A Musical Genius Who Plays Memories - Chapter 6
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 6. In an Unknown Land (1)
On the way home.
The inside of the moving car was somehow quiet.
Since I didn’t know what was going on, I just listened to the idol music that Mother had put on.
‘What? Did I do something wrong?’
Though I had an aged mind, at times like this I seemed to have returned to being a child.
The quiet atmosphere seemed to weigh down on my entire body.
I spoke to Mother, who was quietly looking out the window, trying to lighten the mood.
“Mom, what did you do with the teacher?”
“Huh? Oh… She told us in detail what kind of place the preschool is. It’s a really good place.”
“That’s right! The piano was really good!”
It was a question I asked because I heard them saying something in front of the music room door.
“That’s not it. We won’t be doing aptitude tests, um… testing how much Hee-seong likes piano and how well he plays.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Because Hee-seong plays piano too well.”
Mother explained it in simple terms so I wouldn’t fail to understand.
It’s good for me if they don’t do the test.
However, once my questions ended, the car became quiet again.
Mother turned her head and looked at Father intently for a moment.
It was Mother’s habit whenever she was about to have a serious conversation.
‘Is there something serious going on?’
I had such thoughts inwardly while fidgeting with my feet.
“Heeseong.”
Mother called me quietly.
At the same time, classical music quietly played in the car instead of idol music.
I automatically swallowed at Mother’s careful tone.
“Heeseong played piano incredibly well, didn’t he? Mom didn’t know that.”
“Hehe, I want to play piano again.”
“Really? Then let’s play lots when we get home.”
“I’m going to play tons and tons!”
What a childlike expression that was.
Did my mental age become younger because I’m living as a child?
Still, Mother would be able to understand my expression right away.
Mother slowly nodded and said.
“I see. Our son could even feel such differences.”
…Huh?
Mother spoke with a somehow trembling voice.
“Mom didn’t notice that our son had such outstanding talent for piano.”
I quietly swallowed my breath.
It was a voice I had never heard before.
She even hung her head low as if she had done something wrong.
Since this was something I had never experienced throughout my previous life, I was flustered.
Father was just quietly gripping the steering wheel.
“Even though I was right there beside you, I didn’t know our son’s talent. Mom is sorry.”
Only then did I seem to understand why the two were quiet.
Whether they might have let their child’s talent rot away.
Whether they had prevented him from displaying his outstanding talent by just thinking he liked piano.
But that was needless worry.
In my previous life, I only started properly learning music when I was almost done being 10 years old.
This life was on a different dimension from the past.
I had parents who loved music, and I could encounter music faster than anyone.
The two people who had watched over me for 4 years wouldn’t hesitate to do difficult things for my sake.
They always stayed by my side, worried that I might get hurt when I was a baby.
They also bought various toy instruments for me who loved music.
So, even if the two didn’t know about my talent.
That wasn’t a big problem.
Even if I started music late, it would have been fine.
Because I could solve it by working harder than others.
“It’s okay! I like music!”
I smiled brightly.
Father, who was looking at me through the mirror, also smiled faintly.
“Because Heeseong loves music. Whatever happens, he would have done well. Dad believes that.”
The car was still gliding along the road.
However, rain was pattering down from the darkened sky.
The quietly flowing classical music and sound of rain gently touched our ears.
The sound completed as one piece of music enveloped our family.
That sound was so sticky it seemed like it wouldn’t fall off easily.
That evening in November was passing by like that.
***
Five months had passed.
What did I do during that time?
Naturally, I played piano.
Of course, I also took walks near home or went to play at kids’ cafes.
But most of those 5 months were spent playing piano.
Classical, new age, and so on.
Regardless of genre, I played whatever I wanted to my heart’s content.
Mother and Father also supported me so I could play piano even better.
During that time, I heard good news.
‘Son! Now let’s go to preschool!’
I had been accepted to Hansul Preschool.
And today was March 2nd.
It was the day of my long-awaited first day of school.
Inside the car heading to preschool.
Our family was listening to music as usual, but it was a bit more noisy than usual.
“Son, don’t cry. Don’t fight with your friends!”
‘Father, I’m 5 years old…’
Father grabbed my shoulder and spoke with a serious expression.
Since it was my first time in society, Father seemed more nervous than me.
“Heeseong, you didn’t forget your supplies, right? Let’s check if you packed everything properly.”
Mother was also anxious and kept telling me to check my supplies.
After listening to these two for a week, I felt like I was going crazy.
“I packed everything!”
I answered hurriedly.
Because it seemed like they would keep talking if I didn’t.
After hearing my answer, my parents reduced their talking.
The car, where only the music got louder, arrived at the preschool at high speed.
“Heeseong, welcome!”
“Teacher! Hello!”
When I entered the preschool entrance, the teacher welcomed me.
It was the teacher wearing the blue apron I had seen at the admission briefing in February.
There was a name tag on her chest with ‘Cha Yu-ra’ written on it.
And she was one of the teachers who would take care of me for a year.
The other teacher’s name was ‘Park Jeong-a’, I think.
“Now, Heeseong. Let’s say goodbye to mommy and daddy.”
I turned around as Cha Yu-ra said and looked at the two people.
Mother bent her knees, and Father bent his waist.
“Heeseong, have fun and come back.”
“Yes, if it gets hard, tell the teacher. Daddy will come soon.”
Mother and Father spoke with smiles.
Their words always gave me strength.
I also raised the corners of my mouth and said.
