Chapter 54
As mentioned before, Neulneul Orphanage has an exceptionally close relationship with the local community.
In addition to being the largest orphanage in Incheon, the director’s extensive connections with local district council members often brought us special opportunities beyond our regular budget.
“Aaaah….”
“Don’t worry, kid. I’ll teach you properly.”
One such opportunity was the ceremonial first pitch and national anthem performance at a professional baseball game.
Every year, the children at the orphanage who wished to participate would gather at a baseball stadium to sing the national anthem, and one of them would be selected to take the mound.
It usually took place around the middle of the season, but this year, unusually, it wasn’t scheduled until September, when the race for the standings was especially fierce.
The reason was obvious. The team had wanted me to throw the first pitch and asked me to come after Singerstar ended.
The orphanage readily agreed, and as a result, my first outside schedule after Singerstar ended was a ceremonial first pitch at a baseball stadium rather than an appearance on a variety show.
“All right, just extend your arm straight in the direction you’re throwing….”
I received one-on-one instruction from Incheon’s franchise starting pitcher, who had taken the mound and earned a win yesterday.
Seeing a star I had only ever watched on TV standing right in front of me felt strangely surreal.
Strictly speaking, I couldn’t call myself a die-hard fan of this team as Seo Siyeon, but I watched almost every game, practically every day.
That was because watching TV in the living room with the younger kids was more comfortable than being crammed into a small room with the older girls, and except on Mondays, the living-room TV was always fixed on the baseball channel. The director was a die-hard fan of this team.
Thanks to that, the player standing before me was a very familiar face. He was also one of the baseball players who regularly volunteered at the orphanage every offseason.
“I always enjoy watching your games. The final out that clinched last year’s championship was especially impressive.”
“Really? Thanks. Actually, I voted for you while watching the live broadcast too.”
“Oh, really? Thank you.”
Was this what they called a successful fan? The fact that a major star I had only ever seen on-screen had voted for me somehow made my chest puff up with pride.
“Oh! Your form is really good for your age. Is it because you have so much stage experience? There’s a lot of spring in your body.”
“Really?”
I couldn’t tell whether he was just being polite or meant it, but I didn’t feel bad. The game was about to begin, and I stepped up to the microphone as the stadium announcer introduced me.
-Today, the children of Neulneul Orphanage will be singing the national anthem and throwing the first pitch. Everyone, please welcome them with a warm round of applause!
A cheer with a sense of openness different from the one at Gocheok Sky Dome erupted. I learned later that, thanks to the uniform I had worn during the competition performance of play and my background as someone from Incheon, I was apparently quite popular among the home fans.
- The East Sea dries up and Mount Baekdu wears away…
After solemnly singing the national anthem, it was immediately time for the first pitch.
“I’m honored to be throwing the first pitch! I’ll be cheering for you to win today’s game and take the championship again this season!”
After my short but emphatic speech, another wave of cheers poured out.
Like a celebrity, I waved toward the stands and scampered toward the mound as the player guided me.
Although I was standing well in front of the pitcher’s plate, the moment I looked at the catcher’s mitt, my vision went hazy.
‘That’s farther away than I expected….’
Could a ball thrown by a weak grade-school girl like me really reach that far? As doubt crept in, I put far too much force into my windup.
And that excessive enthusiasm came back to me as a miserable result.
“Hiyah!”
I swung my arm with all my strength, but I lost my balance and pitched the ball straight into the ground.
With a wet slap, my own body also went spectacularly sprawling into the dirt of the mound.
“Good heavens, are you all right?”
“Oh my, what do we do… Siyeon!”
Gritty dirt filled my mouth. I could hear the footsteps of flustered players and staff rushing toward me from every direction.
‘Please, just let me die like this….’
All I could feel was such extreme humiliation that I wanted to dig into the ground and hide.
* * *
“How did it feel when you fell?”
“I wanted to die?”
I gave the same-age boy sitting beside me a halfhearted answer and looked down at my smartphone.
We were sitting in regular seats in a corner of the outfield.
The team had offered to give me a separate table seat, but being singled out for special treatment felt strange, so I simply sat with the other kids in the regular section.
As a result, I had to sign autographs for and take pictures with a ton of people around us, but once the fifth inning had passed, people gradually stopped asking.
“It’s more comfortable now that some people have left.”
“Yeah.”
The game had already completely blown open by the fifth inning, so many of the people in the outfield simply left.
And it was understandable. With the score already separated by ten runs, it was easy to think that watching any longer would just be a waste of time.
