Superstar From Age 0 - Chapter 1171



Only Krnovel

0 years old to superstar episode 1171

I felt Choi Dong-hyun’s gaze carefully examining me.

It seemed as if there was a hope that he would ascend safely, along with a little regret.

“How are you feeling now?”

When asked if he felt like his anger was being released, Lee Jae-ha thought about his feelings for a moment.

“Well, I don’t know… … .”

Lee Jae-ha didn’t know what his regret was for staying in this world.

I thought my only friend, the piano, was my obsession, but it turns out it wasn’t.

Concours.

Was that what I was worried about?

Seeing my heart pounding (even though he was dead), it seemed like Choi Dong-hyun’s words were right.

‘but…….’

I don’t have any good memories of the contest.

All I can remember is my father always telling me to win and people glaring at me sharply, and the only good times I had were the few minutes I spent playing the piano on stage.

‘Is the concours really my obsession?’

Many thoughts came and went.

Choi Dong-hyun, who had been quietly watching Lee Jae-ha’s increasingly complicated expression, opened his mouth.

“If it’s not a concours, I guess I’ll have to look for something else. Let’s just go in.”

“……yes.”

Lee Jae-ha nodded at Choi Dong-hyun’s words.

***

Before the contest begins.

The audience seats were quietly bustling with people chatting with their companions.

“You’ll do well. You’ve practiced so much!”

“They said that after this competition is over, they will challenge themselves in international competitions.”

Choi Dong-hyun listened to the story with one ear and let it go out the other, and took a seat in one of the back audience seats. Not the outermost one, but the second row.

The reason he sat in such an ambiguous seat was because of Lee Jae-ha, who was invisible to others. If Choi Dong-hyun sat at the very end, someone who knew it was empty might sit in the seat where Lee Jae-ha was sitting.

‘I may have to step aside when the seats are full.’

Fortunately, the audience was crowded in the front, and rarely left a seat empty, so Choi Dong-hyun, who was sitting in the back, was not noticed.

Choi Dong-hyun, who was looking around at the people, turned his head and looked at Lee Jae-ha, who was sitting next to him. As he entered the concert hall, Lee Jae-ha’s face gradually became more excited and he looked around the concert hall with sparkling eyes.

“Didn’t you participate in contests often?”

“Yes. But it’s been a while since I’ve been here as an audience member. I’ve always played the piano on stage as a participant.”

If he were alive, he would be nervously thinking about the song he would play in the backstage waiting room right now.

Lee Jae-ha found it a bit strange to be sitting in the audience so comfortably.

“Don’t you want to participate in the competition and perform? You practiced hard.”

Choi Dong-hyun recalled Lee Jae-ha diligently preparing for the contest at his client’s house.

Lee Jae-ha, who had prepared for the contest without forgetting it even after his death, must have felt very sorry for him to only watch as an audience member.

“I looked it up and it says you have a high chance of winning.”

It was Choi Dong-hyun who finished the investigation on Lee Jae-ha early.

If I were an ordinary person, it would have taken some time, but since I was a pianist, I was able to find a lot of information with just one search.

Lee Jae-ha’s piano skills were also one of the pieces of information discovered that way.

I thought he was good, but since I am a layman when it comes to music, I didn’t know how good he was. But when I saw the track record that Lee Jae-ha has built up so far, I couldn’t help but be impressed.

Lee Jae-ha looked at the stage at Choi Dong-hyun’s words.

A black grand piano was seen sitting alone on the stage.

“It’s a shame that I can’t play the piano, but I don’t think I regret the competition that much.”

I felt like I knew when I sat down in this seat.

Before entering the competition hall, my heart was racing simply because I was able to hear many people playing the piano in person.

“To get good grades in a competition, you have to play it exactly as written. Without making any mistakes. That way, the judges can judge it. That’s why I played it exactly as written every day.”

Lee Jae-ha spoke with sunken eyes as if recalling a memory.

