Chapter 76
<Genius Girl Seo Siyeon Retires Suddenly? No, She's Only Temporarily Suspending Her Vocal Activities>
<A Growth Spurt? Why Did Seo Siyeon Decide to Stop Singing?>
<Four-Time Winner at the Korean Popular Music Awards. The Story of a Girl Writing History>
As soon as the KMA ceremony ended, countless articles began pouring out as if they had been waiting for it.
An achievement of winning four KMA awards that might never be seen again.
And the hiatus she announced in her acceptance speech as a singer.
Korean society, already in turmoil over news of the epidemic, could not help but take notice of this story.
A hiatus from a singer who had practically dominated last year and still had songs sitting at No. 1 on the charts.
Moreover, the fact that this singer was the genius girl who had drawn the attention of the entire nation the previous year spread so rapidly that, within a single day, there was no one in Korea who didn't know about her.
The period she mentioned was about a year, but people knew it could end up being even longer.
Even if her voice change ended, she would still need time to adjust to her new voice and rehabilitate her vocal skills.
-She wouldn't decide not to come back just because she didn't like her voice after her voice change ended, would she? ㅠㅠ
Comments like that received a great deal of sympathy, and although people regretted Seo Siyeon's hiatus, they also anxiously feared that she might not return.
That was because the music she had shown was creatively bouncy and bright like a child's, while also feeling delicately crafted with the listeners in mind.
It was a sensibility unique to Seo Siyeon that no one could replace.
It was common for young child actors to take lengthy hiatuses, but it was not often that a young singer took a break.
That was because young singers almost never became famous enough for the public to take an interest in their taking a hiatus.
“…So this is how it ends up.”
Go Hyena, who was effectively leading Seo Siyeon's fandom, received the news calmly in her studio apartment.
After seeing that Blue Sky Entertainment had not established a fan club for Seo Siyeon, unlike Blooming, she had guessed that a moment like this would eventually arrive.
It was inevitable, considering how young she was to begin with.
In a situation like this, the only thing a fan could do was…
“Wait.”
All she could do was not forget her and continue waiting.
Go Hyena thought so and held on to her identity as a fan.
* * *
Of course, Seo Siyeon's entering a hiatus did not mean she was actually resting without doing anything.
Although Seo Siyeon disappeared from the public eye as a singer, as a composer and producer, and as the Seo Siyeon of Neulneul Orphanage, she continued her active work in the public eye.
<Following Blooming's 「To My Youth」, a speedy comeback announced with their second single.>
<Blooming and Seo Siyeon. ‘Both are minors, but they're the strongest’—Blooming's 「tell our world」 races to No. 1 on the charts>
Just one month after announcing her vocal hiatus to the public, Seo Siyeon was listed as the sole composer and producer of Blooming's second single, which she had produced.
<Singer Star Season 6. Will Seo Siyeon Appear as a Surprise Judge?>
She briefly appeared as a temporary judge on Singer Star 6, whose three major entertainment agency heads had all dropped out.
<A Mini-Album Comeback Following Blooming's Second Single?>
<Seo Siyeon's Clever Strategy. Following 「tell your world」, 「Fate, and You!」 Sweeps the Charts at No. 1>
<Blue Sky Entertainment Reveals Five-Member Debut Lineup. Starlight's Haruka and Singer Star's Lee Hyena Make Headlines>
<Is Seo Siyeon the Producer of 「NOIRIS」? K-pop's First Teenage Producer Is Born!>
<How Far Does the Genius Girl's Talent Go? Following Band Blooming, NOIRIS Is Also in Seo Siyeon's Hands>
<Can They Recreate Blooming's Legend? Let's Take a Look at Seo Siyeon's NOIRIS>
She once again caused a stir in the entertainment industry as the youngest producer of a new idol group.
By this point, people in Seo Siyeon's fandom had begun saying things like this.
[Honestly, this doesn't feel like a hiatus, upvote lol]
What is this endless stream of content? It's not even been half a year since she went on hiatus, fuck lol
-Info) It's only her activities as a vocalist that are on hiatus; she never said she'd stop appearing on broadcasts or working as a producer
-Ha-jun, just open a fan club for Seo Siyeon too
↳Probably 10,000 members would join, yeah
-Let's just support the junior groups
↳Are they really younger sisters? They seem way older than Siyeon…
Similar days continued after that.
<Seo Siyeon's Choice. Let's Take a Look at Jersey Club>
<Shocking NOIRIS Debut Sweeps Every Chart at No. 1>
<The Orphanage Kids at a Baseball Stadium Again? Siyeon's Beauty Among Them Becomes a Hot Topic>
↳Looks like she grew quite a bit? No idea about the voice change. Is it noticeable or not…
↳Ugh, Siyeonie's getting ruined…
<Another Suspicious Composer of the Year Award. Seo Siyeon Appears at the WMA>
<Cuteness That Even a Mask Can't Hide. Seo Siyeon's Killer Aegyo!>
↳You journalistic hack. Since when is a wink aegyo?
