The Genius Composer Starts Again - Chapter 16

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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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The first day of the new semester.

The lecture hall was filled with unfamiliar tension.

‘How long has it been since I’ve come to a lecture hall?’

It felt exactly like going on a trip down memory lane, making me look around unnecessarily.

“Seol!”

Mun Ah-rin approached, waving her hand vigorously. She took the seat next to me, then grinned and whispered.

“It’s so nice that we’re taking major courses together~. Right?”

“Yeah.”

When I nodded with a casual smile, Mun Ah-rin started chattering away.

“This harmony class is taught by Professor Jeong Tae-seong. He has a good personality and gets along well with students, so even though it’s a required major course, it’s hard to get a spot, you know? There are many people who only get to take it in their fourth year.”

I was listening to Mun Ah-rin’s words with one ear and letting them flow out the other.

That’s when other familiar faces appeared in the lecture hall.

“Oh!”

They also seemed to have spotted me, showing surprised expressions.

Lee Hyun-ji immediately smiled warmly and approached me in a friendly manner.

“Seol is taking this class too? I knew Seol would definitely get in~. Oh, all our study group members passed too!”

Behind Lee Hyun-ji, I could see Han So-yeon with a demure expression, Yu Da-yeon bowing politely, and Choi Dong-hyeok grinning.

I also bowed in greeting to them.

“Let’s compare our schedules later. It would be nice to take overlapping classes together!”

Lee Hyun-ji made this suggestion first out of excitement.

‘I wonder about that. I think we should hear the opinions of the people behind you first.’

When I glanced back, sure enough, Han So-yeon was frowning deeply.

“Oh right. The person sitting next to you is, um…?”

“Let’s sit further up front. We need to make sure the professor remembers our faces.”

Han So-yeon grabbed Lee Hyun-ji’s arm as she was about to continue talking and brought up something else instead.

“Unnie?”

“Oh, I guess some people don’t need to study harmony more so it doesn’t matter if they sit in the back. But I’m not like that.”

She smirked while looking me up and down, which was clearly a jab directed at me.

It seems she really holds a grudge about me leaving the study group midway.

“Why are you being like this, unnie?”

“So-yeon.”

When Lee Hyun-ji and Yu Da-yeon looked troubled, Han So-yeon clicked her tongue and strode down to the front.

“Sorry. I really don’t know why that unnie is acting like this lately.”

“It’s fine. Listen well in class.”

“Yeah. I’ll contact you later. Let’s grab a meal together!”

Lee Hyun-ji said goodbye like that and hurried down. Yu Da-yeon followed her.

Choi Dong-hyeok passed by and casually remarked in a calm tone.

“I knew you’d get in.”

“Huh?”

By the time I asked back, Choi Dong-hyeok had already gone far down.

As I was awkwardly rubbing the back of my neck, Mun Ah-rin asked.

“Who are they? I’ve never seen them before.”

“I did a study group with them during the break. Just briefly though.”

“Ah… Really? I guess they all succeeded in changing majors.”

Mun Ah-rin stared intently at the backs of their heads with a smiling face.

The atmosphere was slightly strange. I instinctively noticed that Mun Ah-rin was being wary of them.

“But Seol.”

The corners of Mun Ah-rin’s lips curved strangely.

“That person was being snippy with you for no reason. What’s that about? That was directed at you earlier, right?”

“Oh, yeah. She’s been like that ever since I left the study group midway.”

“How ridiculous. Seol, you don’t need to hang around with people who treat you so rudely.”

Her tone was soft, but there were thorns scattered throughout.

“One friend like me is enough for Seol. Right?”

“…Yeah. That’s right.”

Seeing Mun Ah-rin getting worked up like that gave me a strange feeling.

The person who exploited and treated me most carelessly was you. But you at this time would genuinely get angry when seeing someone treat me rudely.

‘What is it? A mentality of “only I can pick on them”? Or did you actually care about me back then?’

I looked at Mun Ah-rin’s face for a moment, then smiled bitterly to myself.

Either way, it wasn’t much consolation.

That’s when it happened.

-Buzz.

My phone vibrated. It was a notification from SAPL.

[ Someone left a comment on your track. ]

‘What?’

The only track I uploaded was 【Fracture】. Someone left a comment on that?

“Who is it?”

“Not a person. A SAPL notification.”

“…SAPL?”

“Yeah. I just uploaded something recently. Someone left a comment on it.”

Then Mun Ah-rin immediately looked upset.

“What? You promised to let me hear it first when you finished a self-composed song!”

“Sorry. It’s not at a level to show anyone yet. I just uploaded it because I was curious about people’s reactions.”

