A Musical Genius Who Plays Memories - Chapter 73

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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 73. Dream (1)

 

“Oh, right. Can I upload this performance video to social media? I want to use it for promotional purposes…”

 

As time grew later and the atmosphere became more relaxed, Kim Sang-jin spoke up.

 

At his words, Mother and Father showed somewhat interested reactions.

 

‘What! When did he film that!’

 

On his phone was a recorded video.

 

Mother singing and Shin Seong-jin playing guitar.

 

And it captured me and Aeyeon playing piano.

 

That wasn’t all there was.

 

There was also a video of Garam singing alone after me and Aeyeon.

 

There was Shin Seong-jin’s solo stage, and Father and Mother’s stage too.

 

There was also a video of Ajin playing classical music.

 

‘Mine and Aeyeon’s performance was the starting point.’

 

That was literally true.

 

Garam, who was deeply moved by mine and Aeyeon’s performance, said he wanted to sing alone.

 

Since everyone there knew each other, he wasn’t embarrassed and sang until his voice was hoarse.

 

‘He sang so excitedly and then immediately got exhausted, hehe.’

 

Thinking of him being tired in Grandfather Manbok’s arms still made me laugh.

 

Still, there was something regrettable.

 

I wanted to hear Grandfather Manbok’s performance too, but it was a bit disappointing that I couldn’t.

 

In the first place, Grandfather didn’t have his violin, and he had his personal beliefs, so it couldn’t be helped.

 

‘Was it because of that promise with that snake or whatever?’

 

I had such thoughts while focusing once again on the video Kim Sang-jin had filmed.

 

Looking at it now, it was filmed quite well.

 

There was no shaking, and the quality was clear too.

 

He seemed to have some talent for filming videos.

 

“You film well. I think it would be fine to upload this?”

 

“I don’t mind.”

 

“Me neither… Oh, but could you cover the children’s faces?”

 

“Thank you! I’ll cover the children’s faces cutely.”

 

He said that and began cleaning up.

 

Both adults and children helped with the cleanup.

 

After some time passed like that, the atmosphere became one of dispersing.

 

“Well then, shall we get going! Thank you so much for today.”

 

“Not at all! We had fun too!”

 

“I’ll come visit often.”

 

“Could you send me that video? I want to see the kids…”

 

“Ah, me too!”

 

“I’d like to request it too.”

 

“Of course! Just a moment!”

 

The adults took some time to exchange contact information.

 

Meanwhile, we little kids… were also talking.

 

“Wow! Today was fun.”

 

“Right…”

 

“I want to play piano.”

 

“It was fun. Everyone did well.”

 

I spoke sincerely.

 

The children really worked hard at what they had to do.

 

Aeyeon, who played piano with me, did well, and so did Garam, who livened up the atmosphere, and Ajin, who played calmly.

 

Everyone worked hard at what they could do.

 

And I won’t forget this time.

 

“Let’s do it again tomorrow!”

 

“That won’t work?”

 

“Why! Why won’t it work!”

 

“Today uncle came to perform…”

 

“Gasp…!”

 

Garam despaired at that fact.

 

The sight of him slumping to the floor was quite funny.

 

This kind of stage should be enjoyed occasionally.

 

If you enjoy it too often, you get tired of it.

 

“Still, we have to prepare for a different stage.”

 

“A different stage?”

 

“We have to prepare for the competition. We’ll have to practice a lot from now on, you know?”

 

“Ah.”

 

“Right…”

 

“It’ll be fun.”

 

The last words were spoken by Aeyeon.

 

And Garam and Ajin looked at Aeyeon with expressions that said she was strange.

 

“Have you decided on the pieces you’ll practice?”

 

Probably most of the children would have already chosen the pieces they wanted to perform.

 

And the same was true for the children in front of me.

 

“Yeah! I chose one.”

 

“Me too…”

 

“Not yet.”

 

Garam and Ajin seemed to have already chosen.

 

But Aeyeon apparently hadn’t.

 

She still hadn’t chosen her piece.

 

I became a bit curious about why that was.

 

“Wasn’t there a piece you wanted to play?”

