Chapter 32: ID - Cloud in the Wind

The 22nd Golden Disc Awards came to a perfect close. The biggest highlights of the night were two: Girls' Generation and BIGBANG. Girls' Generation won the Popularity Award and the New Artist Award, while BIGBANG, with their hit "Lies," swept the Annual Best Male Group Award.

After the Golden Disc Awards, a party followed, where all the artists who appeared that night gathered. Among the female artists, the nine members of Girls' Generation were undoubtedly the most eye-catching, and among the male artists, TOP Choi Seung-hyun was the most charming, with many female artists approaching him to chat. Choi Seung-hyun was unfazed and chatted happily with them.

"Congratulations, congratulations on winning the New Artist Award!" A male voice sounded behind Kim Tae-yeon. When she turned around, she saw her good friend Lee Hong-gi standing there.

"Are your congratulations sincere?! I can feel a sour taste! Not winning the New Artist Award must be frustrating, right? Do you want to borrow the trophy for a few days?" Kim Tae-yeon smiled, showing her white teeth.

Lee Hong-gi looked at her gloomily and said, "Do you think I'm such a petty person... Besides, F.T.Island has won the New Artist Award before, so why should I be jealous!"

"Hey, Hong-gi, you guys didn't even get a consolation prize today!" Sunny smiled slightly, but her words were a direct hit on Lee Hong-gi.

"It's fine... I'm already very happy to see Sun-kyu win the New Artist Award!" Lee Hong-gi looked at Sunny with a sly smile. Sure enough, Sunny's smile froze, and she glared at him.

No matter who it was, every time Sunny got into a verbal sparring match, as soon as the name Lee Sun-kyu was mentioned, she would be speechless. This was a well-known, public secret.

"Alright, stop bickering... Hong-gi, you need to work harder in the future! I have high hopes for F.T.Island!" Kwon Yu-ri said with a sincere but sarcastic tone.

"Fine... You guys are in the majority, I can't argue with you... Those guys are all hiding somewhere, getting weak in the knees when they see girls. They should learn from me! Otherwise, how will they ever get girlfriends!" Lee Hong-gi clenched his teeth.

The nine members of Girls' Generation covered their mouths and laughed, unable to resist when they saw Lee Hong-gi's frustrated and awkward expression.

F.T.Island and Girls' Generation debuted one after the other, with only a month between them. After debuting, new artists are always very busy, promoting their songs, appearing on variety shows, and taking any opportunity to appear on screen, even late-night radio programs. So, the representative of F.T.Island, Lee Hong-gi, and Girls' Generation often met in various settings, and over time, they became good friends.

"They are just simple, unlike you, who has so many bad intentions... You can be described with two words - despicable!" Tiffany giggled, her eyes twinkling, making her very likable.

Lee Hong-gi grimaced and glared at her, thinking to himself that he was handsome and refined, how could he be described as despicable!

"Wow... TOP is really popular with girls... That cold face, as if someone owes him a few million, how can it be so appealing! Do you think I would be popular if I dressed like him?" Lee Hong-gi looked at TOP, who was surrounded by women, and asked the nine members of Girls' Generation.

"You'd be popular if you shaved your head!" Yoon Ah replied.

For Yoon Ah, Lee Hong-gi didn't have the same leniency as he did with Kim Tae-yeon, and he glared at her fiercely, as they were the same age.

"Oppa is already very handsome, no need to change your style... Other people's styles may not suit you!" Lee Hong-gi's casual comment was met with a serious and earnest response from Sulli.

"Ah, Sulli is always so honest, always telling the truth... Unlike your seniors, who are full of lies all day! Ah..."

The next second, Lee Hong-gi's hand was pinched by several small hands.

"By the way, it's a pity that G-Dragon didn't win the Best Lyricist Award this time! 'Lies' is so good, yet it didn't win the Best Lyricist Award..." Lee Hong-gi changed the subject, putting his hands in his pockets.

"His 'Lies' wasn't completed by him alone, right? His mentor Teddy helped, so he couldn't win the Best Lyricist Award! Our 'GEE' is different!" Choi Soo-young reminded them. Relying on G-Dragon alone, he didn't have the depth of creativity, and still needed the guidance of YG's top producer Teddy.

