Chapter 199 : As Though Dreaming a Happy Dream
Chapter 199: As Though Dreaming a Happy Dream
The first reason I listened to <Footprints That Became a Star> was because of its reputation.
After all, it was the newest song by Stay, currently the hottest composer in the popular music industry.
On top of that, he hadn't ridden the latest trends or relied on a famous singer to generate publicity.
To put it in an embarrassingly dramatic way, it felt like an act that was closer to art.
I didn't know, stay personally.
But it felt as though he were speaking directly to me.
I can write songs like this too!
Well then, are you ready to be moved?
So? Surprised?
Yeah, it was about time.
Creators eventually reached the point where they wanted people to recognize just how special they were.
I assumed he'd made this song for exactly that reason.
A noble artistic world that deeply resonated with the public.
As though proving that money wasn't everything, he had thrown trends aside and chosen to compete solely through artistic merit!
In that regard,
I felt we shared something in common.
"Let's see what all the fuss is about."
Film director Oh Seungju genuinely believed that— until he actually listened to <Footprints That Became a Star>.
After opening KIM Entertainment's YouTube channel—
"...Wow. The views are insane."
The reaction was unbelievable.
It looked like it had really moved people's hearts.
[ 'Footprints That Became a Star' - STaY, Hwang Woohyun M/V ]
↳ Boksil, I miss you....... I hope you're doing well.......
↳ I understand why this is so high on the charts. The vocals have no flashy techniques, but how can they feel this sincere?
↳ After Jjuni left, I avoided all of his belongings for the first time. Listening to this song, I'm finally sorting through them little by little.......
↳ Our dog's name was also Byeol. I started crying just from the title. ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
↳ Stay, and Hwang Woohyun, thank you sincerely.
↳ I want to see this made into a movie.
↳ Thank you for saying, "Let's meet again someday," on my behalf....... It's been a long time since something made me tear up.
↳ Stay's emotions are unbelievable. Wow... I suddenly feel like I have a dog that never even existed. ;;;
↳ The song and the video fit together perfectly.
↳ It's been one year since our Boksil crossed the Rainbow Bridge, and listening to this song made me cry harder than I have in a long time. My heart feels so heavy....... Thank you for comforting me.
↳ You're telling me it's possible to express emotions like this without flashy techniques? The sound design and melody are absolutely incredible. That hi-hat layered beneath the piano like little footsteps....... Seriously, listen with headphones. The details are amazing. I really want to know who the vocalist is.
Just as I was becoming dizzy from a response far greater than expected, one particular comment caught my eye more than any of the others.
(Pinned Comment) KIM ENT. Official: If this song can bring you comfort, then that alone is enough. We hope it reaches the one you wish to share it with. — STaY, Hwang Woohyun.
Oh Seungju rubbed the bridge of his nose with his index finger.
"What am I doing in the office?"
Just reading the comments was enough to make tears threaten to fall.
He put on his earphones and pressed play.
"Huh......"
The moment the first note played, the unexpected direction of the song made him raise the volume.
The voice that began almost like spoken words sounded less like singing... and more like a letter.
Let's definitely meet again. I'll be the one to run to you first.
An old memory surfaced in Oh Seungju's mind.
A small life whose loss he had tried to transform into art, yet had ultimately buried deep inside himself.
He closed his eyes.
A single scene appeared.
Muted colors.
A restrained palette like a documentary.
Beneath softly swaying sunlight.
The dark eyes of a dog curled up, waiting by the front door.
"He really built this melody beautifully."
Once.
Twice.
Ten times...
Only after listening for over an hour did he finally understand.
Why everyone was so captivated by a song that, if anything, could almost be considered plain in its lyrical simplicity.
Why the comments were overflowing with tears, gratitude, and messages of comfort.
Masterpiece.
Song of a lifetime.
A final farewell.
A small memorial song.
None of those descriptions felt exaggerated.
'With a reaction like this...'
Naturally, Oh Seungju searched for <Footprints That Became a Star>.
Just as expected,
short-form challenges had already begun spreading like wildfire.
[ Will It Reach the Sky? 'Footprints That Became a Star Challenge' ]
[ Tear Warning! A song I wanted my cat Tori, who became a star, to hear. ]
[ I Sang <Footprints That Became a Star> Together With My Mom ]
[ My Daily Healing Song <Footprints> — I Tried Singing It Too ]
Actors.
Idols.
Ordinary people.
Anyone who had a pet.
