Chapter 133 : Stay? Is He Really That Famous?
Chapter 133: Stay? Is He Really That Famous?
Adults had no clue who Stay or whatever he was, even meant.
Even when the song he made was parked in the top ranks of music charts, and short-form challenges were plastered with his melodies.
These days, it was hard enough remembering singers’ names—let alone composers?
To people who didn’t seek out music, Stay was nothing more than a strange name.
While clearing the table, Baek Junhyun’s mother asked,
“That… Stay? Is he really that famous? You haven’t heard of him either, right?”
His father was no different.
“Yeah. Seems like he’s popular with the young folks.”
Their parents blinked blankly, looking at Baek Junhyun at his younger sister’s words.
They had assumed all that talk about singing or whatever was no big deal.
But then he handed them the bank statement with a huge amount deposited.
So clearly, this wasn’t just some small matter.
It was shocking, yes—but understanding it was a separate issue.
They were just stunned by the numbers, bewildered by the siblings’ excitement.
But one thing was different—Junhyun’s older brother and younger sister didn’t react the same way.
Especially Baek Jihyun.
She was a hardcore K-pop maniac.
To make them understand what was happening…
“No way. Stay, seriously…?”
“Yeah, but who even is that?”
“With Han Yujin, Signum, Tae Sihyun… No, wait. Mom and Dad won’t know them if I put it like this. Hang on.”
She needed to explain at their level.
Baek Jihyun quickly tapped away on her smartphone.
“Mom, Dad—you know Cheongseong, right?”
“Is there anyone from our generation who doesn’t?”
“Oho. Then this song should sound familiar too.”
Thank goodness.
She tapped play in the Maron app she had prepared.
Through the smartphone, The Kids Who Escaped From Us’s You Said Time Wouldn’t Stop began to play.
The moment the opening synth theme came on, Mom brightened.
“Oh, this song? Of course I know it! I’m not into new music, but this one—I know. What about you?”
Dad nodded too.
“Cheongseong was legendary. I’ve replayed their videos on NewTube so many times. But Cheongseong and that… Stay? What’s the connection with him?”
Baek Jihyun signaled to Baek Junhyun with her eyes.
The stage was set—it was time for the main act.
Classic move from the family’s go-to for timing.
Ahem.
Baek Junhyun cleared his throat and said calmly,
“Stay is the one who made this song.”
“Huhhh?”
“…Seriously?”
Their parents’ eyes widened.
They didn’t know who Stay was, but they definitely knew Cheongseong, and UTAR.
So their shocked expressions were inevitable after Junhyun’s bombshell.
Amid faces mixed with disbelief and surprise—
For the first time, there was a look in their eyes seeing their second son Baek Junhyun differently.
A faint belief, and a hint of expectation.
“Whew…”
Their gaze kept flicking between Junhyun’s banking app screen and the phone playing music.
Even after UTAR’s song ended—
No one spoke for a while.
Junhyun slowly inhaled.
And for the first time, he opened up to his family.
“Honestly… I just really wanted to make a lot of money.”
Everyone turned to Baek Junhyun.
He conveyed his feelings steadily.
“Hyung gets praised for getting into a good company, and Jihyun gets doted on for being cute… but me? I never really knew what I had to do to get any praise.”
The second child’s explosive confession, unexpected from someone usually so quiet.
Everyone—his parents, his brother, and his sister—remained calm as they took in the situation.
“Because that’s how it’s always been. Since nothing ever really happened with me, I thought if I just stayed quiet and endured, you’d eventually recognize me… But that wasn’t the case.”
The eldest had to always be at ease as the firstborn.
The second had to be patient—because he was the bridge between siblings.
—Junhyun, you have to support things from the middle. Your brother’s in his senior year of high school and extra sensitive.
—You know your brother’s stressed looking for jobs, right? Keep an eye on Jihyun, will you?
—Junhyun. Jihyun’s going through puberty. You have to understand. You’re her older brother.
It was always like that.
If the older brother struggled, he came first.
If the younger sister cried, she came first.
Baek Junhyun was always last.
Even when he tried to recall…
Thank you, you’re amazing, you’re doing great—
He had never heard those simple words. He just endured in silence.
Always in the middle, just quietly.
Pretending everything was fine—that was the duty of the “good second child.”
“So I thought, maybe if I earned money, I’d finally be recognized. That’s honestly why I said I wanted to be a singer in the first place.”
But now—
It was time to stop being just “the second child” and become “Baek Junhyun.”
He had realized there was something more important than blindly chasing money or craving his family’s approval.
Dad subtly adjusted his sitting posture.
Mom said nothing, her eyes silently brimming as she looked at her son.
“Once I started doing music… I realized there are things in this world more important than money.”
His tone was calm, but the tail end of his sentence quivered slightly.
