A Musical Genius Who Plays Memories - Chapter 68
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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 68. Mirror Within Mirror (2)
While Ajin was talking about his older brother, Hee-seong searched through his memories.
Since he had seen him from far away, he couldn’t remember the face very well.
Still, if there was one thing he remembered, it was that he looked extremely tired.
People could tell someone’s condition not just from their face, but also from their gait and movements.
The way his arms drooped and his feet dragged on the ground as if they didn’t want to leave it – anyone could see he was exhausted.
Hee-seong focused on Ajin’s words based on the memories he recalled.
“Um, so…”
Ajin continued speaking.
At his words, Hee-seong, Aeyeon, and Garam reduced their chatter and began focusing on what the child was saying.
Though he was a bit flustered by the sudden attention, Ajin knew well that there was no malicious intent in those gazes.
The child cleared his throat and continued speaking.
“I’ve had scary dreams too!”
“Do you remember the content?”
“I don’t remember it well…”
“So?”
“So my brother…”
He held me and went into the bathroom.
He stroked my head and spoke kindly, he said.
– Look, do you see that mirror over there?
There was a small mirror in the bathroom.
The mirror was small enough to be completely covered by Ajin’s unusually small body.
And there was a small mirror that Ajin’s brother always carried around.
He held up a mirror that was slightly larger than Ajin’s small fist.
– Look at this. How is it?
He made the bathroom mirror and the mirror in his hand face each other.
Ajin went from one person to two, then continued endlessly.
Surprised by the suddenly multiplied versions of himself in the mirror, the child said loudly.
-Brother, brother…!
At that reaction, Ajin’s brother burst into laughter.
He couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of his little brother who was 20 years younger.
At the sight of his pure, innocent brother, he couldn’t resist playing a prank.
-Ajin, look carefully at that mirror.
-Huh? The, the mirror…?
-That’s right. What do you see at the end there?
At his brother’s words, Ajin squinted and looked carefully at the mirror.
But all he could see was himself, smaller than an ant.
“I can’t see anything…”
Ajin muttered quietly.
That became the signal.
-Boo!!
Ajin’s brother startled Ajin with a loud voice.
At that voice, Ajin burst into tears.
His heart pounded from being surprised by his brother’s sudden prank.
-Kahahahaha!
But unlike Ajin’s startled heart, Ajin’s brother was holding his stomach and laughing loudly.
Ajin, who had grown to dislike such a brother, hit him with fists weaker than melted cotton candy.
Thump! Thud!
At the punches that would probably make cute sound effects if this were a game, Ajin’s brother smiled and said.
-Sorry, sorry.
He calmed his little brother down.
-I’ll teach you properly this time.
He extended his finger and brought it to the bathroom mirror.
At the tip of his finger was Ajin’s face, made incredibly small.
Behind it were countless other children.
-This isn’t something scary.
His voice was gentle.
At that very calm voice, Ajin found himself focusing without realizing it.
His brother continued speaking.
“So? So!”
Garam said with an expectant voice.
But perhaps they were too absorbed in the interesting story to pay attention to their surroundings.
“What are you all doing?”
They didn’t notice Cha Yu-ra approaching nearby.
“Gasp…!”
“Ah.”
“Run away!”
But there was nowhere for the children to go.
They were simply destined to be caught and have to attend class.
However, one child had gone off to another world.
‘What did he say?’
Hee-seong became curious about that and thought he had to hear it somehow.
However, what the child hoped for didn’t happen.
Even the heavens were indifferent.
“Hee-seong, let’s leave early today.”
“What? Why?!”
Time passed and they were on their way to music class.
At Park Jeong-a’s sudden words, Hee-seong could only repeat the word ‘why?’
Hee-seong heard those words while lining up for piano class.
The child was grinning, thinking he would ask Ajin what the story was about during snack time after class.
But that thought vanished like bubbles in an instant.
Just as he was about to receive the bag Park Jeong-a handed him with a dejected expression.
“Your father got hurt.”
“What?!?”
At the unexpected news, Hee-seong unconsciously dropped his bag.
The child couldn’t believe that his father, who had been bright just this morning, had suddenly been in an accident.
‘Did something happen while he was doing secondhand trading?’
That was all he could think of.
Since he was just staying at home, there shouldn’t have been any reason for an accident.
Hee-seong thought they were probably leaving early now because Mother couldn’t come at the original pickup time.
“Shall we go?”
“Yes…”
Hee-seong took Park Jeong-a’s hand and left the Moran Class.
He waved weakly to the disappointed children as he left.
At the entrance they reached.
‘Huh?’
Mother was standing there with an absurd expression.
***
At the hospital we reached
I was making the exact same expression as Mother.
“Haha.”
Father scratched his head and laughed.
His leg was wrapped in a solid cast.
As if he knew the current situation itself was strange, he desperately avoided Mother’s gaze.
Mother let out a long sigh before speaking.
“So, you went to do a secondhand transaction and the other party raised the price?”
“Yeah….”
“So you tried to move to another spot to talk a bit more and decide?”
“Mm-hmm….”
“But there happened to be stairs that you didn’t see and you rolled down them?”
“….”
“Why don’t you say something?”
Father seemed to have nothing to say and just cleared his throat awkwardly.
I think I would have nothing to say either.
To think that causing such trouble resulted in a cracked bone.
It was something I couldn’t really blame him for.
“No!”
“What.”
“I mean…. That student looked pitiful….”
