Chapter 16. Lee Hyerin (4)
"Are you an idiot?"
"Huh? What!"
Lee Hyerin let out a surprised voice when she heard that. For a moment, she was not even able to understand what he was saying.
Still, Lee Hyun continued.
"If you are not an idiot, then stop thinking like an idiot. Do you really think that your daughter would be disappointed just because you failed your comeback?"
Lee Hyerin stayed silent as she was not able to retort to that. She blinked her teary eyes as she looked at Lee Hyun.
He continued his words without stopping.
"I honestly don't know if your comeback would be a success or not, but if you continued to think like that, then I'm sure that it would just be a failure!"
"Ah…"
Lee Hyerin opened and closed her mouth like she wanted to say something, but she didn't know how to say it.
Then, she suddenly lowered her head.
'What the hell did I just said?'
Lee Hyun thought and began to panic inwardly. He didn't know what he said just now.
He just spoke out the words that came in his mind. He never had an experience of consoling someone.
So, he was worried that he messed up. He can't even see Lee Hyerin's expression as she had lowered her face.
"Are you not nervous?"
Suddenly, Lee Hyerin raised her head and asked.
"Isn't it your first song? Are you not nervous that I would mess it up? If I failed this song, then won't it be hard for you?"
As it looked like Lee Hyun didn't understand her question, she added those words.
'How should I answer?'
Lee Hyun's brain ran like a computer as he thought of an appropriate response to her question.
Honestly, this was not his first song, but it was indeed true that he was nervous.
There are many reasons for him to be nervous.
The main reason was his deck of flop songs in his past life. He was also worried that Never give up won't perform as good as he had thought.
It would be trouble for him if that happens.
If Never give up didn't perform well, then it would be really hard to sell his other songs.
That just means that Mango Entertainment would break his leg and it would need a long time to heal it.
"I'm extremely nervous."
After a while, Lee Hyun finally opened his mouth.
"You don't look like you are nervous though."
"It may not look like it, but I'm really nervous. More nervous than you can think. It is also true that I would be troubled if the song really failed but..."
"But?"
Lee Hyerin tilted her head and asked.
"... I'm confident in the singer singing this song."
With a bright smile on his face, Lee Hyun said that. It was also not a lie. He was just saying what he felt.
But Lee Hyerin thought otherwise.
"Don't lie! My singing earlier was bad. How can you be confident in me…"
"Your practice video."
"Huh?"
Lee Hyun suddenly cut her off and said that. He then brought out his phone and showed her a video.
It was the video of her singing Never give up.
Lee Hyerin was surprised seeing that video. She wondered where he got the video from and Lee Hyun answered before she could even ask this question.
"The director sent me this video. He even said that it was the right choice to select Never give up as it suits you really well."
She was not able to say anything. No, she wanted to say something, but her words seem to be struck in her throat.
"If you can sing it well in practice, then you can surely sing it well during recording too."
Lee Hyun suddenly moved towards Lee Hyerin while saying that.
Seeing him come close to her, Lee Hyerin flinched and subconsciously closed her eyes, but all Lee Hyun did was to... pat her head.
"I believe that you will do well."
Lee Hyerin opened her eyes wide, feeling the palm on her head. It felt warm to her for some reason.
At that moment, Lee Hyun suddenly jolted back to his senses.
"Ahh… Sorry!!"
He immediately pulled his hand away. It looks like he got carried away and he immediately began to regret it.
'Why did I suddenly pat her head? Are my old habits coming back to me since I regressed to my younger self?'
When he was young, he used to pat his brother's head regularly, but he gradually stopped it after he got older.
That habit suddenly came back to him.
"Why are you sorry?"
Lee Hyerin asked with a smile on her face. She didn't look like someone who was crying just a minute ago.
"I thought women don't like getting patted on their heads."
"Well, most don't… but I don't feel it's that bad."
A mischievous smile appeared on her face. Maybe, it was because of Lee Hyun's behaviour, but she was not crying anymore.
"Anyway, I believe in you. So, you should just sing without worrying. Just think of your daughter if you feel nervous."
Lee Hyun cleaned his throat and hurriedly said.
"Um, do you really think that I would be able to do it?"
"Yes. I'm sure of it."
Lee Hyerin finally showed a slight smile. Her nervousness was still there, but her condition was better than before.
She stood up from her seat and gulped down the remaining coffee in the can which had already gone cold.
Then, she again made a distorted expression.
"Don't drink it if you don't like it."
Lee Hyun laughed and said.
"I would look like a kid if I can't even drink coffee. It makes me look mature even though it's bitter."
'What was this reasoning?'
Lee Hyun thought in his mind, but didn't dare to say it out loud.
He stood up from his seat and looked at Lee Hyerin. He could feel that both of them have grown closer than before.
"We should go back to the recording studio now."
"Yes."
Both of them started walking towards the recording studio. For some reason, Lee Hyerin was walking really slowly.
'Is she still nervous?'
Lee Hyun wondered and looked at her. She seemed to be in some sort of thought.
"What's wrong? Are you still nervous?"
"N-No, it's not that. I just wanted to ask you something."
Lee Hyerin waved her hand and said.
"What do you want to ask?"
"Ah, can I call you Oppa?
"Sure, you ca-"
Lee Hyun stopped himself from completing the sentence. Lee Hyerin tilted her head seeing that.
"What's wrong?"
"Well, it's just that I'm younger than you."
"Ah?"
It took time for Lee Hyerin to understand what he was saying.
Her face immediately became flushed when she realised that she was older than Lee Hyun.
Due to his way of talking and their earlier interaction, Lee Hyerin had started treating him as someone older.
She became embarrassed when she realised that.
'I don't have any problem with her calling me Oppa, but it would look weird.'
Lee Hyun scratched his head and thought.
He was mentally 45.
So, he doesn't have any problems with Lee Hyerin calling him Oppa, but it would definitely look weird in front of other people.
To other people, Lee Hyun was just a 25 year old guy.
It would definitely be weird when a woman in her 30s called him 'Oppa'.
"Ah, if you want to, you can call me Oppa. I don't have a..."
Lee Hyun tried to say, but before he could finish his sentence, Lee Hyerin had started to walk rapidly.
It looked like she was running away because of being embarrassed.
Sigh!
Standing alone, Lee Hyun sighed and started walking towards the recording studio.