The Genius Composer Starts Again - Chapter 8

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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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Various sheet music was scattered haphazardly across the desk in a jumbled mess.

Dozens of empty coffee cups were piled up in the corner, and hastily scribbled post-it notes were stuck everywhere.

In the middle of it all was a man scratching his head.

His wrinkled shirt, worn jeans, and disheveled hair gave a hint of his temperament.

Korea University Composition Department full professor, Jeong Tae-seong.

He scratched his head with a ballpoint pen, then began filling in the rest of the blank sheet music.

It was while he was humming softly, writing and erasing the composition repeatedly.

-Ah rest for one beat, ah rest for two beats, ah rest for three beats too, one two…!

“Hello?”

He picked up the loudly ringing phone and wedged it between his ear and shoulder. With his head tilted to the side, he continued the uncomfortable conversation.

One hand was still busy moving as he drew on the sheet music.

“Oh my, our Director Jeong! What brings you to contact this old fool~?”

Despite the playful tone, the voice on the other end of the receiver didn’t waver in the slightest.

-It’s been a while. Professor Jeong Tae-seong.

“Yes, that’s right. Your voice sounds quite tired. You must be very busy with work?”

-Yes.

“How so. What business does such a busy person have?”

Jeong Tae-seong kept talking non-stop while spinning his chair to face the piano.

After playing a few notes, he spun the chair again and moved back to the staff paper.

-I want to find someone. Among the Korea University Composition Department students.

“A Composition Department student?”

Jeong Tae-seong finally seemed a bit interested as he widened his eyes.

“Don’t tell me you found some kind of clue?!”

As he jumped up from his seat and asked loudly, he could hear Jeong Do-hyun let out a short sigh from the other end of the phone.

-It’s not like that.

“What do you mean it’s not~. Ever since you were little, I’ve seen with my own two eyes all the crazy stunts you’ve pulled trying to find that nameless composer…!”

-Uncle.

When Jeong Do-hyun called him in a low, subdued voice, Jeong Tae-seong quietly backed down.

“Ahem. Right. It’s not that. Then who are you looking for?”

-I don’t know either.

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

-I don’t know their name, age, or student ID.

“What?”

Jeong Tae-seong raised his voice as if it was absurd.

“Tell me the details. I can’t understand anything!”

At that urging, Jeong Do-hyun explained about finding the USB. Jeong Tae-seong nodded repeatedly as he responded.

“Ho. Some USB. That’s not like you.”

-It was a mistake.

“You little rascal. When I told you to meet with students, you hated it so much. But behind my back you were pulling stunts like this? Finding the owner of a USB you picked up by chance? That’s pretty romantic for something you came up with.”

-It’s not like that.

“Tsk. Always so stiff. Well then. Our nephew is searching so desperately. Of course I have to help! What, are there no other characteristics?”

Jeong Tae-seong was a professor who, despite appearances, devoted himself wholeheartedly to teaching Composition Department students.

If he just explained a few characteristics, narrowing down the candidates wouldn’t be difficult.

-…They’re good at composition.

“Huh?”

Composition skills out of nowhere?

-There was a song stored in the USB.

“What?”

-They handle harmony well, and know how to build technique on top of solid fundamentals. The level of completion was hard to believe from a student.

“Wait, hold on!”

Jeong Tae-seong finally interrupted Jeong Do-hyun mid-sentence.

“There’s someone skilled enough to catch Do-hyun’s ear? Among my students?”

Since Jeong Tae-seong had known Jeong Do-hyun from a very young age, he knew his picky nature better than anyone.

He tended to be fastidious about other things too, but he was particularly sensitive when it came to hearing.

He was even more so than Jeong Tae-seong, who made music his profession, which said it all.

Especially ‘composition’ was the field Jeong Do-hyun evaluated most critically.

When he heard amateur compositions, he would obviously show his displeasure.

If scholarship students held recitals, he would commit the outrageous act of sitting for exactly one minute before leaving.

“There’s no student like that…”

Jeong Tae-seong thought deeply.

But while there were quite a few students who had good sense for their age, or whose skills were excellent compared to their peers.

There was no one who would satisfy Jeong Do-hyun’s temperament.

-Are you certain?

“Ah, I’m telling you there isn’t. If there was such a student, would I have just left them alone?”

At the implication that he would have immediately brought them under his wing as a top disciple, Jeong Do-hyun quietly agreed.

If Jeong Tae-seong was this talkative person, he probably wouldn’t have been able to contain himself from the moment he saw potential and would have rambled on about it to Jeong Do-hyun.

