The Genius Composer Starts Again - Chapter 81

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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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Knock knock.

There was no response when I knocked on the door.

Once more,

Knock knock!

This time too, there was complete silence.

‘Is there no one inside?’

When I leaned against the door to listen more carefully out of curiosity, it slid open just like that. It seemed it hadn’t been locked in the first place.

“Ah.”

As soon as I opened the door, dust danced in the light.

Sound panels, half-broken instruments, and long cables were tangled like snakes. Three dried coffee cups sat on the desk, and the room was packed with all sorts of tools and broken instruments.

On the wall, words that looked painted read ‘Sound is alive’.

It looked more like a construction site or garbage dump than a professor’s office.

As I stood there with my mouth agape, someone poked their head out from the middle of that pile of junk.

It was Professor Cha Moon-ho.

“Hm? Ah, right. It was today.”

He checked his wristwatch after seeing me.

“Time has already gotten to this point.”

He rummaged through the clutter to clear a path. He pushed things aside with his feet, barely creating empty space before moving forward.

Each time, there were sounds like plastic or glass fragments breaking.

His old khaki coat was the same, but he had put down his fedora. I was seeing Cha Moon-ho’s bare face for the first time.

He looked younger than I had expected.

“Oh right. It’s okay if I speak casually, right? I try to use formal speech during class as much as possible, but. It’s so frustrating.”

“Yes. That’s fine.”

“Yeah yeah. Thanks. When I speak casually, sometimes there are guys who report me for speaking too harshly. It’s better when I use formal speech.”

Indeed. I immediately thought of how Cha Moon-ho dealt with students who objected to their midterm scores.

He was quite radical even when being respectful. If he had spoken casually, he would have responded much more harshly.

It would be similar to the principle of lovers promising to use formal speech when they fight.

“Ahem. Sorry that the professor’s office is a bit of a mess. It’s not usually this bad, but recently I discovered new possibilities and ended up bringing in this and that…”

“Oh, no. Professor.”

“Still cool though, right?”

Cha Moon-ho grinned.

“It’s kind of like a laboratory too. For me, this place is a laboratory, research room, and practice room all at once.”

Ting-.

As he said this, Cha Moon-ho tapped the broken chamber beside him.

Regardless of how it looked, Cha Moon-ho himself wore a very satisfied smile. That sight was pleasant, so I found myself nodding without realizing it.

Then Cha Moon-ho grinned and replied like this.

“I thought you’d say something like that.”

“Pardon?”

“Right. You said you had something to consult about.”

Cha Moon-ho sat down heavily on the worn-out sofa with smooth movements. He gestured for me to sit down as well.

Though I had some doubts about the cleanliness, I perched lightly on the edge.

“Thank you for making time despite this being a sudden request.”

“There’s a reason for that. The assignment pieces you submit, that’s my entertainment these days.”

Cha Moon-ho pulled out a pile of sheet music from under the low table. Though quite crumpled, they were definitely the assignment pieces I had submitted.

“Especially this one. The assignment piece you submitted in week 3 seemed to breathe like it was alive. It’s a piece written with the heart, not the head. Not just anyone can do this.”

Cha Moon-ho’s evaluations were always cryptic.

I could tell it was praise, but it was expressed too much in his own language, making it hard to understand.

“So. What’s the concern? Composition? Human relationships? If it’s the latter, that’s my specialty.”

I took a breath for a moment, then pulled out sheet music from my bag.

It was handwritten with a pen, transcribed by ear from the piece Mun Ah-rin had performed.

“Could you take a look at this piece?”

“Hm? Is this a piece you wrote?”

“No. It’s not that.”

Cha Moon-ho picked up the sheet music with an interested expression.

“Definitely. The style is completely different.”

He held the sheet music and looked into space for a moment. Tapping rhythms with his fingertips, he kept muttering to himself.

“Hmm. Right. So it goes like this here. Huh. What if the rhythm had been on the beat? This part is too clean though.”

After noisily flipping through all the sheet music, he put it back down on the table with a thud.

