WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

[ Translation - Aren ]

I'm a Reporter, Please let me get off the Stage

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Chapter 17

The morning of the 35th Jeju Bright Light Singing Contest Finals.

Gong Haram and I were wearing matching simple black short-sleeved T-shirts and jeans, as we headed to the finals venue.

The venue was outdoors. Twenty teams had made it to the finals.

In front of the low stage, rows of plastic chairs were lined up on the lawn that could easily accommodate a thousand people. The scale was quite large.

I could also see the Jeju Cable TV’s cameras.

In the past, I might have been watching the broadcast from over there.

“Yes! Hello. We’re here at the 35th Bright Light Singing Contest. We’re about to start the official contest with a speech from the mayor of Seogwipo.”

An elderly gentleman stepped onto the stage.

[Seogwipo’s Mayor Im Johun: Network Level 20]

The mayor had a pretty high network level, probably because he was the mayor.

Wait, he wasn’t even a celebrity, so how did a mayor have such a high network level? 

Im Johun, I should better remember that name.

For now, I’ll just keep my head down. Making eye contact with him might be dangerous for me.

“Yes, hello, dear citizens of Seogwipo. The weather today is very clear……”

After that boring opening speech, the real performances finally started.

That man who wore this rainbow clown costume had made it to the finals as well.

His singing was good, but he also showed off his strong desire to stand out once again as well.

He probably wouldn’t win anything in this city-wide event with such a quirky concept.

Civil servants and local musicians, who made up the judge panel, were usually pretty conservative.

In addition, there were various performances ranging widely in genre from a 5-year-old’s , the youngest participant, rendition of a children’s song to a rap performance by a 24-year old, Gong Haram’s peer.

But I knew the truth. These flashy performances were just put in to fill in the gaps in the name of ‘diversity’. 

“Next up, we have the Ha-young Ha-young team. Did they mean to greet us all with a ‘Hi-young’ perhaps? Haha.”

“……Now that he says it, it does sound pretty cheesy.”

Gong Haram whispered to me.

“No, these conservative officials love this kind of stuff.”

I whispered back, giving him a reassuring push.

“The song they’ll perform is called…… <The Woman from Rabbit Island> a folk song with lyrics based on a poem of a local poet. Quite an unusual choice.”

“Oh, moreover, these young men even rearranged the original and recorded their own accompaniment. Very impressive, isn’t it? Let’s hear it.”

Gong Haram grasped the stand microphone at the center of the stage. I quietly held the wired microphone, standing there a bit awkwardly.

― Across the blue sea, the crashing waves……

Gong Haram stretched out one hand, gazing far into the horizon.

―My love, leaving all alone~

He brought back his hand, gently placing it over his heart.

Wow, it really felt like watching an ‘80s <Gayo Daejeon>.

―My love, oh my love

My love, oh my love~

Loving some other woman now

Hastily you go~

As I harmonized with him moderately, I made sure not to overshadow Gong Haram’s voice.

His strengths were reaching their peak right now.

He was perfectly embodying the resentful sorrow unique of female speakers. No wonder, he seemed to be the most sensitive among those WEEKANIZ guys.

How did such an outlier come from a pure military family?

―Loving you until it leaves scars~

Loving you until it leaves scars~……

Gong Haram’s expression truly showed the sorrow of someone burned by love.

Baek Gyeom’s arrangement was also excellent.

He managed to shed the monotonous feel typical of traditional songs and added string instruments and piano to the background, giving it a more modern vibe.

He definitely couldn’t hide his talent in composing.

After the song ended, the applause and cheers were incomparable to the one we received in the preliminaries.

We even heard the occasional whistles.

Considering that we didn’t have any personal supporters within this vast crowd, this was indeed remarkable.

This reaction surely meant that we would secure some sort of prize.

I quickly scanned the judges’ faces. Half were expressionless, while the other half were wearing gentle smiles.

Come on, smile a bit more brightly.

“Wow! What amazing skills. Young talent bringing their own fresh twist to a traditional Jeju song. Let’s interview them a little, shall we?”

