The Genius Composer Starts Again - Chapter 25

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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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Our gazes met in mid-air.

At first glance, her expression seemed completely empty, but only I could see what lay beneath.

Ripples of emotion spread within her pupils. Surprise and fear, and something like an inexplicable possessiveness.

We stared at each other for a long while. As if only Mun Ah-rin and I existed in this space.

It was none other than Jeong Tae-seong who broke that strange standoff.

“Alright. Everyone quiet for a moment!”

When Jeong Tae-seong clapped his hands together and shouted, the murmuring gradually died down. He walked forward and said.

“You all saw it, right? How ‘arrangement’ can be done so differently by each person.”

He asked the students, but no answer came back.

Everyone’s faces seemed to carry complaints like ‘How am I supposed to do that?’

“Those two presentations just now clearly met my requirements, yet were completely different. So shall we examine specifically how they differed?”

He stood in front of the chalkboard.

“Yun-je’s arrangement earlier was very orthodox. The voice leading is smooth, and the modulation points are predictable. That’s why the piece is clean and convincing.”

He quickly drew out Cho Yun-je’s score.

“He faithfully reproduced the genre’s grammar and was literally ‘textbook perfect.’ Flawless without a single mistake.”

He paused briefly and glanced in my direction.

“On the other hand, there are people who intentionally use those ‘mistakes.’ Dissonance inherently makes people tense. In other words, it heightens concentration.”

Despite it being just a single performance, Jeong Tae-seong accurately drew out the score.

“The tension right before dissonance, the subtle push and pull of rhythm, and even the rests.”

Not just his ear, but his memory was remarkable too.

Even though they were short pieces, there had been a full eight of them.

Every single note was identical.

“Neither approach is the right answer. Where you want to stand between ‘orthodox’ and ‘intuitive’ – that differs from person to person. It’s even better if you can handle both.”

Jeong Tae-seong smiled brightly. In contrast, the students’ expressions grew even darker.

“Good, student Seol. Well done. Back to your seat.”

I bowed my head and returned to my seat. The gazes pouring down on me as I passed felt unfamiliar.

As I sat down, the residual heat still lingering at my fingertips gradually subsided.

The thrill of presenting my piece in front of people seemed to still remain in a corner of my chest.

“You did well.”

Mun Ah-rin whispered from beside me.

When I turned to look, I saw her wearing her usual gentle smile.

“That was amazing.”

I couldn’t read anything from her face as she smiled and offered praise. The complex emotions I had seen earlier seemed to have vanished without a trace, as if they had been my imagination.

Who could look at this innocent smile and recall that earlier expression?

Mun Ah-rin clearly knew our gazes had met, yet acted as if nothing had happened. I watched her for a moment, then replied as if it was nothing.

“It was nothing special.”

The class continued naturally.

Jeong Tae-seong used mine and Cho Yun-je’s pieces to teach how harmony could be applied.

While doing so, he assigned another task to complete by next class, earning the students’ resentment.

“Alright, that’s it for today! Don’t forget to submit your assignments next week~.”

“Yes…”

The students answered weakly. They got up from their seats one by one, grumbling complaints.

“We’re screwed. He’s gotten a taste for giving assignments.”

“Sigh. I heard this was supposed to be an easy class. Easy class my ass.”

“This is driving me crazy. When am I supposed to do this?”

The more complaints I heard, the more guilty I felt. It seemed like seeing mine and Cho Yun-je’s assignment pieces had excited him into giving out plenty more assignments.

Feeling awkward, I quietly got up from my seat. As I was preparing to leave, my vision suddenly went dark.

“…?”

The next moment, I realized it was because a shadow had fallen over me.

When I slowly looked up, I saw a familiar face standing there.

It was Cho Yun-je.

Seeing him up close, his striking features stood out even more. I wondered if he should be entering some entertainment agency instead of composing.

“…”

“…”

We stared at each other intently for a while.

He probably hadn’t come for a staring contest, so he must have some business. But with no words, I couldn’t tell what it was.

After the silence, he was the first to speak.

“I listened well.”

Despite his intense gaze, his tone was refined. His words were polite, but I could feel sharp thorns between the sentences.

“Thanks. Me too.”

When I answered briefly, the corners of Cho Yun-je’s eyes curved slightly.

