NOVEL NEXT Chapter 18
“Is it true that the debut song is coming out today?”
“Yeah, they’re sending it later this afternoon.”
The next day after successfully wrapping up yesterday’s collaboration, I went out early in the morning with Hyejeong for the first time in a while.
Since we had been busy with various things, making time like this was quite a feat.
“What do you think? Are you excited?”
“A little? Still, it seems like they spent some money at the company, and it’s by a famous composer.”
“Wow~ Before you know it, your song might end up as homework for college!”
I chuckled, knowing Hyejeong was majoring in dance. Though honestly, she seemed to spend more time goofing around than practicing, but she claimed her grades were still decent.
“I hope so.”
But isn’t it a good thing if the song becomes famous enough to be a college assignment?
While I was lost in thought answering her question, Hyejeong looked at me with a strange expression.
“What’s wrong? Why do you look like that?”
“I just realized, you’re totally serious.”
“At this point? I’m even going to a vocal academy!”
“It feels like something changed? Maybe you’ve developed more urgency or passion? Before, you were a bit more laid-back.”
Laid-back? Me?
I took a moment to think and found there was some truth to that. I had always thought if I failed once or twice, I could just find another path.
But now…
“Still, I have some motivation, right? I’m not the only one failing.”
My classmates were all pretty supportive.
In the end, no one ever mentioned that my profile picture was from an anime during the broadcast, so it didn’t seem like a big deal to me.
I noticed the community users might come up with wild theories just from my profile picture, so it seemed like a sensitive topic.
“True, but I’ve always had some sense of responsibility.”
“Anything else?”
“I draw well?”
“Oh!”
“Why?”
The thought of drawing reminded me. After finishing the broadcast yesterday, I meant to practice but completely forgot.
“You have a pen and paper, right?”
“I brought them since I have class later. Why?”
“Let me see, I have something to try out.”
I must check my current skills while the iron is hot.
“Why do you want it?”
“Just hold still.”
“What? Are you going to draw me? You’ve never drawn anyone else.”
Did I, Kim Soo-hyun (female)? Now that I think about it, I definitely avoided drawing others.
“That’s because you keep bothering me; when I finally draw something, it ends up on the classroom floor a few days later.”
“I see…”
“Anyway, stay still; I haven’t drawn in a while, so I might be rusty.”
Kim Soo-hyun (female)’s specialty was illustrations.
So I would draw Hyejeong’s face as a character.
I had a unique art style, so I needed to check just how much I had declined since then by looking at my previous works.
With that, I lightly sketched her face shape in my notebook.
Even with no draft, it was surprisingly easy to get a smooth line down. I continued to sketch while glancing at Hyejeong’s face.
The lines smoothly formed shapes and gradually acquired depth.
“Oh… My skills haven’t vanished.”
While Hyejeong admired my drawing, I was genuinely taken aback.
The skill that existed in my memory of Kim Soo-hyun (female) hadn’t changed at all.
Even after 21 years, having Kim Soo-hyun (male) enter the scene, the drawings of Kim Soo-hyun (female) remained untouched.
My body remembered the lines, and my mind recalled the rules.
In fact, with Kim Soo-hyun (male) only having doodled stick figures, it shouldn’t have been so confusing.
As ten minutes flew by, I sketched a good portion of Hyejeong’s upper body and face onto the notebook.
It was a pretty cute 2D style.
“Oh… It’s cute.”
Hyejeong commented on the drawing, saying it was adorable, yet I found the whole process enjoyable.
Now I understood why Kim Soo-hyun (female) was so into drawing.
What popped into my mind manifested in my hands, which was far too amusing.
“Can I show this to folks at school?”
“Go ahead.”
While Hyejeong put the notebook into her bag, I couldn’t help but smile with emerging happiness.
“What’s with that creepy smile?”
“What should I do?”
“Why?”
“She’s pretty, has a great voice, sings well, plays games fantastically, and even draws well—what do other VTubers do for a living besides me?”
“…I want to say something, but that’s quite the rap sheet.”
“Isn’t this a fully optimized talent?”
Thoughts flowed uncontrollably in my mind.
Imagining a scenario where I drew while interacting with viewers during a stream, receiving donations…
What if I cycled through League of Legends, my drawings, and ideal type tournaments indefinitely?
Isn’t that a Trinity of sorts?
“But have you improved your singing? I thought you were already good.”
“That’s because you have bad ears; you were merely captivated by my natural voice.”
“Do you want me to end you?”
“We could finish the coffee and head to karaoke; I’ll show you.”
“Hah, I don’t refuse a challenge.”
So, Hyejeong and I went to a coin karaoke.
“Whoa, damn!”
At my improved skills, Hyejeong couldn’t help but exclaim in pure admiration.
