Chapter 48: Overcoming (5)

Warm afternoon sunlight streamed through the windows.

As usual, I had made a perfunctory appearance at the company and settled into the spacious, quiet lounge.

I sank into the sofa, idly staring at the meaningless graph created by the fluctuating numbers on the tablet screen.

Coins.

I was just checking them out, having thought of them after a long time.

The small change Yoon Sol had shown here a few days ago.

She had barely sung two verses in a trembling voice, but the courage contained within, and the faint smile that blossomed amidst her tears, had left an unexpectedly strong afterimage.

‘The power to move people’s hearts.’

That wasn’t an empty phrase.

Her voice definitely possessed such power.

And that smile… well, it was strangely on my mind.

‘What is she doing today….’

It was when boredom began to creep in.

—Ding-dong.

The sudden sound of the intercom made me frown slightly.

No one should be visiting me at this hour.

Yoon Taesoo or Jungyeon would have contacted me beforehand.

What is it?

I casually checked the intercom screen and was momentarily taken aback.

A face zoomed in, filling the screen.

The dress she always favored was gone, replaced by comfortable attire and a face stiff with tension.

It was Yoon Sol.

“……?”

Did I see it wrong?

I rubbed my eyes and checked again, but it was undoubtedly Yoon Sol.

Jungyeon wasn’t beside her.

She was alone.

What on earth brought her all the way here?

An uneasy premonition surfaced.

Had another problem occurred?

I hesitated for a moment, then pressed the button.

“Sol-ssi? What is it?”

I tried my best not to sound too stiff, but an undeniable question laced my voice.

[Um… Boss. Just for a moment… would it be okay?]

Her voice, coming through the receiver, was trembling excessively.

But it was slightly different from the precarious feeling of last time, as if tears would burst forth at any moment.

There was… a subtle tension mixed in, as if she had made some kind of resolution.

“Come in, for now.”

I decided to put aside my complicated thoughts for the moment.

Whatever it was, I needed to hear it directly.

The door opened, and Yoon Sol cautiously stepped inside.

She couldn’t move further from the entrance, her hands clasped in front of her, her head bowed low.

Her white nape, exposed under the sunlight, looked unusually slender.

“What brings you all the way here… Has something gone wrong?”

I asked first.

She shook her head vigorously.

“Ah, no! There’s no… problem. It’s just….”

She fidgeted, avoiding my gaze, then finally, as if having made up her mind, she took a deep breath and lifted her head.

Our eyes met.

Her pupils were wavering anxiously, but she didn’t look away.

“Um… Boss. If it’s okay… just for a very short while… could I practice singing here?”

“……What?”

The unexpected words made me ask back involuntarily.

Practice?

Here?

Now?

“Last time… when I sang in front of you, Boss… it was okay… just a little, a very little bit… so… if I’m not disturbing you….”
Her voice grew progressively smaller, but it clearly held a sense of determination.

Coming here on her own, requesting to sing.

It was a completely different demeanor from last time.

I was momentarily speechless.

This girl had much more grit than I thought.

She wasn’t a fragile being who would collapse from trauma and just wait for someone’s help.

She was struggling to stand up on her own, somehow.

‘……I did say I’d wait.’

My promise from last time came to mind.

That I would wait until she herself felt okay.

But I couldn’t stop a child who was trying to move forward like this on her own.

No, I didn’t want to stop her.

To be honest, I was a little intrigued.

How far could she go?

“……Go ahead.”

I tried my best to act nonchalant, shrugging my shoulders as I replied.

Inwardly, I was a bit flustered, but I didn’t want to show it.

“I don’t have anything particular to do right now anyway. That keyboard over there, use it as you please.”

At my permission, a hint of color seemed to return to Yoon Sol’s face, but it soon stiffened with tension again.

She bowed curtly and then, with the same cautious steps as last time, headed towards the electronic keyboard in the corner of the lounge.

The way she sat on the chair, placing her fingers on the keys.

The way she closed her eyes and took deep breaths.

Everything was the same as a few days ago.

But the atmosphere was subtly different.

It wasn’t a seat she had been forced into, but one she had chosen herself.

I sank back into the sofa and watched her.

After a moment, a very small voice, accompanied by trembling breaths, began to fill the lounge.

This time, it was the song Yoon Sol had decided to sing for her re-debut.

“…….”

Her voice still trembled, and her pitch was unstable.

But it was definitely different.

There was a tiny bit more power in her voice than last time, and the tremor seemed to have lessened.

And most importantly….

