Genius Composer Who's a Dedicated Fan - Chapter 5

Baek Yerin debuted as a solo singer at the young age of 16.

So how exactly was she cast?

There’s quite a famous anecdote about this.

In fact, until a year before her debut, she had no intention of entering the entertainment industry.

But there was a decisive event that immediately caught the attention of several agencies…

‘It was her performance at the school festival.’

November.

Most middle schools hold their festivals at this time.

This is also true for Haneul Middle School, where Baek Yerin is currently attending.

The festival is held for just one day, with booths run by each class in the morning and stage events in the auditorium in the afternoon.

An interesting point here is that the afternoon stage events are ranked by audience votes after the festival ends.

Of course, there are prizes according to the rankings, with the first place reward being a gift certificate worth 500,000 won. The prizes for second and third place were also valuable enough to make middle school students’ eyes spin.

Thanks to this, everyone wanted to get on the festival stage, and Baek Yerin was one of them.

“I never thought I’d end up coming to see a middle school festival performance in person. And even in disguise at that.”

“I know. I never thought I’d end up watching a middle school festival performance with a disguised celebrity either.”

At my cheerful response, Kang Beom-joon, walking beside me, let out a sigh.

It had already been two days since I received his offer to join his agency.

At first, I pretended to hesitate a bit before eventually accepting his offer. But only on the condition that he would grant me one request.

That was to let me personally choose the singer who would perform my songs.

Of course, Kang Beom-joon readily agreed to this condition as well.

He probably had some confidence in this area, given the connections he had built through his active work in the entertainment industry.

But when he heard the name that came out of my mouth, Kang Beom-joon wore a dumbfounded expression.

From his perspective, he probably expected a famous singer with a known name.

That’s usually what aspiring composers imagine – a famous singer performing their song.

Well… I was the same in the past.

In that sense, I named someone completely opposite to that.

Someone who, like me now, wasn’t yet known to the public,

An ordinary female student attending Haneul Middle School.

Currently, Kang Beom-joon and I were visiting Haneul Middle School to see that female student’s performance with our own eyes.

“By the way, are you okay on your end?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re a middle school student too. Of course, you should be at school now, so it can’t be okay for you to be watching a festival at another school.”

“I pretended to be sick and left early, so don’t worry. I have a bit of a model student image, so this kind of thing isn’t too difficult.”

“Huh, I guess you’re pretty serious about this too.”

A bitter smile forms at Kang Beom-joon’s words.

In a way, he’s right.

‘He’s right, but…’

Honestly, how could I resist?

Today’s performance is none other than her historic unofficial first stage.

As her true fan, I absolutely cannot miss today’s performance that will later become legendary.

And.

“Honestly, you came along because you’re curious too, right CEO?”

“Well… it’s just simple curiosity. Since you’re being so insistent, I can’t help but wonder how talented this child is. In that sense, I hope your judgment isn’t wrong.”

“……”

I deliberately held back my words.

Because there was no way it could be wrong.

After all, her talent is the real deal among real deals.

Actually, there was one more reason I came to see her performance today.

I wondered if I could handle her talent now.

This question suddenly came to mind.

So I’m here today to confirm that.

─Next up is someone who bravely prepared a stage alone!

Step- Step-

With those words from the MC, a female student slowly began to walk to the center of the stage.

I took in her appearance without even blinking.

…But why?

Even though we’re so far apart, my heart started beating violently as soon as I saw her,

And without realizing it, my fists clenched tightly.

It was as if my whole body was telling me something.

Who the girl standing on stage now is.

‘Baek Yerin.’

Finally, she stood at the center of the stage and slowly raised her head to look at the audience.

Thanks to the spotlight focused solely on her in this large auditorium, I could finally see her face properly.

As if to make me feel once again that I had returned to the past, her face was a bit younger than in my memories.

Thanks to this, her already beautiful face seemed to coexist with crazy cuteness.

However, for some reason, her face was a bit stiff.

It seemed she was a bit nervous, probably because it was her first time on stage in such a public setting.

Hah… But Baek Yerin looking nervous?

‘This is new too.’

Who was Baek Yerin?

A strong-hearted person who never showed any sign of nervousness on stage.

