Chapter 35

35. A Song That Cannot Be Sung

“A, is that how it is? Yes, yes.”

At the calm voice of Yoon Seong-hoon, Yoon Se-ryin’s face was filled with tension.

“No, no. What does the author have to be sorry for?”

Sorry?

At the word “sorry,” Se-ryin’s face darkened suddenly.

“Yes, I understand that. Thank you for contacting me directly.”

Thud.

As soon as Yoon Seong-hoon put the phone down, Se-ryin asked,

“Dad, why? The audition… didn’t go well?”

Seong-hoon replied with a serious face.

“Unfortunately… it’s all over.”

“Ha. As expected… Huh?”

Se-ryin’s eyes widened.

“What did you say, Dad?”

“You passed all three auditions.”

“What?!”

Seong-hoon smiled playfully. Se-ryin jumped up from her seat.

“Oh, but I thought Dad said something about being sorry….”

“Oh, that’s because the official announcement for the auditions might be a bit delayed. He said to keep it a secret until then.”

Se-ryin’s expression finally brightened.

“So, we really all passed?”

“It’s not just passing. All three of you got supporting roles.”

“Wow!!”

Se-ryin, who had been jumping up and down, suddenly hugged her father.

“Thanks, Dad.”

Seong-hoon patted Se-ryin, whose eyes were brimming with tears.

“Thanks? I should be the one thanking you. I’m really grateful. Thank you.”

Se-ryin quickly let go of her father and picked up her phone.

“I need to tell Jin-hyuk and Seo-yeon quickly!”

“Se-ryin, they’re in Japan right now.”

“Oh, Seo-yeon said she would use international roaming.”

Se-ryin smiled brightly at her father.

***

Dotonbori.

A bustling area about 500 meters long around the Dotonbori River in southern Osaka, Japan. It is a representative street considered a must-visit for Osaka tourism, known for its food alleys, arcades, theaters, and shops.

“This is where you can find the best-tasting takoyaki in Japan!”

As the short autumn sun began to set, the unique and diverse neon lights, as well as the famous takoyaki, captivated the students.

“I somehow like this atmosphere.”

Kim Min-young looked around with a wistful gaze.

“What atmosphere? The street with bright lights?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“A melancholic atmosphere.”

“Melancholic? Where? It’s just colorful and bright.”

Do Min-woo looked at Kim Min-young with a puzzled expression. The scenery was one thing, but the combination of a popular student and a melancholic feeling seemed completely out of place.

“The lights here are suddenly shining brightly, but the sun is almost completely set. Isn’t it a bit contradictory? It feels a bit melancholic.”

“Is that so.”

Still with a puzzled look, Do Min-woo scanned the surroundings and shouted,

“Hey? They’re busking over there! Let’s go.”

At the spot Min-woo pointed to, a man and a woman were playing guitars and singing. Even from a distance, their voices sounded quite good.

There were quite a few people gathered around, and some students from Myeongseong High School were also there. The buskers, who looked quite presentable, had a professional vibe.

“Kimi–o Aishiteru–.”

“Wow!”

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Not long after Jin-hyuk and his group arrived, the two finished their song, and the area was already bustling with Myeongseong High School students.

“Wow! There are so many Korean students.”

“Korean. Students.”

The woman, speaking broken Korean, said “Korean students,” and the Myeongseong High School students cheered.

“Wow! Korean student!”

“This one is a Korean student!”

“I’m a Korean student too!”

“Wow!”

The Korean students were reacting enthusiastically. The buskers smiled widely, finding it amusing.

“K-pop is very popular these days. I’ll sing a K-pop song for our students.”

The man picked up the guitar, and the woman took the microphone.

“Wow!”

The cheers from the male students grew louder. The woman smiled widely, and as the cheers died down, her voice came through the speakers.

“Are you listening? To what I’m saying….”

She had a fairly good pronunciation, having practiced a lot, and her singing skills were excellent enough to overlook her slightly awkward pronunciation.

The Korean students started to turn on their phone lights and wave them.

The woman, looking surprised but pleased, continued her song.

“Voice I want to hear again–.”

As the song ended, a thunderous cheer erupted.

“Wow!!”

Indeed, it was like a cheer from an army….

Jin-hyuk turned around to see that the warriors from the soccer field were already lined up.

The woman’s face flushed with excitement at the unexpectedly large cheer.

“Thank you. Thank you.”

She repeatedly thanked them in Korean and, as the cheers died down, said,

“Is there anyone here who would like to sing a song? We can provide accompaniment for Korean songs. A student who can sing a Korean song!”

“Wow!”

Everyone cheered again.

“Hey, what did she just say?”

“I don’t know. How can I understand Japanese?”

“Hey, just say thank you. She’ll say she’ll sing another song. Just cheer!”

“Wow!”

A louder cheer echoed and then died down. In the silence, the woman and the audience stared at each other awkwardly. Everyone felt uncomfortable.

“Oh, Korean, sing. Students. Anyone?”

The singer, understanding the silence, gestured to the stage with her hands and spoke in broken Korean.

“Oh, it seems like she’s asking if anyone from us wants to go up and sing?”

“Sing?”

“Then, should I go?”

“Hey, man. Don’t you know that your voice shouldn’t cross borders? As a fellow Korean, I understand.”

Amid the students’ murmurs, someone suddenly shouted,

“Jin-hyuk!”

At the same time, the warriors from the soccer field, who hadn’t forgotten the emotional moment during music class, started shouting loudly.

