Have you ever heard of the Butterfly Dream from Zhuangzi's "Discussion on Making All Things Equal"?
Whether it was the butterfly dreaming it had become me,
Or me dreaming that I had become the butterfly, no one could tell.
"Seriously."
Hyunseung was exactly like that.
"How… how could this happen…?"
Something incomprehensible by common sense had occurred.
Clearly, he had…
Hadn't he died, all alone desolate?
But then, how could this be?
When he opened his eyes, he had returned to a certain day at the age of 21.
At first, he was flustered by the inexplicable situation…
But after a bit of time, he decided not to dwell on it.
'It's not like worrying about it will solve anything…'
For days and days he'd agonized, wracking his brain, trying to understand what had happened, but now he resolved not to ponder it any longer.
It wasn't something he could find an answer to just by worrying, was it?
'First of all, let's stop lying here and get up.'
Getting up from bed, Hyunseung immediately headed to his desk.
'Man, this desk is so cramped…'
Even as a kid, he'd thought the house was small, but now, after living lavishly in a big house and returning here, this place felt even smaller and shabbier.
First, he opened a notebook and gripped a pen.
His plan was to write out his current situation on paper and slowly sort things out.
1. I died.
That was an undeniable fact.
'I definitely died.'
Hyunseung stared at the paper for a moment, then crossed out the phrase and started writing a new line next to it.
1. I came back to the past.
He hadn't died, he had returned to when he was 21.
He had no idea how it had happened…
But Hyunseung saw this as an "opportunity" to correct all his mistakes.
'Yeah, this is an opportunity.'
An opportunity to live happily while making music, without repeating the mistakes of the past.
If he had truly been given a chance to live his life over again, what should he do?
'What should I do…'
How could he live a life without regrets?
First of all…
The only thing he knew how to do was music.
'I'm confident when it comes to music.'
Even in his previous life, without any formal training, he had produced hit songs.
Contrary to public opinion that he was a one-hit wonder…
Hyunseung had an unprecedented record of turning almost every song he released into a success.
The secret was his "talent."
Hyunseung possessed what was often called the "money code" in music.
In other words…
He had the ability to make music that sells.
It wasn't something he'd acquired through learning, but an innate, natural-born ability.
So much so that it could confidently be called a "talent."
Simply put, for Hyunseung, making money through music was an incredibly easy task.
However…
Unlike his previous life, where he had been completely consumed by work, this time he wanted to look around at those around him.
He was well aware that there had been so many things he had neglected, using busyness as an excuse…
'This life will be different.'
This time, he wanted to live while being mindful of those around him.
Also…
He resolved not to get caught up in scandals.
'In my past life, I didn't get into trouble with drugs, women, or alcohol, but…'
Because he lived with the mindset that only those with merit deserve arrogance, he had, unintentionally, ended up entangled in all sorts of rumors.
Starting with the suicide of the agency CEO who had taken his own life because Hyunseung refused to give him a song…
That was when the world's finger-pointing began…
Everyone, as if they'd been waiting, hurled all sorts of slanders and insults, trying to drag him down and destroy him.
'Because of that, I couldn't even release songs under my own name…'
In this life, he wanted to hide his identity a bit more and make music carefully.
No.
To be precise, he wanted to work comfortably without having to expose his face to the public at all.
'Yeah, that's the answer.'
Since he wasn't confident he wouldn't make enemies, he decided to make music while hiding his identity completely.
'Good.'
He felt like things were finally taking shape.
Plan 1: This is an opportunity! I'm going to make music again!
Plan 2: But I won't get consumed by work!
Plan 3: I'll keep my identity hidden and work quietly!
Plan 4: I'll make my family happy!
Then, Hyunseung wrote down one last plan.
Plan 5: I will compose a song for my father.
In his previous life, hadn't he made more money than he could ever possibly spend, no matter how much he tried?
'I definitely did.'
Hyunseung realized that he had treated "work" as a kind of "game."
Writing songs, proving his worth, confirming the rewards that came…
He must have been completely intoxicated by the dopamine released in the process.
Work, work, work, work.
As his life became increasingly consumed by work, his relationships with his family had only grown more distant.
'I was so absorbed in work that I didn't even realize my father's health was deteriorating…'
And along with that, hadn't his relationship with his younger sister worsened beyond repair?
"Haa…"
Hyunseung let out a deep sigh.
And then—
As if making a vow, he wrote down the final sentence.
This time will be different.
It was both a resolution and a promise.
Let's live happily, all together.
A promise that carried an intensely determined resolve.
'I should make some money first.'
After roughly organizing his plans for the future and stepping out into the living room, that was the first thought Hyunseung had.
Moldy linoleum, walls and ceiling discolored with stains, and a house too small for a family of three to live in.
'We need to move first.'
From what he could recall, the family's circumstances at this time were definitely not good.
Even in his previous life, it wasn't until after he produced his first hit song that they were able to move.
At this point in time, they'd lived constantly worrying about paying all sorts of utility bills, and even about putting food on the table.
Flinch!
Sensing Hyunseung's presence, his father quickly gathered up the stack of bills that had been left on the table and shoved them into the drawer.
"Hyunseung-ah, have you eaten?"
His father asked in sign language, and Hyunseung shook his head and replied in kind.
"I'm fine."
Then he asked back:
"What about you, Father?"
His father soon responded:
"I've eaten already."
