The Genius Composer Starts Again - Chapter 56

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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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Tap tap.

 

As I was organizing the textbooks I’d need for today, someone plopped down heavily in the seat next to me.

 

“Seol!”

 

When I turned my head, I saw Mun Ah-rin’s face beaming brightly at me.

 

“Ugh, I’m so tired. Right? Having to attend classes the very day after the scholarship recital. Isn’t that too much?”

 

“I know, right.”

 

“It was already hard enough taking midterms while preparing for the scholarship recital. And now finals are coming up soon. I wish the semester would end quickly~.”

 

Mun Ah-rin made trivial complaints while leaning against her desk.

 

Her high ponytail combined with the sunlight streaming faintly through the window made her look exactly like a photo shoot.

 

In that position, Mun Ah-rin asked in a subtle tone.

 

“How was yesterday?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“The dinner with CEO Jeong Do-hyun.”

 

Mun Ah-rin lowered her voice slightly. She seemed to be being careful in case the students around us might hear.

 

“He came because he got interested after watching the scholarship recital yesterday.”

 

“Oh, that.”

 

“What did you talk about during dinner with him?”

 

She pretended to ask casually, but I could sense an undeniable urgency in her voice.

 

It seemed like she was holding back the urge to grab my shoulders, shake me, and interrogate me.

 

“We didn’t talk about much. Besides, the place he took me to was such an upscale restaurant that I didn’t even know what or how to eat. There were so many forks and knives that I was overwhelmed just trying to use them.”

 

“Really? That’s all?”

 

“What else?”

 

I asked back instead.

 

“I thought there might have been some kind of conversation?”

 

When I stared directly at Mun Ah-rin, she stiffened her lips slightly, then immediately smiled brightly.

 

“No~. Actually, I heard some rumors about him. So I was worried.”

 

“Rumors?”

 

“Yeah. But seeing that nothing happened, I guess they were just false rumors. Don’t worry about it!”

 

It was the kind of way of speaking that made you worry even if you didn’t want to. When I tilted my head, Mun Ah-rin continued with an “Oh my.”

 

“Well… you know how he’s famous for sponsoring promising composers, right? Apparently he sometimes uses that to seduce naive kids who don’t know any better.”

 

Jeong Do-hyun?

 

I’d never heard such rumors, and even if such rumors were circulating, they were definitely false.

 

The Jeong Do-hyun I knew before my regression was someone who was almost obsessively reluctant to have private conversations.

 

‘Even when Mun Ah-rin asked him to have a meal together, he would refuse every time, or on the rare occasion when Mun Ah-rin insisted and managed to arrange a meeting, they would only talk about music.’

 

You wouldn’t believe how irritated Mun Ah-rin would get after coming back from those dinner meetings. Something about how they only talked about musical notes all day.

 

“Even if that person did bad things, where could you properly report it? If you get on his bad side, your career in this country is completely over. That’s why everyone keeps quiet about it.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Surprised? I couldn’t believe it when I first heard it either. He doesn’t look like that type at all.”

 

Mun Ah-rin shuddered as if she got goosebumps.

 

“Anyway, you can’t judge people by their appearance. I heard this story late and was so worried about you yesterday, just in case. But I’m so relieved that nothing happened.”

 

She let out a “phew” and patted her chest, then whispered to me with sparkling eyes.

 

“Even if that person tries to tempt you with plausible talk about sponsorship, you can’t fall for it, okay? It might not be pure sponsorship, but rather sugar daddy arrangements.”

 

And then she added this comment.

 

“I’m worried because Seol is so pretty.”

 

It was advice that anyone who didn’t know better would completely fall for.

 

The background of being a chaebol always intimidates people, and even if these rumors were true, you wouldn’t be able to resist.

 

The moment suspicion of “what if” sprouts in your mind, isn’t it human instinct to want to avoid danger somehow?

 

However,

 

Because I knew the true nature of Mun Ah-rin, who was looking up at me with pitiful eyes, I couldn’t be fooled.

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah. That’s what I’m saying.”

 

“Who did you hear that rumor from?”

 

“Huh?”

 

When I probed about the source of the rumor, Mun Ah-rin was startled. This had never happened before.

 

“Well, it’s something they told only me. I can’t really say who it was…”

 

Of course you can’t say.

