Damn Idol — Episode 101
Chris Edward opened his mouth in response to Yankos's question.
“A friend said he had a dream.”
Soon, the story Han Sion had requested began to flow out.
Truthfully, Chris Edward thought the story Sion had crafted was quite romantic.
It was a story that a master who had traded youth for virtuosity couldn't help but find intriguing.
It wasn't mere lip service; the result was perfect as well.
Yankos, who had been listening carefully to Chris Edward's story, opened his mouth.
“You tell a romantic lie.”
“……!”
“It's quite the story I'd want to believe. But as you know, haven't I been at music too long?”
At first, Yankos had been confused too.
He had thought Chris Edward's words might be true.
But one part bothered him.
The trumpet, precisely.
In this piece, the trumpet's place had been intentionally left empty.
It wasn't that there was no place for the trumpet.
The place existed, yet it was absent.
In other words, the composer could have inserted a trumpet line at any time but had intentionally chosen not to.
Because the musician known as Yankos Greenwood had despised the trumpet in the early days of his career.
Because his biological father, who had abandoned his mother, was a trumpet player.
Of course, as time passed and he became a professional, he had abandoned such stubbornness.
A big band without a trumpet was nonsense, after all.
But here, he could feel the creator's intent.
If this piece had truly drifted in like a reverie from a dream, as Chris Edward claimed, there would be no room for such intent.
In other words, this was a piece created with the purpose of abstracting Yankos Greenwood's youth.
‘But is that possible?’
He could deduce it rationally, but it was hard to believe emotionally.
Could there really be a composer with that level of skill?
He wasn't talking about the technical aspects.
There were many pop-jazz artists capable of the technique heard in the track just now.
What Yankos found remarkable was how on earth one could recreate the vibe of the music that had filled a musician's youth.
This meant that the composer possessed the ability to output any desired emotion into sound at will.
Another thing he couldn't understand was why a musician with such talent would do something like this.
Because he was a fan of his?
That couldn't be it.
If he were a true fan, he would have brought a completed tribute piece.
Then, was it to make fun of him?
That made no sense either.
Yankos Greenwood, whose head had been filled with such thoughts, finally opened his mouth.
“Tell me honestly. What is the situation?”
“……
First, I apologize.”
“It's fine. I'm not offended in the least.”
Chris Edward wiped away the embarrassed expression that had crossed his face for a moment.
Honestly, had he been Yankos, he might have been completely fooled, but as expected, the man was different.
‘So this is what it means to be a master.’
No matter how much of a genius Han Sion was, not everything went according to prediction.
“I'm not particularly eloquent, so may I start from the beginning? It will take quite a long time.”
“The beginning? When exactly?”
“From the moment I first learned of this piece's creator.”
“Very well.”
And so Chris Edward began to reveal his connection with Han Sion.
Strictly speaking, their connection wasn't all that deep.
He had simply discovered a Korean genius by chance, flown over, and become friendly with him.
But in the middle of telling the story, Chris Edward played the music that had moved him, and that made Yankos nod his head.
To Yankos's ears, Chris Edward's musical world was not captivating.
But it was a skill deserving of respect.
Because he was someone who believed that in music, there was only difference, not wrong.
And so the story finally reached its end.
“And so, among the tracks Sion sent, I brought the one for Yankos.”
“Did you say eight tracks?”
“Ah, excluding my track, there are seven. It seemed he made one for me because of our acquaintance.”
“Can you tell me who they are?”
“Lucid Bean, Yankos Greenwood, Moscos…….”
A hollow laugh escaped at the names flowing from Chris Edward's mouth.
It was a hard story to believe.
But he had no choice but to believe it.
“Might I listen to those tracks as well?”
“Well... I couldn't have predicted this situation, so it's difficult to decide easily.”
“Then let's do this. Play only the track made for you and Moscos's track. Moscos and I are close friends; I'd hear it soon enough anyway.”
“Understood.”
And so Yankos listened to the tracks the boy named Han Sion had made using Chris Edward and Moscos as references.
“Hmm…….”
The level was astounding.
Yankos had thought the boy a jazz-swing specialist when he captured his own youth, but hearing Chris Edward's track, he seemed an apostle of pop.
Furthermore, upon hearing Moscos's track, he seemed like a fervent acolyte of house music.
It was enough to be considered a divine mistake.
That a boy not yet twenty had reached this level through self-study.
“So? What does the boy named Sion want?”
“He wants you to create a song using this source.”
“You mean he wants a collaboration?”
“Yes.”
“And? What is the destination? I'm curious what he wants to accomplish by going this far.”
“He seems to want to escape from the clutches of a corrupt agency.”
“……
Could you say that again?”
“It seems the agency that invested in the reality show I mentioned earlier is interfering with his activities. He wants to overcome that.”
“…….”
It was the most absurd thing he had heard all day.
The reason he made this music was... what?
Because he wanted to overcome an agency's interference?
“Is the agency named Wall Street, by any chance? Or the Illuminati?”
“Of course not. It's simply a monopolistic corporation wielding dominant power in Korea.”
“If that's all, I'll take care of it. Have him come to America.”
