Seon-ho had watched the first shoot of Idol War and felt a pleasant feeling that things were about to get incredibly busy.
Now that this was the true beginning for the team called Personal Color, there was much to do—and even more he wanted to do.
But once the first shoot was over, he realized he had been mistaken.
Personal Color couldn’t be busy yet.
For them to get busy, the Vivid stage had to be aired first, and there were still two weeks left before Idol War’s premiere.
So…
They were given a vacation.
It was a generous three-day break, gifted by Manager Kwon Hosan, who knew how much Seon-ho had endured up to now.
A rare, truly generous three-day vacation that included Saturday and Sunday.
“You’re really going all out.”
“Don’t get too emotional about it.”
He grumbled jokingly, but for a manager whose work fluctuated and paid no mind to weekdays or weekends, a Friday–Saturday–Sunday off was pure sweetness.
And there was one particular thing he had kept putting off due to the busy schedule—something he could no longer delay.
A trip to Daegu.
So the timing of the break felt perfect.
‘If I take the early Friday morning train, I should be able to do a round trip in a day.’
He wanted to use Saturday and Sunday to truly rest and focus on the songs he’d been putting off.
However, that plan collapsed right from the start.
One of the entertainers from MOK, whose hometown was also Daegu and who happened to have a free schedule, contacted him and asked to go together.
“Oppa, do you like eggs?”
The person who boarded the KTX with Seon-ho on Friday was none other than Cha Hye-mi. *Korean Train Express
6:40 a.m.
At that hour, fatigue was plain on every passenger’s face.
As soon as the train departed, most of them dozed off, unaware of who else was in the same car.
None of them realized that Hye-mi—who had hit three home runs in Tomorrow K-Star, was now backed by MOK’s dream team, and was rising as a top-tier solo artist—was sitting among them.
Wearing a baseball cap and a hooded zip-up to hide her face, Hye-mi leaned toward Seon-ho with an excited whisper.
“It’s been so long since I’ve been on a train.”
“Yeah? Then how did you go home all this time?”
“I usually didn’t. I barely managed to convince my dad to let me go home, but things always came up. I didn’t go back so often that he usually had to come pick me up.”
She laughed and added, “It’s all thanks to you, oppa.”
“What is?”
“Everything.”
“You worked hard, that’s why things went well.”
“I was working hard all along. But things only really started going well after you came. So it’s thanks to you.”
At her words, Seon-ho replied with a soft smile instead of answering.
Seeing his smile, Hye-mi asked another question.
“By the way, why are you going to Daegu? I messaged you as soon as I heard.”
“Oh, just to meet a friend.”
“A friend…?”
Hye-mi trailed off, knowing a bit about his past.
Noticing her hesitation, Seon-ho spoke first.
“His name’s Kim Hyun-seok. He’s the only orphanage friend I still keep in touch with. I’m going to see him.”
“Oh, so you’re close?”
“Yeah, I guess. Actually, it’s thanks to him I ended up joining MOK.”
“Huh? He works in the entertainment industry too?”
“No. Hyun-seok runs an auto shop in Daegu. I just mean that it was thanks to him I pulled myself together.”
Kim Hyun-seok.
The only orphanage friend whose number Seon-ho still had.
The one who had shared the same pain as him—because of that girl, Yu Seon-ah.
Seon-ho believed that if it hadn’t been for Hyun-seok, he wouldn’t have even had the resolve to enter the entertainment industry.
Before joining MOK, he had drifted through life for years, doing odd jobs and manual labor just to keep himself from falling apart. If he had money, he ate when hungry.
But that was it.
There was no meaning in his life.
Not until he ran into Hyun-seok by chance at a construction site.
“What happened that day wasn’t your fault.”
Those were the first words Hyun-seok said after five years.
And the moment Seon-ho heard them, he realized Hyun-seok was still hurting too.
“…It was my fault.”
“You think it was your fault?”
“Yeah.”
