Lee Hyun-woo felt uneasy, so the next day after work, he went to see Kim Ah-young.
In his memory, it seemed like it was the first time he visited Seorabeol Hotel without any specific purpose.
Then the next day, it was Kim Ah-young who came to him without any specific purpose.
‘Maybe by seeing each other like this every day, a relationship closer than friend but not lovers might naturally form?’
If he had to classify it, she could still be considered just a female friend.
Lee Hyun-woo thought that this kind of relationship wouldn’t be bad.
If their relationship had to be defined, it seemed like it would become burdensome for both of them.
‘Someday, a moment of decision will come.’
The next day, Woo Sang-won and Jang Yoo-chul departed for Germany.
They planned to return after visiting two research institutes.
One was the Dachshund Institute, where a forum on the openness of portal sites was being held.
The other was the Front Hoff Institute.
It was the place that developed MPEG, and they had to visit it for the legitimacy of Jungle Music, which serviced MP3s.
On the way back from taking them to the airport with his younger brother, Lee Hyun-woo told Lee Jung-woo about it.
“From now on, copyrights are assets that cannot be handled carelessly.”
“I know. It’s something you take really seriously. That’s why you’ve been running around for the rights of copyright holders.”
This referred to the 50% distribution rate given to singers, composers, and lyricists when selling songs.
“Since then, it seems like more singers are debuting.”
“Well, it’s probably people who were originally preparing.”
“That might be true, but Team Leader Han said that the number of people dreaming of becoming singers, composers, and lyricists has increased tremendously.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
So, in this life, will he see more new faces of singers?
Maybe he could advance the Korean Wave even earlier.
With this thought, Lee Hyun-woo smiled broadly and said.
“If many appear, it won’t be bad for us.”
“That’s right. Currently, as much as is supplied is being sold. By the way, what’s with this song?”
“Huh? What?”
“This song is a bit… never mind.”
Lee Hyun-woo frowned slightly as he listened to the song playing on the radio.
The song was by DJ Brothers.
‘It’s similar yet different.’
It seemed similar to the songs he heard in his past life, but there were differences.
Recently, there had been many songs like this.
Maybe it was a phenomenon that occurred because Lee Hyun-woo returned to the past.
Even though the world he was reborn into looked like a parallel world, not everyone could act or speak the same way.
Just like how his younger brother’s character had changed.
Creative works also began to change.
Songs, dramas, movies, novels, etc.
‘Tch, reruns are better for this.’
Lee Hyun-woo, who enjoyed the sentiment of the 90s more as he aged.
And then, he indulged in that sentiment while living after his return.
‘Sigh.’
Maybe he had to live in a new world where the songs he heard didn’t play and the movies he watched didn’t premiere.
That was quite… disappointing.
When he got home and logged into Jungle Music, it became even more pronounced.
‘Wow, I don’t know any of the recent songs.’
Last year’s songs were probably released as they had been prepared for a while since before his return.
But from the point when Lee Hyun-woo appeared, the preparation process might have changed.
‘Is this some kind of butterfly effect?’
Just like the flap of a butterfly’s wings could create a hurricane, Lee Hyun-woo’s influence seemed to have completely spread to the music industry, making it very unlikely to enjoy the masterpieces of the era.
After looking more closely, he found that songs that should have been released at the end of last year didn’t exist.
‘Damn it.’
Then a thought struck him.
If it was a hit in his past life, wouldn’t it also be a hit in this life?
‘Then I should make it come out.’
Not that he planned to make money by creating songs.
He just wanted some of the songs he enjoyed listening to in this life to come out, so he picked up the phone and called somewhere.
(Hello?)
It was answered by the only female singer Lee Hyun-woo knew, Kim Yoon-seon.
“Are you busy?”
(No, I’m fine. I was just taking a break from recording.)
Last Lunar New Year, while exchanging texts, Kim Yoon-seon told Lee Hyun-woo that she was working on an album aiming for next month.
(Do you have something to say?)
“Yeah, a song suddenly came to mind, and I’m not sure if I’ve heard it somewhere.”
(What?)
“I’ll sing a bit, so could you listen and tell me if you’ve heard it before?”
(………)
A somewhat baffled silence came from the other end of the line.
But Lee Hyun-woo started singing without caring.
“Because of that man, I might lose a friend~ The friend I leaned on whenever I was having a hard time~”
This was the chorus he remembered.
The title was “Love Forgiven by Heaven.”
“This part is the highlight… have you heard it before?”
(No?)
“Oh, really?”
Lee Hyun-woo contacted Kim Yoon-seon to confirm if he might have missed something.
(But it’s good? Is a man singing it?)
Her evaluation was positive.
Since he sang it in a lower key, she seemed to think it was a man’s song.
So Lee Hyun-woo went for it.
“I’m not sure. Actually, it’s been lingering in my head. The melody and lyrics.”
(Really?)
“Yeah, I’ve been checking Jungle Music whenever I have time. Because of this, I wonder if I’ve heard it somewhere… Do you know that feeling? When you keep humming a song that sounds familiar but can’t place it.”
