Baek Ye-rin.
After successfully finishing the song she had prepared, she descended from the stage, feeling slightly flustered.
“You’re crazy!!”
“I’m serious, I cried while listening!”
First of all, her friends’ reactions were off the charts.
In fact, even though the performances hadn’t all ended, the atmosphere was already set as if she had secured first place.
“This year’s festival stage first prize winner… is student Baek Ye-rin!”
She actually received the most decisive votes and won first place.
It seemed as if overnight, she had become incredibly popular in school, leaving Baek Ye-rin with a bewildered expression.
However, what made her the most uneasy happened on her way home.
“Hi?”
“…?”
Clearly, this male student in a uniform from another middle school.
The boy suddenly stood in her path with a friendly smile.
And then…
“Do you, by any chance, want to try becoming a singer?”
He suddenly started spouting some strange words.
Unable to make any sense of it, Baek Ye-rin tilted her head in confusion, and at that moment, someone shouted and interrupted.
“Hey, hey! What are you doing just randomly jumping into things like that!”
“Ka, Kang Beom-jun?!”
Kang Beom-jun.
He is a rather famous musician, known for acoustic guitar-driven Korean folk music.
You can occasionally hear his songs while walking down the streets.
But why would someone like him be here…?
“I interjected because our representative was muttering while frying pancakes, and I couldn’t take it anymore.”
“Hmm… this sort of thing is always about making the right first impression. I was carefully thinking about what to say first.”
“Well, since the water is already spilled, how about you clean it up?”
“Clean it up with just you? Shouldn’t you help?”
Kang Beom-jun sighed deeply and approached Baek Ye-rin.
Then, while extending his business card, he slowly said,
“It’s exactly what that guy said earlier. Though it might be a bit sudden, we’d like to cast you into our agency, Ye-rin.”
“Cast… me?”
“Yes. I heard your song at the auditorium, and honestly, it was so much better than I imagined. I was truly surprised. Your voice is amazing, your rhythm is good, you seem to have an innate vocal range, but especially the way you control emotion is…”
“In short, it’s really great. Believe yourself, since this is a compliment coming from someone who’s musically exceptional.”
But then the boy interrupted Kang Beom-jun and said that.
Not just the casting proposal, but all the compliments being showered on her made it difficult for Baek Ye-rin to absorb everything.
Amidst her confusion, something unfamiliar began to blossom in her heart.
Yes. It was likely…
“But… who are you?”
Doubt.
Or curiosity.
Baek Ye-rin stared straight at the boy and asked.
Because he confidently revealed himself with the casting proposal,
and also seeing the famous Kang Beom-jun flustered,
he didn’t seem like a normal student at all.
And it was as though her intuition was spot-on.
“My name is Ryu Won. I’m the same age as you. Hmm… I think ‘composer’ would be the correct description for now.”
Ryu Won introduced himself as a ‘composer’ with a cheerful smile.
Although, this grand introduction might have been a bit significant for Ryu Won.
Different from his previous life,
this was the signal indicating the start of a new connection with her.
What’s the best place for a deep conversation between people?
Ideally, it should be an enclosed space that blocks out conversation noise, allowing mutual focus.
In that sense, Kang Beom-jun’s car was the perfect spot.
Currently, Baek Ye-rin and I were sitting side by side in the back seat of Kang Beom-jun’s car, which he was driving.
For the record, our destination was Baek Ye-rin’s home, and the casting proposal had been paused for the time being.
Of course, it would be a tall order to expect an immediate answer about the casting proposal.
Whether she gave a positive or negative response, wouldn’t it be reasonable for her to at least discuss it with her parents at home?
Anyway, I made a suggestion to utilize this short time it took to drop her off.
“Are you going to play me a song you composed?”
“Yeah. I looked at the GPS, and it looks like it’ll take roughly 10 minutes to reach the destination. It’d be awkward just to have me and the boss talk during that time, and it’d be burdensome to keep engaging you, right?”
“Isn’t the guy who randomly blocked my way and asked if I wanted to become a singer the same person claiming to know this?”
