Chapter 1205: Soaring (5)

At the same time.

Koreans who had been watching the Grammy Awards live since early morning burst into seal-like applause.

"Oh, this is wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!"

"That’s great!"

"A Lifetime Achievement Award means the Hall of Fame, right? Wow, that’s incredible."

The eyes of the Koreans watching the awards were brimming with tears.

It was because of the presenter’s comment just moments earlier.

-May we call the name of another father?

A thrill ran through them as the Sun Myeongju kids, reunited in one place, called out Sun Myeongju’s name in unison.

Middle-aged men drinking morning hair-of-the-dog liquor watched the TV and said,

"Man, Americans sure know how to put on a show. Look at them standing up and applauding."

"Wooju, this old man prayed a lot for you~!"

"Oh, it’s all a show. It’s a show, but… Did I get chili powder in my eyes or something……?"

Even as they insisted it was all showmanship, the middle-aged men’s eyes were red.

Everyone felt the same way.

He really grew up well.

Everyone had discovered at a different time that the leader of the nation’s idol group was Sun Myeongju’s son.

Some had known the moment Wooju debuted, while others only learned that he was Sun Myeongju’s only son around the time NewBlack earned the title of the nation’s idol group.

But everyone watching felt the same.

"I heard he lost both his parents when he was seven and grew up alone with his grandmother. Imagine how hard that must have been."

"Exactly."

They felt proud of the young man who had grown up kind and upright despite enduring such a difficult childhood. At the same time, they could not help admiring the sheer tenacity of the nation’s idol as he strode toward the stage.

Why had the Grammys given his father a Lifetime Achievement Award?

It was because of the son who had planned Sun Myeongju’s world tour since the beginning of last year and turned the film into a global blockbuster.

He’s seriously relentless.

Relentless in the best possible way.

He had used his own power to drag his father, whom the American mainstream media had repeatedly ignored and pretended not to see, back into the spotlight.

[Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-!]

Wooju buttoned his tuxedo as he walked onto the stage.

Koreans smiled proudly at the confidence in his stride.

I raised him. Heh heh.

Millions of people across South Korea smiled with satisfaction.

The applause grew louder as Wooju walked onto the stage.

Cheers and shouts erupted in particular when he lightly embraced Paul Laurent and accepted the trophy.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-!"

The entire venue surged with passion.

The cheers were for both the great musician and his son, but the atmosphere itself felt moving and intoxicating.

"So cool!"

"That’s our hyung! Our hyung!"

The NewBlack members were jumping up and down while bawling their eyes out.

And the recipient’s son was no different.

[Okay….]

Wooju cleared his throat, his eyes brimming with tears.

He raised a finger and lightly wiped them away, then looked around at the people cheering for him.

[Thank you, all of you.]

Wooju raised both hands, and one by one, everyone returned to their seats.

As the applause subsided, all eyes turned toward the son of the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

Wooju turned to Paul Laurent, who was standing nearby.

[First of all, Paul, thank you so much for preparing such a wonderful surprise.]

The blond pianist responded with a wink.

[And thank you all for gathering here to call my father’s name.]

Applause rose again.

[As all of you know, the Lifetime Achievement Award my father received today is the first award the musician Sun Myeongju has ever received here.]

Everyone familiar with the story of Sound of the Sun nodded.

[And I understand he is among the younger musicians ever to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. In terms of physical time, the life of the musician Sun Myeongju was not a long one.]

Wooju glanced at Paul Laurent and smiled.

[But just like the story about my father that Paul shared with us, I believe music is the same. Some people shine like stars over a very long period of time, while others burn brilliantly like the sun for only a brief moment. I believe that was my father’s life.]

[In that sense, I believe the Lifetime Achievement Award is a prize that represents my father’s life perfectly.]

As Wooju continued his speech, the pop stars nodded along.

Meanwhile, another group of people was paying close attention to his words.

They were representatives of the Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammys, as well as figures active throughout the American music industry.

What kind of response will he give?

There had been a variety of political considerations behind Sun Myeongju’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

They did not want the controversy to grow any louder.

Ever since Sound of the Sun became a massive hit in North American theaters, the music industry’s biggest players had been stuck in an exhausting situation.

[I recently saw Sound of the Sun myself, and the final scene shocked me the most. I was stunned to learn that such an extraordinary musician did not have a single trophy. None!]

That kind of comment appeared on talk shows popular with housewives.

-What else would you expect from the Grammys, when they only favor white people?

