Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 161

Music Monster Overnight! Episode 152

However, a fox with seven tails wouldn’t easily let go of its prey once it had bitten down.

“It just so happens that the CEO is on sabbatical.”

“Indeed. Originally, I shouldn’t even be showing up at the company like this.”

“Oh my! Really? But to meet like this at the company, it feels like fate, doesn’t it?”

*Fate my ass.* I thought to myself, before speaking with a blunt expression.

“So, what do you want?”

“…Well, it’s nothing much.”

Only when I even imitated ‘Jin’s’ mannerisms did the fox finally stop playing around and get to the point.

“It’s just that I want you to teach my kid.”

“…Jamie?”

“Yes. Since she’s started her career as a singer, she’s becoming more and more serious about music.”

“Hmm.”

I could tell what this fox was trying to say. Unlike in the past, Jamie was now in a position where she could be called a master.

In other words, she had created her own style.

I was able to confirm that through this album, and I thought that she had grown so quickly because of the time she had spent pulling herself together, including mental counseling.

As her confused mind settled and her identity became clear, it naturally had a positive impact on her music.

Thanks to that, this album achieved insane success even though all the songs except the title track were self-produced.

If she continues like this for another three or four years, it’s clear that she won’t need my help anymore.

The person who feels that change the most must be herself. So, her thirst for music couldn’t help but be even greater.

“I know what you’re saying, but there’s not much I can do for her in her current situation.”

What I said about there not being much was true.

Being in the position of a master meant that she had to do her own music now.

So, it was a time when she usually had to rack her brains and fumble forward on her own.

However, in fact, my words were also contradictorily untrue.

Even though I couldn’t lead her like in the past, I could still light the way like a lighthouse, showing her where to go, just like I did for my nephews.

That was probably something only I could do, and that’s why I could do so much for her.

Thanks to that, even if it was difficult every day, I ended up spending two or three hours with Jamie a few days a week.

‘It reminds me of when we first met.’

Should I say she was confident? It was truly amazing that a fledgling who envied the musicians on stage and believed she could do better with vague confidence had become America’s most beloved artist in just a few years.

What had changed the most was her appearance.

When we first met, she reminded me of an aspiring actress, but now she exuded sensuality in every way, to the point where the term “Queen of America” suited her.

It was amazing that she could create this kind of atmosphere with just light jeans and a pastel light green t-shirt.

However, unlike that sensuality, Jamie often smiled at me like a fool.

I hadn’t even told a particularly funny story, but she was giggling, and I thought that any man would probably melt at that sight.

“Ahem…”

Fortunately, I wasn’t included among those men, but it was still a hit, so I cleared my throat to change the atmosphere and asked.

“Come to think of it, I heard you’re getting a lot of scripts?”

“Yes. Thankfully, I’m getting scripts from dramas and movies quite often.”

“Oh? So, you’re not completely against the idea.”

“…Yes. It’s a field I’m curious about.”

In America, it was common for singers to do acting work as well.

Especially if their visuals were unique or excellent. In that respect, Jamie was someone directors would call.

If they could just get her into their work, they would be guaranteed at least in terms of promotion.

“So, are you practicing acting?”

“I am, but it’s harder than I thought.”

“I guess so. But you’ll do well. People with good expressiveness usually do well, and you’re excellent in that area.”

It wasn’t just empty flattery.

She had a voice so beautiful that she was considered a reincarnation of Karen. But her real talent was when that beautiful voice expressed the emotions of the song.

Listening to her songs, where the flow of emotions flowed so naturally as if water was flowing, I would sometimes fall into the illusion that I had become the protagonist of that song.

If she could learn how to express that through acting, she would definitely become a great actress.

“…But right now, I want to focus on music.”

As she stared at me with emerald-colored eyes, I flinched for a moment. I barely caught and turned around the thought that was about to stop, and continued saying anything.

“Ahem. Right. Come to think of it, you’re really lucky.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. If you’re not lucky, where else could you find such a great teacher?”

As I praised myself in a joking manner, Jamie chuckled and nodded.

“That’s right. I think I’m really lucky. I’m so happy that I get to be with such a wonderful teacher.”

“Oh… Haha. Yeah, that’s what I mean.”

I smiled foolishly and muttered that, and soon ended the class early.

I had to end the class early, making up some nonsense about having urgent business, but for some reason, Jamie seemed to believe me while being disappointed.

“Then I’ll try to do what you said by the next time we meet.”

“Oh… Okay.”

I quickly said that and left the place.

I felt a bit stuffy in my chest with a feeling that was somehow unfamiliar yet nostalgic, and only after feeling that emotion from her several times did I realize it.

“So, is this what they call ‘sseom’ [a Korean term for the ambiguous stage between friendship and dating]?”

