Chapter 8.6 - Lively 6 (1/2)

After the presentation of the composing department was over, the school atmosphere seemed to have gotten slightly heavier, giving off an atmosphere like everything was covered in the humid heat of June.

Or perhaps it was an atmosphere formed due to the prac tests that would mark the end of the first semester creeping up close… forming an atmosphere of nervousness.

“…”

Within all that, Ku Mingi wiped the drop of sweat flowing down his forehead and glanced around. He could see various expressions of the fellow teachers.

There were some teachers spinning their pens with excitement, teachers glaring at himself with an expressionless look and others looking away seemingly uninterested.

After finally scanning over the principal who was sitting down at the very end, Ku Mingi squared the ends of the papers and opened his mouth.

“…The results of the concours so far are all here. As for the awards, it is showing an increase in amount compared to last year and, that’s especially so with the freshmen opera department.”

“The opera department… I heard that there were 5 people that entered the finals of the Future Central Concour? From the freshmen, at that.”

“Yes. And Kim Wuju and Lee Suh-ah got first places respectively.”

“Hah…”

The teachers gave off sighs of admiration.

What kind of concour was the Future Central Concour? It was an honourable one which every performing art student nationwide would participate in. Although it was just a high school segment, the fact that freshmen students had won, leaving behind all the third-graders was an amazing thing.

It would not be an overstatement to say that they were the greatest of the current generation.

Ku Mingi glanced at the rowdy staff members before adding a few words.

“And from other departments, the violin, viola and others has been won by the third-graders of our school and, for the piano… the freshman student Chloe has come first place.”

“First place?”

There were cries of astonishment within the entire crowd. Some teachers looked at Ku Mingi with widened eyes while some nodded their heads as if they had known about it beforehand. There were also a few number of teachers who sat blankly and gave mutters of admiration.

They seemed to be more surprised than when the first places of the opera department were announced. However, that was natural because it was the first place in piano of the famous Future Central Concour.

Besides, it was unexpectedly by a new student called Chloe, who was different from Lee Suh-ah and Kim Wuju who had been famous ever since their middle school days. Also, because the opera department gave out awards separately for the male and female voice parts, there was a lot less competition compared to the piano.

But piano?

Through all that vicious competitiveness, a freshman student had come first?

The teachers were overwhelmed with excitement and started to have noisy conversations.

“A freshman taking first place from the piano department… how many years has it been since that happened?”

“Not sure, but I think it’s the first time ever since Ju Seungjin.”

“Ju Seungjin! Aye, how proud was the Shinhwa Performing Arts High after producing him? We can finally take them down a notch!”

“Chloe huh… isn’t she under teacher Kang Heewon? Is she really that good?”

Kang Heewon who was forced back by the fussy teachers made an awkward smile.

“Uh… she was good but… around a month ago was it? She suddenly became a lot better. Ah… I think it was around when she talked about doing the song presentation.”

“The song presentation?”

Looking down on the curious expressions of the teachers, Song Muntak made a grin.

Their updates on information was a bit slow.

After being proud of himself for no reason, he was suddenly reminded.

‘Right, it was a month ago…’

He once again remembered the adolescent face of Jo Yunjae. A month – he had raised such a great pianist in a mere month and that was an enviable talent.

‘What’s so good about singing?’

After heaving a sigh, Song Muntak shook his head.

He knew that Jo Yunjae was decent at singing, because he had shown an interesting skill directly in front of him. However, wasn’t he better suited to be a conductor? No matter how one thought, his future would be a bright one filled with flowers.

How do I pull him into the conducting department… After thinking for a bit, the principal suddenly shot his head up and glanced at the teachers. He could see the teachers being curious about what had led up to Chloe’s sudden improvement in skills.

Song Muntak made a smile.

‘Right. I could just spread the news about his talents.’

Jo Yunjae was still nothing but a high schooler. If he was persuaded by tonnes of people, his heart would waver for sure and more so since that would be from the teachers who were way above himself.

