The Hit Song of This Life Is Revenge - Chapter 2

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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My Life’s Hit Song is Revenge
Chapter 2
“Excuse me!”
It was a sharp voice that sliced through the distant haze.
“What are you doing? We have to go out now!”
An unfamiliar hand shook her shoulder, snapping her back to reality.
Jae-i heavily lifted her eyelids.
The light from the chandelier, filtering warmly through the cracks of her vision, fragmented her sight.
As she opened her eyes a bit wider, dresses reflecting the illumination and a crowd filling the venue came into view.
Jae-i looked around with a bewildered expression.
‘A wedding hall?’
Just a moment ago, she had definitely been in front of the jazz bar.
Pouring headlights, a screeching horn, screams, a sharp skid—and then… Bang!
‘Right, I definitely…’
The impact of the accident rushed over her mind like a wave, making her squeeze her eyes shut.
‘Didn’t I die?’
Her mind went entirely blank.
While she struggled to grasp the tail end of her suddenly severed memory, the host’s voice piercing her ears pulled her back to the present.
“Next up, we will have the celebratory song for the bride and groom.”
Swept along by the crowd of moving people, she stood on the platform, where the scent of decorated flowers mingled with the draft of the air conditioner.
It was so vivid that it actually terrified her.
Could a dream really feel this authentic?
Right then, a familiar melody struck her heart with a heavy thud.
‘Huh…? This is the song I used to sing back when I did part-time gigs.’
The sensation triggered a memory.
Back then, she truly had to live as if she were barely surviving each day.
That dreading feeling of the next day approaching.
Sometimes, there were days when she felt trapped at the absolute rock bottom of depression.
Yet, even that had to be brushed off quickly.
Part-time work was paid by the hour, and time was money.
Though she received some government subsidies, after paying for her grandmother’s medicine and the monthly rent, her living expenses were woefully insufficient.
College was a sheer luxury.
There were scholarships and special admissions, but she didn’t even have the luxury to prepare for those.
‘I couldn’t leave Grandmother alone, either.’
Restaurants, convenience stores, cafes. There wasn’t a single part-time job she hadn’t tried.
Then came the wedding singer gig, which she suddenly took over to cover for a friend.
Do people say coincidence is a signal sent by fate?
When she accidentally gripped the microphone for the first time like that, she felt as if an electric current traveled straight to her bones.
The moment the lyrics flowed out, the living expenses and hospital bills all melted away.
She could never forget that moment, which felt almost like someone else’s life.
She thought she simply liked music, but on that day, she knew precisely.
‘I want to be a singer.’
Jae-i whispered that day’s resolve to herself.
But that was undeniably the past.
‘How on earth… did this happen right now?’
As she stood dazed, the people standing on either side of her began layering harmonies.
Jae-i instinctively pressed a hand to her chest.
Thump, thump, thump.
Even the heartbeat pulsing beneath her palm was distinct.
‘If it’s this clear, it can’t be a dream, right?’
Jae-i’s eyes shifted, looking up toward the light falling from above.
Instead of car headlights, illumination meant to light up a stage was pouring down.
It was the same color as the light she saw before she died, but now, it felt like it was announcing a beginning rather than an end.
Nudge.
The woman standing next to her jabbed her with an elbow.
The sharp sting cleared her vision.
Turning her head at the same time, Jae-i faced her own reflection in the woman’s pupils.
Along with a fleeting dizziness, a faint song drifted from afar.
When I see you again.
‘When I meet you again…’
She felt suffocated. Yet, her mind was strangely lucid.
‘Did I really… come back?’
She gradually realized that an impossible situation had become reality.
Just as the first line was about to begin.
Jae-i brought her hand to the microphone stand in front of her and closed her eyes.
The solidity of the metal transmitting through her palm, the faint scent of iron rising from the microphone head.
The moment the past and present connected, a thrill spread like wildfire, sweeping through her entire body.
‘Yes. This is the feeling.’
Opening her eyes again, Jae-i’s pupils sparkled.
The sight of the guests watching her came into view.
This thrill was absolutely real.
Did God actually answer her prayers or something?
Even a single breath brushing past her lungs was filled with fluttering excitement.
If so, her resolve was clear.
‘This time, I will absolutely never do something like giving up on my own.’