“Are you sure they’re from our department?”

-I found it near the Music Department Building. And the song’s fundamentals were solid, so I naturally assumed they were a major.

“It could be a student from another department.”

Jeong Tae-seong closed his eyes for a moment, then immediately came up with a clear answer.

“Then I can’t find them?”

-…

“No, I mean. The music school here is huge. Finding them within the Composition Department would be one thing, but.”

-…I’m hanging up.

Click.

“Hey, just because of that, you don’t have to be so cold…! Huh. Look at this guy. He really hung up?”

Jeong Tae-seong looked at his phone and let out a hollow laugh.

“Hmph. Tsk.”

He clicked his tongue and put down the phone. The half-written staff paper came into his view.

“Ah! I’m sure I had a good musical idea! I forgot it all!”

He grabbed his hair with both hands and tugged at it roughly. Not that it would bring back the departed inspiration.

“Phew. But anyway, there’s such a student in another department?”

If Jeong Do-hyun mentioned fundamentals, it wasn’t just the level of composing as a hobby.

“Ah, right. The department transfer exam is coming up soon, isn’t it?”

Jeong Tae-seong spotted a red circle on the calendar and clapped his hands.

“Maybe they’re applying for a department transfer.”

Thinking that way made things fit together a bit more. There were often cases of people switching to the Composition Department from other majors.

Jeong Tae-seong grinned and muttered.

“This is getting interesting.”

***

Hah, as I exhaled, white breath decorated the air.

In front of the Arts Department Building on campus, it was crowded with various students. Someone was holding sheet music, someone was tuning their instrument.

The sound of people gathering in small groups, muttering and practicing, leaked out from here and there.

‘It’s noisy.’

The sounds of the world were still unfamiliar, so I slightly frowned. Usually it was fine, but when I came to crowded places like this, my head always throbbed.

I stood in the most secluded spot possible.

Among those stiff with tension, I alone seemed carefree.

“Oh? Seol!”

Just then, I heard someone calling my name. I turned my head and saw Lee Hyun-ji.

The Study Group members were standing beside her. Lee Hyun-ji waved her hand enthusiastically and greeted me cheerfully.

“What a coincidence meeting you here! Have you been preparing well?”

“Just so-so. Getting by.”

When I answered casually, Han So-yeon, who had been listening nearby, chuckled and spoke up.

“Why? You should say you prepared well. Especially after leaving the Study Group saying you didn’t need it.”

“Uh, unnie, why are you being like this?”

Lee Hyun-ji looked flustered as she glanced at me nervously. But Han So-yeon snorted dismissively.

“Did I say something wrong? No, I’m right. You’re taking the exam lightly just because you think you have some talent for composition.”

Did I really say something like that? I tilted my head in confusion.

“Come on, really. Are you going to fight with someone a year younger than you?”

Yu Da-yeon stepped in to stop Han So-yeon. Han So-yeon silently turned her head away and walked off ahead of us.

Lee Hyun-ji fidgeted anxiously between us before finally speaking up.

“Are you okay? I’m sorry. I’ll apologize on her behalf. Unnie’s been sensitive lately because of exam preparation.”

“It’s not something you need to apologize for. I don’t mind.”

I hadn’t really cared to begin with. It would have been annoying if she’d made more of a fuss about it.

“Let’s go in. The exam will start soon.”

Lee Hyun-ji took my hand and led me along.

I entered the designated Exam Hall and found my seat. People began filling the densely packed desks one by one.

Soon the door opened.

Black shirt and completely disheveled hair. His style was so casual you’d believe he’d just rolled out of bed.

“Yaaawn~.”

He even yawned loudly, showing no professorial dignity whatsoever.

“Alright, alright. Everyone take your seats.”

Despite his languid tone, the Lecture Hall fell silent instantly.

“As you already know, the first exam is ear training~.”

A brief explanation of the exam followed.

We had to transcribe the music we heard onto sheet music. It was an extremely simple format.

‘So it’s finally starting.’

I drummed my fingertips on the desk and muttered to myself.

Nervous? Not at all.

If anything, I was bored and wished it would hurry up and end.

In contrast to me, the students around me seemed extremely tense. I could see the hands of the student in front trembling.

Amidst all this, I leaned back comfortably in my chair and took a deep breath. I closed my eyelids briefly then opened them, lifting the corners of my mouth into a slight smile.

‘Now, it’s time to show them what I can do.’

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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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