He’s been playing for hours trying get into the rhythm again. Forcing himself to play though his fingers were numb and his stomach was grumbling in protest.
Still not enough…
He once heard that instruments were temperamental. That given enough time, their music would be yours but neglect them once, then there’s a chance you’ll lose their sound forever.
I haven’t stopped playing that long, have I?
In fact, he knew for a fact that he has been neglecting his guitar playing though this didn’t make much sense since he did in fact work in the music industry.
USED to work in the music industry, he reminded himself rather forcefully.
NO, don’t think about that. Don’t think about Mia. Don’t think about ANYTHING… and just play.
And he did. He played his guitar for hours on end trying to recover lost time. Trying to get back his musician’s calluses on his fingers. Trying to drown out the silence in his grandfather’s house. But most of all, trying to forget the past.
*****
Jun Park used to be part of the up and coming idol group called ‘Cloud 9’ though despite the name, only consisted of 4 members. The reason why he couldn’t keep up with his guitar playing was that his group had no need for instruments on stage as they were forced to practice flashy choreography instead.
He didn’t mind it much though as it was paying off. As his group kept rising in popularity, the members’ names started popping up in various search engines more and more.
“Did you see Cloud 9’s Lee Hoon and the awesome backflip he did?”
Lee Hoon was recognized as Cloud 9’s dance master known for his acrobatics and eye-catching dance solos.
“How about Yoo Haejin’s incredibly sweet voice?”
Yoo Haejin was the group’s lead vocalist usually in charge of the chorus for most of their songs.
“Kyaaaaaaa! I couldn’t keep my eyes off Chae Taehyun’s face”
And finally Chae Taehyun who was the group’s so-called visuals.
Jun’s name though, didn’t pop out all too often and when it did, was almost always as an afterthought. His dancing was okay, his looks were just a little above average, he could hit the occasional high note but he was, without a doubt, the most talented when it came to playing the guitar or composing songs. It was known by the group and himself, after all, that his songs were the reason they were able to become this popular so no one had complaints.
Though it was a fact that Jun was the least popular, he was still happy as group’s music composer. As the group’s songs rose in popularity, so did his royalties increase.
Though being the music composer, he still had scant time left for practicing his guitar since the music that the company in charge of Cloud 9 wanted was mostly along the genres of electronica and EDM (Electronic Dance music) along with a few upbeat pop songs. He was fortunate enough to be able to sneak a couple of ballads and slow songs into their albums, but they generally didn’t do too well on the music charts. Though he didn’t agree with the group’s music direction, Jun was content.
Of course that was until his dating scandal with fellow idol Mia was made public. Suddenly all everyone could talk about was him and his group, and not in a good way.
Mia was the current trending female idol and his childhood friend. They went to same company to train together as kids, both dreaming of being idols one day. Though he inevitably got cut he quickly got into a different company and debuted a year slower than Mia.
They kept in contact no matter how popular Mia got and as soon as Cloud 9 was gaining traction in the industry, he confessed. Her feelings agreed with his and soon they were dating, though secretly.
That was one of the happiest times of Jun’s life where everything seemed to be going smoothly. One of his recent slow love ballads even got incredibly popular and he attested this fact to his new girlfriend Mia.
Though both busy, both lovebirds still found time for secret car dates where they would just drive around in a heavily tinted car, enjoying the view and each other’s company. On one of these dates, though, Jun got impatient and begged Mia to come with him for a walk along a deserted stretch of beach.
The sun was bright and hot, the sky was a bright shade of blue and the breeze was light and cool on their skin. The day was perfect. Perfect for a short walk. Perfect for some fun and games in the sea. Perfect for a light snuggle under the nearby trees. But also perfect for a chance photograph.
As soon as the photograph went public, all hell broke loose. The media presented their innocent date in the worst light possible. The public went mad trying to find information and continually bashing on the two idols. Mostly on him though since a lot of Mia’s fanboys believed that she would remain forever pure where everything was a twisted plan concocted by me.
I immediately tried getting in touch with Mia, worried that she would be upset by all of the commotion but I couldn’t get through.
My company kept harassing me on whether or not it was true that Mia and I were dating. The photo made it irrefutable and worried about everything happening, I panicked and said it was true. I sent Mia a message telling her I would go public with our relationship but I never got a reply.
As soon as I announced our relationship, I thought people would be more understanding but I underestimated Mia’s popularity. The once chaotic public began to focus their entire hatred onto me. Sending me death threats and ultimatums.
“DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE”
“You don’t deserve Mia! She’s the people’s goddess!”
“Just go kill yourself you bastard!”
“Hey how did you manipulate our goddess into holding your nasty hand?”
“You obviously blackmailed her into it you rat!”
“If you don’t stop dating her, I’ll stop supporting Cloud 9!”
