Chapter 24: You’re Listening to My Story
Backstage, run by Moon Jungbae.
There was only one reason Oh Jisoo ca here.
Because she was curious about her senior? No.
Honestly, they weren't that close.
To help with the food business? No.
This was her own building, and the business was just a hobby.
To check out rare records?
Nope, wrong again. Oh Jisoo wasn’t as hardcore of an otaku as people might think.
The reason Oh Jisoo brought people here was simple.
“Senior, slow down a bit. I’m about to pass out. Just hear out first.”
“Ha… Fine. But answer just this one thing first.”
“Huh? What is it?”
“That song from earlier.”
“Wait, hold on. You could hear it from the counter? I didn’t know that. That’s why I co here.”
Strict confidentiality.
That was the only reason.
Oh Jisoo asked with a teasing smile.
“You heard it all and just pretended not to, huh? I see how it is.”
“Don’t change the subject.”
Of course it was audible.
The store wasn’t big. It wasn’t crowded with custors.
And he even turned off the music so they could talk comfortably.
But no matter what was discussed here, or who ca in, nothing ever leaked outside.
Even if they held a shaman ritual in the room, danced, or sang.
Moon Jungbae never asked a thing.
That’s right. To Oh Jisoo, Backstage was a perfect hideout where no matter what kind of sche she plotted with soone, it would never get out.
First etings always happened here.
Once a project started to take shape, the next step was her studio.
That was Oh Jisoo’s rule.
“You couldn’t pretend not to hear it this ti, could you? Interesting. Not long ago, you acted like you didn’t hear the Busan Goblin’s demo.”
“His song lacks sincerity. Sincerity.”
“Isn’t the Maron Chart basically the definition of sincerity?”
“Can’t argue with that, really.”
What did it an if a song ranked high on the charts?
It ant a lot of people were listening to it.
Even if the beat was chaotic, even if the lyrics were full of English.
That didn’t matter.
If a song was played a lot, it ant so elent of it resonated with the public.
And when writing a song, no one lacks sincerity.
Though their intentions may differ a bit.
“But it looks like Writer Seo’s song has that sothing, huh?”
“Talking about the charts just now and now this?”
“Aren’t you curious? Why you said sothing like that. What was it about Writer Seo’s song?”
“That’s…”
Moon Jungbae paused.
Even after deep thought, it was hard to clearly express the emotions he felt listening to Taeyoon’s song.
It wasn’t a simple matter of liking or disliking it.
Dry electronic sounds with no session.
A synth the that poured out like a storm.
A bell sound straight out of a horror movie.
No matter how trendy the beat was.
He couldn’t just casually say, “It’s good.”
To be precise, it wasn’t his taste.
He preferred the sweet sound of an acoustic guitar, the harmony of a live band playing together.
But just one thing.
Taeyoon’s song had a power that made you listen.
He liked the clever way the lyrics were written too.
Why did he like it?
Why, exactly…?
After a long pause, he said,
“That’s it…”
He had found the texture of the song—sothing only Taeyoon could express.
Moon Jungbae spoke.
“We listen to songs, right?”
“Yeah. We listen to songs. Why?”
“But this song… hmm.”
“Senior, you’re really dragging things out as you get older. You’re going to burn the rice at this rate.”
Despite Oh Jisoo’s sarcastic remark,
He slowly conveyed what he felt today.
“It doesn’t feel like I’m listening to a song. It feels like the song is listening to .”
“…Excuse ?”
“You know? Usually, a song is one-way. The listener just hears what the singer, lyricist, or composer wants to say. But this song… it listens to my story. Isn’t that amazing?”
At Moon Jungbae’s words, Oh Jisoo only nodded slowly.
Until the warm tea turned lukewarm.
How long had they been sitting there? Moon Jungbae asked,
“Did that young man write the lyrics too?”
“Yeah. You can tell right away, huh?”
