Chapter 3

The Spotlight of a Genius Vocalist Chapter 3

Chapter 3. Happiness Comes with Misfortune

Following the stage lights.

Looking at people's faces, not a karaoke machine.

Just pouring the lyrics and emotions that came to mind into my voice.

I sang.

Following my heart.

Hardly holding back something rising from within.

I slowly surrendered myself to the waves of melody.

‘As the rings increase,

I live closer to a tree.’

At that moment.

Whoosh!

The view changed, and a tree appeared before my eyes.

Was I seeing hallucinations from drinking too much?

I couldn't tell.

I had just been growing a little bit like this tree, seeing the sunlight, drawing water from the roots, and bearing fruit when the time came. When did it become like this?

Before I could even think about what this space was, I continued to the next verse.

‘Our silent times are fading away.

The things we held back inside are layered.

Even if I try to catch the falling leaves,

The late time has already stretched toward the sky.’

The barren field was now filled with green trees and grass.

My heart eased a little.

Perhaps the pain of Da-young leaving was still lingering inside.

No other sounds came from around.

The prelude continued, but no one said anything.

They just stared blankly.

It was a strange thing.

The spotlight on me was so bright that I couldn't see the audience, so I didn't know what their expressions were.

All I could see were the many phones pointing at me.

As if they were interviewing me.

No, as if they were trying to capture me.

Seeing the phones getting closer, I felt excited.

What was it?

Something felt off.

When I was thinking about the unknown emotion, Chul-ho was holding a woman's hand and staring at me.

Then, he and the woman looked at me, extended their fingers, and made a gesture as if inviting me to play.

“Hey, I’m not going to hunt!”

I stopped singing and shouted, drunk, and came down from the stage.

“Ah… this participant…”

Just as I was excited to hear the host’s evaluation, the scene cut off.

What I saw must have been a hallucination from being drunk.

The last thing I remembered before the scene cut off was people with blank expressions, mouths agape.

* * *

Song Da-som was shaking a glass listlessly in a corner of a yami pocha (a type of Korean bar).

She occasionally visited this place after the vocalist of her band left.

A man naturally sat in front of her and asked,

“Are you here alone?”

“I don’t play.”

“Why don’t you join us?”

“No.”

She looked him straight in the eye.

It was the fourth time in an hour.

The tablet next to her kept ringing.

She ignored all the alerts.

99% of the people who came to a hunting pocha were there to hunt, but she belonged to the other 1%.

This place had a live stage, which was unique.

There were others, but they were too far from where she lived, so she couldn’t visit often.

So, she came here every night to listen to music.

Hoping for a miracle.

“Is there really no good voice…?”

Song Da-som sighed.

Her band was on the verge of breaking up.

They had a bassist, keyboardist, guitarist, and drummer, but the vocalist left.

“F*ck…”

She bit her lip, thinking of the vocalist.

He was talented but a complete jerk.

Drinking, violence, drinking, violence.

It felt like just yesterday he was drunk and cursing the band during practice.

Especially with the bassist, it was impossible to continue.

The other band members were angry at the constant criticism.

Song Da-som told him to just leave.

The band was all in on the vocalist’s voice, so the other members talked about breaking up.

But she still thought they could make it.

“Hello, everyone, welcome to Yami Pocha! To heat up this atmosphere even more, our staff has prepared the Best Singer Contest! The first prize is a free table, and the second prize and onward are other gifts! We are now accepting applications!”

Is it starting now?

Song Da-som thought.

She had been waiting to hear this.

The problem was that she hadn’t found the right voice in months.

– Big mountain! Sending away at every corner! Turning around…

Listening to the songs, she naturally sighed.

She thought she shouldn’t come here anymore.

There were definitely many good singers.

But this scene required more than just good singing.

None of the participants before the last one satisfied her.

“Something is missing…”

She repeated to herself.

Maybe her standards were high because of the previous vocalist.

Song Da-som recalled.

A voice and gestures that dominated the stage.

Something that made people cheer even more.

“I’ve seen it all…”

Just as she was about to get up, a voice came.

A voice drenched in alcohol.

Much worse than the previous participants.

The diction and the strength of the voice.

It seemed like someone who came up drunk.

She quickly grabbed her handbag to leave.

“Should I just take anyone…?”

Would it be enough just to keep the band going?

Thinking about the memories with the band, she smiled bitterly.

Then, a completely different voice came.

– The rings are already increasing, and I am living closer to a tree.

As if to say that what he did just now was a joke.

The appeal in that one verse made Song Da-som turn her head instantly.

She got goosebumps.

The desperate lyrics and voice continued.

She closed her eyes and slowly imagined the imagery of the sound.

The situation of this person.

She felt a dense forest in front of her, as if she was drunk.

– Even if I try to catch the falling leaves, the late time has already stretched toward the sky.

‘What is this…?’

It felt like a tree left alone, trembling in the wind.

It was a sensation she had never felt before.

Despite countless practices with the band, she had never experienced this.

The voice wavered a bit, perhaps due to the alcohol, but it brought out some emotion.

It was the end.

A voice looking for the end.

A voice hoping for the end.

A voice regretting the end.

Song Da-som approached the stage, entranced.

The song had already stopped.

Looking around, everyone’s eyes were on the man who sang.

A few people naturally raised their phones to record him.

And a few shed tears without realizing it.

A hunting pocha was not a place to cry, but it happened.

“I was right…”

I wasn’t wrong.

The accompaniment from the karaoke machine slowly played.

Everyone’s eyes were on her, but no one spoke.

All attention was on one man.

In an instant.

Just a few dozen seconds.

Could there be someone who could quiet a bar with just their voice?

The moment was broken by the man’s voice again.

“Hey, I’m not going to hunt!”

His face, hidden by the lights, was now clearly visible.

