Little Pink Starfish

Sound Fact is a podcast that fits the label “B-grade sensibility,” yet it’s been running for a solid five years.

That longevity isn’t just thanks to Bonnie and Ronnie’s musical knowledge, hosting skills, or sharp wit.

Equally important is the fact that they’re incredibly professional.

In five years, Sound Fact has never once missed a scheduled broadcast.

No matter how packed their schedules were, they always managed to get a show out—because that’s what pros do.

But today.

Sound Fact didn’t stick to their regular schedule.

Though, it wasn’t a no-show.

In fact, it was quite the opposite.

Without warning, a surprise episode went live.

-WHAT?

-I thought my heart dropped. I saw the podcast notification and was convinced I had the date wrong!

-Same here. I had to check the calendar five times to make sure my vacation wasn’t already over.

It was the kind of thing that would make listeners freak out, but Bonnie and Ronnie soon explained the situation.

The summary was simple:

They were doing a special episode about QG, the guy who had turned their show upside down just two days earlier and then vanished.

But it wasn’t going to be part of the regular schedule.

They didn’t want to break the format they’d maintained for five years.

So instead, they were doing a shorter, specially scheduled episode.

-QG!QG!QG!QG!QG!

-He actually made Bonnie and Ronnie work overtime.

The response was explosive.

Everyone who tuned in the moment the broadcast started were hardcore Sound Fact fans.

And of course they welcomed the surprise episode with open arms.

But that wasn’t all.

[Oh, and this is being streamed live on YouTube too, so if anyone wants visuals, you can head over.]

[This isn’t just because QG’s in it. We’ve been debating whether to start livestreaming anyway.]

[Special episodes are a great place to test that out.]

[You’ve got one minute. If you want YouTube, go now.]

[Hand over your data.]

Those who wanted to see the visuals headed to YouTube. Those more comfortable with just audio stayed.

Exactly one minute passed—and the show began.

[No need for a fancy opening.]

[Judging by the views on the wanted-poster video, you all know what’s going on.]

[Yeah. We put out a bounty—and the bounty hunter showed up.]

[The problem is…]

[Dammit. QG claimed the reward for himself.]

[Nobody knows you better than you.]

[Come on in. The man who sold his soul for $3,000.]

QG entered.

[HOLA.]

He opened with his usual Spanish greeting, and Bonnie and Ronnie grimaced.

In hindsight, QG had been baiting them the whole time, and they’d taken it hook, line, and sinker.

[Dammit. Everyone was shocked you were Asian—but I’m more shocked you have no ties to Spain. Where the hell did you learn Spanish?]

[I’m a Real Madrid fan.]

[So you learned Spanish because of that?]

[It’s always been a dream of mine to see a game in person. I studied hard for it.]

[Fucking liar. I don’t believe you.]

[No swearing allowed. If I hear swearing, I’m running out of the studio.]

[WHY?!]

[Hey, I’m a K-pop star. My fans hate swearing.]

That bombshell set the chat ablaze.

Some listeners already knew QG’s identity, but most still didn’t.

Sure, the YouTube channel had confirmed he was Asian—but beyond that, many hadn’t looked further.

People tend to be more passive than you’d expect when consuming content.

[Hey, QG. Don’t get ahead of yourself. What’s with spilling everything already? Dammit.]

[Dammit is a swear word.]

[How is that a swear word?]

[If you can’t say it to your parents, it’s a swear.]

[I do say it.]

[What are you, a Skywalker?]

Bonnie and Ronnie chuckled dryly at QG’s reply.

[That’s impressive, you know. That kind of joke isn’t easy for foreigners.]

[I watch a lot of American dramas.]

QG handled the conversation smoothly, and finally, he was asked to introduce himself.

Meanwhile, more and more listeners were leaving the podcast and heading to YouTube.

They had originally tuned in out of habit, but the conversation made them want to see what was going on.

Especially now that QG had dropped the shocking claim of being a K-pop star.

For Sound Fact, this was a very welcome development.

Not just because YouTube streaming is more profitable.

They’d been wanting to expand beyond podcasting for a while, but lacked the confidence to make the leap.

If things went wrong, they risked losing listeners on both platforms.

But with QG as their breakout guest, the transition was going smoother than anyone hoped.

Finally, QG introduced himself.

[My name is Han Sion. My stage name, spelled the same, is ZION.]

[But more than ZION, I identify as the leader of a K-pop group called Sedalbaekil. I know the name’s tricky, so you can call us SBI or Sedar.]

[What people might know about our group is our appearance on the Color Show. I performed a song I wrote there, and we released an album called The First Day with tracks from Billboard legends.]

