Chapter 57: When Your Favorite Song Plays

The video began.

Slow, deliberate movements.

Was it a suddenly started shoot?

For a moment, the members looked a little flustered.

‘By the book.’

A video starting with awkward acting to set up a twist.

There were countless videos like that.

And the awkward skills they showed after the ‘awkward acting’ were even harder to watch.

So predictable it made you tired of it.

If this was their strategy, I was ready to be disappointed.

‘In this day and age, such a sloppy scenario?’

I was watching the video with a sharp expression…

But wait.

‘…It wasn’t acting?’

They quickly found their footing.

The awkwardness vanished.

An extraordinary aura spilled out, piercing through the screen.

PD Chun Hanyeong gulped.

‘Whoa.’

Even though they wore masks, he could feel it.

The way they held their instruments, the poses conscious of the camera, the gestures checking on other members.

This was by no means the work of amateurs.

If this was acting, they shouldn’t be in a band—they should be shooting a movie right now.

The fluster was only momentary.

[Alright, okay, ready?]

A fleeting voice in the video—it was Taeyoon.

He popped into view in front of the camera.

Wearing a cute rabbit mask.

Then, after fiddling with the camera this way and that, he dashed off.

‘Why am I getting excited?’

He was different from the Taeyoon now, who could barely relax.

Relaxed, confident.

[Then, shall we begin?]

Chun Hanyeong glanced sideways at Taeyoon.

Like a creator admiring his masterpiece, he looked down at the small screen with sharp, keen eyes.

PD Chun Hanyeong knew instantly.

The one who designed this video, and the star of this video, was that young man.

And perhaps… he was witnessing the beginning of an incredible band.

He watched the video with his arms crossed.

[The kids who escaped us—music, start!]

With a voice both weighty and playful, he gave the signal.

The drummer lifted his sticks high with force.

[One, two! One, two, three, four!]

The drummer’s stick count-in rang out, signaling the start of the performance.

A practiced, seasoned count-in (counting beats before starting a song to match timing).

‘…Why am I like this?’

He uncrossed his arms and straightened his posture.

The performance hadn’t even properly begun yet.

Under the table, Chun Hanyeong’s palm tapped his thigh subtly.

Focused on the video, Chun Hanyeong muttered without realizing.

“It’s almost… like Cheongseong has come back.”

I definitely heard it.

The voice was muffled under the sound of the drums.

But the word “Cheongseong” from the PD’s lips—I heard it clearly.

Even so, I couldn’t show any reaction.

The look in the PD’s eyes as he watched the video was just… too pure, like that of a child.

His worn-out sneakers tapped the rhythm slowly.

The stiff neck I’d noticed earlier now moved with a soft bob.

His palm was definitely keeping the beat too.

Right? Of course.

There’s no such thing as a bad bass enthusiast.

“Whoa…”

Had the plan worked?

“Oh-ho?”

The sigh that sounded like a breath of awe slowly shifted toward admiration.

“That’s it!”

In the end, he couldn’t hold back his excitement.

When my DJing began, he uncrossed his arms and leaned forward.

As if he might get sucked right into the monitor.

He didn’t show it outright, but I saw it.

That he sang along to every song.

It’s the same for everyone.

When your favorite song plays, you can’t stop your lips from moving on their own, or your heart from racing on its own.

That’s the power music has.

Even if the genders are different, even if the ages are different.

Even if the memories and emotions you carry are different.

It has the power to make you pause on a certain page of your past that suddenly comes to mind.

It was strange.

That man who had seemed a bit scary, stubborn, power-yielding, and headstrong… I couldn’t bring myself to dislike him.

That pure look of his moved me.

Even if he suddenly switched his stance and said, “Yeah, but you can’t be on our program, I can’t change it, go back,” it wouldn’t have mattered.

I mean it. At least in that moment, it felt like I’d met our true first fan who genuinely liked us.

PD Chun Hanyeong was more sincere about music than I had expected.

“Wow, so you rearranged it here. Normally, in this part, the bass plays the root note, but changing the bass line gives it depth.”

He murmured in awe without realizing it.

“Man… when the drum break gets fancier, it becomes trendier.”

He flicked his fingers roughly, sending a sign of agreement.

“This is it!”

Finger flicking? If it comes to that, game over.

This wasn’t just simple excitement.

It was a reaction only someone who knows music, who’s one hundred percent in sync, could have.

I glanced at CEO Kim Minsoo.

He looked dumbfounded.

With his eyes, he said to me:

‘Didn’t expect it to be this much…’

I winked back in reply.

‘I expected exactly this.’

I even felt a little regret.

A music program directed by someone like him would be truly amazing.

He’d bring our performance up to 200%.

Eventually, the video ended.

PD Chun Hanyeong jumped up from his seat and went on talking for a while.

Chatter, chatter.

He really did look excited.

What parts of the song were good and how.

Which Cheongseong songs he liked.

What points in the arrangement he found lacking.

“Ah, I don’t mean the song is lacking, just that…”

He’d been talking so excitedly, but then, worried I might misunderstand, he tried his best to explain.

I liked seeing people like this.

People fully immersed in music, sharing opinions freely without watching their words.

“Please don’t misunderstand.”

I don’t misunderstand.

Why’s he rambling like that?

I smiled slightly and said,

“People who play bass are like that. They want the bass to stand out more, and they want more listeners to recognize how great the bass is. Well… it’s impossible though.”

“Uh-huh!”

PD Chun Hanyeong suddenly grabbed the hand I had on the table.

Then, startled at himself, he let go and took a moment to calm down.