When I appeased Mun Ah-rin whose lips were pouting, her expression immediately changed.

“What did the comment say?”

“Just a moment.”

When I clicked the notification, it connected to the page with the comment.

One line below the song.

[ Hello. This is Producer Min Chan-hyeok from Vtunes.

It seems the message I sent earlier wasn’t delivered, so I’m leaving this as a comment. I really want to use your uploaded song 【Fracture】 as source material, so please understand this approach.

I’d like to discuss specific details via email or explain them in person.

I’ll be waiting. Please contact me without fail.

ps. Even if you receive other offers, I’d appreciate it if you could remember that we contacted you first. ]

‘What is this?’

I couldn’t hide my bewilderment.

First of all, making an official proposal like this in SAPL’s comment section is rare.

If you’re in the industry, it’s not a secret what style of songs are collected from where.

But there’s still a minimum level of confidentiality, isn’t there?

Other competitors might notice and jump in. The probability of those who weren’t interested also peeking in saying ‘I heard there’s a good song here?’ would also increase.

‘That’s probably why they added that last comment. But what does it mean that the message sent earlier wasn’t delivered?’

I searched through my message box but nothing was there.

‘Did the site have an error?’

It was rare, but that was the only thing I could think of.

‘Min Chan-hyeok from Vtunes.’

A producer with good ears.

He was quite good at discovering new composers, and had exceptional ability to read trends one beat ahead and create songs accordingly.

He must have recognized the true value of this song.

Vtunes, even though it’s a mid-sized company, has a pretty solid position in the industry, and Min Chan-hyeok is a producer who could make good use of this excellent material.

There couldn’t be a better stage for a first debut.

‘What should I do…’

My mind became tangled in complexity.

At school, I needed to be careful to observe Mun Ah-rin’s reactions.

But,

‘Activities under a composer name are a completely separate matter.’

That much was my freedom.

My fingertips trembled slightly.

A strange yearning was boiling up from deep in my chest.

‘I want to make my music known to the world.’

Unlike my past life where I was robbed, hidden, and always lived with my head bowed.

This time at least.

The music I created with my own hands,

By my own will,

I wanted to make it resonate throughout this world.

Just thinking about it made my heart pound. My chest swelled with emotion just imagining it.

Then suddenly Mun Ah-rin interjected.

“Wow. What’s this?”

When I quickly looked up, my eyes met directly with Mun Ah-rin’s curious gaze.

I reflexively flipped my phone over, but Mun Ah-rin seemed to have already read the relevant content.

“Vtunes? I’ve never heard of that place. Isn’t it like a phishing scam?”

She tried to casually dismiss it as phishing with a concerned tone. If I hadn’t known about Vtunes, I might have been fooled into thinking ‘Is that so?’

I smiled slightly and probed subtly.

“You’re right. I didn’t even get any messages, but they’re saying strange things. Is it really phishing?”

I wondered if Mun Ah-rin already knew I had uploaded a song to SAPL and was pulling strings. That suspicion flashed through my mind, so I said this to observe her reaction.

Then Mun Ah-rin answered without her expression wavering even once.

“Right? It’s really strange. Just ignore it!”

Mun Ah-rin huffed as if she herself had almost been scammed.

‘It’s not Mun Ah-rin?’

Come to think of it. She seemed like she didn’t even know about SAPL, so maybe it was too much of a wild guess.

‘If I do end up working as a composer, it would be better to do it secretly from Mun Ah-rin.’

I nodded as if I completely agreed with Mun Ah-rin’s words.

“I guess I should.”

“Yeah! I guess it’s trendy these days to scam aspiring students like this by exploiting their desperate hearts. I’ve heard from people around me several times about receiving contacts like this.”

Mun Ah-rin said while firmly grasping my hand.

“It’s a good thing I was next to you. What would have happened otherwise? Seol, you seem sharp, but when it comes to things like this, you’re surprisingly careless and need looking after.”

I was momentarily speechless at that shameless tone.

Just then,

Click!

The lecture hall door opened and Professor Jeong Tae-seong entered. The noisy chatter instantly died down.

Jeong Tae-seong stood in front of the podium with brisk steps.

“Alright, alright. I know you’re all busy catching up after the break. But now it’s my time, so please turn off your local broadcasts~.”

The students’ attention focused on him.

Thanks to Professor Jeong Tae-seong, the conversation with Mun Ah-rin ended just like that. I secretly let out a sigh of relief.

I had almost revealed my emotions completely on my face.

“Well.”

As Jeong Tae-seong scanned the audience and our eyes met directly, he grinned.

“I see many familiar faces~.”

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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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