Chapter 75
Korean Popular Music Awards ceremony.
The epidemic had broken out at the worst possible time, so its buzz had fallen considerably compared to the WMA held earlier, but the KMA was still the KMA.
Everyone with even the slightest interest in music was curious about the winners of the KMA awards, and that was reflected directly in the number of live viewers.
[2019 Korean Popular Music Awards live][56098 viewers]
Some people might wonder what was so impressive about that number, but it was quite high for an awards ceremony broadcast online.
The general public only listened to songs on the streaming charts and paid no attention to boring, pretentious awards ceremonies like this one.
Which meant the people who had tuned into this broadcast to watch it live and chat were, naturally, massive music nerds.
All they did was listen to music and argue in online communities over who was better at it.
-All right, let’s go lol
-Finally, the KMA?
-Being remote is fucking ridiculous.
-Damn, look how barren it is lol.
-Will Seo Siyeon win the grand prize?
-When is Ronaldo coming out?
-Is RPS coming out today?
-When does it start, when does it start
The chat window flew up in a noisy frenzy as soon as the broadcast began, but it soon quieted down somewhat once the host appeared wearing a mask and the winners’ announcements began.
One of the KMA’s defining features was that it presented awards in a great many musical fields.
The song and album categories were separate, and it was possible to win multiple awards.
First, the winners in various unpopular genres were announced one by one, and obscure artists whom even self-proclaimed deep music listeners had never heard of came out to give their acceptance speeches.
-Wow, congratulations haha
-Such a super famous person (don’t know who)
-Get rid of these nobodies
-(deadpan applause emote)(deadpan applause emote)
-You guys can’t even congratulate them; all you do is be sarcastic
-Hurry up with the hipster picks
-This acceptance speech is fucking long
Anyway, after getting through all that, recognizable names finally started appearing when the winners in the rap & hip-hop category were announced.
-Oh, Jack Oki
-We are honored to see the king of Korean hip-hop…
-This is it, this is it, this is it lol
-Now this is an awards show, for real lol
-Oppa Oki, I’m dying ㅠㅠ
-A Show Me the Money-hyped bubble boy at the KMA? What a joke.
-The hip-hop cartel definitely exists.
Next came Best Dance & Electronic.
RPS swept both the song and album awards.
This was neither unexpected nor particularly noteworthy, so the viewers’ reactions were equally lukewarm.
The consensus among critics and the public was that, having reached number twenty-five on Billboard, there was nothing to nitpick about its musicality or popularity.
Next came the pop category.
“Seo Siyeon’s platonic love story.”
“Seo Siyeon’s First, story.”
It was somewhat unexpected, but not enough to call it a huge upset. It was a little surprising that they were giving awards to a song and album released in mid-December, though.
-Deserved it, yeah yeah
-Honestly, there wasn’t an album of this quality.
-Elementary school singer GOAT
-Holy crap ㄷㄷ
-Siyeon the angel
-When is Ronaldo coming out?
-Ronaldo-hyung no-showed and went back to Portugal
-Even though it was released in December, the quality is just overwhelmingly good.
Since she had won an award, an acceptance video had to be shown, and, just as expected, a familiar-looking studio appeared on the screen.
Seo Siyeon, however, was nowhere to be seen.
-?
-What the heck, where’d she go?
-Give our Siyeon back ㅠㅠ
-Is even her face remote because of COVID?
Soon, something black rose from the bottom of the camera frame, let out a weak and pathetic “Grrr,” and revealed itself to the camera.
“…Were you surprised? Actually, I know you weren’t. Heheh. I just wanted to try something like this once.”
Seo Siyeon flashed a mischievous smile and looked straight at the viewers.
-LOL
-Whoa. That. Scared. Me.
-(puppy startled in surprise emoji)
-Seeing her like this, she’s exactly a kid her age lol
-Look at those plump cheeks, damn lol
-Grab her with both hands and… squeeze
-Has her face somehow gotten a little slimmer?
-That face, though, seriously…
The acceptance speech that followed was textbook-level, so the viewers didn’t pay it much attention.
There were some Seo Siyeon fans who watched nervously just in case she pulled something again, considering the huge incident she had caused at the WMA, though.
-If she’s going to do something like that, she’d do it during the grand prize lol
After seeing that chat message, I decided to watch the rest with peace of mind.