“Like I haven’t heard your lyrics for years. It’s different. Very.”
“What’s so different? My lyrics just chase trends, and Writer Seo’s are fresh—is that what you’re saying? I’ll get pouty if you keep that up.”
“Good. So you won’t.”
“What did it sound like to you, Senior?”
“There was no sll of money. Your lyrics reek of it.”
Pfft.
Oh Jisoo burst out laughing.
She got it. She knew exactly what he ant.
“I get what you’re saying. But…”
“That’s its charm, right?”
“Exactly. Actually, the reason we t here today is…”
Oh Jisoo briefly shared the story.
Her first eting with Taeyoon.
How she contacted him first to suggest co-writing.
How she ca here today just to see what it was like.
“Cute, right?”
“He’s naive. That’s why he says stuff like that. Wow, you’ve changed a lot, Jisoo. Back in the day, you’d have chased him down and jabbed his collarbone, and we’d just say ‘figures.’”
Oh Jisoo replied, “It’s not that bad,” and awkwardly raised her glass.
But honestly, it wasn’t too far off.
Moon Jungbae asked with curiosity,
“So what did you say?”
“At first, I was going to say yes. I thought maybe this was my chance to try a sub-character or whatever.”
“It’s about ti for that for you too.”
This ti, Moon Jungbae raised his coffee cup.
Oh Jisoo’s faint expression behind the cup.
He’d known her a long ti, but he still couldn’t read her.
“I turned him down.”
“Huh? You rejected him?”
An unexpected answer.
“Yeah. I couldn’t do it.”
“Your pride wouldn’t allow it?”
“Exactly.”
“Still the sa Oh Jisoo.”
He didn’t bother calling her a tyrant or an ice queen.
It was always the sa, no matter what.
People didn’t change.
Whether or not she knew what was on Moon Jungbae’s mind,
Oh Jisoo spoke, almost to herself.
“My pride really couldn’t let do it… I an, what’s so great about so sub-character?”
“I just couldn’t bring myself to collaborate on a song that Writer Seo worked so hard on just because I wanted to try sothing new.”
“The song is really good. The lyrics I added right now go perfectly with the atmosphere too. So…”
That soft sensitivity, rusted emotion, creeping in.
Trying to stick my na on that beautiful song.
“The fact that I even had a selfish thought for a mont—it’s shaful. I wasn’t that kind of person. Ah, I don’t even know anymore. What’s wrong with ? I must be aging.”
Moon Jungbae, after hearing her words, replied.
“I think the opposite.”
“Hmm?”
“I actually felt greedy.”
“Greedy?”
Oh Jisoo pulled her chair in close and sat up.
He wasn’t soone to say things carelessly.
Her instincts, honed over 20 years, kicked in.
That man—sothing must have changed in his heart.
“If it’s that guy’s song… No, never mind. Forget I said anything.”
Oh Jisoo thought,
Maybe sothing fun is about to happen.
I ca ho feeling empty.
A million thoughts tangled in my head.
What did I even do today?
Did I ss up? Was that a rejection?
I seriously have no idea.
Until she listened to the song, everything was going great.
The food was delicious.
The vibe of the place was good.
I even gave lots of complints to the legendary rock band vocalist disguised as a tonkatsu shop owner.
Hyung once told this.
That in an important negotiation, just getting the other person to show up at the eting spot is already half the win.
I was confident.
In my strategy, in my song.
But then Writer Oh Jisoo told sothing cryptic.
Writer Seo. Don’t take this the wrong way. I think it’s best if you stay in charge of this song until the end.
Huh?
Lyrics need to flow. Even if it feels a bit rough now, it’s right for you to stick with the feeling you had in mind.
So that ans…
Yeah, exactly. Even if it sounds rough or feels hard, if you look at it again, you’ll find the way. Fighting.
Was that a complint or a diss?
To make it worse, her expression changed after hearing the song.
Like soone weighed down with worry.
