🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 1
Everyone dreams of standing at the top.
“We’ve kept you waiting. And the winner of this year’s Grand Prize is—”
But there can only be one person at the top.
“An artist loved not just by a generation, but by an entire era—who has once again shined brighter than anyone else this year—”
And the moment I finally stood at that summit—
“Baek Nokha!”
I couldn’t feel happy at all.
“Unnie! Congratulations on winning the Daesang!”
“Nokha, you worked so hard! Thank you for mentioning us Greenies!”
After the awards ceremony, fans were waiting for me in the parking lot as I headed to my car.
Such wonderful people. It was freezing outside, yet they had waited just to see me.
Even though I was already inside the car, I greeted them through the window and gave them one last thank-you.
“Thank you, my Greenies. I’ll come see you again very soon.”
Normally, I would’ve stayed longer.
I would’ve thanked them over and over again.
But today…
I wasn’t in any state to do that.
To be honest, I barely even remembered how I’d made it this far.
The moment the window rolled all the way up, my manager turned toward me.
“You did well, Nokha. Really. I know what you must’ve been going through… but you didn’t let it show at all. Even your acceptance speech… you sounded just nervous enough. Everyone’s saying they were really touched.”
My manager, who had been with me for ten years, tried to comfort me.
But none of her congratulations or encouragement reached me.
The Daesang trophy resting carefully on the seat beside me…
I couldn’t even see it.
“Unnie… thank you. Really. But first… let’s go to the hospital. Please.”
“R-Right. Of course. I’ll get you there as fast as I can.”
“Thank you.”
The reason…
“How’s Mom…?”
…was because of a single phone call I’d received just before accepting the award.
“Nokha… don’t panic, okay? Your mother’s house… there was a fire…”
The message had been simple.
Yet it wasn’t simple at all.
A fire had broken out at my mother’s house.
She had been home alone, waiting to watch me receive my award…
And she’d been caught in the fire.
The flames had already been extinguished.
But my mother was in critical condition.
Even then…
I couldn’t leave immediately.
In exactly five minutes, I was supposed to receive the Daesang.
My third one.
Three consecutive years.
Just hearing those words carried unbelievable weight.
I wasn’t the only one who had waited for this moment.
Everyone who had supported me had been waiting too.
“Just thirty minutes. Accept the award, give your speech, then go straight to the hospital.”
The agency CEO persuaded me.
And I couldn’t refuse.
“Nokha, I’ll go to the hospital first. I’ll keep updating you on your mother’s condition. Just… stay here for a little while, okay? Accept the award, then leave immediately.”
It wasn’t for the CEO.
It wasn’t even for myself.
It was for my fans…
The ones sitting right behind me in the audience, holding banners with my name on them.
The instant I stepped off the stage after receiving the Daesang, I ran straight out of the venue.
I already knew people would criticize me online for leaving before the ceremony ended.
But I didn’t care.
“The CEO said he’ll release a statement explaining why you left early. That your mother is in critical—”
“Unnie.”
“Hm?”
“I’m okay. Really.”
“…Let’s just go.”
“R-Right.”
My manager awkwardly turned back toward the road.
Honestly…
Nothing mattered to me except my mother.
Then—
“Our spring will come again—”
My heart dropped at the ringtone.
The very song that had won me this Daesang.
A song I’d treasured more than anything.
Why did it sound so terrifying now?
“That Idiot CEO Seo”
The caller…
was my agency CEO, Seo Changwoon.
The man who was at the hospital in my place.
My trembling fingers answered the phone.
“I’m sorry, Nokha… I’m so, so sorry…”
And I heard the words I never wanted to hear.
I don’t even remember what I was thinking at that moment.
“Unnie.”
“Yeah? What did the CEO say?”
“Pull over.”
“Huh? We’re in the middle of the road. I’ll stop as soon as I—”
“Just… stop anywhere.”
“I think I’m going to throw up.”
The nausea surged through me.
I begged her to stop the car.
Panicking, she pulled over as quickly as she could.
The moment the car stopped, I flung the door open and vomited.
I’d barely eaten over the past two days because of my schedule.
Only a little stomach acid came up.
Overwhelmed by emptiness…
By despair…
I collapsed onto the pavement and let out a hollow laugh.
What is this?
Why is God playing games with me?
Today was supposed to be the happiest day of my life.
So why…
Why did it become the worst?
I’d worked so hard for this day.
Not just me.
My people.
My fans.
We’d all run toward this moment together.
So why…
Why did it have to end like this?
As anger and bitterness consumed me—
“Feeling wronged?”
…something incredibly strange appeared before me.
“…What are you?”
I almost never spoke casually to anyone.
After debuting, I’d forced myself to use polite speech with everyone.
I was terrified of slipping up.
But whatever this thing was…
It definitely wasn’t human.
“What I am doesn’t matter.”
“What matters is what you want.”
It looked like…
A tiny black cotton ball.
Round.
Fluffy.