Soon, the metal and modern rock awards had all been presented, and Blooming had taken both Best Rock Song and Best Rock Album.
Blooming’s appearance caused a brief uproar in the chat, with people asking whether it really made sense for a band that couldn’t even compose music to win, but the handful of fans were quickly subdued, and peace returned to the chat window.
-Hipsters are throwing a fit because their faves can’t win
-How are they any different from idol-fandom fans? Seriously asking
-I listened to the song they told us to go listen to, and it’s fucking awful. They want to give the KMA to something like this?
Next came Rookie of the Year, Musician of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year.
Only four categories remained.
-Aren’t these almost all Seo Siyeon’s?
Most viewers agreed with that message. Seo Siyeon hadn’t merely captured the public’s attention; her first full-length album had also earned recognition for its musicality from critics.
On top of that, the Rookie of the Year award was practically guaranteed because she was a newcomer.
It was the moment when anticipation was building over whether the KMA would see its first four-time winner—or perhaps a three-time winner.
“Rookie of the Year? Seo Siyeon!”
“Song of the Year is ‘glassy sky.’”
“Album of the Year! ‘First, story.’”
“And finally, Musician of the Year! Seo Siyeon!”
And that was exactly what happened.
Four KMA awards.
It was the first time it had ever happened in history.
* * *
Actually, it was something I had expected to some extent.
I hadn’t realized it amid the chaos after Singer Star ended, but once I had some breathing room and looked at things objectively…
“I’m getting three of these, aren’t I?”
Even though the KMA placed relatively little weight on popularity and chart performance, it was hard not to give them to me when my results were this overwhelming…
Rookie of the Year and Musician of the Year.
Those two were practically guaranteed, and glassy sky was also deserving of Song of the Year.
If anything, it was a song I had made exactly as I pleased without caring much about its popularity, so the critics were the first to respond to it.
As the critics raved about it like mad, its ranking gradually climbed.
Besides, the album released after everything was over had also received tremendous praise from the critics.
The critics had torn apart the songs I made in my previous life with such relish, yet now they gave high marks to every song I made as a girl in elementary school…
‘They’re blatant opportunists.’
This was just my personal opinion, but critics as a species were not trustworthy at all.
I had no idea why their standards were so completely based on whatever the hell they wanted.
But those untrustworthy people were the ones judging the KMA.
So it wasn’t particularly strange that my 「First, story」, which had received tremendous praise from the critics, won Album of the Year.
And that was how I ended up holding an absurd record of four grand prizes.
In other words, as a musician active in Korea, I had reached the summit—the dream stage.
At the age of only ten.
The news sent the number of live viewers soaring past 100,000. They had all flocked there to hear my acceptance speech.
Inside the prerecorded video, Seo Siyeon flashed a mischievous smile.
“Ta-da. What do you think? I got a whole lot of awards. Did I do well?”
-Yep yep
-You did fucking great
-We are honored to behold the GOAT of Korean music history…
-I can’t deny that a single season on the level of Shin-du-hyung’s 14–15 season is truly something else
“But sadly, Siyeon came down with an illness… Sob, sob.”
The chat froze for a moment, then began scrolling so fast that it was impossible to read.
I chewed on snacks while watching the chat and smiling in satisfaction.
Soon, Seo Siyeon on the screen stopped pretending to cry, smiled brightly, and continued speaking.
“The name of that illness is a voice change! Sadly, it seems puberty came to me earlier than it did to other kids.”
-Ah, a voice change
-Never thought of that lol
-Do girls get voice changes too?
↳Yeah, they do. Just not as drastically as boys.
-A voice change, fair enough
-A four-time KMA winner before even hitting puberty? What kind of performance will she put on once she’s fully grown…
-I’m looking forward to seeing Siyeon after she adapts to her voice change
-So how long are you taking off?
“The hiatus will last about a year.”
At that, the chat began flying upward like mad.
Most of the reactions were things like ‘It’s sad, but we’ll wait for youㅠㅠ’ and ‘That’s not too long lol.’
At that moment, as I watched those reactions, I couldn’t help having a bad thought.
‘Should I take even longer off?’
Of course, it should have remained just a thought, but I couldn’t help that it crossed my mind, even for a moment.