For the first time in my life, I was glad that I had no family left otherwise they too would have probably been dragged into this.
I thought I could live with all the hate as long as I was with Mia so I kept a stoic face and faced the haters head on. I was waiting for Mia’s confirmation regarding our relationship wherein we can then brave this storm together.
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However, contrary to my expectations, Mia and her company suddenly sent out an announcement.
“To my fans,
I’m sorry for worrying you over this recent scandal but I tell you now, Jun and I are merely friends. I respected him as a friend and I feel betrayed that he would use me as a publicity stunt to further his and his group’s popularity. I wish nothing but the best for him but the truth of it is, I am not or ever was in a relationship with Jun Park or anyone.
The picture of us holding hands was merely a coincidence where he was helping me stand up after I tripped. Please do not misunderstand. To everyone who believed in me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Please continue to support and love me and my group Black Rose.
Sincerely,
Mia Song”
I couldn’t help but be stunned.
Did Mia really write this? This is her handwriting but….
I was devastated. No matter how hard I tried to get in touch with her, there was no reply. Meanwhile, both the media and the public suddenly went mad and demanded my release from the group. My company readily agreed with them no matter what I said to the contrary.
I was then summarily and coldly kicked out of the group. The other members blamed me for their popularity declining even though my songs were the reason we got this popular in the first place. I lost all hope. I sold the apartment I recently bought since both the public and media knew about it. I couldn’t take all the hate mail coming through or the occasional fans who came to beat down on my door.
I packed everything and moved into my grandfather’s old house in the remote suburbs where no one knew me. I fixed the old place up as much as I can seeing as it was the only thing my grandfather left me when he died 5 years ago.
I wish he was here with me now.
He consoled himself with that thought.
After the scandal died down, the media and the public went on as if nothing happened. As if no one’s life was forever changed. As if he never existed at all.
Meanwhile, Mia and Black Rose kept on getting even more popular after the scandal. They released their new album and quickly got no. 1 on various music charts.
The only bright thing that came out of this whole thing was the group that betrayed him, Cloud 9, couldn’t make do without their composer. The songs they tried to release were quickly shut down by the public. It wasn’t solely because of his recent scandal, but also because the songs themselves were incredibly bland.
Even with this though, Jun could only keep playing his guitar to try and keep the encroaching feelings of anger, pain and sadness away.
*****
Morning..?
As the sun hit his face, he slowly woke up. He quickly turned his head away from the sunlight and caught sight of his guitar still beside him.
I must’ve dozed off while playing.
He continued to just lay down, too depressed to finish unpacking his things. He couldn’t keep this up though since his bladder was full to bursting.
He quickly relieved himself and nearly tripped on a box he hasn’t put away yet.
There he found a Virtual reality headgear. He completely forgot that before the whole scandal, he bought one of these to play recently released VRMMORPG Pathways. As the name suggests, the game boasted various pathways to glory and included and sentient AI who was in charge of keeping the game up to date, balanced and constantly evolving.
The game has been out for nearly a year already. I can’t believe how long ago that was.
Virtual reality was the new innovative technology currently sweeping all technological aspects in the world. From games to medical advancements, and even military training.
Pathways was the first and foremost VRMMORPG to be released by the company which developed the technology, Calico. The game was revolutionary in that the world inside the game boasted 100% immersion and 99% realism.
Jun put the headgear away for now and went for a jog. He’s made a habit to jog in the morning ever since moving here as the clean air in this rural location helped calm him. As soon as he got back, he took a shower and ate a late breakfast. Without anything to do and with his fingers still recovering from playing too much, Jun decided to test out Pathways.
He was paying for the monthly subscription of 300,000 won using his monthly royalties from his songs, though the amount he was getting from it was steadily decreasing as people were slowly getting tired of his songs in addition to his group’s slow fade into obscurity.
Even with that though, we was able to save up 500,000,000 won (about $500,000) due to his thrifty nature at the height of his group’s popularity. Enough to live comfortably in the countryside for quite a few years. Though Jun didn’t intend to just laze about, he still needed time to recover emotionally.
He setup the headgear on his bed and quickly put it on. Though he was going into the game mostly blind, he couldn’t help but hear his heart pound in excitement as the silent whirring of the machine hinted at what was to come.
Connect to Pathways?
YES/NO
An uncharacteristically cheerful “Yes” comes out from the dejected looking young man upon the bed. His adventure into the land of Poroln begins.
Author's Note:
Hope you guys enjoyed my first attempt at a fanfic. Next chapter will be more focused on the game mechanics, character creation and Jun's first steps into Poroln. Feel free to leave a comment or critique. Hopefully I can update this fornightly and I'll try and keep at it and here's hoping the story comes out well. Cheers!