A New Career Singer Who Can Read The Future [EN]: Chapter 163

After a long flight, Do-hyun and his team arrived in England. Do-hyun hadn’t slept well on the plane and felt a slight crick in his neck, making it uncomfortable to move.

He would have preferred to slip out of the airport unnoticed, but he’d heard that fans were waiting.

“Do-hyun, what do you want to do? They say a few hundred fans have gathered,” Kang-ho asked.

Do-hyun, rotating his arm to ease the discomfort, said he wanted to greet the fans since they were waiting.

After retrieving their luggage, they emerged to find the airport teeming with fans.

The fans were shouting their love in their respective languages. Do-hyun once again marveled at the passion of British fans, just as he had during Glastonbury [a famous music festival in the UK].

“Thank you, everyone! Thank you for coming all this way!”

Do-hyun struck a pose like a British gentleman and greeted the fans, expressing his gratitude. Do-hyun’s polite demeanor perfectly captured the fans’ attention.

“Do. Hyun. Ah!”

The loud voice of a foreign fan made everyone laugh.

“I’ve come to England for several performances, so please take good care of me! Thank you all! It’s very crowded, so please be careful not to get hurt! Thank you!”

Do-hyun continued to greet them and was guided through the crowd to the car.

As soon as Kang-ho got into the car heading to the hotel, he exclaimed, “Wow… Na Do-hyun, your popularity seems to have exploded!”

“I’m worried the fans might get hurt.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that. When I looked earlier, they were standing in an orderly manner… I was amazed by the fans’ self-control.”

“Oh, really? After getting off the plane, it hurt so much to lift my arm… There’s a song with choreography during this performance. I really want to nail that stage… but with this crick in my neck.”

“It’ll be alright. Let’s think of it as temporary. If it gets worse, let’s visit a hospital near the hotel.”

“Yes, hyung. I really want to put on a great performance. I don’t want to hear that I didn’t do well in any country. I want to do well that much… so I have to endure it.”

Do-hyun’s determination was unwavering. As he was planning to perform a song with choreography, he was determined to complete the stage perfectly.

Watching him, Kang-ho thought that a person addicted to work was something else. He doubted he could ever be as driven, even if given the opportunity.

‘Anyway… he’s my responsibility, but he’s really something. That’s why he’s able to climb to that position and stand firm without wavering…’

“Ah, come to think of it… when is Lily sunbaenim’s [senior artist] song released?”

“This Friday… or should I say in this time zone?”

“It’s confusing in this time zone, so please tell me in Korean time, hyung. It’s this Friday, right? It’s confirmed, right?”

“Yeah. I heard it’s confirmed, from Lily’s manager.”

“Thank you. Since it’s a song made to target the Billboard Hot 100 [a music chart that ranks the top 100 songs], I hope it debuts at number one. I hope it gets a good response…”

“It’s a collaboration between Na Do-hyun and Lily, so wouldn’t it naturally get a good response? Foreign media outlets are already flooding with articles anticipating the reaction to the single song that Na Do-hyun wrote, composed, and produced.”

Do-hyun felt his face getting hot at those words.

He had looked up the articles himself. However, hearing it from someone next to him was still embarrassing.

You’d think he’d be used to it by now, but strangely, he never got used to this kind of praise.

“…Na Do-hyun is quiet; he must be embarrassed again?”

“Hyung, I can’t help but be embarrassed. It feels weird to hear good things. What should I say… it feels like I have to do better. Something like that.”

“Praise is always good. I think you made a song that can live up to expectations, Do-hyun. So, just be prepared to be praised!”

“The song will be released in two days in this time zone, right?”

“Yeah. I think so? That’s what I calculated roughly. That’s what they’re saying in the group chat too.”

Kang-ho said, checking his phone. The manager’s group chat had the release time in British time. Kang-ho recited it as it was.

“Ugh… I’m nervous. Why am I more nervous than for my own concert?”

“Is it because this is the moment for your producing skills to really shine? I’d be nervous too. You wrote, composed, and produced songs for sunbaenims who are more senior than you, and that song is aiming for the Billboard charts. It’s a song aiming for number one… I feel like I’d be worried about what to do if it doesn’t reach number one.”

Kang-ho read Do-hyun’s mind perfectly. Do-hyun was a little embarrassed that his complicated feelings had been exposed. At the same time, he hoped again that it would achieve good results.

“I really hope it gets good results. I want people to say, ‘Na Do-hyun’s class is exactly this!’ I really want to be addicted to work and die working… I just want to walk the path of success from now on. I want to be reborn as a true singer-songwriter who is good at everything from singing to producing, hyung.”

“You can do it. You’re already doing it. Team Leader Lee Joon-hyuk acknowledged you, right?”

“That’s true. Team Leader Lee Joon-hyuk did acknowledge me… but I don’t know what the public’s reaction will be. There’s always a bit of pressure to put out something above a certain level.”

“Don’t think like that. Think that you’re always the best. Think that you’ve become an all-time legend. If you cast that spell, you’ll become that. You’ve already become a top-tier solo artist among Korean men. You’ve even captured the elusive public appeal. It’s so hard to capture public appeal, not just the fandom.”

