Chapter 222: You Must Be Really Nervous
The runway lights gradually faded into the distance.
There was a time when I wished my music would shine just like those lights.
It had been nothing more than a vague dream.
Inside a tiny room that served as my studio, with a cheap pair of headphones over my ears.
I kept pressing the keyboard, believing that someday, someone would recognize my songs.
Those days of surviving on instant cup noodles were everything I had.
And yet now.
I was sitting in a First Class seat above the clouds.
“Is there anything making you uncomfortable, sir?”
There was no way there would be.
There was something else I was worried about instead.
The last time I flew First Class to visit Aether Sound, I'd eaten five plates in the lounge and then slept straight through all fifteen hours of the flight.
The trip back had been exactly the same.
I had been so exhausted that I couldn't enjoy First Class at all.
This time was different.
I made a request to the flight attendant.
“...Please make sure to wake me up when it's time to eat.”
Even the sparkling wine I received as a welcome drink.
And the luxurious in-flight meal served atop pristine white linen.
Everything was enjoyable.
To me, it felt like taking a trip around the world without ever leaving the plane.
Dishes with names so complicated I could barely remember them.
...Of course, the flavors were just as difficult.
After finishing an absolutely magnificent meal.
The flight attendant wheeled over another cart.
Cheese.
I felt like I was being fattened up.
“Would you like me to prepare some dessert wine?”
Good grief.
I never knew there was a world where people drank wine for dessert.
I couldn't eat another bite.
“No, thank you. I'm fine.”
Now that I'd eaten, it was time to sleep.
I washed up quickly and returned to my seat.
Even stretching my legs all the way out, my toes couldn't reach the end of the spacious seat.
I even applied the lip balm from the amenity pouch and sprayed on some perfume.
Mom always used to say.
If you went somewhere expensive, you had to get your money's worth.
The thought kept coming back to me, making me chuckle to myself.
Buzzz—
The moment I pressed the button, the seat slowly reclined.
“Woooow.”
I sighed in admiration as I reached for the blanket.
“Taeyoon, you're already going to sleep?”
“Huh!”
Hearing a familiar voice, I looked up.
“If you lie down right after eating, you'll turn into a cow.”
CEO Kim Minsoo was peeking over the top of the private partition, looking down at me.
I hurriedly raised the seat back up.
“Did you need something?”
“Just a second.”
CEO Kim Minsoo smiled before lightly tapping the rolled-up sheet of paper against his palm.
“What is it?”
“Have you thought about what you're going to say if you win an award?”
“...Huh?”
Win an award?
Not even in my wildest dreams.
Honestly, I was already thrilled just to be participating.
A laugh escaped me.
The thing he was holding...
“Don't tell me... that's an acceptance speech?”
“That's right!”
That was exactly the kind of thing CEO Kim Minsoo would do.
Making sure no one else could overhear.
CEO Kim Minsoo folded away the private partition, leaned casually against his seat, and launched into a long lecture.
“A person should always be prepared for every situation. Imagine they call your name, you go up there, stammer for a while, say 'Thank you,' and walk right back down. You can't do that.”
Now that was getting ahead of yourself.
I was so dumbfounded that I simply listened.
“Preparing something like this in advance is good manners. If you're a professional, it's important to act as though you already expected every unexpected situation.”
I nodded.
Now that I thought about it...
He wasn't wrong.
Rather than seeing it as wishful thinking, I decided to think of it as proper preparation.
“Read it.”
CEO Kim Minsoo tapped the document with his finger.
“Who wrote it?”
“KW's Public Relations Team.”
Well then.
If the KW Public Relations Team had prepared it.
Surely they'd done a good job.
I unfolded the paper with anticipation.
“Oh?”
I quietly read the first line.
“Hello. I'm Stay. I'm sincerely grateful to have the opportunity to stand on such an honorable stage... Hahaha.”
I burst out laughing.
I was reading one of those acceptance speeches I'd only ever seen on television.
My hands and feet practically curled up from embarrassment.
Reading it out loud was impossible.
I quickly skimmed the rest silently.
The film <Footprints That Became a Star> was a movie with almost no dialogue. The story was told solely through music.
I hoped that music would go beyond the screen and reach people's hearts directly. And now, seeing so many people embrace that emotion...
There was also an English version underneath.
Footprints That Became a Star was almost a silent film....
Hmm. Honestly...
“Isn't it a little too predictable?”
It was kind of boring.
The sort of speech you could hear anywhere.
To put it nicely, it was almost too textbook.
There was almost no chance it would happen, but...
If I actually won and had to read this, it made me dizzy just thinking about it.
