A Musical Genius Who Plays Memories - Chapter 53

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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 53. Married Life (4)

 

Let’s go back in time.

 

After his granddaughter came out, Choi Man-bok sat on the bench as usual.

 

“Want to have a candy?”

 

“I want some.”

 

Choi Man-bok took out a red ginseng candy from his pocket and gave it to her.

 

That was the only candy he had on him.

 

At some point, one of his pockets always contained red ginseng candies.

 

Choi Man-bok naturally handed the candy to his granddaughter.

 

“It’s delicious.”

 

He watched fondly as his granddaughter hummed while swinging her feet that didn’t reach the ground, the candy in her mouth.

 

The sunlight was warm and the breeze was pleasantly cool, making him feel good.

 

“Hey!”

 

Until an unwelcome visitor arrived.

 

Looking toward where the sound came from, he saw a child holding his parents’ hands.

 

“Min-jun…?”

 

Garam muttered.

 

It was a mutter that sounded like she didn’t like something.

 

Choi Man-bok was a bit surprised, not knowing his granddaughter could speak in such a tone.

 

Meanwhile, the child called Min-jun quickly approached the two of them.

 

And then.

 

“You can’t stay here! Let’s run away!”

 

“Ow!”

 

He suddenly grabbed Garam’s wrist and tried to run away.

 

Because of this, the candy in Garam’s mouth fell out.

 

Choi Man-bok couldn’t react to what happened so suddenly.

 

The same was true for Garam.

 

Still, the child could react a little faster than the elderly man.

 

“Why are you doing this!”

 

“Mom said that grandfather goes around hitting people!”

 

“What? That’s not true! Let go!”

 

Garam shook her arm violently.

 

Then she pushed Min-jun away.

 

It was clearly a small force, but Min-jun was so frail that he fell over from even that small push.

 

“Ahhh!”

 

Min-jun fell down screaming.

 

The child’s mother who was behind them ran over in surprise.

 

“Oh my! Are you okay, sweetie! What should I do, what should I do! You’re bleeding!”

 

As she said, there was a small scratch on his palm.

 

Reddish drops of blood were beaded like dew.

 

Even though it didn’t hurt, blood was blood.

 

So the child burst into tears.

 

“Wahhh!”

 

At that crying, Garam tried to approach Min-jun.

 

She tried to say that she didn’t mean to do that, but.

 

“What are you doing! Don’t touch my child!”

 

That’s how the current situation came to be.

 

What Hee-seong and Jeong Mi-rae saw at the entrance was created this way.

 

What happened after that flowed quickly.

 

It didn’t take even a few seconds from Min-joon’s Mother pushing Garam to Choi Man-bok getting angry.

 

“What are you doing right now!”

 

Jeong Mi-rae shouted.

 

At that voice, the two excited people were able to calm down.

 

Jeong Mi-rae approached between the two people who had momentarily reached a lull.

 

Since the children were sniffling, the adults wouldn’t be able to have a proper conversation.

 

Hee-seong hurriedly took the two children away.

 

“Oh my, this child…!”

 

“He’s hurt! I’ll take him to the nurse and come back!”

 

“What…!”

 

Perhaps because Hee-seong was so quick, Min-joon’s Mother froze in her flustered posture.

 

Seeing that, Jeong Mi-rae spoke in a calm voice.

 

“That child will be fine. He’s a mature child.”

 

“Teacher, still…!”

 

“The children have other teachers too, so it’s fine. More importantly, could you tell me what happened? I need to hear if it’s something serious enough to raise voices in the kindergarten.”

 

At Jeong Mi-rae’s different atmosphere than usual, she gulped.

 

***

 

“He wasn’t hurt too badly.”

 

“…Sniff! …Yeah.”

 

Garam and I were standing in the corner of the shoe lockers.

 

Garam was holding a Petini doll in her hand.

 

I had moved to give her that doll, but how did things end up like this?

 

I took my eyes off the doll and looked at the entrance.

 

Beyond the glass door at the entrance, I could see the adults exchanging conversation.

 

‘Hmm, so there was such a rumor.’

 

I got to hear the whole truth from Min-jun.

 

Rumors were easily distorted.

 

Grandfather Manbok over there was a victim of that.

 

‘Sigh… Can a rumor that someone goes around hitting people really start just because they have scars on their face?’