After making a smile of satisfaction, he glanced around and opened his mouth.

“The song presentation last week huh. Chloe – I coincidentally came across her performance and… she was good. Ah, is there perhaps anyone here that didn’t get to hear it yet?”

“?”

The teachers looked at each other with tilted heads and soon replied that that was the case. In fact, since there weren’t many teachers that would attend Improvement Concerts every week, it was natural for the majority to have missed out on it.

Song Muntak leaned forward with interlocked fingers and smiled.

“Hmm… It sounds like a good idea to watch it again right here. Isn’t it a student that came first place at the Future Central Concour? We, as the teachers should at least know where her skills are currently at right?”

“…Yes.”

Soon, the screen on the side of the conference room started playing a recording of the Improvement Concert. A group of male and female walked out together as a blonde-haired female student sat in front of the piano.

And then, the song started flowing out.

Song Muntak who had been listening to the three performers with a smile glanced around to see the reactions of the surroundings.

Now, how was it; can you feel the unbelievable development of the piano and the expert-like skills that grouped the three into one? Isn’t this the ultimate talent of conductors?

Within his eyes that had been quickly glancing across the staff members, a teacher sighing in admiration appeared.

“Chloe… a freshman was it? It truly is unbelievable.”

That’s right.

“Wait, this, I thought it was just the piano but the rest are amazing as well.”

Right, harmony. That was it.

Song Muntak was nodding his head when suddenly, a voice of astonishment entered his ears.

“Wait… you’re saying that boy there is Jo Yunjae?”

Un?

When he turned his head around, he saw a teacher with dropped chins. Her name was… Kang Heewon was it?

He stared at her with a doubtful expression when Kang Heewon started opening her mouth with a stutter.

“I didn’t know Jo Yunjae was that good… I’m pretty sure he didn’t apply for any concours because he wasn’t confident and yet…”

After that, there were several teachers following suit.

“Right, Jo Yunjae. I remember him being the last place during admission.”

“He seemed to have been getting a lot better recently and now that I’m watching him, I can tell it’s true. Watch him blending into the piano. Iya…”

“It’s already good enough that he’s not being suppressed by the accompaniment.”

“His Korean pronunciation is good as well. Usually, because they study both Italian and German, there are cases where the students are bad with Korean but…”

“This year’s opera department is really amazing.”

Hearing the series of compliments coming from the teachers, Song Muntak made a dumbfounded expression.

Uh…? This isn’t right.

Oblivious to the principal in that state, the teachers naturally started evaluating Jo Yunjae’s skills and giving compliments to the sudden improvement of the opera’s rookie.

I saw him directly and his growth speed was amazing; his expression skills were good; I’m pretty sure he was a kid without any basics and yet when I realised, he was already like that…

After talking on like that, the teacher in charge of the entirety of the freshmen students glanced at Ku Mingi before casually opening his mouth.

“If I remember correctly… Jo Yunjae is teacher Ku Mingi’s student right?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Kuhum… Umm, teacher Ku Mingi is already taking care of student Jun Shihyuk so is there a need to be in charge of two students?”

“…Sorry? Didn’t we already have this conversation before?”

“The situation is different now. Talented kids like that must receive intensive, differentiated care…”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“Come on…”

Seeing the sudden fight for Jo Yunjae between the opera department teachers, Song Muntak made a dejected expression.

‘How do I bring him into the conducting department…’

*

Oblivious to the fact that she had given a headache to Song Muntak, Song Mirae was lying down on the bed, humming.

Her swinging legs evidently reflected her unsettled mood.

“Hihih, ah, what photo should I send~? Suh-ah, Suh-ah. What photo should I send to make that Han Dasom angry?”

“…Ehew.”

Without even caring about the sigh Lee Suh-ah gave off, Song Mirae glanced through the photos she had on her phone.