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Kang An-na smiled generously and reached out her hand to Han Gyeo-ul for a handshake.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kang An-na, the director of this place. I hope we see each other often.”

“Yes! I really wanted to join this activity. But I was so caught up with personal matters… Ah! I’m fine now! I'll be sure to set aside time in the future to visit this place! I'll try my hardest.”

Choi Seon-hye watched her daughter babbling and told the director: “I’ll get my members to clean up the room and prepare the bath for the kids. Han Gyeo-ul is new here, so please show her around.”

“Sure. Ms Gyeo-ul, shall we go?”

“Yes!”

Han Gyeo-ul followed Director Kang An-na just like a nervous freshman.

Director Kang An-na brought Han Gyeo-ul to the playground, where around twenty children were gathered. 

Sometimes, when children got tired of lessons, Kyu-ha played music with a leaf. It often became a show, and every time, children surrounded Kyu-ha and asked to play more. 

Kyu-ha picked a moderately-sized, yellow leaf from a ginkgo tree standing on the left side of the playground.

The children looked at Kyu-ha, their eyes sparkling with expectation. Kyu-ha thought for a moment about which piece to play. He closed his eyes and put the ginkgo leaf on his lips.

Longing Song was the title of the piece. 

He wrote this musical composition while observing orphans surviving in a slum and sharing the story of a minstrel named Walter von Moore Damian. It was the first time it was played in this world. 

The melody was simple yet addictive, there was sorrow but also hope, so children especially liked it. 

Pip~ tootle-too

Tootle-too~ pip~ pip

A melancholic sound that was unbelievable came out of the yellow leaf and filled the air. For a moment, the world was listening to the song, and even the wind took a rest. 

Too~ Tootle-too~

Tootle~ tootle~

The sad melody echoed softly around the playground, wandering around the children. 

Some children were closing their eyes and nodding to the song, while others teared up as they watched Kyu-ha play the music.

Kyu-ha’s leaf music made children both miss their parents, and at the same time, gently touch the wounds they received from their parents. 

After a few minutes, the music stopped, and the children clapped enthusiastically, their faces about to burst into tears. 

“You’re the best, Oppa!”

“Amazing! Please do it again next time.”

Kyu-ha smiled without saying anything and patted their heads.

“Clap, clap, clap. Mr. Kyu-ha, you really are talented. That was wonderful.”

Director Kang An-na also seemed to be touched and approached him with a rather excited emotion. 

“Ah, this is our Ms. Han Gyeo-ul, who just joined us today. Meet each other.”

Han Gyeo-ul was blankly looking at Kyu-ha and soon came her sense to greet Kyu-ha.

“Hi, I’m Han Gyeo-ul. Nice to meet you.”

“Song Kyu-ha. Nice to meet you, too.”

“I need to take care of some paperwork. Mr. Kyu-ha, could you do me a favor and show Ms. Gyeo-ul around the place and introduce her to the children?”

“Sure thing. Don’t worry.”

“Thank you. I’ll head to the office first.”

After Director Kang An-na left, Kyu-ha took Han Gyeo-ul to the playroom, laundry room, washroom, bedroom, and so on. 

Gyeo-ul seemed awkward at first, but her naturally bright personality soon made her very talkative. 

“That was the most amazing music I’ve ever heard in my life! How can a common leaf on the street make that kind of sound? It was better than most of the conventional instruments. It made me close my eyes to focus on listening.”

“I’m glad you liked it. It still needs some practice.”

“Huh? Nonsense. If that needs practice, all music major students would be out of their jobs. How are you working here all by yourself? It appears that you don’t have a team?"

“Ah! I’m from here. I was soon adopted, but I had good memories, so I came back.”

“Oh… sorry. I didn’t know, I shouldn’t have asked…”

“There's nothing to be sorry about. It’s okay. Shall we go meet the children?”

Han Gyeo-ul quietly followed Kyu-ha to where the children were taking lessons. 

It was just about the time that the lessons ended and the kids were playing with each other. When they saw Kyu-ha, they welcomed him. 

“Hey, Hyung!”

“Kids, I have something to say. Can you gather around?”

It was noisy, but the playful kids all approached at once without complaining at Kyu-ha’s words. 

“This is our new teacher. Ms. Gyeo-ul, would you like to introduce yourself?”

Looking a bit nervous, she bravely greeted the kids with a loud voice. “Hey, everyone! I’m Han Gyeo-ul. It’s great to meet you!”

“Give her a big hand.”

“Yayyyy! Clap clap clap.”

“You’re pretty, Ms Gyeo-ul!”

