Peninsula: I can steal the luck of disgraced celebrities

Lin Chih-hsun stood in the center of the stage.

The stage was small, just a makeshift platform set up in the gymnasium, with a chair, a microphone stand, and a monitor speaker on it. It was as rudimentary as a school's New Year's Eve party.

Director Li Yingfu's voice came through the earphones.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

Li Yingfu didn't say anything more, and picked up the walkie-talkie: "Attention all groups, filming will begin in three minutes. Actors, take your positions."

The moment the light shone down, he couldn't see anything.

Eight hundred people were sitting below, but the bright lights turned the audience area into darkness.

All that could be heard were breathing sounds, whispers, and the occasional clicking of cell phone shutters.

Lin Zhixun took a deep breath and adjusted the height of the microphone.

"Action!"

Li Yingfu's voice came from the side.

Eight hundred people were waiting for him to speak.

As the intro began, the familiar melody echoed throughout the stadium.

He opened his mouth and began to sing.

"I dream of closing my eyes when I'm tired!"

The sound came out.

But he knew that this was no different from what he had practiced in the dormitory yesterday.

I was just doing my homework.

IU's words kept echoing in my mind.

"You need to find something real to put in."

What's real?

After he traveled through time, what was real?

After the first chorus finished, some people in the audience started clapping along.

Lin Zhixun's vision adjusted to the light, and he could see some faces in the front row.

A girl was sitting in the third row on the left.

With long hair, no makeup, and wearing an oversized hoodie, she looked at Lin Zhixun with a beaming smile, holding up a banner in her hand.

The banner had five characters written on it:

"Go Pinocchio!"

It's Ha Joo-hee.

Lin Zhixun was stunned for a moment.

How did she end up here?

Then he saw in the fifth row a couple with a child sitting in the middle, reluctantly holding up a banner.

"My brother is the best!"

It was Yuexi, along with the original owner's insignificant father and stepmother.

The seventh row.

"Go for it, big brother!"

It was Jang Nara, Director Choi, and the children from Starlight Welfare Home.

The tenth row.

"Teacher, I won over my current girlfriend by watching videos on YouTube!"

He's a silly fan.

I hadn't realized that I had already formed bonds with so many people.

It seems that I am no longer alone in this world.

His throat suddenly relaxed.

The second verse begins.

"I believe that one day I will reach for that sky."

"Spread your wings and fly higher than anyone else."

When he said that, even he felt something was different.

There was something different in the voice.

It's a feeling of high spirits and belief that there's still tomorrow.

The atmosphere in the audience changed.

More people started clapping along, and some even began humming along.

Lin Chih-hsun's fingers became increasingly steady on the strings. He hit the high notes in the chorus without cracking or trembling, and the notes fell cleanly and crisply.

He closed his eyes when he sang the last part.

The images flashing through my mind were a jumbled mess.

He kissed Ha Joo-hee, and she looked shy.

Jang Nara looked annoyed after he donated most of his salary.

Yuexi's face turned red from the cold at the bus stop, all in order to see him.

perhaps.

I have found new family and friends in this world.

Mom and Dad, please forgive me for not being able to fulfill my filial duties to you; all I left you was a cold, hard 100 million in my bank account.

Forgive me for starting a new life in this world without you.

I also hope that you can forget me and start a new life.

The song ended.

The guitar's lingering sound reverberated in the stadium for two seconds.

Lin Zhixun opened his eyes.

His face was covered in tears.

The audience was deathly silent.

Just when Lin Chih-hsun thought he had sung terribly, a huge wave of cheers suddenly erupted from the audience.

Applause, screams, and whistles mingled together, crashing down like a wall.

Someone in the front row stood up.

Then the second row, the third row, the fourth row...

Eight hundred people stood up in unison.

"CUT!"

Li Yingfu's voice burst from the walkie-talkie, filled with barely suppressed excitement.

"Passed! Passed in one take!"

Staff members rushed in from all directions, but the audience below the stage kept clapping and wouldn't stop.

Lin Chih-hsun stood up and bowed to the audience.

The applause grew even louder.

He walked off the stage with his guitar in his arms, his legs a little weak.

Representative Pei was waiting for him on the side platform, his expression complex, as if he wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.

"You little rascal..." Representative Pei patted him on the back, "When did you learn to sing?"

"Three minutes ago."

"..."

Representative Pei decided not to press the matter further.

Lin Chih-hsun walked to the backstage rest area and plopped down on a folding chair.

After resting for ten minutes, Li Yingfu came to find him.

"Shih-hoon, that last one was amazing. I watched the replay and it gave me goosebumps."

"Thank you, director."

"But there's a problem."

Lin Zhixun looked up.

Li Yingfu rubbed his hands together, looking somewhat troubled.

"The song you just sang... wasn't 'Dream High'."

Lin Zhixun was stunned.

"What?"

"The melody you sang is different from the original song." Li Yingfu took out his phone and played back the recording. "Listen, here, and here, you changed the melody in at least four places."

Lin Zhixun took the phone and listened to it once.

It really is.

After he got into the groove, the melody started to go off track at some point.

It wasn't that he was singing off-key; he subconsciously changed the tune.

The revised version sounds quite good.

But the problem is—this is a TV series OST, not his personal album, so he has no right to change it.

"The copyright holders might have objections," Li Yingfu frowned. "Your revised version is indeed better, but if we use the original, we'll have to reshoot it."

Lin Zhixun was silent for two seconds.

"Director, if we reshoot, I'm not sure we can sing it the same way as before."

This is the truth.

The state we were in just now was a combination of perfect timing, location, and people. If we were to do it again, it would most likely be the "completion of homework" mode.

Li Yingfu also understood this principle.

He paced back and forth a few times, then took out his phone and made a call.

"Hello, is this Park Jin-young? I have a situation here... Yes, the one sung by Lim Ji-hoon, the melody is different from the original... No, no, no, it's not off-key, he changed it... Yes, he changed it quite well... Listen to the replay first."

After hanging up the phone, Li Yingfu gestured for Lin Zhixun to wait and then walked away quickly.

Lin Chih-hsun sat on a folding chair, holding his guitar and lost in thought.

Fifteen minutes later, Li Yingfu returned.

Representative Pei also returned with him.

Both of them had strange expressions.

Representative Bae spoke up: "Ji-hoon, Park Jin-young listened to your version."

"Then?"

"He said..." Representative Pei paused, "He wants to add your name to the arrangement."

Lim Ji-hoon: "Huh?"

Just then, Bae Suzy, Ham Eunjung, and Lee Ji-eun walked in and overheard the conversation.

Bae Suzy and Ham Eunjung were both surprised.

Ham Eun-jung said, "Ji-hoon, you have such talent. Even Park Jin-young's revisions are recognized."

IU wasn't that surprised, after all, she had just heard the song written by Lin Zhixun yesterday.

Lin Chih-hsun laughed and said, "A man should always be like unwrapping a gift, always full of surprises, in order to attract women's attention."

"What do you need me for?"

Ham Eun-jung rolled her eyes and said:

"There were a few people in the audience who said they were your friends and family and wanted to come and see you."