Lee Hong-gi nodded in agreement, "E-TRIBE senior is indeed much better than G-Dragon..."

At this moment, Jung Soo-yeon opened her mouth as if to say something, but ultimately held back, standing to the side with a sullen look, and closed her mouth.

The party ended quickly, and the artists left the venue in their limousines or personal cars. The nine members of Girls' Generation squeezed into a black Hyundai limousine, with a manager sitting in the front passenger seat, and the nine of them in the back.

Suddenly, Jung Soo-yeon, who had been quiet for a long time, asked Tiffany, "Is today December 13th?"

Tiffany was taken aback, not expecting such a low-intelligence question, but seeing the sincere and serious look on Jung Soo-yeon's face, she nodded firmly.

Jung Soo-yeon didn't pay attention to Tiffany anymore, but turned her head to look out the window at the night scenery passing by, and in a low voice, only audible to herself, she murmured, "It's been four years, where are you?"

............

On the second floor of the red brick villa in Blackstone Cave.

Lee Yun-jae came out of the bathroom, his severe coughing had eased, and his headache was gradually subsiding. He turned on the light, and with his short hair, he was bare-chested, the air conditioner in the room humming.

After drying off, Lee Yun-jae put on a simple long T-shirt, went to the kitchen to heat a cup of milk, and then returned to his computer desk.

He turned on the computer and logged into the Naver homepage.

Naver is South Korea's largest search engine, providing many services such as news, email, MP3 music, videos, various rankings, and real-time search rankings.

Lee Yun-jae skillfully typed a series of English letters in the login window, entered his password, and then entered his homepage.

The empty homepage had only five videos: "Loving You" (cover), "Sometimes When We Touch" (cover) [strongly recommended], "Like Being Shot," "No Longer in Love," and "The Truth That You Leave" (piano piece). The author of the uploaded videos was called "Cloud in the Wind," and the last video was uploaded on August 20, 2003.

As he slowly scrolled down the page, the countless comments on the message board blurred his vision.

"Yun-jae, come back!"

"Yun-jae, we will always wait for you!"

"Wind, we have always been waiting for the day you come back, come back soon... We can't wait any longer!"

In each comment, there were always phrases like "waiting for you to come back" or "come back." The latest comment was posted on December 2 at 3:02 PM.

As he scrolled to the bottom, the thousands of pages of comments made Lee Yun-jae's eyes moist. Although he had been absent from the fans' sight for four years, these adorable fans had never forgotten him and had always been calling for his return.

He wiped his slightly moist eyes and wrote a long message in the comment box, but then deleted it word by word, repeating this process dozens of times. Finally, a long message of over a hundred words was reduced to just four simple and powerful words - "I'm back!"

Staring at the computer screen for over an hour, the warm milk gradually turned cold, and the north wind howled outside, with snowflakes dancing in the air, accumulating on the ground.

After a silence of an hour and a half, Lee Yun-jae seemed to finally make up his mind. He gritted his teeth and posted the message on the message board.

The next second, the webpage notified him that the comment was successfully sent. At the top of the message board, the homepage owner "Cloud in the Wind" stood out prominently. Lee Yun-jae knew that these four words would cause a significant stir, but at this moment, he was ready.

"I... I'm back!" A slightly hoarse voice, somewhat like Linkin Park's lead singer Chester Bennington, slowly came out of Lee Yun-jae's mouth. The once fresh, ethereal voice was gone, replaced by a hoarse throat.

Four years ago today, on the eve of his debut, he left in disappointment. A year ago, he quietly returned to this place. His former friends and juniors had already debuted and become famous, while he was still struggling, enduring pain and hardship every day, to be able to stand on that shining stage again. He had endured unimaginable hardships and paid an unimaginable price.

After four years of silence, amidst the ardent wait of Wind and the "old generation" of fans, Lee Yun-jae finally declared his return on this special day.

Four years ago, on December 13th, in the midst of a heavy snowfall, he had trampled on the dignity of a songwriter, sold all his song copyrights, and left for a distant place.

Four years later, on December 13th, he finally had the courage to fight for the glory and stage that once belonged to him!