But our CEO—

“Then, now…”

It looked like he was about to move straight to the main point.

I nudged his side.

“Hmm?”

“Shh, just a moment.”

At times like this, the proper etiquette is to wait!

I know that feeling well.

You can’t show it for the sake of your pride, but you still want to linger in that feeling a little longer.

The PD met my eyes.

In them, there was still that excited child.

He asked me,

“Why Cheongseong?”

Ah, that was an unexpected question.

It wasn’t an easy one to answer.

Just because I liked them? That’s too ordinary.

Because Cheongseong’s music was my dream? That’s too much. I’m still in my early twenties.

I thought for a moment about what to say.

Then I made up my mind.

Instead of attaching meaningless flowery phrases to make a plausible answer, I decided to amplify PD Chun Hanyeong’s curiosity even more.

“Because it had to be Cheongseong?”

When curiosity grows, the truth eventually comes out.

Being curious means your heart has already tilted completely.

I was a little curious how PD Chun Hanyeong would reveal his true feelings.

“So, why?”

It wasn’t sarcasm.

It was pure curiosity.

And, at the same time, a question about my musical values.

From here on was the real start.

I was here as the representative of ‘The Kids Who Escaped Us.’

I couldn’t ruin everything with a sloppy answer.

“Because Cheongseong represented the times, and represented youth.”

“You want to be that kind of band?”

That question could be interpreted in two ways.

Optimistically: ‘I’ll look forward to it.’

Pessimistically: ‘How dare you think you can be like Cheongseong.’

In my opinion… both?

This meeting was no longer about whether ‘The Kids Who Escaped Us’ would appear on Music Stage or not.

It was perhaps a meeting to persuade someone who might become our first fan… or our first obstacle… about our music and our potential.

Unexpected variables like this could happen anytime from now on.

So, a kind of rehearsal?

That’s how I decided to see it, and I answered calmly.

“Cheongseong’s music is a story. When everything felt stifling and you didn’t know where to go, it wasn’t just about simple comfort or sympathy—Cheongseong told stories you could laugh and cry along with.”

“That… was Cheongseong’s true strength.”

Oh, it seemed we thought alike.

At times like this, you have to push forward without holding back.

“And now, ‘The Kids Who Escaped Us’ want to do that. We may not be able to change a listener’s life, but at least for a fleeting moment, we want to make music you can laugh and cry to together. Music that, instead of clumsy comfort, will quietly walk alongside you. We want to be a band that makes that kind of music…”

…was what I was about to say, but it felt a little too textbook.

I wasn’t being fake, but somehow it didn’t feel entirely honest either.

“That’s the textbook answer. But this is the thing I really wanted to say.”

I put on a deliberately light smirk over a calm face.

“Cheongseong—aren’t they fucking cool? We’re going to be a fucking cool band like that too.”

At my last words, PD Chun Hanyeong snapped his head up.

Mouth wide open.

Like someone lost in a whirlpool of emotion, only to have a bucket of cold water thrown over them to bring them back to their senses.

Didn’t matter.

Too much seriousness? That backfires.

The moment immersion breaks, you’re brought right back to reality.

I didn’t want the gap between imagination and reality to get too wide.

Besides, this was truly what I wanted to say.

“Fuc… king? Ha ha.”

PD Chun Hanyeong chuckled with a strange, awkward laugh.

He said it would be just five minutes.

It had already been fifty. That was enough.

I gathered my things and stood, adding,

“You see, we were just suddenly cut without anyone even checking what kind of music we make, what kind of band we are… I guess it made me a bit stubborn. If I was rude, I apologize. And I’m sorry for taking up your time.”

To PD Chun Hanyeong, I spoke my true feelings.

Polite, but with weight.

“If, after hearing our band’s style, you still feel the same way, then I’ll accept it. I just want our first stage to be with people who can recognize our music.”

PD Chun Hanyeong stared at the spot where Taeyoon had been, like a man possessed.

‘Strange. Why do I see Cheongseong?’

As if Cheongseong had truly returned.

They were an overwhelming band.

There had been plenty of bands who covered Cheongseong over the years.

Professional, amateur—it didn’t matter.

So-called “band idols” also treated covering Cheongseong songs on year-end stages or YouTube channels as practically a tradition.

‘Different. Very different.’

But The Kids Who Escaped Us were different.

When watching the video, he honestly couldn’t tell if he was watching Cheongseong’s actual performance or a cover.

However—

‘If a band has a young man like that in it…’

Talking with Taeyoon, he gradually realized.

A band far more refined than Cheongseong… such a band could appear.

Chun Hanyeong’s fingers slowly tapped the table.

This band’s debut stage—it had to be on Music Stage.

Firsts are always important.

He couldn’t let them slip away.

Not only would they become a hot topic, but he wanted to personally craft this perfect band’s first stage.

‘Bands could become mainstream culture.’

Fake bands, begone—the real thing has arrived.

That was his honest feeling.

Even on a small laptop screen, it was vivid.

Vocals, instruments, DJing—

Every part was at a flawless, high level.

Not a band that followed trends, but a band that would lead the times.

“Just like Cheongseong did.”

With resolve, he sprang to his feet.

Step, step.

He opened the door and strode firmly toward the elevator.

There was no reason to hesitate.

He reminded himself why he became a PD in the first place.

“Hoo…”

Letting out a sigh that sounded like a vow, he came to a halt before a certain door.

It was a dilemma he’d never faced before.

Once he opened that door, he would be making the most difficult decision of his career.

Knock, knock.

He rapped on the door firmly.

“Yes, come in.”

A flat voice responded.

That door belonged to none other than the Director’s office.

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