Getting an interview meant that we were recognized as promising talents worthy of airtime. That was a good sign.

“What made you choose this song?”

“Yes. My friend here has been really interested in Jeju folk songs and singing since he was little. Even when he was just a small kid, he participated in this competition's preliminaries with a folk song.”

Since Gong Haram seemed a bit hesitant, I quickly answered.

“You seem to have a deep connection with the Bright Light Singing competition. Can you explain more?”

Wow, no love for me, huh? Tsk.

Gong Haram had been looking down to the floor, then, at the host’s words, he lifted it a little to look at the audience.

“I just…… I just desperately longed for a stage where I could sing the songs I love. This singing competition provided such a generous stage for someone like me, and just being able to perform here makes me truly happy.”

“Such a humble response! Was there a particular reason why you were so desperate for this stage?”

“Actually, I had a brief career as a singer. It’s understandable though that no one recognized me since I wasn’t really famous. But being able to sing made me so happy. I also liked dancing……”

“Oh, so that’s what happened~ Oh my, don’t cry now! Haha. I could feel it through your performance, but you have quite the sensitive heart.”

Gong Haram’s nose turned red as he held back his tears.

I patted his shoulder and scanned the middle rows of the audience to the left side.

There they were.

Familiar yet unfamiliar silhouettes sat there.

Gong Haram’s parents.

* * *

“Isn’t he cute?”

“Wow, he really is. He doesn’t even look like 10.”

“That’s right. Haram was only 6 then. He hadn’t even started kindergarten yet. A strange one, isn’t he?”

The night Gong Haram and I discovered the Bright Light Singing Contest poster, I secretly visited his mother.

I seized the moment while she was doing her evening stretches in the yard.

When I openly told her that I wanted to take Gong Haram back to Seoul, she led me to the study on the second floor.

There, she played an old, worn-out CD to me.

In the video, a small child walked out and sang a song.

It was the six-year-old Gong Haram.

I couldn’t help but smile at his evident cuteness and intelligence. 

Gong Haram’s mother also wore a fond smile.

“Our family has a deep connection to the military for generations. As you might have guessed.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“As our only son, Haram was expected to follow this path as well from birth. But he turned out to be quite different.”

She continued her story.

“When Haram first went to Seoul to become an idol, his father was furious. He confined him to his room, despite him being already over twenty years old. When he found out Haram had been secretly attending vocal lessons, oh dear. What a mess that was.”

“I see……”

“That was a mistake. If one tries to force a peculiar person into something they weren’t made for, they’ll only become more peculiar, haha.”

“Ma’am, I know this might be hard to believe, but…… I’m really trying to help him make a real comeback. Could you trust us one more time?”

I felt kind of strange because this seemed as if I was asking for her blessing.

“To earn your trust we’ll show you some tangible results. Just judge us based on those.”

“Hmm……”

Honestly, once one is over twenty, one should be allowed to live one’s own life, right?

This family was really strict, no doubt about that.

“Yuyoung, how old did you say you were?”

“Err twenty…… five.”

“You’re also not that old…… but you somehow seem as if you’re in your thirties. Were you always such an old soul? Haha.”

……These adults sure were scary.

“And the Consolation Prize goes to Ko Hyungil for his rendition of <A Woman Like a Flower>! Congratulations.”

The man dressed in a clown costume came forward.

Surprisingly, he actually won something.

Next the Excellence and Best Performance Award were announced.

Our names still weren’t called.

After the Best Performance award was given, about ten teams remained.

……I was feeling a bit anxious. I didn’t even bother looking if the results had been posted in advance somewhere, because this event was so low-key that I highly doubted that anyone wrote articles about it.

Maybe I should have?

“And now, the Grand Prize winner!”

I instinctively looked back towards the audience where Gong Haram’s parents were sitting.

“……The Grand Prize goes to the team Ha-young Ha-young for their rendition of <The Woman from Rabbit Island>!”

As soon as the announcer declared the winner, a man in the audience, right where I was looking, suddenly stood up.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

Gong Haram, in a daze, accepted the trophy and gave an interview to Jeju Cable TV.

With the cameras and microphones surrounding him, he looked like a real celebrity.