Do-hyun had no choice but to acknowledge Kang-ho’s insightful words. For male idols or male artists to capture public appeal, they had to be incredibly popular. Do-hyun acknowledged that he had risen to that position.

“Thank you, hyung. I’m sometimes embarrassed, but you only say what’s right.”

“Hey, how’s your arm, by the way?”

“It’s much better than before. I’ll rest today, and it’s rehearsal tomorrow… I can test it then.”

“Okay. Let’s do that. If it doesn’t get better by tomorrow, let’s go to the hospital or something. I’ll let the staff know in advance.”

* * *

The next day, after a good night’s sleep, Do-hyun’s condition improved.

It turned out that he was in pain because he had slept in the wrong position on the plane. After sleeping comfortably in the hotel room, his arm didn’t hurt anymore.

Do-hyun thought it was a relief.

When showcasing stages in each country, he had included one key song in the setlist, and in the case of England, he had selected a song with choreography.

He also chose a song that showcased perfectly synchronized dance moves with the dancers. Since the dancers had come all the way to a foreign country to perform, Do-hyun couldn’t only consider his own condition.

He knew very well that if he couldn’t perform the perfectly synchronized dance on stage, the dancers would have to return empty-handed without even getting on stage.

“Hyung, my condition is good,” Do-hyun said, swinging his arm around.

“Oh, hey. You’re going to hurt yourself more? It’s a relief that it’s gotten better… but you have to be careful not to hurt yourself more.”

“I have to… but I wanted to show you that I’m all better, so I did that.”

“Okay, that’s a relief. Do you want to go get breakfast?”

“No. I don’t really feel like having breakfast. I just want to eat a sandwich or something simple.”

“Then I’ll tell Road [staff member] to buy you a sandwich. Anything is fine?”

“You know I don’t really like seafood. Anything except seafood is fine.”

Do-hyun’s preferences were firm. He didn’t eat seafood originally, but one day he developed a seafood allergy. So he tried to avoid seafood as much as possible, except for the seafood broth he sometimes drank when he was drinking alcohol.

“Okay, I’ll order it that way. Warm up your voice and body in the meantime. I’m going to get breakfast.”

While Kang-ho went to have breakfast, Do-hyun warmed up his voice. Do-hyun and his team had rented an entire floor for this Wembley Stadium performance.

Do-hyun took out a camcorder from his bag. One thing he never forgot to bring was the camcorder, to film a vlog video to release to his fans. He knew very well that he was who he was now because of his fans, because they supported him.

In particular, his affectionate feelings for his Korean fans remained unchanged. His heart ached whenever he thought of his Korean fans. Thinking of the fans who were waiting for Do-hyun’s content to drop, Do-hyun wanted to quickly film a video, edit it, and upload it.

Originally, he had the content production team do the editing, but recently he had been doing it himself. He was clumsy, but he hoped that his clumsy editing skills would be liked by his fans.

“Ah, ahem. Everyone, I’m bare-faced. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? My bare face. I think I’ve only shown you my made-up face in vlogs… I’m in a hotel in England right now. My manager hyung went to have breakfast, and I’m waiting to eat a sandwich or something simple.”

Do-hyun, who was muttering while looking at the camera, suddenly felt embarrassed and laughed.

“Today is the day of the Wembley Stadium rehearsal. I can’t believe I’m going to perform at Wembley Stadium for two days. Really… I also want to say thank you to those who are coming. I was really grateful that so many fans came to the airport. I think I always get strength thanks to your love.”

Do-hyun muttered while looking at the camcorder. While doing so, he thought about doing a SNS [Social Networking Service] live broadcast. He thought it wouldn’t be bad to film a SNS live broadcast with a camcorder.

“I’m going to start a SNS live broadcast now. It’ll be night in Korea… I’m sorry to wake up the Korean fans. It’ll be morning or early dawn in other countries. Everyone, sorry for waking you up. But I want to wake you up and play with you.”

As soon as Do-hyun turned on the SNS live, a lot of people came in. It quickly reached 100,000 people. It started to lag. It was also because the hotel’s Wi-Fi wasn’t very good.

-Hello everyone, it’s Do-hyun. Are you all waiting for the Wembley performance? Do you know that tomorrow’s performance will be broadcast live on YouTube? I’m already excited to meet you all. Let’s meet tomorrow. Even if it’s not in person, let’s meet online. I turned it on briefly to say that. I love you.

Do-hyun sent a kiss with his hand as he said the last words. After doing a surprise event, Do-hyun felt his face heat up and muttered in front of the camcorder that he was embarrassed.

Numerous fans knew that Do-hyun’s charm point was that he was shy even though he did fan service so casually. Do-hyun also knew that fans were suffering from that point, but even after 10 years since his debut, he still couldn’t get used to it.

Ding-dong.

It seemed that the staff had bought the sandwich.

Do-hyun opened the door.

“I bought you a sandwich! I thought you’d like tuna, so I picked it out safely!”

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it. Thank you for your hard work.”

Do-hyun munched on the sandwich and once again recalled the setlist he would do at today’s rehearsal in his head.

‘Aja, aja! Na Do-hyun! Fighting!’