When the school trip ended, the overall atmosphere at Seolwon Arts High cooled down. All the first-semester events were finally over. The only things left were report cards and the closing ceremony. The students were anxious about grades but excited for vacation.
But not everyone felt that way.
There were students who didn't welcome vacation—and Han Goyo was exactly one of those students. No—rather than simply disliking vacation, she was wishing vacation wouldn't come at all.
A very rare thing for Han Goyo: she was hoping for something.
"Are you listening?"
"Yes."
The head of the Contemporary Music Department spoke to her.
Goyo stopped thinking and looked at him. He was explaining the Contemporary Music Concert.
"Top-ranking freshmen are allowed to perform the opening stage of the seniors' graduation concert. Of course, it's not mandatory—you can decline if you want. In fact, Kang Seonghun refused, so Jin Sohyang took his place."
"I see."
Goyo's expression didn't change. As if she didn't care either way.
The head let out a sigh.
"Of course, preparing from now will be tiring, but the rewards are big. You get extra points, stage experience…"
Goyo let his words in one ear and out the other. She was always like this—she never really focused on other people's words. Still, the head patiently continued.
"If you do it, you'll work with me. But it's not forced—if there's someone else you want to work with, you may work with them instead."
At that moment, someone popped into Goyo's mind. The male student she'd been spending time with lately. Could she possibly work with him?
But that thought was cut off by the head's next words.
"And the work will be done in the school practice rooms and studio. I know you may not want to come to school during vacation, but—"
"I'll do it."
Goyo interrupted him.
The head looked shocked. He never expected Han Goyo to cut him off.
"Really?"
"Yes, I'll do it."
She nodded once more.
Thrilled, the head began talking excitedly. Seonghun had refused and it put him in a bind—so Goyo accepting was a huge relief.
After the explanation, Goyo left his office. She was heading back to class, but suddenly stopped and stared out the window.
It was raining outside. A heavy downpour, signaling the start of the monsoon. The sound of rain made her feel slightly at ease.
There was almost nothing Han Goyo liked. But there was one rare thing she did like—the sound of rain, the sound of water. More accurately, she liked water itself. A place where everything goes silent. Underwater, no sound can reach you.
"…Good."
Listening to the rainfall, she whispered.
She wouldn't have to stay home during vacation. That alone felt like a relief.
Though… something still felt lacking. As she thought that, she blinked.
Why did she think it was lacking? Why did she feel disappointed? She tried to figure it out, but couldn't.
She looked into the window. For once, her reflection looked a little confused. She glanced away.
…For some reason, she wanted chocolate milk.
§ §
The miserable monsoon had begun.
Hajun hated rainy days. He let out a small sigh. It wasn't for any big reason. He just hated the smell that came from indoors on rainy days. The classroom smelled damp and disgusting. That muggy smell reminded him of the house he'd lived in during his previous life, and it pissed him off.
"Vacation's soon. What're you gonna do?"
"Thinking of getting a part-time job."
He answered Taeyoung while staring out the window. The rain was pouring hard.
There was a lot to prepare once break started. The most important thing was Suyeon's stage. The festival. He planned to put Suyeon on that stage.
To make that happen, there was a lot to prepare. First was composing, obviously. The songs he already made weren't enough to fully bring out Suyeon's strengths. He would have to write a song from scratch. On top of that, stage production and everything else… Even if there were three months left, there was no time to slack.
"What about you?"
"Don't know. Thought about going on vacation, but… I feel like I shouldn't?"
"A feeling?"
"Like… a hunch. I've got good intuition."
"Right."
No sense of tact, yet claims to have good intuition. Weird guy. If only that intuition included reading the room.
Hajun snorted quietly.
"You're going to Haul Studio today, right?"
"Of course."
Won Seongmin had specifically asked him to come after the trip. Plus, Hajun had to show him Taeyoung's performance video.
"Oh, what about the Contemporary Music Concert?"
"I'm going with my sister."
"Oh, your sister? She's applying to our school?"
Hajun nodded. Taeyoung nodded too.
"With her skills, she should. So I'll get to see her then? I'm looking forward to it."
Hajun frowned slightly. What the hell?
"Why are you looking forward to that?"
"She sings well."
"Hm."
Better not let this guy get ideas about Suyeon. Sure, she was cute, but know your place.
"If you try anything, I'll kill you."
"What the hell, psycho. I like older girls."
While chatting, class ended before they noticed. Instead of heading to the practice room, they went to Haul Studio.
"Welcome."
Won Seongmin greeted them.
After a quick conversation, they played the recording of Taeyoung's Class Battle stage. While watching, Seongmin said with interest, "He sings with such energy."
