Chapter 175: An Interesting Asian DJ
Dding–
7th floor.
The elevator arrived at its destination.
Mom didn’t say a word.
I had no idea what she was thinking.
“Hoo……”
Why was I so nervous about this?
With trembling fingers, I unlocked the door.
Maybe this was what I’d worked so hard for in music.
For my music to bring joy to soone.
And for that joy to return to as a tangible reward like this.
When my parents divorced during my childhood, we moved out of Bundang to a small villa in Yeonsinnae.
I rember the day we left the neighborhood in Mom’s car.
I kept looking back the whole ti.
I was too young to rember why I did that.
But one thing was certain.
At so point, I started wondering about this place.
Was it the neighborhood I liked? Or the childhood friends I played with? Or maybe…
The ti when we all lived together—Mom, Dad, and .
That part, I wasn’t sure about.
Why was my nose stuffy and my throat prickling now?
Still, no way was I going to ruin such a good day with this mood!
“It’s here.”
Clearing my throat, I opened the door.
With a classic BGM playing—
“Ddalalalala–!”
I’d learned this backstage last ti.
When entering anywhere, you had to hum the Love House BGM.
If I sang “Ddalalala–,” I was told the response “Ddalala–” would naturally follow. It was the unspoken rule.
“……”
“……”
Even after I opened the door and entered, neither Mom nor Auntie reacted.
Was it… because the place was old?
That’s how most apartnts in Bundang were.
Especially the one we used to live in—it had been built before I was even born, so yeah, a bit worn down.
Inside, I thought: This is a disaster.
Did I just do sothing totally unnecessary?
I was smiling on the outside, but inside, I wanted to cry.
Wasn’t this not what Mom had been hoping for?
……Should I have gone for a place with a bigger deposit?
As those kinds of stupid thoughts filled my head—
“Taeyoon, look at this kid.”
Auntie behind let out a quick chuckle.
Then she gently patted my arm and said:
“He doesn’t even realize his mom is crying.”
……Huh?
“Unni, say sothing. Taeyoon’s going to misunderstand. He’ll think you don’t like the place.”
At Auntie’s words, I turned my head—and finally saw Mom’s face clearly.
The strongest person in the world—Mom—had tears welled up around her eyes.
“Who said I’m crying.”
She wiped the corner of her eyes with the back of her hand and continued.
“Maybe because it’s old. There’s so much dust. Makes my eyes sting, that’s all.”
It had always been like that.
Mom always said the opposite of how she really felt.
It must’ve been embarrassing for her to cry in front of her son and younger sister.
Pride, joy—whatever it was, I understood.
And that was enough.
Because I loved that side of Mom too.
As I stood there, trying to figure out what to say—
“Taeyoon, do you rember this place?”
Mom made the first move.
She walked over to the veranda window and stood there, gaze fixed outside for a long while.
Auntie and I silently watched her back.
After a long pause, Mom finally spoke.
Her finger pointed at the old wall next to the window fra.
“Right there, we used to asure your height.”
“Ah……”
“We drew lines on the wallpaper. Your dad asured you.”
I didn’t rember.
Probably because I’d been too young.
Besides, this wasn’t exactly the house we used to live in.
It had the sa layout, but it was just another unit in the sa apartnt complex.
Even so, it seed to stir a lot of mories for Mom.
She walked around the place, retracing the past.
“Here, you scribbled with crayon right after we re-wallpapered. Ah! You ran around and lost your baby tooth right over there. And here…”
So this was what adults called “mories.”
Mom’s mories seed to be of , Hyung, and this house.
To be honest, I didn’t really know what mories were.
To , the past was just a series of things that happened.
Like stored data.
I used to live in Bundang, my parents got divorced, we moved to Yeonsinnae, I got through school sohow, and I occasionally visited Dad in Ulsan……
I never had the luxury to revisit the emotions of the past.
For , what mattered was always finding a better tomorrow.
So when Mom sotis wore that wistful expression, I never knew what to say.
