Episode 98: Spring of the Syndrome (2)
“Say hi, Yujin-ah. This is our PD.”
At Go Yo-han’s introduction, I lightly bow my head in greeting.
“Hello, I’m Han Yujin.”
“Welcome, Yujin-ssi. I’m Music Road PD Shin Dong-ju.”
“I’m a little late. Sorry about that.”
“Hey, it’s not even late—you arrived ten minutes early. That’s more than enough. Don’t worry about it.”
The PD immediately waves off my apology.
Even though it’s radio, a broadcast is still a broadcast.
It’s not like a part-time shift change; showing up just ten minutes before start time can’t possibly be “fine,” yet there isn’t the slightest hint of reproach in his demeanor.
The same goes for the writer standing behind him, nodding repeatedly.
“No way. PD Shin, Writer Choi—you’re way too biased toward Yujin, aren’t you?”
Even Go Yo-han felt compelled to point it out.
Of course, his tone was dripping with playful mischief he couldn’t quite hide, but the feeling that “bias” wasn’t entirely wrong was undeniably true.
“What’s wrong with a little favoritism?”
Nevertheless, Shin Dong-ju boldly owned up to the wording.
“Yujin-ssi is giving us an exclusive first reveal of the new song on Music Road!”
The moment he himself stated the reason, Yo-han and I—who already knew about it—could only exchange glances and let out helpless laughs.
Truth be told, it wasn’t anything that grand.
I had promotions to do anyway, and since Go Yo-han—a fellow company member—was sitting as DJ on this radio program, there was no real reason to hand over the title of “first radio appearance” to some other show when I felt comfortable with him.
The only issue was the scheduling of <Go Yo-han’s 10 O’Clock Music Road>, which runs from 10 a.m. to noon. If we wanted to talk about the new song, we’d have no choice but to schedule it for the day after release.
‘Was there really a need for that?’
Since we’d already decided to do it together with Yo-han, the idea of a pre-release came up in the middle.
Around the transition from segment one to segment two—timing-wise, about an hour ahead of the original release time.
Releasing it an hour early isn’t that big of a difference, and it would give Yo-han and this program some nice talking points too.
‘I didn’t expect them to be this happy about it, though.’
Well, if they’re genuinely thrilled and not just saying it, there’s no reason for me to feel reluctant.
“Here’s the script, Yujin-ssi.”
“Even though we call it a script, you don’t need to feel burdened by it. It’s really just a guideline—like ‘this is the vibe we’re going for.’ There’s nothing you have to follow strictly. Just chat comfortably with Yo-han-ssi. If you get too tense and stiff, that’ll actually feel more awkward, so just focus on staying relaxed and natural.”
It seems these two haven’t seen my appearance on <Midnight Café>.
If they had, they’d know that extra comment is completely unnecessary.
“Nothing to worry about. Yujin will handle it just fine on his own.”
Go Yo-han added that, but
“Yes, got it.”
I simply nodded once while taking the cue cards.
In the end, showing it once is much faster than saying a bunch of overconfident words.
We’d only exchanged light greetings, but in that short time, we were already right on the verge of going live.
“Alright then, shall we head in?”
The moment Yo-han and I stepped into the recording studio,
“Hyung, fighting!”
Su-hyuk clenched both fists and struck a fighting pose.
‘Hmm…’
I’ll be fine on my own.
Wouldn’t it be better for you to worry about yourself?
The thought flashed through my mind as I glanced at Go Yo-han’s manager standing beside Su-hyuk, eyes deeply sunken.
“Thanks.”
I just said that and turned away.
This too is probably a necessary trial on the path to becoming an SSS-class manager.
***
“A new journey begins this morning with Go Yo-han. I’m your guide who wants to walk alongside your journey—DJ Go Yo-han.”
The On Air light turns on, and the program starts with the familiar soft opening line.
But that gentle atmosphere from Go Yo-han doesn’t last long.
“Today’s corner is the spot where we introduce promising musicians who will delight the ears of our Music Road pilgrims on their journey: ‘I didn’t know what type you like, so I brought all kinds of them.’ Today’s guest was really hard to book… Oh my, has the word already gotten out?”
