"That's why I can't leave this neighborhood. It was only a month, but it was the first and last time in my life that I lived with my mother."
Sambok's last words lingered in Jaehee's mind as she walked down from the village with Soo-hyun. Jaehee glanced at Soo-hyun's expression.
'What is he feeling as he walks slowly down the steep road? Soo-hyun would probably also want to live with his parents for just one day, like Sambok.'
Soo-hyun, who was walking silently through a narrow alley, spoke up at some point.
"How was it?"
'What should I answer? "I was sad. I was worried about you," is what I wanted to say.'
Soo-hyun, seeing Jaehee hesitate, looked ahead again and spoke.
"Do you know what I'm thinking right now? It's a bad thought. You might think I'm a bad guy after you hear it. It's just that, when I listen to those guys, I think that maybe I'm a happy person. I've been taught that it's vulgar to seek comfort from someone who is worse off than you, but funnily enough, I still do it."
Jaehee's body tensed. After hearing Soo-hyun's thoughts, she realized that perhaps her own worries about Soo-hyun at that moment were also thoughts like, 'I'm better off than Soo-hyun.'
Soo-hyun said as he looked up at the sky.
"But, isn't it okay to do that a little? I have a lot to feel because of it. Well, I didn't expect to hear this kind of story. I felt a lot after hearing the old man's story last time. I didn't come here with bad thoughts from the beginning. But now, I feel really bad about myself."
'Me too, Soo-hyun. I've had bad thoughts just like you.'
Soo-hyun said as he looked at Jaehee in that way.
"Actually, I wanted you to hear the performance of the old man who, although he has little skill, can express poetry with his heart. I don't know if you heard it, but there is poetry in the old man's music. I think if Mr. Sambok plays an instrument, he'll do the same."
'Poetry from the heart.'
Jaehee remembered her own performance.
'Have I ever done that? Have I ever played music obsessed with technique, music only for competitions? No matter how much I think about it, I don't think I've ever played a song that reached someone's heart.'
Soo-hyun spoke calmly as he walked.
"The first time, I expressed my feelings to my parents through music. I told them that I miss them and I long for them. What about you? If you were to play with all your heart and wanted to convey it to someone, who would it be?"
Jaehee was startled by a word that flashed through her mind. The one by her side right now was her father, and the one who loved her more than anyone was her father. But the word that crossed Jaehee's mind was "Mom."
Soo-hyun, who saw Jaehee shaking her head in denial, walked a little faster and said.
"Think carefully about what you want to say the most and who you want to say it to. Maybe that's the key that will lead you to a higher place."
Soo-hyun walked while looking at the setting sun. Jaehee's footsteps, following him a step behind with her head down, somehow sounded lonely.
The next day.
Ji-ye, sitting on the living room sofa, crossed her arms and spoke with a cold expression.
"The eight-times table."
Soo-hyun, sitting on the floor as if he were a criminal, spoke weakly.
"Eight times one is eight, eight times two is sixteen, eight times three is twenty-four... eight times four... uh, thirty?"
Ji-ye slammed her hand on the armrest of the sofa.
"Thirty-two! It's thirty-two! Haven't you memorized it yet?"
Soo-hyun, who wanted to crawl into the floor, had a weak expression.
"The eight-times table is too hard, Sister."
"Yes, I know. But if you can't even memorize the multiplication table in middle school, you'll be treated like an idiot when classes start. I can't stand to see that."
Soo-hyun had a pitiful expression. Ji-ye treated him like a mother, but she never made concessions when it came to studying. Soo-hyun, who was a smart boy but had strange difficulties adapting to math, was resentful of Jaehee for being late today.
'I hate showing this side of myself in front of Jaehee, but if the girl comes, I can get out of this hell with the excuse of practicing the piano.'
Ji-ye said with her eyes wide open.
"I'm going to test you again tonight. If you don't pass, I'm going to be really angry. Understood?"
"Yes…"
Ji-ye said, getting up from the sofa.
"Is your homework going well?"
"There's no way it's going... The multiplication table is too hard."
"Not that, the piano."
When the subject turned back to the piano, Soo-hyun smiled happily and spoke quickly.
"The Brahms piece is by a violinist. Since Jaehee hasn't been able to express her emotions yet, we went to Baeksa Village yesterday. We didn't get much results... But I'm sure I'll do well with Jaehee!"
"Yes, I believe in that. But I don't believe in the multiplication table."
Soo-hyun's face fell dead again.
"Yes…"
As soon as the doorbell rang, Ji-ye nodded as if telling them to open the door quickly.
"Jaehee must be here."
The thought of having to take another multiplication table test at night made him sigh, but Soo-hyun, who had found a way to avoid it, ran like the wind and opened the door.
"Why are you so late?"
Jaehee, as always, was carrying her violin case on her shoulder. Soo-hyun said, patting it.
"Come in quickly, we have to practice."
But Jaehee didn't enter the house until the front door was closed. Soo-hyun, who found it strange, opened the door again and looked Jaehee up and down.
"Why aren't you coming in?"
She shook her head.
"Huh? What? You're not coming in?"
She shook her head again.
"Are you saying you're going in or out?"
Jaehee lowered her head and pouted. Soo-hyun, who was watching her quietly, asked.
"Where do you want to go?"
She nodded, nodded.
"Do you want to go back to Baeksa Village?"
She shook her head.
"Then where?"
Jaehee pouted again. Soo-hyun, who had been watching the girl quietly, said as if he knew.
"Do I have to take the car?"
Nod.
"Should I ask my sister to take me?"
