Chapter 39

His lips were curved in a smile, but he was biting down on them rather hard.

Gowon’s eyes widened before he turned his head the other way. He must have been angry too, because the tips of his ears and his neck had turned slightly red.

***

There was no need to find an answer to the question, What should we do about that ambiguous plagiarism?

I had already told Gowon yesterday.

“What can we do? We just have to leave it alone.”

“Ah, it seriously pisses me off!”

I had claimed the sofa in the Division Five division head office and sprawled across it while looking through Boyholic’s concept photos. At the same time, I let out all the anger I had held back in front of Gowon for fear of damaging my dignity as his senior.

Aside from the jumpsuits, several details looked as though they had been forcibly tailored to match the tone of Gowon’s debut album. Which meant they really had done it deliberately.

That did not mean I was angry at those Boyholic juniors.

Because who would feel the filthiest about this situation? Gowon?

No.

“Brother.”

“Yeah.”

“They practiced themselves half to death for years and finally debuted, but their concept is either angel hip-hop or a copy of a friend whose concept succeeded first.”

Kwon Taeyoung squeezed his eyes shut as though he had bitten into an extremely sour fruit, then opened them again and answered.

“Angel hip-hop.”

“A Young Ace leader even in your next life, as expected.”

Since both hands were holding up my phone, I clapped by smacking the soles of my feet together.

I agreed with him too.

“The first is embarrassing. The second is miserable.”

They were kids who had suddenly been made to dress like someone else because the company saw Gowon’s success and pushed the concept through.

They must have endured the bleak trainee years thinking they were finally about to see the light. It was difficult even to imagine how it must feel to begin their first debut album with a concept copied from someone else.

I even felt sorry for that All by Myself guy.

“Their first-week sales aren’t particularly high, and their current chart ranking... doesn’t look natural. At this level, there’s no need to pay attention to them.”

That meant the chart ranking had been manipulated to some extent too.

“Oh dear. What a shame. Throwing away perfectly good money on something like that. I guess they don’t have a wonderful senior willing to produce for them.”

“That senior filmed a good entertainment program too.”

I lifted the legs that had been hanging limply off the sofa, used the momentum to swing myself upright, and stared at him.

“What?”

“What is it?”

“Why are you suddenly praising me?”

“Should I insult you instead?”

“That’s not what I mean....”

Something about it felt subtly different.

It was almost like when he used to feed me a piece of chocolate before making me practice even more....

“The response to you two was good. So this offer came in too.”

“What is it?”

I walked over to his desk and accepted the document he held out.

“...Music-show host?”

Me? At my age?

“This is elder abuse!”

“Don’t give me that old-man nonsense in front of your brother.”

The corner of Kwon Taeyoung’s folder tapped me on the forehead.

No, but seriously, why would I be a music-show host...?

I had hosted <Music Building> when I was seventeen. If I did it again now, wouldn’t people just say I was stealing a rookie’s seat?

The question was answered farther down the document.

A special stage commemorating the one-thousandth episode of <Music Building>, scheduled to be recorded in Singapore.

The broadcast would be divided between an indoor stage and an outdoor stage.

Hosts would be assigned to each one, and perhaps because it was the one-thousandth episode, they had worked very hard to force in as many numbers related to one thousand as possible.

For example, exactly one thousand days had passed between Young Ace’s final first-place win on <Music Building> and Gowon’s first-place win.

In any case, the combination they had selected was Gowon, the most successful recent rookie, and Young Ace, a legend who had once passed through <Music Building>. Young Ace was still popular in Southeast Asia, so they were probably hoping to benefit from that too.

“They thought I’d agree if they also secured Gowon as a host?”

“You’re a good brother.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Do it if you can.”

“Why?”

“There’s a special host stage. If you do it with Gowon, it’ll be easy to plan a performance where you dance together.”

“.......”

That detail was written near the bottom of the page, where I had not looked yet.

There would be a special host stage.

No. If it were my solo stage, it would be R&B. I want to dance onstage.

Damn it. He remembered that.

Well, fine. Since things had turned out this way, it would be good to help Gowon gain some overseas Recognition too.

“Brother, do you know why I treat Gowon so well?”

“Because you got a younger brother at twenty-six.”

“Stop spreading that rumor. ...It reminds me of how you all raised me.”

I placed the document he had given me back on the desk.