“Jin-hyuk! Jin-hyuk!”

“Sing! Sing!”

The woman, understanding, said,

“Jin-hyuk? Who is Jin-hyuk?”

The students all pointed at Jin-hyuk. Suddenly, all eyes were on him.

“Wow. He’s incredibly handsome.”

“Really, really.”

The audience buzzed as they looked at Jin-hyuk. The woman smiled and gestured to him.

‘Well, this is me.’

But Jin-hyuk’s personality wouldn’t let him back down in such a situation. He walked up to the stage.

“Wow. He’s a really handsome student. He looks like a K-pop idol.”

The male singer, holding the microphone, made a comment while the female singer led Jin-hyuk to the accompanist.

“Song. Title. Korean song OK.”

Jin-hyuk shook his head and said,

“Can I just use this guitar?”

“Eh? You know Japanese?”

“A little.”

“Wow. Not just a little. You can use the guitar anytime.”

The female singer gave a sign to the male singer, who finished his comment.

Meanwhile, Jin-hyuk, holding the guitar, walked to the center of the stage.

“Wow!”

Clap. Clap. Clap.

After a brief cheer and applause, the audience fell silent.

“Hey, it’s like a scene from a movie, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is.”

The beautiful night view of Dotonbori, the bright lights, and the calm river. The unrealistic-looking boy or man standing in front of it.

To the gathered people, Jin-hyuk, standing with a guitar, felt like a scene from a movie.

Swoosh.

Jin-hyuk started playing the prelude of “A Song That Cannot Be Sung” on the guitar.

“Oh, he plays the guitar well.”

“But, isn’t that ‘A Song That Cannot Be Sung’?”

“It seems so. Oh, that’s completely amazing.”

The students from other classes who hadn’t heard Jin-hyuk sing before were clear about this.

The warriors from the soccer field, looking at these students, smiled as if mocking them.

As the prelude ended, the first line of the song came from Jin-hyuk’s lips as he approached the microphone.

“When this song ends, I’ll forget you….”

His voice, sweet even in its breath.

“Wow.”

The space seemed to drop, and the audience’s deep sighs burst out naturally,

“Squeal!”

Some girls stomped their feet and screamed. It didn’t matter that they couldn’t understand the lyrics.

“You must have already become a name erased from your memory….”

The audience was quickly drawn into Jin-hyuk’s song.

“I must be a fool, doing this alone again….”

As the sun set and the neon lights brightened in the evening, Jin-hyuk’s sweet voice was already like the OST of a movie.

The light from the audience’s phones, lit up, sparkled like stars in front of Jin-hyuk.

Jin-hyuk gently led the audience with his sweet voice.

And.

“A song that cannot be sung–.”

Finally, at the early chorus, the warriors from the soccer field, thinking it was their moment, shouted grandly.

“Song!”

In the middle of Dotonbori, a Korean-style chorus erupted.

“A song that cannot be sung–.”

“Song!”

People who were passing by stopped and stared at Jin-hyuk’s performance, mesmerized.

The climax of the song, which no one could easily follow, was the reason why it was “A Song That Cannot Be Sung.”

“Because when this song ends, I have to erase you. I still can’t finish the song.”

Jin-hyuk’s smooth voice soared, leading a rhythmic melody that crossed the third octave,

“A song that I cannot sing–.”

Finally, a crazy high note that hit the fourth octave.

The eyes of the busking singers, who were listening to the song, widened in surprise.

‘What, what is this person?!’

The audience’s reaction was the same. Jin-hyuk’s screaming, yet never rough, high notes gripped the entire street.

“The song–.”

As the astonishing high notes from Jin-hyuk subsided, a silence fell over the Dotonbori street.

Breaking the silence,

“A song that cannot be sung, no, a song that I cannot sing– my– song–.”

As if he had just flown from a high place, a smooth, low voice wrapped up the end of the song.

Swoosh.

With the final postlude of the guitar.

“Wow!!”

A loud cheer filled the center of Dotonbori.

“Man, why am I so proud?”

“My heart is really swelling with grandeur.”

The warriors from the soccer field, who had fought together on the battlefield, wiped away the tears welling in their eyes.

“Wow, that was really an amazing vocal performance!”

As Jin-hyuk came down, the male singer continued the heated atmosphere of the stage.

“Hey….”

The female singer approached Jin-hyuk, who was putting down the guitar and turning to leave.

“Hey.”

Jin-hyuk looked at her.

“The song was so moving.”

“Thank you.”

She shyly asked,

“By the way, how old are you?”

“I’m sixteen in Japanese age.”

“Oh! Me too!”

Jin-hyuk looked at the woman, now a girl, with a slightly surprised expression. She didn’t look sixteen.

“Oh, because of the makeup….”

The girl blushed, understanding Jin-hyuk’s gaze. Upon closer inspection, she did look young, but her heavy eye makeup had hidden it.

“Hey, can we be friends?”

“Huh? Friends?”

“Yes. I want to make Korean friends. I love K-pop.”

“…”

“Can’t we? I want to be friends.”

The girl’s overly cautious expression made Jin-hyuk feel almost guilty about refusing.

“I’m just on a school trip… I don’t know how we can be friends, but if you want, we can be friends.”

“Really…?”

“Friends, so we can drop the formalities.”

The girl’s face brightened.

“I’m Itsuki. Fujiwara Itsuki. Remember my name.”

The girl handed over her SNS address, repeating the same words several times before turning around.

***

“Man, this guy. No matter how many times I see it, it’s amazing.”

Do