-Completely agree. They already bend over backward not to give awards to hip-hop artists and Black singers, and he was an Asian artist back then? Nothing more needs to be said

-He deserved far better treatment than this

Twitter was filled with posts condemning the music industry’s past wrongdoing.

Had it only been Souffles making a fuss, there would have been little reason to care.

No matter how correct they were, it could have been dismissed as an overreaction from an obsessive fandom.

But what about the reactions from audiences around the world who had seen the blockbuster film?

And then veteran musicians began adding their own comments.

[I always regretted the fact that he never received a single award. It was an absurd injustice.]

Once living legends such as Winston Ross began weighing in, the situation became impossible for industry insiders to ignore.

After all, these were musicians only one or two degrees removed from civil rights activists and politicians spread throughout the Senate and House of Representatives.

That was how the decision had been made to give Sun Myeongju the Lifetime Achievement Award.

-Let’s give him the award before this gets any louder.

Anyone working in the industry who was not an idiot knew the truth.

It was the music industry’s gesture of reconciliation toward Sun Myeongju’s son.

-We’re friends now, okay?!

What answer would Sun Myeongju’s son give?

Industry officials watching from various corners pricked up their ears.

[Before coming here, I looked over the list of previous Lifetime Achievement Award recipients. It was filled with truly great musicians. Choosing which musician deserved to have their name added to that list must have been an extremely difficult decision.]

Ding!

A translation program activated inside the officials’ brains.

Translation: I know perfectly well how hard you must have racked your brains trying to avoid giving my father an award.

Flinch!

[I would like to offer my sincere thanks to everyone at the Recording Academy for giving him such a wonderful award.]

Translation: But thanks for the trophy.

Wooju brought his acceptance speech toward its conclusion and raised the gramophone-shaped trophy.

As though accepting their gesture of reconciliation.

[And I believe without a shadow of a doubt.]

Translation: Listen carefully from this point onward, you fucking idiots.

Sun Myeongju’s son smiled brightly.

[That this will not be my father’s first and last trophy.]

Translation: Give me more.

[Thank you so much, Grammy!]

Translation: More! Give me even more! Kyahahahaha!

As whistles and applause echoed through the venue, music industry officials slowly closed their eyes and nodded.

After I finished the acceptance speech.

The other musicians receiving Lifetime Achievement Awards that year came onto the stage one after another after Dad.

Patty Ceron, a Black female singer who had defined the 1970s and was now over seventy, stood before the standing microphone.

[Damn!]

Her voice had a heavy accent. I wondered if that was what Madam Kim Deoksun would sound like speaking English.

The veteran singer spoke with earthy warmth.

[Honestly, after all that commotion right before me, I have no idea what I’m supposed to say.]

Everyone burst out laughing at her joke.

Patty Ceron pointed at me and smiled.

[For the record, I enjoyed Sound of the Sun too.]

My younger members and I laughed.

The veteran singer smoothly relaxed the atmosphere, thanked everyone for the Lifetime Achievement Award, and continued with her remarks.

"Phew."

I took a deep breath amid it all.

I had not shown it, but I had been so nervous that my palms were soaked with sweat.

My armpits felt damp too.

I wiped my hands against my tuxedo pants, straightened my clothes, and took a sip of water.

"How do you feel, hyung?"

I leaned toward Biju as he whispered to me.

"I think I feel much more at ease now."

"Really? That’s a relief."

"Yeah."

In a way, receiving that award had made me even more nervous than accepting one for myself.

Since it was the first award Dad had ever received, I had felt immense pressure to deliver the speech properly.

I asked Ri Hyuk,

"I didn’t make any mistakes, did I?"

"Other than getting a few prepositions wrong, no. You did misuse ‘with,’ though……."

When he saw my eyes narrow, Ri Hyuk cleared his throat and added,

"It was flawless. I almost teared up watching you."

"That’s a relief."

Ri Hyuk pouted.

"You already know you did well even without asking me."

"Yup."

"……."

"Kyahaha…."

Truthfully, I had already suspected it.

The audience reaction had been overwhelmingly positive.

"Phew."

As I released a lighter breath after shedding some of the pressure, I noticed Junghyun smiling beside me.

"Hm?"

Junghyun gestured toward the seat next to him with his eyes.

I had to hold back my laughter too.

Drip, drip-

Sweat was streaming nonstop from the crown of Cold Brown’s trembling head.

It reminded me of a famous American comedian meme.

The one where a nervous Black man sweated so heavily that it looked as though someone had poured bottled water over his head.

"Cold."

I handed him a handkerchief and asked,

"Are you okay? You’re sweating quite a lot."

