The Music of an Arts High School Genius Must Be Special - Chapter 180



Only Krnovel

Episode 180. Ballerinas Don’t Wear Pointe Shoes (7)

It was an afternoon where the dance and collaboration stage were successfully completed.

How much longer will it take for the heat to subside? It was still muggy as we looked toward September.

While I was killing time on a bench near the boys’ dormitory, Jinseong Sunbae showed up, having returned to his normal human appearance.

“Ah, I think I’ll buy it. Removing makeup is the most annoying thing.”

“I felt a bit burdened earlier, but I feel much better now.”

“Was it that much… … Anyway, today was good, Dohyun.”

The senior I gave a quick high five to sat down next to me.

“I didn’t do much, what? My senior has been struggling since the beginning of the semester.”

“But the improvement was the next level, so I couldn’t help but be thankful that you practiced with me… … I was so grateful that I couldn’t stand it.”

The senior nodded, muttering something unintelligible to himself.

“Oh, that was a bit strange. It’s the first time I’ve seen kids talk so much about music after a show. There were quite a few kids who praised you.”

“It’s not like I’m particularly good at standing out… … . You know that, senior. I just played while letting go of my ego as much as possible.”

“I know you did everything for me. So isn’t that why the kids were talking about the music more than your performance itself?”

In this regard, I was actually a bit confused.

No matter what anyone says, the star of the stage today was senior Jinseong, and I was only a supporter, so the praise for my performance did not sound all that positive.

Since there was only one dancer and the background music was played on a piano, it must have sounded particularly good to the ears.

‘I don’t think it would have been possible to kill the presence of a piano more than that.’

It was a strange, ambivalent feeling that was both good and bad.

“Well, it’s not that I don’t like it. The kids said they liked it because it felt like a collaboration.”

“It feels good to be praised as a collaboration.”

“And I told you, Do-Hyeon, the better you do, the better. I think you’ve really improved a lot. Think about what you played in front of the school gate during the entrance ceremony.”

“Oh, when did we start talking about enemies?”

Time passed quickly as I chatted with my senior, who spoke teasingly, and shared my thoughts on today’s performance.

As the sky gradually grew darker, the senior, who had cleared his throat, suddenly regained his composure and spoke.

“Dohyun, I told you earlier that I prepared a gift.”

“Oh, yes. What kind of gift is it?”

“Look carefully, you’re really surprised.”

What the senior took out with a confident gesture was a cell phone.

YouTube, the training camp performance video was finally uploaded.

“… … This is a gift?”

“Surprise. It’s not even been 2 hours and already has 5,000 views. The response is also really good.”

I didn’t have high expectations to begin with, so it was okay even if the gift was shabby. By the way, it got 5 thousand views in less than 2 hours.

When we hear people say someone has over 100,000 subscribers, it’s easy to lose sight of the scale, but if you think about it, this is a truly enormous number.

The total number of students and faculty at our school is less than 5,000.

“Oh… … Our channel has definitely grown a lot since the entrance ceremony.”

“When are you talking about the enemy?”

It was also quite fun to take my senior’s cell phone and look at the few comments.

The students are really nice to see, they play in the rain like that, it’s amazing, it’s romantic…

The reactions such as people stamping timestamps and saying things like they especially liked this part became good material for reminiscing about those times.

I’ll have to take a proper look later at the dorms, where I’m babbling like an idiot.

“Senior, I got a DM.”

“Who? What did you say?”

“Your ID is ‘h2_ony’… … Is that your girlfriend? You’re really obsessed.”

“Who is that guy? Kim Hee-won, the famous YouTuber.”

My senior snatched my phone away in a hurry. It was actually a lie, it was a message asking if I could talk to him for a moment.

My senior, who had been silently typing on the keyboard, suddenly started shaking his head and exclaiming, “Wow… ”

“What happen?”

“Hey, they come out like this? I really never imagined it. Look.”

The phone screen that caught my eye again was the YouTube comment window I had seen earlier.

One thing that has changed is the addition of a short, bold comment.

[Myeongseong Arts High School (1 minute ago)]

[We also performed in Jeju Island at that time, but we were so sad that we didn’t have a chance to perform on stage with our friends Yerim…! (Our performance video will be uploaded soon!) I’m looking forward to the Myeongseong X Yerim collaboration..^^]

It was a joint project proposal whose true intentions were difficult to understand.

And on top of that, they come to other people’s stores to promote themselves! Are you saying that you left your spirit of partnership in Jeju Island?

Senior Jinseong stared intently at the comment, as if trying to gauge the intention, and then chuckled.

“I’ll pin the comment and stuff it first.”

“It just seems like they’re promoting themselves more. Do you know what their intention is?”

“I don’t know, and you can promote it a little. If we film something together, it’s definitely a win-win for us. We can definitely suck it up. You have to take care of this.”

He looked like a crazy person with a wicked, evil, and deep laugh while saying “Ehhhhh.”

He was a very neat person when he was doing ballet… … .

***

The classroom was noisy after the major practical class ended.

Today was also the day the first test of the first evaluation was conducted.

‘There were no particular problems, and the next test should be easy too… … .’

As I was gathering my thoughts, a group of friends who had been chatting together came up to me and blurted out a few words to me.

“Oh, Kwon Do-hyun! Did you see the video that was uploaded yesterday?”

“I didn’t go out of the dorm that day because of the rain, but if you want to do something fun, call me.”

“Do you do any performances during the festival? I’d like to see it in person.”

The performance video uploaded yesterday had quite a big impact since this morning.

If all the previous videos were secretly filmed somewhere to show off their talents, the training camp was a memory that everyone shared, so the reactions were good.