“I’ll be back!”
The two of them waved until just before I entered the classroom.
When I entered the classroom, several children were sitting around.
They were playing with toys or holding dolls tightly.
I was also going to sit in a corner, but the teacher called me.
“Now, Heeseong, can you stay still for a moment?”
Saying that, she put something around my neck.
It was a necklace with my name written on it.
Since it was the first day, it seemed like they gave it so others wouldn’t get confused.
After receiving the necklace, I sat in a corner.
And I took out a chocolate bar from my pocket.
It was a snack that Mother had given me to share with friends, but.
‘There are no kids to share with.’
Then and now, I was clumsy at making friends.
‘Well, that got a little better thanks to my friend though.’
However, that didn’t mean my original personality went anywhere.
I should just eat the chocolate bar.
As I was munching on the chocolate bar and spacing out.
“Hello?”
I turned my head toward where the voice came from.
Among the many children who had entered the classroom in an instant, there was one child approaching me.
A cute child with straight black hair, droopy eyes, and wearing a pretty white dress.
It was the child I had encountered that day when I came to Hansul Preschool for a consultation visit.
“Hello.”
I greeted back the same way.
Since I didn’t have anything particular to say.
But after receiving my greeting, the child walked over with big steps and plopped down next to me.
And stretched out her hand.
As if asking for something.
I looked at the child with an absurd expression and said.
“…Do you want to eat this?”
“Yeah.”
‘How can she be so bold.’
I was flustered by the child’s sudden behavior, but since I still had several chocolate bars that Mother had prepared, I gave one to the child.
However, after receiving the chocolate bar, the child just stared at me blankly.
“What?”
“Open it for me.”
Haha.
Not even a rich family’s daughter, the child very boldly demanded that I unwrap the chocolate bar for her.
Once again dumbfounded, I said firmly.
“Go ask the teacher. I’m busy.”
“Open it for me. You play piano well.”
What does that have to do with this.
I shook my head once more and said.
“If I open that for you, what do I get?”
“Um…”
The child thought deeply.
The pose of supporting her chubby cheeks with her small hands was quite cute.
After thinking for a while, the child opened her mouth.
“Then I’ll be your friend!”
“Huh? Friend?”
“Yeah. You don’t have friends.”
“…”
Are Korean babies this good at poking at people’s wounds?
‘Friend, I miss you.’
I coughed a few times and said to the child.
“Kid, stop saying weird things.”
“You’re a kid too.”
“Ah.”
I kept forgetting since there was a real kid next to me.
I hurriedly continued speaking.
“Then, then how do you be friends?”
“Um… friends call each other by name. Mommy said so.”
“Name?”
“Yeah! But I won’t tell you.”
The child said with a grin.
It seemed like she was trying to look evil in her own way.
‘Child, the person in front of you might be older than your parents.’
I blinked and slightly raised my hand.
And pointed toward the child’s chest.
“Why? Did something get on my clothes?”
“No, your name is there.”
“Name? Huh, huh huh?”
All the children in the classroom had tags with their names and class written on them attached near their chests.
The same was true for the child in front of me.
The child looked back and forth between the name tag and me in a fluster, then started to whimper.
“Th, hiiing… th, this way I won’t make friends…”
I was also flustered.
She was about to cry in front of me suddenly, how could I not be flustered.
And since there were several pairs of eyes in this large classroom secretly looking at the child in front of me, I hurriedly comforted the child.
“D, don’t cry! I’ll tell you my name too! Here!”
I thrust my name tag in front of the child’s eyes.
The child sniffled, wiped away the tears that had slightly welled up, and slowly began to read my name tag.
“Yu…Yoon Hee-seong.”
“Heeseong. Call me Yoon Hee-seong.”
“Yeah. Here, this.”
“Right, Aeyeon. That’s a pretty name.”
We called each other by our names.
Aeyeon seemed satisfied and smiled brightly.
We were going to have conversations and ask each other about things we were curious about.
Why he liked piano, when he started playing, and so on.
But I decided to save my questions for Aeyeon for later.
The classroom where other children were gradually coming in was.
“Waaaaah!”
Getting noisier and noisier.
***
Jeong Mi-rae.
A woman who won an international piano competition at the age of 17.
She had proven her skills and traveled the world, but.
Crash-!
Unfortunately, she was in a car accident that made further performances difficult.
While working as a piano instructor, she met her benefactor.
‘Mi-rae, I’m going to open a preschool with the money I’ve saved up. Could you teach piano to the children?’
Jeong Mi-rae accepted that proposal and was currently teaching piano to children at Hansul Preschool.
While working at Hansul Preschool, Jeong Mi-rae had one small wish.
‘I want to nurture a talented child with my own hands. And help that child stand on the world stage…’
But even though it had already been 5 years since she started working at Hansul Preschool.
Jeong Mi-rae had never seen a child with talent.
That’s why she was contemplating whether to resign from Hansul Preschool.
‘One year, let me try just one more year.’
Jeong Mi-rae left the faculty office with that thought.
Today was the preschool entrance ceremony, so there were no classes.
But she needed to introduce herself to children with piano talent, so she hurried her steps.
‘Moran Class, Moran Class…’
She traced her memory and headed to the class where new students with piano talent had been gathered.
After a moment, Jeong Mi-rae arrived at a certain classroom.
Slide-
She opened the door to the classroom where the children would be waiting.
“Waaaaaaaah!!”
However, what reached her ears was the sound of children crying.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————