Chapter 100
Nearly a year had passed without anything being uploaded to Seo Si-yeon's YouTube channel.
The channel bearing the name [Seo Si-yeon Official] had steadily gained subscribers instead of losing them, even while Seo Si-yeon was on hiatus.
It currently had 890,000 subscribers, a number that had increased somewhat since Seo Si-yeon's comeback.
Some people had even forgotten that they were subscribed, while others pressed refresh once a day because it felt like it was about time for a new video to go up.
Then, all of a sudden, two videos were uploaded almost simultaneously, one minute apart.
[Hello?]
[「Vianto」 Behind the Scenes of the Model Shoot]
One thumbnail featured Seo Si-yeon's face blown up to an enormous size, while the other was occupied by Seo Si-yeon with a sullen expression.
The first video briefly discussed what had happened during Seo Si-yeon's break and her plans for the future.
People were glad to have confirmation of her comeback, but disappointed that there was no mention of an album or new song, so they clicked on the second video.
In fact, behind-the-scenes advertising videos generally weren't very entertaining.
That was because they featured predictable content and predictably beautiful or handsome celebrities.
No matter how much they liked the celebrity, watching ten minutes of them shooting a commercial without any real content was a chore.
So most people clicked without any particular expectations, intending merely to feast their eyes on Seo Si-yeon's face.
However, contrary to their expectations, people couldn't keep themselves from laughing out loud from the very beginning.
-I don't like it. I'm not wearing this.
That was because Seo Si-yeon was throwing a fit with her cheeks puffed out.
The video yielded countless pieces of material for Shorts.
Seo Si-yeon fidgeting her feet while nibbling on a banana.
Seo Si-yeon picking at a piece of chocolate bit by bit as though mice had gnawed at it.
Seo Si-yeon turning her head away with a little “Hmph,” as though she were sulking, and so on.
Those scenes were all reborn as Shorts at the hands of clip channels, each racking up hundreds of thousands of views or more.
Of course, that was somewhat different from what Si-yeon had intended.
* * *
White noise.
It was a new song I'd painstakingly created amid my hectic schedule these days.
I had spent quite a while wondering whether to release this song under Seo Si-yeon's name or Mikansai's.
The song itself had been written around a melody I'd come up with while carrying out my schedule as Seo Si-yeon.
But because subculture-style composition had recently become ingrained in my hands and ears, a song with Mikansai's sensibility had naturally emerged.
When it came to writing my own songs, I'd decided not to distinguish which songs belonged under one name and which under the other.
I obviously had to distinguish them clearly when writing songs for Blooming and Noiris, but…
If that was work, then my own music was both a source of income and something closer to self-realization.
Besides, if I eventually unified Mikansai's name with Seo Si-yeon's, any song I released would be the work of the same person, so I didn't feel the need to distinguish them.
“How was it?”
“…It's completely different. Unlike your previous songs… The Vocaloid-like sensibility is gone.”
“Hmm? I suppose it could feel that way.”
Until now, Mikansai's musical identity had been simple.
‘A powerful chorus perfect for use in short-form videos.’
I thought that was the best way to grow as an internet singer in the 2020s.
This song didn't depart from that framework, either.
It began with minimal instrumentation and restrained vocals, but as it progressed, the sound built up layer by layer in a crescendo.
The spaciousness created by the deeply layered reverb laid a lyrical atmosphere over the entire song, and at the climax, the accumulated melody exploded, unleashing powerful full-voice singing alongside a hymn-like choir.
The high notes I hit in full voice had considerable emotional pull, as I'd already proven on the Tail Star stage.
That was where I'd grown the most after going through puberty.
There was just one minor issue.
“Wait a second. This is too similar to Seo Si-yeon's singing style…”
The singing style was a little similar to what I'd shown on the Tail Star stage.
“That's right. Even if we don't reveal it directly… wouldn't it be okay to start dropping hints?”