"Tsk… Did I really do that?"
Meanwhile, Taeyoung muttered, staring at himself air-guitaring in the video.
"You didn't plan that?"
"No. I just felt like, 'I wanna do this here!' and did it. So I don't really remember what I did on stage. Seeing it's kinda weird."
So it was instinctual stage sense? As expected—he had good instincts.
The three-minute video ended. But Seongmin said nothing. He just stared at them, thinking deeply. Hajun and Taeyoung blinked.
After a while, Seongmin finally spoke.
"Seolwon's going on break soon, right?"
"Yes."
"Then… do you have plans during vacation?"
"I don't, really."
"Hajun?"
"I have some things to work on."
"Hmm."
Seongmin looked a bit disappointed. He took a sip of water, then continued.
"If it's okay… would you like to work with me over vacation?"
"…Huh?"
"I'm in a band, you know. We're starting a small project. We'll work with unknown guest vocalists and help get their names out there."
"Ah."
"I was hoping Taeyoung could be one of the guest vocalists. And I want to compose with you, Hajun. As you know, it's tough to make songs alone."
"Uh… we're still students."
"That's fine. Most of the guest vocalists are amateurs."
Did Blue Aka ever do something like that? Hajun couldn't remember. But if this was real, it was a huge opportunity. Blue Aka wasn't super famous in Korea, but they had a solid fanbase. And overseas, they were recognized for experimental work and high-quality albums.
To work with them…
Taeyoung thought briefly, then said, "I'll do it."
Then he looked at Hajun. What about you?
"When would this start?"
"We're planning to make one song a month as a long-term project. Hajun can join anytime. But Taeyoung has no time once break ends, so it'd be better for him to do it during vacation."
"Then I'll join later."
The festival was top priority right now. But Hajun didn't want to lose this chance either. Since it was long-term, joining later was fine.
Seongmin nodded.
"The goal is to work with twelve people, then rent a hall and hold a concert at the end of next year."
"Sounds fun."
It would be a small concert, but opportunities like that didn't come often. And Blue Aka had loyal fans—no need to worry about filling seats.
"Then, should we start practicing today?"
Seongmin asked Taeyoung.
Taeyoung nodded.
Working with Blue Aka and Taeyoung—this never happened in Hajun's previous life. This would be interesting. What kind of chemistry would they have?
Hajun smiled at the excited Taeyoung.
"Work hard."
"I will."
§ §
"How is it?"
Suyeon asked nervously.
Hajun frowned slightly. Suyeon swallowed. He was checking the homework he gave her. He thought for a moment, sighed—and Suyeon's face stiffened even more.
Then he smiled.
"You worked hard."
"Yeah."
She nodded.
Just from listening to the recorder, he could tell. In that short time, she filled the recorder's entire memory. And the further it went, the more skilled her singing became. As expected, Suyeon's potential was insane. She was still rough, but once polished, she'd become a monster.
"Good. If you keep going like this, you'll be fine."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"What about the lyrics?"
The song they were working on was "The Reason I Left You." A classic ballad he wrote while desperately chasing mainstream success. And Suyeon wrote lyrics to match it.
They were a bit different from what he imagined.
When he wrote the song, his image was: "I left because you were too good for me."
Suyeon's lyrics were similar at first—You're too good compared to me, so I'm leaving.
But then the content changed.
Right now, I'm leaving. But I haven't given up. I'll win you back someday.
Lyrics full of confidence. Not bad.
"It needs some refinement, but it's good."
"Really?!"
She beamed.
Hajun smiled and typed the lyrics into a memo. Honestly… she might write lyrics better than him. That kind of hurt his pride a bit.
As he typed, he explained the plan.
"First, we finish this project. Then, we immediately start a new song."
"Really?"
"Yeah. But this time, we're making the song from scratch."
"From scratch?"
"I'll build it based on what you want to say."
"So… a song just for me."
"Exactly."
He nodded casually while marking lines in the lyrics that needed fixing, and kept explaining.
"And we're going to perform that song at the festival."
"Festival?"
"The school festival in October. We're gonna get on stage with that song."
"…I'll be on that stage?"
"Yeah."
She looked hesitant. Then she glanced at him carefully and asked, "Will… that person be there?"
"That person?"
Who?
"The person who sang 'Blame.'"
"Oh, Goyo. Yeah."
Was she conscious of Goyo? Perfect. At every festival, Goyo was treated like the star. But this time, it would be different. This time, the brightest spotlight would be on Suyeon.
Sorry, Goyo—but that's how he was going to make it.
"I'll work hard."
Suyeon said, as if making a vow.
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