Ch.29029. The OB Appears

Suhyeok opened his eyes and checked his phone.

[18:24]

It was already 6 PM.

He had definitely returned home at 2 PM, but the fatigue accumulated from the MT showed no signs of dissipating yet.

Once again, a pile of messages had accumulated.

All of them were from the Spirit group chat.

But among them, there was one item that wasn’t from the group chat…

[Yoon Hana (3)]

More curious about this than the group chat, Suhyeok moved his thumb.

[Hey. I should have told you this earlier today.]

[Would you like to practice the standing luxury solo once?]

[If you’re okay with it, let’s try it and decide who should do it.]

He blinked slowly.

What on earth was this about?

He had naturally assumed the solo would be Hana’s part.

It was because Hana was the lead guitarist, and she had shown some interest in doing the solo.

Suddenly asking me to try it…

Though he wasn’t confident, Suhyeok picked up his guitar and began searching YouTube for tutorial videos of the solo.

“…Nothing?”

That’s right.

Unpopular songs.

Songs that don’t receive public love typically have fewer covers and tutorial videos.

Despite scrolling extensively, Suhyeok couldn’t find any videos that would be particularly helpful.

Just as he was about to give up, he scrolled down one more time and ended up on an Indonesian creator’s channel.

It wasn’t a tutorial, but a video showing tablature with finger positions and a demonstration.

Since he had learned how to read tabs perfectly from Hana, Suhyeok thought this might work.

After the melody line, there was a brief octave technique.

Then the solo would come in, and the difficulty, as Suhyeok perceived it, wasn’t too challenging.

But the bending didn’t feel right.

The technique of pushing the guitar string up on the neck to raise the pitch. Bending.

In the songs Suhyeok had practiced for two years, there was no bending.

It was natural that his proficiency was lacking.

Besides that, Suhyeok could handle the rest without much difficulty.

He spent three hours repeating the approximately 21-second solo section.

The more he played, the more his hands became familiar with the path on the fretboard, and he eventually reached the point where he could play without looking at the sheet music.

“…I think that’s enough.”

He wasn’t sure if he was doing well, but it seemed good enough to show Hana.

After placing the guitar on the stand, Suhyeok threw himself back onto the bed.

As he stared blankly at the ceiling, he suddenly recalled what had happened yesterday.

[It’s Yeoni! I think I’ll be taking a break from streaming tomorrow ㅠㅠ]

Yeoni must be… a nickname for Juyeon?

He had promised to forget about it, but he couldn’t help being curious.

She seemed to be streaming, but what kind of stream was it?

Considering they had played Zelda together, he thought it might be an ordinary gaming stream.

In Suhyeok’s heart, the devil of curiosity was extending a tempting hand.

-Just look. It’s not like Juyeon is going to check your phone anyway.

-You just have to pretend you don’t know. It’s not like you’re going to talk about it to her face.

As a result of this rationalization…

Suhyeok accessed the platform where Juyeon streamed.

After hesitating with his hands on the keyboard, he finally searched for [Yeoni].

A somewhat silly-looking SD character face.

A close-up shot of a character with red short hair was being used as her channel profile picture.

86 subscribers.

How should I put it?

A very Juyeon-like number.

There was no twist.

There was no development like ‘The socially awkward girl is an ultra-popular VTuber in reality?!’

Rather, Suhyeok felt relieved by that modest number as he clicked on her broadcast page.

“Hmm.”

There’s always a reason why a small channel stays small.

The first emotion Suhyeok felt upon entering was…

‘How tacky!’

What on earth was this banner that looked like it was made in MS Paint!

Even if she was doing this casually as a hobby without grand ambitions, this seemed a bit much.

Suhyeok felt he could make something better just by tinkering with his computer.

For someone like Suhyeok who rarely criticized others, this meant Juyeon had reached a truly serious level of amateurishness.

There weren’t even many clips.

Suhyeok decided to watch the one with the highest views.

When he opened the video, karaoke background music started playing.

There was no 3D avatar or real person appearing.

It seemed she was either just displaying an SD character or not showing anything at all.

After that, Juyeon’s singing voice, which Suhyeok had become familiar with, continued.

It was a solid voice filled with emotion.

She was singing a ballad, a genre rarely covered in their band, and she was definitely showcasing skills comparable to decent cover creators.

After listening to the 30-second highlight to the end, Suhyeok thought he had seen enough.

In a way, it was like reading her embarrassing diary.

