CHAPTER 33
The MC seemed to lose his words for a moment. He glanced down at his cue cards, as if wondering whether the key points had been changed without him knowing.
Realizing that Lee Ha-in had gone off-script, he quickly tried to smooth things over.
“Ah, I see~ So you’re saying that by facing your wounds, you were able to find comfort in the process?”
It seemed the viral marketing keyword VTunes wanted was “comfort.” The way he tried so hard to force it in made that obvious.
I saw the manager waving his hand subtly from the side, signaling Lee Ha-in to adjust her answer.
But Lee Ha-in simply smiled.
“No. Rather than that… this song felt like it was digging up wounds I had been pretending not to see. You could call it comfort, but at first, it felt like a painful song.”
The air grew cold again. I could feel Min Chan-hyuk clenching his teeth beside me.
The MC barely managed to fix his broken smile and continued.
“I—I see. Then what message did you want to deliver to your fans through this song?”
He hurried to the next question, clearly flustered.
“If I had to call it a message, it would be this: ‘You don’t have to pretend you’re okay.’ That kind of permission. Even if we’re cracked, we can still move forward.”
As she spoke directly into the camera, I felt chills run down my spine.
My heart pounded loudly.
‘That’s exactly it.’
The message I wanted to express when I composed this song was perfectly reflected in her words.
The day I brought Nuri home, I had no choice but to face Moon Ah-rin, someone I had wanted to avoid.
I struggled not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Yet every time I saw Moon Ah-rin’s face, something in my chest still ached.
—If we stick together, it’ll be easier to adjust. I’ll take good care of you.
I knew too well the blade hidden inside that sweet offer.
I could now clearly see the shadow of Moon Ah-rin that I hadn’t noticed before. The clearer it became, the more painful it was to watch our old memories fall apart.
Even if it ended horribly, the time we spent together as children had once been precious to me.
Looking back, that had only been my own misunderstanding.
Realizing that so painfully felt exactly like what Lee Ha-in described. Like pouring salt into an open wound.
‘You’ve never even met me, yet you understood the birth of this song so accurately.’
Even though I knew Min Chan-hyuk was panicking beside me, the corners of my lips slowly lifted.
Just meeting someone who understood my song this precisely felt like incredible luck.
I liked this far more than the well-adjusted model answer.
“Damn it. What is Lee Ha-in doing all of a sudden? And you’re smiling? Is this funny to you?”
Min Chan-hyuk whined at me with a troubled expression.
Meanwhile, the MC and Lee Ha-in moved on to other questions. As if her brief deviation had never happened, she smoothly returned to the prepared answers.
Just when the MC had regained his smile, the topic returned to the song.
“Lee Ha-in, you worked with Producer Min Chan-hyuk again this time. You two have collaborated several times already, right? Is there a reason you chose to work together again?”
At the specific mention, I could feel Min Chan-hyuk perk up.
Lee Ha-in tilted her head slightly as if thinking, then gave a faint smile.
“First of all, he’s incredibly skilled. I feel comfortable working with him. When I tell him what I want, he helps shape it into something easier to listen to.”
Min Chan-hyuk’s shoulders lifted proudly.
“Of course! You can always trust Producer Min.”
Before asking the next question, the MC’s eyes sparkled mischievously.
“And I heard that this song was composed by a rookie composer?”
I instinctively pulled my mask up higher.
“It was even their debut song. Wow. To start your career with Lee Ha-in’s comeback title track—what a lucky person.”
Lee Ha-in shook her head with a smile.
“No. I was the lucky one.”
Her tone carried subtle emphasis.
“At first, I was a little worried because it was a rookie composer. But the moment I heard the demo, all my worries disappeared. I immediately thought, ‘I have to sing this song.’”
“Wow, you fell for it right away.”
“Yes. Completely.”
Looking straight at the camera, she continued,
“I haven’t even seen the composer’s face yet. They’re very mysterious. But someday, I’d really like to thank them properly in person.”
Her voice was cautious but steady. For a moment, I forgot to breathe.
“Oh? You’ve never met?”
“No. Not even once.”
“Wow. A rookie composer and also a faceless, mysterious one. That’s quite unique.”
In an industry where you have to make your presence known to survive, someone like that must indeed be rare.
“Right? That’s why I’m even more curious. While singing this song, I was able to take out the feelings I had buried and rewrite them in my own words. I’m so grateful for the opportunity that was given to me. So even through this interview, I wanted to say that I hope we can meet someday.”
As she spoke, she seemed like someone with firm resolve.
Even though she mentioned me unexpectedly, I didn’t feel uncomfortable. It was because I believed she was sincerely speaking from her heart.
“Wow, you really left a strong impression.”
Min Chan-hyuk whispered in my ear.
At that moment—
It seemed Lee Ha-in tried to look toward Min Chan-hyuk, the only connection she had to Composer YULE. Instead, her gaze shifted and landed on me standing beside him.
For a brief second, my eyes—hidden beneath my cap—and her eyes, reflecting the studio lights, met.
In that moment, I felt as though I had stepped out from being a faceless composer and stood directly in front of her.
“Cut!”
The slate clapped, and the lights dimmed.
“We’ll take a short break~!”
“Are the camera batteries okay?”
“This way, please!”
Like waking from a dream, reality rushed back in.
Lee Ha-in was already heading to the waiting room for touch-ups.
“Ahem. So? How was watching the interview?”
Min Chan-hyuk cleared his throat and spoke casually.
I stared at him and said bluntly,
“You could have just asked for permission.”
“Huh? Permission for what?”
“Rookie. Faceless composer. Mysterious. Those are all keywords for viral marketing, right?”
He fell silent for a moment, then slightly raised the corner of his mouth.
“Caught me. How did you know?”
“It was suspicious from the moment you dragged me here.”
If he had asked directly, I might have refused, uncomfortable with attention. So he chose this subtle approach instead.
In the end, Min Chan-hyuk raised both hands.
“I surrender. I can’t fool you. So, will you allow it?”
“I have to.”
“Really?!”
“Yes. I’ve bet quite a lot on this song too.”
I lightly touched my ear. Of course, he had no idea what that meant.
“Good! Let’s do this!”
He grinned, visibly relieved.
I glanced at him and smiled faintly.
After all, if we wanted to push this song as high as possible, we had to be on the same boat.
If we wanted to break through LAMIA’s fortress, we had to struggle with everything we had.
***
After finishing a meeting and getting into the car, the secretary silently began driving.
In that short time, Jung Do-hyun’s phone kept vibrating nonstop.
Reports from multiple departments, approval documents, and major issues from overseas branches.
He was living through extremely busy days.
Just as the secretary was about to lower the radio volume, a song began playing.
♪♩♬♩…
The sound faded quickly, but Jung Do-hyun’s eyebrow had already twitched.
The secretary swallowed nervously. In that tense moment, he worried he might lose his job over a mistake.
“…That song just now.”
Jung Do-hyun asked in a low voice.
“What was the title?”
“The—the song just now? It’s Lee Ha-in’s new song.”
“The composer?”
“Pardon? One moment, please.”
As the car briefly stopped, the secretary quickly checked the song information.
“It says YULE.”
“YULE
“Yes.”
“I’ve never heard that name before…”
Jung Do-hyun muttered quietly.
It felt like he was hearing real music for the first time in a while.
And yet, for some reason, he couldn’t shake the strange feeling that it was familiar.
