Chapter 191. The Trigger That Made Her Start Singing (2)

“Hello, everyone? I’m Lee HyunAh from the class of ‘06 of the composition department.”

Lee HyunAh’s crisp voice rang out through the hall and the cheers died down in an instant.
The fact that she was standing on stage for something other than singing pressured her a lot.
The students were all filled with expectation while the professors and the chancellor had the ‘Let’s see what you have to say’ attitude.

‘Fuu.’

Lee HyunAh sighed briefly to shake off her nervousness and grabbed onto the mic.

“First up, thank you for inviting me to such an honorable place when there are many other seniors in the industry that are better than me. I may be lacking somewhat, but I hope I’ll be able to spend a good time with you today.”
“Ooooh–!”

The audience replied with applause filled with an expectation of her formal greeting.
KangYoon made a satisfied smile after seeing that Lee HyunAh was no longer nervous anymore.

‘Sheesh, there’s nothing for me to worry about even though she dragged me all the way here.’

KangYoon chuckled.
It was funny when he thought about it. Lee HyunAh wasn’t someone who would get stage fright anymore after all the stage experience she has.
Although he was asked to come, he felt like a fool for tagging along all the way here.
Lee HyunAh started talking about how she had become a singer amidst the attention of many people.

“…Actually, I never thought that I would become a singer. And that doesn’t mean that I was passionate about composing either. If I had to choose something I liked, then it would be singing, I guess. I didn’t want it as a job but as a hobby. It’s funny that I think like this even though I’ve enrolled in college, right? Anyway, I’ve enrolled in the department of composition and ended up joining a small club called ‘Recovery’. Right now… should be about the 5th gen. Does anyone here belong to Recovery?’

5 people, a mix of men and women, raised their hands from one corner.
Seeing her juniors, Lee HyunAh smiled.

“Oooh, it’s nice to see some of my direct juniors. Should this sister treat you guys to something good after this?”
“Hahahaha.”

Lee HyunAh’s light joke made the mood lighter.

‘Sheesh, she’s completely made to be on stage.’

KangYoon put his hands on his chin while chuckling.
Lee HyunAh calmly continued to talk.
She talked about how she met KangYoon, the president of her current company, at the band Recovery; and how she went to the College Pop Festival and got 3rd place. She also talked about how that became a trigger for her to create her own band and that she started activities after that.
The students clapped when she talked about how the band was finally formed after some hardships. They knew how hard it was to form a team.

“Thank you.”

When Lee HyunAh bowed, people cheered even louder.
The talk continued.
She talked about how she met KangYoon during her activities as an indie band and how she joined World Entertainment. She also provoked the interests of the audience by talking about some of the episodes that took place until now.
All of the audience clapped when she talked about how she went to KangYoon, asking him to accept the entire band.
Lee HyunAh made an awkward smile and spoke.

“…Actually, I was a lucky case. Other than me, there were many people who left their teams to join entertainment companies. It’s a tragedy. I can’t say where, but there was a place that offered me to join them before I went to World. Thankfully, I was able to avoid the tragedy thanks to the president.”

Lee HyunAh calmly continued.

“Actually, it would be a lie to say that I didn’t want to join a company by myself. However, that worry didn’t last long. My current company allows me to play the music I want to my heart’s content. My juniors, World is awesome. Come to World.”
“Hahahaha.”

The students all burst out laughing hearing her promotion.

‘That girl…’
‘*Giggle*’.

KangYoon abruptly stood up due to her actions while Professor Choi ChanYang grabbed his arm with a smile. The chancellor also laughed.
Lee HyunAh’s story alternated between heavy stories and jokes and neared its end.

“…After we released the OST album, we finally entered the major band industry. Thanks to that OST, we’re being called to many places in the country and not just our regular stages. The current Lee HyunAh is living such a life. Phew, I guess that’s all from me. Thank you, everyone.”
“Waaaa—!”

