The Genius Composer Starts Again - Chapter 5

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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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A narrow alley leading to the practice room. A man stood there.

Wearing a neatly tailored suit with a heavy coat draped over it, holding a phone to his ear.

He rolled up his sleeve to glance at his watch, then frowned slightly as if something displeased him.

An aristocratic demeanor, a somewhat arrogant expression.

He was handsome enough to be mistaken for a celebrity, but his cold, piercing gaze created an atmosphere that made it difficult to approach him carelessly.

Jeong Do-hyun.

It was him.

A professional investor based on global private equity funds, and the CEO of NXT Holdings.

He was also known as a ‘big shot’ investor in the entertainment industry. It was said that his investment decisions could determine the rise or fall of an entire agency.

He was particularly famous for providing full support to talented composers.

His sponsorship of scholarships at Korea University Music Department was also close to a strategy of securing a pool of talented individuals with investment value in advance.

“…Yes. Proceed with the schedule as planned. Cancel all unnecessary meetings.”

After finishing the call in a cold tone, he exhaled briefly. White vapor scattered in the air.

Without even a moment to catch his breath, the phone rang again.

“Hello.”

He frowned slightly.

“Yes. I’m inside the school. …There’s no need to meet the scholarship students directly. It’s a waste of time and inefficient. Same goes for the concert.”

It was a short and firm answer.

With his standards soaring sky-high, a mere undergraduate-level concert wouldn’t catch his eye.

It would be better to review one more document in that time.

The professor tried persistently to persuade Jeong Do-hyun, but he firmly refused once again.

“That’s enough.”

Time is money.

Personal sentiment is a luxury.

Scholarship sponsorship was ultimately for the future, not for mingling with students right now.

Jeong Do-hyun had far more important matters piling up at his feet.

‘…What’s this?’

At that moment, something caught Jeong Do-hyun’s eye.

A USB dropped on the ground.

Jeong Do-hyun picked it up.

The USB had Korea University’s emblem on it, along with “Music Department” written in cursive English.

‘Did a student drop this?’

He looked around, but there was no sign of anyone.

He put the USB in his pocket with an emotionless expression.

Since he was planning to visit the professor’s office later anyway, it would be most efficient for him to deliver it after finding it first.

“I only stopped by today to review scholarship-related documents. Let’s discuss other matters next time.”

His tone was so cold that you couldn’t draw a drop of blood even if you stabbed him.

He could hear the professor on the other end of the phone desperately pleading for him to at least have a cup of coffee before leaving.

What a persistent person.

The professor kept insisting because he knew that just having students get acquainted with Jeong Do-hyun would be an incredible opportunity.

Jeong Do-hyun sighed briefly and spoke firmly.

“Repeating the same conversation any further is…”

Just then, another phone vibrated. The moment he checked the caller on the screen, his eyes sharpened slightly.

It was an emergency call from an overseas branch.

“Hold on a moment.”

He asked for understanding and immediately answered the call.

“What’s the matter?”

Brief exchanges followed, then a moment of silence. Jeong Do-hyun’s forehead creased slightly.

“Understood. I’ll go and check it myself.”

As soon as he finished the call, he immediately turned around.

He didn’t have the luxury of staying at the school any longer.

A more urgent matter had arisen, pushing the scholarship-related documents far down his priority list.

Jeong Do-hyun informed the call that was still connected.

“I’ll visit the professor’s office next time. Something urgent came up. Well then.”

Click.

He ended the call without even waiting for a response.

Behind Jeong Do-hyun’s back,

the sound of the USB in his pocket jingling against his car keys continued.

***

Swoosh.

As I pushed open the heavy practice room door, warm heated air brushed against my cheek.

A girl standing next to the piano with sheet music waved with a welcoming face.

“Seol, over here!”

Seeing her face, I remembered clearly. Piano major class president, Lee Hyun-ji.

Her neatly tied hair and straight smile were impressive.

“Thanks for coming~. I was really in trouble when someone suddenly bailed.”

Eyes in the practice room turned toward me one by one.

The instruments were guitar, flute, and violin.

‘They’re all melody instruments.’