Song Da-som slowly nodded.

I have to get this person.

“Hey, let’s submit this to Ilso-no.”

A few people recording with their phones talked among themselves.

A spine-chilling song by a civilian.

It’s the most famous page on SNS these days. Seeing Ilso-no makes you realize how many good singers there are in Korea.

He will probably become famous soon.

Because I could see a spotlight that others couldn’t.

Cheap lights, a microphone with poor sound quality, a stage reeking of alcohol.

A beam of light cut through everything.

It started from the man’s voice.

“This participant, are you a current singer? The world is wide and there are many talented people… I’m sorry to say this without a proper evaluation, but I can confidently say this person is the first place winner!”

The host’s words.

Song Da-som caught the man coming down from the stage.

“Excuse me! By any chance, what’s your name?”

A strong smell of alcohol came from the man’s mouth.

She involuntarily wrinkled her nose.

“Ah, I’m not hunting. Sorry.”

“No, I mean, do you have a number? I really need to ask you.”

Then, a man who seemed to be with him scratched his face and approached.

“Ah, my friend is a bit drunk… Sorry.”

“Chul-ho… I said I’m not hunting.”

The man was getting a bit drunk.

He was being dragged out, leaning on his friend’s shoulder.

Just as the room was about to get noisy with EDM, Song Da-som grabbed the arm of the large man.

“Excuse me… I’m really interested in this person. Can I get his number?”

“I don’t know… He’s not in a position to meet anyone… No, I’ll give it to you.”

Saying that, Park Chul-ho struggled to take his phone out of his pocket.

“His number is this.”

“But is there something wrong with him?”

Song Da-som was concerned.

It might be overstepping, but the sadness in his voice was palpable.

“Ah, just a divorce… or rather, a breakup not long ago. People forget people, right~”

“No, I’m not interested in that….”

The large man was already walking away, not listening.

Song Da-som tried to clear up the misunderstanding but missed the elevator they took.

“Ah… I don’t know.”

She thought she would talk to him tomorrow.

* * *

She opened her eyes.

Her head felt like it was going to split from a hangover.

“Hey.”

No answer.

Right, I’m divorced.

It had been half a year, but the habit hadn’t gone away.

She occasionally touched the empty space on the bed.

She would play with the hair tie at the convenience store.

The act of hanging fresh flowers on a hook to dry them.

The flowers she hung on the wall when she quit her job six months ago were in front of her.

“Ouch, my head.”

How did I get home yesterday…?

I clearly remembered singing.

But the problem was after that.

She rinsed her mouth with water and called Park Chul-ho.

“Did anything happen yesterday?”

“You know, the brother planned a huge event again.”

“What event?”

“You’ll know when the time comes. But you sang well yesterday, didn’t you?”

She took it lightly.

Being a good singer isn’t everything.

She couldn’t overcome the wall.

She never debuted.

It wasn’t because of marriage.

She was already a late trainee when she got married.

“You were an idol trainee, right?”

But she didn’t want to show that emotion to Park Chul-ho.

It was her fault for not overcoming the wall as a professional.

“No, it’s different from back then. Did you finally get rid of the AlphaGo label?”

“What do you mean by that?”

AlphaGo was a nickname for being a good singer.

She mostly got perfect scores in monthly evaluations for pitch, diction, and diction.

“Do you know why you didn’t debut?”

“Was it because I was too rebellious?”

Rebellion and defiance.

She was dominated by those emotions at the time.

If the evaluation was bad, she would keep arguing.

Getting in and out of the debut group, could it have been because of that?

“Ha…”

Park Chul-ho sighed.

“Your singing was honestly perfect. Dancing? Not bad. You’re good-looking. What’s the problem? You sing so well.”

“Ah, stop stalling and just say it.”

“I have an eye for talent. You’ve changed. Your singing? Honestly, the debutees are all at a high level. To be loved by the public, you need something more. Something else you can show.”

“What do you mean?”

“It used to just be good, but now it’s something else. The emotion, I guess. Did you have some kind of awakening after the divorce?”

She stopped herself from saying she just put in the emotion.

Why?

What changed that made the stingy Park Chul-ho praise her so much?

Since I don’t remember yesterday, I asked.

“What was the reaction?”

“They were stunned. They didn’t know how to react, so they were all stunned, and a few cried.”

“Really?”

Park Chul-ho sighed again.

“Ha… Wind, just let it go. Try music. I was stunned when I heard your singing.”

“Thanks… But I barely remember.”

“I saw something new in you for the first time. But did you write the lyrics?”

“It was like freestyle in hip-hop?”

Park Chul-ho yawned.

He seemed to still have a hangover.

“The lyrics were good too. I would believe it if you said it was an original song. Hey, but you’re the only one dating? I want to try too. Oh, my alopecia is really…”

Then, she remembered the situation.

Probably because he failed to hunt.

It was a bit embarrassing.

I just had to sit there like a screen…

“Sorry, sorry. If there’s a chance, I’ll introduce you to someone.”

“Okay~ It’s a promise. Don’t forget. It was hard to bring you home.”

She muttered as she hung up the phone.

“Women, what women. Do I even know any women now?”

Then, a message from Park Chul-ho came.

Did he see through my lie?

– I have a good gift for you, so look forward to it.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like that.

But what good gift?

She didn’t know what it meant and stayed silent.

Trying to recall yesterday’s situation, but the part after getting on stage was vague.

“Ah, I should have stopped drinking…”

She wanted to remember the moment when people watched her on stage.

When her heart was pounding wildly.

Then, her phone rang.

She thought it was from Park Chul-ho, but it wasn’t.

A number she didn’t recognize.

Curious, she answered, and a young woman’s voice came through.

“Hello. Are you the one who sang on stage yesterday?”