Shook her head.
"Why? I can't take the subway."
Nod.
"Huh? Can I take a bus here?"
Nod.
"Okay. Wait a moment. I'll change and come out. In return, you have to help me memorize all the multiplication tables today. If I don't memorize them all today, I don't think my sister will leave me alone."
Nod.
After Soo-hyun explained the situation to Ji-ye and changed his clothes, he came out. Soo-hyun said as he went down the stairs, holding the credit card with a bus card function that Ji-ye had given him.
"Even if I ask you where you're going, you won't tell me, right?"
"…"
"Yeah, I was just asking. Let's go for now."
Fortunately, Jaehee had ridden the bus often, so she was good at choosing the right bus for her destination. Soo-hyun sat in the back of the bus and memorized the multiplication tables. Jaehee would shake her head to give Soo-hyun a signal every time he memorized something incorrectly.
"Nine times seven, fifty-eight… Huh? No? Ah, then… sixty-three?"
Nod, nod.
"Right? It somehow felt like it. I can memorize music as soon as I see it, why can't I memorize this?"
Soo-hyun was looking out the bus window while complaining when he suddenly opened his eyes wide at the sight of a familiar landscape.
"Is this Jamsil?"
Nod, nod.
"Have you ever stayed at a hotel in that huge building? It was really nice."
Nod, nod.
"There's a piano in that mall. Two of them."
Nod, nod.
"Are we going there?"
Nod, nod.
"What? Are you going shopping? I don't have anything to buy."
Shook her head.
Soo-hyun said with a stern face.
"I swore I would never go shopping with a woman again after going shopping with Ji-ye noona. So don't even think about taking me shopping."
Nod, nod.
Soo-hyun, who looked at Jaehee suspiciously, got off at the Jamsil underground bus stop. Jaehee, who knew where they were going, should have taken the lead, but Jaehee, who was always one step behind Soo-hyun, grabbed Soo-hyun's collar and changed direction every time she went in a different direction from her destination. Soo-hyun, who was walking down the street following Jaehee's instructions, was surprised to see where he had arrived.
"Is this a piano store?"
A piano store located in a shopping mall attached to a department store. Although it was not very large, there were more than ten pianos that you could play.
"You wanted to come here?"
Nod, nod.
Soo-hyun's face became bewildered.
'Why did she ask me to come during rehearsal? But the question only lasted for a moment before several pianos caught Soo-hyun's attention.'
Soo-hyun went to this piano and sat down to listen to the sound, and then ran to that piano and listened to the sound. The owner of the piano store approached Soo-hyun and said.
"Where are the adults?"
"It's just us."
The children were just playing with the piano and didn't buy it, so the lady was a little annoyed, but she forced a smile and said, knowing that these children would eventually pester their parents to become customers.
"Do you know how to play the piano?"
"Yes."
"Do you know how to play 'School Bell Rings'?"
"What's that?"
"Oh, you don't know?"
'Is this a very famous song? Ha, if Chairman Park Ki-jun buys me an audio, I should buy and listen to the album "School Bell Rings".'
As Soo-hyun was lost in thought for a moment, the woman spoke again.
"Is that child over there with your group?"
When Soo-hyun finally remembered Jaehee's existence and raised his head, he saw Jaehee carrying a violin case in front of the store, staring at the store across the street.
"Yes, that's right, but… what is Jaehee looking at?"
The place Jaehee was looking at was the clothing store across the street.
'Do you want clothes? I'm not buying them for you.'
Soo-hyun, who was sitting on the piano stool and looking at Jaehee, opened his eyes wide in a moment. This was because Jaehee, who was looking at the clothing store at the entrance of the piano store, suddenly saw the violin case open without hesitation.
'What the hell is she doing?'
Jaehee looked over at Soo-hyun. I couldn't see so I didn't know what she was thinking. Jaehee soon lowered her head slightly and turned her right foot slightly.
'What are you doing? Is there a bug on the floor?'
Jaehee looked back again. Then she lowered her head and stomped her foot.
'What the hell is that?'
At that moment, an old conversation passed through Soo-hyun's mind.
"Before we start, turn your right foot for a while. Then I'll rest for a while and then I'll come in. Okay?"
'Are you… …sending me a signal right now? Are you really trying to play here? Why are you here when you have a warm home for yourself?'
Jaehee looked over at Soo-hyun again. For some reason, Jaehee's face looked very sad. It seemed like she was asking me to start playing, to pay attention to my signal. As Soo-hyun unconsciously placed his hands on the keyboard, the woman spoke.
"Don't hit it too hard. It's a sensitive piano."
But Soo-hyun waited for Jaehee's signal without answering. There must be a reason. Jaehee saw Soo-hyun placing his hands on the keyboard and then signaled her to place the bow on the violin. At the girl's signal, Soo-hyun began to play, and at almost the same time, Jaehee also began to play. The woman who turned her head towards the entrance of the store at the sudden sound of a violin opened her mouth wide when she heard the sound of the piano and violin played by Soo-hyun.
'Hey, what the hell are these kids?''Neither of them is an ordinary skill. It's like listening to professional musicians. With this level of skill, you can play louder without disturbing the people around you.'
The woman, who had planned to stop Soo-hyun by telling him that the piano would break if he continued, smiled and stepped back, perhaps thinking that the performance of the two people, which drew the attention of the people passing by, would attract more customers. And as Soo-hyun played the Brahms piece with the sound of the girl's violin while looking at Jaehee without a word, he heard the sad poem of the girl contained in the cheerful but sad performance.