 

I don’t really know.

 

I don’t want to understand it either.

 

But this kind of misunderstanding should be cleared up.

 

Min-jun’s actions were also based on rumors.

 

He had accidentally overheard what adults were saying, and memories of seeing a scary person came back to him.

 

And he had told the children about it.

 

As a warning to be careful.

 

Getting hit hurt, so he did it with the intention of protecting the children.

 

But that instead became an incident that hurt one child.

 

Then he saw Garam who was with Grandfather Manbok, and ran over with only the thought of protecting her.

 

‘Life originally doesn’t go as planned.’

 

The situation had escalated.

 

The child burst into tears from confusion and blood.

 

There was nothing the child could do in that situation.

 

But I was different.

 

What I could do was convey this truth.

 

“Garam, let’s go.”

 

“Huh? Where?”

 

“We need to go clear up the misunderstanding.”

 

I went straight outside.

 

Garam seemed hesitant, but soon followed me.

 

She was a brave child.

 

This child would say what he wanted to say.

 

If not, I could do it for him.

 

“So…!”

 

It seemed the situation wasn’t over yet among the adults.

 

Perhaps sensing my presence, Min-jun’s mother stopped speaking mid-sentence.

 

“Is Min-jun okay?”

 

“Yes, he wasn’t hurt badly.”

 

“Good job. Now go back to your classroom. The adults will handle it from here.”

 

Jeong Mi-rae said while patting my head.

 

What she said bothered me.

 

Adults.

 

I was a child, but at the same time, an adult.

 

The word “adult” she used meant I could be included in that category too.

 

“Min-jun misunderstood.”

 

“Hm?”

 

“He said there was a rumor. That there was a bad person going around hitting people. Right?”

 

I said while looking at Min-jun’s mother.

 

Her reaction of avoiding eye contact showed that my words were correct.

 

I continued speaking without stopping.

 

“But Grandfather Manbok looks scary. So he must have thought he was that person.”

 

And I didn’t forget to say what I wanted to say.

 

“Even if it’s just a rumor, you shouldn’t believe it rashly! You should be suspicious until you confirm it yourself!”

 

The adults were listening to my words.

 

Thankfully.

 

When I finished speaking, Jeong Mi-rae patted my head.

 

Grandfather Manbok had a surprised expression.

 

“Sir, I’m sorry…”

 

“These things can happen, so you don’t need to apologize.”

 

Min-jun’s mother, her face red with embarrassment, hurriedly entered the kindergarten.

 

Because of her misunderstanding, she had become a spectacle for others.

 

‘It must be embarrassing. Still, I’m glad it ended like this.’

 

I sighed inwardly.

 

The situation seemed to have happened suddenly, but it was resolved more easily than expected.

 

‘Tsk, this isn’t something I should be doing.’

 

Well, if you’re an adult, you should solve it yourself.

 

But if your reason is paralyzed, it’s natural to receive help from others.

 

Min-jun’s mother was the same.

 

When excited, she pushed the child and such, but when she calmed down, didn’t she bow her head?

 

She was just a mother of a child.

 

“Are you alright, sir?”

 

“I’m fine. It’s because my face looks like this.”

 

He said that with a laugh.

 

That smile kept bothering me.

 

His left cheek twitched, making the scar more prominent.

 

“Come to think of it, you said your name was Hee-seong? Thank you, child. Thanks to you, it was resolved well.”

 

“Hehe, not at all.”

 

“I want to give you something. Want to eat a red ginseng candy?”

 

He was a grandfather who really loved red ginseng candy.

 

Wait, he wants to give me anything?

 

With the mindset of having nothing to lose, I quietly asked.

 

“You’ll give me anything?”

 

“Tell me if you need something. I’ll help you.”

 

“Then, I want to learn violin!”

 

“…Violin?”

 

“Yes!”

 

When such an opportunity comes, I must seize it.

 

Of course, it wouldn’t be easy.

 

Still, I had no intention of missing this opportunity.

 

“Hmm… Well, but I can’t teach you myself.”

 

“What? I want to learn from you, Grandfather.”

 

“That’s… well. Then, will you come to our academy? I’ll teach you there.”

 

“Academy?”

 

“Yeah, our grandfather runs a violin academy. I learned there too.”