‘Sseom’ (some), an abbreviation of ‘something,’ has the meaning of ‘something that is not exact,’ just like the word. It refers to the uncertain feelings between a man and a woman before they start dating, and I was amazed that I had that feeling with Jamie.

But what’s really surprising is that it’s not just Jamie who is having these feelings, this ‘sseom.’

“What’s with you, hanging around like this these days?”

“Hanging around! It’s just a girl’s heart that misses her teacher…”

“…Girl? How old are you now?”

Ji-won, who debuted at 19 and has been around for 8 years, is already 27 years old, so it was quite brazen of her to call herself a girl.

‘Come to think of it, this kid is really amazing too.’

When we first met, she was a high school girl with an otaku [a person with obsessive interests, particularly in anime and manga] feel who seemed to have a screw loose somewhere, but now she’s the vocalist of a band that often tops the Billboard charts.

The fact that they are now a world-renowned band that writes and releases most of their own songs is really unreal.

In the meantime, the G1 band has been really busy.

Perhaps because I had been pushing them hard from the beginning to grow in real-world situations, they had been moving forward without rest, with comebacks and concert tours without even a sabbatical.

I thought that their young age and spirit made it possible, but I was also sorry on the other hand.

Because I had pushed them onto the world stage too early, they hadn’t been able to properly enjoy the things that their peers easily did.

If it hadn’t been for COVID-19, these kids would still be burning their precious youth on stage.

For some reason, when I said I was sorry for that thought, Ji-won widened her eyes and gave me her unique goofy smile.

“Hahaha. It’s really out of character for you to say that, Teacher.”

“You little rascal.”

“Hehe. But maybe it was different at first, but we’re doing this because we enjoy it. Even though we may not be enjoying the daily lives that our peers do, as you said, Teacher, we get to have special experiences that they will never have in their lives instead.”

As she looked at me with eyes twinkling like a cat, she slyly looked at me and came closer.

“For example… like this!”

With those words, her small body jumped into my arms with an unbelievable leap, and I ended up catching her without realizing it.

Like that, a small girl suddenly came into my arms with the scent of flowers I had smelled in a flower bed in the past.

“I thought I’d succeed in one try…”

She couldn’t continue her words as she was muttering something while being held in my arms with a face full of excitement about what was good.

It was because she had made eye contact with my face and eyes, which had turned red with surprise.

“Uh…?”

“…Get down. You’re heavy, you little rascal.”

I felt my face burning for no reason at the sight of her frozen like a fool, and I hurriedly and carefully sat her down on the sofa.

I would have thrown her on the sofa as usual, but I didn’t know why I did that.

Besides Jamie and Ji-won, there were other people who felt these emotions.

The meeting with Na-eun, who had a sabbatical like me due to COVID-19, was one of them, and Kang Ah-young, who I had been working closely with for a while, was also one of them.

In addition, Kim Ah-young, who had become close to me while playing the role of ‘Jin’s’ old lover in the second story of ‘The King of Arrogance,’ was also one of them.

As I saw the number of people who were feeling ‘sseom’ gradually increasing as time went by, I had to find a counselor again.

“You said there are more people you’re feeling ‘sseom’ with?”

“Yes. For some reason, it’s increasing more and more.”

“…”

The counselor shook her head for some reason, looked at me, and opened her mouth after thinking for a while.

“You might think that you suddenly started having ‘sseom’ with them, but that’s not true.”

“Yes?”

“Originally, those people had feelings for you. As you started to open your mind to romance, to that possibility, ‘sseom’ began to happen. In other words, as the emotions that had been one-sided for a long time met with a response, you began to face these ‘sseom’ like feelings.”

“!!!”

The counselor, who had nonchalantly rattled off a shocking story to me, looked at me with a face that was really interesting, apart from that.

I quickly spoke, as if she was looking at a really interesting test subject.

“I’m telling you again, I don’t want to be on a case study.”

“…Too bad.”

I preemptively ruled out the counselor’s request to write a case study, as she was so curious about what was so strange, and continued the counseling afterwards.

Many words were exchanged, but the conclusion was one.

“Try to spend more time with the person you feel most drawn to among them. In my opinion, at least anyone who is currently having ‘sseom’ with you seems to be a suitable person to date you.”

It meant that they were suitable for me, who had to slowly raise my confused views on romance while organizing them, just by being silently by my side even though they had liked me for a long time.

Lastly, she left me with the words that I didn’t have to continue the meeting too seriously.

She said that it was inevitable to think about marriage because of my age, but if I, who had difficulty even with dating, thought about marriage, the work itself would not be possible at all.

“For now, dating, huh. Hmm. This is a concern in its own way.”

I felt relieved as if a burden had been lifted from my mind at the words that I didn’t have to be too serious, but it was still difficult.

However, as the number of people I was having ‘sseom’ with gradually increased to eight, I had no choice but to somehow catch these ambiguous feelings.