I didn’t know what lay at the end of those mories.
I just wondered—
Maybe when I got older, I’d be able to fully grasp the weight of Mom’s emotions.
That was all.
But then—
“It feels so good to be here. Makes feel younger again. Thanks to you, Taeyoon……”
Watching Mom smile as she reminisced here—
I felt like I could finally begin to understand what mories really were.
As I stood there blankly, Auntie jabbed in the side again.
Then she whispered playfully into my ear.
“Did you tell your dad?”
“……Not yet.”
“Still, you should tell him you bought a place. He might feel hurt if he finds out later.”
Wait a sec. She whispered that, right?
But Mom’s shoulders visibly tensed.
Still staring out the window, Mom snapped back.
“Forget it. What’s there to talk about.”
Wait, she heard that?
Well, now it was confird.
I definitely inherited these sharp ears from Mom. One hundred percent.
Anyway, I couldn’t tell if she was really fine with it or if she was just being proud in front of her son.
I just answered honestly.
“Later. I’ll see how things go.”
To cut through the awkward air, I walked across the living room and opened the smallest room’s door.
The master bedroom was for Mom, the second-biggest for Hyung.
And this—was my small, precious room.
Trying my best to sound cheerful, I raised my voice to Mom and Auntie.
“Tada~ This is my room. I’ll be working and sleeping in here now.”
Because I wanted to pull them out of their clinging mories, and bring them into the present.
At my words, Mom stared into the room for a long ti.
The red around her eyes still lingered.
Then, with a low yet unmistakable voice, she said—
“……You’ll do a proper soundproofing job, right? Music noise can be a huge nuisance, you know?”
Ah, there she was—my real Mom, finally back.
Absolutely, absolutely.
“I made the reservation exactly at the place Mr. Moon Jungbae recomnded!”
The mood softened again.
We finished looking around the house.
Discussed how we’d handle the renovations.
Strolled through the apartnt complex, now lusher with trees than before.
Ti flew by just like that.
As we toured the shopping area for the last stop,
Mom’s eyes lit up as she turned to .
“Shall we check that place out?”
“Are you hungry, Mom? Then how about dinner…”
“No, it just reminds of the old days. That place used to be here too, and they’re still in business.”
It was a skewer shop I’d never been to, but heard of many tis.
The grilled chicken skewers cooked over a wire rack were pretty good—I ended up eating a ton.
“Taeyoon, you still like chicken skewers, huh.”
“Yeah. They’re really good.”
“You were so tiny but used to sit there and finish off five at a ti.”
Well now, I’m big enough to eat ten.
Ahem.
Mom and Auntie each had a beer, and I had a cola.
After our fun skewer gathering, we were waiting for the red bus headed to Seoul Station.
“You’re really coming all the way to Seoul Station with us?”
“Just wanted to see you off.”
“There’s no need for that.”
“Two lovely ladies headed all the way to Gimhae—I ought to escort you.”
Ah, I tried copying Mr. Moon Jungbae’s tone there.
But yeah… that didn’t land, huh?
Mom stuttered a bit like her brain had short-circuited—
“When did my little boy get so big…”
Then pulled into a hug.
As we looked up at the twilight sky,
I hugged Mom tightly and rested my chin on her shoulder.
Ah… Mom’s scent.
The scent of the fabric softener I rembered only in mories—
It made my eyes close helplessly.
Childhood mories ca flooding in.
In the middle of that warmth, I found myself whispering without even realizing—
“Mom, I missed you. Let’s live together now.”
Chiiiik—
At that mont, the red bus we were waiting for pulled into the stop.
I wasn’t sure if the sound of the bus arriving drowned out my voice, or if Mom had heard it clearly.
That, I couldn’t know.
I just boarded the bus, pretending like nothing happened.
For the first ti in my life—
I wished the bus would take its ti arriving at its destination.
It was such an old place that the interior renovation was expected to take about three months.
Which ant I had to wait nearly 100 days to live with Mom. I felt a little deflated.