“Fine. Let’s say it was. Let’s say Seon-ah died because of you.”
“…”
“Then what? If you live like this, what does that make Seon-ah? If she died because of you, then you should live two lives in her place. You should be carrying cement on a site and eating instant noodles with some damn hope for the future!”
Whack!
After yelling that, Hyun-seok punched Seon-ho in the face.
Staggering from the unexpected blow, Seon-ho frowned and asked,
“Have you been watching too many movies or something? Even the cheesy lines I could let slide, but why the hell did you throw a punch?”
He sighed, grumbled, and then, seeing the embarrassed expression on Hyun-seok’s face, burst into laughter.
What Hyun-seok didn’t know was that it was the first time in years Seon-ho had laughed out loud.
Hearing him laugh, Hyun-seok turned red and muttered awkwardly.
“It’s not bad, is it?”
“What isn’t?”
“Being able to watch movies whenever we want. Listening to music freely. Back then, our biggest dream was to watch Weekend Movie all the way through.”
“…”
“You still listen to music, right? Still humming like a lunatic?”
“…”
“Seon-ah wanted to be a singer, and you wanted to be a producer. That was your dream, right? You know how jealous I was that I couldn’t be part of it.”
“…Yeah, I know. You petty bastard.”
“That’s why you have to do something. Live for both of you. Leave a mark on this world.”
“And now you say that?”
“Didn’t Seon-ah say you were a genius? Then prove she was right, you ungrateful bastard.”
That night, the two drank heavily, reminiscing about their painful past.
When remembered alone, those old memories were bitter—but shared between them, they took on the strange flavour of nostalgia.
That day, Seon-ho gained two things.
One was a friend who shared his memories—and the other was a firm resolve.
A vow to become a producer, no matter what.
After stopping by a bakery near the station to buy Hye-mi a cake, Seon-ho only picked up the phone after confirming the number of the taxi she got into.
After a few rings, Hyun-seok’s voice came through.
—What, you’re here already?
“I just arrived. If I take a taxi and say ‘car repair shop,’ will they know where to go?”
—Ah, I quit the repair shop a while ago. I was going to tell you in person.
“Seriously? You already saved up all the money?”
—As if. I just felt pathetic, telling you to live right while still stuck in this business. So I quit. It’s thanks to you. I always said I would but never followed through.
“You quit right after meeting me? Then what are you doing now?”
—I’m working part-time and going to a training academy, preparing for a technician certificate. I need that to open a repair shop. But studying again after so long is driving me nuts.
Hyun-seok grumbled over the line, then added:
—Anyway, let’s talk more in person. Did you take the KTX?
“Yeah.”
—I’ll come to the station. Give me about 20 minutes.
A little later, Seon-ho met Hyun-seok at the station, and they headed to a nearby cafe.
Once they ordered coffee and sat down, they couldn’t help but laugh.
“Wow, us going to a cafe together? We could never have imagined this as kids.”
“Time really has passed.”
“Geez, listen to that tone. You’ve totally turned into a Seoul guy.”
“I wasn’t that different when we met last year, was I?”
“Nah. You weren’t this pretentious.”
“…Pretentious?”
Seon-ho was surprised at how natural it felt to be with Hyun-seok again after so long.
And it seemed Hyun-seok felt the same.
After catching up for a while, Hyun-seok asked:
“So, what’s this about? You said you needed a favour.”
“Oh, it’s not a big deal.”
“What is it?”
“Can I borrow your name?”
“…Take care. It was nice seeing you.”
“Come on, I’m serious.”
“I thought you joined a big agency… Wait, is MOK actually the name of some third-rate savings bank?”
The reason Seon-ho came to see Hyun-seok wasn’t a joke—he really did need to borrow his name.
As a composer, Prefer was currently using Seon-ho’s name.
In other words, the account receiving the royalties was under “Han Seon-ho.”
But if HSH’s copyrights were also registered under “Han Seon-ho,” things could get messy.
