"Hmm…"
Lee Ji-hoon sat at the desk in his room, turning things over in his mind.
It was taking him a while to work through it all, but he was making progress.
"Okay, profile picture — something like this."
He hadn't taken the photo yet, but he had a rough idea of what he wanted.
Something that didn't show his face, but still gave people a sense of who he was.
A full-body shot from behind would probably work best.
Diving in headfirst right now would only slow his growth to a crawl.
He didn't know much about this world, but he at least understood that people wouldn't pay attention to you just because you could sing well and stayed active.
"…"
[56th appearance on Kang Hyeon's Street Karaoke — 17-year-old male high schooler.]
"Ugh, come on."
Ji-hoon cringed.
He was only seventeen on the outside — his mind was anything but — and yet here he was, having to describe himself as a seventeen-year-old male high schooler.
But there was no getting around it. It was one of the few things he could actually use to promote himself right now.
Did he really need to protect his pride over something like this?
'I mean, honestly.'
Back in his Gangnam Nonhyeon-dong days, he'd done all sorts of things for the women at the room salons.
'Figure out the photo first.'
He thought about how to take the profile picture.
No face showing, but still with some kind of feel to it.
Next, he finished setting up his Fakebook account.
It wasn't complete yet, but better to have it ready in advance.
"Alright, now."
Ji-hoon started looking up tutorials on video editing software.
He'd record his singing at a self-recording studio.
Then he'd need to learn how to edit the footage into something decent.
Having spent plenty of time listening to cover songs on NeTube, he had a rough sense of what kinds of compositions people preferred. All that was left was learning how to actually use the tools.
He figured he could pick it up quickly enough from online guides.
'For the songs…'
He was planning to cover ballads and anime songs — Japanese subculture stuff, mostly.
For Korean ballads, it'd be better to go with songs from Korean idol groups or their affiliated artists, ideally ones that could also land well with a Japanese audience.
He'd already put together a rough list.
Cover songs weren't something you could just do freely, either.
You needed the original artist's consent, and even then, most of the revenue had to be shared.
"Hmm…"
There were limits to what he could do as an individual when it came to expanding his options for covers.
Once he built up some recognition, he'd need to look into MCN companies.
"Songs handled like this, and for the videos, roughly this kind of composition."
Ji-hoon sat there sorting through songs and thinking through his video concept.
"Huh?"
He glanced at the time. It was 2:55 in the morning.
"…"
'Well, that's a problem.'
Tomorrow at school was going to be rough.
***
"So, through the policies of Jo Jun, who was Chief State Councillor at the time, the Gwajeon Land Law… hm?"
Chorok High School, first year, class two.
Korean history teacher Choi Tae-won was in the middle of a lesson when a student — Lee Ji-hoon — raised his hand.
"I'm sorry, I'm a bit tired. Would it be alright if I stood in the back for a bit?"
"Oh, sure, sure, go ahead!"
Ji-hoon wore an apologetic expression for interrupting mid-sentence. Choi Tae-won smiled his warm, easygoing smile and waved him on.
"Ahem."
Ji-hoon stood at the back of the room, blinking to keep himself awake as he followed the lesson.
Korean history had a lot of unfamiliar terminology, which made it hard to stay engaged. It wasn't a subject he was bad at, but on a day like today — when he was this tired — it was absolutely brutal.
'Hmm.'
He had to do whatever it took to fight off the drowsiness and actually listen.
Since he'd be spending most of his time outside of school on personal projects, he didn't have a lot of hours left for studying.
So the solution Ji-hoon had settled on was to make the most of every class period.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Nothing."
Ji-hoon shook his head.
A girl tossed her hair back with a prim little flick.
Kang Da-hyeon had drifted over to stand beside him at some point.
She was someone he'd been making a conscious effort to spend time with lately.
He'd been a little worried she might get hassled by the wrong girls, or by upperclassmen.
But why was she standing in the back during class?
"Ha, looks like everyone in class two is really dedicated to their studies."
Choi Tae-won let out a hearty laugh.
He had the kind of warm, rounded face that made you think he was probably good to his wife and kids.
He knew perfectly well that most students found Korean history dull.
But to have not one but two students fighting off sleep just to keep listening — it filled him with a quiet satisfaction.
A small smile crossed Ji-hoon's face.
"Why are you smiling?"
"No reason."
Ji-hoon felt much the same as Choi Tae-won.
A good atmosphere for studying would do him a lot of good too.
And after hearing about Da-hyeon's personal situation, he found himself rooting for her even more.
***
"I see."
"Mm-hm."
Lunchtime had just begun.
Alone with his teacher, Lee Ji-hoon was having a brief consultation with English teacher Choo Min-jeong.
A student scratching the back of his head. A young female teacher pouting with a look of mild disappointment.
Anyone watching could tell they were having a genuine conversation.
"It's a shame, Ji-hoon — you've been working so hard on your English."
"It's fine. I should've put in more effort earlier, honestly."
He hadn't gotten the answer he was hoping for, but Ji-hoon smiled ruefully.
He'd been quietly putting serious work into his English studies, and he'd asked whether a strong score on a standardized English exam could be submitted for the student record-based admissions track — but apparently it couldn't be used for the comprehensive student portfolio track.
"Grades matter, of course, but targeting school activities might also be a good approach — essay competitions, debate tournaments, or joining a reading discussion club."