Floating in midair.
“…Have I completely lost it?”
I instinctively looked for my manager.
If I was hallucinating…
Then I’d really gone insane.
“Unnie?”
But no answer came.
Normally she’d respond within a second.
I struggled to my feet and looked inside the car.
Something was wrong.
My manager was gone.
Not just her.
There wasn’t a single car on the road.
Not a single person anywhere.
“…I really have gone crazy.”
“No, you haven’t.”
The cotton ball floated over beside me.
“Bwah!”
“We don’t have much time, so let’s skip to the important part.”
“What… are you?”
“You want to bring your mother back, don’t you?”
“…!”
Those words pierced straight through my heart.
I couldn’t say anything.
“The moment that became your worst…”
“I’ll turn it back into your greatest.”
The cotton ball didn’t have a face.
No eyes.
No mouth.
No expression.
Yet somehow…
I knew it was smiling.
“…How?”
“It’s simple.”
“I’ll erase the fire.”
“You’ll receive your Daesang.”
“Your mother will safely watch you accept it from home.”
The cotton ball zipped back and forth in front of me.
“And then—ta-da!”
“You’ll finally be able to enjoy your award.”
“…”
It sounded like the perfect offer.
So perfect…
That I became convinced I had to be dreaming.
This was just a dream born from desperate longing.
I smiled bitterly.
If it was a dream…
I might as well play along.
Because once I woke up…
Hell would be waiting for me again.
“So…”
“What do you get out of this?”
“Oh.”
“That’s a little harder to explain.”
The cotton ball drooped sadly.
“But I’m sure someone like you can do it.”
“…Someone like me?”
Do what?
I looked at it suspiciously.
Was I seriously getting scammed inside my own dream?
“Baek Nokha.”
“A singer-songwriter and idol in her tenth year since debut.”
“You swept every major award there is.”
“Best New Artist.”
“Excellence Award.”
“Top Excellence Award.”
“Popularity Award.”
“And finally the Daesang.”
“You’ve already won the industry’s highest honor twice.”
“Everyone agrees you’re the greatest female solo artist.”
“Popularity.”
“Fanbase.”
“Public favor.”
“Image.”
“You have it all.”
“The perfect idol.”
“The perfect superstar.”
“Although…”
“You’re more of a hard worker than someone born with talent.”
…Why was it suddenly praising me?
I’d heard those things countless times before.
But hearing them from a floating cotton ball…
was strangely embarrassing.
“And finally today!”
“You were supposed to win your third consecutive Daesang!”
“Fulfilling everyone’s expectations!”
“How incredible.”
“Reaching the very peak as an idol.”
“…Yeah.”
I smiled bitterly.
“But…”
“There’s a pitiful soul who wants to become someone like you.”
“Someone like me?”
I repeated absentmindedly.
“That’s right.”
“A soul who wants to stand at the top…”
“Just like you.”
“If you help that soul…”
“I’ll help you.”
The cotton ball perked back up and began spinning happily through the air.
But I frowned.
“How am I supposed to help?”
“I may be an idol…”
“But I’m not a god.”
“I don’t know how to help souls.”
“That’s why I’m here.”
The cotton ball puffed up proudly.
“Don’t worry about the method.”
“Just decide whether you’ll accept my proposal.”
I couldn’t answer immediately.
Even if this was a dream…
I could tell it was deliberately avoiding the important details.
“Promise me you’ll help that soul.”
“And I’ll completely erase the fire that took your mother.”
But…
How could I refuse?
It was offering to bring my mother back.
“…I accept.”
The woman who had spent her entire life living only for me…
If there was even the slightest chance of saving her…
“Excellent choice!”
The cotton ball let out an eerie laugh.
Then…
It suddenly grew enormous.
“Oh, one more thing, Baek Nokha.”
“…What?”
I stared blankly as the cotton ball expanded until it towered over me.
Then it asked,
“If you could take only one thing from your current body into your next life…”
“What would you choose?”
“…?”
“Hurry.”
“…My voice…?”
“An excellent choice indeed!”
It laughed again.
That same unsettling laugh.
Then it opened an enormous mouth…
And swallowed me whole.
Before I could even react…
Darkness consumed me.
“Damn it.”
I was certain now.
I’d been scammed.
“What the hell happened to these overworked vocal cords?”
I muttered as I sat frozen in a practice room.
“And what is this body with absolutely no muscle?”
One wall of the room was completely covered by mirrors.
But this definitely wasn’t my agency’s practice room.
This was the practice room of one of Korea’s biggest entertainment companies—
Colors.
And I was one of Colors’ trainees.
“And what…”
“…is all of this ridiculous nonsense?”
I had become…
Yoon Cheong.
The future member of the girl group Steel Blue.
A group that would debut one year from now…
And disband two years later.
Ding!
Congratulations! You have become ‘Yoon Cheong.’
From this moment on, your mission is to save the doomed girl group, ‘Steel Blue’!
Damn it.
