41. Unreality (2)
After that day, the delinquent “oppa” gang never came to Iwol High School again.
Naturally, once the oppas’ backing disappeared, the girls who had acted like delinquents by relying on their influence were pushed aside just as naturally.
The students who had been forced to keep their heads down despite the delinquents’ behavior all this time cheered over Flame’s story.
“…Huh? Me?”
“Yeah! You’re seriously amazing. I heard your boyfriend beat up all the oppas?”
“N-no… He’s not my boyfriend?”
“Really? Anyway, there were way too many witnesses for it not to be true!”
“That’s right, that’s right. I even heard the oppas made some kind of surrender declaration saying they’d never go near Ilwol High School again!”
The moment she arrived at school, Han Choyeon and the others were making an enormous fuss.
But there were more than a few questionable things in what her friends were saying.
Who on earth had even been there in that cramped little alley that day, for there supposedly to be so many witnesses?
And how had the rumor spread this fast?
And on top of that, a bunch of thugs had supposedly gotten beaten by a single high schooler, then gotten scared and backed off and even made some sort of surrender declaration?
W-what kind of absurd development is this…?
“So who’s your boyfriend? I heard he’s insanely handsome.”
“I heard he goes to our school? But he was wearing sunglasses, so nobody knows who he really is!”
“Maybe he doesn’t want his identity to be found out?”
“Y-you idiots……”
Sunglasses or not, he had been walking around openly showing his name tag in the first place, so what identity was he even hiding?
The more she listened, the more her mind spun.
“I said he’s not my boyfriend……”
“But even so, if he jumped into the middle of all that just to save you, doesn’t that mean he likes you?”
“I don’t know……”
Still…
Well…
Hearing it all like this did not feel bad.
No matter what, it was true that that boy had stepped up for her.
And the whole school was practically praising her.
Giddy with a strange sort of happiness, Flame found herself smiling without realizing it.
She felt like the protagonist of the world.
A week passed after that day.
True to her curious nature, Flame asked around all over the school looking for “Baek Yuseol,” but he was nowhere to be found.
She even searched through the first- and second-years too, and looked through the attendance records, but there was not even anyone with a similar name.
Then what was that kid back then?
Even so, he was the one who had saved her, so she wanted at least to thank him.
But he had vanished without a trace, so she could not even do that.
“Flame, first in the entire school! Congratulations. You ranked first in the entire country on this mock exam.”
At the voice calling for her, Flame came back to herself.
Standing up on the stage was always burdensome, but after coming first in the whole school as casually as eating meals, she was slowly getting used to it.
“Thank you.”
When she received the certificate, applause thundered through the entire auditorium.
As soon as she stepped down from the stage, Han Choyeon thumped her on the shoulder.
“Hey, that’s insane. How does a school this full of idiots produce someone who ranks first in the whole country?”
“Well, I’ve always been smart. You should stop reading those internet novels and study a little too. You’ve got a really good head too, it’s just……”
“W-what are you talking about! And they’re not internet novels, they’re romance fantasy.”
“Same thing.”
Seriously, romance fantasy?
She had no idea why anyone would read something like that.
As if focusing on reality was not already enough.
“No! Still, that duchess in the one I’ve been reading lately, love—”
“That’s enough novel talk. Want to go get tteokbokki for lunch? My treat.”
“Ooh, yes! Let’s go!”
Unlike herself, who belonged to the Korean middle class, Han Choyeon was on the poorer side, and Flame remembered how she always worried even over buying a single serving of tteokbokki.
Whenever that thought crossed her mind, Flame often wanted to buy her meals, but that would also hurt her friend’s pride, so she usually restrained herself as much as possible.
Still, today I’ve got an excuse.
Tteokbokki?
She could look forward to it.
Because Flame was planning a truly incredible special course.
By evening, they were in a karaoke booth.
Feeling good that day, Flame had gone with Han Choyeon and the others to a coin karaoke place.
“She’s goooone~!! !!”
“Aaaagh! My ears!!”
“The tiiime that’s coming toooo~!! The seaaasonal wiiind toooo~!! Will briiing yooou~~~!!”