* * *
The date she confirmed was June 26, 20XX.
It was exactly ten years ago, the summer when she was twenty-two.
Leaving the wedding hall, Jae-i walked out onto the street.
The sound of cicadas vibrated against her eardrums.
The sunlight baked her spine with a stinging heat, and the humid air made even breathing feel heavy.
In the past, she wouldn’t have welcomed this kind of weather, but right now, it was flawless.
‘I love summer.’
They called it the season when life blooms in full, and every single sensation whispered that she was ‘alive.’
She sat down on a nearby bench and thought about what she needed to do next.
Suddenly, the program that was the biggest sensation around this time crossed her mind.
‘I’m Your Singer Season 3.’
A survival-type audition program.
This year, when Season 3 was airing, its popularity was especially massive.
Through that show, Baek Song-ha became the ‘Nation’s Little Sister.’
‘Nation’s Little Sister, my foot.’
Those were all things Jae-i had dreamed of as well.
‘I hate the thought of my wife being talked about by others. If you want to sing that badly, do it at home.’
Yoo Young-jae’s disgusted tone flashed through her mind.
Jae-i let out a smirk.
‘No. In this life, someone like you doesn’t exist.’
The problem was that the program only allowed ‘agency trainees’ to participate.
The contestant lineup would have already been decided, and the broadcast was scheduled to start in a month.
Yoo Young-jae had also solidified his position at YU Entertainment using that show as a stepping stone.
And through none other than Baek Song-ha’s success.
‘How am I supposed to watch that happen again?’
Her motivation was more than enough.
‘The issue is how I’m going to pull it off…’
Even if she went to an audition right this second, it would take time for the results to come out.
Around this time in her past, she had sent an audition video to Star Entertainment upon a recommendation from the wedding singer team.
She knew she would pass, but she couldn’t make the same choice.
An agency wouldn’t just hand a broadcasting opportunity to a trainee they had only just cast.
Jae-i needed a pretext to get on that show immediately.
The agonizing dilemma made her hot chest feel stifled.
Stepping into a convenience store to cool down for a moment, she popped open a can of soda she bought.
Hiss.
‘Let’s start with a sip of cola.’
Tiny bubbles sputtered against her throat as the liquid glided down.
“Whew…”
The cold, spreading refreshment seemed to briefly ease her congested chest.
With her thumb, she wiped away the condensation forming around the cola can.
At that instant, a woman’s face suddenly flashed through her mind.
A Korean-American contestant from ‘I’m Your Singer Season 3′ who drank cola like water throughout the show’s run.
She had definitely stated that she caught the production team’s eye and got cast at a music festival held in the United States.
It was even a case where she had voluntarily applied on-site.
From the early days of the broadcast, she had piqued the viewers’ curiosity through exclusive interviews.
└ Why are they pushing this girl so much?
└ Now that K-pop is gaining some traction, I guess they want to market it abroad.
└ Is this a joke? lol With that kind of narrative, her skills should be mind-blowing. It’s all because of the cola commercial.
She remembered seeing comments like that.
Though that contestant ultimately dropped out halfway through, Jae-i recalled her vividly.
“Maybe…”
There was a high probability that the festival wasn’t just a simple celebration.
Jae-i’s mind brightened like the sunlight reflecting off the cola can.
‘It was even more meaningful because the festival was held on Independence Day. But of course, you have to be careful. Because this is Gotham City, where the Joker of the dark night resides.’
She remembered the exact contents of that interview.
‘A dark night, the Joker…’
Since the movie had been filmed in multiple versions, there were many locations that served as the backdrop.
However, there was only one city known for that dark night.
‘Chicago.’
Jae-i pulled her phone out of her pocket.
After typing a few words into the search bar, one item instantly caught her eye.
[Chicago, Independence Day Music Festival July 4th–July 7th]
‘Found it.’
This festival could be her pathway.
Gulp, gulp, gulp. She drained the cola in one go.
The intense swallow made her throat sting, but a smile broke out on her face.
Perhaps hope could be found in ways like this.
“I’m going to need money.”
Her deliberation didn’t last long.
She had no intention of marrying Yoo Young-jae, nor did she need to buy gifts for a mother-in-law.
“This time, I’m going to buy my own stage.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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