“The reason you showed me this piece?”

“Professor, please tell me honestly.”

I spoke while hiding my trembling feelings.

“Is this piece similar to Park Hee-jae’s assignment piece?”

Cha Moon-ho’s gaze met mine in the air. He looked at me for a while, then sank deeply into the chair’s backrest.

“Hmm. Well?”

It was an ambiguous answer.

“Someone submitted this as an assignment piece in a second-year class. The style was quite different from usual, so I could immediately tell it wasn’t their own piece. I recently saw them hanging around with Park Hee-jae, so I’m asking just in case.”

Since he wouldn’t show me other students’ assignment pieces, I had no choice but to ask for his opinion.

Cha Moon-ho, who said he gave ‘direct’ feedback on all students’ assignment pieces, was my only hope.

He would surely be able to read a student’s compositional habits.

“Is this Park Hee-jae’s piece?”

I asked once more seriously.

Cha Moon-ho crossed his arms and pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

“I can’t tell you that.”

“…!”

“I can’t speak as if I’m confirming something that’s only circumstantial evidence at best.”

“…I see.”

That was also a valid point.

Being able to guess this was Park Hee-jae’s piece was only due to minor habits embedded in the composition.

That could hardly be called physical evidence, and was merely in the realm of ‘speculation’.

Someone in a professor’s position couldn’t definitively conclude that the owner of another student’s assignment piece was Park Hee-jae based on such speculation alone.

Though he seemed eccentric, he apparently knew exactly what lines should be maintained.

‘I had hoped Professor Cha Moon-ho would speak honestly.’

I bit my lower lip.

“But, well… I’m quite fond of Park Hee-jae too. If there are such suspicions, I can’t just stand by and watch.”

Cha Moon-ho showed a grin.

“That kid sometimes comes to visit my laboratory. He’s very interested in electronic sounds.”

“This place?”

“No, not here. You know the old practice room by the school rear entrance? The underground room where I’ve stacked recording equipment. He often goes in and out of there. Looking for inspiration or something.”

“The old practice room…”

“He’s a kid who tears apart the world with his ears. I’m not sure if he’s still hanging around there these days though.”

Cha Moon-ho shrugged his shoulders greatly.

“Go take a look. Meet him directly and have a conversation.”

“…”

I quietly picked up the sheet music on the table.

“Thank you, Professor.”

I bowed my head in greeting.

Just telling me about a place Park Hee-jae frequently visited was helpful enough.

“It’s fine. Go quickly. He’ll probably be there around now?”

Cha Moon-ho waved his hand gently.

Just before the door closed with a thud, Cha Moon-ho’s voice leaked through the crack.

“Next time, come with Hee-jae. I’ll buy you coffee.”

***

Cough, cough!

As soon as I entered, I started coughing from the dust. Only after covering my nose with my sleeve could I properly look around.

The old practice room with its lights off looked so ominous that a ghost could pop out at any moment.

There was an abandoned piano covered in cobwebs, so I carefully pressed a key.

Clack, clack.

The beautiful melody was gone, leaving only creaking noise.

‘Is he really here?’

Just as I was having such doubts.

‘Gem Appraisal.’

I activated the skill.

If there’s a person here, this skill should react to them.

At that moment, my vision flipped and my eyes flashed.

‘Ugh.’

The light was so bright that I instinctively frowned.

‘Where is this light coming from?’

As I looked around with narrowed eyes, a brilliant light was spreading from one spot.

I could faintly see the shape of a person.

‘There’s such a bright light?’

I had used the Gem Appraisal skill many times, but among all the people I’d seen so far, Cho Yun-je’s light was the brightest.

But this was far brighter than Cho Yun-je’s.

‘Skill deactivation.’

I hastily turned off the skill and finally felt like I could breathe.

“Huh?”

A puzzled voice came from across the room.

Between curly hair, eyes filled with bewilderment and surprise turned toward me.

“Wh-who are you?”

Park Hee-jae was standing there.

Harboring the light of brilliant talent.

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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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