Just like the music video, they uploaded videos filled with memories of their beloved companions, using the song as the background music.
"Hoo......"
Oh Seungju carefully removed his headphones.
His heartbeat had quickened.
Now he finally understood.
Why people kept saying composer Stay was somehow different.
Turning emotions that couldn't be expressed with words into songs.
That wasn't something just anyone could do.
He sat there absentmindedly watching the video of Ddoli before taking out his smartphone.
A photograph he had never been able to look at again.
An old picture of Coco, who had become a star long ago.
He stared at it blankly.
"Director?"
Before he noticed, one of his staff members peeked through the doorway and walked in with a puzzled expression.
"I kept knocking, but you never answered... Huh?"
After seeing the music video playing on Oh Seungju's monitor, the staff member smiled knowingly.
"This one's been everywhere lately. So you've seen it too, Director."
"Yeah. It's good."
The staff member looked at the monitor, then at Oh Seungju's face.
'What's going on? Our director actually listens to trending songs?'
"I don't understand today's music."
"Are these lyrics or some kind of spell?"
"Am I just getting old?"
"A song needs a story."
He was always making comments like an old man,
insisting that songs from the past were a thousand—no, ten thousand—times better.
'...Don't tell me he cried?'
Why were his eyes so red?
Why did his nose sound stuffed up?
Seeing him sitting there with such a wistful expression while listening to one of the hottest songs around, the staff member suddenly felt the childish urge to get a little revenge.
"Director. I thought you didn't listen to modern music."
His tone was polite.
But there was definitely a barb hidden inside.
Apparently he'd been holding that in for quite a while.
Yet Oh Seungju simply smiled.
"Yeah, I don't. But this one's different."
Thunk.
He set the headphones down on the desk.
The words were short,
but that single sentence contained everything.
Different?
The staff member subtly adjusted his posture before asking,
"What made it so different?"
After thinking for a moment,
Oh Seungju quietly sang a single line.
"It said... it was happy because we were together......"
His voice gradually grew softer.
But his eyes became clearer.
They were the eyes of a film director who saw the song not as music,
but as a sequence of scenes.
"This isn't just a song."
"Huh?"
"How should I explain it..."
Director Oh fell silent for a moment.
He had always believed modern music was all the same.
Emotion squeezed out under the name of emotional marketing.
Sad lyrics placed on top of dramatic soundtracks.
That was all it took these days to call something moving.
Yet Stay's newest song had completely rewritten his definition of "modern music."
And besides...
'What was I even thinking?'
Before listening,
he'd assumed it was just another self-indulgent artistic project.
He wanted to punch himself for thinking something like that.
How could he even describe this feeling?
After pondering it, he simply said,
"I'm human too. If something's good, then it's good."
"What?"
The staff member stared in shock before continuing with a bewildered expression.
"I never thought I'd hear you say something like that, Director."
Ignoring the reaction,
Oh Seungju opened his desk drawer.
After hesitating for a moment, he pulled out an old gray file.
A roughly handwritten title covered the front.
[ The Day I Couldn't Say Goodbye ]
"What's that?"
"A screenplay I wrote a long time ago. I've kept it buried ever since."
"Why?"
"Because I wrote it on the day Coco died."
He gently brushed the dust off the cover.
Then he crossed out the title with several thick lines before writing a new one with a marker.
[ Footprints That Became a Star ]
"What do you think of the title?"
"Huh?"
When the staff member looked confused,
Oh Seungju calmly explained.
"A man and his dog. A film told entirely through images and music. No dialogue."
This time, the staff member's expression became complicated.
"Director... don't tell me that music is..."
"Yeah. I think this song is exactly what it needs."
Still looking quietly at the monitor,
Oh Seungju murmured,
"I need this song."
The staff member glanced at him before looking toward the monitor.
Stay's song was currently paused.
"But... would Stay really give you this song? Especially for an independent film OST? Stay's the hottest composer around right now. You do know that, right?"
"That's true. The hottest composer..."
A faint smile formed on Oh Seungju's lips.
"But you know... sometimes in life, everything just falls perfectly into place, like destiny."
Destiny, my foot.
The staff member's expression clearly said exactly that.
"This screenplay can't exist without that song."
Blinking in disbelief, the staff member asked,
"Director, there's no way Stay would give you that song. You're not serious... are you?"
It was absurd.
Where did all this confidence come from?
Director Oh occasionally displayed this kind of baseless confidence.
It was ridiculous.
