Devil’s Music

The next day, at Seoul City Hall Plaza, six o'clock in the evening.

Since noon, agents had flocked in and were now dismantling the tents spread out on the ground, leaving no tents visible in the plaza.

However, as many tents as had disappeared, even more people had gathered.

From dawn until noon, already over 100,000 people had assembled in front of the stage in the plaza, and from noon until the evening, even more crowds swelled like clouds.

Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, and Southeast Asians, and even Westerners who arrived late, continued to flood in.

Ji and Yunhee, who live across the street from Shihwa, had been asked by Shihwa, who left for America, to clear away the newspapers that came daily to the house to prevent thieves from targeting it.

While Ji wasn’t directly helping Geon, she wanted to do well for his family and diligently fulfilled Shihwa's request, until she received a call from Yunhee last night, who was enjoying a music program.

Ji didn't believe Yunhee initially when she said that Geon had appeared at Chae Eun's Music Academy, but after seeing a flood of internet news, Ji immediately joined Yunhee at Seoul City Hall Plaza and spent the night.

The past night's time, shivering through the cold winter, granted them spots at the very front of the crowd.

"Sister! They're selling coffee over there! Mister! Here, here!"

Though it was a surprise guerrilla concert, many vendors had seized the opportunity and set up stalls.

As the afternoon progressed, this intensified, and people started selling food and drinks even in areas where people were sitting, and those who had been frozen overnight were all buying hot coffee to drink.

Ji and Yunhee called out to a vendor, but the man, busy serving other customers, only turned to them after a while.

"Five thousand won," he said.

Yunhee, pulling out her wallet, frowned.

"What? Five thousand won for a paper cup of coffee? It's not even cafe coffee."

"If you don't like it, don't drink it. It's almost all sold out anyway."

Despite the vendor's boldness in the unexpected rush, Ji quickly spoke up.

"No, it's fine. Two cups, please. Here’s ten thousand won."

After the vendor whistled and handed over two steaming cups of coffee, disappearing shortly after, Ji blew on her coffee to cool it down and spoke to Yunhee, who hadn’t started drinking yet and was warming her hands with the warmth of the cup.

"Sister, he really is coming, right? Ah, I should have watched yesterday’s broadcast. It’s not even on YouTube, and coming here just based on articles makes me anxious."

Yunhee touched the coffee cup to her hands and looked around.

"I'm sure I heard it right. And are all these people idiots? All these people must have come after watching the broadcast."

"Ah, but I’m still nervous. What if we went through all this trouble and don’t get to see him?"

"Look, they are even setting up the stage now."

Yunhee pointed to where people were busily moving to set up the stage, but Ji still couldn’t quite settle her nerves.

"This… I should have seen it myself. Phew. Shihwa sister is in America, so we can’t even contact her, it’s driving me crazy."

"He'll show up. By the way, what about your classes?"

"I asked around, and so many kids were coming here that the professor just canceled the class. Guess he thought not many would show up anyway. Plus, I'm in the Department of Practical Music, so watching performances like this is all part of my studies."

"Well, you always know what to say."

"When’s your interview?"

"I had one today but just skipped it. It’s just another one of those interviews I always see."

Yunhee's face fell. She had graduated from university earlier in the year and had gone through over seventy interviews by late November, but the path to employment was long and arduous. Even applying to small and medium enterprises with less than 300 total employees, she faced competition ratios exceeding two hundred to one, leaving her feeling desperate.

"How's school? Well, it's an art school, so you must be enjoying studying what you want."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Ji had graduated from high school early this year and enrolled in an art college in Seoul.

Thanks to her diligent vocal practice after meeting Geon, she had scored high in practical skills, but her overall academic foundation was too weak for a music conservatory.

However, her college, which primarily evaluated practical skills, was

quite reputable among art universities.

"Fun? There's no vocal practice, just tons of harmony and composition practice, which is annoying. I have no plans to compose music.

Why do I have to learn that? Some jerk just threw together a curriculum that skims the surface of music."

Yunhee stroked Ji's back as she frowned and shook her head.

"No, you never know what you might end up doing, so it's good to learn everything. It all comes in handy."

"Che, I want to study abroad. They say foreign institutions really teach only what you need to learn."

"Don’t talk nonsense. Kay oppa also received a comprehensive education."

"Huh? Who said that?"

"Shihwa sister told me. He even took liberal arts courses in philosophy and art."

"That... really?"

"Yeah, she said that Juilliard aims to foster thinking musicians, so they have a lot of general knowledge courses in addition to practical skills."

"Che... it's like that everywhere, then?"

"Yeah, even Kay oppa learned it all, so why shouldn't you? Try hard."

"Alright, sigh… Oh, what’s that?"

"What?"

