A Musical Genius Who Plays Memories - Chapter 84

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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 84. Butterfly (4)

A warm yet raw sound could be heard.

It matched quite well with the piece she was about to perform.

Chopin’s Minute Waltz.

As the title of the piece suggests, this piece was inspired by a puppy.

Which meant.

Ta-ra-ra-ran-♩

The tempo was very fast.

A puppy was not a creature that stayed still, and the piano expressing such a creature was never slow either.

As soon as Aeyeon’s right hand began, it started playing rapidly.

Like a puppy chasing a butterfly, Aeyeon’s keys never stopped.

From top to bottom, from bottom to top.

There was no sign of stopping.

But what was truly remarkable was something else.

Speed aside, Aeyeon was playing as if singing a children’s song.

She was gently swaying her body, feeling the music.

It felt as if she herself had become a puppy.

Aeyeon was enjoying that feeling while playing with all her might.

‘This is fun!’

Tension and anxiety had long since disappeared.

As soon as she pressed the keys, the reactions she had practiced all this time automatically came out.

Was Heeseong truly surprised?

Aeyeon thought he probably was surprised.

Because this piece was difficult even for elementary school students to play.

An older girl at the same academy who was playing this piece had whined to the teacher because it was too hard.

At that time, Aeyeon had this thought.

‘If I play this piece, wouldn’t Heeseong be surprised?’

At first, she focused on practice with that thought in mind.

But the more she played, the less she wanted to surprise Heeseong.

Instead, she developed an obsession to complete this piece.

To be honest, it was a difficult piece for Aeyeon too.

Her fingers were small, and her arms were short.

Therefore, it wasn’t easy to play a piece that constantly crossed octaves.

Moreover, the playing speed was fast too.

But Aeyeon had accomplished it.

From her small hands flowed sounds like rolling pearls.

Like a puppy frolicking in a meadow, Aeyeon’s performance flowed in the same way.

‘Ah, already!’

The puppy that had been frolicking was now lying down to catch its breath.

At the same time, Aeyeon’s performance was also taking a rest.

Slowly, lyrical playing continued.

‘I practiced this part a lot…!’

Aeyeon began to play with concentration.

She started swaying her body and focusing her mind on her small fingertips.

Whenever Aeyeon played this part, she always had the same thought.

‘What is the puppy doing?’

The part that crossed octaves with rapid playing was where the puppy was frolicking.

But the section she was playing now was a brief resting part.

This part that was fast but felt somewhat leisurely.

Aeyeon wondered what the puppy was doing in this part.

She was curious about what it was looking at and listening to while resting.

No matter how much she played, that part was the hardest to understand.

‘Hmm…!’

One day while playing, Aeyeon had this thought.

Would a puppy look at a phone too?

It was a childlike thought.

If a puppy also looked at phones.

Wouldn’t it watch videos of times spent with friends, just like her?

Aeyeon tapped the piano keys while recalling her performance with Heeseong at that small cafe.

– Oh! Aeyeon’s playing has gotten better!

The academy teacher had said that, and Aeyeon’s performance had improved a little more.

A brief rest. Aeyeon was catching her breath once more at this moment.

It wasn’t breathing to relieve tension.

It was breathing to gain momentum once again.

‘Once more!’

Aeyeon moved her fingers and.

Ting-!

A sound that shouldn’t be heard in the performance rang out.

Aeyeon’s fingertips trembled.

It was a small discord.

Like black paint spilling on a perfect picture, Aeyeon’s small mistake was clearly audible.

Everyone in the competition venue heard that sound and thought simultaneously.

‘Ah.’

It was an exclamation mixed with regret.

The child’s performance skill was outstanding.

Everyone thought her skill was superior to any other child they had heard so far.

All the children in the preschool division had made mistakes, big or small.

But Aeyeon had not.

She had played the fast piece without mistakes, and should have been able to continue to the end like that.

Nevertheless, a child was still a child.