But if Juyeon were to ask for advice, he felt he could pour out a truckload of suggestions.

If you’re going to do it, at least look at how others do it!

Kang-i keeps talking about people like Luca who sing, and their channels are so beautifully done.

Suhyeok’s unsettled weekend came to an end like that.

* * *

Monday.

Suhyeok planned to go to the practice room earlier than usual.

He wanted to get more familiar with the solo, but he also wanted to hear how it sounded properly connected to an amplifier.

He thought no one would be there since he arrived an hour early, but…

-Dirirririririring

The sound of a guitar coming from behind the door.

And it was a fast play requiring considerable technique.

The difficulty level didn’t seem inferior even compared to ‘Illegal legacies’ that Suhyeok had been practicing all along.

For a moment, he wondered if it was Hana playing inside, but that didn’t seem right.

It was more delicate and precise than Hana’s playing.

And above all, Hana had confessed with her own mouth that she couldn’t handle this level of speed.

Then who on earth was behind this door…

-Thump thump

Suhyeok’s heart began to beat rapidly.

His hand on the doorknob gradually tightened.

The sound of the door opening was drowned out by the guitar.

As Suhyeok slowly opened the door and entered, he saw a man in very casual attire.

Three-striped slippers.

A stretched-out t-shirt.

Pants that looked like something monks would wear.

His curly hair, though not as long as Suhyeok’s, gave an impression of messiness.

He didn’t seem to notice Suhyeok’s entrance and continued playing.

His fingers moving brilliantly across the fretboard were keeping the beat with knife-like precision.

Suhyeok watched him as if entranced.

He had thought Hana played the guitar well, but the man before him had clearly reached another level.

Finally, as the performance ended, the man’s eyes met Suhyeok’s.

The man was somewhat surprised to discover him, while Suhyeok, feeling awkward, began to applaud.

“Um… who are you?”

That was the first sentence that came out of his mouth.

“Ah. I… um… I just joined…”

“A freshman?”

“No. Not a freshman, a second-year transfer student.”

“Ah. So you’re Lee Suhyeok.”

The man put down his guitar and stood up from the chair, approaching Suhyeok.

“Nice to meet you.”

The man extended his hand for a handshake.

“21st generation guitarist. Han Jaejun.”

A smile spread across his face.

Jaejun.

Jaejun…

Jaejun…?

While Suhyeok understood that he was a senior, the name sounded very familiar.

It’s really familiar, but…

“I’m also Lee Seo-eun’s boyfriend.”

Only then did Suhyeok’s eyes light up in recognition.

I see…!

So this person is Seo-eun noona’s…

The image in Suhyeok’s mind was quite different from Jaejun’s actual appearance.

He had wondered what kind of man would have someone like Seo-eun noona as a girlfriend, but to think it was a man like this.

Suhyeok never imagined that the model student-like, neat noona would like this type of style.

“Did you come to practice guitar?”

“Ah. Yes.”

“Feel free to play. I’m done.”

Jaejun plopped down on the sofa and looked at Suhyeok with interested eyes.

Meanwhile, cold sweat began to run down Suhyeok’s spine.

Do I have to show my inadequacy in front of another expert?

“Um. Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

“Is it okay if I play a song I’m good at?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing!”

Suhyeok, frozen stiff, connected the cable to the amplifier with trembling hands.

Right.

I should just pretend he’s not here and practice what I need to.

That’s all I need to do.

Despite trying to control his mind, he couldn’t help feeling intimidated.

After adjusting the amplifier, Suhyeok began to play.

“Hmm…”

Jaejun watched Suhyeok’s performance intently.

To put it simply, it wasn’t bad.

He thought Suhyeok’s finger technique was much better than Yoon Hana’s.

But the issue was the unnaturally imbalanced fundamentals.

How could the quality vary so much within a single song?

Just by watching the performance once, he succeeded in figuring out that Suhyeok’s practice process was abnormal.

Suhyeok, having successfully completed the song, looked up.

It felt like some feedback was about to come…

He tensed up and hunched his shoulders.

“You know.”

Just as Jaejun was about to speak, the door swung open and Hana entered.

She flinched upon discovering Jaejun and Suhyeok.

Hana strode purposefully toward Jaejun.

For some reason, her delicate features were frowning deeply as she looked at him.

“Lee Suhyeok.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t tell me this super annoying old man said something to you?”

Suhyeok, with his fragile mentality, was not someone who could endure his cutting remarks.