“I’ll do it.”

<A Senior Paving the Road to Glory> Part 2

Establish yourself as a K-pop singer.

Stage 2 Objective: Reach the Top 10 of the CPCE Public Reputation Index

It seemed the time had come to bring the sluggish Part 2 to an end.

Gowon and I held a meeting in my studio that very day.

“You heard we’re doing a stage, right?”

“Yes.”

Gowon

Current Status: I have to work har■.

I used the quest window to interpret his one-word answer.

Raising Gowon had taught me a great deal.

How did my brothers raise me without a window like this...? I must have been about ten times more rude than Gowon....

I would have to continue being a devoted younger brother from now on.

“Is there a song you want to do?”

“There’s one I thought would suit both you and me.”

“What is it?”

“<EGG>.”

“Ah, our song?”

It was a bold hip-hop track inspired by the proverb about throwing an egg against a rock, declaring that even if the entire body cracked, it would somehow split the rock apart.

<EGG> was packed with a rebellious mood. Young Ace had performed it in loosely worn school uniforms when the members ranged from their late teens to early twenties. School-setting dramas had also been popular at the time, creating additional synergy.

Of course, the song was indeed one of my greatest masterpieces.

“Hey, what do you think I’ll look like dancing in a school uniform with a twenty-year-old when I’m twenty-six?”

“...Like you’re still in your early twenties?”

“What kind of bullshit is that? I’ll look like a returning student who was held back for six years. Pick something else.”

Gowon muttered, “You wouldn’t...,” but did not argue further.

In truth, there was another reason I had rejected his suggestion.

Between his practicing <What a Waste> and everything else, he was showing signs of trying to follow my musical style.

I knew he was in an environment where influence was inevitable, but it was not a direction I wanted to encourage.

“Unless you have another idea, let’s look while you’re here. Classics are fine, and if we cover it well, even a girl-group song could work....”

Footsteps approached behind me after I turned on the monitor, and a large hand soon rested on the back of my chair. His tall frame blocked the light, casting a round shadow shaped like his head across the keyboard.

“Yes, Brother.”

Gowon stood close behind me and looked at the monitor. The distance between our faces could not have been more than half a handspan.

What happened to the boy who used to flinch as though he might faint whenever our eyes met up close?

It seemed I had finally managed to break down some of the wall that had once looked as high as a mountain.

It did not feel bad.

With Gowon hanging off my back, I began searching through references. A considerable number of music videos and dance practice videos passed by.

In the end, we both reacted to one song at the same time, and that was the one we chose.

“Hey, there’s something I should tell you in advance.”

“Yes?”

“My position is composing, and I’m a vocal member. My stats in both are incredible.”

“Yes.”

I appreciated that he answered calmly, as though he had no objection to that statement.

“But if I were good at dancing too with specs like these, it would be cheating.”

***

A few days later, the finished arrangement played through the practice room.

With help from a choreographer, the song had been reborn with choreography for a two-person duet.

“Show me again.”

“.......”

“Again.”

“.......”

“Could you dance a little more slowly? Half speed.”

This was rather late to admit, but—

I was Young Ace’s hopeless dancer.

As Gowon listened to a medley of “again” that was entirely different from the barrage of “again” he had once heard in the recording studio, he seemed to understand what my warning had meant.

If I had at least been one of the shorter members, they could have hidden me appropriately. Unfortunately, I was the second tallest after Kwon Taeyoung, so there was no concealing me.

In the end, every promotional preparation period required bloodcurdling coaching from my brothers....

“Ah, after seeing it about ten times, I think I roughly understand.”

I rose from where I had been sitting and danced the sixteen counts Gowon had demonstrated.

There was no music, so I matched the vocals myself too.

“That’s right, isn’t it?”

“.......”

“Was it wrong?”

After a brief silence, Gowon answered, “Ah, no.”

“The details are a little different, but I think you should do it in your own style. It suits you better.”

“Nice. I used to learn dance while my brothers criticized me, and now I’m learning from a kid who praises me like a baby.”

“.......”

Without saying anything, Gowon walked over to the phone and played the next section after the part we had been practicing.

“Tell me if you want to see it again.”

“Yes, Brother.”

Oh, he just slipped up on that move.

But I was going to stumble about ten times more than he would from now on, so I decided not to tease him about this one.