Chapter 8.7 - Act 8: Lively 7 (1/2)
Act 8: Lively 7
While arguing with Lee Suh-ah, I continued practising.
After Lee Suh-ah’s songs, I would give feedback and when I sang, she would give feedback. It was the same old practice.
When practising with Lee Suh-ah, I usually focused on embedding ‘emotions’ into the song, and practised slowly like I was going up a staircase.
In other words, it was like this.
If Stage 1 revolved around singing with emotions while throwing all the techniques away,
Stage 2 would be the same except with a scoop of techniques,
And Stage 3 was a song with both emotions and technique perfect.
…Of course, I was still stuck in the process of attempting to reach to the third stage and failing. When I was immersed in singing, the moment I thought about anything related to technique, it would break immediately so…
Immersion.
It was similar to dancing with a cup full of water placed on the head, like how people wouldn’t dare to move at the start in fear of the water spilling and would later be able to walk.
Right now, I was at the level of just beginning to walk, which meant that dancing was still a faraway dream.
After listening cautiously to my song, Lee Suh-ah opened her mouth.
“Hmm… this one’s not it. The emotion’s gone.”
“…I knew it.”
I watched Lee Suh-ah shake her head and heaved out a sigh.
Ah, this training method… Although I was getting better steadily, I was frustrated because it was too slow. It felt like there would be a better method but I couldn’t figure out what it was.
When I sat there with a frown, Lee Suh-ah scoffed and clicked her tongue.
“Hey, I’m clueless as to how to even start it and yet you’re greedy aren’t you? Hmph. You’re already getting better but you want to learn faster? Are you making fun of me?”
“…You’re right. Why can’t you do it? I told you everything right?”
“…”
Seeing her fuming, I contemplated seriously.
Although I explained about the ‘emotions’ throughout the past several weeks during the practices, she couldn’t learn it at all. It didn’t work no matter what song she tried out.
Touching my chin, I thought.
What was the difference between Lee Suh-ah and I?
The difference between the people that could and those that couldn’t… Suddenly, I felt that it would be tremendously helpful for the growth of my skills if I could find out the reason behind the difference.
“…”
Let’s start off with laying down all the differences one by one.
First off, would be the difference in experience.
I’ve been singing more than Lee Suh-ah and I was more experienced in life. Was that why it was easier for me to put emotions into the song…?
‘…Does that mean that being old is the key?’
I immediately rejected that possibility.
Being old was the key? But there were bigshots that could sing great songs at a young age, and it was impossible to say that those songs were lacking in emotions.
In other words, although being older might be an advantage, it wasn’t the only factor.
“What would it be…”
Since I couldn’t think of the answer, I took out my phone, opened Kakaotalk and immediately sent a message to teacher Kwak Jungsoo.
[Sir. What are emotions, I wonder]
The quiet phone soon gave off vibrations.
[Teacher Kwak: ?]
[Me: Remember the recording I sent you? I’m trying to practise that but it’s not working T.T]
After some time, a reply arrived.
[Teacher Kwak: zzz.
How would I tell you that with messages?
You’re not even next to me right now.
Study it yourself.]
[Me: Ah…]
[Teacher Kwak: If I was to tell you something at least
Although it’s a bit hard to put into words,
You need to empathise.
You don’t really understand that right?
So just practise by yourself.]
“…”
Empathise…?
*
On the 5th of June, the sky was bright.
The sun giving off bright rays that seemed to prick the eyes was surrounded by small bits of cloud within the wide blue canvas.
Glancing outside the window with relaxed eyes, I opened my mouth.
“It’s bright…”
It really was. The broad skies expanded out faraway and after staring at it for a long time, it even gave off a cool feeling. From what I heard during the Orientation of the freshmen, the dorms were built on the highest hill and that seemed to have been true.
Besides, since the freshmen were the youngest, we were living on the sixth floor which was the highest. Thanks to that, there weren’t that many tall buildings around.
I usually barely held myself back from swearing when climbing up and down the stairs but it was quite good for things like these…
“Was it good?”
Tilting my head, I rested my chin on the windowsill.
In the sky, I could see an airplane drawing a white trail of clouds on the blue canvas.
“…”
Thinking back, it felt like it had been a while since I had stared into the sky like this. Because I was busy recently with the song presentation, prac test and whatnot, I only remembered going back and forth from the practice rooms, the school and the cafeteria.
Right, people should at least have the luxury to stare at the skies.
Like that, I stared blankly at the sky and healed myself before standing up from the seat.
Shoving the door open, I left the room and found a quiet corridor. Normally, students would still be at school so unless they were coming back to change their clothes, they wouldn’t really return to their dorms.
Carrying my feet down the stairs, I took out my phone and doublechecked that my ask for leave from school had been accepted.
If this went wrong, I could get caught for truanting.
[5th of June, 15 o’clock ~ 23 o’clock. Leave from school]
After carefully reading through the words again, I made a faint smile. My feet carrying me to the entrance of the dorms were light.
Ah, good, good. Watching the La Stella opera company of 2020 directly – it was an experience that couldn’t be traded with any form of currency after 20 years.
The current lineup of singers, plus the premium stamp that they’re in their youthful days would have albums selling like crazy.
And yet, I got to attend in person? What other words did I need to say?
With a wide smile, I walked towards the entrance of the school when a silhouette of a girl in a distance entered my eyes.
Beneath the bright sun rays, her black hair glowed. She had a loose shirt and a tidy skirt but had several tiny ornaments in detail, making it evident even from a distance that she was quite excited for today.
Seeing Han Dasom wave her hand with a bright smile the moment she found me, a thought suddenly popped up in my head.
Now that I think about it, I feel like this was my first time seeing her in casual clothes.
“Yunjae… Hi?”
“Yeah hello. You look pretty today.”
“Thanks…”
Watching her make a faint smile, I carried my feet.