Chemistry Chapter 25

Director Mujin couldn't look away from the pouring snow as he muttered to himself.

"I didn't think that I'd get to see the first snow this way."

Anyone who runs stage prep would dream of being able to recreate such a miraculous sight. And he saw other people around him who were feeling the same way.

"Jungwu, friend. Do you understand what kind of stunt you managed to pull off?"

People were looking up as if they weren't sure if they were indoors or out. Some were raising their hands up to touch the falling snow. Some giggling, some sharing this wondrous experience with someone over the phone.

Mujin felt proud because even he couldn't help but feel the same way as those people out there.

"I can afford to be impressed since we went this far."

"Director sir! The Sound team is calling urgently…"

"Just a second, let me make a wish."

Mujin made a personal wish 'Please let me have a daughter by next year' before he turned on the radio.

"What?"

– We don't know if it is because of the snow, but the left speaker is beginning to make noise. It might be short-circuiting from the cable side. We would like to halt Isul ssi's performance to inspect…

"No, you will ruin this atmosphere. Cut off the problem speaker and readjust the volume."

– Director, the right speaker is also beginning to…

It was a situation where problems were bound to happen. Today's setting was designed for indoor use, not outdoors.

"Please wait. Isul ssi's performance is a live show. Just cut off the MR and leave only the center speaker. We only have the second half of the last song and an encore left."

Mujin who didn't want to ruin the perfect performance gave his instructions.

– And if the center speakers go out? Then the show itself is over. It could take a rapid turn for the worse.

This was the opinion of the sound director.

'We might not be able to do an encore.'

Mujin came to a conclusion and was about to inform Isul via the monitor, when his radio turned on.

– Director, sir. This is Jungwu.

"Jungwu ssi, it was perfect. The Representative was overjoyed and is calling the media. I'm a little busy right now, so I will call you in a…"

– No, please don't cut the line.

"Excuse me?"

– That issue you're having. Isul ssi's performance. Wouldn't it be easier if we just stopped the snow from falling on the stage?

"Hmm? Do you have a solution?"

– If we install a chemical solution on the stage that can sustainably emit strong heat for about five minutes, the snow won't be able to reach it. You know that hot air expands and rises, right? The snow won't be able to pa.s.s through it and instead turn into droplets in the form of something resembling a fog.

"Why haven't we done it yet?!"

– The problem is, I have to be the one holding whatever causes this reaction for the entire duration.

"What do you mean?"

– These guys cause quite a violent corrosive reaction so no one but me could hold it, is how I should explain it.

Mujin thought hard about what he was told.

It could only work for just five minutes.

But this short time was the perfect opportunity to capitalize and enhance the enjoyment the audience was experiencing through the unexpected snowflake surprise.

He felt that he would never be able to recreate a scene like this again. And because of this, he felt greedy.

"Jungwu ssi, if that's the case, I have a condition."

–

Once the final song was over and Isul stood up to bid farewell, the crowd chanted encore.

Isul gave a brilliant smile and said,

"The Director messaged me saying that speakers on either side of me are not working because of the snow."

"It's okay!"

"We're happy just hearing your voice!"

As if she predicted this reaction, Isul quickly sat back down on her seat.

[Please comment for 1 minute. Center Speaker is still live.]

Isul smoothly began speaking upon the Director's request.

"I actually don't like the first snow all that much. My first love broke up with me during the first snow. Ah, it was unrequited love, so I guess calling it a break up is a little weird."

Her comment lead to men of the audience to shout out 'I will be your boyfriend!' 'My first love is Isul Yoon!' 'Let's find happiness by next year!'.

"Thank you all."

She had come a long way compared to when she first started out and was too shy to speak to the audience. It was largely thanks to her fans who deeply cared for her well being.

Isul warmed up her fingers with her breath, and then placed her hand over the guitar.

"It's snowing, the atmosphere is great. Should I sing a song I've only performed once as Encore? It's a song I've considered adding it to the alb.u.m a few times. So I guess you could call it a new song. You've all have come at a great time."

The audience redoubled their focus on the stage, full of antic.i.p.ation for what song she might sing for them.

Once the promised 1 minute pa.s.sed, Isul began strumming the guitar and playing the music.

"Whenever~"

Unfortunately, a rather large snowflake fell on her forehead and caused her to wrinkle her eyebrows. It inevitably led to her melody being off and caused dissonance.

"Ah…"

Isul was shocked and stopped her song.

"P…please pretend you didn't hear that!"

She shut her eyes real tight and lowered her head, putting her hands together in a prayer as if saying 'please~.' The crowd grinned at her cute reaction.

"Encore! Encore!"

The audience began to shout as if they went back in time before it happened.

"Ahah, I…Don't actually like the first snow all that much."

Once she began her familiar sounding comment, the audience gave a chuckle.

"The t.i.tle is 'Adolescent happiness', it is a song I only sang just o…oh I can't joke about this part, just twice now."

Du ru ring~

She played a chord and began to quietly sing the song. Her voice which filled the entire plaza caused the crowd to fall silent and become mesmerized by her music, erasing the ruckus earlier as if it had never happened.

