A Musical Genius Who Plays Memories - Chapter 103

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 103. High Hopes (1)

“It’s in English…?”

As soon as he opened the email, what he saw was a feast of squiggly alphabets.

An ordinary person might have closed the mailbox immediately saying “What is this!”, but Hwang Su-yeol was different.

The years he spent rolling around in foreign countries hadn’t gone anywhere.

He began to slowly read through the email.

Then one name caught his eye.

“Damian…? Holy shit!”

Scarlet Studio, one of America’s top movie studios.

He was the person who created that studio and someone who always ranked high when choosing the world’s most outstanding directors.

Whenever he released a movie, it would easily hit at least ten million viewers in South Korea alone.

Simply put, it meant a big shot had visited Argo.

“…Why would someone like this…?”

Many thoughts crossed his mind.

But soon one thought came to him.

“Wasn’t he retired…?”

Damian had announced his retirement seven years ago and then disappeared.

Occasionally news would come, but it was about him going somewhere to play or helping someone.

There was only useless news.

And such a person suddenly sends an email?

Hwang Su-yeol unconsciously swallowed his saliva.

“…Aha.”

While reading the email, he could understand the reason.

Damian was indeed retired.

But now he was secretly producing a movie to reverse that decision.

And it meant he was having difficulties creating the music and soundtrack needed for that movie.

“But one of the staff members was an Argo subscriber…”

Among the billions of people in the world, a very small NewTube channel with only about a thousand subscribers.

A Scarlet Studio staff member was subscribed to that small NewTube channel.

Damian, who happened to be passing by, heard a video that was played by the algorithm.

The content was about liking the atmosphere of the music and wanting to collaborate together.

“Oh… This actually works?”

That was what Hwang Su-yeol said after reading the email to the end.

At first he thought it was good, but once he started, it wasn’t so good.

He felt sorry for Heeseong, but there was weak buzz so no one was supporting them.

So he was thinking about other projects and even planning them…

“I didn’t know such a good opportunity would come up so quickly…”

He couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

It was definitely a good opportunity.

Incomparable to any other opportunity.

That’s why he had to discuss it.

With Argo’s composers, not Scarlet Studio.

***

“Waaaah!”

“Hahaha! Heeseong is getting surprised again!”

The daily life at Hanseol Preschool was always the same.

Study in the morning, eat lunch and snacks, then have classes.

Playing with the children in between.

That was the daily life at Hanseol Preschool.

But today I wasn’t in the mood for that.

“…Heh.”

“Heeseong is being weird again.”

“Yeah… Ah! He’s exactly like when he got that guitar last time…!”

“Oh! Ajin is smart! Did Heeseong get a new guitar?”

“Huh? That’s not it…”

The children became quick-witted now that they were 6 years old.

Their speaking skills were getting better too, and they would often hit me with words.

Watching their growth like this from the side almost made me tear up without realizing it.

Is this how a father feels?

“He’s thinking weird thoughts again.”

“No I’m not. It’s because a new piano came yesterday.”

“Aha.”

“You said it broke last time…?”

“It came yesterday! What kind of piano is it? How did it sound?”

Garam pushed her face close to mine and asked about the new piano.

I remembered when she brought her new violin last time, saying she got one too.

‘The bow almost broke that time.’

It was truly a heart-stopping moment.

“It’s a red piano.”

I didn’t say it was a synthesizer.

To the children’s eyes, it would all be the same thing anyway.

“Did Ajumma Jieun buy it for you?”

“No. I entered a contest a long time ago and this was the first place prize.”

“First place…?”

Aeyeon showed a slightly awkward reaction to the word first place.

Garam and Ajin, who were listening nearby, seemed to notice it too.

“What’s a contest?”

Garam apparently didn’t know.

I said to Garam.

“It’s like a competition.”

“Com…petition?”

Aeyeon flinched at the word competition.

I knew why the child was showing such a reaction.

‘It’s probably because we didn’t enter that competition together last winter.’

That competition wasn’t something the preschool entered as a group, but required individual applications.

But I didn’t participate due to personal reasons.

No, I couldn’t participate.

But I couldn’t explain that.

So I had no choice but to make various excuses to get out of it.

Of course, I had to pay the price for that.

‘She sulked for over a week… Yeah…’

Even when I tried to talk to Aeyeon, she would turn her head away with a “Hmph!”

She wasn’t some TV character, but I newly realized that Aeyeon was such a stubborn child.

She seemed to have been influenced by Garam.

“That can happen.”

Still, Aeyeon had grown.

Look at the child carefully now.

Even though her fists are clenched tight! Even though her eyes look a little scary!

She said such wonderful words.

“But isn’t Heeseong going to enter another competition?”

“Yeah.”

“Why? It would be great to get first place in the competition!”

“Because I like playing piano at home more than entering competitions?”

“Really…? Then I shouldn’t enter the competition either!”

“No, no. You guys should enter!”

“Why?”

“Well…”

Geez, these little kids.

They knew all too well how to put people in difficult situations.

I pondered for a long time about what to answer.

Honestly, I couldn’t come up with an answer.

I’d rather just stare blankly into space and pass the time.

But the children in front of me had absolutely no intention of leaving me alone.

“Ah! It’s to get first place like Heeseong and get a new piano…!”

“Oh…! Right, right! That’s it!”

Ajin, you saved me.

The other children were convinced by smart Ajin’s words.

It felt like cold sweat was running down my back for the first time in a while.