(Of course. And it drives you crazy if you don’t know what song it is. Anyway, go ahead and sing the other parts.)
“This doesn’t have proper lyrics, and I just made them up earlier. Should I just hum it?”
(Sure, go ahead.)
“Okay. Even if I’m tone-deaf, bear with me.”
(I told you before, your low voice is really attractive. So keep singing in that key.)
Lee Hyun-woo, encouraged by her words, began to hum with renewed confidence.
“Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, drawn to him, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, I wished.”
As he sang, occasionally inserting the lyrics he remembered, there was no sound of breathing from Kim Yoon-seon.
It seemed Lee Hyun-woo was determined to revive this song.
He was doing something he wouldn’t have done in his past life, singing into the phone.
‘Anyway, trying everything I didn’t do in my past life is the goal of this life.’
Thinking this, Lee Hyun-woo finished the song.
(Wow, this song is really good.)
“Really?”
(Did you… by any chance, make this song?)
“I don’t know.”
(What do you mean you don’t know?)
“Like I said earlier, I might have heard it somewhere. It feels like I heard it in a dream.”
(No way.)
“Really. And in the dream, it felt like a woman was singing it. So could you record it in your key? And piece the lyrics together.”
Actually, this was Lee Hyun-woo’s plan.
‘Even though you’re not the original singer, I can keep listening to this song recorded in Yoon-seon’s voice.’
With a meaningful smile, he waited for her answer, and an unexpected proposal came out.
(Hyun-woo, I suddenly got a ‘feel’ for this song. If it really doesn’t have an owner, can’t I sing it?)
“That’s why I asked you to record it.”
(No, I mean, I want to include it in my next album.)
“What? Really?”
(Yes, really.)
“Haha…”
If he denied this development, that would be a lie.
‘Everything is going smoothly from the start!’
Lee Hyun-woo clenched his fist and smiled.
“Then we can’t keep talking on the phone. When you have time, come to our company.”
(Great. I’ll go to your company tomorrow.)
Seeing her rush, it seemed she really liked the song.
‘But what about the lyrics?’
That part was a bit disappointing.
No matter how good Lee Hyun-woo’s memory was, he couldn’t remember all the lyrics of a specific song.
But the charm of this song was in its lyrics.
A theme with a touch of taboo about falling for a friend’s boyfriend.
‘I’ll have to explain it in detail tomorrow.’
The next day, unexpectedly, Kim Ah-young also ended up listening to it.
Since she came almost every day without any specific purpose, he couldn’t stop her, and that’s how it turned out.
‘This is awkward.’
Realizing it required more courage to sing in front of someone than over the phone, Lee Hyun-woo still used the karaoke machine microphone in the basement cafe to sing, mixing the ‘hmm, hmm’ sounds and lyrics.
Both Kim Yoon-seon and Kim Ah-young clapped their hands in delight.
“Hey, this is good.”
“Right? Right?”
“It kept lingering in my head and on the tip of my tongue, driving me crazy. I thought it would be better for a professional singer to sing it, so I called you yesterday.”
“Well done, Hyun-woo.”
“I can’t wait to hear this song recorded in Yoon-seon’s voice.”
Today, Lee Hyun-woo introduced the two as friends as soon as they met.
It was to create a natural conversation atmosphere without any awkwardness.
So Kim Ah-young spoke casually to Kim Yoon-seon, and Kim Yoon-seon also smiled brightly, showing a harmonious scene.
“By the way, I checked all day yesterday to see if this song had an original creator, but I couldn’t find any. I even searched through foreign songs just in case.”
“Really? Is that possible?”
“Yes, our company’s search engine is very smart. If you type in the right command, it will come up.”
Though it didn’t make much sense, Kim Yoon-seon seemed to believe it with a naive look.
Without missing the moment, Lee Hyun-woo quickly explained the meaning of the song.
Then he added,
“I’ll leave the rest of the lyrics to you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, this time you can both compose and write the lyrics.”
“No, how can I do that? The song is practically made by you.”
“How would I know how to compose? I just sang what came to mind. Music was my worst subject in school. I don’t even know the musical notes well, so you can put the notes together properly and complete it. Got it?”
“…….”
Kim Yoon-seon looked at Lee Hyun-woo silently.
Then she suddenly turned her gaze to Kim Ah-young.
As if she needed her permission too.
Whatever that meant, Kim Ah-young, reading it, spoke brightly,
“I’m looking forward to it. I definitely want to hear this song sung by you. Will you do it?”
Kim Yoon-seon smiled bashfully and nodded.
“Okay. I’ll raise the key to a female pitch as you sang and try it. And I’ll properly attach the lyrics.”
“How long will it take? Oh, I’m not hurrying you. I’m just curious.”
When Lee Hyun-woo asked again, Kim Yoon-seon answered with a confident voice without losing her smile.
“I have a feeling it won’t take long.”
Her voice was full of conviction.
The reason was simple.
Seeing Lee Hyun-woo and Kim Ah-young’s interaction today, she felt that the two had something special going on.
‘Somehow, I feel like I can properly put my current feelings into this song.’
