Chapter 12 (2/2)
“Listen carefully, Jun Hyuk. There are also adults who give hungry children free lunch without expecting anything in return. And it’s not free, is it? I’m making you clean.”
Jun Hyuk’s expression was that of disbelief. No matter how hard he searched his memory, there had never been a person who treated him like this without expecting something in return. He felt Yoon Kwang Hun’s sincerity in the way he was speaking clearly as if he were upset.
“But why are you being nice to me?”
“Um… let me think. How should I say it?”
Yoon Kwang Hun thought for a moment about how he could say it in a way that would help Jun Hyuk understand.
“You have a tremendous talent that you don’t know about. I don’t know how extensive it is either. I want to see that talent and I don’t want it to disappear.”
“By chance, can I hear… I mean, do I have a talent in music?”
“So far it seems so. It could be an incredible talent.”
“I see.”
Jun Hyuk hung his head. Yoon Kwang Hun could guess why his head was hanging and went on speaking.
“Even if you don’t have a talent, let’s live here together until you’re an adult. I’m alone and you’re alone.”
Jun Hyuk finally lifted his head and thanked him.
“Thank you, mister. I’ll make sure to be successful with my music and repay your kindness.”
“You’re embarrassing me… Forget about that. And you’re not just playing around. You really have to start studying hard.”
“Excuse me? Study?”
“Yea, study. You’ve never been to school, right?”
“No.”
“So you won’t know hangul?”
“No.”
“Hey, it’s fine. It’s not something to be ashamed of. It’s natural that you don’t know it if you’ve never learned it.”
Yoon Kwang Hun hit the back of Jun Hyuk’s once again hanging head.
“When the cafe opens in the morning, go to your room and sleep. Sleep well and you can listen to music when you get up. We can study together after the cafe is closed. We’ll learn hangul and sheet music.”
“Sheet music?”
“Yea. Sheet music makes it possible to read sounds.”
“Sounds?”
“Yes. It means you’re recording the pitch and length of sounds. And since you don’t know tones yet, you’ll need to learn an instrument. You need to know the different sounds instruments make.”
“Then… if I learn sheet music, I’ll be able to write down the sounds I think of?”
‘Exactly. This is it.’
Yoon Kwang Hun felt a shiver run through his body. There’s definitely music unique to this child in his head. Yoon Kwang Hun wanted to see that music. He needed to know if this child was Mozart reincarnated or if he just had absolute pitch, a sense for tempo, and amazing memorization.
If Jun Hyuk was not talented in composition, he would need to receive professional training. Yoon Kwang Hun thought this far ahead and started to worry. How much money would this cost?
“Jun Hyuk, you can think about making music slowly. You need to listen to a lot of it before that. As you listen to a lot of music, it’ll become clear how you can make the sounds that you are thinking of.”
With that, Jun Hyuk started to live at the cafe.