Aeyeon, whose tension had relaxed, ended up making a mistake.

“Ugh…!”

It was a small sigh that no one could hear.

But she couldn’t stop the performance.

‘I have to do it…!’

Aeyeon moved her fingers with that thought.

The mistake had already been made.

It couldn’t be undone.

So to do what she could, Aeyeon moved her hands even more diligently.

There was no time for tears to fall.

Tan- ta-da-da-da-dan-♬

She moved her left hand simply.

It was the meadow where the puppy ran around.

Tickling grass brushed against ankles, stable like warm sunlight.

Her right hand was the puppy.

A puppy that had discovered a fascinating world.

It was running around freely as always.

But it couldn’t run around forever.

It had already played a lot.

It had rested briefly too.

In other words, it was time for it to end.

Ding-

The child’s performance came to an end.

And at the same time.

Clap clap clap!

People’s applause poured out.

But the child wasn’t happy.

He had let his guard down and made a mistake.

A very critical mistake at that.

Aeyeon had decided to surprise Hee-seong, but unable to do so, he ended up a little disappointed.

“Thank you for the performance.”

Whether the child was disappointed or not, Yang Do-gyeong didn’t care.

She was simply faithful to the role given to her.

Yang Do-gyeong picked up the microphone and began to speak slowly.

“It was impressive that despite being 5 years old, you performed such a difficult piece. But you were too greedy.”

“Ugh…”

“It seems you didn’t practice enough.”

Aeyeon wanted to object to those words.

How hard had he practiced.

To make up for the practice he couldn’t do in special class, he went to the academy even on weekends and devoted himself to practice.

For two whole months at that.

However, Yang Do-gyeong couldn’t know Aeyeon’s thoughts.

She was simply listening to Aeyeon’s performance and stating her own thoughts.

“The mistake in the middle also seems to have come from such lack of practice. However.”

Yang Do-gyeong smiled slightly.

Practice could be lacking.

But Aeyeon’s talent was not lacking.

Yang Do-gyeong could tell that immediately upon first hearing the performance.

‘This child has outstanding talent.’

Playing fast was something anyone could do if they practiced enough.

As time accumulated, fingers would gradually change too.

But emotion was completely different.

Expressing emotion was truly difficult work.

For Yang Do-gyeong too, the most difficult part when she conducted was expressing such emotions.

She had to think a lot.

The reason she could become the best conductor and judge others was also for this reason.

She had devoted countless hours and effort to express emotions.

‘She expressed a puppy?’

The child’s performance was like becoming a puppy running around here and there.

But the part she focused on listening to wasn’t the fast-played section.

Rather, she listened more intently to that slightly slower part.

The reason was because she felt vivid emotion.

She heard joyful emotions pouring out.

‘I want to know what thoughts she had.’

She was curious about what was so joyful that it was melted into the performance.

“What were you thinking about while performing?”

“A, a pup…”

“Please speak slowly.”

“A puppy watching a video…!”

Aeyeon’s voice, unusually tense.

He must have been so nervous that his voice even cracked in the middle.

People found Aeyeon’s appearance cute and all began to laugh, and Aeyeon’s face was getting redder and redder.

“I see. What kind of video?”

“A video of playing fun music with friends…”

“What kind of performance…”

“Excuse me, Do-gyeong, we don’t have time.”

A judge sitting beside interrupted Yang Do-gyeong’s words.

Looking at the clock, there wasn’t much time left.

She wanted to ask questions enjoyably, but there were still too many children remaining.

‘Hanseol…’

Yang Do-gyeong thought about Hanseol Preschool.

And she thought about the woman there.

‘Should I visit once later?’

With such thoughts, Yang Do-gyeong said.

“Thank you for your hard work. You may go in now.”

As soon as Aeyeon heard those words, he bowed his head and quickly ran behind the curtain.

Perhaps finding that appearance cute, small laughter echoed through the competition venue.

An announcement began to sound in the competition venue.

“We’ll take a 5-minute break and then resume.”