This was the most gratifying moment ever since I entered this body.

[Hidden Quest ‘First Stage’ Completed! : +30 Points]

And I received an unexpected reward as well.

Well, a stage was a stage……

“Hyung…… Hurry up.”

“Give me a second…… Where’s my phone charger……”

It was 4 am, and I couldn’t even hear the sound of a single ant crawling on the ground.

Gong Haram and I were cautiously moving around, relying on the light from our phone flashlight.

“Where the hell is it?”

“……It’s… attached to your phone, Hyung.”

“What? Ah, for real.”

I hurriedly shoved the charger into my pocket.

“But are you sure it’s okay for us to leave like this? Your dad won’t…… hit you or anything, right?”

“He won’t…… Well, losing in an argument with him feels even worse though.”

Why did we have to sneak out in the middle of the night even after we won the Grand Prize in that competition?

I really wanted to ask Gong Haram that, but his eyes were shining so fiercely that I couldn’t say anything.

Well, as long as Gong Haram came with me to Seoul, it didn't matter to me. I had already considered sneaking out like this as one of my options anyway.

‘Hyung, I just want to go to Seoul. I want to be an idol.’

‘Good choice.’

‘But we have to leave secretly at dawn.’

‘……Why?’

‘I don’t have the confidence to convince my Dad.’

‘Hey, I have a plan for that, you–..….’

‘No, there’s no other way. We have to do it like this.’

……And that was how we ended up sneaking out in the middle of the night even after all we did.

They say that kids who grew up under excessive parental control end up taking surprisingly bold actions when their pent-up anger and frustration explodes.

It seemed that was happening to Gong Haram now.

Even in this dark house, his eyes were gleaming with the determination to ‘Escape’. It was kind of scary.

Wearing hoodies and short padded jackets, we tiptoed across the living room. 

If anyone saw us, they would definitely mistake us for a pair of thieves.

We planned to use the rental car I had driven here when I came to this house.

I was glad I didn’t set a return date when I rented it.

My instincts as a former reporter might have made me anticipate that picking up Gong Haram would be quite difficult.

We crossed the wide yard and reached the front gate.

I placed my hand on the gate, then Gong Haram placed his hand on mine. 

“Oh, that scared me, why……”

“……”

“……He-, hiccup, Hello?”

Turning around, there stood Gong Haram’s father like a ghost.

‘We’re doomed.’

At that moment the thought of being found dead in the middle of a tangerine farm in the middle of December crossed my mind.

“Uh, this is…… hiccup, Ah, why am I suddenly……”

“Take this.”

“Huh?”

What? I must have seemed quite pathetic, wearing this kind of stupid expression. 

He cleared his throat and stepped aside slightly.

Behind him was…… a box of tangerines.

“Is that your car? Load it up.”

“Th-thank you.”

What a relief!

Thankfully, Haram’s father didn't tie him up with a rope or something.

We grabbed the box of tangerines and sprinted (Escaped) to the car at an incredible speed.

We quickly entered the car.

Haram, after rolling down the window, bowed deeply to his father.

Then his father muttered softly.

“……Seriously, what’s with such a young kid singing such an oldie?”

“……Father?”

Haram’s eyes grew wide.

“Sing songs that suit your age. Cute love songs or something. Don whine like someone who’s already lived their whole life.”

“……Yes. I understand, Father.”

Ah, what a heartwarming father-son reconciliation!

A bit hierarchical, perhaps.

I couldn’t help but feel a bit proud.

It had been worth investing so much time into this.

“……If you’re just going to complain, don’t do it.”

“Yes, sir!”

What a loud answer.

We drove like crazy through the dark allies with the box of tangerines on the backseat.

[Main Quest Mid-Reward! : +30 Points]

As I drove through the dark country roads at dawn, almost unable to even see an inch ahead of me, I began to think.

Crashing someone’s stream

Chasing after someone to the airport.

Winning first place in a local singing contest.

Making a nighttime escape.

……What kind of crazy stunt would I have to pull next?

As if reflecting my thoughts, rain began to start coming down one drop at a time.

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