Chapter 84: 84

The moment the audience’s curiosity reached its peak, their hearts pounding because of the background music, Gam Sung-Joo exclaimed, “The contestant who will enter round two is…!!” With everyone’s gaze focused on the screen, ‘Doryeong Who Dreams of Becoming A Hanryang’s’ face appeared.

“As expected!”

“Wow~!”

The people who voted for Hanryang Doryeong were delighted, while those who voted for ‘Queen of Lilies’ were disappointed, but they nodded and accepted the outcome.

“53 to 46! ‘Doryeong Who Dreams of Becoming A Hanryang’ won by seven votes and will advance to round two. Hanryang Doryeong, you may go to the waiting room now.”

Woo-Jin was still looking at the screen in disbelief, so Gam Sung-Joo promptly urged him to leave the stage. Hanryang Doryeong was still in a daze as he went down the stage and headed towards the waiting room. A VJ[1] approached him and asked how he felt.

“It feels good.” Woo-Jin finally started getting the hang of the situation to some extent; as soon as he replied curtly while gently fanning himself, the VJ felt a little embarrassed and asked him another question.

“Have you thought of anyone who might be the ‘Queen of Lilies’?”

“Hmm… I can’t reveal whether she’s a senior or junior, right?”

“Yes, you’re not allowed to refer to them using a title that allows people to guess your age.”

“I knew she was Han Ji-Yeon. As soon as I heard her voice for the first time, I knew it was her.” Hanryang Doryeong added that he wasn’t sure why anyone else, apart from Kang Goo-Ra, couldn’t put two and two together and tilted his head to one side as if confused. The ‘Queen of Lilies’ took off her mask after ‘Doryeong Who Dreams of Becoming A Hanryang’ got off the stage and performed a solo act. She was indeed Han Ji-Yeon.

“How did it go?” As soon as Woo-Jin entered the waiting room, Hwang Yi-Young and the other staff member went up to him.

“Why are you already nervous? It’s only the second round.” Woo-Jin sat on the sofa as he snorted. As soon as he shrugged his shoulders proudly, Hwang Yi-Young was all smiles.

“I believe in you! It’s just that the rest were curious.” Woo-Jin took off his mask and exhaled loudly. Hwang Yi-Young went behind him and rubbed his shoulders. She wanted to give him some food, but Woo-jin rejected her, saying he wanted to go on stage on an empty stomach.

His opponent in round two was the ‘Invincible Band-Aid.’ He wore denim overalls, giving off the vibe of a mischievous child, and had two large band-aids on his forehead. He looked adorable. Hanryang Doryeong from the third group of the first round was the first to sing. His song choice for the second round of the competition was ‘You to You’ by Lee Seung-Hwan.

He sang in a low pitch during the parts where he expressed his deep emotions as if talking to himself, then immediately hit the high notes without transitioning to the middle notes when there was a burst of emotions. The high notes were so clean and bright that it felt as though they were directly beating against the listeners’ chests. When the audience listened to Hanryang Doryeong sing, they felt as though sound waves had entered and reverberated throughout their bodies. His performance in the first round was just an appetizer of what was to come.

It was a song with such strong emotions that it would be accurate to describe it as a song with an element of Han[2] in it. The heartbreaking song was full of distant sadness and despair. However, there wasn’t any resentment. Hanryang Doryeong’s song was about a man’s emotions that had his longing buried deep within his heart, as he wished for the happiness of the one who left him. It also talked about his desire to see her happy when they meet again someday. However, the singer seemed to know that that day would never come. Hence, the song about the man’s desire was even more sorrowful and heartbreaking.

When Hanryang Doryeong finished singing the song, the studio was shrouded in silence for a moment. There was no room for hand-clapping or cheers. There was also no need for anyone to intentionally put on any facial expression to show how moved or impressed they were. Instead, the cameras captured the tearful look of the audience and celebrity judges, staring blankly at the stage. They were completely unaware of their crying and looked surprised by the tears dripping down their chins.