Thanks to the enthusiastic welcome, Han Gyeo-ul smiled comfortably and began to get closer to them. 

Two weeks passed, and Kyu-ha and Han Gyeo-ul also became close. 

She whined and acted spoiled a lot now that she knew Kyu-ha rarely got embarrassed or upset, leaving the awkwardness she first displayed nowhere to be found. 

“Oppa, I’m feeling blue today. Can you play that leaf flute?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Um… it’s just that this thing I do isn’t going well recently.” 

Han Gyeo-ul complained to Kyu-ha in a gloomy tone.

“I have a chance to stand alone this time, but it seems hopeless. All my options suck... No, I mean! Oppa, you really don’t know who I am?”

“…? You’re Han Gyeo-ul.”

“No. I mean the Han Gyeo-ul, from the girl group Heart Signal. The lead vocalist? Wow, you actually didn’t know me? Sigh… I really should try harder.”

“I don’t watch TV at all, so I’m not familiar with singers.”

“…Anyways! I’ve been doing group activities so far, and the agency decided to release my own solo digital single. But all the songs are so not good enough! It’s my first solo… I can’t just sing any song… I have a lot on my mind.” 

“Hm… so it’s about a song.”

“But! As I’ve almost given up, I magically found this amazing piece! Actually… Oppa… um… that music piece that you played with the leaf before, you said you composed it. Can I use it? The credit for composing will be yours. I can work on the lyrics myself!” 

“Huh? You mean the Longing Song? Um… Maybe it’s okay here? Wait a minute.”

He wrote it himself, and in this world, nobody cared, so it seemed to be alright. 

He thought he should get permission from the agency first, so he called his team leader Han Jeong-hee.

“Yes, Ma’am. So, there is this song I wrote…”

He explained the situation to Han Jeong-hee, and she gave permission without much hesitation.

“It’s okay, Mr. Kyu-ha. In the contract, it only states that you will share the profit made through your work as an actor, such as the guarantee and advertisement contract fee.” 

“Okay, thanks.” 

Kyu-ha hung up the phone. He looked at Han Gyeo-ul and said, “All right. You can use the song.”

“What! Oh my god, really? I really loved the song right away when I first heard it. Thank you so so much.”

Kyu-ha brought a pen and a piece of paper. He drew five lines, filled them with notes, and handed over the finished piece to her. 

"Here, take it. This is the Longing Song score. Write the lyrics well. Write them while continuing to think of someone you miss."

Han Gyeo-ul stared blankly at Kyu-ha effortlessly drawing out the music piece, and then nodded in admiration.

“I’ll do my best! By the way, what do you do? You can write music, so perhaps a music student? Or a freelance composer?”

“Me? Well, I made my debut, so I guess I’m an actor.”

“Huhhhh? You’re an actor?”

Han Gyeo-ul thought Kyu-ha was not so well-known yet, so she spoke carefully. 

“You’re smart and talented! So you’ll definitely get popular one day. Don't give up and stay positive!"

“Thanks. My agency has actually begun to talk about the next movie.”

“Oh? You have an agency?”

“Yes, it’s Stellar Entertainment.”

“What! Isn’t that a famous one? I hear it’s the top-tier agency for actors.”

Han Gyeo-ul appeared befuddled and conflicted. 

“Is there a movie that you’ve been in recently?

“Yeah, sure. It’s In the Name of the Devil by director Go Yo-han. I just finished it recently and came here to take some rest.”

Han Gyeo-ul was so surprised that she began to talk very fast. “What… You’re in that one? Oh my… Oh! You do look like that maniac! Huh?! No way! You’re that person? Why do you look so different?!”

Now that she knew he was an actor, Han Gyeo-ul seemed to feel even closer to him and began to talk about many things.

“Anyways, we’re in the same entertainment industry, so let’s be friends! That said, give me your phone.”

Kyu-ha was baffled but gave her his phone. Han Gyeo-ul dialed her number quickly, pushed the call button, and gave it back to Kyu-ha. 

“All right! If there’s any concern or issue to talk about, let’s talk to each other, okay? I’ll head off to work on the lyrics. I’ll get in touch, Mr. Murderer!”

She went off, humming to herself. 

***

In a small meeting room of Stellar Entertainment 

In the neatly organized meeting room, Kyu-ha and his manager, Bong-gu, and team leader, Han Jeong-hee, gathered together to talk about his next work. 

When Kyu-ha and Bong-gu took their seats, Han Joeng-hee put a script in her hand on the table. 

“This is the script that has been suggested for Mr. Kyu-ha. It’s not a movie, but a drama. And the genre is… surprisingly, romance.”