A Musical Genius Who Plays Memories - Chapter 59

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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 59. Warmth (6)

 

Garam’s performance was sorrowful.

 

It was damp and nauseating.

 

Listening to it made his chest ache so much that he felt he couldn’t sit still.

 

‘This… that child composed this?’

 

Choi Man-bok’s gaze turned toward Hee-seong.

 

Hee-seong also had his hands on the piano.

 

Since he was sitting with his back turned, his expression wasn’t visible.

 

The child’s back appeared calm, as if playing piano in front of someone was familiar to him.

 

Unlike the sorrowful sound of the violin, the piano’s sound was faint.

 

The piano’s sound was smaller than an ant, seeming like it would disappear if you didn’t concentrate.

 

Strangely, the song was coming alive thanks to the piano’s performance.

 

The violin’s sound was certainly sad.

 

It sounded like raindrops falling, making it hard to listen to.

 

It had rained that day too.

 

He didn’t know when exactly.

 

What was certain was that even on the day he got his scar, indifferent rain had poured down relentlessly.

 

‘It hurt.’

 

He had thought only the wound on his left cheek hurt.

 

But the source of pain wasn’t his cheek.

 

It was a little lower than that.

 

His heart and chest ached.

 

A suffocating pain continued where he couldn’t say anything.

 

He was still stuck in that day.

 

The violin’s sound continued.

 

Jing-♩

 

The unchanging melody continued.

 

Every time the note changed, he felt uneasy.

 

Like walking a tightrope, the notes continued precariously yet straight.

 

He stepped forward honestly, but wavered.

 

‘Garam…’

 

The child bit his lip slightly.

 

The child’s will to do well was vividly conveyed.

 

The way he moved his fingers and swayed his arms was desperate.

 

What was making him act like this?

 

Choi Man-bok became curious.

 

Ttan-♩

 

The piano sound was heard.

 

The old man turned his head.

 

Was magic happening?

 

A strange scene was gradually being drawn before the old man’s eyes.

 

It was raining.

 

There was only a sky where rain was falling.

 

There was no ground, no trees.

 

Ttan-♬

 

There was wind.

 

A light breeze that tickled his hair.

 

But it was too faint.

 

When he tried to feel it, it disappeared.

 

Hee-seong’s performance was too light.

 

A clear, high sound like a bell was heard.

 

As if ventilating the heavy atmosphere, the child’s keys bounced lively.

 

When Garam’s violin was about to go off track, the small piano sound grew slightly louder as if guiding the way.

 

The louder sound soon became quiet again.

 

As if the protagonist of this song wasn’t himself, he thoroughly played quiet sounds.

 

Jaang-♪

 

The violin’s melody changed.

 

It was still dark.

 

The unpleasant, damp rain was still falling.

 

But somehow, this time was a little different.

 

Should he call it refreshing?

 

That temperature that made you feel good even while staying still.

 

It was like the temperature of an early autumn morning.

 

However, that was only when the piano was there.

 

Because the refreshing piano helped Garam’s gloomy violin.

 

Ttan…♭

 

The piano’s sound was gradually getting quieter.

 

The note that had played for one measure was now playing for two measures.

 

The sound would gradually disappear more.

 

‘Ah, in the end, it’s up to me…’

 

Choi Man-bok finally understood.

 

Hee-seong had given him a choice.

 

Whether to keep getting soaked by the gloomy, cold rainwater or to take shelter from the rain.

 

He had to hurry.

 

Ttaaan…♩

 

Hee-seong’s wind was gradually becoming fainter.

 

Even so, Hee-seong helped until the end.

 

The wind let him know.

 

Where a bonfire was burning.

 

It told him that flint stones were scattered nearby.

 

Choi Man-bok, who had been pondering, bent down.

 

And he grasped a small flint stone in his hand.

 

It was solid.

 

Some parts were sharp, seeming like they would cut his hand the more force he applied.

 

Choi Man-bok knew.

 

If he didn’t light this bonfire, he would grow cold.

 

‘Garam…’

 

The child was earnestly playing the violin.

 

The melody didn’t change and kept repeating continuously.

 

Like expressing that rain was falling, the child’s performance was rough.

 

As if his concentration was dropping, the notes gradually became unstable.