…
Faced with Baek Ye-rin’s fact-bomb, I ran out of words.
Truthfully, my showing up to her at that moment was quite impulsive.
After witnessing her performance live after a long while, I guess I got carried away?
What I know for sure is that I somehow found myself standing in front of her.
From the moment I realized that, there was no turning back, so all I could do was try to act cool.
On the other hand, the likelihood that Baek Ye-rin saw me as some crazy guy was quite high.
But then, for someone like that to suddenly act reasonable might be a bit off-putting.
Right then,
“Joke.”
When I momentarily lost my words, Baek Ye-rin’s chuckling sound came from her side.
From her reaction, it seemed she intended to tease me.
Of course, it didn’t irritate me.
Rather, hmm… it almost felt like a reward, didn’t it?
While I was contemplating this meaningful thought, Kang Beom-jun, who was driving in the front seat, spoke.
“You’re already showing off your ace moves, huh?”
“My ace moves?”
In response to Baek Ye-rin’s question, Kang Beom-jun grinned.
“You’ll understand what I mean as soon as you listen. The songs this guy composes are like that.”
Ah…
Kang Beom-jun cleverly provided supporting fire.
By the way, the reason I am offering to let Baek Ye-rin listen to my original composition is incredibly simple.
I hoped her heart might sway in our direction even a little.
…Yeah, honestly speaking,
I was just really curious about how my song sounded to her ears.
The problem was that it was also a kind of test for me.
If my song didn’t appeal to her…
‘I’d be really sad, I think.’
That was what I feared the most.
At 17, her song was the first music I ever listened to, and I discovered a dream for the first time in my life—her singing a song that I composed. I worked incredibly hard for 10 years just to fulfill that dream.
But then this thought crept into my mind.
What if she thought my song was no good?
That was terrifying…
Because, despite the late start, I never thought about meeting her properly.
Using the excuse that I wasn’t a top composer yet…
Looking back, it was truly a ridiculous mindset.
A ‘top’ artist refers to someone recognized by society for extraordinary talent and ability.
But the person whose recognition truly mattered to me wasn’t the world—it was only one person.
Baek Ye-rin.
If you, and only you, thought my songs were good,
if you, and only you, wanted to sing my songs, that would be enough.
…Stupidly.
I realized this obvious truth far too late.
Sometimes we clashed, argued, and sometimes we smiled over completed works, and I wanted to create music with you like that.
I wanted to see you shining on stage singing my songs more than anyone else.
But when you suddenly passed away, the impossibility of that made me go mad.
What could I do for my dream? What could I do for you who left this world for my dream?
Nothing.
Of course.
So I regretted it endlessly and prayed for a miracle, even though I knew it was selfish.
I wanted to return to the past.
Return to the past and…
Even though it’s frightening, this time, I wanted to play for you the dream of a composer born because of you.
Thus, I honed ‘regret’ into the form of a song.
Yes.
That was “Rewind.”
Huh…
I’ve arrived.
It’s finally here.
The moment I feared the most has come.
The sound emanating from the speakers stopped, plunging the car into an instant silence.
It meant Ryu Won had finished the song he played for the girl.
Naturally, it was “Rewind.”
Not just any version, but the one he himself recorded using his own voice.
This song represented all that Ryu Won could give and the one that was filled with his utmost sincerity.
Thus…
“…”
Now, it was the girl’s turn to respond to his sincerity.
The girl… no, Baek Ye-rin, was in deep thought.
When she asked anyone to listen to her song, it usually implied asking for an evaluation.
So Baek Ye-rin couldn’t help but think hard.
Should I…
‘Can I even evaluate the song I just heard?’
Am I even qualified?
It felt absurd.
The song the boy named Ryu Won played was immeasurably better than anything she had ever heard.
She wanted to comment positively, yet she couldn’t find the right words.
In that moment, Baek Ye-rin understood.
Why someone prominent such as Kang Beom-jun was flustered before a middle schooler.
And she realized something.
“You’re a genius!”
She grasped the incredible fact that she was standing before an extraordinary composer.
