Chapter 795: Question (16)

I sat down in front of the grand piano and took a moment to steady my breathing.

"Whew......."

I laughed when I saw my younger members beyond the camera waving a banner that said "Fighting!" and clowning around.

I'm nervous.

Will I be able to pull this off?

The moment I gesture to the staff behind the camera, the streaming window on MyTube will appear.

[Answer]

Composed by Wooju

After looking at my name written on the sheet music, I turned my gaze to the names of my parents written on the score beside it.

Just as every question has its answer.

Answer is a piece that responds to Question.

Because the two pieces connect so well, it was scheduled to be performed at the Pyeongchang Olympics opening ceremony as well.

If there is a reason I am choosing to perform it now instead of revealing it then......

"But Wooju, do you really need to keep a piece called Answer hidden like a secret?"

Those were the words of Director Kim Ikhwan, who was in charge of directing the Olympic ceremony.

"If everything goes according to plan, your father's Question will become an incredibly famous piece around the time of the Olympic opening ceremony. On the other hand, the piece you plan to perform might feel unfamiliar to the audience."

Because of that, there was also the intention of letting the public become familiar with the piece in advance.

There were various other reasons as well.

But honestly, the reason I am performing Answer after my father's concert today is something else.

Simply.

For some reason, I have a strong feeling that it has to be done today.

Just like the powerful intuition that comes when producing an album or writing a song, my instincts as a singer told me that today was the opportunity.

"Please start a thirty second countdown."

At my signal, the staff behind the camera nodded.

Thirty seconds.

Twenty nine seconds.

As the time ticked down, I slowly closed my eyes.

"Are you doing well?"

Between the melodies of Question, I felt what seemed like the voices of my mother and father.

I answered them in my mind.

"I'm doing well."

Nearby, Biju clasped his hands together as he cheered me on, while Junhyun stood with his arms folded, watching seriously.

Ri Hyuk trembled nervously as if this were his own performance, and beside him our youngest member simply grinned.

Behind them, Seokhwan hyung and our managers were speaking quietly with the staff.

Although the camera showed only me, I was not alone in this space.

Smiling faintly, I placed my hands on the keys.

The emotion I would pour into Answer naturally came to mind.

MyTube.

Y App.

Instagram and other social media platforms.

As the livestream appeared across every platform connected to NewBlack, viewers flooded in instantly.

-what is it

-라이브??

-Say hello to Manila

-스픽 코리안 이 새기들아

-지금 라이브 방송 주제는 뭔가요?

-헐ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 뭐 하나여

-Answer면 새로운 곡?

Unlike the confused foreign viewers, Korean viewers were already beginning to guess.

"If it's Answer... then surely......."

Wasn't Question the piece that had closed the performance that shook the entire country earlier today?

Question and answer.

As people naturally connected the two ideas in their minds, their hearts began to pound when they noticed the grand piano.

"Looks like Wooju wrote a piece."

"A piece?"

"The title seems to be Answer. Maybe he wrote something as a reply to his father's piece?"

As if responding to those expectations, the fingers of the nation's idol began to move gently over the keys.

And the moment they heard the first phrase—

"Uh......."

People's eyes widened at the outstanding quality that surpassed their expectations.

It felt as though the piece naturally continued from the final page of the song his father had left behind.

The beautiful melodies from Question that they had heard earlier drifted through their minds.

And as if replying to them, a new melody followed.

"This really feels strange."

"Yeah."

To ordinary listeners, the song gave a strangely peculiar impression.

Even when listening to famous classical music without knowing the title, each person forms their own interpretation.

A piece said to depict a warm spring garden might make someone else imagine a beach instead.

But the piece Wooju was playing now truly felt like an answer to a question.

"It really feels like he's answering."

It was difficult to express precisely.

But the two pieces fit together like different pieces of the same puzzle.

The structure and melodies were clearly different, yet somehow they connected. To the listeners, it felt like a mystery.

"Like father, like son."

People had always said the two resembled each other, but never had it felt this real.

-우주 신곡 라이브 중입니다. 다들 얼른 와서 보세요ㄷㄷㄷ

-타이밍 대박ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-우주 노 개 잘젓는구나

-우주는 노를 젓는 게 아니고 물을 가지고옴; 노는 졸개들이 젓는 거

-answer라는 이 곡 표절은 아니겠죠?? 새로 작곡한 노래라고 하기에는 넘 좋네요.

The timing was perfect.

Wooju appeared with the piece Answer at the exact moment public interest was at its peak.

And because the quality of the piece supported it, the buzz only grew stronger.

"Huh? It's already the second half?"

People rushed to watch Wooju's livestream as news spread everywhere, but the piece was already approaching its final section.

Two minutes and forty seconds.

A somewhat shorter duration compared to his father's piece.

Those lucky enough to enter the livestream found themselves immersed in a strange emotion as they listened to Answer.

"The son completes the father's performance."

A face resembling his father but even more refined.