Junhyun paused, then lifted his head.
He looked his mother once in the eyes, then his father.
Holding their gaze firmly, he continued.
“They were the first to truly believe in me. At first I thought they were just fellow trainees, or just some guys hanging around the studio…”
“…”
“But as I kept going to the studio and singing… I genuinely wanted to give it a real shot. So I wanted to tell you, at least once.”
The family remained silent.
But this silence—felt different from before.
“I worked really hard. Turns out, what I truly wanted wasn’t being top of my class, or working part-time, or landing a job at a big company. Singing with people who believe in me and cheer me on—that’s what truly made me happy.”
It would’ve been even better if those people had been family.
Unable to bring himself to say that, Baek Junhyun stood up.
Then, with a sheepish smile, he rubbed his nose with his index finger and said,
“Composer Stay is kind of scary. If I’m late for practice, I’m dead. I’ll be back.”
With that, Junhyun left the house.
His family could only watch his retreating figure with dazed expressions.
And that night.
Baek Junhyun returned from practice and quietly entered the room.
The room he shared with his older brother.
He set his bag down and sat limply on the bed.
Just like that, another ordinary day passed, as if nothing had happened.
There were no messages or calls from his family.
So they really didn’t care, huh.
They must really think this is just some ridiculous dream.
That was what he thought as he moved to plug in his phone—
“…Huh?”
There was a small envelope on the desk.
And a neatly placed A4 sheet beneath it.
He hastily grabbed the paper.
Slanted, clumsy handwriting met his eyes.
[ Buy something tasty with your friends. Thank you, and sorry. ]
Then came slightly neater writing.
They hadn’t signed, but—
He knew exactly who had written what.
[ Son, we’ll be cheering you on. ]
[ Is the Baek family about to have a top singer now? Ooh, looking forward to it. FYI, I put more money in the envelope lolol ]
[ Oppa, you’re amazing. I’ll study hard too. But can you get me Signum’s autograph, maybe……? ]
Junhyun smiled quietly as he opened the envelope.
Ten 50,000 won bills.
He gently folded the envelope and the letters and tucked them into his bag.
He knew now—this was his family’s way.
Today was one of those days.
Rainy, gloomy.
Something about the atmosphere felt heavy.
But even in this dreary weather—
Sierra’s crowd hadn’t changed.
They wore raincoats, carried umbrellas.
And just like always, they waited for me in the same spot.
“Hold the beat!”
“They say it’s going to rain for a few days! Don’t catch a cold!”
“Can’t wait for today’s setlist!”
As always, they greeted me warmly.
And I responded just as warmly, waving both hands high in the air.
On days like this, I always felt a little sentimental.
‘…I want to laugh with them.’
Even though I was smiling behind my mask, I couldn’t show it.
So I just waved, and let the music speak for me.
But seeing the crowd cheering even in the pouring rain—
It got me choked up for no reason.
Almost lowered my mask without thinking.
Startled, I quickly pulled it up over my nose again.
“Taeyoon, you’re here?”
“Looks like the rain’s still coming down hard. You’re soaked.”
I greeted the MD hyungs and—
While eating the chef ajumma’s special bulgogi bibimbap, I thought,
Today’s a day to be a little more thoughtful with the setlist.
“Hyung, I’ll change the setlist to this.”
The engineer hyung looked pleased.
“Ooh, this is gonna be a vibe, huh? Man, now that’s a real DJ.”
People often assumed club DJs only played loud, flashy tracks with booming bass.
But a DJ isn’t just someone who drops noise. They’re more like performers—designing and arranging beats and tension.
So today, I made a bold choice.
By mixing calm tracks and layering the sound by depth, you could build a solid emotional graph.
You think it kills the mood? Not a chance.
When a subdued song meets a roaring cheer, the impact hits even harder—for the crowd and for the DJ.
“Hold the beat!”
With my signature sound, the performance began.
Tonight’s mix had two tracks:
Bonobo’s Kiara and ODESZA’s A Moment Apart.
Both were lyrical tracks with gradually building emotional arcs.
Just when things started to feel too still, the bass drop and kick beat would ease in, gently raising the tension.
The emotion wasn’t forced.
It seeped in slowly—track by track.
“Waaaah!”
It was calm.
The drums were slow, the synths smooth.
No scratches, no kicks, no bass—
Not yet.
It had to begin quietly.
Because right now, I wasn’t building sound—I was stacking quiet memories.
The first drop.
I lowered Kiara’s string loop.
And brought in A Moment Apart’s bass.
The pad swelled as the drums softly stepped onto it.
Good. Just as I planned.
I glanced down at the stage.
Every pair of eyes was fixed on my fingertips.
Because right now—I was speaking with my hands.
Right before the highlight—
I quickly dropped the volume by half a beat.
Now was the moment that required full focus.