↳By Siyeon standards, it is, though? That deadpan kid would consider even a wink aegyo, yeah yeah
↳I'm not the only one noticing her aegyo increasing, right?
[s. siyeon]
(Photos taken while wearing hanbok)
(Blooming and NOIRIS separated by a cola can and a video call)
Hello. It's Siyeon.
I wonder if everyone's doing well? I had a New Year's party over video call with the unnies at our company.
Happy New Year, everyone!
[Likes: 152K][Comments: 1,231][Reposts: 25K][Shares: 30K]
-Wow, she's really grown so much ㅠㅠ
↳She really grew a lot (she isn't even 140 cm tall)
-It's almost been a year… almost been a year… almost been a year…
-No, please give us some news about her return
-When are the Blooming girls making a comeback? ㅠㅠ
-Has her voice change ended? It seems like it should be over by now
Then, six months later.
<Seo Siyeon Crawls Out for the First Time in Ages Today, Lol>
(A GIF of Seo Siyeon throwing the first pitch in a short-sleeved shirt)
Still a complete baby lol. Her voice seems unchanged? I'd like to hear her sing too… but she didn't sing the national anthem.
-Info) It's already been a year and a half since she declared a one-year hiatus
-Fuck, she showed up on broadcasts a lot last year, at least, but did she really hole up in some room this year?
-Simply the undisputed GOAT of Korean music
↳For real lol, NOIRIS is on an utterly insane roll
↳I'm a hip-hop head, but after hearing NOIRIS's new song, I decided to become a full-on idol stan
-Fucking hell, so when is she coming back?
↳You think she's coming back? She's making a shitload of money comfortably without performing
↳Royalties alone bring in hundreds of millions of won a month, so why would she come back? lol
-Does it make sense for someone with that face to do nothing but compose behind the scenes?
-I figured it out. She'll probably return as an idol around middle school, yeah yeah
↳Then I'll praise her for life and buy 100 copies of every album
↳This actually seems plausible?
-Info) Two of Seo Siyeon's songs are still hanging on in the daily chart TOP 100…
And then the silence continued, until another six months passed and a new post finally appeared on social media.
[s.siyeon]
(Various fusion-hanbok outfits photographed in a studio)
Hello! Another New Year has come, so I came to say hello again!
Someday… we'll be able to meet, right?
-You bitch, when are you coming back?
-This girl is seriously vicious lol
-I've been holding my breath until Siyeon comes back, and I'm currently on my 16,231st reincarnation…
-It's been almost two years now…
-It's been two years since your hiatus… Isn't it really about time you came back?
-We're waiting, but you're the one who isn't coming
-It might actually start getting hard to hold out soon…?
-I heard she graduated elementary school early—is that true?
↳If this is true, an announcement about her return is coming soon, yeah yeah
↳There's a rumor she's going to S.J. Middle School in Seoul, yeah. S.J. is an arts-focused middle and high school sponsored by Yuseong Semiconductor
↳If she goes there, please skip school and start promoting, for the love of God…
-There's a rumor Mikansei is Seo Siyeon—is it true?
↳Are you stupid? Why would Seo Siyeon sing Japanese songs without even showing her face? Think before you spew comments
↳She could, though. Blooming really likes Vocaloid, so maybe she was influenced by them, damn it. And the voice does kind of sound like hers
“Hmm… That's surprisingly sharp.”
I closed Instagram's comment section and looked straight ahead. There, I saw a beautiful girl in a school uniform, her hair tied into twin tails.
Though she was still on the petite side among her peers, the school uniform suited her exceptionally well, complementing her face imbued with the fresh innocence unique to a young girl.
Over the past two years.
My body had undergone some fairly obvious changes.
My voice change had vanished long ago, and my height, which had only just passed the 145-centimeter mark, now outlined the figure of a girl rather than quite a child.
As the baby fat fell away, the contours of my face became more defined, but the lovable impression from childhood miraculously remained intact.
I was following the textbook path of ‘growing up without an ugly phase.’
Yuseolha approached from behind, still flaunting a youthful appearance despite the passage of time.
“Aah, so cute! How are you still this cute even though you're a middle schooler now?”
“Because I'm not middle-school age…”
Thanks to graduating early, I finally succeeded in escaping the elementary school I was sick to death of.
Of course, it was a little sad to say goodbye to the kids I'd grown close to in elementary school, but…
All I had to do was keep in touch with them.
“So. Isn't it about time you made your comeback?”
“……Actually, I made my comeback a long time ago.”
“Huh? What do you mean…”
I said that, then pulled out my phone and showed her my own YouTube channel.
[MIKANSEI][♪][660K subscribers][11 videos]
[Channel created: January 15, 2021]
The channel's creation date was January 15, exactly one year after the KMA ceremony that day.
When she saw it, her expression twisted in disbelief.
“…How were people supposed to figure this out just by looking at this…?”
“Hmph. I made my comeback. It's their fault if they couldn't find me.”