“Right. Young Teacher said there’s a competition coming up soon.”

“Really? Aeyeon, are you going to enter?”

“Hmm… I don’t know.”

“If it’s you, Aeyeon, you could win, so think about it slowly.”

“Yeah, hehe.”

Today too, the Moran Class at Hanseol Preschool passed by peacefully.

The Special Class would probably get busy with the competition soon too.

‘But is it okay for me to stay in the Special Class when I’m not entering competitions anymore?’

I had that thought, but didn’t think much of it.

I was happy to have a place where I could play piano, and it was good for Jeong Mi-rae since I could teach the children piano.

It was killing two birds with one stone, a win-win situation.

“Heeseong, let’s go now. Father is here.”

“Yes!”

Just like usual.

“Bye.”

“See you tomorrow, Heeseong!”

“Take care…!”

I left the Moran Class with the children’s farewells.

Walking out like that, Father would be standing there.

I wondered what kind of expression he’d have today.

‘As long as it’s not a bad expression, that’s enough.’

Like Father’s expression when he heard about that video with 14 views uploaded to Argo NewTube last time…

‘Well, I saw that at home though.’

Father was definitely different inside and outside the house.

Though only very occasionally.

For example, when my leg was broken was a prime example.

“Father!”

Then I saw Father’s back as he was talking on the phone beyond the entrance.

I called out to him loudly.

Father turned his head as if he heard my voice.

“Fa…ther?”

Huh?

What kind of expression is that?

***

“…This isn’t a dream, right?”

“Unfortunately not, Young-hoon.”

“Is it really real…?”

“Yeah, Heeseong. It’s real.”

Father and I were having the same reaction while looking at Uncle Su-yeol’s monitor.

I tried hard to understand the situation that had just occurred.

‘So… an amazing movie director contacted us to work together…?’

Why?

This single word filled my entire head.

It was a completely reflexive, very natural reaction.

I quietly maintained my silence.

Meanwhile, the adults started having a conversation.

“I was really shocked when I first saw this too.”

“I thought my brother was lying, you know? A retired person suddenly contacted us to work together.”

“This has to be kept strictly confidential, right?”

“Of course. Aside from working together, they said a lawsuit would fly our way the moment we reveal it.”

“Hah…”

The three people started putting their heads together to think about this sudden development.

“But there’s a problem.”

Then Aunt Sujin spoke.

Was there a problem before we even started?

Everyone’s attention turned to Aunt Sujin.

“If we accept this, we won’t be able to do other work for a while.”

“Oh…”

Thinking about it, that was inevitable.

It was natural logic.

To compose music for a movie, we’d have to make dozens of songs.

‘We’d be making them continuously for months.’

It didn’t seem like it would be a bad experience.

It seemed like it might be fun too.

“Hmm… Do we have more requests that came in?”

“…”

“We don’t, right?”

Aunt Sujin and Uncle Su-yeol remained silent.

That awkward and uncomfortable silence told us everything.

‘It failed.’

Maybe not right now, but it seemed like my suggestion didn’t work out well somehow.

“It seems insufficient right now. I think I didn’t consider various things either.”

Uncle Su-yeol said that.

I had a brief moment of self-reflection.

It seemed like he was saying that to be considerate of me for giving my opinion.

‘There’s no need for that though…’

Then our eyes met.

Uncle Su-yeol smiled as he always did and spoke.

His muscles seemed more swollen than usual today.

“Then, let’s take down the video.”

“I was thinking of doing that anyway. Mr. Jeong Yeong-ho will be coming in soon too.”

“So you decided to work with him in the end?”

“Yeah. He was an amazing person, you know? I have no idea why they fired him.”

I was happy that it was good news for Jeong Yeong-ho too.

It would have been heartbreaking for such a strong person to crumble over something as trivial as a misunderstanding.

That’s why I secretly thought it would be good if he got a job at Argo.

If Aunt Sujin or Uncle Sooyeol hadn’t mentioned it, I would have done it myself.

‘Good. Now that we’ve recruited an amazing person… we should work with even better places.’

All we need to do is steadily build our strength like this.

“I want to do it. Honestly, I’m a fan of Director Damian.”

“Me too. I’d like to try it as well.”

Father and Aunt Sujin expressed the same opinion.

I expected as much.

Even I could tell that this was an incredible opportunity as a composer.

But Uncle Sooyeol’s expression didn’t look entirely happy.

“But I think Heeseong should be at the center of this.”

“…Why?”

“Because it’s written in the email.”

Uncle Sooyeol pointed to a specific part of the monitor.

– The feeling of the song I happened to hear was so wonderful…

The song he happened to hear.

That song was one I had composed.

The film director named Damian had heard my song.

And my songs were different in feeling from Aunt Sujin’s and Father’s songs.

Each of us had our strengths, so the good parts were all different too.

Because of that, you could tell whose song it was if you listened carefully.

‘Sasinhyeok is just a crazy person.’

I had heard so many songs that I could tell now.

I wasn’t sure about other people, but I could at least recognize Father’s and Aunt Sujin’s songs.

“So what you’re saying, hyung, is that we should center it around Heeseong?”

“Yeah. We’ll contract with Argo. Not just one person.”

“Then…”

Swoosh.

All three people looked at me simultaneously.

In the end, it meant they considered my opinion the most important.

Somehow…

These were gazes I could never quite get used to.

‘Well, it’s practically already decided anyway.’

So I spoke up.

Let’s take one more step toward higher ground.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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