The students all applauded.
Soon, it became QnA time.
The host thanked Lee HyunAh and started accepting questions from the students.
The first question from a girl seated at the very front.

“Hello? My name is Lee JiSol and I’m in my first year in applied music. You told us that you went major from being indie, right?”
“Yes. that’s right.”
“Then what kind of preparations did you do before you went major?”

The first question was a hard one.
This applied to many students who decided on singing as their career.
Lee HyunAh thought about it for a moment before replying.

“What kind of preparations, huh? I don’t think we did anything special to prepare for our major debut. It’s just that…”
“Just that?”
“We kept playing music without rest. I think that’s the most important part.”

She pulled out the mic from the stand and walked forward.

“I always stuck to the most basic things. No, it’s not just me, but all the members of the band. We practice every day and perform on stage once a week. We also talked about the songs with the president once in a while. We tried to think up of new things and we stuck to the basic rules in order to sing. I guess that’s my secret.”

Then, the male student seated next to the girl who questioned just now raised his hand.

“Seonbae-nim, from what I know, it’s not easy performing once every week, so what did you do when you had no choice but to not do one?”
“We never skipped out on performing.”

When Lee HyunAh spoke, some of the students looked shocked.

“We had a venue that belonged to the company. Strictly speaking, we were given a better environment than most other bands. This also led us to not being able to use some of the other places at first… but we never skipped out on performance. Actually, this is mostly thanks to the president. He invested a lot of money to build us our own exclusive venue.
“Wow!”

The students exclaimed when they heard that.
What company would go as far as to make an exclusive venue for a band?
The students looked at Lee HyunAh enviously.

“I met a wonderful person. I’m still thankful for it to this day.”

Lee HyunAh glanced at KangYoon and gave him a wink.
When KangYoon was at a loss on what to do, professor Choi ChanYang grabbed KangYoon’s arm and spoke.

‘Hahaha, HyunAh usually don’t go to that extent. Looks like you’ve gained her respect.’
‘…It embarrasses me.’

KangYoon felt awkward due to all the flattery.

***

Kim JiMin headed to the company after changing her clothes from her school uniform.

‘It’s somewhat not nice to practice at home…’

Since her grandma was resting here, it would be discourteous of her to practice her singing at home.
When she opened the studio and entered, she found that the lights were on..

“MoonHee-unni?”
“Oh? JiMin-seonbae? Hello.”

There was someone there at the studio. It was In MoonHee, who was adjusting the mixer.

“Unni, it’s really fine if you drop the formalities.”

Although she was a lot older than Kim JiMin, In MoonHee still called her seonbae.
Kim JiMin felt awkward with someone older than her calling her that.

“No, I should maintain order.”
“I find it uncomfortable.”

The two talked about that topic for a long time.
In the end, Kim JiMin won the argument.
It wasn’t a 2-3 year difference, but over a decade, so In MoonHee had nothing to say when Kim JiMin said that she found it uncomfortable.
However, Kim JiMin also couldn’t stop her from calling her ‘seonbae’.
After a squabble, the younger senior and the older junior started to become closer.

“What are you practicing, unni?”

When Kim JiMin asked that while putting the guitar on the stand, In MoonHee tidied up the score and replied.

“Sir Namhoon gave me an assignment. So I’m practicing that.”
“Oh really? I was planning to play with you if you had some time… would that be too difficult?”

Kim JiMin pouted in pity while playing her guitar.

“…Should I… play around a little?”
“Yes, unni. Your trot was amazing… I want to listen to it again.”

Trot was a rare genre these days, and it was even harder to find a singer for the genre.
Kim JiMin had fallen in love with In MoonHee’s voice that she heard during the jam a few days ago.

“What should we do then?”

Just as Kim JiMin was looking through the scores in joy, another guest arrived at the studio.

“Ahju~ssi~~~.”