“Aaaaaah!”
Even among friends screaming out ear-splitting high notes that were halfway between song and noise terrorism, Flame’s singing stood out on a completely different level.
“Don’t ever look for me agaaain~!”
“Ooooh……”
“You cruel wo-man~! Don’t curse meee~!”
The essential karaoke classic: So Chan-whee’s Tears.
Flame sailed effortlessly through the high notes and was perfection itself in every section.
A completely overwhelming skill that could not be compared to anyone else’s.
After letting it all out like that, the girls left the karaoke booth smacking their lips in regret.
“Ah~ I really let it all out again today.”
“Yeah, you seriously let it all out……”
“Flame, why don’t you become an idol? You’re pretty too, you’d be perfect.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You think just anyone can become a singer?”
“No, seriously. I think you really could.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. You’ll just fill someone’s head with weird ideas and ruin their life.”
Flame thought and judged things very realistically.
A singer?
In this day and age, there were countless teenagers who were pretty, danced well, had star quality, and sang well.
Even those kinds of kids crashed and burned all the time in the idol industry.
There was no way she would even glance that way.
After their singing session at the coin karaoke place, Flame and her friends spent time walking the streets, shopping for cosmetics, buying snacks, and just hanging out.
She figured chances to play around like this only came once in a while, so when you could, you should enjoy yourself to the fullest.
Then, when they noticed a crowd of people in their teens and twenties gathered somewhere on the street, the girls’ attention shifted there.
“Oh, looks like someone’s busking over there?”
“Yeah. There are a ton of people gathered.”
Spotting the place where all those people had gathered, the girls headed over.
“Now then~ could our next participant please introduce herself?”
“Yes… I’m Han Yumi, an office worker from Guwol-dong.”
“I see. And what song will you be singing?”
Looking closer, it was not just an ordinary busking performance.
“Hey, hey. That guy’s that guy, isn’t he? Kim Baekgwang, the five-million-subscriber YoTuber famous for those street-casting karaoke videos!”
“It really is him? Holy crap, this is my first time seeing him in real life.”
“He’s insanely handsome… wow.”
Apparently the man hosting the busking session was quite famous, because everyone reacted at once.
Only Flame stared with wide eyes and a dubious expression.
“He’s famous?”
“You don’t know him? Seriously, have you been living in the mountains or something?”
“No, I just might not know, that’s all……”
“It’s okay if you can say goodbye like it means nothiiing~”
While Flame and her friends chatted, the participant began to sing.
She seemed to be quite skilled, judging by the fact that she was quite pretty and that the crowd watching the busking responded on cue, but somehow Flame was not impressed.
When the song ended, the YoTuber Kim Baekgwang continued the show while drawing out maximum audience response.
“All right then, does anyone else want to come up next?”
Because appearing on a broadcast by a five-million-subscriber YoTuber with anywhere between fifty thousand and one hundred thousand live viewers was such a huge opportunity, aspiring singers were always said to flock around Kim Baekgwang’s streams.
But in the end, regardless of whether there were many aspiring singers or few, the next participant was always going to be whoever the host pointed at.
The next participant, too, had probably already been decided.
This whole bit he was putting on now was no different from a scripted show.
Even knowing that full well, the high school girls could not resist shouting anyway.
“Over here, over here! We’ve got a real singer right here!”
“This way, this way!”
“What? Hey! Are you crazy?”
The moment her friends suddenly pointed her out, Flame snapped in anger.
There was no way a YouTuber like that would actually turn toward them just because they shouted, but it was still mortifying.
And yet Kim Baekgwang reacted unexpectedly.
He had looked over in their direction just for the sake of a reaction when the girls shouted, but the moment he saw Flame, he froze for a second, then started walking toward them with a bright smile.
“And with the enthusiastic cheers of her friends, it looks like our next participant has been chosen! What do you think, would you like to sing us a song?”
At the same time, without letting the camera catch it, he discreetly showed her a message.
[If it’s too much pressure, feel free to refuse!]
So it was not something she had to do no matter what.
