Chapter 1039: I knew it (8)

The rehearsal for Like The Sun was conducted at a leisurely pace.

Everyone needed to conserve their energy now so they could unleash it all during the actual performance later.

Like The Sun.

The theme song of Sound of Sun.

A song Sun Myungju sings to the world during the climax of the film.

The various barriers that existed in the 1980s and 1990s—racial discrimination among them—were far more severe than they are today.

The inspiration came from an interview my father gave during a New Year's performance in 1992.

In the footage, my father sat calmly, smiling behind a pair of glasses.

[The Berlin Wall has fallen, and now the ideological walls that once divided people into opposing camps are coming down as well. As we move into the twenty-first century, more and more of these walls will disappear.]

A faintly bittersweet smile.

[But the walls surrounding me still seem quite sturdy.]

[Sturdy?]

After my father mentioned barriers such as racial discrimination, the white interviewer blinked in confusion and raised his microphone.

[But wouldn't your success itself be proof of America's inclusiveness? If discrimination were truly that severe, I don't think you would be standing here today.]

[Of course America's inclusiveness is remarkable. I agree completely.]

Then my father smiled calmly.

[Do you like baseball?]

[I'm a huge New York Yankees fan.]

[Just because someone is standing on third base right now doesn't mean people know whether he started from second base or spent the entire game desperately running just to avoid being thrown out at first. Anyone who didn't watch the game wouldn't know.]

[...But everyone starts from home plate in baseball, don't they?]

The interviewer clearly understood what he meant and was pretending not to.

My father simply smiled.

[Indeed. Wouldn't it be wonderful if life worked like baseball and everyone began from the same batter's box?]

[...]

The interviewer ended up shrinking back without gaining anything from the exchange.

Even today, the clip had over a thousand English comments on MyTube.

"Sun Myungju's attitude is incredible."

"That interviewer is unbelievably rude."

Things like that.

In any case, near the end of the interview, my father looked at a sparkling Christmas tree and said:

[My New Year's resolution? Right now, I think I'm about as bright as a Christmas tree. This year, I'd like to become someone who shines even brighter.]

His smile widened.

[Like the sun.]

After that interview, he wrote something in his diary.

That year, he was planning a performance featuring a famous jazz musician and various minority artists.

One sentence had been written in large letters.

Countless candles come together to become the sun.

Each individual light might be small, like the lights on a Christmas tree.

But together, they could shine like the sun.

If we burn brightly enough, like the sun, then you won't be able to see our race, our gender, or our appearance.

That idea became the foundation of Like The Sun.

In the film, it was a song sung by Sun Myungju and countless others.

A song where many small lights gathered around him and declared:

We are the sun.

"Great work, everyone."

I closed the piano lid after finishing rehearsal.

"Get some rest now and save your energy. Then let it all explode during the actual performance."

"..."

Why wasn't anyone answering?

I turned around after lowering the piano lid.

"Ughhh..."

"Ahhhhh..."

Every actor who had participated in the rehearsal was sprawled across the floor.

The Korean actors.

The American actors.

Everyone was leaning against walls, staring blankly into space.

"Father in Heaven... I'm coming..."

Ronnie Lucas had completely given up. He was lying flat on his back with one arm covering his face, muttering to himself.

"My God."

"Does Korea not believe in human rights?"

"So that's how they developed their economy so fast."

I chuckled quietly at the dazed American actors.

I thought we'd taken it relatively easy.

Apparently everyone else's stamina disagreed.

I stood up and clapped.

"Alright. Take about two hours to rest, and I'll see everyone at the real performance."

"Yes~"

After repeating the same instructions to the American cast—

the door opened.

"Hello~!"

My lackeys appeared carrying bags in both hands.

Apparently they'd bought out half the convenience store next to the company cafeteria.

Jiho grinned brightly.

"We figured Wooju hyung was bullying you all, so we came to comfort everyone!"

"Woooooo!"

"Free ice cream for everybody~!"

Biju cheerfully handed ice cream to the foreign veteran actors.

Junghyun and Ri Hyuk distributed drinks.

As the actors sat around on the floor chatting while holding sports drinks and soda—

I called out to the corpse lying next to me.

"...Guuuuh."

"Senior. Drink some water."

"R-right."

Lee Gyeonwoo painfully hauled himself upright and gulped down a bottle of water.

The skin of the Hallyu star, which had looked as dry as a fish stranded on land, immediately regained its color.

"You should've drunk some water during rehearsal."

"I was afraid I'd have to use the restroom. I didn't want to break the flow."

He smiled.

"It's my movie, after all. Today's performance has to be perfect."