Ji pointed, and Yunhee turned her head to see vehicles entering backstage. As more than ten black vans lined up, Yunhee muttered, glancing at her wristwatch.

"It's still two hours until eight o'clock; no way Kay oppa is here already… what’s this?"

As the door of the front vehicle opened, and several women in pretty clothes stepped out, Ji jumped up.

"Ah!! There they are!! It’s ATP!!"

Hearing Ji's shout, other people also focused their attention on the five women disembarking from the vehicle backstage, rising from their seats and murmuring.

"A girl group? What are they doing here?"

"Wow, it’s Sujeong. Her face is small, and her proportions are amazing, isn’t she even prettier than on TV?"

"That's true, but speaking of Sujeong, didn’t it seem odd when she greeted the CEO of YDN at the Fantagio press conference?"

"There’s been a lot of talk about that. Yeonjeong, Jin Yeon going to Fantagio, why was Sujeong there?"

"There they go again. Stop blowing things out of proportion. Are you not tired of making up nonsense and ruining people?"

"No, but it really is strange!"

"Forget it, I’m not even interested. Oh! They're going up on stage!"

As ATP took their positions on stage, music started playing. Without any introductions, they began to dance and sing to the music, and the crowd, raising their hands, started following the choreography and enjoying the performance.

After ATP performed two songs, another vehicle disgorged women, and the audience murmured again.

"Wow, is it Girl Crush now? Looks like all of YDN’s people are here?"

"Is this like a pre-show? YDN, that's where Yeonjeong, Jin Yeon were, right? Looks like Fantagio really has a good relationship with them."

"I don't know, I was bored anyway, so this is great."

"YDN is the best!!!"

In a luxury vehicle at the end of the line of parked vehicles backstage.

Changhan Kim, dressed in a suit, and Director Lee watched from inside. Seeing the crowd enjoy themselves to the exciting dance music, and with fireworks set off in advance, Changhan Kim glanced at his watch and spoke.

"We have two hours left. Try to bring out the atmosphere. Don’t think about promoting our kids, think of it as setting the mood before Kay’s performance."

"Yes, sir. That’s why we didn’t even prompt the kids to speak."

"That’s right, he’s the one who pulled us out of the depths. We owe him."

"Yes, sir. I'll take care of it."

"And, make sure to block any other agencies trying to approach us with intentions like ours used to be, Director Lee."

"Yes, I've already spread out our security. I've even distributed photos of people to watch out for, so they won’t be able to approach the stage."

"Phew… that’s good."

Knock, knock.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the glass door of the vehicle on the opposite side of the stage, causing both Changhan Kim and Director Lee to turn their heads.

As Director Lee rolled down the window and asked in English, "Uh… what is it? This is a restricted area for authorized personnel only."

A blonde youth, with hair down to his shoulders, leaned in and smiled slightly, surprising Changhan Kim with his handsome looks, reminiscent of a foreign actor. The blonde youth then spoke in fluent Korean, catching Director Lee off guard.

"Can we talk?"

Director Lee, about to dismiss the Westerner, whom he had no prior dealings with, paused as he felt Changhan Kim's hand on his thigh.

With a stern

face, Changhan Kim slowly nodded.

"Director Lee, step down for a moment. I need to have a word with this gentleman."

As Changhan Kim allowed it, Director Lee, overwhelmed by an unknown force, unknowingly stepped out of the vehicle.

As he pointed to the open door, the blonde youth patted his shoulder and climbed into the vehicle.

With even the driver stepping out, Changhan Kim quietly watched as the blonde youth smiled and said.

"You know you almost boarded the express train to hell, right?"

Changhan Kim swallowed dryly. To call him merely a Westerner was an understatement; the aura emanating from his body was extraordinary.

Having spent 30 years in the entertainment industry, Changhan Kim knew this was no ordinary person, but the mention of hell stirred strange thoughts and involuntarily stiffened his body.

"Who… who are you?"

The blonde youth chuckled.

"If you knew, you’d have to die. Are you okay with that?"

"Gasp… no, no."

Despite his smile, the fear in Changhan Kim’s eyes deepened at the youth's intense gaze.

"Live right, you were really close to dying. The kid forgave you, but we didn’t. There are truckloads of guys out there ready to kill you. Think about the trouble the kid went through to stop that, and I’d like to kill you right here."

While the words made no sense, the unique atmosphere and power rendered Changhan Kim speechless as he nodded vigorously. The blonde youth seemed about to get out of the car but suddenly turned back to Changhan Kim.

"Do you like gold?"

"Pardon?"

"Do you like gold?"

"Yes… I do but…"

"Start collecting it."

"Pardon? Why gold all of a sudden…"

"You’ll need it."

"Ah… yes, I understand."

>

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