A Musical Genius Who Plays Memories - Chapter 108

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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 108. One Step Further (3)

“Wait a moment!”

Murmur murmur.

The cafe was bustling.

People were sitting here and there, and there seemed to be many people in line too.

Why?

No, why on earth?

I had to stand there blankly staring at that scene without understanding anything.

“There are so many people.”

“It was like this when I came with Aeyeon last time too. Well, they’re selling something that’s trending, right?”

“Really? Sangjin must be having a hard time then, with this many people.”

“That’s why he hired a new part-time worker. He said it’s a young kid but does the work well.”

I listened to Mother and Aeyeon’s Mother’s conversation and thought.

‘Is it that popular?’

I don’t know what’s trending, but is it popular enough to fill up with people like this?

Since I’ve been composing at home and only playing piano, I don’t really know about such things.

“Oh. It’s Garam and Ajin.”

Then I heard Aeyeon’s dry voice.

When I turned my head in the direction the child was pointing, Garam, Ajin, and Grandfather Manbok were sitting there.

But the children were eating something with happy expressions.

We headed toward where our group was sitting.

“You came?”

“Grandfather, hello.”

“Mm! Hello, kids!”

“You’re here…!”

Aeyeon and I bowed our heads in greeting and sat in the seats next to them.

Mother and Aeyeon’s Mother also greeted and got in line to order.

‘It’s been a while since I came, but something seems to have changed.’

I thought while looking at the menu.

The menu at the store I visited after several weeks had noticeably changed.

The drinks hadn’t changed, but there were many more items on the dessert side.

There were so many delicious-looking things that I unconsciously licked my lips.

“But what’s that?”

Aeyeon seemed curious about what Garam and Ajin were eating.

It looked like small, round chocolate and seemed delicious.

Seeing them eat it so deliciously made me want to try it too.

“Want to try some?”

“Yeah.”

“It looks delicious.”

“This is really delicious…!”

Garam shared a piece of chocolate with each of us.

I put the chocolate in my hand straight into my mouth.

‘Oh! It’s delicious!’

It wasn’t just chocolate.

It was chocolate with strawberry inside.

Eating delicious and sweet strawberry in the winter of January made me feel good.

“Delicious.”

“Right? This is really delicious! People are eating this too.”

When I looked around at Garam’s words, all the people in the store were eating this.

Since it definitely tastes good, that’s why they’re eating it.

‘No wait. I didn’t come here to eat this!’

I looked at Grandfather Manbok.

He had an expression of enjoying his leisure while drinking hot coffee.

It was definitely a very different appearance from his first impression.

The scar on his left eye was the same.

If he looked like a mountain bandit before, now he was… what should I say…

‘A pirate with many stories?’

Whatever he had become, he had a warm impression.

People didn’t seem to mind either, and I unconsciously smiled.

“Grandfather.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“What is loneliness?”

I spoke without hesitation.

Actually, I had many concerns about whether it was okay to ask Grandfather this question on the way here.

He had been through many things.

There was no way he hadn’t felt loneliness in that process.

Rather, he was someone who had been swallowed by that emotion and even blamed himself.

That’s why I hesitated out of guilt, but.

‘Looking at that appearance, I don’t think I need to worry about such things.’

The appearance of Grandfather Manbok I was seeing now didn’t seem to be greatly attached to such things.

An appearance far from loneliness.

Because Garam was by his side.

That’s why I asked honestly.

“Why are you asking that? Are you trying to compose?”

“Yes. That’s right. I received a request and thought Grandfather might relate to it.”

“What’s the theme? Let me hear what made you think I’d understand it well.”

“It’s solitude. It’s the story of an old man fighting alone against a massive snowy mountain.”

Grandfather, who heard my answer, put down the coffee he was holding with a thud.

His eyes changed instantly.

It wasn’t the warm grandfather’s eyes, but the sharp eyes of a cold judge.

They were as sharp as Yang Do-gyeong’s when he judged the children.

When I met those eyes, I unconsciously swallowed my saliva.

“Hee-seong, come sit here. Garam and Ajin, go eat next to Aeyeon.”

“Huh? Yes. Got it. Aeyeon, let’s eat together. Ah! Should we watch Chuchoo on the phone?”

“Good.”

“I want to watch too…!”

I moved next to Grandfather Manbok, and Garam and Ajin sat next to Aeyeon.

“You thought I’d know well about solitude?”

As soon as I sat down, his low voice hit me.

I unconsciously swallowed my saliva.

“Th, that’s…”

“Right. I know it well.”

He chuckled and patted my head.

What? Just a moment ago he had eyes that looked like he wanted to devour me?

Can a person’s eyes change back and forth like this?

“That’s why. When I hear those words, my heart aches with a thud.”

“Ah…”

So that’s why it was like that?

I think I understood why the eyes looking at me were scary.

It wasn’t to scold me or frighten me.

It was simply because he was in pain.

It was a very natural reaction, like grimacing when experiencing pain.

“Solitude, loneliness. I know it well. Does Heeseong know it?”

I knew it.

I had felt it firsthand.

When I lifted my head hoping someone would be by my side, only dust was floating around there.

Instead of people’s laughter or voices, I could hear mice squeaking more clearly.

That’s how empty my past self was.

“…No.”

“It’s better not to feel that.”

Grandfather Manbok was speaking to me sincerely.

His tone and every gesture made me realize these were words meant for my sake.

‘I think I understand.’