Her face suddenly darkened.
‘I really wanted to see Writer Oh’s real self…’
More than being rejected for a collaboration, more than being told my lyrics were rough—
What hurt most was not being able to see her true self.
But I definitely saw it.
Even if people called her picky, said she only cared about herself, judged her like she looked down on the world—
The advice and encouragent she gave were never the hypocrisy of a selfish person.
That’s why I was curious.
About the things she talked about.
About the real world she wanted to show.
‘Let’s think simply. Maybe the song just didn’t match what she had in mind. Everyone has different tastes.’
Ugh, whatever.
Why make it complicated?
Just do what I’ve always done. Stick to my own path.
Let’s go back to the beginning.
Why did I get stuck on the lyrics?
Why did I send out an SOS to Oh Jisoo?
Why did I even write this song? Because of CEO Kim Minsoo… Wait, huh?
The premise was wrong from the start.
When I thought about it slowly, the answer beca clear.
That’s it. That’s exactly it.
The answer to this problem lies with CEO Kim Minsoo!
The conclusion was simple.
I had assud things about Kim Minsoo on my own.
Without even knowing him properly, I decided based on a hunch, ‘He must be this kind of person,’ and went with it—and that’s probably why things turned out like this.
Is there even anything to stress about?
I checked the ti. There was still a little while before work started.
I picked up my phone. I was calling Manager Yoon Seonghan.
But my phone was full of new ssages.
Better call first and check the ssages after.
[ Manager-hyung ]
Before the ringtone even finished, Manager-hyung picked up and imdiately called my na.
Hey hey hey hey hey. Taeyoon-ah. Seo Taeyoon.
“What the…? Hyung, yes, it’s , Seo Taeyoon.”
You saw it too, right? Man, this is just… Taeyoon-ah. Hold on.
Manager-hyung whispered to soone mid-sentence.
Yeah, yeah. It’s Taeyoon. Don’t need to hand it over. Hold on.
“Is CEO Kim Minsoo with you?”
Yeah.
“Perfect. When’s he leaving? I’d like to talk to him briefly.”
Thank goodness.
They’re together.
CEO will be here all day. Taeyoon-ah.
“Huh? You sound busy.”
You don’t get it? Well, we didn’t think it’d blow up like this either.
“What do you an?”
This is frustrating.
They’re freaking out over sothing I don’t know.
That’s not like him. What’s gotten into him today?
When you get to work later… actually no. Taeyoon-ah, you should co in early today. Can you?
“Should I co now?”
I’d appreciate that. Once the store opens, it’ll be hard to get in. Anyway, just grab a taxi now. I’ll cover the fare.
“Taxis are a waste of money…”
No backtalk!
“Okay.”
Actually, I’ll send a taxi to your house. I know you’ll refuse to take one otherwise. Just wait and get in when it arrives. Got it?
Exactly 20 minutes later.
A sleek black deluxe taxi stopped in front of our villa.
It was the taxi Manager-hyung sent.
“I’ll take you to Ilsan. Please fasten your seatbelt.”
For the first ti in my life, I sat in the backseat of a deluxe taxi and pulled out my smartphone.
Why do I have so many ssages?
Half of them were from Han Yujin.
Yeah, she does talk a lot.
I casually checked the ssages.
[Han Yujin Singer: Writer Seo.]
[Han Yujin Singer: Writer Seo????? Answer .]
[Han Yujin Singer: Writer Seo. Seo Taeyoon. Hey. Hello?]
What is this? How many tis is she calling ?
[Han Yujin Singer: You saw this, right?]
Why is everyone asking if I’ve seen sothing?
I casually opened the link.
It better not be sothing dumb.
But then…
“Waaaah!”
“You okay, student?”
“Oh, I-I’m sorry.”
[Club Sierra DJing: DJ BLACKHOLE]
Seeing my face plastered huge on the YouTube thumbnail startled so much I couldn’t help but scream.
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