye Jin-sung.

He was excelling in the entertainment department precisely because of this.

He became a journalist to get the latest news about the entertainment industry.

From live information, entertainment news, web news, to various communities—

He grew up consuming every medium that covered the entertainment industry.

One day, when he became an adult—

At least, he had to be able to provide for himself.

He had to do his own dishes.

If he broke a plate while doing the dishes, he had to clean it up himself.

He had to take care of himself.

He had decided that if he became such an adult, he would become an entertainment reporter and deliver the latest news to people like him, who were hungry for new topics, faster than anyone else.

And now.

Kye Jin-sung has become an entertainment reporter. Not only that, he has become a well-established entertainment reporter with a plethora of impressive adjectives, such as "reckless," "fierce," and "ruthless."

"I'm going crazy…."

He was now deeply engrossed in a dilemma.

"Why can't I find anything no matter how much I dig…."

It was all because of a mysterious composer who had piqued his interest recently.

HS.

He appeared like a comet this year and gave Seo Jini, who had been in a long decline, a second golden age.

According to his own claims, he also turned Jeong Arin, who was on the verge of being dropped, into a star.

A rising hit-maker.

Moreover, he seemed to have a lot of guts, as he started competing with Jayble, who could be considered the most authoritative figure in the industry, on the music chart.

If it was just a coincidence that their release dates overlapped, he would have muttered, "Damn, you're unlucky…," and lost interest.

But it turned out that he deliberately delayed the release date to compete with Jayble's chart performance.

This piqued his interest, and he listened to all the songs HS had released.

Good.

They were on par with Jayble's album.

And his intuition whispered.

Although "intuition" is a vague and ambiguous word, it was the only thing that had given Kye Jin-sung a major scoop.

This intuition kept whispering in his ear. Maybe HS can take down Jayble. If I keep digging, if I get an interview, or if I build a relationship….

It definitely would be an opportunity for him.

So he tried to dig deeper.

But what was going on?

The information was too limited.

1. He is very interested in trading beans (buying and selling beans for profit).

2. He uses the dolphin sleep method to sleep.

3. He is close enough to call the CEO of LS Entertainment by his first name.

4. He enjoys boat fishing on islands.

5. He is incredibly handsome.

This was all the information he could get from his informant at LS Entertainment, with whom he had maintained a good relationship for years.

Who in their right mind would be so obsessed with making a profit from trading beans instead of stocks or real estate? He drew a red line through the first piece of information and moved on to the next.

Dolphin sleep method? For reference, dolphins alternate between waking and sleeping one hemisphere of their brain at a time, every five minutes or so. Damn, even great figures like Madame Curie or Napoleon didn't use the dolphin sleep method.

Moreover, the CEO of LS Entertainment is known for being strict about separating work and personal life. How could he be so familiar with a mere rookie composer who wrote a few hit songs? It must be a lie.

"Is the information about him being a handsome man who enjoys boat fishing on islands true…."

At least, the fourth piece of information, "He enjoys boat fishing on islands," and the fifth piece of information, "He is incredibly handsome," seemed credible.

"Hmm…."

This won't do.

"I'm going out on a field trip."

He abruptly stood up from his seat.

Click—

As he stood up, he accidentally touched the mouse, and the screensaver on the monitor disappeared, revealing the text he had set as his desktop background.

― A person who only sits cannot change the world.

It was Kye Jin-sung's motto.

In such a situation,

The best thing to do is to get out there and move.

* * *

Hyun Seung's father, Min Jun-seok, opened his heavy eyelids with great effort today.

Last night,

He had stayed up all night reading through every article and comment related to his son's album.

There were many sharp words written by people he didn't even know, let alone their faces or names.

He was worried that these harsh words might hurt his son.

'Worried…'

He had read and reread them until dawn, and now, with the sun high in the sky, he finally woke up.

The bright sunlight streaming through the window told him it was close to afternoon.

'At my age, I slept in…'

He hurriedly went to the living room and saw a CD on the dining table.

『告解聖事』

"Confession," the title of his son's first album.

'Is this the CD for this album?'

He remembered hearing that there were no plans for physical album distribution, but a small number would be produced for commemorative purposes.

It seemed his son had brought one home to display.

'You…'

He couldn't judge the melody, but the album cover looked well done.

It depicted a shooting star streaking across a dark night sky, dotted with twinkling stars.

The black cover had the title "Confession" engraved in transparent silver.

'Impressive.'

He had been so busy making a living that he hadn't even known his son was passionate about music.

He had never even taken a look, so it was only natural.

He had been secretly worried about his son, who had been locked in his room after being discharged from the military.

But then, his son suddenly became a composer and now even released an album.

It still felt surreal.

He opened the case and took out the small lyric sheet with the track information.

Each track not only had lyrics but also sheet music.

― Dad, are you looking at the sheet music for my songs?

― I thought I might be able to understand a little.

It seemed his son had included the sheet music in the album production process, considering his father.

Despite his son's usual taciturn nature, the thoughtful gesture made his heart warm.

'You…'

His gaze then fell on the CD inside the case.

There was no point in listening to it.

For some reason, his hand naturally reached for the CD…

'No one's home.'

Hyun Ah was at school, and Hyun Seung was at work.

The kids might be upset if they saw him, but…

He wanted to at least pretend to listen.

He used to enjoy music.

