The Genius Composer Starts Again - Chapter 45

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

As soon as I opened the door, the smell of disinfectant spread out. I grimaced at the artificial scent characteristic of hospitals.

 

It’s because I don’t have any good memories here. I frequented hospitals so much trying to somehow restore my failing hearing that I practically wore down their thresholds, but in the end, I lost it all completely.

 

How desperate I felt when I heard the verdict that there was nothing more that could be done. That memory remained so vivid that I came to dislike hospitals.

 

“Seol! Over here!”

 

Just then, I quickly turned my head at the voice calling me.

 

There I saw Mun Ah-rin with a tear-stained face raising her hand high. As I headed in that direction, I could see Jeong Tae-seong standing by the bedside and Kang Se-a sitting on the edge of the bed.

 

She had a cast on her left arm.

 

“Senior…”

 

“Senior, are you okay?”

 

Cho Yun-je also asked with a serious expression.

 

“You guys came.”

 

Jeong Tae-seong spoke while looking at us. He looked utterly exhausted.

 

“Why did you suddenly get hurt like this?”

 

“How badly is your wrist injured? If it needs a cast, is it serious?”

 

Cho Yun-je and I asked question after question.

 

To this, Kang Se-a only smiled bitterly, and Jeong Tae-seong also hung his head low with a sigh.

 

The answer came from Mun Ah-rin.

 

“It’s because of me… If only I hadn’t called out…!”

 

“What? What are you talking about?”

 

“It’s no different from me being the reason Se-a unnie got hurt!”

 

Mun Ah-rin kept wiping away tears with her sleeve. Her nose tip was red and flushed, and tears were flowing endlessly.

 

She wasn’t in a state where we could have a calm conversation. Mun Ah-rin eventually burst into tears completely.

 

Since Mun Ah-rin clung to me in a tight embrace, I had no choice but to awkwardly hold her in my arms and pat her back.

 

When I looked at Jeong Tae-seong with an expression asking for explanation, he added a brief explanation.

 

“It seems she fell on the practice room stairs. Fortunately, she wasn’t seriously injured, but her wrist is fractured.”

 

A wrist injury.

 

Nothing could be more fatal than this. For people who do music, it’s like their lifeline.

 

“…She fell in the practice room? Then why is Mun Ah-rin acting like this? No, why was she there with her in the first place?”

 

Cho Yun-je asked back as if puzzled.

 

Cho Yun-je and I were called here to somehow find a solution for the scholarship concert. But Mun Ah-rin wasn’t involved in that, so why is she here?

 

Even crying and saying it’s her fault.

 

“Well… it seems she was with Se-a when she got hurt.”

 

The answer came from Professor Jeong Tae-seong.

 

“What?”

 

“There was session practice.”

 

Ah, thinking about it that way, I understood.

 

This accident happened while they were going down after finishing practice. Even so, I couldn’t understand why she thought this was her fault.

 

Then Mun Ah-rin, whose crying had gradually subsided, added in a small voice.

 

“Se-a unnie was about to go down the stairs, and I called out to stop her for a moment. At that time, unnie turned around and her bag strap must have gotten caught on the handrail. The moment unnie turned back around to go down, she…”

 

Mun Ah-rin started sniffling again.

 

‘A coincidental accident.’

 

That’s what others would think if they heard this. That Mun Ah-rin’s self-blame was nonsensical.

 

But what first crossed my mind was suspicion.

 

‘Was it really just an accident?’

 

-That’s right. Why did you do that, Seol? We were getting along so well until now.

 

A snake-like voice clung stickily to my ear. When I tumbled down to the basement, Mun Ah-rin had said this while holding a golf club in her hand.

 

That face seemed to overlap with this one.

 

The face with one corner of her mouth pulled up in a fishy smile overlapped with that face with tears welling up in her eyes.

 

“Sob, sniff. Sob.”

 

Mun Ah-rin was trembling all over like a frightened herbivore. The sight was quite pitiful, and anyone who saw it would have felt sorry for her.

 

Right.

 

Like Jeong Tae-seong.

 

“Ah-rin. It’s not your fault. You were just unlucky. You heard it was an accident, right? Hmm?”

 

Jeong Tae-seong began comforting Mun Ah-rin. Then Mun Ah-rin sobbed even more dramatically.

 

I could feel my shoulder getting damp.

 

I wish she would let go of me.

 

“Oh my. What are you going to do being so tender-hearted?”