– Whenever I look at you, just staring at you blinds me.

Isul fixed her eyes on a female audience member as she gently and tenderly sang her song. Wishing that Isul would sing to them too, the envious gaze of the audience focused on the lady.

– Whenever I am with you, quietly leaning sets me free

This time she gazed and sang towards a couple standing together and the couple leaned against each other lovingly.

She was about to say the next verse when she was startled by another static.

'Center Speaker too?'

Luckily it was perfect timing to change to a new cord and conceal the sound. Thanks to her skill as a guitarist and songwriter, almost no one picked up the subtle change of the music.

[Isul ssi, please hold on for just a bit longer. The expert who created the snow will arrive soon. Just think of him as a part of the performance.]

Isul didn't understand the message on the screen and tilted her head. But soon she began to feel warmth and began to look around.

It had to be a mistake. It was snowing so hard, so where could the warmth possibly come from?

When Isul breathed in to sing the next line, her eyes suddenly grew wide in surprise.

Someone was climbing onto the stage from below.

When the person's face was finally visible after slowly climbing the stairs, she recognized who it was and found herself unable to look away.

– There will never be another, like the magic of first love. Or so I had believed…

The man who was slowly walking up to her was well matched for winter mood, wearing white hat upon white outfit.

– Tightly holding your most precious hand in mine and walking on an endless road

Isul felt that each step he took gradually brought warmth to her body. And it wasn't until when the person reached her side that she realized that the temperature itself was rising.

"Wow!"

"What is that?"

The plaza erupted in wonder. For some reason, the snow was avoiding the stage, as if an invisible barrier had been erected.

The snow burst into tiny little droplets at the boundary where the warm air and the falling snow touched, and the stage lights shone through them sparkling like starlight.

The snow, the soft fog, and the brilliant show of lights created a dreamlike atmosphere. And beautiful music filled the air.

Just the sight of such extraordinary spectacle took everyone's breath away.

And Isul who was sitting in the dead center of it all couldn't believe what she was seeing, and felt overwhelmed. However, she remained professional and continued to sing in spite of the situation.

– Whenever you're feeling tired, please think of this day, and find joy, of being together, the two of us.

The first verse was over. Isul switched off her mic before the chorus picked back up again and turned her head.

"What are you doing here?"

"I am protecting the last remaining speaker."

Jungwu pointed at the hotpack in his hands.

"With this."

Isul's eyes focused on the object. She added a beautiful and melodic key change that didn't previously exist and asked,

"By holding a Hotpack?"

"This isn't a normal hotpack. It has 6 hours worth of corrosion reaction condensed to about 5 minutes so… wait is it okay to have a conversation like this?"

"Who are you? Were you a stage performer?"

"Ah, me…"

The chords with key changes were coming to an end, and it was time to begin the second verse.

"Quiet!"

Isul quickly flipped the switch on her Mic.

–

Gijun Shin who was introduced by staff and given VIP seating was filming the show and was busy being amazed and amazed again.

'4 years of freelance filming, I finally hit the jackpot.'

Just the video of Isul singing in the snow would have guaranteed a million hits. But the show after that man dressed in white appeared was the real deal.

Even Gijun who had been to many performances had never witnessed such effects.

'Who is that man? New Singer? Dancer?'

Why would it matter, this video was guaranteed to become a media sensation. Gijun continued to film Isul's performance feeling sad that only the ending of the song remained.

–

'Hmm, this is way too hot.'

Jungwu frowned as he continued to watch the Dust stars vibrate in the air and transfer kinetic energy. Boiling hotpack was one thing, but with even these guys going out of control, the microscopic world was caught up in a maelstrom of sparks and lightning.

It was a scene he wanted to close his eyes and pretend wasn't happening.

Luckily, Isul who was singing was apparently serene. Was she aware that a Dust storm had appeared around her and was busy performing a berserk dance?

The reason why he was standing there dressed like a magician was due to Director Kim's demands. And it was followed up by the representative's immense initiative of procuring a difficult-to-p.r.o.nounce Italian name brand suit within 30 seconds.

'So…hot…'

Due to the immense heat from the hotpack that couldn't be fully be blocked out by three layers of gloves, Jungwu was sweating profusely despite the winter cold.

– Come with me, my blinding light. Let us go, my joy in life

And through it all, Isul's singing voice was enough to wash away all the pain and discomfort he was feeling.

– Whenever you're feeling tired, please think of this day, and find joy, of being together, the two of us.

With the final lines the second verse was over and the entire shopping mall erupted in a standing ovation.

"Thank you, I am Isul Yoon."

She stood up with her guitar and gave a bow. Jungwu clumsily followed suit and bowed as well.

[Jungwu ssi. If you're wearing that kind of outfit, you should be giving a bow like a medieval age european aristocrat.]

'What?'

Isul read the message on the monitor and glanced at him urging him to do it. He then recalled Soochan's words. It was the rule in the industry that during unexpected events, anyone on the stage was expected to follow the teleprompter to the best of their ability.

