A Musical Genius Who Plays Memories - Chapter 67

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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 67. Mirror Within Mirror (1)

 

I organized my current situation.

 

Things that should be called tasks.

 

First and foremost, completing Blue Night.

 

It was a song I composed to get that red synthesizer.

 

Since I always composed with sincerity, it didn’t matter if I couldn’t get the synthesizer.

 

Last night, I completed the lyrics together with Aunt Sujin and Hwang Su-yeol.

 

The thought that Mother would sing it made me focus without realizing it.

 

When we finished the lyrics, both their faces were full of smiles.

 

‘Hmm, there’s never been a comedy like this.’

 

Aunt told me that the song would probably be completed soon.

 

She also said to come record with Mother when the time comes.

 

Recording, that seemed like it would be fun.

 

I had seen other singers recording on NewTube before.

 

I figured there was probably a recording studio somewhere in Hwang Su-yeol’s company too.

 

‘Next is…’

 

Composition.

 

I had to compose a piece to perform at the Baek Music Competition at the end of June.

 

I had promised the principal, and personally wanted to do it too.

 

But a problem arose.

 

‘Both are tight!’

 

Unfortunately, both were concentrated at the end of June.

 

Blue Night would be finished soon, but it wasn’t a song for the competition.

 

If I hesitated even a little, I felt like I’d miss both, making me anxious.

 

‘Let’s calm down.’

 

With work overlapping like this, I became mentally anxious.

 

Fortunately, I had a solution.

 

“Let’s finish one first.”

 

It would be possible if I finished the competition piece as quickly as possible.

 

That way, I’d have plenty of time to practice too.

 

That’s why I was sitting in front of the piano right now.

 

‘Father seems busy.’

 

I wanted to compose in Father’s studio, but I couldn’t.

 

It seemed like he had work to do.

 

Since he firmly said no, I didn’t want to be stubborn about it.

 

Working alone in my room like this wasn’t bad either.

 

Pitter-patter.

 

It was even raining outside.

 

The atmosphere was good, and it was a perfect night for composing.

 

“Should I just try writing randomly?”

 

I moved my fingers wildly.

 

I began expressing everything I could see.

 

The rain falling from the sky.

 

The dolls scattered on the bed.

 

I started describing the surrounding scenery randomly.

 

Ding-♪

 

The piano’s sound seemed lost, not knowing where to go.

 

‘Tsk…’

 

I had expected this.

 

Good music couldn’t come from just moving fingers without any thought.

 

Composition really wasn’t easy.

 

My fingers had lost their way and were now resting on my thighs.

 

“Ughhhh…”

 

I rubbed my face with my palms and made an incomprehensible sound.

 

The night was deepening.

 

No matter what I tried from here, it didn’t seem like a good song would come out.

 

I got up from my seat and threw myself onto the bed.

 

Let me close my eyes for a moment and think.

 

“Mmm…”

 

Whether my body was tired, as soon as I entrusted myself to the bed, my eyelids became heavy.

 

My consciousness gradually fell.

 

***

 

…?

 

It was a familiar scene.

 

Not the present, but the past.

 

There was a building made of wood and stone, not concrete, in front of me.

 

That’s how I could tell.

 

This is a dream.

 

It was so vivid that for a moment I thought I had come back to the past again.

 

A terribly frightening nightmare was waiting before my eyes.

 

People sometimes say they have vivid dreams they can’t wake up from.

 

It seems my current situation is like that.

 

“…Damn.”

 

So I decided to willingly walk along the path.

 

To find out what meaning this dream held.

 

-Big brother!

 

I had three younger siblings.

 

I couldn’t really remember their names.

 

When I began to realize something, they had disappeared from my hands.

 

I wanted to hold my siblings’ hands, but I couldn’t, so I could only cry out loud.

 

Boom-!!

 

That sound buried everything.

 

The war cry took away everything I had.

 

Family, home, everything disappeared.

 

All I had left was Mother.

 

Actually, I wasn’t sure if she was my real mother.

 

At some point, I just called her Mother.

 

Piano and Bar.

 

I worked there.

 

Since I did hard work from a young age, it was natural that calluses formed on my hands.

 

– Hey kid! Try singing a song!

 

After the war ended, people who had gained some peace of mind said such things to me.

 

At first I was scared, but I soon got used to it.