[Yep. Someone in the chat said it. We were mentioned recently in an HBO documentary. I’m the friend of Chris Edwards mentioned in it.]

[Maybe some of you know me from the beef between Donald Magus and Yngwie Gage.]

QG—now introducing himself as ZION—spoke casually about his background.

His tone was light.

But to anyone in the entertainment industry, it was a masterclass in self-presentation.

He omitted every detail people weren’t currently curious about—or rather, that they weren’t curious about yet.

Nothing about how he debuted in Korea, or why he became a singer.

Instead, he dropped casual connections to things Sound Fact listeners might recognize.

And he left out how.

No explanation of how a K-pop group ended up on the Color Show.

No explanation of how he worked with legends like Donald Magus, Jankos Greenwood, or Eric Scott.

No explanation of how The First Day sold hundreds of thousands in the U.S., or how STAGE is approaching 2 million in Korea.

Most listeners assumed it was because he was a longtime K-pop superstar.

[Actually, we debuted just over a year ago. Oh, and it was through a reality show. So that’s my debut benchmark.]

Yeah… not quite.

By skipping details they assumed were obvious, he made people desperate to know more.

That’s how curiosity works.

People crave answers to questions they came up with, not ones you shove in front of them.

But Zion didn’t explain anything further.

[Why? Isn’t the answer obvious? I make good music.]

So ended what seemed to be a self-congratulatory intro.

But in reality, it was a strategic move to pique curiosity.

Ronnie shrugged.

[Disgusting, right? Same here.]

[So we’ve decided—we’re just gonna listen to this jerk’s music for a bit.]

[Bonnie and I sometimes break down a whole album, right? We’ll do that here—starting from the reality show and leading up to his latest album.]

[We can’t play it all.]

[Turns out this lunatic released nearly 30 songs in one year.]

[So we had him recommend a list. We haven’t even heard most of it yet.]

[Let’s dive in.]

The first song that played was the first piece Han Sion ever shared in this life.

A Chicago blues rendition of Tony Bright, originally released by Melisma in 1943.

Yep.

The song he performed during Coming Up Next.

Bonnie and Ronnie’s eyes widened.

He had sung this on the finale stage of a K-pop idol reality show.

Naturally, they expected K-pop or Billboard-style pop.

But this was delta blues, reinterpreted as Chicago blues.

Well—more like modern electronic blues, but still.

It was captivating.

And there was an element of coincidence here.

When he returned to this life, Han Sion was culturally 100% American.

He had memories of working in K-pop, but those were from over a century ago.

He remembered them intellectually, not emotionally.

So he sang the kind of music he liked.

And while his raw skill carried him to victory, it wasn’t exactly a fitting song choice.

Early on, viewers even questioned why he wanted to be a K-pop idol.

But for Sound Fact listeners, that just made him more fascinating.

[Wasn’t this a K-pop audition show?]

[Yup.]

[They let you pass with this song?]

[The producers were pros. Genre didn’t matter—skill did.]

[Impressive. Honestly, this show sounds fairer than American Idol. Can’t say for sure this would’ve made it there.]

Han Sion didn’t mean for this to happen, but that first song ensured listener retention.

If anything, it sparked even more excitement.

The next tracks were Under the Streetlight (progressive rock) and Resume (bedroom pop).

They only played verse and chorus samples, since they’d been aired on previous episodes.

[Wow. These two polar-opposite songs came from the same reality show?]

[Nah. Resume was his first single after the show. It’s also on their debut album.]

Then came a K-pop struggle anthem.

Sound Fact’s audience was unfamiliar with K-pop—but the track fit right into Zion’s discography.

If K-pop weren’t appealing, it wouldn’t have exploded in the U.S. during the pandemic rush.

The review continued with State of Mind and Summer Cream, wrapping up the first album’s highlights.

[That’s album one. There’s actually a lot more on it.]

[How the hell did you end up working with all those legends?]

[I made songs while thinking of them and shared them with Edwards. He was filming the doc at the time.]

[That’s it?]

[I gave them unfinished tracks.]

[Unfinished? Why?]

[I could borrow their inspiration for a moment, but I didn’t feel confident finishing them. Honestly, even one response would’ve been a success.]

[And yet Lucid Bean, Jankos Greenwood, Moscos, Eric Scott, Roots Robbie, Mary Johnson, and Donald Magus all said yes?]

[Yep. I got lucky.]

“Got lucky” doesn’t quite cut it.

Not one or two—but seven legends.

So there was only one conclusion for Sound Fact’s audience.

The guy they were listening to—watching—was a real genius.