On a golden weekend, Kang Beom-jun realized he had received a call from some unpredictable person.
He sighed deeply.
It seemed like he had some terrible bad karma with this guy from a past life.
With that thought, Kang Beom-jun answered the call.
“Yes. What is it?”
“President, I’ll be using the company studio.”
“Oh, is that it? I already told you to use it whenever you want. I even gave you a key.”
“But I still need your permission, President. You announced last week that working on weekends is prohibited.”
Until recently, RT Entertainment employees had to work weekends almost as a rule due to the small number of staff.
But now that they’re adding more people, things are finally settling down, so there’s no need to push themselves so hard.
However, Ryu Won didn’t have that luxury.
“I’ll only need it until tomorrow morning. I have to finish composing a song.”
Kang Beom-jun tilted his head in confusion.
It was filled with contradictions.
Until tomorrow morning? (Tomorrow is Monday, and Ryu Won is a middle schooler—what about school?)
“I need to finish a song quickly?” (It’s only been a month since Baek Ye-rin’s album was released. Why the rush?)
Kang Beom-jun couldn’t understand, so he couldn’t help but ask the reason.
“Explain it to me slowly. I’ll help as much as I can.”
“Wow… I’m touched this time.”
“Consider it payback for MusicSave. So what’s going on?”
“You said that day that a new dream was sparked inside me, right?”
“Yes, I remember. You said you wanted to see Ye-rin perform on bigger stages.”
“Yes, but I think we need to move that up. Regardless of the location, I want it done within two weeks, if possible.”
“Two, two weeks?! Suddenly?”
“It’s… actually…”
Kang Beom-jun quietly listened as Ryu Won continued.
As he listened to the boy’s story, he found himself unconsciously smiling wryly.
“Damn… When you put it that way, it’s hard to refuse, isn’t it?”
After finishing his call with Kang Beom-jun, Ryu Won entered the studio.
He pulled a small notebook out of his pocket.
His gaze stopped at the neatly written words on the page.
This wasn’t his handwriting; it was Baek Ye-rin’s.
Yesterday, Baek Ye-rin had shed tears while honestly expressing her sorrow.
Ryu Won already knew how much she loved her mother.
But since he wasn’t directly involved, he could only grasp the surface until now.
That’s why he made this request of her.
Write your heart out in this notebook.
Pen down the words you want to convey to the person most precious to you right now.
And the moment he rechecked the note… no, the lyrics written in it, he realized.
This was a “letter.”
A letter written by Baek Ye-rin to the person she loved the most.
“I’m planning to make a song out of this letter.”
“It’s going to be quite a sad song, I think.”
Because of that, it may turn into a straightforward title and lyrics.
But that wasn’t what he was worried about.
There was just one thing…
What truly concerned him was that the person singing this song would be Baek Ye-rin.
Monday.
RT Entertainment was holding a rare morning regular meeting.
Even this meeting was last-minute changed by Kang Beom-jun on Sunday.
As soon as the meeting began, Kang Beom-jun made a suggestion.
“A concert, you say?”
“Yes. The timing is a little tight, but I believe it will be fine.”
The world was buzzing with talk of Baek Ye-rin.
In simpler terms, it was the perfect timing for marketing.
The problem was…
“Two, two weeks?! Isn’t that a bit tight?”
“President Kang, all of us here would unanimously agree to the concert. But isn’t two weeks too rushed?”
“You’re right. From renting the venue to outsourcing, it will definitely be challenging.”
A concert requires a multitude of specialists.
Just as a movie has a director, a concert has a director who handles the overall production, starting with the stage and sound, to video, broadcasting, special effects, safety, and even a power truck team who all work together to create a masterpiece called a “concert.”
Due to the complexity, most performance planning is outsourced to specialized companies.
Yet even with outsourcing, two weeks would definitely push things to the edge.
Kang Beom-jun, of course, couldn’t be unaware of this fact.
Therefore, to justify the timeline, he had no choice but to bring up the topic of Baek Ye-rin’s mother, along with a certain plan shared by Ryu Won.
“…”
After Kang Beom-jun finished speaking, the atmosphere in the conference room turned solemn.
In this solemn air, O Do-hwa, the director of the Creative Department, scratched his head and spoke.
“Feels like I’ve turned into a bad guy after trying to persuade you just now. In that sense, I fully support Ryu Won’s suggestion. This guy… he’s romantic.”
“I agree. And I’m sure it’s not just me and Director O, but everyone here feels the same.”
“Yes. We’ve grown too attached to those kids over the last few months.”