I had to look at the music scores I had already memorized over and over again, and I had to follow them thoroughly without missing a single note or symbol.

“It’s not that it’s bad. It’s just… … .”

It was just a little, no, a lot, frustrating.

Of course, I only recently realized that the feeling I had at that time was ‘stuffiness’. That is, after I died and became a ghost.

Free from the connection with this world.

Thinking only of oneself.

Only after reaching that state was Lee Jae-ha able to realize his feelings. And for only a few days, he was able to play outside the score.

“Brother, do you know the word ad libitum?”

“no.”

Lee Jae-ha smiled faintly and said to Choi Dong-hyun, who shook his head with a confident expression as if to say, “Do you think I know?”

“It’s my favorite musical term, and it means free. It’s also called improvisation, but it doesn’t really fit with my playing up to now.”

Lee Jae-ha looked at the black grand piano on the stage with sparkling eyes.

I liked the term ‘ad libitum’ ever since I first heard about it, but I never played it that way because of my father’s gaze and my own hesitation.

“But now I think it suits us pretty well.”

Ad libitum.

Freely.

I think this is a phrase that fits quite well with who I am now and my performance.

Lee Jae-ha, who said that with a bright smile, looked really free.

“Now that I think about it, I think I kind of hated the effort I put into getting first place.”

And at that moment, Lee Jae-ha continued speaking.

Someone’s voice was heard nearby.

Choi Dong-hyun and Lee Jae-ha couldn’t help but listen in without realizing it.

“Still, it’s fortunate that Lee Jae-ha didn’t participate this time.”

Because Lee Jae-ha’s name was mentioned.

“Lee Jae-ha, aren’t you participating this time?”

“Oh. I heard you were going to participate last time, but you weren’t on the list. There wasn’t even an article about you.”

“The atmosphere in the waiting room was somehow nice. Lee Jae-ha wasn’t there.”

The two people, who had been in second place for years, were talking about how they might end up in first place this time, and they went down the stairs to their seats.

Lee Jae-ha, who had been quietly listening to the story, smiled bitterly.

“I understand. It can’t be helped.”

There is no need to rank things, and there is no need to be obsessed with those rankings.

Lee Jae-ha also knew that it was necessary to become a professional and make a living by playing the piano. That’s why he persevered and worked hard.

“But that was while he was still alive.”

Now that I was dead, there was no need to think about the future.

So, isn’t it okay to be honest?

“I don’t think competitions are for me.”

Lee Jae-ji speaks lightly, but the emotions contained in his words are not light. They are probably emotions that he has kept hidden for a very long time.

“No, I don’t think it fits very well!”

Choi Dong-hyun looked at Lee Jae-ha, who was pouring out his heart with a much lighter expression.

Contrary to my expectations that I would be happy and relieved after watching the contest that I had been waiting for while practicing hard, it seems that things went in a completely different direction.

‘This isn’t bad either.’

Either way, it was clear that it was a good thing for Lee Jae-ha.

Because of this, Choi Dong-hyun’s mind was also a little at ease. Now, all that was left was for Lee Jae-ha to ascend safely.

And that wasn’t going to be that far away.

“I guess it’s time to start, Dong-hyun hyung.”

As Lee Jae-ha spoke with an excited expression, Choi Dong-hyun also turned his head and looked at the stage where the grand piano was.

The audience darkened and the host came out and explained the competition. He said that they would play one assigned piece and one free piece.

“I’m sure you know the song you’re singing. It’s a song that was played at the client’s family’s house.”

Choi Dong-hyun nodded at Lee Jae-ha’s explanation.

Then, the pianists participating in the competition appeared one after another and played the piano.

The free song was okay, but the assigned song was a bit boring for Choi Dong-hyun, who knew nothing about it. It was because it was exactly the same performance, as if the sound source had just been played.

