‘Of course. Who else would I be talking about if not you?’
Hye-mi hesitated for a moment before speaking.
‘Oppa.’
‘Yeah?’
‘If I transfer to W Entertainment, is there a chance you could come with me?’
‘Of course. Though W Entertainment would have to approve it.’
In any case, Han Seon-ho was completely disregarding the company’s “let it be policy” and putting all his effort into Hye-mi.
So he wouldn’t become a coward again, like in the past.
To achieve his dream.
Seon-ho’s voice saying ‘Of course’ echoed in Hye-mi’s ears.
‘How can I go with you, oppa?’
‘Hmm? Maybe if you become a star that W Entertainment desperately wants to keep?’
‘If that’s what it takes, leave it to me.’
Clenching her fists, Hye-mi suddenly became curious about her own feelings.
Whether she liked Seon-ho as a man.
‘What are you thinking about?’
As Hye-mi rolled her eyes, deep in thought, Seon-ho asked.
To that, Hye-mi smiled brightly and replied,
‘Nothing. I just had a silly thought for a second.’
It wasn’t that.
He was just such a great manager.
When Seon-ho asked if she really wasn’t bothered by the VTR, Hye-mi firmly denied it and steeled her resolve.
She really wasn’t even the slightest bit concerned about the VTR.
Her head was too full of other things.
And now, something else had taken over her mind.
A desire to become the kind of star W Entertainment wanted.
The moment Hye-mi finished her part, she stepped one pace out from the circular light where she and Jung Su-rim had been standing.
In that instant, as if cells were dividing, a new light split off from the original one.
Now, there were two circles of light.
One enveloping Jung Su-rim, and one enveloping Cha Hye-mi.
Inside the two radiant circles stood two singers, singing from different eras.
The song was already reaching its climax.
Jung Su-rim’s touching high notes poured out the longing for joyful memories, while Cha Hye-mi, as the backing vocal, illustrated the happy moments with a lover.
“Ah……!”
As the climax hit, every audience member in MBN Hall let out a gasp without realizing it.
Jung Su-rim’s high notes, which embodied the lyrics perfectly, were amazing—but even more astonishing was the backing vocal performance by Cha Hye-mi.
Backing vocals meant singers who elevated the song by providing chorus, doubling, or ad-libs, supporting the main vocal.
So, in her role as backing vocal, Hye-mi wasn’t singing lyrics.
She was simply layering harmonies behind Jung Su-rim’s voice.
And yet—
Even though they were wordless harmonies—
They carried happiness.
It was truly extraordinary. The fact that emotion could be conveyed even without the lyrical meaning.
‘I underestimated Cha Hye-mi. Or maybe she’s grown immensely.’
That’s what the judges who evaluated her last season couldn’t help but think.
But they were only half right.
It was true that Hye-mi had grown.
But the more important factor was something else entirely.
Production that went beyond simply making a good song.
As happiness came from Hye-mi’s voice, the mood of the song shifted from “longing” to “longing filled with happiness”—a subtle transformation born of careful production.
What carried the most weight on today’s stage was the production work that laid the foundation for the singers to perform at their full potential.
And everyone was sensing it—slowly but surely.
‘Who composed this song?’
‘Who planned the stage direction?’
Amidst a sea of awe, surprise, and curiosity, the end of the autumn leaf finally arrived.
Even if that leaf falls,
It doesn’t mean winter will come,
But somehow—
I hope the leaf won’t fall.
All instruments stopped, and even the lights went dark—on that stage, Jung Su-rim’s sorrowful solo brought the performance to a close.
One second…….
Two seconds…….
Three seconds…….
The lingering darkness carried a sense of afterglow, and then suddenly, the stage lights turned on.
Onstage stood Jung Su-rim and Cha Hye-mi, holding hands tightly with bright smiles on their faces.
—“Woooooow!”
—“Kyaaaaaa!”
The crowd erupted in a competing frenzy of male and female cheers.
—Clap clap clap.
The three judges rose to their feet in applause.
Viewers watching from home had no choice but to listen to what could only be described as “a thunderous roar of applause.” That applause included their own.
The loud clapping and cheers, seemingly impossible to calm, were barely subdued by the efforts of host Song Hanmin.
And so, the judging began.
The first to speak was Jang Soohyuk.
“I personally thought the best performance today was by Oh Hanbit and Ryu Hail. They served a flavour I never expected. It was completely different from what I had anticipated—and incredibly delicious.”
Jang Soohyuk’s flushed face appeared on the screen.
“But in contrast, the performance by Cha Hye-mi and Jung Su-rim delivered the flavour I did expect. To use a metaphor, I had already imagined the taste of steak before watching, and their performance delivered exactly that. But what I hadn’t anticipated… was that it wasn’t just any steak.”
—“Wooooaaaah!”
—“Aaaahhhhh!”
The audience, catching on to the metaphor, screamed wildly.
