After the whole “three cheers for the instrument” commotion had passed.
Having brought his family out to eat, Hyunseung suddenly lifted his head at the feeling of eyes on his face.
“Hm…?”
Not only his younger sister but even his father were staring fixedly at him as he spooned the appetizer soup into his mouth.
Sensing that something was off, Hyunseung picked up a napkin and scrubbed at the corners of his mouth.
He figured they were looking because something was on his lips.
But even after that, the two pairs of persistent eyes showed no sign of leaving him.
“Why are you not eating and just staring at me?”
Setting down his spoon, Hyunseung asked his sister.
“Huh?”
Only then did Hyuna realize she had been staring intently at her brother’s face.
“It is just so amazing…”
But she could not help staring blankly.
And with good reason.
It might not be an exaggeration to say he had become the most successful composer in Korea now, but…
She still could not believe the fact that he was giving a song to the world-famous pop star Vincent Mah after Sarah Stewart.
How to put it?
Proud, and yet somehow unfamiliar and odd?
“What is so amazing?”
Hyuna hesitated at the question for a moment.
“It feels like you are becoming a bigger person little by little without me knowing.”
She set down her spoon with a clatter and fell into thought.
Right.
To Hyuna, her brother was the one she worried about most. She was sure he had not been like that when he was young, but somewhere along the way he went quiet and began closing himself off.
Even under the same roof, they had become people who did not exchange a single greeting, and it happened in an instant.
Unlike her, her brother had no talent for studying, and he did not seem to show interest in any other field either.
Doing nothing he wanted, wanting nothing, and letting time slip by was both pitiful and exasperating.
A father who cannot hear.
Bills piling up.
Circumstances that could not afford even a single textbook.
In the midst of that, Hyuna had no choice but to feel a growing burden because it seemed like her brother was not really thinking about the future.
In the end, Hyuna clung to studying like crazy in order to succeed. If she was going to succeed by studying anyway, she thought she should become a doctor who could help their father.
But…
The more she did that, the more resentment toward her brother grew.
Why does my brother do nothing? Dad and I are trying to do something, anything, so why is my brother doing nothing and just being a corpse in his room?
“Sigh…”
There were many nights when Hyuna looked at her brother’s ever-closed door and let out a deep sigh.
Then when he suddenly said he was making money with composing, she was surprised and amazed, but she felt a bit relieved that at least he was earning a living.
That did not mean she stopped worrying.
Do they not always say that in the arts an ambiguous talent gnaws a person most miserably?
There are more than enough people with good skill, so she wondered if he would be able to make a living for life with the ability called composing.
But as if to laugh at her worries, her brother at some point climbed to the seat called “top” among Korean composers.
The upper spots of the music charts were always filled with songs her brother had made, and when she walked the streets, songs her brother had made always flowed out.
People on the streets talked about her brother, and from articles to news it was all stories related to him.
At the same time, many things changed in their home.
Their father no longer had nights staying up with worry clutching overdue bills.
She no longer had to borrow used textbooks from friends.
Not only that.
The house they lived in changed, what they rode changed, what they wore and ate changed. The thing that changed the most among them was…
Her brother.
There were more days when he opened his door and came out, then there were times when he went out, and even in the midst of being busy the days he tried to spend time with family increased.
She did not know exactly what kind of change of heart had taken place, but thinking about it now, perhaps the surrounding environment had made him that way.
Right.
In short, thanks to her brother, Hyuna had been spending days that could not be happier lately.
Think about it.
At her age now, how many college students own a high-end sports car, receive spending money comfortably, and study with the latest model laptop and tablet?
Also was it not the case that they came to a faraway country called America on a private jet, stayed in a five-star hotel suite, and went on a tour of the Unice Music Group?
Moreover, what they faced there were Sarah Stewart and Vincent Mah.
Truly.
She was surely the only college student living such a life and having such experiences.
Yes, and yet…
Hyuna kept feeling something strange.
“Why is your expression like that?”
“No, it is nothing.”
You could call it a spoiled thing to say, but it felt like this was not the brother she knew.
No, that is not it.
Should she say that the more her brother becomes famous and does well, the more he seems to become someone far from her, and that makes her feel a little sad.
No, that is not it either.
Anyway, for this trip too, her brother would be busy because he has to work, right?
“Still, I should understand because we are family.”
Maybe from now on he will live such a busy life that even seeing his face will be difficult.
Even if that were the case…
The one who will have it the hardest would be her brother, so she should not feel hurt.
Just then, when a hard-to-describe emotion was swirling inside Hyuna’s heart.
Tap.
Along with a sensation on her forehead, a sting of pain came rushing in.
“Ow!”