A lady came in looking for someone.
It was Jung MinAh, wearing tightly fitting clothes.
Kim JiMin, who was just about to play, took her hands off the guitar.

“MinAh-unni?”
“Hi there, JiMin… Is ahjussi here?”
“The president?”

Kim JiMin shook her head.
Thinking back, she hadn’t seen him today at all.

“Ah, sheesh. His phone is off as well. Tch, I was looking forward to today…”

He wasn’t at the studio nor at his office.
Jung MinAh frowned.
It was unknown how long her rest period would last. She didn’t want to waste this time, so she was uneasy.
…Just where was this man gone?
At that moment, In MoonHee spoke.

“I heard that the president was going to university today.”
“U, university?”

Jung MinAh blinked several times in surprise.
In MoonHee added seeing that she was confused.

“I heard yesterday that he would be accompanying HyunAh-seonbae to her university. I heard he would go straight home from there…”
“W, wait a minute. You mean… miss HyunAh?”

Jung MinAh’s eyes sparked.
It was Lee HyunAh of all people? Just why!
Feeling a menacing aura from Jung MinAh, In MoonHee took steps back in fear.

“…What? Wh… why are you like that?”
“…Ugh.”

Without even realizing that In MoonHee was trembling, Jung MinAh trembled for a moment before leaving the studio.

“S, seonbae. Why is MinAh-seonbae like that?”
“…You’ll find out in a few days.”

Kim JiMin shook his head.
In MoonHee blinked several times as she did not understand her words.

***

“Thank you for your work.”

All the events related to ‘Talk to your senior’ were finished after a photoshoot with the juniors.
In front of the hall.
KangYoon greeted the professors of the university as well as the Chancellor.

“Here’s my business card.”

The chancellor gave KangYoon his business card and KangYoon gave him one as well.

“Thank you for today. I would love to treat you to a meal, but there’s an important meeting taking place…”
“Not at all. Thank you for calling us all the way here.”

The Chancellor got in a car as soon as he finished talking with KangYoon. He left after saying that he would definitely treat KangYoon to a meal next time.
After all the events were over, KangYoon started walking through the campus along with Lee HyunAh and Professor Choi ChanYang.

“The sunset is beautiful.”

Professor Choi ChanYang smiled softly while looking at the sky.

“The hill looks nice.”

Soon, the skies started turning dark.
KangYoon nodded while pointing at the hill where the sun was setting.
Lee HyunAh added.

“Our uni looks the best during sunset.”
“How about sunrise?”
“…I’ve never been here for that so I don’t know.”

KangYoon’s question made Lee HyunAh stick out her tongue.
The three of them headed to Professor Choi ChanYang’s office on the hill.
In front of the building, Professor Choi ChanYang spoke.

“Then I’ll be right back.”

When Professor Choi ChanYang went up to get his stuff, the two of them were left alone on the hill.
KangYoon and Lee HyunAh sat down on a bench.

“You’ve done well today. You looked like a proper seonbae today.”
“Of course. I’m a graduate now.”

Lee HyunAh boasted in reply to KangYoon’s joke, and the two giggled.
After that, Lee HyunAh spoke calmly.

“Oppa, thank you.”
“Huh? For what.”
“…You know… for everything.”

She had received an uncountable number of things from him.
Would she still be singing today if KangYoon wasn’t here? A singer? Not to mention that she would have never gotten the courage to go to the College Pop Festival, or show everyone her compositions in the first place.
KangYoon had led her by her side at all the important turns in her life.

“Sheesh. It’s natural for the president to take care of his singers.”

KangYoon smiled awkwardly and tapped on Lee HyunAh’s shoulders.
At that moment, she suddenly grabbed KangYoon’s hand!

“HyunAh.”
“…It’s warm.”

Just as KangYoon was at a loss on what to do, Lee HyunAh turned around to look at KangYoon in the eyes.

“I… like you, oppa.”

The soft winds shook KangYoon violently.