 

Sometimes notes went off track, sometimes the rhythm slowed down.

 

Even so, he was trying hard.

 

‘What do you want to ask me, Hee-seong…’

 

He knew.

 

All these notes were asking only one question.

 

‘It was very hard, wasn’t it?’

 

It was Hee-seong’s question.

 

He was simply asking that question.

 

Choi Man-bok thought that Garam was also asking.

 

The child had seen his own reflection until now.

 

The sight of himself crying in pain while trying to hold the violin.

 

That’s why the child played the violin.

 

At the same time, he was waiting.

 

He was searching for something warm to heat his body that had grown cold from the rain.

 

♩-♩

 

The violin sound rang out.

 

The low, warm tone warmed his chest.

 

Choi Man-bok played the violin.

 

As if he had practiced for a long time, there was no hesitation in the melody.

 

‘Ah…’

 

His left hand gently pressed the strings.

 

Since he had calluses, it didn’t hurt much.

 

His right hand holding the bow was the same.

 

He simply moved his right hand slowly.

 

Crackle. Crackle crackle.

 

A campfire was burning.

 

The warm tone was flowing slowly.

 

The wood began to turn red and spew out white smoke.

 

Even though he couldn’t see ahead, he wasn’t worried.

 

It was warm.

 

The sound of the pattering rain and the crackling campfire harmonized like a chord.

 

“Ugh!”

 

For the first time since the performance began, a sound came from a human mouth.

 

That sound wasn’t a joyful song, and it certainly wasn’t a sound meant to convey something.

 

It was a sound born from pain.

 

For Choi Man-bok, playing the violin was still a painful thing.

 

The strings, like knives, dug into his fingers.

 

– Father, Husband…!

 

The voices of two people gradually filled his mind.

 

He heard their pleas to save them.

 

The more he heard them, the slower his arms became.

 

That was right.

 

There was no place for the violin’s melody to enter.

 

Choi Man-bok thought so.

 

‘Ah, my hands…’

 

His hands began to shake more and more.

 

They were tensed up like a tightly pulled rope.

 

The performance that began with a stiff and awkward posture swayed as if it would soon collapse.

 

It would fall with just the slightest force.

 

♬-♬

 

Then the piano sound rang out.

 

It was a note that wasn’t in the sheet music at all.

 

Do.

 

There was no other note.

 

Hee-seong kept pressing only that note.

 

Whenever the campfire was about to go out, Hee-seong pressed the key.

 

‘Are you helping me?’

 

There was no answer.

 

So Man-bok gripped his hands even tighter.

 

Even though it was painful as if they would break at any moment, he didn’t stop.

 

The violin and piano were blending together more and more.

 

Garam’s high notes continued slowly but gently.

 

Choi Man-bok’s low notes continued quickly but urgently.

 

Hee-seong’s keys rang out quietly but surely.

 

Even though they were completely different performances, the two sounds harmonized with the piano as background.

 

Like a beautiful puzzle, the piece played by the three people was gradually racing toward completion.

 

***

 

I thought.

 

Was it okay for me to ask a question?

 

Was it okay for me, who was nothing, to dare ask a question?

 

The trigger was simple.

 

‘Pashu-man always says this to the villains! You’re not qualified! Cool, right?’

 

Garam said that.

 

Qualification.

 

That word ‘qualification’ pierced my heart.

 

So I changed my mind.

 

The performance by the two people together was good, but I decided to join in anyway.

 

If I was going to ask a question, I had to ask with my performance, not Garam’s.

 

So I put it into practice.

 

♩-♩

 

Once again, the piano sound rang out.

 

No other note was needed.

 

Do.

 

I kept pressing only that note.

 

I pressed the key only when Grandfather Manbok’s performance was about to become unstable.

 

I was helping him.

 

Patter patter.

 

If the fire went out while it was raining, wouldn’t it be too cold?

 

That was my role.

 

I was the wind that helped keep Grandfather Manbok’s fire from going out.

 

A wind that appeared briefly and then disappeared.

 

♩-♩!

 

Grandfather’s performance changed.

 

It would be more accurate to say his spirit changed.

 

Even though I was sitting with my back to him, I could tell that Grandfather had corrected his posture.

 

He straightened his back and opened his chest proudly.

 

Like performing in front of countless people 20 years ago.

