The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 1

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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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Past Life Idol Carries an Indie Band
Episode 1
“Cha Seo-ha! How dare you show your face here!”
Kang Min, unable to contain his anger, grabbed me by the collar, but Heo Jun-sung and Kim Ji-hu held him back.
“Stop it. Lee Do-young is right there. There are people watching….”
“I know what brought you here, but just go.”
I felt relieved by the three of them maintaining their friendship through the end of the funeral, yet a deep sadness washed over me.
I don’t belong there.
My place isn’t here.
Because I’m a traitor.
“I’ll just pay my respects and leave.”
…….
“I’m asking you to.”
I turned away from their uncomfortable expressions and made my way toward the urn with heavy steps.
A familiar face in a photograph caught my eye.
Lee Do-young.
Fragments of youth flashed through my mind as I looked at his beaming smile.
Youth led you to choose success at the end of that orange corridor, while you stayed here.
“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry.”
I offered a belated apology.
* * *
By the time I left the funeral and arrived home, the sun was already setting.
The moment I stepped inside, I went straight to the bar cabinet and pulled out every bottle I had.
Wine, whiskey, rum, vodka….
As I drank without pause, I took out a framed photograph I’d kept tucked away.
A photo of five of us taken during our band days.
Lee Do-young, Heo Jun-sung, Kim Ji-hu, Kang Min.
And me.
In a shabby practice room in Hongdae, wearing worn-out clothes, smiling brightly as if nothing in the world could make us happier.
It was a time when we had so little yet were infinitely happy.
But I destroyed that happiness.
There was a reason.
My grandmother was sick.
I signed an unfair contract to pay for her immediate surgery, but I never told my friends.
Pride that refused pity.
A heart that didn’t want to burden them.
And the belief that only if I left coldly would the band be able to recruit a new vocalist and succeed.
But reality was different.
Someone waited for me, someone resented me, and the band fell apart.
And so our music remained somewhere between memory and nostalgia, and the reason I left the band stopped mattering.
Because it was all over.
I waited for a day when we’d each succeed in our own fields and someday reconcile with a laugh, but that day never came.
Only Lee Do-young stayed foolishly in that place, waiting for us….
But I only found him when a twist of misfortune struck.
Drip—drip—
“Damn it…….”
I wiped away tears that had fallen onto the frame with my sleeve.
But then came that moment.
“Huh?”
There was nothing in the photograph.
I rubbed my eyes countless times, but it was the same.
Was I too drunk?
Or was I just exhausted?
The success I chose over friendship wasn’t exactly sweet, after all.
When I thought of all the schedules I’d had to cancel today crashing back on me like a tsunami, my chest felt heavy.
That’s when a question born from the alcohol surfaced.
What if I had achieved this success back then, with those friends….
Would my chest still feel this heavy?
That thought was apparently the last one before I collapsed into drunken sleep.
* * *
Smack!
“Cha Seo-ha. Is this your bedroom at home?”
I lifted my head as someone hit me, and a middle-aged man was glaring down at me.
Did I fall asleep on set?
And he hits me on the head for that?
That doesn’t make sense.
Is this a hidden camera show?
Then another heavy hand came down, and my drowsiness evaporated instantly.
“Listen here. Even if you’re on the athletic team, you can’t just sleep openly during class. What’s wrong with you?”
“…Class? Me?”
It felt like forever since I’d graduated from high school—what class was he talking about?
“Come on, wake up properly.”
The man playing teacher sighed deeply and returned to the podium.
I looked around wondering if this was some kind of concept variety show, but I saw neither cameras nor staff anywhere.
Moreover, a strange sense of déjà vu emanated from inside the classroom.
All high schools might look the same, but this one was far too similar to the one I’d attended.
As I sat blinking in confusion, someone beside me tapped my shoulder and whispered softly.
“Hey. Still half-asleep?”
“Heo Jun-sung?”
“What?”
“Why are you…… so young?”
“You’re definitely not awake yet. You’re completely out of it.”
Was this a dream?
The moment a familiar back of a head came into view, I shot up from my seat.
Lee Do-young.
The guy who was definitely dead was sitting right there in the classroom.
Thoughts too absurd to put into words were swirling around when the teacher suddenly shouted.
“Cha Seo-ha! Get out into the hallway! Go splash some water on your face and come back, you punk!”
The quiet hallway was actually a good place to collect my thoughts.
Listening to the faint voice of the teacher continuing the lesson, I pulled out my smartphone.
2017.
I stared blankly at the year displayed on my phone, then slapped my cheek hard.
It hurts.
“This isn’t a dream.”
I had to accept it.
For whatever reason, the year wasn’t 2028—it was 2017.
I’d come back to the past by a full eleven years.
Through the chaos in my head, one clear thought pierced through.
I had to live a different life.
I had to do something I could never dare even think of without the aid of alcohol.
Which meant…….
I had to form a band.
With my friends, one more time.
* * *
Idol life was good, but I could never forget the intensity of the band—that powerful experience I’d first tasted in those early days.
The way multiple real instruments weaved together to create one song, moving countless hearts—that experience was what made me feel alive for the first time.
In this life, I absolutely had to form a band.
Of course, there was one thing that came to mind even before that precious thought….
The moment class ended, I rushed out and retraced my memories. Somewhere in this alley, there had to be the old house I’d lived in.
The faster I recognized the familiar streets, the faster my steps became.
