The Dream Busker

It was a spring day when Seoyoon took his guitar to the streets. In the warm sunshine, in an alleyway where people linger, he carefully began to sing. At first, it was just another busking session, but by the end of the song, one by one, the audience began to quietly fall asleep. A couple sitting on the sidewalk, a mother with her child, and even a passing cop. Dumbfounded, Seoyoon stopped playing, and people opened their eyes as if nothing had happened. “The song was so cozy, I fell asleep.” The first time he heard this, he smiled and thanked them, but when it was repeated, he felt uneasy. A few days later, a girl said. “I saw you in my dream. That song... you sang it there, too, didn't you?” She wasn't the only one. Everyone who heard Seo Yoon's song said they had the same dream. A serene lakeside, with a sunset in the background, and Seo Yoon singing a song that seemed to heal. People called the dream a "miracle. “I came to see the dream again today.” “In that dream, my sick mom smiles.” More and more people flocked to Seoyoon's door. But the sweet dream had a shadow. College students who skip lectures, office workers who work day and night, and people who try to stay in their dreams while ignoring their real-life responsibilities. “Your songs ruin people.” The day the phrase “dream addiction” appeared in newspapers and on the news, Seoyoon stopped singing.

That night, he confronted his younger self in his dreams. “Why did you start playing the guitar?” “...because I wanted to comfort people.” “Then why are you running away now?” asked his younger self. The next day, Seoyoon was out on the streets again. This time, she held her guitar as quietly as the first time. “This song is not for dreaming, but for waking up.” The people who fell asleep to his song confronted their wounds in their dreams. Some cried, some walked away. And finally, those who woke up looked at Seoyoon and clapped quietly. After that, Seo Yoon's songs no longer lulled people to sleep. But everyone knew that his songs were still there, quietly hugging them deep inside. “The real comfort is not to make you forget, but to make you face it.”