Moreover, since I wasn’t the only one who did the performance, I hoped that other majors would also show interest.

The more people who know me and my skills, the easier it will be for me to continue my activities, whether it be in an orchestra or a club.

There are many reasons why you should do well at a music concert where everyone is involved.

“Oh, those who are going to improve next week, please come see the teacher for a moment.”

Teacher Choi Je-hoon, who was organizing class materials, called several students, including me, to the front of the desk.

I did something, but it wasn’t anything special. I was given a brief explanation on how to check the submitted song selection and the notes on how to check the review.

Just then, the class bell rang and the children who had been gathered rushed out of the classroom.

Myungwoobin and I, who were standing blankly in the middle of the line, secretly looked at each other and then started walking together.

“Let’s practice one or two more times. There’s only a week left.”

“Oh, I don’t have lessons every day either.”

After exchanging words like that, no one spoke first.

As he walked, he felt that gravity was stronger than usual, and Myung Woo-bin let out a small sigh and said.

“I thought about it, and I guess what you said isn’t entirely wrong.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The music score I did last time, the interpretation… … things like that.”

I was delighted even by the indifferent tone.

Just as I had recently changed my mind about sheet music, I felt like this guy was finally understanding what I was saying.

“There are no rules like harmony for tempo or rhythm. I think that interpretation is how each performer interprets it and plays it with a unified flow.”

“That’s what I’m saying. The more you judge the score yourself, the less obsessive you become and the more your repertoire expands. How great.”

As I explained it as if I was a god, Myung Woo-bin looked down at me with displeasure.

“I get it, but you’re still going too far. In interpretation, in classical music, there’s a limit to what you have to keep to.”

Oh, that’s right.

For someone who studied classical music in the 21st century, this felt very classical.

“If someone were to hear me, they would think I was deliberately looking for strange and new interpretations when playing.”

“That’s not it. You especially like to dismantle existing works and recreate or rearrange them, not just interpret them. I don’t understand that.”

“Sometimes, if there are things you want to express, that’s okay. If you want to play the way you want, you can ignore things like distance and degree.”

“If you want to play it the way you want, do it on your own song. I told you before. If you want to do that, write your own song.”

“If you play Moonlight or Moonlight in broad daylight, can you really capture all the emotion? Of course, the expression and mood have to change. Like adding a tone.”

On the way to the apartment, their mouths did not stop even as they walked mechanically and went down the stairs.

Little by little, the voice became louder.

“There is a perfect score, so why bother putting all your ego into it?”

“What else can’t be contained? Composing and performing are similar. Creating something is the same.”

“What are you making… … . Please, play it a little more normally.”

“No, but is it normal if there are a lot of numbers? Even Paganini and Wagner were abnormal at first.”

“Oh, I was talking to some revolutionary.”

The scary thing is that the more I talk to this guy, the more I start to understand Gyuri-senpai.

I think a senior once said something like, ‘Music can only develop if there are people like me,’ and I almost said something along those lines.

I couldn’t say it out loud because my confidence wasn’t yet sky-high.

“Chief!”

As we walked and chatted, we soon arrived near our class.

Kim Joo-hee, who was talking to Seo Ye-ri at the hallway window, looked at us with a curious look.

“Oh~ What’s up with you two? When did you become so close?”

“We’re not close?”

“What? Why am I friends with someone like this?”

We said the same thing at the same time, looked at each other, and shared a strange look.

“You seem closer because you react at the same time like that… … .”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

Myung Woo-bin said that and went into the classroom first, and I sent a brief signal to Kim Joo-hee that this guy was strange and then immediately followed him.

“Okay, if I keep talking like this, it seems like it’ll never end.”

“Yeah, well. It’s natural for people to have different opinions… … .”

It’s too much of a hassle to follow him around and try to persuade him. Besides, we’re still in the first year of high school. If we bother him, he’s doing well enough, and we’ll just end up confusing him.

But I hope that one day, you will realize that what I said wasn’t completely meaningless…

“hey.”

“huh?”

“As I said before, I don’t completely disagree with your opinion.”

Myung Woo-bin coughed lightly and leaned his back against the locker.

“Don’t think too harshly of me.”

“It’s not that bad. Just a little bit?”

“… … You too, exercise some self-control.”

“I’ve been understanding what you’re saying for a while now. You heard how cleanly and honestly you interpreted the score this time, didn’t you?”

Although his expression remained uncomfortable, the guy nodded in agreement.

“But it’s weird for me to suddenly change my style, and there’s no guarantee that I’ll do well if I do that. I think it’s right for me to play the way my father played.”

In my father’s way… … .

I also remember the conversation I had with Baek Ji-ho yesterday, and I usually don’t want to be the first to bring up this story, but when he threw the food right in front of me, I had no choice but to bite.

I don’t know about anything else, but at least, it was clear that Myung Woo-bin’s playing style right now was not that of pianist Myung Seo-jin.

“Hey, I’m talking about your father.”

“why.”

“He’s not as serious as you think. I don’t know as a parent, but… … not as a pianist.”

“what?”

“I’m not someone who thinks of sheet music as absolutely important like you.”

Myung Woo-bin, who was turning his head here and there as if he had misheard, asked back in an absurd voice.

“Are you serious?”

“I listened to your father’s album a lot too. You know, what I used to do to pass the time before I started playing the piano.”

Even after the opening ceremony, I heard it quite a lot. That’s because I was confused as to whether I was remembering it wrong after seeing Myung Woo-bin’s confident reaction.

The conclusion is that it wasn’t my mistake.

No matter what anyone says, listening and remembering is my specialty.

“… … Here we go again, talking nonsense, tsk.”

Myung Woo-bin simply said that and passed me by, returning to his seat.