Kim Hyung-Chul turned his body and head around and quickly wiped his tears away, but it was caught on camera. Before the audience could compose themselves, Hanryang Doryeong left the stage, and ‘Invincible Band-Aid’ took his place. His song choice was Jo Sung-Mo’s ‘Song of the Wind.’

The Band-Aid used his nasal voice when he sang the high notes; it was soulful and lovely. He wasn’t bad at singing high notes. However, immediately after hearing Hanryang Doryeong’s song, he was very shaken up and lost the ability to control his emotions. After making a couple of mistakes and finishing his song, ‘Invincible Band-Aid’ looked very dispirited.

“The showdown between the contestants in the second group in round two is over.” Judging from the less-than-enthusiastic sound of applause after ‘Invincible Band-Aid’ had finished singing, it was as though the results had already been announced.

“I saw some people cry, but I won’t drop any names. ‘Doryeong Who Dreams of Becoming a Hanryang,’ whose emotions melted the cold winter with warm tears, and ‘Invincible Band-Aid,’ who will heal any wounds! Your choice will determine which of them advances to round three.”

Gam Sung-Joo tried to stall for time while introducing the two contestants during the voting session, but he didn’t need to as the voting quickly ended.

“Voting has ended. The decision has already been made, so we can talk comfortably now.” Kang Goo-Ra grabbed the microphone after hearing Gam Sung-Joo’s light-hearted comment and pointed at Hanryang Doryeong.

“Who exactly are you?”

“I’m Hanryang.” Hanryang Doryeong held the microphone with both hands and gave a clear and simple answer. Kang Goo-Ra looked at him and shook his head with a look of disbelief on his face.

“No, you have another identity!” Kang Goo-Ra added that he was on the verge of tears because he was so emotional for a moment. Hanryang Doryeong looked at him and couldn’t help but sigh. He pulled something out from the hem of his robe. Everybody’s attention was focused on his dubious action.

“Oh, isn’t that a mapae[3]? Gam Sung-Joo reacted dramatically when he saw the item that Hanryang Doryeong presented.

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“His Majesty called for me one night and gave it to me. I just want to quit and become an unemployed hanryang…but there was no point in making an appeal because he won’t even meet me now. And look at this. There’s only one horse. What can I do with just one horse!” Woo-Jin acted according to his own storyline and looked very bitter. People could be heard holding back their laughter everywhere in the studio.

“By the way, isn’t your outfit too fancy for a secret royal inspector?” Kang Goo-Ra narrowed his eyes and questioned him. His original intention was to uncover the identity of the singer, who made his listeners very emotional, but he quickly participated in the act.

As Kang Goo-Ra had pointed out, the face that was drawn on the Hanryang Doryeong’s mask was smiling brightly, but the ornaments on his Gat were made of crystals and jade, so they sparkled beautifully whenever light shone on it. The luxurious ornaments were the main contributing factor that made the boring mask look good. Additionally, the white dopo and deep violet robe that Hwang Yi-Young had worked really hard on were very wide, so whenever he moved, the hem of his clothes would flutter. It was an exquisite sight. Nobody could chastise him for engaging in debauchery wearing that outfit.

“It’s all just a disguise. There’s no reason for a secret royal inspector to dress modestly.” He forcefully opened up his fan and spoke confidently. The audience could no longer hold back their laughter after seeing his mannerisms.

“Hanryang Doryeong! You must be an actor since you’re acting so shamelessly.”

“But you’re a singer! Or at least a musical theater actor… Ah! I think you’re a musical theater actor.” It was impossible for a talented singer like him to be anything other than a singer. Calling him an actor just because he was good at acting out a scenario was ridiculous. Kim Hyung-Chul answered his question and came to a realization on his own. Leaving him be, the other judges spoke to the neglected ‘Invincible Band-Aid’ in the meantime.

“I think he’s definitely an idol—a popular one in his 20s. Hanryang Doreyong feels like someone more mature, while on the other hand, the Band-Aid gives off youthful vibes.”