A gumiho who captivated people’s hearts by enjoying the stage more purely than anyone else.

Seeing such a person showing nervousness on her first stage was quite stimulating(?) in many ways.

─ Hello. I’m Baek Yerin. I’ve prepared a simple song…

Before starting the stage, Baek Yerin began a brief introduction.

By the way, she planned to sing just one song and leave the stage for this performance.

Quite different from all other teams’ performances that filled at least 10 minutes.

Moreover, given the prizes for this Haneul Middle School festival stage, the competition to get on stage was quite high.

So they had interviews in advance through teachers and the student council, and for some reason, Baek Yerin was unanimously accepted.

With just a 5-minute stage, much shorter than others.

In fact, the person who was most puzzled by this fact was none other than Baek Yerin herself.

The reason she decided to participate in this festival stage was partly because of the prizes, but also due to the active encouragement of her friends.

They thought she had a good chance of ranking if she sang on stage, having heard her sing during music classes and thinking it was really good!

This encouragement from her friends led Baek Yerin to go up on that stage.

But there was one fact they overlooked…

‘The songs they heard Baek Yerin sing in music class were completely raw.’

In other words, she hadn’t practiced separately, nor had she sung with much deep thought.

From Baek Yerin’s perspective, she would have received the highest score even if she sang on the spot without any separate practice anyway.

However, this time the situation was a bit different.

To rank, she had to sing a song that would get a good response from many people and satisfy them.

This means that for the first time in her life, she properly practiced singing and even analyzed it in her own way.

So.

─ Ah. Ah.

Now it’s time to see what results will occur if Baek Yerin seriously tries.

With the microphone test, Baek Yerin glanced at the side managing the stage’s sound.

At that moment, gradually.

A gentle melody began to echo through the auditorium.

Among many genres, Baek Yerin chose ballad.

This is just my personal opinion, but I think it was an excellent choice given Baek Yerin’s circumstances where she had to prepare everything alone.

Bright and cheerful songs are good too.

Such songs would usually liven up the festival atmosphere.

But for ballads, the song alone is enough.

There’s no need to decorate the stage elaborately or show any performance.

Just simply.

Stand at the center of the stage and sing.

That’s enough for Baek Yerin now.

[The translator has omitted the song lyrics to avoid potential copyright issues.]

Baek Yerin’s tone is unique to the extent that it’s on a different level from other singers.

In short, a clear and pure tone. Moreover, it sounds so exquisite that listeners don’t have divided opinions about it.

But that is just one of her many strengths.

In my personal opinion, Baek Yerin’s greatest strength as a singer is probably ‘immersion’.

As you listen to her song quietly, your emotions stir. Her songs have a strong power that draws people in.

Just as I was drawn to her songs in my previous life.

[The translator has omitted more song lyrics to avoid potential copyright issues.]

And the people in this auditorium now must be the same.

Turning my head to the side, I saw Kang Beom-joon with his mouth wide open.

Usually, when people hear Baek Yerin’s song for the first time, they either exclaim in admiration because it’s so good, or they’re shocked.

It seems that Kang Beom-joon, who once made a living as a singer, naturally had the latter reaction.

Everyone else was the same, except for him.

Everyone was overwhelmed by Baek Yerin’s song, and no noise was heard except for her voice.

It was just quiet.

This phenomenon continued until Baek Yerin’s song ended, and it was the same when she finished her performance and came down from the stage.

In the midst of this strange phenomenon, I could only smile bitterly alone.

‘…Can’t handle it my foot.’

I thought that I could handle Baek Yerin’s talent to some extent now.

The moment I heard her song live after such a long time, I immediately realized that was my arrogant thought.

‘It seems this state won’t do.’

Even in my current state, having experienced regression, it’s not enough to walk alongside her in the future.

Nevertheless, I didn’t feel like giving up at all.

If I was going to give up so easily, I wouldn’t have started in the first place.

By the way…

“It seems we’ll have to wait a bit at the main gate.”

“Why?”

“Sigh… You shameless guy. Why are you asking for a reason when you’ve already figured it out? As the CEO of an agency, I have to do my job.”

Fortunately, it seems he’s firmly hooked too.