 

“Yeah, among the ones Young Teacher played.”

 

“This is a big problem.”

 

“What about you, Hee-seong?”

 

“I’m going to compose.”

 

At my very calm voice, the children just nodded.

 

Well, it was about time for the children to get used to it.

 

These were children who had directly performed pieces I composed.

 

Aeyeon showed no reaction, as if she had expected my answer.

 

I could only tell that she was just pondering.

 

“Should I try composing too?”

 

The child said.

 

While there was probably no bad intention in that answer, I somehow received it a bit differently.

 

An answer full of confidence that she could do it too.

 

Aeyeon would probably be able to compose.

 

But I had something to worry about.

 

‘What if she gets humiliated at the competition.’

 

Aeyeon certainly had outstanding talent for piano.

 

She had good sense too.

 

But composition was a different story.

 

There wasn’t much time left now.

 

The competition would start next month.

 

“Um, would that be okay?”

 

“No. So I’m just going to practice anything.”

 

Aeyeon’s words bothered me a little.

 

Anything.

 

With this kind of mindset, one could never achieve good results in a competition.

 

That’s why I wanted Aeyeon to do what she wanted to do.

 

If it was something I could help with.

 

“Aeyeon, don’t just do anything – try to find something you want to do.”

 

“Then, can I play something Heeseong composed?”

 

“…Huh?”

 

This was a completely unexpected answer.

 

Aeyeon would also play a piece I composed?

 

My pride as composer Yoon Hee-seong wouldn’t easily allow it.

 

And I also knew it wouldn’t have a good influence on Aeyeon.

 

So I spoke firmly.

 

“That won’t work.”

 

“Why?”

 

“What makes you think I can compose music? And even if I did compose something, it wouldn’t be good for you, Aeyeon.”

 

“Why?”

 

Aeyeon just repeated the typical response of a 5-year-old.

 

Most people would find it frustrating, but I didn’t.

 

I was confident I could convince the child with one sentence.

 

“Aeyeon, you need to practice. That would be more helpful for you.”

 

“Helpful?”

 

“Would you have time to practice my piece? When I don’t even know when it would be finished?”

 

“Hmm…”

 

Aeyeon pondered my words for quite a while.

 

Even at 5 years old, she was a child who knew how to express her own opinions.

 

So Aeyeon would have understood what I meant.

 

“Okay…”

 

“Still, Aeyeon, you’ll be able to do well with any piece.”

 

“Yeah!”

 

I patted the head of Aeyeon, who answered brightly.

 

As if that felt good too, Aeyeon gently closed her eyes.

 

It felt somewhat like petting a cat.

 

“Me too!”

 

“Me too…!”

 

As if they were envious, Garam and Ajin showed me the tops of their heads.

 

Why, why are you doing that!

 

I had to pat the children’s heads until my hands were on fire.

 

***

 

“Why can’t you find anyone!”

 

Kim Eon-seung was getting scolded by his boss again today.

 

He had been unable to carry out his boss’s order to find talent for weeks, no, months now.

 

But there was no outstanding talent to be found.

 

So far, he had only found one person.

 

‘Excluding the child I already found… there is one more.’

 

Kim Eon-seung still couldn’t forget the performance he had seen and heard at the exhibition hall.

 

But he didn’t want to mention it.

 

He knew very well what kind of company Lumos was.

 

And if it was Hwang Su-jin’s nephew, he especially didn’t want him to come to a place like this.

 

This was something Hwang Su-jin didn’t know about.

 

“…I’m sorry.”

 

“Instead of being sorry, hurry up and find someone!”

 

“Understood.”

 

He said that and left his seat.

 

With a deep sigh, his body sank into the chair.

 

If no one disturbed him, he felt like he could fall asleep just like that.

 

“Hah…”

 

But as an office worker, he didn’t have the luxury of leaving work freely.

 

It was already dark outside.

 

The clock was pointing to 11 o’clock.

 

After closing his eyes for about 30 seconds like that, he really felt like he might fall asleep.

 

“…No, I need to work.”

 

In a situation where an all-night shift was already confirmed, there was nothing he could do.

