Chapter 2.5 - Bit by bit 5 (2/2)

Hmm…

I guess we should start from high notes. Tenors just had to sing high notes properly. Of course they had to have other things added on top of it to be treated as a top level, but being acknowledged for just being able to sing at high notes was a tenor.

‘Around two months I guess…’

After hearing my own voice and knowing the gist of things, it now shouldn’t be too difficult to go up to high notes. As soon as I am able to have my vocal cords stick better, it should skyrocket. Well, maintaining that high note and properly vocalising would be another issue in itself though.

“Ah. Ah.”

Lightly relaxing my mouth, I slowly began practising.

*

“I also told you last time how the German pronunciation of ‘r’ is relatively different to English’s ‘r’ right? You have to shake your uvula a little bit more. Hmm… sometimes it’s more similar to ‘g’ than a ‘r’. It’s like talking while gargling. Now let’s all try it.”

The voice of the German teacher obstinately trying to fix German pronunciation sounded like a lullaby. After blinking my eyes, I gave a yawn and looked around me.

“Urrr… How do you do this.”

I could see Lee Suh-ah making an irritated voice. She looked like a dog growling and looked quite funny. While I was grinning at her, Lee Suh-ah who had felt the gaze like an esper quickly turned towards me.

“…”

Look at those vicious eyes.

Feeling a little startled, I quickly pretended like I was trying to fix her pronunciation and gave her advice.

“Put your tongue deeper in. Rufen.”

“Urfen?”

“You’re doing well.”

After staring at Lee Suh-ah who then started practising for a while, I threw my gaze outside the window. The idly floating clouds entered my eyes.

‘I’m jealous. Damn clouds. They look super comfortable…’

It had already been a few days since the admission. The school life was quite hectic – first off, the fact that the waking up time was decided by others was quite uncomfortable. I would crawl myself out and wash, and exercise to grow the body…

Listening and having to focus on the likes of maths and science with a blank brain after a meal was torturous. At least it was thanks to Music Theory, SRMD, German etc being included that I was able to survive. If there weren’t any freelo subjects like these then I definitely would’ve been sent to a hospital while studying.

Somehow enduring until the afternoon classes were over and then spending the rest of the day inside a practice room was how the days went by.

It was a very classic life of a performing arts student.

“Yawn…”

The yawns that became a part of my life thanks to the lack of sleep was quite annoying. What I earned during these last few days were the exhaustion and the gradually increasing singing skills, and the friendship with the concerted music group, I’d say.

Roughly rubbing my teary eyes, I felt Noh Jusup stab me with his elbow.

“Did Lee Suh-ah say something just then?”

“We just practised German together.”

“Oh~ What’s this? She usually doesn’t ask much thanks to her pride. What’s going on hmm?”

“Sigh…”

Noh Jusup. This frisky-appearing guy with his playful actions.

How does this guy use such a heavy chest voice, ringing his heart when singing? Due to his body still being thin, the resonance was slightly lacking but if he were to get bigger it would probably get a lot better. I also need to get bigger; should we order some food late at night?

‘But it feels like this guy’s gonna devour all of it if we were to order.’

Finding Noh Jusup who continued talking without an end annoying, I turned my head to the side and found Han Dasom, who had been giving off a small smile while gazing at us. I greeted her because our eyes had met but she quickly avoided her eyes with a start.

… She looks like a vigilant rabbit.

I scratched my head in embarrassment.

Han Dasom.

She was also good at singing – she was so good that I’d be sorry to compare her with Noh Jusup. I was seriously surprised when I heard her properly sing during the concerted music lesson.

How should I explain this… let’s say I were to compare her with Lee Suh-ah.

If Lee Suh-ah had a skillful and elegant timbre, then Han Dasom’s gave a warm and soft feeling. Right, you could call her a classic soprano lirico. A girlish, piano voice, with her pianissimo tone.

‘To be honest I think she’s better than the so-called second best soprano Song Mirae.’

How come I only got to know her after graduation? If it was this level of skill then it was bound to leave some kind of memory, like Jun Shihyuk did.

I had no idea.

While I was shrugging, the bell rang.

“Auf Wiedersehen!”

“See you later!”

With this, Friday was over. What should I do during the weekends… I thought but there was nothing apart from practice I could do.

When I slowly walked back to the tenth classroom, there was teacher Kang Heewon greeting us. Had she been waiting? She had a wide smile and seemed very happy.

We all sat down on our seats, in preparation for the last end-of-the-day meeting of the week.

“Everyone. Are you adapting well?”

“Yes…”

To the gloomy replies of the students, teacher Kang Heewon gave a grin.

“That’s good to hear because the teacher has brought some good news for you!”

“?”

“Your Improvement Concert timetables have come out!”

“Ah…”

Groans filled the class.

Improvement Concert.

There was indeed something like that. The teacher that was happy to make such a dreadful announcement gave out papers to everyone.

“Now, the schedules are all there on the papers. The first week will be done by the students that have received great prac marks during the admission test and from the second week onwards students were randomly allocated. Everyone must choose and send the songs in one week before the concerts. Then, have a nice weekend!”

“Booo–!”

Without batting an eye at the booing students, teacher Kang Heewon skipped her way out of the class with a hum. Seeing that I gave out a sigh.

“Sigh…”

Improvement Concert.

You could probably tell from the name but it was simple.

It was a little concert opened by students. Pretty much, the students would one-by-one go up and perform the songs they had prepared. In universities, people would call them ‘weekly’s as well, as they would be held once a week.

As for those reactions… well it was because the teachers would watch the students and give them marks. And those marks would go straight into the final prac marks.

‘I need to practise for concerted music, prepare for the mid-sem exams…’

It really made me fully aware that I was at a performing arts school – there was no time to relax. With a glance, I checked the timetables she gave us.

[First week] (High-achievers’ concert)

[Piano: Chloe Denjelle.

…(etc)…

Opera: Kim Wuju, Lee Suh-ah]

Phew. Thank goodness I’m not there. Well I guess that was obvious because the teacher did say that the first week would be done by the high-achievers, but, anyways did she say it would be random from the second week onwards?

‘Please.’

I prayed with my hands intertwined.

Please. Please be on the last week, or at least after the 6th week. I need time – time to prepare my body and regain all my skills. I also need to find an accompanist. It was impossible to sing by myself so there had to be an accompanist but that was quite difficult as well because I had no money or connections.

So please at least give me ample time. 6th week out of 12 weeks is not asking for the impossible right?

With my eyes half-closed and going lower to the second week, there were lists of names written down. They were under piano, violin, viola, cello… and opera.

[Second week]

[…

Opera: Jo Yunjae, Song Mirae]

“…”