 

Because it’s a story you made up.

 

I chuckled inwardly but outwardly maintained a calm, indifferent expression.

 

“Oh, anyway, he didn’t mention anything about sponsorship to you. That’s a relief. He probably just noticed you from the last performance. Seol is tall and all.”

 

Mun Ah-rin hastily changed the subject.

 

“Or maybe he just randomly picked one of the three.”

 

It was a subtly disparaging tone. As if I wasn’t particularly outstanding, but was chosen just because I was tall or lucky.

 

“Seol is so lucky, being tall means dresses look good on you. I’m short and completely tiny.”

 

She looked at me with an unnecessarily sad expression. It sounded like a compliment, but in reality, it was confirming that Jeong Do-hyun called me because of my height.

 

Getting worked up here and saying “That’s not it!” would be a losing battle.

 

I deliberately put on a dark expression before speaking.

 

“Actually, I did hear about sponsorship.”

 

“…Huh?”

 

“He mentioned really good conditions. Something about supporting everything except the creative work? He said he’d create the best environment so I’d only need to write music.”

 

As my words continued, Mun Ah-rin’s expression disappeared.

 

“Even you would think those are really good conditions, right? Honestly, I couldn’t quite understand why he’d be willing to invest that much.”

 

“…So?”

 

As I drew out the story as if I knew nothing, Mun Ah-rin asked urgently.

 

“Did you say you’d accept the sponsorship?”

 

“No.”

 

I grinned.

 

“I refused.”

 

“What?”

 

“I kept wondering if it was the right choice. But hearing your story, I think I made the right decision to refuse.”

 

As I pretended to be innocent while thoroughly getting under her skin, Mun Ah-rin’s face was a sight to behold.

 

She seemed shocked that I had actually received a sponsorship offer, and also relieved that I had refused it.

 

At the same time, she seemed to be swept up in a strange sense of deprivation and doubt about the fact that I had refused the sponsorship.

 

“…Why?”

 

Mun Ah-rin’s eyes trembled finely.

 

“Why did you refuse? Yesterday, you didn’t even know about the things I told you. Opportunities like that are rare.”

 

“Why, you ask.”

 

I answered with a bright smile.

 

“Because I don’t really need it.”

 

The moment I said those words, yesterday’s conversation came to mind.

 

***

 

“I’m going to refuse.”

 

Seeing me ultimately reject the sponsorship, Jeong Do-hyun gave me a strange look for a moment.

 

I calmly continued.

 

“I understand well that you truly want to sponsor me with pure intentions. And that this is such a good opportunity that it would be hard to find again.”

 

Jeong Do-hyun nodded as if telling me to continue.

 

“If I accepted this offer, I’d probably be able to write music in an incomparably better environment than now. I’d be successful both domestically and internationally.”

 

Jeong Do-hyun had the power to make that happen.

 

“But that’s all there is to it.”

 

“….”

 

“I can do that much on my own.”

 

That was my answer.

 

Expensive composition equipment, high-end sessions, and luxurious mansions. Even without these things, I can create good music.

 

No, good music isn’t determined by such conditions.

 

Becoming a successful composer and making a name for myself?

 

It would be easier if the fact that I’m receiving Jeong Do-hyun’s sponsorship became known, but even without relying on such backing, I could carve out my own path.

 

Haven’t I already succeeded once under the name YULE?

 

“And most importantly, I have absolutely no intention of giving up composing.”

 

So Jeong Do-hyun’s concerns are groundless.

 

Even when I couldn’t earn a single penny from the songs I wrote, even when I was cleaning up after Mun Ah-rin and eating humble pie. I never once let go of composing.

 

I never even thought about letting go.

 

Other people advised me, ‘Why don’t you just get a job to make a living and keep music as just a hobby?’

 

But I couldn’t do that well.

 

I couldn’t even imagine what it meant to do music ‘casually.’

 

This is my life, my soul, my everything.

 

“So there’s no reason for you to sponsor me, and no reason for me to receive sponsorship. Don’t you think so?”

 

When I looked at Jeong Do-hyun with a slight smile, he stared at me without saying anything.

 

The corners of his mouth moved slightly.

 

As if this was the first time he’d been countered like this, his expression was a mix of interest and irritation.

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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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