 

The sight of them throwing their tired bodies into cold alcohol was quite a wonderful scene to me.

 

Drawn by the bustling sounds, one day a pianist settled in the bar.

 

He was a wandering pianist.

 

His performance comforted people’s hearts.

 

Day after day.

 

His performance continued, and before I knew it, a year had passed.

 

I also liked watching him.

 

Listening to his music from beside him, I found myself dancing without realizing it.

 

– Haha! Boy, do you like dancing more than singing?

 

– Yes!

 

The adults burst into laughter at my words.

 

I laughed too.

 

As if cheering me on as I danced enthusiastically, the wandering pianist’s performance grew more and more passionate.

 

We shook off our fatigue like that every night.

 

Eating potatoes filled with beautiful sunlight, we lived each day joyfully.

 

But that was the last time.

 

My new home was destroyed.

 

– No!!!

 

Mother screamed.

 

Her voice was still so clear that the more I imagined it, the more my fingers ached.

 

“Ugh…!”

 

A parade of painful memories continued.

 

It was so vivid.

 

It was a terrifyingly vivid dream.

 

‘This is a dream! This is a dream…’

 

Even repeating it to myself, it felt like reality.

 

It was so painful.

 

It felt like another reality.

 

But I couldn’t run away.

 

I could only listen.

 

I gripped my fingers tightly and moved forward once again.

 

– Ah, aah!!

 

Her voice was full of pain.

 

There was nowhere for the broken wretch who had lost everything to go.

 

The small rural village I had lived in at that time was a place created by gathering refugees.

 

Centered around Mother’s tavern.

 

But there were people who envied and resented that.

 

Some stupid fool who thought he should be the center.

 

That bastard set fire to Mother’s tavern.

 

In the process, she was severely injured, and the tavern completely collapsed.

 

– My child…

 

Mother said that.

 

After saying those words, we left the village.

 

We continued a truly arduous journey, crossing mountains and rivers.

 

That’s how we arrived at a certain tavern.

 

It was warm.

 

Mother’s touch as she washed me and the meal I ate after so long truly warmed my stomach.

 

And that was my last warmth.

 

– Move right now!!

 

My vision became dizzy at the sound of people shouting.

 

People gambling.

 

Crazy bastards lusting after women.

 

Even someone playing piano among them.

 

In a place that deserved to be called a cesspit, Mother smiled for me every night.

 

And she said.

 

– My child, enjoy the music.

 

But I wanted to say.

 

That I couldn’t hear the music because of people’s voices.

 

That I couldn’t dance either.

 

I wanted to say that this place was too cold.

 

But because of the tears flowing down her cheeks and the bruises scattered here and there, I could only say I understood.

 

– My son…

 

Mother’s voice grew faint.

 

At the same time.

 

“Son!”

 

Mother’s voice followed as well.

 

I opened my eyes.

 

I realized my nose was stuffy and the corners of my eyes were wet.

 

Before I knew it, Mother’s face was in front of me.

 

For a moment, the two people overlapped.

 

“Son, are you hurt somewhere?”

 

She gently wiped away my flowing tears.

 

I just quietly hugged her tight.

 

It was something I normally wouldn’t do out of embarrassment, but for some reason I wanted to do it now.

 

At my sudden action, Mother said in a surprised voice.

 

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

 

“No.”

 

“Did you have a scary dream?”

 

I pondered a bit about how to answer her words.

 

If it was a nightmare, then it was a nightmare.

 

“Mm… no…”

 

I just said that.

 

No other words came to mind anyway.

 

Right now, I thought it would be good to just stay like this.

 

***

 

‘Aaaagh!’

 

I shuddered with embarrassment from the morning.

 

‘Why did I do that? Why did I do such a thing!!’

 

Even though I did it half-asleep, doing something I normally wouldn’t do made me feel like my hands and feet would turn into a scalded octopus.

 

Unaware of my embarrassment, Mother was constantly bragging to Father.

 

“This morning Hee-seong hugged me tight, you know? Jealous? You’re dying of jealousy, aren’t you?”

 

“Ugh…! I should have gone! Of all times to lose at rock-paper-scissors…!”

 

“Go study more, you loser.”

 

“Aaaagh! Hee-seong, hug Father too!”

 

“That’s a bit…”

 

“Ahahahahaha!”

 

Our household was peaceful this morning too.

 

But on the contrary, my heart was not at ease.