Then he added, almost unnecessarily:
"I might be able to get a full-time job through the disabled employment service this time. It looks like I'll be doing some simple assembly work at a factory. From now on, I'll have a steady income, so Hyunseung, you don't need to worry about anything else."
When Hyunseung nodded, his father spoke again:
"You've just been discharged from the military; you should go meet your friends, chat, have some fun."
"From my experience, I can tell you, there's only a certain period in life when you can play around, laugh, and relax without worries."
That's the kind of person his father was.
Living his own life in a hurry, but never forcing that on Hyunseung.
'Man…'
If he remembered correctly, after being discharged from the military, he'd spent more than six months unemployed, just lazing around at home.
He didn't particularly think about getting a job, nor did he have any specific studies he wanted to pursue, he'd just wasted his youth.
Yet his father, who must've been frustrated, not once nagged him about it.
As if resting, taking on challenges, and even failing, were all privileges that young people were entitled to.
It was surprising, but it had been the same when, completely out of nowhere, he'd told his father he wanted to try composing music.
'I'll support you.'
With just those few words, his father had silently trusted and supported him, even though Hyunseung had never even attended a piano academy.
"What about Hyuna?"
When Hyunseung asked, his father replied:
"These days, she comes home late from the study room, right?"
Then, as he quietly grabbed his coat, he added:
"I should go pick her up soon."
After his father left the house…
"Hmm."
Hyunseung immediately pulled out the bills that his father had hidden in the drawer and calculated the unpaid amounts.
Altogether, 2.2 million won.
Although, to the current Hyunseung, that amount was laughably small,
'But for my father right now, it's a huge burden.'
The truth was, at this time in his life, Hyunseung had more or less ignored the harsh environment around him.
Pretending not to notice.
Just holed up in his room, wasting time playing games.
'Right now, I've got about 1.5 million won on hand.'
It was money he had saved up from his military salary and a few day labor gigs he'd done.
Because of his prickly personality, he didn't have any friends, nor did he go out, so the money had stayed untouched.
'With this much, I can at least get the basics together.'
Hyunseung muttered quietly.
"Maybe I should start making some money."
After that, Hyunseung focused entirely on second-hand trading.
"Yes, the amount is all correct."
Hyunseung nodded in response.
"Okay, I'll make good use of it."
Then he glanced down at the headset he'd just bought second-hand.
'Is this about it?'
MIDI keyboard, audio interface, condenser mic, speakers, and headset, etc.
All of them were hopelessly inferior compared to the equipment he used to have.
They were low-end products, and even second-hand at that, but still more than enough for him to get to work right away.
In truth, rather than spending on gear, he'd already used up most of his money upgrading his computer.
Because to make music, you needed decent SSD and RAM capacity to back it up.
'Anyway, I guess this is it.'
Even though he'd spent all the money he had, he wasn't worried.
'I'll just earn more.'
Someone might laugh if a musician said that, but when it came to making music that makes money, I was second to none.
'Money code.'
In pop music, that commonly refers to the kind of musical code that makes money.
I'd established hundreds of those money codes…
If you apply them in unconventional ways and combine them, the number of possible variations only increases.
Thanks to that…
Every time I released a song, I could get it ranked high on the charts.
Making money through music.
For Hyunseung, it was simply "the usual."
And now…
"Let's get started."
Hyunseung began doing what he always did.
Tak, tadak, tadadak
His fingers moved busily to sketch out the sounds that had immediately popped into his head.
The only tools he could use were the free ones available in the program, so his limitations were clear.
But the chords Hyunseung laid down for each track all created their own unique lines.
An electropop emphasizing electric guitar sounds and a percussive rhythm.
He even scrapped an entire track and, unlike before, brought in a drum sample to lay down.
A song no one could ever expect was about to be born, and just thinking that made him let out a small laugh.
There was no way a hastily made song had lyrics yet, so he just roughly recorded a guide with some humming.
Then he finished it up with mixing and mastering.
After knocking out about two more songs, he looked at the clock, it was already 8 AM.
He'd ended up pulling an all-nighter making music, or to put it another way, he'd made three songs in just one night.
"Now… should I turn these into money?"
He started cutting the three songs he'd cranked out overnight, just the first 30 seconds of each.
Then he attached those samples to an email he had already looked up.
Tak.
He sent the email right away.
'Now I just need to wait for a reply.'
Feeling satisfied, he took a sip of coffee.
The place he sent the email to was LS Entertainment.
His plan was to sell the quickly made demo tracks as a buyout deal and secure some immediate funds.
Of course, there was always the risk that the company could take his samples, not pay for them, and just order their in-house composers to make something similar…
'But I filtered out all those kinds of companies.'
It had to be a solid company that wouldn't go under or encounter major management issues for at least the next 12 years, and one that had the basic business ethics to not just steal samples from a talented new composer, but instead consider recruiting him.
'If it's LS…'
I'd seen plenty of dirty dealings in this industry, so I'd poured all my effort into setting the selection criteria, and
I picked a place that met them.
"When will they bite?"
The email had been sent, so soon there'd be a bite.
That is…
As long as the person in charge who read the email wasn't an idiot.
"Alright."
Reviewing the email he'd sent once again, Hyunseung smiled confidently.
「 These are samples of 3 demo tracks. I'm thinking of a buyout at 3 million won per track. If you're interested in purchasing, please contact me. Composer HS, 010-XXXX-XXXX. 」