Chapter 8.7 - Act 8: Lively 7 (2/2)

The opera we’ll be watching today, ‘Tosca’ by Puccini which La Stella would be performing was planned to open at the Opera Theatre of the Seoul Arts Centre.

The theatre was a bit far from our school… and it was too far to walk so we decided to go with a car.

With none other than the one belonging to Han Dasom’s family.

I said it was okay because I could just catch a bus but Han Dasom kept on offering by saying that we were heading the same direction anyway.

Well, what else could I do? Thinking that, I just decided to get on it together.

“Excuse me.”

“Hello.”

Inside a black, fancy sedan, a male sitting on the driver’s seat gave a small bow as I observed him quietly. He had a clean face devoid of any beard and didn’t seem to be old enough to be her father and they appeared too distant for them to be siblings. They greeted in polite language after all.

It felt more like a hired driver.

Thinking up to there, I opened my mouth.

“Dasom. Your house was rich huh?”

“…Un.”

Glancing at her face which turned darker for some reason, I turned to stare outside the window.

Rich, huh.

Well, I had somewhat guessed it already because I mean, it was just way too obvious.

Han Dasom knew nothing about opera and yet she was clearly into popular music and musicals. She had also been singing pop songs in the future.

In that case, there was no reason for her to come to Future Arts High because Future Arts High was completely on the classical side. If she was going with pop songs, it would’ve been better to go towards a performing art school with applied music. Entering Future Arts High to throw away both time and money would be an extremely incomprehensible decision.

In other words, there was only one possible case scenario.

‘An opposition from the family.’

Even though they hated popular music, they put her into the Future Arts High, saying that opera was okay.

It meant that at least, the family had no interest in money because pop songs were easier to earn money with.

In that case, what things other than money were they interested in? It was too simple – they probably put her into the school to create an elegant hobby. Saying that she was doing classical music just sounded cool right?

“…”

Because her downcasted eyes appeared somewhat pitiable, I tried starting a conversation.

“Are you going back home after watching the performance today? I was thinking of asking the school for a night out but just went with a leave.”

“Un. I think I will go home… because I didn’t go last week…”

“That’s good. Maybe you’ll be having a party or something, with your parents saying that their daughter had come third at a concour or something.”

“Maybe.”

After smiling bashfully, she threw her gaze downward. Then, she fidgeted with her hands above her skirt for a bit before heaving out a sigh and stealing a glance at me.

She appeared very busy.

I watched her curiously when Han Dasom opened her mouth with a strangely awkward tone.

“I should’ve done better…”

“Huh?”

“Un… I mean… it was a concour I went to without even helping your song presentation… I’m so regretful that I only got third place…”

“C’mon. Third place is good enough. It’s just that Lee Suh-ah who came first place there is a monster. We are humans right?”

She made a ‘hehe’ smile, before suddenly giving out a cough and changing her expression.

“Uhum. But still… I should have helped Yunjae present the song… it was hard for you because you had to do it with someone you didn’t know well right…?”

“Uh… well, it was quite hard.”

After that, Han Dasom became fully revived.

Her expression was bright like usual and the smile on her face didn’t show any signs of disappearing. She talked while staring into my eyes, before gradually pulling herself closer and she was right next to me when I realised.

“Yunjae, can I take a photo as a commemoration…? Um… it’s my first time seeing an opera you see…”

“Okay then.”

Although I wasn’t sure why, she angled it so that I would be inside the photo as well and soon started typing on her phone at an astonishing speed with a bright smile.

She was really fast at typing…

While I was blankly looking on, the car arrived at the opera theatre. I opened the door and walked out as the familiar scenery greeted me.

The Opera Theatre of the Seoul Arts Centre.

The outward appearance of the massive theatre that could hold up to two thousand people could be explained with the words – a large gamasot.

It sounded like I was degrading the place but how else would I describe it when it just perfectly resembled one?

Look at those cylindrical walls going up from the ground with a circular roof placed on the top and a small handle decorating the top.

It was a superb gamasot.

Did they design it like that to imply that it was a place that made delicious music? I had those stray thoughts running across my head.

“Uwah…”

Seeing Han Dasom let out a mutter with a blank expression, I asked quietly.

“Is this your first time coming here?”

“Un… I’ve never seen an opera yet after all.”

“Ah, right.”

Since I had been here a lot, I acted like a guide and led Han Dasom to various places because there was still some time left before the opera started.

Walking down the corridor, I answered any questions Han Dasom asked, and while entering the doors of the theatre, I talked about any historical facts that popped up in my head as well as the effect architectural structure had on music…

When I talked non-stop about the theatre, Han Dasom asked with a tilted head.

“Have you been here a lot…?”

“Uh… yeah. Just sometimes.”

“Sometimes…?”

I avoided her gaze that seemed to ask, ‘Is it possible to know all that by just sometimes coming here?’, as a drop of cold sweat flowed down my cheek.

Soon, the time passed, and I could feel with my skin that the performance was nearing its start as the seats gradually got filled up. Watching the stage being frequented by several staff members, Han Dasom tilted her head on her seat.

“By the way Yunjae… why is that place dug up…?”

Following her gaze, I discovered that her eyes were pointed at the place in front of the stage, which was dug up like a large hole.

It was quite eye-catching because it was the only uneven spot out of the level area in front of the stage.

“That’s a pit.”

“A pit…?”

“Yeah. It literally means what it says and… that’s where the orchestra performs from while the actors sing on the stage.”

Letting out an ‘ohh…’ as a sign of admiration, she lifted her back up and stared deeply into the pit. Seeing her do that, a smile crept out unconsciously.

That was cute.

After observing the inside for a while, Han Dasom opened her mouth with a downhearted tone.

“But performing inside a hole is… not fair… Their faces won’t even be seen well…”

I blinked my eyes before giving a nod of agreement.

Indeed, that was another way of seeing it.

Since I had always been the one above stage, I had never thought of it in that way and only thought of that hole as the place they belonged at.

Because in opera, the actors were the main characters,

I had never once thought about the stances of the performers that had to perform all the way down there.

In other words, I had never empathised with them.

‘Empathise huh…’

Empathise?

The moment I tried to grasp the sudden spark of thought, my blurry eyes caught sight of the screens unfolding.

It marked the start of the performance.