I laughed softly at the sense of responsibility in his voice.

As I took a drink myself, Lee Gyeonwoo suddenly asked:

"By the way, how are you planning to promote this?"

"Hm?"

"Today's live broadcast."

"Ah."

Today's recording would be streamed live.

Through Silver Screen Korea's MyTube account.

The reason for choosing a live broadcast was simple.

I want people to see that this movie is the real deal.

How hard everyone had worked to make this musical film.

How talented they were.

How beautiful the music was.

I wanted people to understand why they should watch this movie.

And nothing conveyed sincerity better than a one-time live performance.

Polished studio recordings edited together were great.

But live broadcasts had a unique emotional power.

That kind of authenticity naturally generated buzz.

"I'm fine with all that."

Lee Gyeonwoo tilted his head.

"But people need to know it exists first, don't they? You said this isn't being streamed on NewBlack TV."

"That's right."

"So how are you planning to promote it?"

"The most effective advertising possible."

"?"

I gestured around the room.

Understanding dawned on his face immediately.

"Ah..."

"Minions. Come."

"Yeeees!"

The lackeys appeared with villainous giggles.

"We haven't actually helped, but the world's cutest and most famous lackeys have arrived. Muahahaha."

"Excellent."

The members pulled out their phones and opened Instagram.

I looked around the room.

"Does everyone here have social media accounts?"

Several actors raised their hands.

We nodded.

"Please help us promote it~"

"Of course~"

One of Korea's biggest stars, who had nearly ten million followers, fiddled with his phone.

"I've got around twenty million followers on Weibo too. Should I post there?"

"We can't release the movie in China, Senior."

"Oh. Right."

He immediately began carefully drafting a post asking everyone to watch the live broadcast.

The younger members were doing the same.

"Please support our hyung~"

As everyone promoted the stream, Ri Hyuk suddenly commented:

"There really aren't many people with over ten million followers."

"You're right..."

Compared to ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) how famous everyone was, their follower counts seemed surprisingly low.

Then Ronnie Lucas smiled wistfully.

"We're not the ones with low follower counts. You people are just ridiculous."

"Huh?"

"Wooju, do you know what rank your account is in the world?"

"Uh..."

I had absolutely no idea.

I knew we had a lot of followers.

But we mostly used social media to talk with fans and occasionally like our friends' posts.

I took a random guess.

"One hundred twenty-seventh?"

"Not even close."

Ronnie Lucas shook his head.

Thirty-third.

That was where NewBlack's leader ranked among the most-followed accounts in the world.

@dnwn_sun

Followers: 46.37 million

Wooju's account was approaching fifty million followers.

And unlike many celebrities whose growth had stabilized long ago, his follower count was still climbing in real time.

Naturally, it was also one of Souffle's favorite hunting grounds for content.

Anything new yet?

His most recent post was a selfie glaring at a Rabbit Uncle doll.

As Souffle wandered around like a pack of floating hyenas waiting for scraps—

"Oh?"

A new post appeared.

@dnwn_sun

A special live broadcast for Sun Myungju's biographical film Sound of Sun will be streaming today on Silver Screen Korea's MyTube channel!

The post was written in both Korean and English.

Souffle blinked.

Sound of Sun? That movie?

The biographical film about Wooju's father.

The one featuring Lee Gyeonwoo and several famous international actors.

The film had attracted attention domestically.

But until now, there hadn't been much material.

Aside from distant photos taken during filming in Korea and a few paparazzi shots of Wooju visiting actors in Hollywood studios, there had been almost nothing.

...What kind of live broadcast are they doing?

While Souffle's curiosity grew, international users following Wooju's account became interested as well.

"A movie?"

"Is Sunny acting in it?"

Many of the new followers who had arrived after the Met Gala fashion coverage were equally intrigued.

What kind of livestream is this?

Then more promotional posts started appearing.

Ronnie Lucas.

The rising Hollywood actor with eleven million followers.

The movie Ronnie's in?!

They're performing live today?

Then came posts from Lee Gyeonwoo, whose popularity across Greater China and Southeast Asia was enormous.

"The Weaver Girls are crying..."

"Gyeonwoo oppa sings like trash—no, maybe recyclable plastic. Will he be okay?"

"Thai Weaver Girls, move out!"

News spread rapidly.

People all over the world began gathering at Silver Screen Korea's account as the broadcast time approached.

[Sound of Sun: Official Promotion]

The stream hadn't even started.

Yet millions were already waiting.

Four million.

Five million.

Six million.

The number continued climbing.

And naturally, those figures reached the ears of Silver Screen itself.

"What the..."