When he was very young, before he lost his hearing to a fever, he used to hum children's songs and sing along to pop music.

Ah.

Of course, it's just a vague memory now.

Click—

He pressed the button on the audio player next to the TV stand and inserted the CD.

When he put the CD from the album into the player, a few numbers appeared on the screen.

'Is it playing…?'

He turned up the volume slightly, but his world remained silent.

The song must be playing.

He licked his lips and slowly opened the lyric sheet to check the content.

If he scrutinized the lyrics and sheet music carefully…

He might be able to gauge the atmosphere of the song.

At that moment,

His gaze stopped at the title track listed in the table of contents.

Perhaps this title track was written for him.

Thump, thump—

Suddenly, his heart began to race.

'Could it be a message for me?'

If it was, it would be incredibly sad.

Heart-wrenchingly sad.

His heart felt like it would break.

Click—

He clutched the lyric sheet with his trembling hand.

Then,

He began to read the lyrics below.

『The world is so noisy.』

『You always live in silence.』

His suspicions began to turn into certainty.

This was…

Definitely a song with a message for him.

『Sometimes I thought it was a blessing.』

『On days when I wanted to cry bitterly.』

『I would bury myself under the covers and cry my heart out.』

This must be the story of his son, who wrote the lyrics while staying up all night, and his own story.

So, Min Jun-seok didn't let a single word slip by, absorbing them all with his eyes.

『You probably didn't know.』

『Yes, I hated you.』

『But I blamed the world for everything.』

Suddenly, his vision blurred, and the words on the lyric sheet became hard to read.

His eyes, filled with wrinkles, were brimming with tears.

『On nights when we repeated, "Let's live."』

『At night.』

『On nights as quiet as you.』

He was talking about the night he regretted for his entire life.

『I heard it.』

The day he brought back a lot of coal from the factory because he couldn't bear it anymore.

Looking down at his sleeping children…

I'm crazy, I'm crazy, he repeated to himself and sobbed silently.

『Your heart-wrenching sobs.』

『I pretended not to know, like you.』

『I turned my back and pretended to sleep.』

You knew everything, even as a child.

You acted like an adult…

You pretended not to know everything.

『I should have told you, even though I knew you would be quiet.』

『I'm sorry for coming.』

『Now, I murmur the words I couldn't say.』

He reached out his hand.

『Let's live, let's live.』

『Let's cry less.』

『Let's laugh more.』

He wanted to hear it.

『Let's live, let's live.』

『Let's, live.』

He desperately wanted to hear it.

What kind of song it was.

What kind of melody it had.

『They say you have to fight to live beautifully.』

『I'll fight for you.』

『Please, let's live, let's live.』

He kept turning up the volume.

He kept turning it up, even though he knew he wouldn't hear anything.

『Let's, live…』

The volume reached its maximum, but Min Jun-seok couldn't hear anything.

He placed his hand on the speaker, but all he felt was a strong vibration that made his heart throb.

"Sniff, sniff, sniff…"

Finally, the tears he had been holding back burst out like a dam breaking.

It was a sad sound.

The sound of a frozen iceberg melting.

Like that,

He stood in front of the speaker and cried silently for a long time.

「Dear my Beethoven.」

The title of the title track.

In other words,

To my dear Beethoven.

In the deafening silence,

Min Jun-seok,

Cried like a child, heart-wrenchingly.

But still…

His world remained silent.

* * *

"Bro, Dad will like it, right?"

Meanwhile.

"Maybe?"

Hyun Seung was on his way home with Hyun Ah, who had just finished her school ceremony, buying ingredients for dinner.

"Yay! I can really look forward to it today!"

As they were getting off the elevator,

Boom… Boom… Boom…!

As soon as the door opened, a loud bass sound filled the air.

"What? Is the neighbor crazy? Who listens to music so loud?"

Hyun Ah frowned, and Hyun Seung replied.

"I don't think so."

"Huh?"

"It's not the neighbor."

"Then who?"

"It sounds like our place."

The only person who could be home was Dad.

"Huh? So Dad is listening to music?"

Hyun Seung bit his lip and answered.

"It seems so."

Hyun Ah muttered, "No way, why would Dad?" and quickly entered the door code.

"What? Why—?"

As soon as they opened the door, Hyun Ah's eyes widened.

It was true.

Just as Hyun Seung said, music was playing inside the house.

"Dad! Dad—!"

The sharp sound made Hyun Ah wince and cover her ears.

Surprisingly, the culprit was really Dad, who had turned the volume up so loud that the whole house was shaking.

"Dad, crying…?"

He was crying out loud.

Heart-wrenchingly…

Heart-wrenchingly crying.

Thump.

Then, Hyun Seung nudged Hyun Ah with his elbow.

"Hey, shh."

Hyun Ah, moved by Hyun Seung's words, sniffled and muttered.

"Dad, why are you crying…."

She wiped her tears and repeated.

"Dad, why are you crying…."

Memories from her childhood overlapped.

Back then, she had pretended not to notice.

Hyun Seung replied matter-of-factly.

"Adults cry too."

It was sad but also heartwarming.

He's alive.

Struggling hard.

"When that happens, kids like us."

After many twists and turns, in the second life.

Finally.

We are living and laughing like this.

"We just pretend not to notice."

Ironically, that's how he felt.

Heart-wrenchingly sad,

But incredibly happy.

Yes.

That's how he felt.