Chapter 164 : No Wonder My Luck Felt Good
Chapter 164: No Wonder My Luck Felt Good
There are days like that.
Days when everything goes smoothly, when even the smallest coincidences seem to be on your side.
Today was one of those days.
Just as I arrived at the bus stop, the bus pulled in.
"Hello!"
I greeted the driver and scanned the inside of the bus with a slightly excited heart.
Nice.
I liked sitting in the third seat from the back by the window and looking outside.
Just in time, that seat was empty.
Letting the scenery outside the window flow by, I glanced around at the people on the bus.
Someone was dozing off, someone else was chuckling at a video.
Each had their own music, their own story, their own destination.
And I was one of them.
I took out my earphones and, like a routine, checked the Maron chart.
[ Maron Real-Time Chart ]
Lumière - <Velvet Trigger - Feat. DJ Blackhole> (-)
It felt good every time I saw it.
Of course, I was glad that my song was number one, that the royalties were pouring in, all of that…
But more than anything, it gave me strength in a quiet way to know that so many people connected with a song I had composed with the sensibilities of a time I never lived through.
Compared to senior composers, I was still young.
Some people evaluated me like this:
Stay is all hype!
I hadn't even had a proper relationship yet.
I hadn't even experienced the true hardships of life.
So how could I possibly have a long run?
They said creators should write songs and stories based on sincerity drawn from various life experiences.
“Heh heh…”
Where was it again? Manny Entertainment?
Anyway, I first heard that story through an employee at an entertainment company I wasn’t particularly close to.
Suddenly, I got scared.
What if it turned out to be true?
What if all these achievements I’d made were just illusions built from luck and coincidence?
But now, I don’t worry about that anymore.
You don’t always have to experience something firsthand to understand it.
Eating with people you like, drinking tea, occasionally sharing deep conversations…
As you gradually get to know each other and share emotions, there comes a moment when you feel as if you've become that person yourself.
I never miss that point.
Sometimes, you can see things more clearly by taking a step back.
‘Next stop is……’
The bus swayed as it came to a stop at the station.
Before I knew it, the bus was quite full.
There were even a few people standing here and there.
I couldn't afford to waste the time I spent on the bus.
Today too, I pulled out my notebook and started observing someone.
Jacket and shirt outfit.
A middle-aged man with wired earphones.
He had his head down, deeply engrossed in something.
[ In his 40s. Slacks and jacket. Friendly-looking. Neatly ironed shirt. Wired earphones? ]
What could he be looking at?
A photo of his child? A web novel? Nostalgic music?
If so, what kind of music did this man used to like?
What did he listen to music on?
Cassette tapes? CD players?
Was using wired earphones an expression of romance? Frugality? Or just indifference?
Sometimes, when I do image-making exercises like this, a flash of melody comes to me.
Unfortunately, not today.
Just as my thoughts started to deepen, the bus approached my stop.
I stood up quickly and slightly bumped into the man.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
A soft smile and a gentle sidestep.
At that moment, my eyes briefly caught a glimpse of the man's phone screen.
On the smartphone screen he had been so focused on…
“Huh?”
A Doubline music video was playing.
See? It really was one of those feel-good days.
“Woooooaaaahhh—!”
Today's performance had been a success, too.
I waved at the many hands with rabbit bracelets as I came down from the stage.
I was starting to get hungry. Should I have a late-night snack or not?
Eating alone was kind of sad. Should I try to rope in MD-hyung?
Thinking that, I opened the door to the waiting room—
“Taeyoon aaaaaahhhhhh!”
“Waaah! You scared me. What are you doing here, CEO?”
I spotted CEO Kim Minsoo.
He was dressed to the nines, hair all slicked back—he must’ve been somewhere fancy.
I looked at the clock.
It was already past 3 a.m.
“When did you get here?”
“When your performance started.”
“If you’d told me, I would’ve come down to see you during break time. Where’s your rabbit bracelet? You didn’t wear it?”
“I didn’t want to distract you during the show if you saw me. But seriously, you're still asking about the rabbit bracelet at a time like this?”
It was a joke, but he took it seriously.
“So, what brings you here?”
I asked, even though I already knew.
It must be about the Almond Young project pitch.
Neither hyung nor CEO Kim Minsoo had contacted me.
I had a hunch.
No wonder things had felt too lucky lately…
He must’ve come to comfort me.
“You probably guessed already……”
At his glance, the other staff members quietly slipped out like the tide.
After confirming they had all left—
As soon as the door closed, he cautiously began to speak.
“The pitch got rejected.”
“I see.”
“We even sent a DJing version, but unfortunately, that’s how it turned out. Sorry.”