Having listened to 15 children’s performances consecutively, Yang Do-gyeong seemed to be getting tired too.

But since there were still many children remaining, she thought to endure a little more.

“The next children are…”

She looked over the list.

“Hmm, ahem. Yoon Hee-seong?”

It was an interesting name.

***

Aeyeon’s performance was excellent.

‘Until he let his guard down.’

Like any activity, it wasn’t over until it was truly finished.

Whether soccer or baseball, players always did their best.

The same was true for performances.

Aeyeon was still immature in such matters.

“Aeyeon, you did well!”

“Yeah…! It was really good…!”

Garam and Ajin said.

But despite hearing such praise, Aeyeon’s shoulders were drooped.

It was a reaction as if he wasn’t satisfied with his own performance.

“You did well, so why are you like that?”

Park Bom also said.

Park Bom, whose turn hadn’t come yet, didn’t understand the children’s reaction.

I patted the child’s shoulder and said.

“Don’t worry, you’ll understand too.

“Huh?”

Leaving behind Park Bom who was making a puzzled expression, I approached Aeyeon.

The child hadn’t told me what piece he would perform, trying to surprise me.

But honestly, I was surprised as soon as I heard the piece.

I had expected him to perform a difficult piece, but he had selected a piece with more difficulty than I thought.

“You did well.”

“Really…?”

“Yeah. I was really surprised while listening.”

I spoke without any lies.

It was a moment when I realized Aeyeon’s talent once again.

I had forgotten because she had been showing a quiet side, seeming like a child in love with the piano.

‘A puppy watching a video…’

That was Aeyeon’s answer to Yang Do-gyeong’s question.

Yang Do-gyeong probably had a similar impression as I did.

The part where the puppy was resting briefly while playing around.

In other words, the part that handles the B section in the classical A B A format.

Aeyeon put her own emotions into that part.

I couldn’t know what video the puppy was watching.

But I was certain that the puppy waltz Aeyeon played was Aeyeon’s own story.

It seemed like she was enjoying watching the times when she performed with friends and enjoyed the stage at Kim Sang-jin’s cafe.

Because I felt the same way.

I was also happy that the experience of performing and enjoying herself on stage seemed to have become a good memory for Aeyeon.

“Hehe.”

Aeyeon smiled softly.

She had been sulking, but seeing her smile like this was much better.

“Aeyeon, you did really well!”

“Yes. I almost cried while listening.”

The principal and Jeong Mi-rae approached and spoke.

These two had definitely had shadowed faces until we came to the competition venue.

But now they were smiling brightly for some reason.

Like the sun’s smile in the upper left corner when drawing a picture.

“I’m so happy because everyone performed so well.”

“It’s not over yet though.”

“Still, I had to say this.”

She slowly spoke to the children in the green room.

Some children had already finished their performances, and some were waiting for their turn.

“All our friends worked hard, so it’s okay to make mistakes. Even if you can’t do it today, there will be another chance!”

The principal said this while patting the children’s heads.

All the children responded energetically.

I sat in my chair and watched that scene.

It was always a sight that made me feel good.

The principal had the power to make people smile.

Perhaps that’s why there were always many children around her.

“Heeseong doesn’t get nervous as expected? You’ve looked comfortable since we arrived.”

Then Jeong Mi-rae came to my side and asked.

She was wearing a stylish semi-formal outfit today as well.

I smiled gently and said.

“Yes, I don’t get nervous.”

“Really? Is it because you’ve performed piano a lot?”

“Haha.”

I didn’t say much.

Right now I wanted to quietly close my eyes and play the song from my memories.

‘Still, it’s not like I didn’t practice.’

Practice was always important.

Even if I had finished composing and the song was in my head, I still had to practice.

Even if not intensively, I had played it several times for fun.

At least 20 times, perhaps?

Then a staff member approached me.

“Yoon Hee-seong? Please get ready now.”

Alright, let’s go.

It’s time to show people who I am.

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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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