“That was impressive. I never thought of deliberately putting dissonance in a harmony class assignment. It could have been a point deduction. But I learned that’s not necessarily the case if you have good technique.”

I couldn’t tell if it was praise or sarcasm.

If it was praise, he had a talent for making even compliments sound suspicious and inviting unnecessary doubt. If it was sarcasm, what a nasty temperament.

“I was lucky.”

I deflected with an appropriate answer.

“Your name was Seol, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m Cho Yun-je. It seems like we’ll be seeing each other often. I thought I’d introduce myself in advance.”

See each other often?

Well, we’re in the same department so our required courses would overlap. But I rarely go to the department lounge and I’m not very active in school activities, so there shouldn’t be much occasion to meet.

“I don’t think so?”

My thoughts must have shown clearly on my face.

Cho Yun-je laughed as if amused, then stepped closer.

“Please take care of me.”

“…Yeah.”

When I answered without hiding my uncomfortable expression, he chuckled again as if something was funny.

Then he turned around abruptly and left first. Soon after, Cho Yun-je disappeared into the crowd.

I watched his retreating figure for a while.

I felt as if I had been bewitched by a fox.

***

“Bastard. You’ve been looking cheerful lately?”

Even at his crew member’s sudden playful scolding, Min Chan-hyeok grinned.

“Do I look it?”

“Yeah. Totally. What’s going on?”

The answer came from elsewhere. One of the crew members who had been focused on work took off his headset and replied.

“This bastard says his song work is going incredibly well.”

“Fucking jealous.”

“He was going around looking half-dead for 6 months with writer’s block. Are you that happy?”

Min Chan-hyeok smiled broadly once more and answered.

“It’s amazing.”

“Ha. Seeing you smile is pissing me off.”

“Kick that bastard out.”

“Ah~. I wish inspiration would just strike me from heaven~.”

Having shared hardships together since their unknown days, they were now like real brothers without formality. Seeing Min Chan-hyeok’s relaxed face, everyone threw curses and all kinds of abuse at him.

Then someone casually threw out.

“Leave him alone~. He’s dating.”

“What?!”

“Are you dating someone?”

“Where did that guy go who said he’d carry his ex-girlfriend in his heart forever and live with her memory? Did he die?”

At the barrage of words pouring out, Min Chan-hyeok cried out in shock.

“What dating! You’re talking nonsense. I only have Su-jin.”

Then a sharp retort immediately flew back.

“Bullshit. I heard there’s some woman going in and out of your studio these days? I have connections at Vtunes too, you know?”

“What. Really?”

“You traitor bastard.”

“I said it’s not like that!”

Min Chan-hyeok denied it strongly, but it didn’t work at all.

“Not like that my ass. I heard everything.”

“Who is she? A trainee? Or an employee there?”

“The fact that you’re hiding it from us means there’s something fishy going on, right?”

Whistle, when his colleagues blew playful whistles, the tips of Min Chan-hyeok’s ears turned bright red.

“I really said it’s not like that.”

“Then who is this woman who’s supposedly going in and out? Tell us.”

“…”

“See, you can’t say, can you?”

At the mocking tone, Min Chan-hyeok grabbed his head in frustration.

“No, she’s…! Damn it. Really!”

Knowing that Seol was reluctant to reveal her identity, Min Chan-hyeok couldn’t say anything and just opened and closed his mouth. Then laughter poured out from around him.

“Hey, hey. Stop it. You’ll make Chan-hyeok cry.”

“Sorry, sorry~.”

Min Chan-hyeok huffed angrily and shot up from his seat.

“Hey, where are you going!”

“To the studio. Is that okay?!”

“Min Chan-hyeok! Are you sulking? Are you sulking!”

He didn’t even bother to respond properly. He just quickened his pace and headed to the studio.

Click.

When he opened the door, he saw a familiar figure from behind.

The waveforms on the monitor rippled like waves. Seol took off her headset and turned around slightly.

“Oh, you’re here?”

Min Chan-hyeok felt all his frustration and anger melt away in that moment.

Right. He might have gotten some strange misunderstandings, but how could that compare to this.

“How far did you get?”

“I was working on the chorus.”

“Let me have a listen.”

The satisfied smile that appeared on Min Chan-hyeok’s face wouldn’t disappear. If he could, he wanted to shout this to those colleagues just now.

‘You don’t have a genius composer at your place, do you?!’

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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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