I unlocked my smartphone and opened the general-interest online community I often lurked on.
As expected, a video of me burying my head in the ground had been uploaded as a popular post and was already nearing 400,000 views.
Seeing the explosive response, with over a thousand comments, suddenly made me want to die all over again.
“Damn it.”
I closed the internet and opened Instagram, only to find a video of me face-planting into the ground on the very first post in my feed.
There were already more than ten thousand likes on it, and I found it impossible to endure the embarrassment.
“Iyeona, take a picture for me.”
“Okay!”
I currently reign among these kids as little short of a god. That’s because I’ve been paying for every snack they’ve eaten here.
These little brats eating nearly 200,000 won worth of the stadium’s famous cream shrimp have to go throw out the trash when I tell them to, and take pictures when I ask them to.
So I asked the girl sitting behind me to take a picture, and she snapped one with the baseball stadium in the background.
When I checked it, it had come out reasonably well, probably because my face was so unfairly photogenic.
‘My expression looks a little… angry in this one. Well, it should be fine.’
As far as the broadcast was concerned, my image was that of a somewhat taciturn genius kid.
Since I wasn’t the typical bubbly, affectionate grade-school girl, a picture taken like this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
I hastily added a caption to the photo and was about to put my smartphone back in my pocket when its notification went off.
(Yoo Seolha)-We’re back in Korea!
(Jonaeun)-’I’ have descended upon Korea!
(Kim Seol)-I’m going to the company tomorrow. Want to come then too, Siyeon?
After roughly two weeks in Hawaii, Blooming had finally returned to Korea.
* * *
JBC’s flagship hit variety show, ‘Do You Happen to Like Music?’, combines travel with music, following the format of the travel shows that had become popular lately.
Perhaps because it brought together all the good things—travel, music, food, and more—it had become a long-running variety show that was now entering its third season, while also being highly popular among artists.
That was because it let them travel abroad for free, eat delicious food, and make music all at the same time.
On top of that, it had high ratings, and its busking clips performed well on YouTube, giving it a considerable promotional effect.
For that reason, the lineup for Season 3 of Do You Happen to Like Music? was nothing short of dazzling.
Active top-tier idols, the vocalist of a band once called legendary, a ballad singer considered one of Korea’s best, and an idol who was considered past her prime but had enjoyed a dazzling peak, among others…
But the one receiving the most attention was, of course, Seo Siyeon’s appearance.
No one had expected her to appear on this program as her first step.
That was because filming and editing it took far too long.
Since it was filmed overseas, editing could only begin after the crew returned to Korea, so even after filming ended, it could take as long as a month before an episode aired.
Unlike the others, who had begun making their names known through talk shows or simple variety programs, she was starting out with a music variety show, so viewers couldn’t help but look at her choice with skepticism.
[This season’s Do You Happen to Like Music? lineup is legendary]
FYG’s Saki and Bad Monster’s Jia—those two alone are freaking insane lol
-Hanyul’s finally going to be on TV again after ages.
ㄴ Tell Hanyul to release an album already. His last one was, like, five years ago lol
-Honestly, just booking Seo Siyeon is legendary in itself.
ㄴ I never imagined she’d appear this soon… I thought she’d show up later on.
ㄴ But isn’t this when she should be rowing?
ㄴ Seems like she’s just doing whatever she wants.
[But if I were Seo Siyeon, I’d want to do this too]
Traveling abroad… making music while eating delicious food?
Wasn’t this exactly what Siyeon wanted most?
Amid those reactions, a mixture of anticipation and doubt, I was facing Blooming in the temporary studio set up at the company. They had returned to Korea yesterday evening.
“So you do want me to keep making songs for you, right?”
“Of course!”
“We’re doomed without you.”
“We really would be.”
Well, I had more or less expected that reaction. Starting a career now after learning composition at this point was honestly far from realistic.
Even if one of them eventually studied composition and made their own songs, they would still desperately need my help for the time being.
Since I had anticipated this response, I had already sketched out a rough roadmap for how Blooming would promote going forward.
“All right, we’ll release two singles two months apart. Then we’ll immediately make a mini-album, followed by a full-length album.”
“Huh?”
It was a method used by an idol group in my previous life.
Releasing singles and EPs one after another without putting out a full-length album, and taking over the charts.
For this strategy to work, only one assumption was necessary.
‘The confidence that every prepared song can claim a spot near the top of the charts.’
And right now, I had more confidence than anyone.
Because my hard drive was filled with countless hit songs from my previous life.