The Genius Composer Starts Again - Chapter 103

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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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Park Hee-jae realized from a young age.

That standing out leads to rejection.

His thin frame, pale skin, and curly hair made Park Hee-jae stand out from childhood.

His weak body was the same. He kept coughing due to asthma, and teachers paid even more sensitive attention to him.

His parents also always took care of Park Hee-jae with utmost devotion. That probably didn’t look too good to his peers.

When Park Hee-jae was in elementary school, he ended up moving to a summer villa in the countryside.

It was due to his mother’s strong insistence that fresh air was essential for Park Hee-jae’s health.

Though his busy father remained in Seoul.

Whether in Seoul or the countryside, Park Hee-jae always ate only organic food and wore only soft-textured clothes.

In the countryside, that alienation became even more pronounced.

Within the closed peer group, Park Hee-jae was always an outsider.

His musical talent was the same.

Though he had only briefly attended piano lessons as a child, Park Hee-jae had the ability to play any song he heard once.

The middle school music teacher who discovered this fact adored Park Hee-jae and often called him up during class to play piano.

It was probably from then.

That the hostility toward Park Hee-jae became pronounced.

“Hey, Pak-hee. Play the piano once. You’re good at that.”

“Play that thing. Damn it!”

“What are you doing? Are you guys bullies?”

Rough students began surrounding and teasing Park Hee-jae.

Due to his smaller build than peers his age, Park Hee-jae looked easily three or four years younger.

“Why, why are you doing this…”

“Why are you doing this~. Look at him. His voice is disgusting.”

“Are you really a guy? I don’t think so.”

“Right. Aren’t you actually a girl?”

“Hey. Let’s just check once.”

“If you show us for just 5 minutes, we’ll believe you?”

“Why can’t you strip. What’s the big deal about a guy showing his lower half.”

“Strip! Strip! Strip!”

The memory of that day still came back as nightmares.

The shame and humiliation he had to endure while surrounded by many. And the classmates watching with interested eyes.

Even when their eyes accidentally met, everyone was busy pretending not to know and avoiding him.

“I hate it. I hate it. I hate it!”

The memories after that are only hazy. It seems his parents were called in, and the students who bullied him received disappointingly light punishment.

Park Hee-jae left that area as if fleeing.

From then on, he made a firm resolution.

‘From now on, I’ll live as quietly as a dead mouse. Definitely.’

He always maintained an adequate level. He didn’t try very hard either. Still, Park Hee-jae could always stay in the upper-middle ranks.

It was the same even after entering Korea University, which he had dreamed of. He briefly shone during college entrance exams, but eventually returned to his original self.

‘Boring.’

At some point, he seemed to think that way. Nothing changed by becoming a college student. Park Hee-jae still hid himself.

When a bad crowd came looking for Park Hee-jae. He seemed half-resigned.

‘How much more do I have to kill myself before they’ll leave me alone?’

When he realized his chosen survival strategy no longer worked, despair washed over him.

That was the moment.

When he met Mun Ah-rin.

“What are you guys? You’re freshmen from our department, right?”

Mun Ah-rin was the first to readily extend a helping hand. To Park Hee-jae, he even had the illusion of seeing a halo from Mun Ah-rin’s back as she drove away those guys.

“Hello? I’m Mun Ah-rin. What’s your name?”

“…Hee-jae. Park Hee-jae.”

“If they bother you again, tell me. I’ll help you report it to the professor.”

It was probably then. When he completely lost his heart to Mun Ah-rin.

Since it was his first time experiencing this, Park Hee-jae didn’t know what to do. He wanted to become even a little closer to Mun Ah-rin and win her favor.

Mun Ah-rin seemed somewhat indifferent, but her reaction completely changed after hearing his original composition.

“How is it?”

Actually, that was a serenade containing Park Hee-jae’s heart. Since it was a song fully expressing his love for Mun Ah-rin, it was practically an indirect confession.

He waited for Mun Ah-rin’s reaction with a pounding, trembling heart…

“This, you composed it yourself?”

“Yes? Oh, yes. That’s right.”

“…You’re amazing.”

What was Mun Ah-rin’s face like at that moment?

Did she have greedy eyes like someone who discovered treasure?

He couldn’t remember well. What was certain was that after that day, he could spend much more time with Mun Ah-rin.

Moreover, Mun Ah-rin even came up with a brilliant idea for him, who hated being in the spotlight.

“I can do it for you instead. Leave everything Hee-jae dislikes to me.”

You don’t know how sweet that proposal was to Park Hee-jae.

