Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 46

15. The Second Settlement

“Is this Abbey Road Studios?”

Abbey Road Studios.

It was one of the most revered places for fans of the Beatles.

The Beatles, who sold the most albums in history and topped the Billboard charts more than any other artist. With countless other records, they were synonymous with musicians who combined musical artistry and mainstream appeal.

The emergence of the Beatles was considered a pivotal moment in 20th-century cultural history, solidifying their legendary status.

The Beatles worked with this studio from their very first recording until their breakup.

I was standing in the place where that legend began.

It was my sister, Hee-jeong, who snapped me out of my long-overdue daydream.

“What are you doing? You told me to take a picture!”

Hee-jeong, holding a large DSLR camera, stood next to the Abbey Road crosswalk in front of Abbey Road Studios, her eyes full of excitement.

“You shouldn’t treat your brother like that.”

Fortunately, my mother, dressed elegantly, scolded her. I quickly approached them.

“Sorry, sorry. It’s just been so long since I’ve been to Abbey Road Studios.”

“It’s been a long time? Isn’t this your first time in England, Oppa?”

“Ah! Right, right. I guess I’ve seen it so much in pictures that I was mistaken.”

“…Okay. Get ready to pose. You said there are many places to take pictures besides here.”

I was relieved to see my sister grumbling but still focused on recreating the Beatles album cover photo taken at the Abbey Road crosswalk.

I seemed to have gotten away with a slip of the tongue, revealing ingrained memories from another life.

“Don’t look directly at me. Just walk forward casually.”

She always grumbled when I asked for help, but when it came to taking pictures, Hee-jeong became more passionate than anyone else.

“Okay, Mom, let’s take a picture like Oppa.”

After I took a picture, my mother also posed awkwardly at my sister’s insistence.

The result was somewhat disappointing.

It wasn’t because Hee-jeong’s photography skills were lacking, but because the atmosphere felt different, perhaps because so much time had passed since the original photo was taken. The magic wasn’t there.

In particular, my mother looked like she was in a crosswalk somewhere in Korea, which made me laugh.

“Great! Is the next place over there?”

“Uh… yeah.”

I was briefly taken aback by Hee-jeong’s artistic enthusiasm, which burned brightly regardless of the results, but I soon began to enjoy it.

In my past life, I had come to England several times, but I was never able to truly enjoy the sightseeing.

That’s because I had become too famous by then.

I had gained recognition through collaborations with several legendary British singers, and my fourth solo album topped the UK charts for a long time.

Because of this, I became more famous in England than in the United States, and people recognized me everywhere I went.

That was a good thing, but it also came with its drawbacks.

England was the birthplace of rock legends besides the Beatles.

The Rolling Stones, the rebellious icons of rock and roll, Led Zeppelin, who became legends in their own right, and Queen, another British institution, etc.

I wanted to experience their legacy.

Because of that regret, I decided to spend my vacation after finishing my activities in Japan in England.

I came to England to see my sister, whom I hadn’t seen for almost two years, and to go on my first overseas trip with my mother.

“This is British fish and chips! It’s disgustingly expensive, but it doesn’t taste good.”

I grumbled at the restaurant recommended by my sister, saying that it was greasy, salty, and only suitable as a beer snack.

My sister, looking incredulous, raised her voice. “Are you kidding me?”

“This is the best place. No, I told you to eat something else! You insisted on eating it, Oppa!”

“Ah~. I didn’t think it would taste this bad. Don’t you think so… you’re enjoying it?”

“I’m okay. So this is British food.”

Unlike me, who couldn’t eat much and gave up, my mother smiled and ate it with more enjoyment than I expected.

She wasn’t a picky eater to begin with, but more than that, she seemed to be in a good mood because it was her first overseas trip.

Wasn’t she always an extroverted person?

However, I couldn’t let this kind of thing ruin an important meal on a precious family trip, so I shook my head and stood up.

“Mom, don’t force yourself and put it down. We’re going to eat something really delicious now.”

“What? No, you didn’t say anything when I was eating.”

“Are you going to be like Mom?”

“Jerk!”

“Hehehe. Okay, okay. Let’s go quickly. We have to be on time because it’s a reservation.”

Hee-jeong stopped grumbling and packed her things with anticipation.

My mother also put down the fish and chips as soon as I said we were going to a good place.

The place we arrived at by taxi was Bibendum, a Michelin-starred restaurant.

It is one of the best restaurants in London, serving modern British and French cuisine. They source fresh, local ingredients, with seafood and oysters as their specialties.

In my past life, I often visited this place, but surprisingly, I had never been here with my family, so I made a reservation from Korea specifically for this trip.

Bibendum, which I discovered that way, was very satisfactory.

My mother wasn’t as unfamiliar with the dishes that came out under the direction of the renowned chef Claude Bosi as I had anticipated.

She enjoyed seafood, and the food was surprisingly well-suited to her taste.

-Click, click!-

My sister was busy taking pictures of the dishes, and my mother thought it was excessive, but I didn’t mind.

It may seem a little strange now, but in a few years, these things will be commonplace.

“It seems like you’re putting more effort into taking pictures of food than taking pictures of me?”

“Ahem. What nonsense are you talking about?”

I chuckled because she seemed to be caught off guard, and my mother playfully slapped her on the back and told her to sit down because she was standing up to take pictures.

The accommodation was booked separately as a hotel.

Because of the exorbitant cost of British real estate, the place where my sister was staying was barely large enough for one person to live in, considering the rent.