 

His performance didn’t waver.

 

♪-♪

 

Like the performance from 20 years ago, it was moving people’s hearts.

 

At the same time, he was telling me.

 

-It’s okay.

 

He was telling me that he was fine.

 

Though he was now giving an unwavering performance.

 

He might collapse again someday.

 

But Grandfather Manbok was still saying it was okay.

 

Even though it was raining, the fire was burning brightly.

 

Perhaps that’s why.

 

‘There’s no room for me to interfere.’

 

Grandfather Manbok’s performance was becoming richer and richer.

 

I had no choice but to stop playing.

 

That’s how it felt.

 

Grandfather Manbok was burning brightly on his own, even without me.

 

Low notes and high notes.

 

He didn’t care about any of that.

 

He simply played using his fingers without hesitation.

 

Zing-

 

He didn’t stop.

 

His left hand moved the notes naturally.

 

The connection between notes was as natural as a flowing river.

 

In the midst of all this, he didn’t interfere with Garam’s performance.

 

The two people’s performance was creating a single landscape.

 

‘This is it. This is how this piece was meant to be completed.’

 

The piece was coming to an end.

 

Even so, I didn’t feel regretful.

 

There was no regret left in the completed piece.

 

Like a movie ending, this piece would end happily.

 

Grandfather Manbok’s right hand moved slowly.

 

It quietly died down like a campfire going out.

 

Silence followed.

 

When I turned my head.

 

“….”

 

“Grandfather?”

 

“Yes, Garam….”

 

“Why, why are you crying?”

 

Tears were flowing down his left cheek.

 

***

 

-It’s okay.

 

A voice could be heard.

 

As the performance came to an end, the rain was gradually stopping.

 

The campfire was also gradually going out.

 

Perhaps that’s why invisible things began to become visible.

 

– No matter how much it hurts, you shouldn’t harm yourself.

 

The voice was firm.

 

Yet it was gentle.

 

– There should be no pain either. You don’t need to feel guilty.

 

Was this what he had wanted to hear?

 

If not, he wanted to know what it meant.

 

The voice echoing in Choi Man-bok’s ears sounded as gentle as the violin Garam was playing.

 

It was the voice of his companion from his youth.

 

-I’m here, aren’t I?

 

The voice said.

 

That she was there – Choi Man-bok couldn’t understand what that meant.

 

What was certain was that the voice was gradually fading away.

 

At the same time, he shed tears.

 

They were tears filled with both joy and sorrow.

 

As the performance came to an end, there was one thing he realized.

 

Just as he had been enduring pain, his granddaughter had also been enduring pain.

 

Her fingers and arms must have hurt, but the child didn’t show it.

 

Only the cold sweat flowing down revealed the child’s pain.

 

“G-Grandfather?”

 

Garam said in confusion upon seeing Choi Man-bok’s tears.

 

Seeing her grandfather cry for the first time, Garam didn’t know what to do.

 

While the child was confused, he gradually approached his granddaughter.

 

And hugged her.

 

He hugged her so tightly it was almost breathtaking.

 

“Thank you, Garam….”

 

He was simply grateful.

 

He was thankful to his granddaughter who had practiced for his sake.

 

And he lifted his head to look at Hee-seong.

 

Choi Man-bok bowed his head once more.

 

It was gratitude.

 

“Thank you, thank you….”

 

He was grateful for being able to play the violin once again.

 

He wanted to repay them.

 

He had ended up owing an unpayable debt to the two children.

 

He wanted to pay back the children.

 

“Thank you, children. Grandfather is so grateful. If there’s anything I can do, I’ll do it. Just say anything.”

 

At those words, the two children thought it over.

 

Garam immediately said what she wanted.

 

“I want to play with Grandfather!”

 

It was so simple that it was rather bewildering.

 

Perhaps it was because the short arms wrapped around his neck felt warm.

 

Choi Man-bok simply nodded silently.

 

As soon as Garam finished speaking, Hee-seong immediately spoke.

 

“As for me.”

 

It was a voice full of mischief.

 

“I want to learn violin from Grandfather.”

 

This time was the same.

 

It was so easy that he couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

 

Still, there was one thing that was certain.

 

Choi Man-bok would gladly do what the children wanted.

 

Definitely.

—————
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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