At the same time, the image of Lee Jae-ha playing the assigned song at the client’s house came to mind. At that time, Lee Jae-ha played the same song over and over again, but I didn’t think it was boring. Maybe it was because the melody changed from time to time.

Only then did I understand what Jaeha Lee meant by free performance a little while ago.

‘Still, I think I know who is good and who is not.’

Of course, it wasn’t because Choi Dong-hyun knew music well that he noticed it, but it was thanks to Lee Jae-ha who would silently express his regret by saying, “Ah… ” every time the pianist on stage made a mistake.

Even when he made a noticeable mistake or a minor mistake that only the judges would notice, Lee Jae-ha flinched and felt sorry as if it was his own mistake. It was so funny that Choi Dong-hyun couldn’t help but laugh softly.

♩♪-♬-

The contest continued.

‘Are you doing well?’

Choi Dong-hyun thought while watching the pianist on stage.

‘I don’t think it’s that great.’

After listening to the same song over and over again, Choi Dong-hyun also briefly developed the ability to make judgments.

Of course, Choi Dong-hyun did not trust his own judgment. After all, he did not know more than Lee Jae-ha.

So that pianist must be good. Because Lee Jae-ha isn’t flinching.

♪, ♪!

‘That’s wrong.’

Anyone can clearly see that it is wrong.

Choi Dong-hyun thought that Lee Jae-ha would feel sorry for the pianist who kept playing while holding back his embarrassment. He would surely flinch and let out a silent exclamation like he had done until now.

however.

There was no movement next to Choi Dong-hyun.

It was just quiet.

‘……okay.’

Choi Dong-hyun leaned back against the back of his chair without looking around. He could tell without even looking. The ghostly atmosphere and presence he had felt until now were gone.

‘Did you go…?’

I should at least say hello and leave. What’s so hard about that?

A deep sigh escaped my mouth without me knowing.

The next pianist’s performance was heard.

Even though it was a designated song, Choi Dong-hyun could clearly see that it had a completely different feel from Lee Jae-ha’s performance. For some reason, he felt that from now on, whenever he listened to this song, Lee Jae-ha would come to mind.

‘Come to think of it… … .’

I won’t be able to hear that performance anymore.

If you look for videos of Lee Jae-ha’s performance, you will find them, but they were performances from the ‘past’. They were not Lee Jae-ha’s performances that he could play freely only after he died.

It was a shame that I would not be able to hear that wonderful performance again.

‘I should have at least recorded it.’

Of course, since it was a ghost’s performance, there was some noise and it wasn’t recorded well.

Choi Dong-hyun let out a small sigh and slowly turned his head to look at the seat next to him.

An empty chair appeared. As expected, there was no sign of anyone having sat on it.

Seeing that made me feel even more regretful. It had only been a few days since I had spent time with Jaeha Lee.

‘Goodbye.’

However, Choi Dong-hyun quickly put his regret aside and prayed for Lee Jae-ha’s soul to rest in peace.

If I am reincarnated, I pray that I can be loved and enjoy playing the piano like the client’s family.

Choi Dong-hyun turned his head again and focused on the contest.

Since I came here, I planned to watch it all the way through. It was soon going to be the last pianist’s turn, and I think Jaeha Lee would have wanted that too.

It seemed as if the piano music I heard was praying for Lee Jae-ha’s soul to rest in peace.

Choi Dong-hyun thought that it was an ending that suited Lee Jae-ha very well.

After a while.

After the last pianist finished playing.

“Thank you to everyone who participated in this contest… … .”

As the host announced the end of the contest, applause for all the participants was heard from the audience.

Choi Dong-hyun also clapped along. Clap, clap, clap! A powerful applause could be heard from the side… …from the side?

Whoosh!

And Choi Dong-hyun quickly turned his head.

Wow!

Lee Jae-ha was seen smiling brightly and clapping.

okay.

Jaehae Lee.

Lee Jae-ha, who had ascended, was sitting next to Choi Dong-hyun.