 

I hadn’t thought of this.

 

‘I’m still curious about your story.’

 

My questions were still unresolved.

 

It bothered me that despite Grandfather Manbok’s scar and those calloused hands, he said he couldn’t teach violin.

 

So I had to go see for myself.

 

“Huh? Hee-seong, why are you outside? Why are the teacher and sir here too…?”

 

Just then, Father visited the kindergarten.

 

Today, for some reason, he came a little earlier than usual.

 

I hurriedly ran to Father.

 

And said.

 

“Father! I want to go to an academy!”

 

“…Huh?”

 

He made an expression of not understanding, but it didn’t matter.

 

I would end up going anyway.

 

***

 

“This is Grandfather’s academy? It’s cool!”

 

“Is it? Thank you. Let’s go to the principal’s office first.”

 

“Why am I here…?”

 

Father came to the academy with me, pretending he couldn’t resist my request.

 

Still, he seemed quite interested seeing various violins.

 

I heard him muttering ‘Should I learn too?’

 

“Ah, Hee-seong. Dad will take a phone call and come back. Please look after our son for a moment.”

 

“Of course. Take your time.”

 

Father hurriedly left.

 

Garam also had a class and went into another classroom.

 

Grandfather Manbok and I entered the principal’s office alone.

 

‘Alone with Grandfather. The desk is very neat. A picture frame? Whose photo is it?’

 

I looked at his desk and then moved my gaze around the principal’s office.

 

There were awards received from various places and photos of Garam hanging on the walls.

 

I didn’t know what story we would have.

 

Perhaps it wasn’t a story that could be easily told.

 

If it was a story so difficult that it absolutely wouldn’t come out of his mouth, I had no intention of forcing him to tell it.

 

“You know, I’m really a pathetic person.”

 

“What?”

 

“First, watch me play once.”

 

He said that and brought a violin case from the corner of the principal’s office.

 

It was quite old, but seemed well-maintained as the exterior was in clean condition.

 

As soon as he opened the case, I couldn’t help but be amazed.

 

The violin’s body was gleaming brilliantly.

 

Though I couldn’t play violin myself, I knew that violin was something extraordinary.

 

‘I want it! Even though I can’t play, I want to learn just to have it!’

 

It was that magnificent.

 

He soon picked up the bow and took his stance.

 

I was quite excited to hear what wonderful performance he would give.

 

Like all excellent performers, he too seemed to be gathering his emotions.

 

He could have just played normally, but to even gather his emotions like this – I could only be grateful.

 

‘…Huh?’

 

Did it really take this long to gather one’s emotions?

 

In my case, it was at most one minute.

 

Just one minute had passed now.

 

Yet there was no sign that the performance would begin.

 

Instead, cold sweat was flowing down Grandfather Manbok’s forehead.

 

‘What, what’s wrong? Is he sick somewhere?’

 

Seeing his trembling fingers and his rough breathing, I couldn’t help but panic.

 

“Huk! Hueup!”

 

There was nothing I could do.

 

Just as I was thinking whether I should tell him to stop.

 

“Heo!”

 

He let out his breath all at once and put down the violin.

 

His face was drenched in sweat like someone who had fallen into a swimming pool.

 

“Wottae?”

 

“If you’re asking how it was…”

 

I couldn’t answer.

 

Not only had I heard nothing, but I could only feel curiosity and concern about his behavior.

 

“You saw, didn’t you? I can’t play the violin.”

 

I could feel his gaze as he said that.

 

But that gaze wasn’t looking at me.

 

A little lower than me.

 

It was directed at a picture frame in the center under the desk.

 

I instinctively felt that the reason he couldn’t play violin was because of the person in that photo.

 

‘That’s why I became curious.’

 

The reason why you couldn’t play, even though you pressed so hard your fingers must have hurt.

 

“I want to know!”

 

“What?”

 

“The reason why Grandfather couldn’t play…!”

 

This was a declaration as a musician and performer.

 

It meant I would listen to your story.

 

For a very brief moment, our gazes met.

 

Silence was flowing.

 

Orange-like sunlight was coming through the window.

 

“Hehe…”

 

After some contemplation, Grandfather Manbok smiled silently.

 

I could tell.

 

That it was a sign of affirmation.

—————
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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