While Question had been jazz, Answer felt more like pop.

Not an orchestral composition, but a piano solo.

As these contrasts stood out, Koreans watching the performance began to sense an aura from the handsome young man at the piano.

"But the song is really good."

"I've never heard it before, but why does it feel like plagiarism? In a good way."

It was such an outstanding piece that people reacted the same way they often did when discovering songs later revealed to be plagiarized—"This is the original?"

Even Wooju himself had wondered about it and searched through music from countries like Norway and Romania to confirm it wasn't plagiarism.

But beyond its structure or technical excellence, the best part of the piece was something else.

"He's happy."

It was the emotion flowing from the music.

As if imagining something joyful, the handsome man smiled warmly while his fingers moved gently across the keys.

"What happened to the world after I left?"

It felt as though he were answering the question of someone who had departed first.

The world was still filled with sadness.

But just as much happiness remained.

If Question was a piece that celebrated a festival before asking a question about tomorrow, then Answer felt like the people of tomorrow quietly offering their own answers to the people of yesterday.

"More... just a little more......."

Just as listeners wished they could hear a little more—

Cruelly, two minutes and forty seconds passed, and Wooju's performance ended.

"......."

As viewers across the country stared blankly at their screens,

Wooju rose from his seat and bowed gently to the audience with the exact same motion his father had once used.

At that moment, a caption appeared.

[The live broadcast has ended.]

About three minutes.

A very short time, perhaps.

[Real Time Search Rankings]

Wooju

Answer

Wooju livestream

South Korea, already in an excited frenzy after Sun Myungju's performance, began to shake once more.

The past few days had truly felt like a dream.

-PBS1 "The Return of Sun Myungju" records 47.1 percent viewership. The best minute: "Question."

Although it aired in a relatively quiet time slot with little competition, the performance had achieved nearly fifty percent ratings.

It was a tremendous success.

Not only the ratings, but joyful news poured in from everywhere.

[Hello. I am a member of Sun Myungju's fan club who attended the performance. (Review)]

Posts from people who said the performance made them incredibly happy began appearing all over the internet.

The fan café that had once felt like a ghost town gained ten thousand new members every hour.

No one knew how long this atmosphere would last without new activities, but it showed just how much interest there was in my father.

Most of all—

"Hyung, I captured this. It's still number one!"

"Really?"

"Yes, look."

My eyes widened as I looked at the Mango Chart Biju showed me.

"Goodness."

Even several days later, my father's album was still holding the top spot on the chart.

The songs from the album His Last Vow, with an enormous number of ratings, were currently sweeping the charts.

[Daily Chart]

Sun Myungju - Question

Sun Myungju - Brunch

Sun Myungju - Confession

A Boat on the Small Pond Called the World

The top three positions were fixed, and even through the twenties and thirties the songs lined up one after another.

Songs that had previously dominated the charts had all been pushed aside.

Our song Coin had been pushed down as well, but strangely I felt good about it.

"But."

Ri Hyuk asked while monitoring online reactions.

"People keep posting on the forums asking when Answer will be released. They say inquiries are coming into the company too."

"I'm planning to release it after some time passes."

"Wouldn't it be better to release it quickly?"

"We could... but I just don't feel like doing that."

Right now I wanted all the attention to stay focused on my father.

More importantly, the full version with additional instruments was planned to be performed at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

Maybe because the track hadn't been officially released yet, but the video of Answer kept gaining hundreds of thousands of views every moment.

It was a massive success.

Of course, with such enormous attention, there was bound to be some noise.

"They want to apologize."

In the management office, Seokhwan hyung repeated the story he had mentioned earlier.

"Apologize? Who?"

"The guys who planned that prank camera thing before."

"Oh."

Only then did I remember.

He meant the attention-seeking MyTube streamer who had suddenly appeared dressed like my father at the end of the performance.

"Today we're planning a nationwide surprise prankㅋㅋㅋ"

Apparently they had planned a "special prank to honor a deceased musician."

They must have thought it was a fresh idea.

The channel had several hundred thousand subscribers.

But after the news spread that day, they were criticized from every direction.

"At first they fought with netizens... then later they couldn't handle it and uploaded a video crying, saying they wanted to apologize to you. But they still don't want to give up their big channel."

When Seokhwan hyung asked, "Want to see the video?" I shook my head.

I didn't see any reason to watch something like that.

"Just keep ignoring it. Accepting their apology won't make anything better."

"Got it."

"And it's better if we don't release any statement either. Otherwise our antis might subscribe just to boost their numbers."

The reason they wanted an apology was obvious.

They wanted a shield to say, "The person involved accepted our apology, so why are you still criticizing us?"

"What about the other issues?"

"Hmm... we're still monitoring this, but there might be a request from investigative authorities for written questioning."

"Huh?"

"A complaint was filed. Someone claimed that your father leaving the sheet music might count as a form of irregular inheritance or tax evasion."

I couldn't help laughing at the idea that some strange group had filed such a complaint.

