Chapter 9.8 - Act 9: Whimsically 8 (2/2)
Casual job.
It was work I was doing to help my family’s financial situation as well as help Lee Suh-ah. Since I could do it every once in a while, it had a lower priority than the other two tasks.
I didn’t have to worry about it too much.
After erasing my concerns about the jobs a little, I nodded and went to the next topic.
Concert.
The concert was… quite important. First off, not only were all the students in our entire school watching it, parents and other important guests would be coming to watch it.
It was a performance held by the prac high-achievers of the famous Future Arts High.
In other words, it was a performance where the top talents of the next generation were showcased, thus, it wasn’t strange for even outsiders to take interest.
Both college and opera companies were thirsty for talents. A performance before them would be an important opportunity to raise my fame as a performer.
After drawing a tick next to the preparation for the concert, I went over to the last topic in hand.
Opera actor.
With those words hanging before me, I scratched my cheek in thought.
This was a goal that appeared after meeting Sir Dickson; to become an opera singer and advance forward in the world of songs. When he heard about my dream, Sir Dickson gave an advice;
“In fact, I’m not an opera singer and am just a conductor, a related personnel of an opera company. Therefore, I will give you advice from the standpoint of an opera company and not as an opera singer.”
“Yes.”
His eyes flickered and continued.
“While managing Met, I got to see a lot of opera singers. Within them, there were numerous talented singers. I’ve met countless opera singers that could let out beautiful sounds.”
“…”
Although I didn’t really understand his words back then, thinking back on it now, I could understand Sir Dickson’s words.
The place he worked at was none other than Met, the best, the most famous opera company. Naturally, hundreds of famous opera singers would gather and could I be better than all of them?
No, it would in fact overflow with people that were better than the previous me in singing.
Sir Dickson continued on like this.
“However, we can only choose a handful from those because we cannot take all of them with us. Now then, do you know how we decide on whom to choose and whom not to choose?”
“…No.”
His solid gaze resurfaced in my mind.
“Opera is a play – it is a play acted out with music and the people buy tickets based on the names of those actors. An actor that has the talents to sell tickets – that is the sort of actor we must choose.”
“…”
“Actors that can steal the hearts of the people. They all knew how to sing based on their most-fitting roles.”
“…Roles.”
The teacher back then nodded his head.
“Yes, roles. In fact, how good they are at singing, their tone and how perfect their vocalisation is… we’re not interested in those.”
“What??”
“It’s natural, because most of the interviewers are not opera majors. We only look for people that can act out characters of the play we make.”
He had spoken with his finger raised.
“In conclusion, it’s like this. Singing well is a given and the most important thing is whether that voice fits the role or not. If Romeo had a grandpa-like voice, it would be impossible to concentrate right?”
“Ah.”
Through conversations like that, Sir Dickson gave various advice. He said that to become a good opera actor, we had to stand on numerous opera stages and to experience as much as possible as a student…
Experience, huh.
“But is there an opera stage that a student can stand on?”
“Well, there won’t be much. Since I don’t know much about Korea, I can’t say much but… isn’t it fine with a school club activity?”
“Club activity…”
Clubs.
Since I didn’t apply for any, I was free. Although I didn’t join one because I had to focus on my studies during the first semester… I should try one out during the second semester.
Nodding my head, I finished organising my flashbacks of the previous talk and the plans for the future and stood up from my seat.
For now, it was time for me to practise for the concert.
*
After that, I continued visiting the practice rooms and did several jobs with Lee Suh-ah throughout the holidays. Sometimes, we recorded for a song that would be inserted into a small broadcast or sung in churches.
Although we did a lot, it was a fun experience since it had been a while since I went on casual jobs like this.
In any case, we practised for the concert while working casually and entered a few small contests to win the prizes until two weeks had passed by.
Now when we went to a place for work, they all seemed to recognise us a little. When I asked them, I discovered that rumours had spread about us two, that there was a high schooler duo that went around singing.
…I wasn’t sure if it was a good rumour but, it was good in the sense that we were gaining fame. It was good because we no longer needed lots of tiresome conversations before starting and because the quality of our jobs were of higher standards.
There was even a fairly high paying job for singing a wedding song, that was enough proof of our increased fame.
“Wedding song? At a wedding ceremony?”
Gazing away from Lee Suh-ah who asked back with a tilted head back onto my phone, I scrolled down and read the explanation.
“Yea. It’s super good. We just have to do a rehearsal then sing so it won’t take that long.”
With a flickering gaze, Lee Suh-ah furtively asked.
“How much?”
“…”
When I looked at her with a dumbfounded gaze, Lee Suh-ah flinched before turning away.
Asking about the pay before anything…
Didn’t she complain about classical music students taking singing jobs before…? I felt a slight prick on my conscience because it felt like I was warping an innocent child into something different.
Burying the strange feelings I had, I replied with a raise of my eyebrows.
“Hundred dollars per person.”
Lee Suh-ah rose up without another word.