If I were Grandfather Manbok.

I think I would say the same thing to someone else.

“But you have to get used to it.”

“Get used to it?”

“That’s right. Loneliness is like mold. It ruins your breath and slowly makes you collapse.”

“What if you collapse?”

I was curious.

My past self hadn’t collapsed.

No, I couldn’t collapse.

Because I had my friend, because I had Lucie.

Because I had friends who truly cared about me and worried for me, I never collapsed to loneliness in the end.

But had Grandfather Manbok collapsed?

He was answering with a smile now, but what about his past?

“Even so, you have to live on, even if you crawl on the ground. You have to do something.”

His voice was calm.

That’s why it looked even more painful.

Crawling on the ground.

No matter how much he fell, no matter how much he crumbled, he somehow moved forward.

‘What an amazing person. Respectable.’

I thought that to myself.

When I was buried in loneliness.

I didn’t want to do anything.

Composing, piano, whatever.

I wanted to quit everything.

But Grandfather Manbok was different.

He was someone who tried to take action somehow.

“Amazing…”

I said sincerely.

At my words, Grandfather Manbok patted my head again.

“It’s all thanks to Heeseong. The composition Heeseong made is so wonderful.”

“Hehe…”

“But who asked you to do it?”

“Uh…”

I hesitated at those words.

The movie hadn’t come out to the world yet.

So I shouldn’t speak carelessly about it.

No matter how close someone was, this kind of thing was confidential.

“I’ll tell you later!”

“Alright, alright. You should let me know when you compose. Tell me if you need help.”

“Yes!”

I answered sincerely to those words.

A good idea came to mind while talking with him.

‘Let’s add violin.’

Grandfather Manbok’s violin performance.

His performance would decorate everything.

“There are so many people.”

Then Mother and Aeyeon’s Mother approached, holding drinks and snacks in their hands, having finished ordering.

My mouth was watering at my favorite drink and the delicious-looking snacks.

“What about Sangjin hyung…?”

Then Ajin asked.

At those words, we all turned our heads toward the counter.

We could see Kim Sang-jin’s back as he was still busy making drinks.

It seemed like we’d only be able to talk around evening.

‘I hope he hangs in there…’

Whatever it was, when popularity increased, you had to handle it.

Stay strong, Kim Sang-jin!

We left Kim Sang-jin behind and enjoyed our delicious snacks.

With the sweet snacks, both adults and children were all wearing pleasant smiles.

Yes, this is exactly weekend leisure.

***

“Solitude, solitude…”

Yoon Young-hoon muttered quietly.

He was someone who didn’t know solitude well.

That’s how it had always been.

He grew up normally and spent his school days happily.

Then in high school he met someone he loved, and it had continued until now.

So there was never any time to feel solitude in the first place.

But perhaps because of that.

‘What is solitude…’

He didn’t know much about solitude.

It was an emotion he couldn’t understand.

Of course, he knew the dictionary meaning.

Loneliness.

Since he was human too, there were naturally moments when he felt that.

He felt it most strongly in the military.

‘But I can’t use that emotion.’

No matter how much it was loneliness, the texture was different.

Yoon Young-hoon thought so at least.

Just like how even the same joy differs depending on who feels it.

‘What I felt probably wasn’t even loneliness.’

He said that and lightly tapped the piano.

Ding-♩

It was the pleasant sound he always heard.

The sound seemed louder than usual.

Perhaps because no one was home, it seemed to echo more loudly.

“Should I go out and think.”

He gathered his clothes and went outside.

Today, for some reason, his chest felt stuffy and it seemed like he wouldn’t be able to work.

Yoon Young-hoon left home without even knowing what he was feeling.

Outside was still cold.

***

1 AM, Hwang Su-jin’s music studio.

Clack clack.

The keyboard sounds echoed quietly.

Her desk was messy with energy drinks piled up beside it.

There was also delivery food that hadn’t been cleaned up.

This was the true appearance of human Hwang Su-jin.

She had started composing as soon as she left Yoon Young-hoon’s home.

The scenes they had discussed and discussed again to choose which ones would be good for music.

She had been continuously watching only those scenes until now.

She hadn’t slept a wink.

“Hah… I feel like I’m going to die.”

That was actually the case.

Her eyelids were so heavy that if she closed them, she felt like she would fall asleep.

But she couldn’t do that.

Because there was no time.

“I should sleep later. Before that, I need to make a plan…”

That wasn’t easy.

No musical inspiration would come to her at all.

No one doubted her skills.

But Hwang Su-jin was also human, so there were times when she faced enormous walls.

Now was one of those times.

It felt like facing a wall that could absolutely never be overcome.

Tap, tap…

Hwang Su-jin quietly tapped only the spacebar.

Blank spaces began appearing one by one in the notepad.

Spaces that needed to be filled were simultaneously increasing.

“…What could that be.”

Loneliness.

She knew it well.

She knew it all too well.

But she didn’t want to express it.

Because it seemed like terrible memories from the past would surface.

“…Damn it.”

It surfaced anyway.

The terrible memories from the past.

The current time was 1 AM.

The time when anxiety and loneliness came crashing down fiercely.

Hwang Su-jin, who was awake at that time, was swept away by the surging waves of emotion.

“…Should I try?”

She saved and closed the notepad.

Instead, she opened the composition program.

Though it was just a sketch, she wanted to compose this feeling she was experiencing right now.

And so everyone was slowly beginning to compose, each in their own way.

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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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