Clutching her tingling forehead, she lifted her head to see that her brother Hyunseung was stifling a laugh.
“Hey, country mouse.”
Then, calling out to her in a playful tone, he said,
“Why are you holding a ritual in front of the food.”
“Who cares if I hold a ritual or not, why did you hit me!”
Without realizing it, Hyuna shouted back and, embarrassed, grabbed a piece of bread on the table and took a big bite.
“Well now, the country mouse gets mad and gnaws bread.”
“I am not a country mouse.”
“Fine, if I make you an American mouse will you eat?”
“I hate American mouse even more.”
Good grief, that endless teasing.
Maybe her brother was born just to tease her. She resented herself for having been serious even for a moment.
“Hm…”
Hyunseung studied his sister’s face. The lips jutting out and working as she chewed clearly showed that something had put her in a sulk.
“Min Hyuna.”
Then, as he set down the plates to serve the main dishes in front of the family, he called her casually.
“Why are you calling me?”
“Do not have useless thoughts.”
“Huh?”
“Whatever it is, just don’t.”
“What are you talking about?”
Then, seeing his sister feign ignorance at his words, he continued,
“I am just going to keep living like this.”
He could not know exactly what his sister had been thinking, but he could roughly guess. Yes, Hyuna tended to show all her thoughts on her face.
“I am going to take care of you, and you are going to take care of Dad, and our family is going to live like that.”
She was probably worried. About the empty spaces that would appear between family members the busier he got.
“Sometimes we will travel, eat out, go shopping, and just live this ordinary way.”
“Stop talking nonsense and eat this.”
Listening in silence, Hyuna quietly placed a piece of garlic baguette she had been about to eat on his plate.
Right.
Because they were family who would surely understand in their depths that she was doing her best under the weight called responsibility.
“Thanks.”
That gap was something he could fill with effort.
After visiting a few famous spots and returning to the lodging, the family fell into a deep sleep.
Of course, except for Hyunseung.
After confirming his family was asleep, Hyunseung immediately took out the laptop he had brought. He had thought it was complete, but after playing it for Vincent, he felt dissatisfied himself.
Tap, tatatatak.
Since he had to spend time with his family while in the United States, he would have to use these late night hours to continue working.
Well, what can you do?
This too was something Hyunseung himself had brought on. It was the result of the greed of wanting to finish both the work with Vincent and the concert in one go. In fact, there was an easier way.
The rearrangement he was trying to do now was a process he did not have to do, and for someone like Vincent, the recording could be finished in an hour, but…
If that had been possible, he would already be lying on the bed.
Even while thinking he was making trouble for himself, Hyunseung could not stop his hands. What can you do? If he felt he was short by three percent, he was the type to fill that three percent.
Right.
No matter how much he listened and revised again and again, it felt short by exactly three percent.
Like seaweed soup with the beef missing, or kimchi stew with the tuna missing.
It was by no means tasteless, but something was lacking.
“Ha…”
To cool his head, Hyunseung stood up and quietly slipped out of the room. Just hammering away at chords does not give birth to a miraculous money chord.
Step, step.
Leaving the hotel, Hyunseung walked wherever his feet took him. He had walked these streets countless times in his previous life, so there was no getting lost.
How long did he walk?
He saw the fountain he used to visit whenever he wanted to pour the musical ideas on staff lines even in his previous life.
“Long time no see.”
Feeling as if meeting an old close friend, Hyunseung gave a light smile and sat down nearby.
Although right now he had no staff paper, and no decent musical idea was floating up in his head, he felt a maybe.
“Fountain…”
From the fountain he was blankly gazing at, bluish light and reddish light spread alternatingly.
In time to quiet classical music flowing from somewhere, a stylish pageant of water streams continued.
“Nice.”
Leaving a short one-line review inwardly, Hyunseung was about to get up at once when
─ ♬ ♬ ♬
Suddenly the classical music changed to an agitated tango.
Thud.
Hyunseung stopped dead in his tracks and looked at the fountain. The streams of water spouting as if dancing to the tango were not only splendid but overflowing with vitality.
“Ah.”
At that moment, Hyunseung reached into his pocket. He meant to take out his phone.
“Damn…”
But there was nothing in his pocket but dust.
Whoosh, whoosh.
He craned his neck hard to look around to see if there might be someone to borrow some paper from, but there was no one passing by.
Instead.
There was one thing that caught Hyunseung’s eye.
“That is…”
A performance-promotion banner flapping in the wind.
Step, step.
Like a person who had discovered an oasis in the middle of a desert, Hyunseung walked toward the flapping banner.
“Yes, this is it.”
Then he murmured with a smile that was somehow ominous on his lips.
“New York Philharmonic…”
Good to see you, my gigantic instrument.
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