“It was a performance in a style I expected, but with an impact I never could’ve imagined. An emotional resonance I didn’t see coming. It made all the steaks I’ve had before feel like burnt meat in comparison. I never thought you could mix the feeling of happiness with autumn leaf. That’s all for my critique. As for technical evaluations… I wouldn’t dare.”
Without even taking a breath, Jang Soohyuk finished his critique and slammed the score button.
“N-Ninety-nine points! That’s the highest score Judge Jang Soohyuk has ever given since Season 1 of Tomorrow K-Star!”
Song Hanmin exclaimed in astonishment.
“The previous highest score he’s ever given was 90. And that was once. The average of all the scores he’s given is… a mere 61. The man had no blood or tears!”
To which Jang Soohyuk replied,
“That’s only because I gave a few zeroes.”
“You gave one zero!”
The audience burst into laughter at Song Hanmin’s comeback.
Enjoying the laughter, Song Hanmin asked,
“But after all that high praise, why did you take off one point? From what you just said, it sounds like even 100 wouldn’t be enough.”
“Because there’s still one more performance left. If I gave 100 here, it would kill the motivation for the next stage. Cha Hye-mi and Jung Su-rim only need to prove in the next round that tonight wasn’t just luck. Then maybe, for the first time, I’ll press a three-digit number.”
After Jang Soohyuk’s review, which was nothing short of full-blown praise, critiques from Moon Jungkook and Chaemi followed.
Moon Jungkook praised not only the singing but also the stage performance.
He praised about how they created such a performance using only light and darkness.
He was also amazed by how Jung Su-rim portrayed her “present self” and Cha Hye-mi her “past self” through costume design.
Chaemi took a deep breath and said briefly,
“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep easily tonight. It brought back memories of past relationships I shared in autumn.”
Moon Jungkook gave them a score of 100. So did Chaemi.
Unlike Jang Soohyuk, they had given 100s before.
Even so, the combined score of 299 was the highest in Tomorrow K-Star history.
With the judges’ scores tallied, it was now time for the viewer votes.
“Whoa!”
A moment later, the assistant director monitoring the text votes cried out.
—I admit it. Kind-hearted Hye-mi. Sorry for what I said earlier.
—Wow, with a song like that, I get why she had that expression. I’d be assertive too if I were her.
—Yeah, kind Hye-mi is real.
—That was insane. When Su-rim hit the high note and Hye-mi came in with the harmony, I legit almost cried.
—Listening to the song, past lovers just started flashing through my mind like a slideshow.
—I’m 25 and have never dated. Somehow even nonexistent past lovers came to mind.
—That, my friend, is illusion magic.
—Seriously, I can only say one thing: insane. Totally insane.
—My mom cried while listening. Then my dad got mad, asking if she was crying thinking of old lovers. But even he had red eyes.
—Certified family-breaker song.
—Wow. I have to watch next week’s broadcast live. Coming for Hye-mi and Su-rim.
—Same. Inviting Season 2 contestants was a god-tier move.
—Ah… I’ve been bias-wrecked.
—I used to be a Goo Se-hee fan. I think her reign is over in my heart.
—Classic lame duck moment.
—LOL that pun though.
—Hye-mi is such a respectful daughter. Using Autumn Leaf again in case the CEO’s running low on funds.
—But isn’t this a completely different song from Kim Dong-han’s Autumn Leaf? The lyrics are different. It’s practically a new track.
—I’m curious about the rookie composer Su-rim mentioned in the VTR.
—They’ll probably credit them when the track drops at 9PM.
—They changed the release time to midnight.
—Then I’ll just survive on the live video until midnight and loop the song until I fall asleep.
—Such positivity, I love it.
Praise for Autumn Leaf started flooding the live forum.
Of course, some people still posted hostile comments.
Most of them were fans of other contestants whose chances of advancing had just plummeted.
But their attacks didn’t hold much weight.
—Even if the song’s good, wasn’t Cha Hye-mi way too rude?
—Yeah. So what if the song’s good? Her personality sucks.
—It was just editing. You can’t tell what someone’s really like from a short facial expression.
—I think she just strongly believed in the song and it came off wrong.
—That show’s nonsense. Hye-mi’s dad raised her to be very polite.
—And how would you know?
—I’m her friend. We went to elementary, middle, and high school together. Also studied at the same practical music academy. She was known for being super kind.
—Sounds like a lie…
—It’s true!
—Then tell us what her school nickname was.
—Cha-Ham.
—Nice. Learned something good today.
Fans who had stayed quiet due to negative public opinion now stepped up to defend Hyemi with facts.
Thus, the world—both offline and online—was swept by three names:
Cha Hye-mi, Jung Su-rim, and Autumn Leaf.
Tomorrow K-Star.
Tomorrow K-Star.
An audition program to discover the next generation of singers to represent Korea.
And today, on October 6th, 2017, a singer and a song appeared that perfectly matched the program’s title.
Cha Hye-mi and Jung Su-rim’s Autumn Leaf.
And if there was one more person to be called the protagonist of this moment, it would be Prefer, the producer who remade Autumn Leaf.