“Student? At that hour?”
“Yeah. I think he was a student working part-time. He said his family’s financial situation was difficult.”
“What was he trying to sell?”
“He was trying to sell a portable master keyboard. A 25-key one.”
“We already have a master keyboard at home. An 88-key one.”
“I wanted to work outside….”
With those words, Father got scolded again.
Whatever Father bought wasn’t my concern, but I was more curious about exactly what had happened.
I calmed Mother down for a moment and asked Father.
“Dad! But why did that person raise the price?”
“Yeah, that is a bit curious.”
“Well, you see.”
Father paused for a moment before continuing.
“The keyboard must have been really precious to him.”
“Why?”
“He was holding it really preciously like a baby.”
I could understand that feeling too.
If it was 25 keys, it would be small in size.
If it was small enough to fit in your arms, I’d want to hug it and sleep with it every night too.
Father continued speaking.
“But he said his younger sibling’s birthday is coming up soon, and he wanted to give them a precious gift after a long time.”
“A gift?”
“Yeah. He wanted to buy new clothes for them.”
“…They’re an adult, right?”
“Yeah.”
Mother seemed to realize something and sighed quietly.
I realized it too.
Saying he wanted to give his sibling a birthday gift “after a long time” meant he hadn’t been able to give one for a long time.
It was telling us that his family’s financial situation wasn’t good.
I knew that feeling very well.
When you’re young, there’s nothing better than receiving gifts.
‘Selling something he likes for his sibling….’
He seemed like a pretty good older brother.
Judging by how he was selling something precious.
That student probably had dreams in music.
Even if it wasn’t a dream, that was fine.
Even if it was just a hobby, that was fine.
Whatever it was, the fact that he sold something precious to him couldn’t be erased.
‘I’m making useless assumptions again.’
But somehow I kept worrying about it.
How should I put it.
Like the lyrics that say sad premonitions are never wrong.
That’s how I felt.
“Are you going to be hospitalized?”
“No, it’s just a slight crack so outpatient treatment will be fine.”
“Really? Then, shall we go home?”
“Ah, wait a minute.”
Father stopped Mother’s words.
Mother’s eyebrows rose slightly as if asking whether he still had more to say.
Father smiled sheepishly and said.
“I need to make that transaction.”
“This man, really.”
Why does someone who’s so cool when composing become such a mess when it comes to daily life?
I have no idea.
Sigh.
***
“He’s here?”
After leaving the hospital and traveling by car, we arrived at a cafe.
Father looked at the memo in his hand and said.
“Hmm, this is the right place.”
I stood on my tiptoes and looked at the business card Father was holding.
An address was written on it.
‘Usually don’t people give phone numbers?’
In the dramas Mother watches, when there’s an accident, they ask for phone numbers.
But to think he didn’t give a phone number and gave a shop address instead was incomprehensible.
It seemed Mother felt the same way.
“Isn’t that a stage?”
“A stage?”
“Yeah. Look over there! It’s small though.”
At Mother’s words, my and Father’s gazes naturally turned toward the inside of the shop.
As Mother said, there was a small stage.
It was more like an area marked for decoration than an actual stage.
You could barely tell it was a stage because there was a piano next to it.
“I’ll go in for a moment.”
“Mom! I want to go too!”
“Should we? Let’s look around inside.”
“What about me?”
“You wait here. It’s your punishment.”
“Sob.”
Father pretended to be pitiful, though it didn’t work.
Mother just scoffed at his crying and got up from her seat.
Father kept saying he wanted to go too until the very end, but he didn’t get out of the car.
He probably knew he’d get in trouble again if he did.
“Alright, let’s go.”
“Yes!”
“Oh my, it’s not opening time yet?”
“Let’s try opening it anyway!”
Mother pushed the door with force.
Ding-a-ling.
The door slid open smoothly with a cheerful bell sound.
However, there was no one inside the store.
Perhaps they were preparing for business – Mother and I began looking around the store.
The store was spacious.
“Wow….”
Mother and I exclaimed in admiration at the same time.
Inside the store, there were countless record albums.
Opposite the stage-like area we had seen from outside, there were plenty of tables.
It looked like a cafe combined with a stage.
“It looks similar to the place where Mother sang last time.”
“Ah, the Live House? You’re right. It does look similar like Hee-seong said.”
Mother and I continued looking around the store until we reached the counter.
I stood on my tiptoes to look over the counter and noticed there was a small bell.
“Mother, there’s a bell here.”
“Should we press this?”
“I think so!”
Mother pressed the bell a couple of times.
But when she didn’t sense anyone coming, she pressed it once more.
Ding-a-ling.
Crash!
We heard the sound of someone rushing over.
“Oh, welcome!”
A very young-looking Young Man appeared.
From the apron he was wearing, he seemed to be an employee of this place.
“Um, could you wait just a moment? We’re not ready yet….”
“Ah, we came here for a used goods transaction.”
“Oh, oh! I’m so sorry!”
“It’s my Husband who made the mistake.”
Mother and the Young Man continued their conversation.
But I kept staring at the Young Man’s face.
‘Why, why? He looks familiar…?’
I ran quickly to the Store Entrance.
And I looked at the Young Man.
His face became blurry.
But that’s exactly why I could tell.
I had seen this person before.
I could be more certain if I squinted my eyes.
“Ajin’s Older Brother…?”
That Young Man was Ajin’s Older Brother.
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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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