CEO Kim Minsoo stared at me in disbelief.
“Predictable is exactly the point. The only thing that should stand out on that stage is the music. The speech should be like a textbook—safe, clean, and polished. That's what being professional is.”
“I guess...”
I tilted my head, though I nodded anyway.
Then I carefully folded the paper and placed it on the side table.
“You've already memorized it?”
“More or less.”
“Let's hear it.”
“...Thank you?”
“Good grief.”
CEO Kim Minsoo narrowed his eyes.
I shamelessly answered back.
“If I somehow win and end up going on stage, I'll definitely thank you, CEO Kim Minsoo.”
“You're promising me?”
We smiled at each other.
Even if the odds were incredibly slim.
There was nothing wrong with imagining it.
“Of course!”
With that, CEO Kim Minsoo gave me a satisfied thumbs-up before returning to his own seat.
I settled back into mine once again.
Then I quietly unfolded the speech I'd placed on the side table.
I'd called it predictable and boring.
But one sentence felt different.
I hoped that the music would go beyond the screen and reach people's hearts directly.
Strange.
There were countless words on the page.
Yet only that sentence seemed to shine.
The English version felt the same.
Trying to maintain a formal tone, I quietly read it to myself.
I hoped that the music would go beyond the screen and speak directly to people's hearts.
Why did reading those words alone make my chest tighten with emotion?
Inside the darkened cabin.
With only the reading light on, I quietly engraved the English sentence into my heart.
The flight was long.
Yet not a single moment felt boring.
And finally, the aircraft slowly touched down on the runway.
The nighttime skyline of LA beyond the window...
Was exceptionally bright.
Exceptionally dazzling.
As though the entire city had turned on its lights for today alone.
It was beautiful.
At the very moment Taeyoon was flying to LA.
A question raised by one listener began spreading across online communities.
It all started with Club Lunatic's weekly lineup announcement.
Club Sierra regularly posted its lineup on social media in the form of promotional posters.
As always, this week's poster was filled with impressive names.
Top domestic DJs.
International guest performers.
Even Lunatic's resident DJs personally recruited by DJ Blackhole.
But there was one exception.
The name that always occupied the very top of the poster.
DJ Blackhole was missing.
Instead, a small sentence printed in the bottom-right corner of the poster only deepened everyone's curiosity.
[ ??? Blackhole isn't performing this week?? ]
[ This week's schedule is empty. It says it's due to personal reasons. Does anyone know what happened? ]
The post was flooded with comments almost instantly.
↳ Holy crap, you're right. Why isn't their name on the poster? ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
↳↳ Is that even possible? They're Lunatic's biggest name ㄷㄷ
↳ Are they sick??? Please don't be sick ㅠㅠ
↳↳ Honestly, they deserve a break. They've never missed a single performance. Get some rest~~~
↳ Cheongseong is performing instead ㄷㄷㄷ Signum too ㄷㄷ
↳ Lunatic really is insane. Cheongseong and Signum;;
↳ Honestly, if Blackhole's absent, you need a lineup like that to balance things out. Still sucks though ㅠㅠ I was planning to go next week.
[ Maybe they're going overseas for an event? ]
↳ Doesn't seem like it.
↳ If that were the case, they would've written it on the lineup. DJ R.O.K. did that before when he left for a European festival.
↳ They've been performing nonstop since Lunatic opened. It's about time they took a break.
↳ It's still kind of strange. They're not overseas and they're not sick, yet Blackhole is missing a performance? Hmm.
The mystery snowballed.
The issue wasn't that Blackhole would miss one week.
It was why.
The more popular they became, the more theories emerged.
Some thought they were ill.
Some believed they had gone abroad.
Others even started conspiracy theories claiming they had fallen out with the KW Group or were hiding their identity while preparing to move to an even bigger stage.
Then.
Someone posted this.
[ I think I've figured something out. ]
Everyone already treats Seo Rabbit = Blackhole as common knowledge.
But does anyone remember that old post?
The one where someone claiming to work in the entertainment industry said Seo Rabbit is actually Stay?
Seo Rabbit = Blackhole
Seo Rabbit = Stay
If both of those are true, then Blackhole = Stay also works.
Apparently Composer Stay is flying to LA next week because they're an Academy nominee.
And Blackhole just happens to disappear during that exact same period.
So what do you think?
Coincidence?
How's my deduction?
↳ How is it? Get a shower and go to bed, idiot.ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
↳ What the hell is this?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
↳ Who's Stay? Isn't that a composer?
↳↳ Yep.
↳ Be serious. They DJ and compose? Come on, that's going too far.
