Chapter 249 (1/2)
Volume 7 / Chapter 249
TL: LightNovelCafe
Editor: Isleidir
Argento was in disbelief when he saw Jun Hyuk laughing in jest.
“You’re… cruel. Do you really want to show my damaged image to my
fans?”
“Of course not. Damaged? I think of it as the opposite. The
cracking is the sound that I and the opera needs. If you still had the sweet
voice from the past, I wouldn’t have come all the way here. You’ll be able to
express the exact sound that I want.”
“What sound are you talking about?”
“I’m not making an opera where beautiful arias flow out. There are
countless works like that. I’m going to make an opera where the characters,
singing, and voice match up perfectly.”
Argento felt passion in Jun Hyuk’s expression.
“A sweet voice for an aged big boss? Isn’t that funny? This
protagonist isn’t a handsome prince or a king ruling a single country. He is an
old man who has been shot before and always has death beside him. A person like
that with a beautiful voice?”
Argento could not drink his wine and got lost in Jun Hyuk’s
passionate words.
“A young Corleone who sings in a cool manner will fill the 1st
act. The sound that is necessary in the 2nd act where we can feel the flow of
time is you, Mr. Argento.”
Argento started as the tenor in the Alfredo role of Verdi’s ‘La
Traviata’. The powerful, beautiful, and grand voice that had touched the
audience at the time is changing into the cracking voice of an old man in his
last work.
It is as though he is revealing to everyone that his life is in
decline.
“You would be facing death in your last work. Is there a better
exit than this? Are you going to disappear after performing lightly at charity
concerts like you’re doing now?”
Argento had gladly accepted meeting with Jun Hyuk because he
wanted to see the genius that the world was abuzz about, but also to give a
mild refusal.
However, could it have been a desire hidden deep within him to
find a reason to stand on the stage with this opera?
Jun Hyuk did not pay mind to Argento’s complicated thoughts and
bolted up from the sofa, holding a stack of scores out to him.
“It is the aria that Vito Corleone needs to sing. If you look at
it, you’ll want to stand on the stage. I’ll be waiting at the hotel. Just give
me a call.”
Jun Hyuk put the score on top of the table and left the living
room, leaving his last words,
“Oh right, Mr. Argento. I can keep a secret. I won’t tell anyone
that you got a procedure done.”
Argento kept looking at the score even after Jun Hyuk left. After
staring blankly for a while, he picked up the score instead of the wine glass.
‘Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer’
‘An offer you can’t refuse’
The song titles are Vito Corleone’s most famous lines. Argento
started to read through the sheets slowly.
President Stern was waiting anxiously for Jun Hyuk
at the hotel. He felt better when he saw Jun Hyuk come in smiling.
“How did it go? Did he accept?”
“No, not yet. But he will. I left the aria score with him. If he
sees that and rejects it, he’s done as a singer. We’ll have to look for someone
else.”
He gains more confidence over time. He means that he gave Argento
music that he cannot reject, not an offer that he cannot reject.
“How long are you going to wait?”
“Just until check out tomorrow.”
“Who’s next if he turns us down?”
Jun Hyuk said a few names and President Stern made the order to
check on their schedules.
“Alright, then shall we enjoy this sweltering heat until tomorrow?
Let’s look out at the Mediterranean and watch beautiful women on the beach.”
President Stern dragged Jun Hyuk to the beach where he laid under
a parasol and drank a refreshing drink.
But unlike Stern who was happy, Jun Hyuk could not get rid of his
weighted expression.
“What? Because Argento might turn you down?”
“No. Because of the other roles…..”
Jun Hyuk did not seem to think that Argento might refuse.
President Stern saw this and spoke nonchalantly. He knows what Jun Hyuk’s heavy
expression means.
“Jun. Don’t think more about it and ask for help.”
“Excuse me? Who?”
“Who else? Laura.”
“Oh, Laura Goldberg?”
“Yeah. It’s a supporting role, but it leaves an impact, doesn’t
it? It’ll become the top aria of this opera? With something like that, Laura
will do you this favor.”
He hesitated several times, but he could not get himself to contact
her. She is already rising rapidly as a star. Her name has gotten too big for
her to take on a supporting role.
“She didn’t even apply for the audition. I’m sure that’s how busy
she is.”
“No. She could have not participated because there isn’t an appropriate
role and she could have thought that you would contact her first if you needed
her. She could even be disappointed that you didn’t call her.”
President Stern took his cellphone out and gave his employee
another order.