 

“Sniff. I’m, I’m sorry. The tears, hiccup, won’t stop.”

 

When Jeong Tae-seong took out a handkerchief and handed it to her, Mun Ah-rin quietly accepted it and dabbed at her eyes.

 

Thanks to that, I could finally be freed from Mun Ah-rin.

 

“Anyway. With the situation like this, really… I’m troubled about what to do.”

 

Jeong Tae-seong let out a short sigh.

 

He carefully brought up the topic.

 

“The concert is right around the corner… I can’t postpone the decision any longer. I’m sorry, Se-a.”

 

“It’s okay.”

 

Kang Se-a replied calmly. It seemed she had already sensed this would happen from the moment she got the cast.

 

Jeong Tae-seong also seemed uncomfortable as he kept looking at Kang Se-a.

 

“We can’t change the stage composition at this point. Since it was originally planned as a trilogy, suddenly going to a birth-death duology would be too abrupt.”

 

“The piece is almost complete.”

 

Kang Se-a said in a low, sunken voice.

 

“Just a little more polishing and it’ll be done. Really just a little more.”

 

“But Se-a. You know that’s difficult with that wrist.”

 

“…”

 

“So here’s what I’m thinking.”

 

Jeong Tae-seong paused to catch his breath and chose his words.

 

He seemed to be struggling between worrying about hurting the injured student’s feelings once more and his duty to successfully complete this concert.

 

“I’ve been listening to your piece consistently, so I know it. The basic composition is all complete, so how about having Ah-rin take charge of it, do some arrangement, and then put it on the concert?”

 

Mun Ah-rin’s eyes widened in surprise.

 

“Professor! No, no way. How could I do that!”

 

However, Jeong Tae-seong continued once more.

 

“Se-a, as you know, there are quite a few cases where an arranger adjusts things like instrument placement or rhythm patterns to dress the performance appropriately, with the melody, structure, and basic harmony already completed.”

 

“…”

 

“Based on your already completed piece, Ah-rin would just do the arrangement. Even with the cast, you can at least bow, so you’ll be introduced as the original composer.”

 

Kang Se-a just listened to the story without saying anything.

 

“It’s a piece you worked hard to create, wouldn’t it be better to have it heard even in that way? Many famous people will participate in this scholarship concert. I think it would be more beneficial for you to have your name up there in some way.”

 

Jeong Tae-seong’s earnest feelings were conveyed too.

 

With such a good stage prepared, it would be regrettable to exclude Kang Se-a entirely.

 

“Professor. I can’t do it. I don’t want to! We can just put up the current piece.”

 

Mun Ah-rin kept shaking her head.

 

“Se-a unnie. Unnie should be on stage. I like the current piece too. The people who come to the scholarship concert will like it too.”

 

Her tear-soaked voice carried deep persuasive power.

 

Kang Se-a closed and opened her eyes, taking a short breath. It seemed like sharp pain was rushing from her wrist wrapped in the cast.

 

Mun Ah-rin was still trying to persuade Jeong Tae-seong.

 

“I don’t have the qualifications or skills for that, Professor! Please let unnie take the stage. Please!”

 

That sight was so desperate and seemed so sincere that even I was momentarily confused.

 

Could those tears, that trembling be acting? While my head thought ‘yes,’ seeing it with my own eyes made me waver for a moment.

 

Kang Se-a bit her lips tightly, then finally raised her head.

 

“Ah-rin.”

 

“Unnie!”

 

“You do it in my place.”

 

Kang Se-a seemed to be trying hard to speak firmly.

 

“Realistically, I can’t work on songs anymore with this wrist. But I can’t upload an unfinished song either. I won’t allow that.”

 

“But….”

 

“It’s okay. You just need to do the final touches. You participated as a session member and watched the entire song creation process, plus you were originally a scholarship candidate. You’re the right person for this.”

 

Kang Se-a seemed to have thought about it from many angles. And she must have judged that entrusting it to Mun Ah-rin was the best option.

 

“Please.”

 

At Kang Se-a’s strong voice, Mun Ah-rin wiped her tears with the back of her hand and finally nodded.

 

“…I will. I’ll do my absolute best so I won’t disappoint you, unnie!”

 

Mun Ah-rin held Kang Se-a’s remaining good hand tightly and cried loudly. It was a touching moment.

 

A senior’s will being carried on by a junior to complete the song.

 

‘…Will she really?’

 

Doubt crept in once again.

 

Because I knew the cruel ambition hidden behind that innocent face.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————