It was one of the highlight sections.
No one could ever be certain that I was Mikansai based on this alone.
I judged that only by dropping appropriate hints like this could the reaction be explosive when I finally revealed the truth.
The ideal scenario would be for people to think, ‘No way, no way… was it really true?’
At the same time, the song needed a section that forcefully pushed into full-voice singing.
“If you had to name the main genre, it's alternative rock… but, like everything else, it's a mix of a lot of different things.”
“Judging just by the atmosphere, it also feels a little like gospel, and the instruments laying down the foundation are bass and drum beats.”
“When you focus on the instrumentation, it actually feels strongly like orchestral pop. The main instruments are strings, after all.”
Overall, it retained Mikansai's original musical identity, but it was a somewhat different genre of song.
That was white noise.
“I'm a little worried, though.”
“Hmm. So am I.”
“I'm worried the original fans might feel a little betrayed…”
There was nothing I could do about that.
From the fans' perspective, it might even feel as though I'd sold out to the times, since the song used a mainstream sound rather than something particularly niche.
But a singer—at least a singer like Seo Si-yeon—had to build her own musical world instead of thinking only about her fans' needs.
That was the direction that would benefit her in the long run.
“So at the very least, the music video has to be insanely good. Hmm… I'm counting on you?”
“Understood.”
Previously, I'd made good use of animated cutscenes not only in Mikansai's first music video, but in Blooming's and Noiris's as well.
That was why Blue Sky Entertainment had some connections it could draw on in that area.
“Ah. I have a basic story outline in mind. I'll send it to you later.”
That brought the discussion about Mikansai's new song to an end.
Since the song was already finished, there was nothing else I needed to do.
I'd been too busy filming to attend school properly lately, and had planned to go to school and keep a low profile for a while. But then…
(Kim Seol): Si-yeon, are you interested in an observational variety show?
Someone who normally never contacted me had suddenly reached out.
* * *
The Omniscient Parents' Perspective.
It was a variety show that filmed how celebrities who had recently started living alone spent their days after becoming independent.
As the premise suggested, there weren't many people who qualified, so it shouldn't have been able to run for long. But it had become long-running because the producer had decided to bring in anyone who lived alone, regardless of their career.
Consequently, these days, almost no one who fit the program's theme appeared, and a fifty-something actor was being featured simply because he lived alone…
Kim Seol, a member of an idol band who had recently started living alone, was a very, very attractive prospect.
After moving into a slightly smaller apartment than the one she'd originally lived in, Kim Seol readily accepted the offer.
You might wonder why Kim Seol had agreed to appear on a variety show, but she did it simply because she was happy about moving and, more than anything, wanted to show off her new home.
It was the first time she'd realized that the apartment she lived in was actually this expensive.
Since the show normally featured two people per episode, they had to find someone to appear alongside Kim Seol… and that was no easy task.
After all, it would be awkward if one person were a fresh-faced woman in her early twenties while the other was some old man, wouldn't it?
The production staff wanted to match their ages, at the very least.
While they were agonizing over it, Kim Seol suddenly landed a big fish and contacted the production staff.
-Apparently, Si-yeon is doing it.
No one had requested her, and no one had even been thinking of Seo Si-yeon.
That was because she was far too big a name for them to approach for casting.
In particular, she'd recently been appearing in commercials for various luxury brands and major franchises, driving her fee sky-high, so they had assumed she wouldn't appear on variety shows for a while.
That was the standard way for actors and idols to raise their fees.
Instead of appearing on TV variety shows whose ratings kept falling, they showed their faces only in their own content or commercials.
“What are you hesitating over? Just say yes right now.”
“B-but what about matching the appearance fee…”
“Hey! I'll handle that. If I mention it to the bureau chief, the additional budget will be approved right away, so hurry up and accept!”
“Y-yes!”
And so, Seo Si-yeon's second variety-show appearance since her comeback was set.