Dwight Goodman shot out of his chair.

The chair creaked ominously beneath his weight.

But all of his attention was fixed on the numbers.

Nine point eight million...?

He had been happy enough letting NewBlack handle the promotion.

But numbers like this?

He had never imagined them.

How is this even possible?

Then the livestream began.

The viewer count immediately surpassed ten million.

Director Kim Bora gave a hand signal.

"Five minutes until we're live!"

"Whew..."

Someone let out a nervous sigh.

Everyone laughed.

Sitting at the piano, I rubbed my hands together and looked around.

Let's do this.

Lee Gyeonwoo and the Korean actors raised their fists encouragingly.

The American actors who had flown all the way to Korea for this promotion nodded as well.

Looking at them all staring at me like I was a conductor, I smiled.

"Everyone worked hard during rehearsal."

Then I played a gentle melody on the piano.

"From here on, just let yourselves follow the flow of the music. Slowly. Softly. Happily."

As the melody shifted and evolved, smiles gradually appeared across their faces.

Many of the actors were nervous because this was their first live performance.

I smiled reassuringly.

"You only need to surrender yourselves to the music I'm playing. I'll take care of the rest."

Everyone nodded.

"Then shall we begin?"

"Let's do it!"

Willie Jones shouted first.

The room erupted into cheers.

In the distance, beyond the cameras, I spotted my younger brothers.

They were holding LED message boards.

[Hyung you're so prettyㅠㅠㅠ]

[Sun Wooju divorce me]

They were making heart signs.

Thanks.

I had spent the last hour calming everyone else's nerves.

But I was nervous too.

"Director, how many viewers do we have right now—"

I stopped myself.

Never mind.

Knowing would only make me more anxious.

Taking a deep breath, I looked down at the score.

Like The Sun

The song had received overwhelming praise during internal screenings.

But how would the public react?

I couldn't know.

The uncertainty felt like standing inside a fog.

I'd confidently told everyone this would be the perfect promotional piece.

Yet now that the performance was here, I couldn't stop trembling.

"Haah..."

I exhaled slowly and closed my eyes.

My fingers touched the piano keys.

I began organizing my thoughts.

Now it was time to become immersed in the song.

"One minute until we're live!"

As my concentration deepened, the surrounding noises gradually disappeared.

All I could feel was my breathing.

The rise and fall of my body.

The cool piano keys beneath my fingertips.

A gentle jazz swing flowed through the room.

The cold keys gradually warmed.

We shine like the sun.

A song about countless candles gathering together and becoming a sun.

When you shine brightly enough, race and gender disappear from sight.

The sun doesn't care about the opinions of others.

It doesn't shine because it craves affection.

It simply burns.

And shines brilliantly.

Imagining that heat filling my entire body, I slowly warmed myself up.

Then I opened my eyes.

Wooju.

Director Kim Bora's gaze asked if I was ready.

I quietly nodded.

The livestream began.

"Hello, viewers around the world!"

Whenever I spoke Korean, Lee Gyeonwoo translated into English beside me.

"...We're here today to promote Sound of Sun, which will be released in approximately three months."

As I explained my role in the film's music and production, my fingers continued moving across the piano.

The music carried me forward.

"First, I'd like to introduce Lee Gyeonwoo, who plays Sun Myungju."

"Nice to meet you."

A powerful jazz phrase accompanied the introduction.

As I introduced the other major cast members, the tempo gradually increased.

The atmosphere slowly grew warmer.

Then, while continuing to play, I addressed the audience.

"The song we're performing today is the film's main theme, Like The Sun."

I smiled toward the camera.

"Have you ever heard the sound of the sun?"

Ri Hyuk immediately raised his hand as if to answer.

Then froze.

Suppressing a laugh, I continued.

"I composed this song while imagining what it might sound like if the sun could sing."

Then I stopped playing briefly and looked around at the cast.

Everyone signaled that they were ready.

I placed my hands on the keys.

A gentle introduction flowed out.

Softly.

Tenderly.

Like soaking rain.

I leaned toward the microphone.

"We are like stars in the galaxy—"

The opening lyrics were inspired by words from the twentieth-century philosopher William James.

Though we appear separate like isolated islands,

beneath the surface we are all connected.

We are stars.

And we belong to one another.

"We are like stars in the galaxy,

separate, but connected with gravity.

(We are like stars in the galaxy,

appearing separate, yet connected as one.)"

Smiling, I offered the next line.

"And I am the Sun."

The actors layered harmonies behind me like an a cappella choir.

Bathed in the crimson glow of the setting sun that filled the practice room,

the live performance of Like The Sun finally began.