“What’s that?”
“The girl we saw in front of the bar yesterday...”
I trailed off, realizing my mistake.
I was momentarily confused. That was a future only I had experienced.
“Huh? What bar?”
“Never mind, never mind. I was mistaken.”
I brushed it off and lit the cigarette Yeom had in his mouth.
While he smoked, my head was filled with thoughts of that girl.
Was it Han Seo-won, or Han Seo-yoon?
Let's go with Han Seo-won for now.
Based on my past life, although I had given up on it by letting her join Plan Maker, "Singing Duo" was a program that Eun-bit almost got involved with, so I naturally paid attention to it.
Among the events, the 'Contestant Bully Incident' was a big issue for a while, even across the entire broadcasting industry.
The protagonist of the incident, Han Seo-won, was K Noah's final partner.
She drew attention from the start, appearing under the name '2-year Silent Girl'.
After the solo performances of the general public participants, the MC and panelists attempted to interview Han Seo-won, but they couldn't get a single word out of her. She just smiled awkwardly, with a face that combined aloofness and gloom.
I thought, 'What a terrible concept.'
With all the general public participants in the final selection being exceptionally talented, making it hard to choose, K Noah was ultimately drawn to Han Seo-won's mysterious aura and chose her as his final partner.
Only then did Han Seo-won solemnly respond to the interview.
―Have you really not spoken a single word in two years?
―Yes... I haven't spoken, I've only sung.
―So this is the first time you've spoken in two years?
―Yes...
―I'm a little confused, but how did you communicate? It's impossible for a person to go completely without speaking in society. Even setting aside family, you'd have to deal with public institutions and meet friends.
―I never went outside. I told my mom what I needed through text messages......
It meant she was a hikikomori. And a middle-aged woman in the audience was shown.
Presumably Han Seo-won's mother, she covered her mouth and sobbed, seemingly moved by the sight of her daughter talking to someone.
―If you don't mind, could you tell us why you've been living in seclusion?
To the MC's prepared question, Han Seo-won answered haltingly, with a rather anxious and nervous expression.
The story was as follows.
In her school days, her close friend had injured their vocal cords because of her and lost their voice, which traumatized her. Combined with the compensatory psychology of wanting to atone for her mistakes, she decided to stop speaking.
However, her hidden story was that she wanted to come out into the world for the sake of her struggling family. And she wanted to apologize through the song of K Noah, whom her friend liked.
If you just hear it, it's like, "What the fuck?", but thanks to Han Seo-won's sincerity and the power of editing, it became quite a tearjerker.
Her tone and expression were consistently gloomy and anxious, but it didn't come across as pathetic. Rather, it functioned as a unique charm point, like a female lead with a tragic story.
She definitely had a captivating aura that you wouldn't see in people of that age.
Riding on the series of events, the following final stage with K Noah was a magnificent duet, to the point where it was called legendary.
K Noah was already famous as a singer strong in competitions, so that was expected, but Han Seo-won's focus was also extraordinary. Her melancholic atmosphere and emotions, coupled with the previously mentioned story, brought tears to the eyes of many audience members and panelists, and the two ultimately rose to the position of the 'Strongest Duo'.
On top of that, her looks weren't bad, so immediately after the broadcast ended, and throughout the next morning, the two of them and "Singing Duo" dominated the portal search terms.
But that glory didn't last long.
Soon after, people claiming to be Han Seo-won's classmates posted a series of negative posts titled 'The Misdeeds of Singing Duo's Silent Practitioner, Han Seo-won.'
The posts claimed that Han Seo-won had been a famous bully since middle school, that she and her bully gang had lynched her best friend and caused her to lose her voice, and that there were many other victims of Han Seo-won.
There were multiple posters, but the circumstances were all consistent and detailed. There were also people who posted yearbook certification shots, so the arrows of criticism were directed not only at Han Seo-won but also at the "Singing Duo" production team.
The crime was that they not only failed to properly verify the contestants but also glorified an bully and played on emotions.
Amidst calls for the program's cancellation, the production team eventually apologized, acknowledging their mistakes, and soon after, ended the situation with the conclusion of "Singing Duo" season 1.
They later returned with season 2, but the stigma of being an bully glorification program didn't easily fade.
I don't remember Han Seo-won herself giving any explanation.
That's all I know.
I recalled the image of Han Seo-won I encountered on the streets of Nonhyeon-dong yesterday morning (in my past life).
The way she was going down to the basement of the building gave off the nuance of a karaoke hostess.
That's right.
It just occurred to me that the basement Han Seo-won entered was clearly the entrance to a Karaoke Bar that served alcohol.
At that early hour, a woman in a tight dress and high heels that clearly showed off her figure, entering not a regular karaoke, but a Karaoke Bar alone?
99 percent chance she's a karaoke escort.
After being exposed as an bully and socially ostracized, did she use her pretty face to enter the nightlife?
Here's one question that arises.
When she appeared on the show, I didn't see a purple light from Han Seo-won. If it had been purple, I would have clearly remembered. At that time, I probably only saw the blue light of a singer.
So why did it turn purple?
I was tipsy enough that I couldn't even control my body, but I remember that clearly.
I definitely felt Eun-bit's scent from Han Seo-won.
It wasn't just because of the purple light, but I felt a certain pity and sympathy for Han Seo-won, just like I did when I first saw Eun-bit. That's why I ran like a madman.
It's strange.
When the bully incident broke, I, like most netizens, hated and loathed her. But my subconscious was pitying her.
Ah, that's right. And I saw the Information Window.
I only remember her birth year and name, but underneath, there were definitely things like singing ability and dance skills listed.
Through that, one thing I had been hypothesizing became clearer.
The Information Window only appears for people with a purple aura.
I couldn't see it for Plan L's Jehee and Soo-hyun, so it's not related to the actual person.
I make another guess here.
Could the purple aura be a sign of some kind of connection with Yoo Eun-bit or me? If you think about it that way, the reason for insisting on Eun-bit's Information Window, 'Singing Duo' becomes clearer.
Eun-bit's future, and the place where she meets Han Seo-won.