'Ah well…'

Jungwu couldn't help but move one of his legs back and make a wide sweeping motion with his right arm as he lowered his head.

The crowd responded unexpectedly well. Despite his inexperienced bow, there was applause. The crowd applauded back even when he waved at the 2nd and 3rd floor balcony.

'Oh, these people are just happy.'

The final farewells were made and Isul turned to look at Jungwu.

"Just how…"

Pew~!

The 4th round of fireworks he had set up shot up over the stage.

Isul was caught totally unprepared and jumped up, hugging her guitar and shouting "Mommy!"

Jungwu instinctively reached out and grasped her by her shoulders and helped her regain her balance when she tilted slightly.

"Please be careful."

She stared at him with wide-open eyes. Jungwu hurriedly removed his hands from her.

"Soochan told me there were few celebrities who get startled every time there is a firework. I guess Isul ssi is one of them."

"That's not true. I am really used to…"

"Here it comes again."

"…? What?"

Pow powowow boom!

Isul was so startled by the fireworks she was about to scream but held herself by forcing her mouth closed. Jungwu couldn't contain his laughter when she glared at him in response, and so he turned his head instead.

Isul gazed up to watch the lights going off above the stage. Her jaws dropped when she saw the lights form an image of a Guitar with the words IS written on it.

"What? That's… my guitar!"

"You're right. I made it after seeing your guitar."

"Who? You did?"

Jungwu nodded. Isul carefully inspected Jungwu.

"Just what kind of person are you?"

He was about to answer 'Chemist' like he did with everyone else today. But during this moment, wearing brand name suit for the first time, and recalling a comment on the 9th link on trending humor forum leaderboards, led Jungwu to answer this instead.

"I guess some call me Magician. At least people on 1st line call me that."*

"As I thought."

He meant it as a joke, so he was the one who was shocked when she accepted his explanation so readily.

"That hotpack, the string on my guitar, that snow, those fireworks… did you make it all with magic?"

"Why would I tell you?"

"Oooh"

"I don't think this was the right timing to be astonished."

"But it’s amazing, all of it."

A joke was only a joke with the right person. Jungwu immediately revised his explanation.

"It’s magic…-like Chemistry."

"Isul unni!"**

When he heard a high pitched voice, Jungwu turned to see who it was and it turned out to be the entire cast of Girlfriends rushing onto the stage.

'Eh?'

Jungwu had to swallow back a gasp when he saw Yulhwi right in front of him. They had met where he had never expected to meet her.

Yulhwi ran up to Isul and wrapped her arms around Isul's.

"Director suggested we all sing a carol, so we came up here. He mentioned the shopping mall representative made a special request or something. The bgm has to be played by Unni. They said half of the equipment short-circuited because of the snow."

After speaking, Yulhwi turned to look at Jungwu who was nearby.

He didn't know what to say when he saw her gaze that seemed to say 'who are you?'. He couldn't possibly ask for an autograph in such a situation even though it was Yulhwi whom he held at the highest regard.

And maybe Soochan's words finally rubbed off on him? Yulhwi didn't seem all that amazing when she stood next to Isul. Just like Soochan wouldn't seem all that amazing if standing next to Jungwu. Although Soochan would probably disagree.

"Please excuse me then."

Since he was done with his job, Jungwu was about to leave.

"Please wait."

Isul suddenly stopped Jungwu.

"Could you please stay by my side?"

"Excuse me?"

Jungwu was panicking at the request that came out of nowhere.

"It's too cold. I can't play the guitar if my fingers freeze."

"Aahh."

Jungwu looked down at the hotpack when she said that.

It was almost done with the reaction and was nearing the end of its life. The snow blower was shut off so the snow wasn't falling anymore, but the air was still cold.

"Sure, then."

She had sung for a long time in the pouring snow with such a thin outfit. He was happy to do this for her. Jungwu gripped the hotpack that was going through the last bit of reaction and stood next to Isul.

All the previous singers also climbed onto the stage as well.

"We'll sing 'Look out the Window' for everyone!"

Three mics were set up at the front of the stage, and once Isul was ready with the guitar, the charol began.

"I wanna sing next to Isul Sunbae!"

"Me too, me too!"

TOT and Girlfriends members all competed for a spot next to Isul.

Jungwu who had been standing right next to Isul unintentionally and accidentally experienced an unspeakable moment of happiness.

He was knocked around this way and that.

'S…So good!"

TL Note

*Magician on 1st line reference- In Chapter 19 if you recall Jungwu was giggling over funny videos and grumpy cats when he saw the headline 'A Magician lives on the 1st Line' on the 9th entry in the 'Popular Today' list which was actually the t.i.tle of a video that showed Jungwu making the old man's hair dance(he did this in Chapter 4, it was recorded by someone and posted online). 1st line means subway line 1(where it took place).

**Unni: Female to female version of Oppa
Oppa: female to older male (only slightly older. Significantly older has different word)

Sorry for the delay the translator had to help out mhk translator on his absence.

If you would like to be a part of what we do then check out our recruitment page in menu.