Chapter 4.5 - Sorrowfully 5 (2/2)

“No stop with that… chocolate thing. But seriously you were never that good during our choruses either.”

“I’ve been practising.”

“How much did you practise…”

When he remained baffled, Han Dasom opened her mouth from the side.

“Yunjae… he stays inside the practice rooms everyday.”

“I also go there everyday though?”

Han Dasom stared at Noh Jusup with a deploring gaze.

“You… play around in the practice room but Yunjae doesn’t even answer calls and only practises.”

“Really?”

Wearing a face that said that he was hearing it for the first time, Noh Jusup tilted his head. This guy, he’s not even interested in what his friend is doing. I shrugged my shoulders when Han Dasom quickly added on.

“He also practised with me everyday so… I knew Yunjae would do well.”

“Uh… thanks”

I scratched the back of my neck with some embarrassment when Lee Suh-ah who had been standing off awkwardly to the side opened her mouth.

“…It was good. Do you want to take a photo as a commemoration? Also…”

“Take! Take!”

The excited Chloe joined from the side and the five of us took a photo. After that, we talked about the concert and joked around a little when two shadows entered our surroundings.

“Yunjae you were here.”

“Ah, teacher hello.”

It was teacher Kwak Jungsoo. A little startled I gave him a bow and noticed that teacher Ku Mingi was waving his hand from behind as well.

I gave another bow.

Teacher Kwak Jungsoo gave a compliment with a calm expression.

“It was good. As practised… no it was better than what you did during the practices. Did you really not learn opera acting before? It appeared like you had lots of experience standing on stages.”

“That… no.”

“Is that so?”

“…”

I felt a little sorry that I had to cover it up whenever we were talking about things like this. If I said I returned from the future, would he believe me? While I was thinking of that, teacher Kwak Jungsoo gave a smile and said a few more words along with ‘well done’ before returning.

And the leftover person…

When I turned my head, I saw teacher Ku Mingi with a wide smile.

It seemed like I was seeing him a lot these days.

He opened his mouth.

“Thank you for the performance today. In fact the topic ‘love’ is quite common and yet at the same time, it’s quite hard to express but… it was an interesting analysis. Innocent yet passionate… Was there an experience or a motif that helped you?”

“A motif?”

Was he asking what I was thinking of while singing?

Being a little curious as well, the kids gathered their eyes as well. Smiling a little, I replied.

“Nothing in particular but… uh, there are those days right? Days when your voice comes out really nicely. On those days I would feel extremely happy… so I thought of that… and also when it doesn’t come out nicely, it would feel like my heart is being torn apart…”

It sounded like nonsense but teacher Ku Mingi gave a nod and replied.

“I think I understand. In any case, you mean that you love singing right?”

With a stop, I met my eyes with teacher Ku Mingi.

He was right.

Then, the teacher made a serious expression.

“Sending such a student over to the conducting department makes no sense. I’ll take care of the thing regarding the conducting department so student Yunjae can just practise diligently.”

“Ah… yes.”

Well, not like I would’ve gone there even if I was told to. I nodded with a somewhat blank expression when teacher Ku Mingi glanced at the surroundings before continuing.

“By the way, is your throat okay?”

“Throat? It’s perfect.”

After scratching his chin for a bit, teacher Ku Mingi opened his mouth.

“There’s this student from the composing department who I know, and she’s saying that she needs a performer to perform the song she composed. She asked for me and… seeing student Jo Yunjae’s performance today, she really liked it apparently.”

Making a circle with his fingers, teacher Ku Mingi smiled.

“Of course, she said she has the intention to use some money when calling a performer for the first time. Any thoughts?”

While blinking my eyes, I thought for a bit.

Composing…

Now this was a first as well. To think that composing department students would come to me… they would usually be heavily inclined towards students they know or ones with great skills. And I was neither.

I had never worked together with a composer during my entire life.

Do I really have to do this… was what I was thinking, when teacher Ku Mingi slowly approached. Stepping towards me while ringing his footsteps, he stood before me and glanced down,

And whispered.

“Student Jo Yunjae, during last week’s Improvement Concert, I coincidentally saw you staring at student Kim Wuju and Lee Suh-ah. It gave me the impression that your eyes were on fire.”

“…Sorry?”

Due to the sudden words, I stepped back a little and saw his eyes that seemed like they could gaze through me. He opened his mouth.

“To be completely honest, your performance this time was really good. It was good but… compared to those two students, it was lacking. It’s due to the physical difference that you were born with, but that is merely an excuse. In the end, that means that your unique advantages couldn’t overwhelm those two.”

“… I’m aware.”

I heavily nodded my head as it was true.

Lee Suh-ah and Kim Wuju.

No matter how I utilised this young body to the best of its abilities, there was a significant difference to them in terms of specs. Songs that I had to put my all into could be done by them naturally. And with that remaining breath, they would express in a fancier, more brilliant way.

The resonating chambers, muscles, timbres they were born with and the strength of the vocal cords…

All of this was the cruel physical wall placed between opera singers. Unless they could get enough skills to break through such a wall easily…

As I was deeply thinking, teacher Ku Mingi lowered his upper body and matched his mouth with my ears. Then, he slowly pushed words into my ears.

“Don’t you actually want to win? Against those two.”

“…”

A chill travelled up my spine. While I was frozen solid, teacher Ku Mingi opened his back straight and changed his expression to a bright smile. He then continued his words with a lively tone.

“In any case, personally, I would like to recommend you cooperate with the composer. The song analyses done through student Jo Yunjae’s talents – of course they’re close to perfect but wouldn’t it still be different to the analysis told personally by the composer? As you converse like that with composers and give opinions, I’m sure you’ll reach a higher level in terms of analysing songs. That’s what I think.”

“…”

As I was stuck in a deep thought standing still, teacher Ku Mingi took a step back.

“Think of it for a bit, and if you’d like, come to the staff room. Once again, thanks for the performance.”

“…Thank you.”

Walking past, he lightly tapped my shoulders.

“Take care of your throat as well.”