Still, it also seemed rare for Kim Baekgwang to respond this strongly and come over in person.
And with her friends urging her on from the side, Flame ended up deciding she would sing just one song.
“All right then, our next participant appears with the enthusiastic cheers of her friends—a high school girl from Samwol High School, Flame! Huh? Hahaha, apparently our viewers thought you were an idol trainee. Are you?”
“No.”
“Aah~ apparently not! Then have you ever thought of debuting?”
“I have to go home and study.”
“That’s what she says~!”
In the direction Kim Baekgwang’s camera was facing, there was a huge tablet screen, and on it were no fewer than five chat windows scrolling rapidly upward.
[□□: Study?]
[□□: Is this for real lol lol]
[○○: lmao lmao lmao]
[□□: First time I’ve seen someone come on a broadcast and say they need to study]
[hh: lolol]
[-1->: Wow but she’s seriously cute]
They were the live chat windows from each platform.
Ever since Flame stepped into the center and took the microphone, the chat had started exploding, and she had a vague idea why.
Ugh……
“All right, shall we begin right away? What song would you like?”
“Hmm… Hwal’s Say Yes.
Three keys up.”
“Ooh! A bold choice! This should be exciting!”
Since the song was already famous for its high notes, and she was saying she would sing it three keys higher, the heated reaction was only natural.
When Kim Baekgwang manipulated the computer and audio equipment, the music started.
Flame steadied her breathing, about to sing—
Then suddenly felt something strange.
…Huh?
Far away, among the crowd—
Baek Yuseol was there.
With a motorcycle still slung over his shoulder.
Exactly as he had looked the last time she saw him a week ago.
“Huh? Wait……”
She wanted to hurry over and talk to him, but the music had already started, so she had no choice but to begin singing.
“Ooooh, say yes~”
Her singing was emotional, and explosive.
The high notes rose cleanly and powerfully, while the lower notes had a soothing, tickling warmth in the ears.
“Wow… this is……”
Kim Baekgwang stood there blankly, unable to react properly.
The crowd froze, and even the chat seemed to stop dead.
“Now take my hand~! Say yeeeees—!”
And then, the instant she passed the highest point of the song, about ten seconds later, the chat exploded so violently it almost looked like an error had occurred.
[□□: What is that voice…]
[□□: If you don’t take her hand she’ll probably kill you]
[□□: Then who didn’t take it?]
[○○: Hey hurry up and go hold it already]
Dozens upon dozens of reactions per second.
The server was on the verge of crashing from donations, and even the viewer count was surging explosively.
Flame could instinctively tell just how much attention her existence had suddenly begun attracting.
This is it!
Kim Baekgwang knew it at once.
If this was the level of buzz, then by now the story of Flame must already be spreading through every community out there.
Normally, participants sang just one song and then came down.
But ending it here felt wrong.
After Flame finished the song and stood there quietly holding the microphone in both hands while looking at him, Kim Baekgwang hurriedly resumed the broadcast.
“Wow, what’s wrong with me? Did I space out for a moment? Anyone willing to tell me how long? Huh? Thirty years? Hey, don’t lie. Not that long.”
Exchanging light banter with the viewers, he walked up to Flame.
“Wow, that was no joke. You’re really not an aspiring singer?”
“No.”
“This is such a waste. I’m not in any position to judge people, but honestly, you’d be perfectly fine debuting right now. I mean that.”
“Thank you.”
Flame had also been glancing sideways at the chat on and off, so she already knew the reaction was hot.
It felt a little burdensome and a little more than she deserved, so she wanted to hurry down, but suddenly both the people and the chat started shouting for an encore.
“Well now, the viewers are all asking for one more song. Hey, hey, calm down, everyone. Don’t pressure her too much. You absolutely do not have to sing if you don’t want to. I heard you’re a senior in high school, and we can’t have you getting stressed out, right? That’d be bad, really bad.”
“Ah……”
She was not stupid.
If she turned around and left on a flat note here, the whole atmosphere would get weird.
“…I’ll do one more, then.”
Flame had always loved singing, and deep down she did not dislike this kind of fiery reaction at all.