"Ah…"
Ji-hoon nodded. She was going out of her way to help him. This was technically her lunch break too, and he was eating into her time — he felt a little guilty about that.
"If you're ever interested in the reading discussion club when you move up to second year, feel free to ask me."
"Sorry?"
"Hehe."
Choo Min-jeong pointed to herself.
"I'm the faculty advisor for the reading discussion club. I've been helping out with their activities all along."
"Oh, really?"
He looked genuinely surprised.
Ji-hoon blinked and nodded.
"That's unexpected."
"Hm? What is?"
"Nothing."
Choo Min-jeong tilted her head with a smile.
Ji-hoon smiled back.
'Huh. Wouldn't have guessed.'
He'd always thought of her as more cute and polished than intellectual.
'She's a good person.'
Privately, Ji-hoon had found himself asking English teacher Choo Min-jeong far more questions than his homeroom teacher Ma Jin-suk.
Part of it was that his homeroom teacher tended to be a bit breezy — not the most serious type. Warm, yes, but not exactly passionate.
Choo Min-jeong, on the other hand, was young and threw herself into everything with energy and enthusiasm.
"…"
"Why do you keep smiling?"
"Just because."
Ji-hoon kept looking at her and smiling.
Most guys his age, faced with a teacher this attractive, would either grin stupidly, steal glances while trying to hide their smiles, or act out to get her attention. Ji-hoon was simply at ease.
"It's just… I feel comfortable around you, that's all."
"What?"
'Hm?'
Choo Min-jeong reacted a beat too strongly.
Ji-hoon was caught off guard and fumbled slightly.
"Oh, come on, it's not that big a deal."
"I mean… isn't that a normal thing to say?"
He'd expected her to take it in stride, but she hadn't — and Ji-hoon scratched his head, a little thrown.
"Honestly."
There was something coquettish in her voice and the way she moved, though the young man in front of her didn't seem to notice.
'She's cute.'
Ji-hoon thought this as he watched her glance away.
She was twenty-five — the same age as his younger sister Lee Ji-hyeon from his past life.
He'd see Ji-hyeon's face again someday, but her personality — the way she'd tried to act brave while sitting beside his hospital bed, looking at her older brother with quiet heartbreak — that was something he'd never see again. Or rather, something he was doing everything he could not to see.
He'd left without being able to do anything for her. And so, without quite realizing it, Ji-hoon felt a strange, tender ache toward Choo Min-jeong — the only person in her twenties he actually talked to.
Not that he could properly name what he was feeling.
"Ah, I've taken up too much of your time. Thank you so much."
"Not at all — come ask me anything, whenever you need."
"I will."
The two of them smiled at each other.
At least in the end, Choo Min-jeong had looked less like a woman and more like a teacher.
***
"Cough, cough."
Ji-hoon let out a dry cough.
The recording session had been a real grind.
Not even a proper camera — just the rear camera on his phone.
Getting it to stay in place had taken a bit of fiddling.
He filmed himself in a way that kept his face out of frame but still made it clear he was a fully grown man.
The large hands gripping the microphone came through clearly on camera.
'Keep it natural.'
He wasn't planning to film himself singing live like at a karaoke booth — the idea was to lip-sync over the recorded audio.
"Ahem."
Time was money in this recording studio.
To keep costs down, Ji-hoon had mapped everything out before arriving and aimed to record as many songs as possible in one go.
"Phew…"
The last track — an anime song sung in Japanese — was finally done.
If he hadn't planned everything out in advance, it would've taken four times as long.
"Then I still have to go home and edit the videos…"
How long was that going to take? He felt like closing his eyes for just a moment.
"…"
Ji-hoon shook his head.
He'd been given a second chance at life. What did he have to complain about?
Click.
Ji-hoon, who had made better use of the recording studio than anyone could have, pulled the door shut behind him.
"Oh, right — PE."
A flicker of unease.
The practical exam for second-semester midterms in PE was volleyball.
It wasn't anything as demanding as what professional players did — just receiving and setting — but still…
'I'm not confident about this.'
It wasn't like he'd ever played volleyball before.
Sure, everyone else would probably be at the same level, but Ji-hoon's situation was different.
He thought of himself as someone playing catch-up, and he wanted good marks in every subject. Even if the weight of PE scores in his target admissions track was relatively low.
"…"
[Me: Mom, I'll pick up pizza on the way home.]
Ji-hoon was feeling a little mentally drained, and he wanted to spend some good time with his family over a decent meal.
"Twenty minutes."
The pizza place was about five minutes away, so he'd kill ten-odd minutes somewhere first.
Ji-hoon headed toward the small park near his house.
"Hm?"
The park was nearly empty.
Someone caught his eye.
A figure shooting a basketball at one of the public hoops.
'Pretty good.'
If it had been a guy, he wouldn't have thought twice — but it was a girl.
Tall for a girl, and her form was solid. An athlete, maybe?
'But where have I seen her before?'
"Oh?"
"…Oh?"
She'd noticed him too.
Ji-hoon's mind raced. He recognized her face. Forgetting her name would be rude.
"Park Eun-jin."
"Hm?"
"…"
'Oh no.'
Park Eun-jin laughed, suddenly flustered.
'Idiot.'
Ji-hoon's brow furrowed.
He knew who she was — but she had no idea who he was.