Thankfully, there wasn’t much I needed to handle myself.
It was Hyung who had rembered which apartnt we used to live in.
And it was CEO Kim Minsoo who had helped a great deal with the house contract and interior planning.
Apparently, contracted composers should focus solely on their work?
Well, that made my life easier.
On top of that, Mr. Moon Jungbae helped out with installing a soundproof booth and soundproofing setup for ho use.
So in the end, I’d barely done anything on my own—
But regardless, Seo Taeyoon: First Ho Purchase had been successfully completed.
I dropped by Seoul Station before heading ho.
It would’ve been a little lonely if no one had been ho, but I heard movent.
“You did great today.”
Hyung greeted with a soft grin.
I scowled at him and whined,
“Why didn’t you tell ?”
“Just because? It’s more touching as a surprise, right? Mom and Auntie looked really shocked.”
“Huh? How do you know that?”
Hyung held out his smartphone.
There was a long ssage from Mom.
[Today, thanks to Taeyoon, I was so surprised… (omitted) …I don’t know how he ca up with such a thoughtful idea. I’m always thankful for and love my sons… When I go up, I’ll cook lots of yummy things for you…]
It wasn’t a text—it was a letter.
It was clear she treated and Hyung very differently.
Hyung, the dependable eldest son.
, still the baby of the family?
Didn’t matter either way. I’d be living with Mom soon!
I’d get to eat her japchae and tonkatsu every day!
“But hey, Taeyoon.”
“Yeah?”
“You went to Bundang, right? I thought we agreed to show her after the renovations were done.”
“No, it’s not like that!”
Hmm. Let sum up the situation briefly.
The apartnt in Bundang was purchased 100% under my na.
But Hyung and I had split the cost of the interior and furniture 50/50.
So technically, he had a share too.
Still, I kind of jumped the gun like this…
Because I just really wanted to live with Mom as soon as possible.
But I didn’t want to say that out loud, so I just said—
“She doesn’t believe I’m Blackhole.”
“So you showed her the house?”
“Exactly.”
“Who would believe that?”
Well, even if Hyung didn’t believe —
“Here, take a look.”
He showed another ssage from Mom.
…Oh, co on.
[……Your little brother is still just a baby. Take good care of him……]
And there it was—the usual scolding.
“You upset Mom again? Did you whine or sothing?”
“I didn’t!”
Hyung gave side-eye.
I was innocent, seriously.
As I racked my brain for how to defend myself, Hyung relaxed his expression and said gently—
“Still, you did good.”
“Huh?”
“Mom seed really happy.”
Yeah, she was. Really happy.
I quickly retreated to my room and called back casually,
“I’ll call Dad.”
“When?”
“…Soon?”
That’s what I said, but—
Because of an upcoming event, I completely forgot.
It was about ten days later that I finally got around to contacting Dad.
The next morning at dawn.
In a live streaming studio sowhere in Los Angeles, USA—
A live broadcast was underway on the channel , operated by the enigmatic DJ, Koda.
The artists featured on this channel were primarily experintal sound creators from across Europe and North Arica.
Musicians who called themselves “pioneers,” exploring the audio spectrum all night long with old gear and experintal thods.
As was typical with these kinds of channels—
They acknowledged no musical boundaries.
Ambient, techno, fusion jazz, neo-classical…
In short, it was a community of musicians firmly rooted in the underground music scene.
Perhaps it was this unique avant-garde spirit and the depth of their lodies—
Or maybe it was because artistic eccentricity transcends race and age.
Either way, had surpassed 5 million subscribers.
It was that influential a channel.
At least among listeners and musicians.
Even the live stream drew in hundreds of thousands of viewers.
They always discussed fascinating topics—
Trends in music, live rap battles, or even composition battles.
And today’s topic, unexpectedly—
“An Asian DJ?”
“Probably just a pretty boy pretending to scratch records.”
“Will he take his shirt off too?”
The face of the Orbit Phone advertisent.
The intriguing Asian DJ.
It was Blackhole.
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