Seokhwan hyung laughed awkwardly too.

"The performance became such a national issue... it's chaos. The company PR team is still getting calls."

"What's going on now?"

"The funds raised for your father's concert."

"Oh."

"You said the concert profits and remaining funds would be donated to support children who want to pursue music. That's why."

Perhaps because the amount was enormous.

Various foundations kept calling, asking that the funds be entrusted to them.

Others called saying their child studied music and asking for money, claiming we had promised to help people in need.

I laughed.

"I expected some of this, but there really are all kinds of things happening."

"Tell me about it."

There were some unpleasant issues, but the joy outweighed everything else.

The world was simply full of many different kinds of people.

I smiled faintly as I looked at the boxes filled with fan letters and messages sent to my father.

"So what are you planning to do with the funds?"

"I'm going to follow the plan we decided earlier."

Airport lounge.

I said goodbye to the performers, who looked refreshed.

"You all worked very hard over the past three days. Thank you."

"We were the ones who had a wonderful time."

I shook hands with each performer heading to board the flight to Japan.

"Hmm, did Deoksun perhaps mention anything about me?"

"She said you seem like a good person."

"I suppose I struck out then. Haha!"

After briefly embracing Professor Winston Ross, who had grown dear to me during the short time we spent together, I saw him off.

The old man walked away humming a jazz blues tune, leaning on his cane.

Then I shook hands with the blond Frenchman holding a thick suitcase handle.

"Paul."

"Wooju."

"Thanks to you, the performance was such a success. I truly mean that."

"Well, I did help with a few things."

Looking at the French pianist's small smile, I felt sincere gratitude.

From the fundraising party to today's concert, he had used his influence to help with countless details.

Since he had been with us at the beginning, I decided to ask him about the final step as well.

"I've decided how the funds will be managed."

"How can I help?"

"Could you recommend trustworthy foundations or organizations? I'd like to distribute the funds across several places."

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket. A basic investment strategy. Well... the amount is too large to entrust to a single place anyway."

Paul Laurent asked,

"Why not create a foundation yourself? Like Hollywood stars who establish foundations to fight AIDS or hunger in Africa."

"I've thought about it, but the situation isn't very favorable."

Getting involved with a foundation managing funds could create legal complications.

While I'm active as an idol, I'd rather keep my distance from financial issues as much as possible.

And with my personality, I would want to oversee everything personally—but I'm too busy with my main work right now.

"But if I ever create a foundation someday, I already have a name in mind."

"What is it?"

"The Eunmyung Foundation."

A name combining the syllables "Eun" and "Myung" from my parents' names.

When I explained that the Korean pronunciation sounded similar to the word meaning Destiny, Paul laughed.

"I hope such a foundation will exist someday."

"Yes. When I have more freedom one day......."

After shaking hands with the pianist one last time, I waved goodbye.

Watching him disappear through the sunset-lit exit with his suitcase, I turned around.

My younger members were waiting for me.

"It's really over."

"It's over."

I nodded at their words.

A project we had been preparing breathlessly since last November was finally ending.

It felt a little empty.

And also relieving.

Of course, my father's performance was not truly finished. Starting tomorrow, it would continue in Japan, the United States, Europe, and around the world.

But somehow, inside me, it felt finished.

"Alright, let's go."

I wrapped an arm around the shoulders of the fourth and youngest members as we headed to the car.

"Thank you, guys."

"For what?"

"You've all been busy too, but you took care of everything for the past few months."

"It's nothing."

I smiled when Biju grinned back.

"Now we have to return to preparing the album."

"Ugh......."

"What's wrong, maknae? Are you happy?"

"I was excited during your father's concert, but now I feel like the road ahead is endless again."

I laughed happily at Jiho, who looked distressed thinking about the long road of album preparation.

It was time to return to ordinary life.

As soon as we got in the car, the members began nodding off.

Quietly, I took out my phone.

When I put in my earbuds, a video began to play.

"Did the performance end well?"

"How was it?"

My father and mother appeared in the video, their faces close together as they asked.

The performance ended well.

"You worked hard, our son."

"Our son really is the best."

Even though my parents could not know how the performance had gone, it still felt like we were truly having a conversation.

Watching the video quietly, I simply smiled at the words they had once recorded.

I love you too.

Just as this performance had been a beautiful farewell to my father's fans,

everything connected to this performance felt like a farewell for me as well.

It felt as though the regrets that had filled my heart all this time had finally been released.

I probably would no longer feel that sharp ache whenever I heard stories about my parents.

Instead, something warm and gentle now seemed to fill that space.

"Stay healthy."

"Eat well, sleep well, and smile often. Okay?"

As the words in the video echoed like a message from my parents, I nodded.

Thank you.

Both of you.

Thanks to you, I think I'll sleep peacefully tonight.

"......."

I stopped resisting the drowsiness washing over me and let my body relax.

For the first time in a long while,

it was a peaceful sleep.