“Ah, it seems he wants to make music with the friends he met on the show. Those friends don't have the same musical capacity as Sion.”
Then it made sense.
To those grown old, friendship and love might be faded colors, but they were also the seal most hotly branded upon the heart.
Having learned the full situation, Yankos was surprised by a thought that suddenly surfaced in his mind.
He didn't think of the boy Sion's talent, nor did he think of Chris Edward's words.
He simply thought of a guitar riff.
The bustling vegetable markets and fruit shops at dawn.
The market packed with lined-up merchants among them.
The fresh-faced young man walking down that road.
The place where he had first vowed to become a musician.
The moment he had made the daring resolution to abandon the stable life of a lawyer and leap into danger.
The exquisite guitar riff that could express that day had suddenly come to him.
“I'll do it.”
“Pardon?”
“Whatever the reason, it doesn't matter. Not after hearing this.”
Yankos asked as much.
“By the way, what is this song's name?”
“Man in the dangerous.”
“Haha.”
In the end, Yankos laughed.
It was amusing that a boy whose face he had never seen was peering into his innermost thoughts.
And so Yankos Greenwood once again left behind his peaceful retired life and leaped into dangerous music.
At that decision, Chris Edward let out a sigh of relief.
He had overcome a situation that had nearly gone awry with his eloquence.
‘If it weren't for me, this wouldn't have happened.’
So Han Sion ought to offer him something more as well.
A song, for instance.
But if there was one thing Chris Edward didn't know, it was that this had always been the case.
Whether the messenger delivering the song was Chris Edward, Han Sion, or a management employee.
The masters had always recognized the truth contained in the song.
Because they were people who had devoted their entire lives to music.
Only Chris Edward, unaware of that, felt smug.
* * *
While Chris Edward was carrying out Han Sion's request.
The Korean entertainment industry was once again in an uproar over an issue.
It was because a photo taken together by Sedalbaegil and Drop Out had been released.
-What, are they close?
-lol what? Did Han Sion pull a prank?
-The lie detector said it was the truth, so it's not a prank, right?
-Friends can sincerely criticize each other.
-You think they're friends? They're probably just a business relationship.
-Anyway, the haters should just drop dead. They should stay neutral and watch.
Thanks to that, those who had been pointing out Han Sion's rashness and arrogant attitude for days were embarrassed.
Among them, the ones whose position became most ambiguous were Drop Out's fandom.
In principle, Drop Out shouldn't have done this.
Fans are banding together to attack Han Sion, and they're sending a signal like “actually, we're friends”?
From the fans' perspective, they couldn't help but feel bad.
If they were going to do this, they should have stated their position as soon as the ruin detector was revealed.
It was a matter of the sequence being wrong before debating the right or wrong of the action.
But even so, Drop Out's fandom was surprisingly quiet.
It wasn't that there was no talk about Drop Out's attitude, but it wasn't the majority opinion.
The reason was simple.
‘You guys aren't like this!’
Whether Drop Out truly cared for fans and thought only of them was uncertain.
Idols are human too; as years pass and popularity rises, they tend to take care of their private lives.
But at the very least, Drop Out was a group that knew better than to appear that way.
They knew to be grateful for support and to act considering the fans' perspective.
It didn't seem like there would be no reason for such people's actions.
Moreover, if there was another reason, it was that Drop Out wasn't a group that engaged in cliquish networking.
They might in private, but officially, they had no group they were close to.
On variety shows they'd appeared on until now, they always showed themselves only with their own team members.
That was why Drop Out's fandom chose a momentary silence.
Until when?
[Sedalbaegil's Independence Diary Episode 1! Coming Soon!]
Until Sedalbaegil's self-produced content was released.
It wasn't only Drop Out's fandom waiting for the self-produced content.
Those who had consumed the issues related to Han Sion couldn't help but wonder what content would be in it.
Normally, idol self-produced content was something only fans watched, but this time, the atmosphere was different.
Moreover, quick-witted people sensed something meaningful in the title of the self-produced content.
-Independence Diary? Independent from what?
-Could it be Ryan?
-No way, it's gotta be Coming Up Next.
-No no, this is weird. Making self-produced content means they're going to be active, but Ryan Entertainment isn't saying anything.
-So a rookie started his own agency and went independent? Does that make sense?
-Of course not lol. Agency CEOs won't let that slide. Straight to the blacklist.
-Could it be that? Since they're not under Ryan anymore, they're promoting them like “take them.”
-Yeah, this seems the most likely.
-Then what about Drop Out? Are they Sedalbaegil's personal connections? They're appearing in content that a rookie idol with no agency planned all lovey-dovey?
-Ah lol you're right. Thinking about it that way, it's ridiculous lolol.
-Confusing, so confusing.
-Why are Drop Out smiling there anyway? Han Sion dissed them, after all. I'm damn curious.
-Could Sion be Sido's cousin or something? They share the “Si” character.
-Hmm... If that were the case, wouldn't they have put out an official statement already?
-What do you mean “if that were the case,” you idiot. Sido is a stage name. Sion is his real name.
Amid this series of events, Choe Daeho felt a sense of crisis.