“Why would you be sorry about that, CEO? It just didn’t suit their taste, that’s all.”
“Do you really think so?”
Of course, I was disappointed.
Because this time... it was the first time I had been rejected.
It was what people call ‘getting turned down.’
I knew something like this would happen eventually.
That’s life, isn’t it? You can’t always be walking on flower paths.
Sometimes, you’ve got to roll up your pants and stride through the dirt, brushing it off as you go.
I thought this was exactly one of those moments.
Emotions are such delicate things.
A fine line separates romanticism from squalor, and empathy from whining.
Should I have been more careful?
Still, I learned something from this experience.
Campaign, project—at the end of the day, it’s still commercial music.
With commercial music, it’s not honesty that comes first—it’s persuasion.
“Taeyoon? You’re really okay, right?”
Oh no.
Was I making too serious a face?
CEO Kim Minsoo looked at me with concern.
“I’m really okay. I was just thinking about what might’ve gone wrong.”
“You don’t need to think about that.”
“Sorry?”
“There was nothing wrong with your song.”
...I wasn’t so shocked that I was mishearing things, was I?
What was he trying to say?
“Do you know many four-character idioms?”
“Four-character idioms? Out of nowhere? Which one?”
“Turning misfortune into blessing.”
“Of course I know that one. Ah! Are you maybe planning to send the demo to another place? I don’t mind. But I’m not sure another company would like it. I heard that songs that have already made the rounds often get cut early. Actually, before—”
“Hey, hey, Taeyoon. Why are you rambling like that? And why is your face so red?”
I rubbed my cheek with the back of my hand. It heated up instantly.
I must’ve gotten unintentionally excited.
Well, there are days like that too.
“Anyway, just handle it however you want. After all, the only thing I know how to do is write songs. …Why are you looking at me like that?”
Only after speaking at length did I notice—
CEO Kim Minsoo was looking at me with tearful eyes.
What’s with this guy’s late-night sentimentality?
Was my performance that moving tonight?
Thinking that, I was about to suggest going for a late-night snack, but Kim Minsoo stopped me, saying he wasn’t done talking yet and made me sit back down.
“You’re qualified.”
“Qualified for what?”
CEO Kim Minsoo paused briefly, then—
He revealed the reason he had waited for me until dawn, the reason he had built up so much suspense and made my heart pound.
“To film the Orbit commercial.”
“…What are you talking about.”
Orbit? That Orbit I know?
When you say Orbit, you mean the smartphone brand from KW Electronics.
Not just smartphones—there’s also Orbit Book, Orbit Tab, and more.
It’s the umbrella brand for all their portable electronic devices.
It holds well over 60% domestic market share, and around 20% internationally.
That Orbit?
What was going on with this guy today?
He hadn’t even been drinking.
Bringing up Orbit out of nowhere was weird enough.
But a commercial?
“Almond Young was too small to contain our Stay. Only something like Orbit will do.”
“Excuse me?”
“Taeyoon. Take a look at this.”
Kim Minsoo handed me a piece of paper.
It was none other than a contract.
“Why are you giving this to me? But… ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, million, ten million, hundred million…? Gasp.”
A ridiculous number of zeros lined up.
What on earth was happening?
Kim Minsoo had no reason to lie to me, and he wasn’t the type to joke about something like this.
Wait a second, let me get this straight.
So now my song was rejected from the Almond Young campaign but was selected for the Orbit campaign? Is that even possible?
“How’s that? Does that make up for your disappointment?”
“CEO, I have absolutely no idea what’s going on.”
“There’s nothing complicated to understand. Just take it literally. Stay’s song wasn’t picked for Almond Young, it was picked for Orbit’s commercial.”
I was dumbfounded.
I didn’t know how to react, so I just stared off into space.
“Taeyoon, congratulations! I knew Blackhole would pull through!”
CEO Kim Minsoo pulled me into a hug and began patting my back wildly.
I could only flutter helplessly in his grasp like a paper doll.
“Wow, seriously. Do you even realize how huge this is? …Why do you look like that. Are you that shocked?”
Do I not look shocked?!
“Did you go beg that super important hyung or something?”
“Do I look like the kind of guy who would do that?”
“Oh, then did you threaten him with a knife?”
“You little—”
If not that…
Then how?
How could someone like me possibly end up making the Orbit campaign song…?
I squinted and studied Kim Minsoo carefully from all angles.
Even if he denied it—
Kim Minsoo really did seem like the kind of person who could pull off threats, persuasion, pressure, and even charm without batting an eye.
Not because he’s a thug or a delinquent.
But because, in my eyes, he’s the kind of person who would do anything if it meant giving his people what they want.
He’s always been like that, and I’m sure he always will be.
If it’s for something like that…