When I first visited my sister’s accommodation, I was speechless.

“Haa~. You’ve been living in a place like this for three years?”

“Ugh~.”

My mother and I couldn’t help but sigh at the accommodation, which was smaller and worse than the monthly rental room I lived in when I was working at the factory. My sister shook her head at our reaction and said.

“No. This is really luxurious. There are so many places that are worse than the room under the stairs where that Harry lived [referencing Harry Potter’s living situation].”

Unlike my mother, who didn’t understand the reference, I nodded because I knew the situation.

The British real estate market was so dire that some people lived on boats as accommodation.

Compared to that, this place, which had a space to wash and cook, was definitely livable.

“Still, this isn’t right. A superstar’s sister is living in a place like this.”

“Hahaha. How long has it been since you debuted that you’re already acting like a star?”

“……”

I realized once again that she was a different person from my sister in my past life.

My sister in my past life was, to put it nicely, a bit of a troublemaker.

It happened because my family’s attention was naturally focused on me because I was pursuing music from a young age.

In addition, she used my fame and her intelligence to get into trouble, making it difficult for me to cover up her actions.

It was fortunate that there was no social media at the time, but if she had done the things she did back then in this day and age, I wouldn’t have been able to fix it.

I tried to get her to come to her senses in various ways, but it was difficult to reverse her downward spiral once she went astray.

Fortunately, she started to mature little by little after she became an adult.

As YC Entertainment began to grow in earnest, she wanted to work in the industry.

Fortunately, she had an eye for aesthetics, so I encouraged her in that direction, and in the process, she became ambitious and started talking about studying abroad.

‘Sending her abroad was a stupid thing to do. Even if she came to her senses, she still caused accidents if she wasn’t supervised.’

Unlike her past self, I wondered if my sister, who entered S University despite the challenging circumstances and came to study in England almost alone, was the same person.

Looking at this, it seems that the environment is more important than inherent nature.

“What’s with that look?”

I chuckled for no reason at my sister, who seemed to dislike my expression.

“Hehe. I’m just proud of you.”

“Whatever~.”

“Ugh. Let’s clean up a bit. Look at this dust.”

While I was bickering with my sister, my mother washed a towel and started cleaning.

At first, my sister told her not to, but when she saw how much dust came out, she blushed and started cleaning with my mother.

I also helped by taking out the mattress and dusting it off, and thanks to that, the lunch I had overeaten was completely digested.

After cleaning, we went to the hotel we had booked and had dinner at the hotel buffet.

I was quite hungry because I had been active, so I ate five plates, and my sister shook her head at my appetite.

“I thought so, but your eating habits are still the same. Are you going to gain weight again?”

“Oh my. You eat well. My son. Yes, you have to eat. If you’re so skinny, which young lady will come along?”

“Pfft~.”

I wasn’t bothered by my sister’s words, but I spat out the black tea I was drinking at my mother’s words, which seemed to be hinting at marriage.

“Are you okay? Oh my. Drink slowly.”

“Hahaha.”

Unlike my sister, who was laughing at my flustered appearance, my mother didn’t seem to know why I spat out the black tea. I was flustered for a moment, but then I nodded.

Well, I’m 31 years old this year.

Considering the current social norms, it’s not that late to get married, but just 10 years ago, it was an age to be considered an old bachelor.

In that respect, it was not unreasonable for my mother to subtly bring up the topic of marriage.

I wiped the spilled black tea with the napkin my mother gave me and said.

“I don’t have anyone to meet yet. What marriage are you talking about?”

“Oh my. How old are you? You’re so relaxed. Just tell me. I’ll introduce you to a good person.”

When the topic of a blind date came up, I winked at my sister to help me, and she stopped joking and diverted my mother’s attention elsewhere.

My sister knows how damaging it can be for a singer who has just debuted to be involved in a scandal.

After finishing the meal and returning to the room, I checked the cryptocurrency exchange with the slow internet compared to Korea.

“Is it starting soon?”

Early January. The coin, which was less than $15, was rising to nearly $30 in March.

It had almost doubled in two months.

I couldn’t help but feel my heart pounding as I watched the coin price gradually accelerate its upward trend.

That’s because the time for the second settlement was approaching.

“It was a really good idea to move up the album release.”

I was confident that it would be successful, but I never thought it would be so successful that people would talk about it as a cultural phenomenon. I never imagined that it would become a sensation not only in Korea but also in Japan.

Thanks to that, I made a lot of money.

In the case of Japanese CFs [commercial films, or advertisements], I received a fee that was beyond my wildest dreams.

The top Japanese stars received 100 million yen per CF, but I received even more. To be exact, I received incentives based on the sales volume of the products I promoted in the CFs.

And the money I received as an incentive was greater than I expected.

It may sound arrogant, but as the face of the cultural phenomenon, the advertised products were often sold out.

Thanks to that, I received more than 100 million yen in incentives, and in cases where there were no incentive conditions, I received an unofficial 50% bonus.

Perhaps because Japan is a unique country where prices and salaries have remained stagnant for decades, there seems to be a limit that is difficult to surpass even in these contract fees.

Thanks to that, I no longer needed to be obsessed with money, just from the CFs I shot in Japan for two months.

Adding the CFs I shot in Korea, the total was 15, and after deducting all the taxes from the CFs I shot, the money that came into my hands was a whopping 18 billion won [approximately $13.5 million USD].