The Healing Life of a Music Genius - Chapter 34



Only Krnovel

34 Flow of change

* * *

The music room in the old building of Saebom Elementary School.

“Ugh. Get out of the way. Good thing I brought wet wipes. “I have to clean my desk before I can eat or anything.”

“······.”

“Last time I saw you, you were eating well in this dusty den. I like it too. Cough. Cough. Look at this. It’s dusty. Instead of playing around like that, could you please open the window? “Let’s get some air.”

“······.”

“I’m not kidding. hurry.”

“······ yes. All right.”

I listened obediently to the words of the uninvited guest who came to the music room. I felt like if I stayed still, I would only hear more nagging.

Lee Ha-eun moved diligently.

Wipe down the desk, wipe the chair, and take out the food from the bag one by one.

The two breads I bought and Juicy Cool.

And an unknown object wrapped in foil that looks like Lee Ha-eun bought it.

I found out that it was kimbap.

“Surely you packed it yourself?”

“no. I bought it yesterday at the market during a closing sale. “I’m going to eat today.”

“why?”

“It was very cheap. I couldn’t pass it up because it was half price. “The market is good value for money if you go at night.”

“It’s not that… I was asking why you are here now. “Aren’t you going to eat lunch?”

“······.”

Lee Ha-eun, who was looking at me blankly, pointed a finger at me.

“no way. You’re not under the illusion that you can use this music room to yourself, right? “If that’s the case, I’m very embarrassed.”

“It’s not like that. I did it purely because I was worried. For example···.”

I continued speaking, raising my hand to the top of my head.

“You might be lacking nutrition. “Kimbab alone provides a lot of energy to growing children.”

“Seojin.”

“huh?”

“No one knows that you and I are here now, right?”

“maybe?”

“Then even if someone disappears, no one will know. right?”

“······.”

Lee Ha-eun pointed the wooden chopsticks at me.

“Did you think that if you didn’t use the word ‘key’ directly and just acted on it, I would get away with it?”

“Calm down for now. “Let’s put down our weapons.”

“Try that one more time. Because I really won’t stay still. And I’m just trying to get bigger in middle school. okay?”

“······ Close help. yes. “I understand now.”

“You just need to know. “Let’s eat something.”

“······.”

I’m in danger of losing half of my lunch time. That’s why I tried complaining, but somehow it didn’t work for Lee Ha-eun.

also···. The world was wide, and Saebom Elementary School was also wide.

Lee Ha-eun ate her kimbap while munching on it. I also ate bread. Normally, I would have ate all the bread while playing the piano. However, the atmosphere was not right for that right now.

Because the wooden chopsticks were still in Lee Ha-eun’s hand.

By the time I finished eating two breads and Juicy Cool, Lee Ha-eun pushed half a row of gimbap on the desk towards me.

“Would you like to eat it?”

“you?”

“I’m already full. “I guess it’s because I ate a lot for breakfast.”

“What did you eat for breakfast?”

“Cereal and fruit.”

“But the ship… “Call me?”

“huh.”

Is your mouth a bit short?

After all, there was a reason for being short.

“If you don’t like it, don’t.”

“wait for a sec.”

“why.”

“too···. I was just so thankful that I couldn’t think of anything to say for a moment. Ha-eun, you were a really good kid.”

“Did my rating go up just because of half a bowl of kimbap?”

“Anyway, good things are good things. And there is no bad person among those who willingly give food.”

“······.”

Lee Ha-eun looks at me with a puzzled expression.

I quietly took the wooden chopsticks that Lee Ha-eun was holding. How much kimbap is this? The last time I went on a picnic was in the spring of the first semester of 6th grade… It was my first kimbap in 4 years.

With my mouth watering, I grabbed my chopsticks and grabbed the bright object of pickled radish, ham, meat, and vegetables in harmony with the rice.

Sesame seeds were sprinkled on top of the seaweed, which was glossy with sesame oil.

This itself was art.

But then.

“hey!”

“I’m busy. “Can’t we just wait a moment and talk?”

“no! That’s not it! Your chopsticks… “You have to catch it on the contrary!”

“what?”

“······.”