In the end, she got swept up in the mood.
And then, without thinking, she turned her head toward Baek Yuseol.
By now he had made his way all the way to the very front.
He had taken off his sunglasses, and for some reason he was watching her with a grave expression.
It was the complete opposite of the playful, mischievous impression he had given before.
Slowly, he parted his lips and mouthed something to her.
Don’t.
The shape of his mouth was unmistakably negative.
“What…?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
“What will your next song be?”
“…Kim Sang-min’s You. Please play that.”
Flame looked from Kim Baekgwang back to Baek Yuseol.
He closed his eyes and shook his head.
As if telling her not to do it.
But she could not stop now.
The viewer count was already edging toward one hundred thousand.
If she quit here, it would be truly embarrassing.
No matter what kind of reaction the mysterious boy Baek Yuseol was showing, the music started, and Flame began to sing.
“What am I supposed to do—”
Once again, the reaction was similar.
People fell silent to focus on Flame’s singing, and in a world where all other noise had died, she alone played the music.
It felt as though she had become the center of the world.
That was what it felt like to sing in a world where everyone was looking only at you.
For the first time, she thought she understood why singers tried so hard to stand on stage.
To feel this thrilling ecstasy.
For this single moment, when everyone focused all their being on listening to her voice.
“After spending a long niiight~ when mooorning comes~”
Once again, her singing slowly climbed toward the climax.
There was really no difference from climbing a mountain.
Everyone’s heart turned toward high places in the same way.
At that moment—
Just before reaching the climax, Flame instinctively searched for Baek Yuseol.
On an almost sixth-sense level, she felt that she had to.
Baek Yuseol was staring at her with a rather severe expression.
Then he raised his right hand.
In it was an ordinary, cheap mechanical pencil that looked like it cost a single thousand won.
“Huh?”
What was he planning to do with that?
The instant that thought crossed her mind, he gripped it in reverse and hurled it.
…Thunk!
The mechanical pencil pierced straight through the audio equipment.
Pak!
The music stopped.
The stunned expressions of the audience in that instant were branded clearly into Flame’s eyes.
Kim Baekgwang rushed toward the laptop in alarm.
But it was useless.
She knew very well why the music had stopped.
Does that even make sense?
Was it realistically possible for a flimsy plastic mechanical pencil to pierce through both a computer and audio equipment?
And even in that absurd reality, Flame could no longer stop.
Without releasing the microphone from her hand, she continued singing completely without accompaniment.
“Yooou~ abandoned alone~ on a rainy street~”
The climax burst out immediately.
Kim Baekgwang, who had been trying to fix the equipment, also stopped and looked at Flame.
“Have you ever thought~ of standing there alone~”
As though she did not care at all about a sound accident like this, Flame raised the key another two steps right there and then.
“When you spend the niiight aloone~ in the place where you fall asleep~”
And like that, the song raced toward its end until it finally reached the finish line.
“Haa… haa……”
Wiping the sweat from her cheek, Flame lowered the microphone.
After a brief silence, thunderous applause erupted.
But all of those cheers passed over her as meaningless noise.
The moment she turned her gaze to search for Baek Yuseol, he shook his head slowly, then turned away and walked off somewhere.
“Hey, wait……!”
“Incredible, truly! That was Flame from O-wol High School with her performance! Everyone, please give her a huge round of applause!”
“Ah……”
Baek Yuseol’s body blurred like an illusion, then vanished into the air.
All that remained in the end were the people’s passionate cheers.
Looking at them waving and even whistling for her, Flame could not help but let her serious expression loosen.
“Hah… haha.”
Baek Yuseol?
What did it matter, that boy whose name she only knew?
When I’m this happy.
When I’m this alive.
Shouldn’t I just enjoy this moment?
Trying her best to forget him, she waved back at the people and the cameras.
She would probably never forget today for the rest of her life.
…And yet.
Why do I keep feeling so uneasy?
As she stepped down from in front of the camera and was met by the cheers of her friends, she ran her fingers over her name tag.
She was too happy.
So happy that…
It gave her a bad feeling.
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