 

So he decided to go to the convenience store to get the dinner he hadn’t eaten and wake himself up.

 

“The rice balls… are all sold out.”

 

Kim Eon-seung, who bought cup noodles and chicken breast, took a spot in front of the microwave and began waiting.

 

During these 3 minutes, there wasn’t much for him to do.

 

Just turn on his phone and quickly scroll through videos.

 

‘Hah… This isn’t interesting either.’

 

As he kept moving only his thumb like that, one video caught his eye.

 

It was footage of people performing.

 

A performance on a small stage.

 

“Huh…?”

 

He was soon able to find something strange.

 

A woman singing and a man playing guitar.

 

And two children playing piano.

 

Out of pure curiosity, he began looking at all the posts from the person who uploaded the video.

 

Originally they had only posted content promoting the cafe, but not now.

 

As if it was just uploaded, there weren’t many ‘likes’ yet.

 

“Children on stage…?”

 

He focused on that.

 

Children were on stage singing and playing piano.

 

But he couldn’t see their faces.

 

They were covered with cute emoticons.

 

“Manager Kim! What are you doing there!”

 

Then he heard a voice calling him.

 

Kim Eon-seung instinctively covered his phone.

 

When he turned his head, there was his boss who had been scolding him just moments ago.

 

As if he had just come out of the convenience store, he was also holding a bag.

 

“Hey? Is this dinner? Eat something healthy!”

 

“This is enough for me.”

 

“Tsk tsk. Well, did you find anything?”

 

“Not yet…”

 

But bad things always happened regardless of intention.

 

-Tada♪

 

Music started playing from his face-down phone.

 

There was no way his boss wouldn’t hear that sound.

 

“What’s that sound?”

 

“Um, I was listening to music.”

 

“Really? Let me see too.”

 

He said that while trying to take Kim Eon-seung’s phone.

 

But Kim Eon-seung couldn’t stop that hand.

 

He didn’t know what might happen.

 

He could get scolded, or in the worst case, face personal retaliation.

 

That’s how petty Kim Eon-seung’s boss was.

 

“Customer!”

 

Just then, someone called out loudly.

 

Looking back, the part-time worker was holding a card.

 

“What? You should have said something if they left it behind!”

 

“Yes? That’s why I brought it…”

 

“Tsk!”

 

The boss snatched the card from the part-time worker’s hand.

 

The annoyed part-time worker could be heard muttering something as they returned to the counter.

 

It was definitely a curse.

 

“Well then, I’ll be going. Hurry up and find it. The higher-ups are pressuring us.”

 

“…Understood.”

 

The boss patted Kim Eon-seung’s shoulder a couple of times and left.

 

During that brief conversation, Kim Eon-seung found himself breaking out in a cold sweat.

 

Despite the slightly chilly night weather, his body was hot.

 

After confirming his boss had left, Kim Eon-seung began watching the video again.

 

The child’s performance he had seen at the expo suddenly came to mind.

 

“Did our country always have this many talented people?”

 

He muttered that while starting to eat his cup noodles.

 

The cup noodles had already gotten soggy.

 

***

 

I thought while drinking warm milk.

 

Going through my current situation step by step, considering everything from the past.

 

“I’m a composer.”

 

Someone who finds happiness through music and shares that happiness with others.

 

Was I like that in the past?

 

I could say no with certainty.

 

In the past, I was someone who was forced to create music by others.

 

“That’s not being a composer.”

 

I was nothing more than a composition slave, a biological machine that played piano.

 

But my current life was completely different.

 

I liked my current life.

 

I was forgetting the regrettable things from the past and earnestly enjoying music.

 

“Still, I can’t be certain yet.”

 

I lightly touched the piano.

 

It seemed like I could hear the notes even without pressing the keys.

 

That’s how inseparable the piano was from me.

 

No, there would be no Yoon Hee-seong without music.

 

“Good. I have inspiration. I have motifs too.”

 

I quietly began to steady my breathing.

 

My body felt drowsy, which felt good.

 

Ding-♬

 

I struck a piano key.

 

I began to feel this sound and vibration for a long time.

 

Good.

 

Now let’s do this.

 

It was time to start composing again.

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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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