He planned to reveal he was Prefer at the right time, but since he’d already talked about HSH with Manager Yoo Ayeon, he wanted to keep that identity as a hidden card.
That’s why he needed someone else’s name.
And Seon-ho didn’t have any other friend he could ask for that kind of favour.
Manager Yoo had offered to help resolve the name issue for HSH, but that would mean relying on her goodwill too much.
His relationship with Yoo Ayeon was good now, but people change.
In the worst case, once HSH’s value increased, there was even a risk of her taking that name away from him.
“What’s HSH? And Prefer, too?”
After hearing the situation, Hyun-seok had questions, and Seon-ho answered.
It was the first time he told a friend everything about himself.
Manager Yoo knew most of his story, but she was more a business partner than a friend.
That’s why he was curious how Hyun-seok would respond.
And Hyun-seok’s response was:
“You’re so damn simple.”
“What do you mean?”
“I told you to live like you’re worth two people, and you really started living as two people?”
“I think the problem is your simple interpretation of that.”
“Well, I get keeping HSH hidden, since that was kind of accidental. But why hide Prefer?”
“It all started because I wanted Hye-mi to judge my music fairly. That’s all.”
Hearing this, Hyun-seok tilted his head.
“Still, keeping it secret this long? Isn’t it better to just tell her?”
“It’s just a gut feeling… but I’m suspicious of Director Kim Dong-han.”
“Why? I mean, he reported his own son as a stalker. That’s a red flag.”
“It makes sense, yeah. But it’s weird that someone who’s lived a certain way for decades suddenly breaks character only with Hye-mi. That’s why I want to leave a backup plan.”
“Hm. Well, you’ve always had great instincts. Still, you should tell Cha Hye-mi. Sure, you helped her, but she saved Prefer too, right?”
“I’ve been meaning to… It’s just, keeping Prefer at arm’s length until now makes me feel like a show-off.”
“Hey, you gotta say things while you still can. You know that.”
“…Yeah, you’re right.”
“And more importantly…”
Hyun-seok lowered his voice, and Seon-ho leaned in.
He’d only recently realized how insightful Hyun-seok could be.
Before joining MOK, Seon-ho studied intensely for nearly a year, but Hyun-seok didn’t seem to have done that.
Yet the things he said often got to the heart of the matter.
Hyun-seok continued in a low tone.
“Is Cha Hye-mi really that pretty?”
“…Huh?”
“I mean, it’s cool that you made Autumn Leaf, but more than that… Cha Hye-mi…”
Seon-ho took out his phone and showed him a picture he’d taken on the train.
Then he had to endure a long stretch of whining from Hyun-seok about wanting to join MOK.
After that long monologue ended and they both sipped their coffee, Hyun-seok asked:
“But aren’t you worried?”
“About what?”
“That if I wanted to, I could steal the HSH name or take the money. Why trust me more than that manager, Yoo Ayeon?”
Seon-ho thought for a moment before replying.
“You’re the only person I can truly call a friend. If I started doubting my one and only friend in this world, that’d just be too lonely.”
He meant it.
Some might say it was blind faith, but Seon-ho had felt a deep bond with Hyun-seok even though it had been five years since they last met.
They’d lived through the same times, shared the same pains.
“And honestly, I’m fine even without the name HSH. It’s just one side of who I am. No matter how big HSH gets, it’s still a part of me. I think I’ll end up doing most of my composing as Prefer anyway.”
Hyun-seok gave a dry chuckle and said:
“It would’ve been perfect if you didn’t say that last part.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re not just sounding cringey now, you’re acting cringey too.”
With a smirk, Hyun-seok gave Seon-ho a playful slap on the shoulder.
“Lunch is on you.”
After that, the two spent time talking about all sorts of things.
This time, the memories they were creating felt much sweeter than the ones from a year ago.
TL : Seon-ho and Seon-ah, huh? Did they give each other those names?
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