She was surpassing two verses.

Three verses, four verses…

The song continued, precarious but unbroken.

She focused all her attention on her fingers pressing the keys, painstakingly moving forward one note at a time, without giving up.

Finally, just before the first chorus ended, her voice cracked, and the song stopped.

“Hoo-euh….”

Yoon Sol gasped for breath and lowered her head.

Her shoulders trembled slightly, perhaps from self-reproach for failing again.

I watched her silently.

Technically, it was still lacking, but that wasn’t what mattered.

She had surpassed her own limit from last time.

By her own strength.

“You sang for much longer than last time.”

At my voice, Yoon Sol flinched and lifted her head.

The corners of her eyes were red, but this time, no tears flowed.

“Of course, there are still unstable parts.”

I continued.

I didn’t want to just praise the result.

“Especially that part just now, when you sang, ‘It’s okay now,’ your tone changed slightly. That was good. It wasn’t like you were forcing yourself to look cheerful, but it felt like a genuine longing to believe it.”

At my specific feedback, Yoon Sol’s eyes widened a little.

She seemed surprised that someone was listening to her song so meticulously and analyzing it.

“Ah… thank you….”

A mixture of relief and a very faint, but definite, joy was in her small, mumbled voice.

“……Can I come again tomorrow?”

She asked abruptly.

This time, her voice was much less hesitant than before.

I looked at her for a moment.

Sparkling eyes.

She looked like a child craving praise, and also like a challenger wanting to test her own potential.

“……As you wish.”

I replied curtly and turned my gaze back to the tablet.

As if to show no further interest.

But I couldn’t stop the corners of my lips from turning up slightly.

‘She’s an interesting person.’

After that day, it became a sort of routine.

Every afternoon, around the same time.

Yoon Sol would invariably visit the lounge.

For the first few days, she still looked extremely tense, but as her visits increased, her expression gradually softened, and her steps entering the lounge felt lighter.

She sang the same song every time.

And she improved, little by little.

Sometimes up to five verses, other times she would almost complete the chorus.

There were days she failed, but the next day, she would invariably return and sit before the keyboard.

I listened to her song every time.

At first, it was simply because of the promise to ‘wait for her,’ and a bit of curiosity.

But as time passed, I too was getting used to this awkward routine.

Noticing the very small changes in the song she sang.

Finding out which part had improved a little today, what new emotion could be felt, and telling her about it, clumsily but honestly.

And seeing her shy smile or her serious attention to my words.

Strangely, it wasn’t boring.

“Overall, your breathing is a bit more stable today. Thanks to that, the lyrics are clearer.”

“Ah… yes! Yesterday, the trainer taught me how to breathe, so I practiced a bit!”

“Hmm. Is that so? If they teach that well, I should give them a raise.”

“Yes, yes? Ah, yes! Th-That’s right! They teach extremely well!”

Sometimes, short conversations like this would take place.

She was still intimidated by me, but it didn’t seem like she felt the extreme fear from before.

If anything, it felt like she was slowly, very slowly, breaking down her walls and approaching me.

‘…But what am I doing right now?’

That thought suddenly occurred to me.

I had poured in all sorts of money to make the company run itself…….

‘Now I’m even acting as a counselor.’

I chuckled wryly to myself.

But strangely, I didn’t feel like stopping.

If anything, I was even feeling a little bit of anticipation for how much she would change again tomorrow.

The sunset was painting the sky red outside the window.

I hadn’t even realized how much time had passed.

Yoon Sol had barely succeeded in reaching her target for the day and was wiping her sweat, sighing in relief.

“Thank you so much for today, Boss!”

Her voice as she left was a little brighter than usual.

Before opening the door to leave, she hesitated for a moment, then turned back, looked at me, and smiled brightly.

“…I’ll come again tomorrow!”

Thud.

The door closed, and silence returned to the lounge.

I stared blankly at the closed door.

Her smile just now… was different from the tearful smile I had first seen here, much clearer and healthier.

“……Good grief.”

A chuckle escaped me.

My heart seemed to be beating a little faster than usual.

I rose from my seat and approached the window.

Under the fiery red evening sky, the bustling city lights twinkled like jewels.

My third star.

That star was now learning to shine on its own, without hiding.

Very slowly, but surely.

And I had a premonition that its light might be far warmer and more dazzling than I thought.

I didn’t know how long this awkward, yet strangely heart-fluttering routine would continue.

At first, I wanted to present her to the world as soon as possible, but now, I thought this might be okay too, in its own way.