Deep in his heart, the desire to let people hear the songs he composed with his best effort and get good reactions was stirring.

The plan was successful.

Mun Ah-rin instantly became a notable talent within the department, and Park Hee-jae just had to enjoy the pouring praise to his heart’s content.

His pride gradually grew.

He could achieve upper-middle ranks anywhere with just moderate effort. But when he seriously started composing, didn’t he become one of the top talents in his grade?

That petty sense of superiority and narcissism became tremendous motivation for Park Hee-jae.

“Hee-jae, should we enter this composition contest? They say if you win first place here, you can debut as a professional!”

When Mun Ah-rin said that, Park Hee-jae readily nodded.

Because he was confident.

It was the arrogance of a genius who had never failed.

“Seol is also participating here. My friend I mentioned before.”

Mun Ah-rin said that while tightly hugging Park Hee-jae’s arm.

“I really want to win this time. Please, Hee-jae.”

When the person you love whispers like that. Who wouldn’t fall for it?

Park Hee-jae boldly promised.

That he would present victory to Mun Ah-rin.

For certain victory, overwhelming superiority was needed. He didn’t want to allow even the slightest possibility of failure.

Park Hee-jae put even his exams half on the back burner and devoted himself only to composition.

He stayed up all night for days and nights. It was the first time in Park Hee-jae’s life that he gave his absolute best like that.

He was confident.

Music was always easy. It was like a giving tree that would offer everything he wanted if he just reached out his hand.

Yes.

Until he heard Seol’s song.

“…”

Park Hee-jae bit his lips.

He simply couldn’t manage his expression. All he could do was flee from his seat.

“Was it like this?”

Park Hee-jae tried playing the melody he had heard.

-♩♬♪♩

“Then like this next.”

-♪♬

The more he played, the more amazed he became.

“How did they do this?”

Like how you unconsciously lose yourself when seeing a beautiful work. Park Hee-jae continuously felt shivers running down his spine.

“Could I have done it?”

He had no confidence.

It was the first time this had happened. Park Hee-jae had never failed at anything before.

“If it were me, I would have used chords like this, something that gives more stability…”

-♬♪♩

Bang!

He struck the piano keys harshly.

“This isn’t it. The feeling is completely different. It became too bland!”

Park Hee-jae clutched his head.

“I need to write a better song, a good song.”

To remain by Mun Ah-rin’s side, he had to prove that kind of usefulness.

“I don’t know what to do…”

Park Hee-jae slid down and slumped to the floor. He was leaning against the piano.

‘I failed.’

Surely the judges, if they had ears, would have known. That Seol’s song was a level above his own work.

Mun Ah-rin had said she wanted to win.

He had wanted to see her smiling face.

Everything had turned to bubbles.

‘I want to just disappear like this.’

He felt embarrassed and ashamed to show his face. His first experience with failure was particularly bitter. He didn’t know how long he had been crouched there like that.

Rustle.

At the sound of footsteps from far away, Park Hee-jae cautiously raised his head.

“So you were here. I’ve been looking for you for a while.”

It was Mun Ah-rin.

She was wearing casual clothes instead of a dress, but her glamorous stage makeup remained intact.

“N-Noona!”

Park Hee-jae tried to get up in a hurry but ended up falling over once more. When he scrambled to his feet, Mun Ah-rin was already sitting on a chair placed nearby.

But there was something strange.

A fairly large trophy was held in Mun Ah-rin’s grasp.

“Noona, this is…?”

“The grand prize. I received it today.”

“What? B-but. We, that is, I mean. However…”

As Park Hee-jae fumbled and couldn’t continue his words, Mun Ah-rin chuckled and continued speaking.

“Seol was disqualified.”

His mind went blank at the unexpected story.

“She played a completely different song from the sheet music she submitted. An improvisation or something like that.”

Mun Ah-rin shrugged her shoulders.

“Who knows. Maybe she had prepared it in advance and was lying about it.”

Her eyes narrowed briefly before returning to normal. Soon a gentle smile covered her entire face.

But Park Hee-jae didn’t hear any of that. Only one word stuck firmly in his heart.

“Im-provisation.”

That.

She had created it on the spot?

Dizzy thoughts ran wild in his head.

Then,

“Hee-jae.”

Mun Ah-rin approached closer.

A sweet perfume scent wafted through the musty smell characteristic of the old practice room.

“Don’t think about anything else.”

Upon hearing those words, his mind cleared remarkably.

“You made me win today, didn’t you.”

Mun Ah-rin whispered in a sweet voice.

“Just think about me. Only me.”

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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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