***
After parting ways with Hyejeong and returning home, I checked my email to find the debut song had arrived.
“Ah, I’m a bit nervous.”
This song would change my future.
With the company investing heavily, I didn’t think it could go badly, but who knows.
After all, even famous musicians flop with their new tracks from time to time, so how much worse could ours be?
Carrying that sense of anxiety in my heart, I hit play.
As the soft sounds of instruments filled the air, the guide vocal’s voice came through.
And after a short four minutes…
I quietly mulled over the song.
“Not bad at all…?”
Given the VTuber background, I thought it would be a song more aligned with Japanese band music, but it felt closer to K-pop.
Though it did have a touch of the Japanese band vibe.
I may not have professional knowledge of music, but I’ve listened to a fair amount of tunes, right? Imagining the members singing along…
They wouldn’t get slammed for being bad, at least.
Zing—zing—
The chatroom buzzing may very well be filled with discussions similar to my thoughts right now.
While I pondered that, my phone rang.
Thinking it might be Hyejeong, I checked and saw a different name pop up.
[Mahohyun]
Mahohyun, with the nickname Maho, is my classmate.
It’s my first time getting a call directly from her…
I answered without a second thought, and an excited voice chimed through.
[“Soo-hyun! Did you listen to the song!?”]
“Ah, yeah, I did.”
[“Huh?”]
“What?”
[“Does your voice sound a bit different?”]
“Oh, definitely.”
As I thought about it, during my previous calls with the group, I must have unconsciously spoken with the mic in front of me, so I hadn’t been speaking quite like myself.
Naturally, it would sound different when actually on a call.
Well, my former manager who had transitioned to being the current one didn’t mention it, so maybe she’s familiar with such cases.
[“It sounds great…! So calm and mature!”]
“Isn’t the broadcast version bad?”
[“No! That has a brighter vibe? Your voice is definitely something else…”]
“I like your voice too.”
[“Huh..”]
“Why?”
[“Can I really be called ‘older sister’ by someone with a voice like that?”]
“Haha, that’s just a compliment.”
But even Maho, speaking like that, had a voice that ranked among the top tiers compared to regular people.
That’s why she passed the audition.
[“But seriously, isn’t the song good?”]
“Yeah—right? It’s really good!”
[“So, Soo-hyun, where do you live?”]
“Excuse me??”
[“I heard from the person in charge last time that the composer plans to meet you directly for the recording? I’ve heard their studio has high-quality equipment and can provide immediate feedback…”]
“Oh, so you want to join me?”
[“Yeah! I asked in the group chat, and the other members said they would schedule separate times.”]
Hmm… That definitely suggests the other members find it a little daunting to meet just yet.
On the flip side, Maho might have been feeling burdensome to go alone, which is why she called me.
Having had some nerdy talk, we got pretty close over a short period…
“Sure, when do you want to meet?”
Meeting didn’t seem to be a problem at all.
[“Really? No backsies!”]
“Yeah, if I’m alone, it’d be a bit heavy too, so just let me know when you’re going.”
[“Let’s do it tomorrow! How about lunch?”]
“I’m fine with that. Where should we meet?”
[“Hmm… let’s meet at the station closest to the recording studio.”]
“Got it, I’ll remember that.”
[“Thanks for your hard work!”]
With that, I set a plan with Maho.
***
The next day, I left the house early for our appointment.
The weather was starting to warm up. Today, I wore a loose oversized tee and shorts that weren’t too short, pulling my hat low.
As I basked in the morning sunlight, which I hadn’t seen in a long time, I sat on a slightly empty subway, listening to the debut song that I had received on my wireless earphones, trying to memorize the lyrics and melody for a good while. After arriving at the agreed station, I stepped off the subway.
Arriving early, I took a seat at a café in front of the station as the appointment time drew near.
Zing—
As the predetermined moment approached, I got a call from Maho.
“Hello?”
[“Soo-hyun, I’m here, where are you?”]
“I’m at the café right out front. I’ll head out now.”
[“Oh? No, no! I’ll come inside! Stay inside!”]
“Sure, I’ll be comfortable inside then.”
[“Hahaha! Alright!”]
After hanging up, while sipping my ordered drink, it didn’t take long for a woman to walk in.
Her long black hair reached her waist and had a bit of a curl, making the ends twist around. Though she had her hat pulled low, it was easy to tell she had fair skin.
And… she was tall.
She seemed to be about the same height as the nearby guys, glancing around before tilting her head and pulling out her phone.
Seeing that made me chuckle, prompting me to stand up and walk toward her.
I was quite tall for a girl, but she looked at least 5 cm taller than me as I waved my hand at her.
“Is that you, Mahohyun?”
Seeing her wide eyes peeking out from under the hat made me grin.
There would be at least four more reactions like that ahead, right?
Changing my profile picture paid off.