"To be honest… no, I’m not okay. I’m so nervous I feel like I’m going to die. I want to run out of here right now."

"You can’t run away yet, Cold. Even if you want to, wait until after you perform with me."

He laughed at my words and wiped away his sweat.

I could understand how he felt.

Had it been more than fifteen years?

A man who had always gone home empty-handed was now considered a strong contender for one of the Grammys’ major awards.

As I watched him repeatedly touch the cross necklace around his neck, a staff member approached us.

"It’s time for you two to get ready."

"Okay."

I rose from my seat and told my younger members,

"Hyung is going to perform now."

"Do well."

I held out my fist, and Junghyun wrapped his hand around it with a soft chop, like paper covering rock.

The final performance before the General Field awards would be the collaboration stage between Cold Brown and me.

I stretched my neck as we walked down the hallway toward the waiting room.

After quickly changing outfits, I drew a nervous breath.

It was my first time performing on the Grammy stage.

"Phew."

"You can do it, Wooju. You can do it."

I nodded to Seokhwan, who gripped my shoulders and encouraged me.

"We’re heading up now!"

At the organizer’s staff member’s call, I started walking.

I joined Cold, who had gone ahead, and approached the backstage area filled with steel frameworks.

Why was I especially nervous today?

I warmed up while taking deep breaths, while Cold Brown silently adjusted his microphone and wiped away his sweat.

[Please welcome Tracy Coleman!]

As the famous actor who would introduce our performance came out onto the stage, I gently closed my eyes.

I had stood on the stages of many other award ceremonies, but this was my first Grammy performance.

And I would be going up alone, without the members.

But….

A stage is still a stage.

I only needed to focus on today’s objective.

-Answer.

The song that had ranked number one on Billboard’s year-end chart the previous year, and the song that had proudly earned both Cold Brown and me Grammy nominations.

So today’s objective was simple.

To deliver a performance worthy of its reputation as the song of the year.

Whatever else happened, I was confident I could do that.

As I focused on that thought, my trembling gradually subsided and my breathing steadied.

"How about it, Sunny?"

Cold asked with a smile.

"Ready to shine?"

"Yes."

I smiled and nodded.

"I’m ready."

Actor Tracy Coleman, appearing as the presenter, gestured toward the stage.

[Ladies and gentlemen, Cold Brown and Wooju.]

Cheers and applause.

A faint blue light immediately descended upon the stage, which had been swallowed in darkness.

The silhouettes of two men.

The artists behind Answer, which had established itself as the biggest hit of the previous year, stood motionless.

Then whispers emerged from the darkness.

-God.

Someone’s voice.

-Please give me the answer.

Various whispers began weaving together across the stage.

So many different voices overlapped that it was difficult to make out each one.

-How should I live from now on?

-I have a crush on someone. What should I do? I like that boy so much!

-I lost a family member I loved. I don’t know how I’m supposed to go on.

-Can I become a better person?

-Going to work every day is exhausting. How can I have a happier day?

From trivial concerns to serious ones.

From the voices of young children to those of the elderly.

As the audience listened to the various narrations, they understood the meaning of the performance.

Answer.

Songs commonly called hits were always loved for a reason.

Sometimes it was because the melody was beautiful. Sometimes because listening to them made people feel good, or because they were so addictive that people kept returning to them.

But the greatest reason was that they touched people’s hearts.

People connected with the emotions conveyed by the song.

One reason Answer, the previous year’s number-one song on Billboard’s year-end chart, had received so much love was that people could relate to it.

-How should I live?

Listening to the hip-hop song sincerely exploring the struggles of life gave people the feeling that an answer was just within reach, yet never quite there.

Or perhaps that the answer itself did not really matter.

It felt like talking through a problem with someone: whether the issue was resolved or not, simply pouring out what was inside brought a sense of relief.

The voices intertwined within an opening that perfectly expressed the theme of Answer.

"Oh……."

Someone widened their eyes.

The voices of different tones had merged into one and transformed into music.

A melody that flowed naturally into the live band’s performance.

The opening of Answer rang out from the darkness.

Cold Brown’s voice.

Marcus said,

Waste no more time what a good man should be

Then everyone sang along with the next line Wooju delivered.

Be one.

As the stage lights brightened amid the cheers, the two men revealed themselves on the Grammy stage.

A young man and an older man, dressed in black and white respectively.

As though they had waited a very long time, they slowly raised their microphones.

[Hello, Grammy.]

The voice of a man who had sharpened his blade for the Grammys for more than fifteen years.

[We’re here.]

And the voice of a young man who had waited a very long time for this moment.