A Musical Genius Who Plays Memories - Chapter 110

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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 110. One Step Further (5)

The next day, as soon as I woke up, I listened to the song I had composed last night once more.

The moment I heard the song, I thought that I needed to organize the song once more.

What I needed to organize was the atmosphere of the song.

After waking up and listening to the song I made last night, I definitely felt something was lacking.

‘A violin definitely needs to be added.’

Something felt quite empty, which was disappointing to listen to.

It was like kimchi without ramen, and chicken without cola.

“As expected, in this atmosphere, the piano is merely an accompaniment.”

The piano was an instrument that could always be the protagonist.

It was that versatile.

But for this song alone, it had to play a supporting role.

There were two main reasons.

I wanted to express the rough breathing of an old man.

Heartbeats or footsteps could be expressed with piano.

But the flow of breathing sounds I wanted could only be expressed with string instruments like violin.

“Zhiiing.”

I made violin sounds with my mouth.

It was an action to roughly gauge what kind of feeling I wanted.

‘A violin is definitely needed. The melody is too good.’

The second reason was this.

The melody of the violin.

More precisely, I wanted that tone.

Piano only has sound at the moment you press the keys.

The sound that follows is just the remnant of that sound.

Rather than scattered sounds, the continuous sound sustained by the violin’s bow was more suitable for an old man’s breathing.

Drawing the bow downward would be exhaling.

Drawing the bow upward would be inhaling.

It could be expressed this way too.

In the end, no matter how you looked at it, it meant that having violin as the protagonist was better than piano.

“Good. Let me ask Grandfather Manbok.”

This seemed like the best choice.

Among the people I knew, there were only two who played violin.

One was Garam, and Garam was a young child.

Then the remaining person was naturally Grandfather Manbok.

There were no other options from the beginning.

As long as I wanted to include violin in the song, I had no choice but to ask Grandfather Manbok.

‘…Should I buy some red ginseng candy to bring?’

I fell into such trivial thoughts as I left the room.

Father seemed to have gone into his room to sleep.

He wasn’t in the living room, and the music studio door was wide open.

Well, since he had pushed himself so hard, not resting would rather harm his health, so it was better to sleep deeply when sleeping.

“Mother!”

“Yes? What is it, son?”

Mother was making a simple breakfast as usual.

Whenever I saw her kindly responding to my call, I always smiled.

“Can I go to Grandfather Manbok’s Academy today?”

Being still young, I had to get my parents’ permission for whatever I did.

I had been scolded once as a baby for moving around on my own.

Since then, getting permission from my parents before doing anything had become a habit.

‘…?’

But Mother’s expression was awkward.

She was subtly avoiding eye contact and her lips were ambiguously raised.

And the sweat flowing down by her ears was unusual.

‘Is something wrong?’

Mother kept making only “Well…” sounds as if she had something to say.

When I tilted my head, she sighed deeply and finally told me.

“Grandfather Manbok was hospitalized last night.”

…What?

My heart sank with a thud.

***

“Oh, Heeseong came. What’s that, a gift?”

Right after eating breakfast, I came to visit Grandfather Manbok with Mother.

Grandfather Manbok, lying alone in the empty hospital room, had a comfortable expression on his face.

From the outside, he didn’t look seriously injured.

But he was an old man.

It was natural for someone his age to hurt here and there with just a small mistake.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Oh, I’m fine.”

Grandfather Manbok said that while trying to sit up.

But the moment he tried to move slightly.

“Ugh!”

He couldn’t help but let out a pained groan.

At that sight, both Mother and I moved simultaneously.

“Grandfather!”

“Sir!”

“I’m fine, I’m fine…”

He said that and then took a deep breath.

No matter how I looked at it, he didn’t seem fine.

I didn’t know what was fine about someone who looked like they would collapse any moment.

‘He fell in the bathroom, right…?’

They said he broke a bone when he fell then.

Even an injury that a young person could brush off and get up from was completely different for elderly people.

For old people, just a small touch could break something.

‘How do I know this?’

I saw it often.

In the past.

There was a strong man.

A man who could easily cut down trees while holding a huge axe with one hand.

But he grew old, and in the end, his hand holding a fork was always trembling.

That image was so vivid in my eyes.

That’s how fragile old people were.

This was an unavoidable fact.

“So how many days do you have to stay hospitalized? You can sit up, right?”

“Hmm… I think they said I need to stay for a week. Sitting is possible. Though I can’t sit for long.”

“A, a week?!”

“That’s right. Meanwhile, Garam was happy saying he’d sleep with Aeyeon.”

“No way…!”

“Heeseong? What do you mean no way?”

I fell into despair.

We’re already pressed for time, and now a whole week!

This didn’t make sense.

To have such misfortune suddenly strike – I resented the heavens.

‘At least it’s fortunate that Grandfather wasn’t seriously hurt. But…’

Regardless of that, my heart felt heavy.

I had planned to hurriedly compose 2 songs and then compose other pieces to help shoulder the burden alongside Father and Aunt Sujin.

But with Grandfather Manbok getting injured, that much disruption had occurred.

I could just compose other songs first, but then there was a high chance of losing direction.