↳↳ LOL. Does everyone become Blackhole just because they haven't revealed their face?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
↳ No way. Composing and DJing are completely different fields. Anyone who's studied music even a little knows that.
↳↳ What are you talking about? They're both music, aren't they?
↳↳↳ DJing requires instinct and improvisation, while composing is all about meticulous calculation. They're obviously different. End of discussion. No arguments accepted. Learn something before talking. ㅉㅉㅉ
↳ To be fair, Blackhole = Seo Rabbit hasn't actually been officially confirmed either.
The post quickly rose to the Best Posts section.
More and more people joined the debate.
Even comments that had originally dismissed it as ridiculous slowly began presenting serious arguments.
[ BEST: Alright, Listen. Here's the summary. ]
Blackhole disappears from Lunatic's lineup. Reason: Personal circumstances.
At the same time, Composer Stay is attending the Academy Awards in LA.
An entertainment company employee who verified themselves with an employee ID claimed Stay = Seo Rabbit.
Therefore, Blackhole = Stay.
.
.
Seo Dongyoon froze.
Looking down at his phone, he muttered in surprise.
"...The internet detectives strike again."
It was a surprisingly convincing theory.
At the same time, he couldn't help feeling a little worried.
There wasn't any special reason Taeyoon kept his face hidden.
There was only one.
He simply wanted to make music freely without the public knowing who he was.
He wanted people to meet him only through his music.
That was all.
Knowing the real reason.
Seo Dongyoon suddenly felt uneasy.
But then.
'Nah, this'll probably blow over soon enough. It's not like he's some unbelievably handsome celebrity anyway...'
Pulling himself together, he returned to the mountain of work waiting for him.
After all.
It's hard to judge your own family objectively.
Beneath LA's brilliant sunshine.
The road leading to the Dolby Theatre already felt like a festival.
Taeyoon kept absentmindedly adjusting his bow tie.
Neither suits nor ties were something he was used to wearing.
He glanced at his reflection in the car window.
'This feels... strange.'
CEO Kim Minsoo, seated in the front passenger seat, turned around.
“Ready?”
Before Taeyoon could answer.
Director Oh Seungju, sitting beside him, spoke first.
“Looks like Composer Stay is really nervous. Haha.”
Completely unaware that he was the one who was actually nervous.
The car slowly approached the theater entrance.
Hundreds of camera flashes exploded like lightning.
As he prepared to step out.
Taeyoon silently reminded himself.
'I'm a composer. Not an actor. Not the star of the show. So don't get nervous.'
Surely the reporters' attention would be focused on the actors and the director.
Repeating that thought over and over.
The instant he stepped out.
“Hey! Over here! This way!”
The press section erupted.
“Who is that? Not an actor?”
“A model...? No, the posture's a little too awkward. Wait a second... isn't that one of the nominees?”
Just then.
The Korean reporters who had been waiting shouted all at once.
“It's Director Oh Seungju!”
“Please look this way!”
The Korean reporters immediately swung their cameras toward Director Oh Seungju.
Standing beside him.
Was an unfamiliar young man.
Even as he awkwardly adjusted the sleeves of his suit, his bow tie kept slipping crookedly, making him strangely approachable.
Then.
“Huh? No way.”
“He's not an actor.”
“If he's standing so openly beside the director... doesn't that mean he's one of the nominees?”
“Wait. Wait.”
Someone who had been watching them for a while suddenly shouted.
“Ah! Could that be... Stay?”
After a brief moment of silence.
Cheers burst out.
Whether they were expressions of admiration or encouragement, no one could tell.
“Wooooooah!”
“Holy crap. Stay?”
“It really is Stay! The Korean composer nominated for Best Original Score!”
The camera flashes that had been aimed solely at actors suddenly poured toward Taeyoon all at once.
Click! Click! Click! Click! Click...!
The Korean reporters looked so excited they seemed ready to rush toward him.
“Hey, that's really Stay, right?”
“If they're standing next to Director Oh Seungju, it has to be. This is insane. Hurry and take the pictures!”
“They look incredible in person!”
“Aren't they way too young?”
Every Korean reporter turned their camera lenses toward Taeyoon.
The relentless flashes.
The endless exclamations.
Caught off guard by the overwhelming reaction, Taeyoon hesitated for a moment.
“Director Oh Seungju! The person beside you really is Stay, right?”
“...I thought they were an actor.”
“Please stand on the photo wall just once!”
Flash! Flash! Flash!
As the endless barrage of flashes continued.
Taeyoon squinted and thought.
'...Am I actually supposed to be standing here?'