Kang Beom-jun smiled faintly as he listened to the directors’ decisions.
He thought to himself, “I sure did pick a great team.”
“But if we follow Ryu Won’s plan, won’t we need the song completed within the remaining time? Since it’s not one of the previously created songs but a completely new one, it will take some time…”
Upon hearing that, Kang Beom-jun couldn’t help but grin wryly.
Come on, that guy is no ordinary composer.
And the most crucial part here is that this involves Baek Ye-rin.
‘Surely he’ll put his all into it more than anyone else.’
So, all we have to do is wait.
And look forward to what amazing masterpiece he’ll present this time.
Monday afternoon.
Seated on the chair in RT Entertainment’s studio, Baek Ye-rin blankly stared at Ryu Won as he manipulated the computer.
A couple of days ago, when she had poured her heart out honestly, he had told her this:
Let’s turn my feelings and what I want to convey to mom into a song.
And let’s perform it on the big stage of a concert.
“Then, why don’t you write the lyrics yourself?”
“What, what for?”
“Naturally, the lyrics. If I did everything, it wouldn’t have much meaning, right? I’ll help as much as I can from the sidelines, but take your time and write freely.”
It was all so sudden that at first, she couldn’t write a single word.
But with the topic being what it was, plus Ryu Won’s assistance…
Baek Ye-rin managed to complete the lyrics in just two hours.
And…
“I’ll do my best to ensure you can hear it on Monday.”
Ryu Won kept this promise.
He completed the song by the weekend.
“Want to listen?”
At that moment, Ryu Won carefully asked Baek Ye-rin.
She immediately nodded her head.
“Yeah. I definitely want to hear it.”
From Baek Ye-rin’s perspective, there was no way to refuse and no reason to refuse.
She knew what Ryu Won had been working hard on over the weekend.
It was solely for her and her mom.
Out of respect for his dedication alone, she had to listen.
No, she wanted to hear it.
Since she started singing, Ryu Won’s songs were always by her side.
“Honestly, when I first heard them, they were so good that I was shocked every time.”
Ryu Won’s songs are very charming. Sometimes dazzling, sometimes elegant, and at other times, they warm the heart…
Yes, if his songs were colors, they would be white—a color that could be anything.
That’s why expectations were high.
Even if the song he was about to play was tragic.
Ryu Won, seeing Baek Ye-rin nod, smiled wryly for some reason and then played the song by operating the mouse.
As the melody of the song began to flow from the speaker, Baek Ye-rin’s eyes widened as she seemed to realize something.
Now she understood why he had smiled wryly before playing the song.
Until now, his songs had always fit her like a perfectly tailored dress, making it easy to sing. But this song…
It was completely the opposite.
“What is this… why does the atmosphere feel so gloomy?”
Walking into the studio where Baek Ye-rin and Ryu Won were, Kang Beom-jun tilted his head in confusion upon seeing their somewhat melancholic expressions.
“Could it be because of the song?”
“I guess you could say that…”
Ryu Won’s affirmation sparked Kang Beom-jun’s curiosity.
What kind of song had he created to elicit this reaction?
“This is good timing. President, please listen too.”
After saying that, Ryu Won began playing the song again.
And shortly after…
Kang Beom-jun’s eyes watered slightly, and if you listened carefully, his nose was sniffling.
It was definitely a Ryu Won song. Perhaps it was even the best in terms of stirring emotions.
If Baek Ye-rin were to perform this song live at a concert…
“This is big.”
Kang Beom-jun was already so excited that he wanted to see the scene unfold quickly.
However, he wouldn’t be seeing it from the audience’s perspective.
Originally, Ryu Won hadn’t planned to share this song with anyone until the concert day.
But as he composed it, an idea naturally came to him—specifically, an idea for someone to play an instrument live on stage.
“Are you asking me to play along?”
“Yes. There’s an acoustic guitar part in the first and last sections of the song. I thought it’d be great if President Kang could handle that part.”
The atmosphere of the concert would brighten instantly with Kang Beom-jun on stage as a special guest.
And throwing this song into that atmosphere would create a huge surprise for the audience.
“Anyway, you’re considered one of the legends of folk songs in Korea, right?”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“There’s no way your guitar skills have rusted after taking a break.”
Everything Ryu Won said made perfect sense.
But as Kang Beom-jun continued listening, one question came to mind.
“Since my role is a supporting one, of course, it’s fine for me to step on stage. But… surely not for free? I’m pretty expensive, you know.”
“…”
“Kidding.”
Ryu Won thought to himself.
Was he really kidding?