If coming to the past was real, then the person I most wanted to see was already decided.
Thump-thump.
My heart raced at the thought of seeing that person again.
As I stepped through the familiar front gate, an old door, half-open because of the summer heat, caught my eye.
Through the crack, I could see the familiar figure of someone enjoying the breeze from an electric fan.
“Grandmother!”
I nearly kicked off my sneakers and ran to embrace her.
“Oh, my little pup, you’re home?”
The most precious person in the world to me.
More a parent than the parents who abandoned me and ran away.
My grandmother seemed taken aback by my unusual display of affection, then began gently stroking my back.
Three years ago, her illness had relapsed, she was hospitalized, and ultimately she passed away last year.
But not now.
As I buried my face in her shoulder, the familiar, comforting scent washed over me.
“What’s wrong with you, my pup? What happened?”
“…Nothing.”
Despite my joy, my voice wavered slightly.
“Did someone bother you? Should this old granny teach them a lesson?”
It was absurd.
At this point in time, I was a Taekwondo athlete on the cusp of the national team.
Who would dare bother me?
I would have laughed it off in the old days, but now I understand.
This is what a parent’s heart feels like.
And I know what it feels like to be a child who has lost that parent.
“Grandmother, let’s go get a health checkup.”
If it was really 2017, there was still time.
No—it was early enough.
If she had annual checkups from now on, they could detect and remove cancer cells early.
“What a waste of money. Don’t you know your granny is healthy?”
“Then I’ll earn a lot of money and pay you back.”
“Now that sounds promising.”
My grandmother probably thought I meant after I graduated high school, but she was wrong.
I was going to make money from the band as quickly as possible.
If money was the only goal, idol work—which I’d succeeded at in my previous life—would be the best choice.
I quit the band with my friends and achieved great success as an idol.
The group activities were successful, but my solo career—that was the real thing.
But I regretted that choice for a very long time.
Popularity, high chart rankings, ever-rising album sales—none of it meant anything.
The fans’ love was overwhelming and something I was grateful for, but precisely because of that, I felt more sorry toward them.
The version of me they loved was just an empty shell.
I had no intention of making the same mistake again.
As I was thinking that, my phone rang loudly.
-Cha Seo-ha, you bastard, where the hell are you!
The caller was my Taekwondo coach.
He sounded furious at my unexplained absence from training.
I spoke to the coach, who showed no sign of calming down, in a respectful tone.
“I’m sorry, but I’m quitting.”
-You, you, you. Are you insane? The tournament is right around the corner.
In my past life, I’d suffered a serious injury at that tournament—a torn anterior cruciate ligament that required surgery.
My athletic career ended, and I quit Taekwondo.
Of course, since I’d come back to the past, I might not get injured this time, but it had been eleven years since I’d quit Taekwondo.
I had no confidence I could do well, and no attachment to it either.
The coach, who had reflexively started nagging, lowered his voice when I made no response.
-What’s going on all of a sudden?
“I apologize.”
-Let’s talk tomorrow. Come to the gymnasium as soon as you get to school. Understand?
After his stern warning, I finally said I understood and hung up.
Right, it wouldn’t be respectful to tell him over the phone. I should tell him in person.
“So my pup is quitting Taekwondo?”
My grandmother asked, looking surprised.
“Grandmother, do you trust me?”
“Of course I do.”
Even though I’d told her I was quitting something I’d done my whole life, she had a face that trusted me.
There was some lingering doubt, but that was natural given her concern for my future.
“I’m really going to become something amazing. With my friends.”
“…You’re not getting involved in some pyramid scheme, are you?”
“What are you talking about?”
I let out an awkward laugh, but thinking about it, it wasn’t entirely something to laugh at.
What if I invested my grandmother’s nest egg in cryptocurrencies or real estate? Wouldn’t I be sitting pretty?
I have knowledge of the future, after all.
“So, Grandmother?”
“What?”
“You said you trust me—would you be interested in making some investments?”
But looking at the intensity in my grandmother’s eyes, I had to take it back.
“Ah, just joking!”
Thinking about it, there was no guarantee that what had gone big in the past would go up again this time.
What if I drained all of Grandmother’s money and everything crashed? Then what?
The future can always change.
It would be better for me to invest with the money I earned.
It definitely wasn’t because I was afraid of the look in my grandmother’s eyes.
* * *
“Let’s chalk yesterday up to stress-induced acting out. From today, rejoin training. You know that missing one day puts you two days behind the competition.”
“I apologize. But my mind is made up.”
The coach looked confused and frustrated, but there was no way I could explain everything to him.
After similar exchanges went back and forth a dozen times, the coach asked.
“Are you serious?”
“I’m serious. More serious than when I started Taekwondo.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“Yes.”
“What are you going to do?”
“That’s… you’ll understand when you see later.”
After a long silence, the coach finally spoke.
“…If you ever want to try again, come back to the gymnasium.”
“Thank you for everything.”
* * *
I’m confident the band will succeed.
I have knowledge from the future, memories of success, and experience in the entertainment industry.
My talent goes without saying, and my friends’ talents and skills were more than sufficient.
If I, the vocalist, hadn’t left, we would have absolutely shone.
Though bands are still a minority in Korea right now, the market won’t ignore good music.
Besides, bands will boom within the next ten years.
But one problem emerged.
A really big problem. A massive hurdle.
How in the world….
‘How did these guys end up forming a band together in the first place?’
I couldn’t figure it out.

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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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