Lee Ha-eun and I met eyes in the air. I tried my best to understand what Lee Ha-eun said. But it failed.

Lee Ha-eun was interrupting my intimate time with Kimbap, whom I had met for the first time in four years.

this···. what···.

Is it something like giving something to someone else and then taking it back?

What should I do with chopsticks?

As I was adding more questions to my question, fortunately, Lee Ha-eun explained it through action.

“Chopsticks! inside out! Eat! you idiot! like this! “Turn the part that touched my mouth!”

“Oh~”

I finally understood what Lee Ha-eun said,

Since I was the one who ate dirt on a deserted island, I couldn’t understand the emotions of a 12-year-old girl. I’m quite sensitive to things like this. difficult. difficult.

I put my chopsticks down on the desk and picked up a piece of kimbap with my bare hands.

Yum.

“Is this okay?”

“······.”

“Don’t look at me like you’re a savage. “Once it goes into the stomach, it’s all the same.”

“By the way, you didn’t even wash your hands.”

“It’s not. “I just used a wet tissue…”

“I kept watching. You just opened the window here. “You didn’t even touch the wet tissues.”

“······ oh?”

Lee Ha-eun sighed and handed me a wet tissue. I wiped my hands and said thank you. And I ate half a bowl of kimbap in an instant.

Heavenly taste.

The market-style kimbap was excellent.

When I looked closely, it seemed like my lunch break wasn’t just being taken away by Lee Ha-eun.

If he continues to come here from now on…

‘First of all, half a kimbap will be mine.’

I never knew it would be this good to eat together with someone with a short mouth.

I had to listen to Lee Ha-eun’s nagging from time to time. To be picky. In the end, the music room was cleaned up. I wasn’t able to clean everything, but at this rate, it seemed like the classroom would be tidy within a week.

Only then was I able to sit down at the piano.

“Is there a song you want to hear? “Would you like to play something in return for the kimbap?”

Lee Ha-eun’s eyes immediately brightened, unlike before. Anyway. He was also a consummate musician.

Lee Ha-eun touched her chin and answered.

“First of all, the song you played yesterday. “I couldn’t hear you properly because I was in the hallway.”

“That’s a song I played roughly on the piano. Now I have a completed WAV file. Would you rather listen to the original song on your smartphone?”

“no. “I’m going to listen to it on the piano.”

“Even though there is an original song?”

“huh. “Because I liked the piano piece yesterday.”

One preference is certain.

I briefly recalled the score ⌜TEST⌟ in my head and then placed my hands on the keyboard. And started playing. However, Lee Ha-eun was not satisfied with this.

“What about the song? You sang a song yesterday too. Why don’t you do it now?”

“you···. How long have you been hiding in the hallway? And it doesn’t make sense to even sing a song.”

I said, repeating the last word of the first verse of ⌜TEST⌟. I planned to finish the performance once I heard the answer.

Lee Ha-eun snapped her fingers as if she suddenly had a good idea.

“Then I’ll buy you a sandwich tomorrow. How about half like today?”

“······.”

what···.

I cleared my throat.

“Actually, this song doesn’t fit my vocal range. As a result, the pitch is a bit high.”

“It seemed like that. “But you sing well?”

“Praising on purpose… “Anyway, you want to hear it, right?”

“huh. “I know very well.”

Lee Ha-eun laughs.

I had no choice but to sing ⌜TEST⌟ to the accompaniment.

Have I ever sung a song while playing the piano?

I thought about it carefully, but it seemed like it wasn’t there.

Because on a deserted island, the only thing I had was a guitar.

And when I returned to Korea, I didn’t really have any opportunities.

As an elementary school student, my voice was still thin.

Thanks to this, my vocal range was higher than when I was on a deserted island.

So I was barely able to sing ⌜TEST⌟.

A little softer.

With emotion.

The lyrics of ⌜TEST⌟ were a story about the conflict between the present me, who is making a new start, and the forgotten past me.

Although I didn’t express it directly, my story was clearly contained in the lyrics.

Lee Ha-eun leaned against the piano and looked at me.

‘Now I see there’s an audience.’