[Han Yujin! Han Yujin! Han Yujin!]
[Han]
[Yu]
[Jin]
[My bias appearing on my bias’s radio show—jackpot!!!]
[Yo-han can stay, but let Yujin take the mic]
Despite Go Yo-han deliberately trying to build suspense, the chat window—relaying listener reactions—is already overflowing with my name.
“Wow. Look at how fast the chat is scrolling. Feels like three times faster than usual. No point in hiding it anymore. Well, whenever a handsome guest shows up, I’m always second fiddle anyway. Say hi.”
The slightly venomous tone as he passes the mic to me is probably because of that one passing comment in the chat telling him to “step aside.”
“Hello, everyone on the Music Road pilgrimage. This is singer Han Yujin. Nice to meet you.”
Amid the tidal wave of ㅋㅋㅋ consonants pushing out every other letter,
I deliver my prepared greeting and give a light wave to the visible radio camera that’s streaming live on YouTube.
[ㅗㅜㅑ…]
[Kyaa…]
The chat atmosphere shifts once again in an instant.
Go Yo-han also quickly drops the momentary sharpness and continues in a straightforward manner.
“I remember the first time I saw Yujin-ssi was around this time last year. Even back then I thought, ‘Wow, he’s really good-looking…’ But now… is it the camera massage or something? You’ve gotten even more handsome. People listening on the radio might not feel it as much, but Yujin-ssi didn’t even come with much makeup today? And yet—how do I even explain this? Should I say he’s literally glowing?”
“Haha. Thank you.”
“Normally at this point you’d say ‘No, no’ and act humble. But with you, Yujin-ssi, it feels right to just accept it like you did. If you tried to be humble, that would actually feel like deception.”
This time I just shrugged once,
“Ugh, so annoying! But you’re so handsome I can’t even get mad! I’m not even looking at a girl group member—it’s a guy—and yet why am I like this?”
Go Yo-han’s frustrated reaction brought another wave of laughter crashing through the chat window.
In the meantime, a sheet of paper was stuck to the studio’s glass window.
“Hm. We just got some news. Apparently the number of listeners for Music Road right now is almost double the usual. And why is that? Because a post went up in Yujin-ssi’s fan café. Roughly, it says someone got an autograph from Yujin-ssi just now and was directly spoiled that he’s appearing here. Is that right?”
“Ah. So that was them. I didn’t actually say outright that I was coming here, though…”
“Well, who cares? As long as it leads to Seoul, more listeners is a win. Alright then—let’s officially kick off today’s corner: ‘I Didn’t Know What Type You Like, So I Brought All Kinds of Them.’ Shall we get started?”
Even a veteran DJ like Go Yo-han seemed to be struggling to keep up with the chat speed. Clearly, way more listeners had flooded in than usual.
It took a bit longer than expected because of that, but finally, the main segment began.
“Name: Han Yujin. Date of birth: September 4, 2002. Wow, so you didn’t get to see the World Cup?”
“I did see it, but how would I remember it at that age!”
“Damn. That one was legendary. Oops, sorry—almost went off on a tangent again. Debut: April 24, 2024, with ‘For a Moment, You’ from the drama <Second Is You> 1st OST. Damn, that’s a masterpiece. And I know there’s another singer who performed this song besides you, Yujin-ssi…”
“Yes. That sunbae is an incredible singer too. I personally respect them a lot. It was a real honor to work together.”
“Yujin-ssi has both the talent and the personality.”
The light banter between Yo-han and me once again summoned a tidal wave of consonants in the chat.
“To show everyone what this good-person Yujin-ssi is like, we’ll take a quick listen to a song: ‘For a Moment, You’. …See? I told you. Yujin will handle everything just fine without me saying a word.”
As the prepared flow led into the lyrical melody of <For a Moment, You>, and a brief moment of calm settled in, Go Yo-han—who had pushed his headset back around his neck—spoke up. Four thumbs shot up enthusiastically from beyond the glass.