‘The OST’s theme is solitude. And I’m composing the core of that right now.’

But what would happen if that center disappeared?

Everything would scatter and fall apart.

I would have to put in considerable effort to prevent that from happening.

Of course, if I completed the song I was currently composing, that wouldn’t happen.

‘This isn’t easy…’

But there was no choice.

I’d have to work harder.

“I’ll go buy some snacks from the convenience store.”

“Oh, me too…!”

“Heeseong, stay here with Grandfather. It’s cold outside.”

Mother left the hospital room like that.

With only 2 people in a hospital room that would normally have over 6, it felt somewhat quiet.

I looked at that hospital room and thought.

‘Is that snowy mountain this quiet too?’

It wasn’t.

The movie scene wasn’t quiet at all.

Wind blew, wolves howled, and agonized voices continuously flowed.

Despite that, I somehow thought it was quiet.

It was probably my imagination.

“Heeseong, is something wrong?”

“Huh?”

“You’re making a face like you have worries, so I’m asking. Tell me.”

“Uh…”

I got goosebumps for a moment.

Had he seen my expression?

Or had he at least read the atmosphere?

Grandfather Manbok was sometimes surprisingly quick at figuring things out.

Whether it was people’s hearts or thoughts.

He had once again seen through my inner thoughts without fail.

“Well… I was hoping Grandfather could play the violin for me…”

“You mean what you mentioned yesterday?”

“Yes. But since Grandfather isn’t feeling well, I was going to compose something else first.”

“Is that so?”

Grandfather Manbok showed some unreadable reaction.

His left eyebrow shot up, and the scar followed along with it.

For a moment, I thought his face resembled the nameless old man from the movie.

Even though they were different races, it was amazing how similar they felt.

‘Is there an atmosphere that people who have lived through time possess?’

I became curious about that.

Even while I was having these thoughts, Grandfather Manbok was contemplating something.

“Come after preschool ends tomorrow.”

“…Huh?”

“Heeseong, you already have something composed, right? Bring that. I’ll listen to it once and play it for you.”

“G-Grandfather…!”

As soon as I heard his words, I almost went crazy with joy.

Just when things were about to get complicated, he had solved it for me.

I had thought about whether I might ruin things, and I had even considered this:

‘Should I ask Garam?’

But this was truly a last resort, so I hadn’t seriously considered it.

Garam’s skill was incomparable to others his age.

At least there was no one at Hanseol Preschool who could compare.

‘But the theme I’m playing would be difficult for Garam.’

An old man’s life.

I wanted it played by those who had fought against time and ultimately won.

That’s why I didn’t want to use Garam’s performance, and that’s how it actually turned out.

‘Wait, isn’t this too much of a strain?’

After physically feeling the joy, my next thought was realistic.

I looked at Grandfather Manbok.

He was an old man with wrinkled skin and snow-white hair.

Even so, his strong impression hadn’t gone anywhere.

The scar near his left eye was a resolution to move forward from past regrets.

I looked at that scar and said.

“Are you okay…?”

“What do you mean? I’m fine. It only hurts when I get up, sitting doesn’t hurt. And I’ve been playing violin often lately, so I’m fine.”

I looked at his hands.

Calluses were still embedded there.

Those hard calluses were his life and proof that he had struggled hard.

“…Thank you!”

So I didn’t think about anything else.

I just expressed my gratitude.

‘There’s nothing I can say about it.’

Grandfather Manbok already knew what pain was.

He was feeling it even now.

So he knew solitude and loneliness too, which meant his performance would fill all the empty parts of my song.

“That’s right, that’s right. I’ll make Heeseong’s song wonderful.”

“Hehe…”

He raised his hand and patted my head.

I enjoyed his touch and thought.

‘A good song will come out.’

And this was an unmistakable thought.

But there was one thing I didn’t know.

I didn’t know that I was under the shadow of a giant snake.

***

“Noona, how is it?”

“Hmm…”

While Heeseong was meeting with Choi Man-bok.

Yoon Young-hoon was meeting with Hwang Su-jin.

The two were sharing work progress and refining songs together.

There were times when opinions clashed, diverged, and they argued.

But they were adults.

They were constantly moving forward to find the best answer.

But today, for some reason, there seemed to be no sign of improvement at all.

“…It’s still ambiguous, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Something, something is missing.”

No matter how well the two of them could compose music, it wasn’t easy.

Creating a song that fit a scene just by looking at it was nothing short of madness.

It was the same level of difficulty as expressing a blue triangle through song.

“…Solitude.”

“Huh?”

“Our OST theme is solitude, right?”

“That’s right. But why bring that up?”

“But we don’t have that main theme. Since we don’t have a central piece to anchor us, we keep wandering around.”

Yoon Young-hoon seemed to understand what Hwang Su-jin was trying to say.

So he spoke carefully.

“…Are you saying we’ll be like this until Heeseong’s song comes out?”

“Yeah.”

Just as Hee-seong had thought, the two were wandering.

They were going back and forth, unable to find their direction.

But the two had talent.

So, though very slowly.

“Still, let’s keep trying. I thought those 4 measures were pretty good.”

“Me too. Let’s try revising the other measures once.

They were definitely moving forward.

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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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