So, when the second verse was over, I asked a question.

Are you willing to sing along?

Like the stage above Hongdae, I hoped for a positive response from the audience.

Lee Ha-eun, who was agitated at first, finally spoke up when I asked her two or three times.

A slightly trembling voice.

And after a while.

“Fuhahaha! Lee Ha-eun! You were tone deaf! “I didn’t know this!”

“no! Please call me once! “But how can you smile so much!”

“ah···. sorry. sorry. Still, it’s fun. right?”

“what···. any···. Phew. But hey! “Did I call you that badly?”

In the end, Lee Ha-eun also burst into laughter.

We played the piano in the music room for a while.

Lee Ha-eun also played me classical songs, and I also played songs I knew.

We asked each other questions and gave each other advice.

Suddenly a thought occurred to me.

Certainly the music…

It’s much more fun to do it with other people than alone.

* * *

A piano academy located in Saebom-dong.

Park Ha-seon, the academy director, was having a busy time these days.

As the second semester began, there were a lot of new students coming in, and because it was the entrance exam season for pre-med and high school students, there were a lot of lessons.

“Whew. “It’s hard.”

Park Ha-sun came out into the hallway and sat down on a chair. It was because I was exhausted because I had just finished taking a lesson for entrance exam students at an arts high school a little while ago.

‘It might be a bit difficult…’

As I have been teaching students for a long time, I can already see the results of my students by this time.

Children who will pass and children who will not pass.

The child who had just taken the lesson looked a little closer to failing.

At times like this, my heart ached.

‘Everyone works hard, but the results don’t follow…’

These days, I have been wondering whether I am lacking in ability as a teacher.

On the other hand, there were also children who acted on their own.

A representative example is Han Seo-jin.

Seojin had a richer sense of pitch than the students just preparing for an arts high school.

Technically it was also excellent. Based on the song I am currently practicing for the entrance exam to Ye Middle School, I don’t think there is any child who can play it better than Seojin.

‘if···. ‘What if Seojin plays a song that is more difficult than the entrance exam song?’

Honestly, I was curious.

However, that was not something to do during the entrance exam preparation season.

Seojin’s age of 12 was actually an age where there was no need to play songs more difficult than entrance exam songs.

Besides, isn’t he a kid who is good at practicing on his own?

It was for these reasons that I recently adjusted my piano academy lesson time to three times a week.

however.

Recently, another child appeared that caught my eye.

A child who had been so discouraged all this time.

The child who was so intimidated and unable to do anything has changed a little.

Park Ha-sun listened to the piano performance in the hallway for a while, then went to practice room number 7 and knocked. The playing stops immediately. Soon the door opened wide.

“uh? Was it my turn already?”

“no. I like it when I listen to it. “Can I come in and listen for a moment?”

Lee Ha-eun, who tilted her head slightly, quickly answered that she understood.

The piece Lee Ha-eun was practicing was Chopin.

It was definitely just spinning around in the same place until last week, but it changed drastically in a day or two.

‘Seojin’s change was surprising, but this again…’

It seemed like the ‘genius Lee Ha-eun’, who swept the national competition until a year ago, had returned.

A flowing performance.

Confident expressions.

Originally, I was a child who was obsessed with folktales, but now I felt like I could look beyond that.

Park Ha-sun was so happy inside.

Lee Ha-eun took a deep breath after finishing playing Chopin Waltz No. 14.

Park Ha-sun asked her questions at the right time.

“Has anything happened these days? I feel like things have changed significantly. Of course, in a good way. “I feel more confident in my playing.”

Lee Ha-eun was lost in thought for a moment.

Then he smiled and continued talking.

“After I found out about it, I thought it was a bit interesting.”

“fun? what?”

“Music. I finally found out about that. “Music is fun.”

* * *

Korea’s mid-sized record label ⌜Wolgwang⌟.

It started as a record label specializing in classical music.

However, its form gradually changed with the times.

The public no longer listened to classical music.

There were no more listeners who would sit in front of the speakers for an hour of boredom.

Of course, there were still fans who passionately loved classic music.

But they didn’t even look at anyone who wasn’t a famous musician.