I could see why they needed a piano accompanist.

“Everyone say hi! This is Seol who’ll be doing accompaniment today. She’s a piano major like me.”

“You saved us.”

The man with a guitar on his lap grinned and greeted me.

“I’m Choi Dong-hyeok. Guitar major, and I’m planning to change majors when I return from leave this time. You’re the same age as Hyun-ji, right? Then I’m two years older.”

“Nice to meet you.”

I bowed in greeting. Introductions continued.

“Han So-yeon. Flute major. I’m one year older than you.”

“I’m violin. Yu Da-yeon.”

After brief greetings, Lee Hyun-ji immediately clapped her hands to lighten the mood.

“Shall we get started then?”

Short 8-measure melody sheet music was distributed.

“Today we’ll practice melody arrangement with this. You all know that improvised arrangement problems come up in transfer exams, right?”

Lee Hyun-ji looked at me and winked.

“If ‘original composition performance’ is the highlight of transfer exams, this improvised arrangement practice is a kind of trap. It’s also a filter to weed out students without fundamentals.”

I looked down at the sheet music.

Basic chord progression, standard rhythm.

They began rearranging themselves in my head one by one.

“The time limit is exactly 10 minutes. Starting from now, 10 minutes!”

Bold chord changes to highlight key points, mood transitions, even modified endings.

I hadn’t even placed my hands on the keys yet, but I’d already finished three or four decent arrangements.

‘It’s not a difficult level. I guess it’s because they’re all still students.’

Looking around, everyone was staring down at their sheet music with quite serious expressions.

Choi Dong-hyeok seemed to be getting a feel for it by actually playing his guitar. The others were also struggling, pressing piano keys or constantly writing and erasing on their sheet music.

Time flew by as I watched those concentrated faces for a moment.

“Okay, stop!”

At Lee Hyun-ji’s shout, everyone sighed and put their hands down.

“Everyone write your names and give them to Seol.”

Several sheets of music piled up in front of me one by one.

I picked up Choi Dong-hyeok’s sheet music.

“How is it? Think you can sight-read it? Or do you want to practice once or twice to get the hang of it?”

Choi Dong-hyeok asked with his hand resting on the guitar.

Just one glance at the sheet music was enough to tell.

‘Too many unnecessary embellishments.’

Excessive techniques and overly complex harmonic progressions were ruining the piece.

The sheet music looked very flashy, but when actually played, the harmonic progressions would obviously be grating to the ears.

Moreover, it was an arrangement packed with arpeggios and breathless chord changes, requiring constant movement of both left and right hands.

‘And they want me to sight-read this?’

It was beyond what most first-year students could handle.

I could understand why the accompanist had bailed and run away.

I narrowed my eyes and scanned the sheet music. It was difficult, but not impossible.

Because my skill level far exceeded that of ‘most first-year students.’

“It’s fine. I’ll do it right away.”

“Really? This is going to be pretty tricky, you know?”

“Yes.”

If you understand the structure and patterns of a musical piece, even complex songs become much easier to play.

I nodded repeatedly.

This level was nothing more than finger exercises to me.

Choi Dong-hyeok looked at me with a surprised expression for a moment, then smiled and plucked a guitar string once.

“Alright. Let’s go then.”

I placed my fingers on the keys. As I closed my eyes, the chord progressions and hand movement paths were instantly drawn in my mind.

One, two.

As soon as the first beat dropped, my fingers danced across the keys.

Without a single moment’s hesitation, every note on the sheet music came alive at my fingertips.

‘It’s been a while since I played while actually hearing the piano sound.’

I could feel that the tempo, dynamics, and even the subtle spacing were perfect.

‘This is fun.’

If before I felt like I was wandering through pitch-black darkness, now it was like walking with a map in hand.

Had playing piano always been this enjoyable? I was surprised at myself.

A smile naturally spread across my lips.

I could see Choi Dong-hyeok making a flustered expression even while playing his guitar.

-♩♪♬♪….

Even after the performance ended, the practice room was quiet for a moment as if time had stopped.

Everyone was staring at me with expressions of disbelief.

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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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