684 Room for Improvemen (2/2)

”Your music is evolving,” he commented after a pause in the conversation. ”You're now shifting from darker and soulful tones to a more romantic style, starting from when you collaborated with Chonglin.”

She nodded, smiling. ”I just feel very inspired right now.”

”I can see that. But based on ”Shining Eyes” and ”Passionate Flames”, you still have a lot of room for improvement. There's still a sense of awkwardness and immaturity in the romantic aspect of your music.”

Iris paid rapt attention to Enrique Valdez's words. They were discussing ideas for their music collaboration but she also treated this as a precious lesson time with a world-class music instructor. Indeed, after listening to Enrique Valdez's opinions about her latest music with Jin Chonglin, she agreed with him that she still had much to learn and improve in developing her repertoire of musical styles, techniques and execution.

If she was a normal person, she would have felt dejected after an ultra-bigshot like Enrique Valdez criticized her work. However, she wasn't normal. She was a certified genius like him! So instead of dejection, she felt energized, challenged and inspired.

”Reflect on what I told you,” he told her.

”Yes, Teacher. I will. Thank you.”

”For our music collab, I'll let you take the lead as to what kind of music you want to create. What I want people to remember when they hear our music is you first, not me. Understand?”

Her eyes lit up, feeling even more motivated. ”Yes! I'll do my best.”

”It might be you taking the lead but that doesn't mean that I'll let you do whatever you want. If what you present me is crap, I won't give you Enrique Valdez's seal of approval. Disappoint me and I'll abandon this collab and maybe even drop you as my student.” His mesmerizing hazel eyes narrowed, observing her reaction.

She didn't back down and looked at him directly in the eyes, showing him her determination. ”I understand. I won't disappoint you, Teacher.”

He nodded, satisfied by her answer. Then he waved a hand, gesturing for her to get to work. He already said all he needed to say, so he reverted to his usual taciturn self who valued his words more than gold.