Even though someone Kim and someone Park released an album in Korea, they don’t listen to it.

I only listen to the music of performers who have won prizes in famous competitions around the world or who have collaborated with famous musicians around the world.

And the classical musician who became so famous is no longer under contract with ⌜Moonlight⌟.

They continued to sign only with classical music labels with over 100 years of history in the United States, Japan, and Germany.

Thanks to this, ⌜Moonlight⌟’s classic declined.

Now, the only thing left in ⌜Moonlight⌟ was pop music.

“life···.”

“Chief. Lunch time is over, but I don’t think you should keep idling around. “People around me are paying attention.”

“Who on my team will notice that I do whatever I want?”

“uh···. “The people on the next team over there?”

Manager Park Hoon, who belongs to ⌜Moonlight⌟’s A&R Team 1, quickly turned his head. And he immediately puts it back to its original state.

“Leave it alone. After all, I’m a heretic from ⌜Moonlight⌟. “What does it matter to them whether they roll around or not?”

“When the manager calls me Ethan, it makes me sound like I’m Beethoven. How about Lupine, the monthly salary of ⌜Moonlight⌟? Moonlight Lupine. “This sounds better.”

“Mr. Charina.”

“yes.”

“It’s nice to be able to say everything you want to say in front of your boss without even praying.”

“But didn’t you say that was my strength?”

“okay.”

“thank you.”

“hey. But we have nothing to do anyway. We’re just an A&R team. If we select an artist, another team will steal it, and if we train too hard, another team will steal it. So what are you going to do? uh?”

A team that is somehow involved in company politics.

Assistant Manager Cha also looked around as if he was well aware of this and continued talking.

“By the way, Chief.”

“uh.”

“Did you know that our company is running a contest these days?”

“I know. You stole all the TOs from another team, right? This is a contest where each team selects 4 to 5 people and the higher-ups later decide on the grand prize. But we’re out of the picture, right? There are 0 TOs assigned to team 1. 0 people.”

Deputy Charina.

She muffled her voice as she moved closer to Manager Park Hoon’s desk.

“What if I got a spot?”

“seat? What are you talking about?”

“There is a PD who we lost to Team 3 last time. “I played around with it and it worked.”

“······ Clink?”

“yes. “Yesterday, I went to Team 3’s dinner party alone and made a fuss, and Team 3 told me to eat this and leave.”

“······.”

“I did well, right?”

‘This guy isn’t normal either. however···.’

Park Hoon thought for a moment.

It is a contest in which the company puts its name forward.

If you are good at picking out the good and the good from the applicants, you may have a chance at reviving your job.

In principle, the artist selected by the team is responsible for that team until the end.

Artists are often taken away from other teams for one reason or another, but they won’t be able to use tricks in contests like this.

Manager Park Hoon holds the title of manager for 10,000 years because he was attached to the ‘Classic Team’ for a long time in the past.

However, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know about popular music.

Manager Park Hoon was a person with considerable knowledge of popular music, enough to write in the popular music column of ⌜Monthly Moonlight⌟ until recently.

I even listen to idol music without exception.

Indie and band music too.

If you poke Park Hoon, he would automatically say ‘Haaaa~ Hi boy.’

He finished the calculation quickly.

“so. We ate together. “How many applicants are there for the contest?”

“As of this morning, 971 people had applied.”

“Which applicants have been confirmed to receive the award?”

“Based on the rumors I’ve heard, I think there are roughly around 10 people. “The other team snatched it first.”

“then···. Other teams must be eagerly listening to the music sent by applicants, right?”

“I guess so.”

“Agent Cha. “I think this is our last chance, right?”

“Seeing as there are only the manager, me, and three interns left on our team, I think this is our last chance.”

Manager Park Hoon jumped up from his chair for the first time in a long time.

“Then I’ll have to run for the first time in a while! Let’s try to find the gem that the other team’s idiots couldn’t find! “Good job on the car!”

and.

The next day at 2 am.

Park Hoon, who was looking at the computer with wide eyes, smiled.

A song that no one paid attention to because an email was received with the strange title ⌜TEST⌟.

Because we found a pretty interesting applicant.