Of course, the length of one song isn’t very long, and Go Yo-han soon had to pull the headset back down to his ears.
“Now that I think about it, there’s some behind-the-scenes we can talk about since it’s just us. Originally, ‘For a Moment, You’ was supposed to be my solo track. But when Bang Ho-kyung sunbae saw Yujin-ssi who came to do the guide recording, he cast him on the spot.”
“Yes, that’s right. Even now I wonder how such a dramatic opportunity came about.”
“To be honest, it’s not actually that rare. Things like that happen from time to time. But among those cases, what stood out was how overwhelmingly superior Yujin-ssi’s skills were—and that became clear not long after.”
Go Yo-han paused deliberately.
[Blind Singer!!!]
[BlSing!!!]
The chat instantly exploded with the correct answer.
“Yes. Everyone’s telling me. <Blind Singer> Season 3! Winner! And with an overwhelming performance that never once gave up 1st place. That alone is amazing, but what’s even more incredible is that no two stages had overlapping concepts or genres. The ballad style similar to the one you just heard? Only one song like that. Ah, 5576-nim just sent: ‘Invincible was a real culture shock.’ Yes. Mixing traditional Korean music with idol K-pop was genuinely shocking.”
“The other contestants were all at a level where any of them winning wouldn’t have been strange. I really studied a lot.”
“Definitely. That’s not something you can do just with good instincts. But aside from the music, there were quite a few fun parts too… Right, Lemonglass-nim? ‘Finding out he had a girlfriend was already shocking. Becoming a fan because of that was even more shocking.’ So, how’s that relationship going these days?”
“Cough.”
The sudden direct hit made me choke for a second.
He knew everything perfectly well, yet he brought it up with that playful, annoying expression.
But I quickly gathered myself.
Fortunately, I didn’t need to manage my expression for this topic.
“Yes. We’re still together. I actually proposed not long ago, but she put a condition on it.”
“A condition?”
“Yes. She said she’ll marry me once I win a grand prize—any award.”
“Grand prize? Wow.”
“She didn’t say no, so I just have to work hard.”
“If marriage is on the line, you’d better work hard. Oh, another message just came in. 3614-nim says: ‘With that face, that talent… and even a girlfriend who promised marriage… Unknown patriot, national hero, guardian spirit of the country— are you happy in this life…?’ What do you think, Yujin-ssi?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure, but if there’s such a thing as past lives, I think I must have put in a lot of effort.”
“Wow, he just straight-up accepted it?”
Well, whether it refers to this life or the previous one, achieving the level of being the first Asian to win a Grammy main field award while breaking racial barriers—maybe this much happiness is deserved.
That was the thought that crossed my mind at that moment.
“One last question before we move on. This one from ‘G.A.Yujin’-nim: ‘Don’t you regret deciding to get married at such a young age?’ How about it? You are pretty young, after all… Yujin-ssi?”
“Ah. Sorry. I got distracted by the chat for a second… The question… Ah, yes. I don’t regret it. If anything, I think I’d regret it more if I hadn’t.”
“Right? When you meet the right person, that feeling just comes naturally. From what I know, the next song is one you made for your girlfriend…”
Until <Shooting Star>—prepared as the next track—started playing, Go Yo-han didn’t pass the mic back to me.
“You okay, Yujin-ah? Should I have skipped that one?”
It seems he was a bit concerned that I’d momentarily gone quiet.
“No, I’m fine. I really just got distracted by the chat for a second.”
But the reason I froze wasn’t because of the question.
Of course, it wasn’t the ridiculous excuse of “I got distracted by the chat” either.
It was simply,
‘I never thought I’d see that nickname here too…’
Because it was a nickname I never expected to encounter again in this life.
From the moment I debuted as Polaris in the previous timeline, until the instant I took the Grammy main field award—
In nine out of ten articles about me, that name would appear.
The very first, the oldest fan.
Yet in all that long time, we never once met face-to-face.
G.A.Yujin was the nickname of a fan I thought I would never see again.