 

‘The nightmare was too vivid…’

 

It was vivid enough to believe I had really returned to the past.

 

Guilt and pain pounded at my chest.

 

When I lightly rubbed my chest, Father said.

 

“Hee-seong, are you hurt somewhere?”

 

At his question, I shook my head slightly.

 

There was no need to talk about unpleasant things.

 

I opened my mouth to change the subject.

 

“What are you going to do today, Father?”

 

“Dad? Dad’s going to do potato later.”

 

“Potato?”

 

“Oh, I mean secondhand trading. Someone’s selling good equipment cheap, so I’m going to buy it.”

 

“Again? What is it this time!”

 

Because of my question, Father ended up getting scolded by Mother.

 

But since I wasn’t the one getting scolded, I didn’t feel particularly bad about it.

 

It seemed like he got caught trying to buy something secretly again, so it was justified self-defense.

 

After eating a simple breakfast like that, I headed to preschool again today.

 

“Hee-seong! Hee-seong! Good morning!”

 

“Good morning.”

 

“Hehe…! Hee-seong…!”

 

I simply waved my hand to respond to the children’s greetings.

 

The children’s greetings somehow drained my energy without me realizing it.

 

Perhaps because I had a nightmare, my body felt particularly weak today.

 

The children looked at me strangely seeing me like this.

 

“Hee-seong, are you sick somewhere?”

 

Aeyeon spoke first.

 

Starting with that question, the other children began asking too.

 

I was flustered by the barrage of questions that followed.

 

“Did you take medicine?! Let’s go to the nurse’s office first!”

 

“Right…! Get on my back…!”

 

“No. Here, climb on top of me.”

 

“Oh!! I want to do it too!”

 

Wait, why are all three of them telling me to get on their backs…

 

I rubbed my increasingly aching head and stopped the children.

 

As expected, there was never a peaceful day at Hanseol Preschool.

 

Since the children looked disappointed, I briefly explained.

 

“I had a nightmare. I’m not sick.”

 

“Night…mare?”

 

“It means he had a scary dream.”

 

“Aha?! Thanks, Aeyeon!”

 

At Garam’s praise, Aeyeon smiled slightly and blushed.

 

Indeed, praise can make even an ice princess smile.

 

The children began talking among themselves about nightmares.

 

“I also had a scary dream recently.”

 

“What was it, what was it??”

 

“A giant tomato was trying to get into my mouth.”

 

Ugh.

 

That’s pretty horrifying, isn’t it?

 

Everyone grimaced at Aeyeon’s words.

 

Just imagining it seemed disgusting and painful, making Garam shudder.

 

Garam also talked about a nightmare he had.

 

“I recently dreamed that Grandfather turned into a violin.”

 

Grandfather Manbok turned into a violin…?

 

This was quite grotesque.

 

It might become a trauma for Garam.

 

“It was nice playing music together with Grandfather!”

 

“…? Weren’t you scared…?”

 

“Nope!”

 

When Garam smiled brightly, the children including myself were left speechless.

 

Garam just made an innocent expression.

 

No one could say anything.

 

‘Come to think of it, that kid also apologized recently, didn’t he?’

 

A child named Min-jun, who had hurt Garam’s feelings by speaking badly about Grandfather Manbok, apologized to Garam.

 

– Sorry…

 

– It’s okay!

 

Making his long contemplation seem pointless, Garam just smiled brightly and answered.

 

I saw it then.

 

Min-jun’s cheeks, redder than strawberries in midwinter.

 

And his dazed expression as if he’d been hit in the head with a rock.

 

In other words, it was the expression of someone who fell in love at first sight.

 

‘This should be quite interesting?’

 

I was someone far removed from romance anyway.

 

Unless there was someone around who liked me, I had no such thoughts.

 

And besides, I was mentally a bit older to begin with.

 

‘So I’ll probably live alone and die alone in this life too.’

 

Thinking of Min-jun’s expression made me chuckle without realizing it.

 

When I chuckled again, the children seemed relieved and began talking about the anime that aired yesterday.

 

But Ajin was different.

 

He had an expression of deep contemplation.

 

I’d rarely seen Ajin worry about something, so I found myself focusing on him without realizing it.

 

“My big brother can get rid of nightmares.”

 

“Huh?”

 

What kind of nonsense is that.

 

Ajin’s words piqued my interest a little.

—————
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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