The judges had already speculated the contestants’ identity in round one, so they were no longer as enthusiastic in round two. Instead, they started speculating more about their age. Regardless of how young Hanryang Doryeong was, most guessed that he was in his mid-30’s. While he had the skills, it was difficult to tap into people’s emotions without years of experience. One of the judges even argued that calling himself a doryeong rather than a seonbi[4] was a move to dupe people into thinking he was a little younger.

“Are you guys going to perform an individual skill this time around too?” Shim Bong-Seon raised her hand and asked, to which Gam Sung-Joo responded, “Of course they are!~” while pointing at ‘Invincible Band-Aid.’ After making some mistakes in round two and becoming dispirited, ‘Invincible Band-Aid’ had now regained some energy and stood in the center of the stage.

He grooved to the music as he did the moonwalk, gradually increasing his speed as he danced. Finally, he finished the dance by spinning on the floor with his knees and lifting his body up in the air with one hand supporting his weight.

“Oh~! Hanryang Doryeong has to dance now too.” Shim Bong-Seon wanted to see them showcase their individual skills solely to see Hanryang Doryeong’s dance again. The ‘Invincible Band-Aid’s’ dance was pretty good, but they had already gotten used to seeing the flashy dance moves of idols thus far. It was enough to simply compliment him and applaud as loud as they could following the script. However, Hanryang Doryeong’s dance was unusual, even though it was a traditional Korean dance; it was new and beautiful.

“I danced for you previously, so I’ll do something different this time.” Hanryang Doryeong stepped forward with a microphone in one hand and a fan in the other and started singing a chang[5]. Today, he was showing what it meant to be a hanryang doryeong.

He sang one of the most popular pansori[6] songs, ‘Ssukdaemeori’[7] from Chunhyangjeon[8] with all his might. Hanryang Doryeong sang Chunhyang’s sad song about her long-lost lover in such a way that made the mood in the studio gloomy and pensive.

“Hang on. Mr. Hanryang Doryeong, aren’t you getting ready for round three? Why are you singing all the high notes here!” Gam Sung-Joo was taken by surprise after hearing the sorrowful high notes flowing out of Hanryang Doryeong and stopped him. He didn’t even realize he had subconsciously called him Mr. Hanryang Doryeong. Even though he hadn’t announced the results yet, his words had already revealed it.

“Now, all that’s left is to announce the contestant who will be heading into round three. Between Hanryang Doryeong and ‘Invincible Band-Aid’…the winner is…!” Even though Woo-Jin had already experienced it once, he was nervous once again. The loud cheers and huge gestures of others were invisible to him.

“The contestant who will be advancing to the third round is Hanryang Doryeong! 87 to 12! He has won by 75 votes!”

Unlike before, as soon as the results were announced, Woo-Jin quickly greeted the audience. And right when Gam Sung-Joo told him to go to the waiting room, he hurriedly got off the stage. He quickly got used to the process because he had already done it once. As soon as he went down the stage, he casually did a V-sign to the VJ who had been following him from the aisle and made a happy remark.

“Can you guess who the ‘Invincible Band-Aid’ is this time again?” The VJ asked the same question as the Hanryang Doryeong could guess the previous singer, Han Ji-Yeon, so easily.

“Ren from Vesta.” Woo-Jin brought up a name that none of the judges had mentioned and was confident of his answer. It was the gratifying result of mastering idols and girl groups’ songs when he was preparing for TheKing of the Masked Singers.

1. Video jockey. ☜

2. Han is a Korean concept that is best described as an internalized feeling of deep sorrow, resentment, grief, regret, and anger. ☜

3. A horse pass that was issued to the officials of the central government of Joseon when they were ordered to make an official trip to regional areas. It was a certificate that permitted the use of government horses. ☜

4. A scholar. ☜

5. A Korean traditional narrative song (ballad). ☜

6. A Korean genre of musical storytelling performed by a singer and a drummer. ☜

7. disheveled hair ☜

8. It’s a book – one of the best-known love stories and folk tales of Korea. It is based on the pansori Chunhyangga, the most famous of the five surviving pansori tales. ☜

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