Chapter 4.3 - Sorrowfully 3 (1/2)

“Stop, just then, you forced the sound a little right? Try again, a bit softer. Keep the legato going without a single pause.”

“Yes.”

“Neuer! The ornament should be expressed sharper and quicker. It’s weird to hear if you go in slowly like a worm. Again.”

“Neuer Regung füllt–.”

“Good. Next time you sing ‘Dies’, sing more sorrowfully. Those are the emotions of a boy who has discovered the feeling of love for the first time. More like ‘Dies–’.”

“Dies–…”

The more the lesson progressed, the more Kwak Jungsoo felt strange.

Jo Yunjae this guy…

He’s a bit weird.

3 weeks ago, the first disciple he got was definitely a beginner amongst beginners. A common beginner that had not practised before, with lacking breath and no high notes. It felt strange that his pronunciation and some other stuff were perfect but because the basics were inexistent, that had no point.

He had taken in a beginner as a disciple.

There was nothing to complain about. He had come back to Korea to rest, not to find himself a great disciple.

…But what was this speed?

“Ja ja–!”

“…Well done.”

Blankly giving words of compliment, he crossed his arms and stared at Jo Yunjae, his first disciple. And he who had interestingly brought a Magic Flute aria ambitiously, despite being a beginner,

Had built high notes on the 1st week,

Built up his breath on the 2nd,

And on the 3rd week…

He was singing a pretty decent song.

“O, wenn ich sie nur finden könnte!”

Kwak Jungsoo focused his all and analysed Jo Yunjae’s song.

Pronunciation. It was unclear where he had learned it, but it was perfect.

Vowels and expression – when he gave a few advice, Jo Yunjae suddenly started making a few sounds before quickly getting better.

Vocalisation – except for some parts where it became unstable due to the lack of physical talent, it was perfected to a level that was similar to himself.

And soon, a song with almost no blemishes to point out on was heard.

“Warm und rein!”

Staring at Jo Yunjae singing his heart out, Kwak Jungsoo even started to feel dumbfounded. How can someone develop at this speed?

If he were to record the process of Jo Yunjae’s development and upload it, it would definitely get scoffed at with comments saying that it was rigged – it was a development speed that outrageous. It even gave off a feeling that he was merely in the process of remembering what had been lost.

‘Was he really ill like what teacher Hong Yoojin had said?’

His deep thoughts soon came to an end with Jo Yunjae’s soft voice.

“An diesen heissen Busen drücken.”

While listening, he shook his head. No, even if he had lost his basics, it still did not make any sense. There must be a different reason, something clearer and closer to the core…

Right, there was only one reason Kwak Jungsoo could think of.

‘Talent’.

Did he say his ears were good? Jo Yunjae had completely demonstrated that throughout the lesson. A sound that was pointed out as bad was never repeated, and when Kwak Jungsoo gave an example, he could repeat the exact same sound. Besides, most of his analyses were correct.

And when he came to himself after some back and forths, Jo Yunjae’s song that was extremely similar to his own had been perfected.

Kwak Jungsoo gave a nod.

‘In other words, his ability to absorb other songs is excellent…’

It was a type of talent that he had seen a few times – opera singers that could copy well. These people usually started off slow, but as they gained experiences from listening to good performances, they would develop to frightening levels.

The so-called late bloomers.

He should be a late bloomer but…

Kwak Jungsoo was lost for words as he stared at Jo Yunjae finish a song without a problem.

Why was he already bloomed?

After barely suppressing the astonishment, he opened his mouth.

“…Let’s stop here for today.”

“Ah, yes.”

Looking over at the clock, it had already been around 2 hours since the lesson had begun. Teaching Jo Yunjae who practised without a single rest made him unable to realise how long had passed.

“…”

Gazing at the somewhat blank Jo Yunjae, Kwak Jungsoo felt a stuffy feeling in his heart. His disciple not only had the talent but also practised hard that almost made him appear like a fool.

Raising the pitch higher as well as increasing breath in short periods of time wouldn’t have been easy and yet he pulled it off with crazy practices. He did all that by himself and every week, he was like a new person.

And during that process, what Kwak Jungsoo had done was…

‘Nothing.’

His eyes sunk in deep.

Although he was showing off here and giving lessons, he was nothing but a mere lecturer. He was lacking a lot in his career and other aspects compared to teacher Ku Mingi who had been keen for this genius.

Did he have the qualification to teach this guy? He wondered, when Jo Yunjae’s voice suddenly entered from the side.

“Um… sir. With this, will the Improvement Concert… be okay?”

His eyes met with Jo Yunjae’s. Behind those black irises, he could see the burning passion.

Of course, you did well – he was about to say that before closing his mouth in thought. ‘Okay’. Of course the song was okay. If it was average people, anyone would’ve given nods for sure saying that there was no problem and that it was good.

But to people with ears like Jo Yunjae’s, wouldn’t their ‘okay’s be different to the normal definition of the word?

“…”

He suddenly remembered the first day he met Jo Yunjae who had then calmly declared that he would give up on the concours to receive a scholarship. And… Kwak Jungsoo now knew that to get a scholarship, he had to come first out of the music department students.

After closing his mouth for a while, he slowly opened his lips.

“…It should be okay.”

The sight of his disciple brightening up entered his eyes.

“Thank you!”

“Go.”