Almost unbelievable.
But the staff member didn't bother saying so aloud.
He simply remained silent.
What did it matter?
If this impossible dream could make the director happy— even for a little while— then that alone was enough.
Despite the staff member's skepticism,
Oh Seungju calmly replied,
"Throwing a synopsis out there even when you know it'll get rejected... that's what life in the film industry is all about."
The staff member shot him a sideways glance before finally chuckling.
Quiet music began playing through the office once again.
From that day onward,
every night,
Oh Seungju listened to <Footprints That Became a Star> while rewriting his screenplay.
As though he were truly dreaming a happy dream.
The kind of person who says they don't care about money is usually the one most obsessed with it.
And the kind of person who says they don't care about art is usually the one most deeply immersed in an artist's ideals.
With that in mind,
CEO Kim Minsoo was a man I genuinely couldn't figure out.
Just listening to the things he casually said to me.
"Taeyoon, you need to make lots of money. I never used to think that, but these days, I really feel like you should."
"I thought you said you weren't interested in things like that."
"If you make lots of money, I think all our employees will become rich too."
"Ah?"
Sure.
Fine.
Money was one thing.
Since he'd been born into a wealthy family, maybe he'd suddenly realized how important it was.
But why all of a sudden...
"Taeyoon, you're someone who's meant to create art. How about we become artists?"
I had no idea why he suddenly started talking about art.
"I can understand why I should, but why you?"
"Sometimes... I wonder if I'm trapping you inside the narrow world of popular music."
"...You're not telling me to leave, are you?"
"No, no."
He frantically waved both hands while hurriedly explaining.
"I'm talking about your latest song."
"<Footprints That Became a Star>?"
"Yeah. Footprints. I met with CEO Kwak Youngho because of it."
"Ah."
At the moment, I had entrusted KIM Entertainment with handling everything except making music.
There wasn't much of a problem for me since I belonged to KIM Entertainment, but I had been a little worried about Yujin noona's manager.
Thankfully, CEO Kwak Youngho also seemed to be someone without prejudice when it came to music.
Otherwise, he never would've accepted such a strange collaboration so easily.
"I think he got a little greedy."
"Greedy?"
"He wants to reshoot the music video and promote it more aggressively."
"So what did you tell him?"
"I said no. I told him Composer Stay must've had his own reasons for doing it this way."
This was exactly why I liked CEO Kim Minsoo.
Maybe you could call it being on the same wavelength.
Even without me saying anything, he always seemed to understand exactly what I was thinking.
"That's nice."
"Anyway, Taeyoon."
His voice suddenly became serious.
This must've been the real reason he'd called me.
"Go ahead."
"Are you really planning to reject all of these?"
Inside the stack of documents he slid toward me,
I recognized plenty of familiar program names.
That's right.
Appearance requests.
Separate invitations for Blackhole.
Separate invitations for Stay.
Pretending I had no choice,
I picked up the stack.
Radio.
Variety shows.
YouTube.
Drama OSTs.
Commercial jingles...
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that every music-related offer imaginable was there.
I quickly sorted the documents.
Television.
And non-television.
I intended to look carefully through the song requests.
But television...
"Not reject."
"Then what?"
"Let's call it postponing them."
'Too much pressure.'
That was probably the most accurate description.
There had been a clear reason I appeared on Aether Sound before.
They didn't care whether I wore a mask or not.
But every single television appearance offer here contained the same condition.
[ As a general rule, participants must fully reveal their face during the appearance.... ]
"......"
If revealing my face wasn't my own decision, but something forced upon me through a contract— then no thanks.
More importantly...
Me?
Someone shy and introverted?
Showing my face in front of everyone?
Just imagining it made me want to hide.
"Tsk. Such a waste. Forget the others, but this one... this one is especially a shame. Seriously. Seeing you standing next to Park Bokyeong... that would've been worth watching."
[ Park Bokyeong's Setlist ]
He really had a point.
It was one of the programs I enjoyed watching.
Each episode had a theme, and various guests introduced music related to it.
I especially liked that it wasn't limited by genre.
"Was this invitation for Blackhole?"
"Yeah. Why? Interested?"
"Not yet."
Ignoring the disappointment on Kim Minsoo's face, I continued looking through the other proposals.
Movie and drama OSTs.
Radio.
Those seemed manageable.
And then...
Huh?
Was I seeing this correctly?
Why was this here?
[ Han Yun University Festival — Blackhole Appearance Request ]
This was my university.