Chapter 52
After dinner, in Soo-hyun's room.
Soo-hyun, lying on his bed, picked up his cell phone and sent a text to Jaehee.
[Soo-hyun: You okay?]
Jaehee was still a quiet girl. However, she was better than before she met her mother. She spoke from time to time. Soo-hyun, who discovered he could text on his cell phone, was having many more conversations with Jaehee through text messages. After waiting for about five minutes, he received a reply from Jaehee.
[Jaehee: Where did you go after school? Your father was worried. Ji-ye came home to ask about you because she said you wouldn't come.]
'Quite a long text. I don't know why this talkative child is usually so quiet.'
[Soo-hyun: Oh, I stopped by a bookstore and got lost in the books.] [Jaehee: I see, I was worried too.] [Soo-hyun: What are you worried about? I'm fourteen.] [Jaehee: What about it? We're still young.] [Soo-hyun: Okay, can you print it at home?] [Jaehee: Sheet music?] [Soo-hyun: Yes.] [Jaehee: Should I?] [Soo-hyun: Yes, please. Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2.] [Jaehee: Moonlight Sonata?] [Soo-hyun: You know it too?] [Jaehee: It's weird not to know it. I think even ordinary people know this song.]
'Tch, was I the only one who didn't know this? There are so many things to know in this world.'
[Soo-hyun: Yeah, print it.] [Jaehee: Should I give it to you at school tomorrow?] [Soo-hyun: No, not now. Let's meet for a bit. I'll buy you a snack as a thank you.] [Jaehee: It's okay.] [Soo-hyun: Don't say it's okay. See you at the supermarket.] [Jaehee: Okay, just twenty minutes.]
'What the hell takes twenty minutes to print?'
After complaining, Soo-hyun gave a vague reply that he understood and then put on his clothes. There was still a long way to go before Jaehee came out, but he was thinking of going for a walk instead of lying down and waiting. He left the house and ran into the always-friendly supermarket lady.
"Oh, Soo-hyun is here~ Did school start?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"My, our Soo-hyun is as polite as he is handsome."
The mother knew about Soo-hyun's situation from the neighborhood rumors, so she omitted saying things like, "How happy would your parents be to have a son like you?" As Soo-hyun was looking at the food in the supermarket, he heard the ringing of a bell and a delighted woman's voice.
"Jaehee, you're here. Your hairpin is so pretty! Did your dad buy it for you?"
Soo-hyun smiled brightly and walked down the aisle between the stalls to the counter and saw Jaehee. Instead of her usual gray tracksuit, Jaehee was wearing a pretty plaid skirt and a warm-looking pink sweater. As the old woman said, the hair on one side was neatly tucked back and the hairpin was very pretty. The only flaw was that her bangs still covered her eyes.
'But the important thing isn't the pretty look, it's the sheet music, so you surely didn't spend twenty minutes preparing, did you?'
Soo-hyun asked, pouting.
"Do you usually do that at home?"
Jaehee's face, which was already red because the supermarket lady had told her she was pretty, turned bright red like a ripe apple. Jaehee shook her head. Soo-hyun held out his hand to the girl and said,
"Sheet music. Next time, just come out in your tracksuit. The sooner the better."
Jaehee bowed her head and handed over the sheet music. She seemed very disappointed for some reason. Behind Jaehee, the supermarket lady could be seen blinking frantically.
'It seems like you're giving me some kind of signal, but I don't know what it is.'
Soo-hyun tilted his head, took the sheet music, and nodded towards the snack.
"Choose, three thousand won."
Jaehee hesitated.
"What are you doing? Choose."
Jaehee nodded slightly and fiddled with the snacks in the bag.
'Are you having trouble deciding? Why are you just touching the snacks and not choosing one?'
As Soo-hyun was looking at Jaehee with his arms crossed, the supermarket lady came up from behind her and whispered.
"Oh, what good is being handsome and polite! You don't understand a girl's heart at all. Women, you know, always want to look pretty. A warm word can make you feel like the time you spent getting ready and moving around was not in vain. Do you know how hard it is to win a woman's heart? But if you think about it, it's easy to win it. You just need a warm look and one word. It's not that hard, is it?"
'No, ma'am. First, explain to me why I need to win a woman's heart.'
The woman said, pushing Soo-hyun's back.
"Go and tell her. Jaehee will be very disappointed."
Jaehee was seen choosing snacks.
'I'm feeling a little weak. Is it because I don't have an appetite? I don't know.'
Soo-hyun whispered as he looked at the woman.
"What should I say?"
The woman smiled and rubbed Soo-hyun's back.
"Tell her she's pretty today."
'Oh my, what an unfamiliar word. That's something Uncle Franz should do. Ha. But if I leave it like this, I guess I'll have to wait for Jaehee to choose snacks all night.'
After hesitating for a moment, Soo-hyun, who was standing next to Jaehee, coughed in vain and fiddled with the bag of potato chips for no reason.
"Excuse me."
Jaehee's hand, which was playing with a candy, stopped.
'Miss, do I really have to do this?'
"Oh, you look beautiful today."
"…"
A suffocating awkwardness. A desolate silence that makes you want to run away.
'What the hell is this feeling? Is it one of the twenty-seven emotions that Teacher Kim Eun-ju mentioned? I'll have to ask next week. It's definitely a negative emotion because it's an emotion I don't want to feel again. I think I'll live well if I do my best not to feel it. But isn't it also a feeling that allows me not to hate my heart's pounding?'
Soo-hyun coughed in vain and looked away. Soo-hyun, who couldn't overcome the awkwardness, said as he casually threw down a snack.
"Hey, I tried this last time and it wasn't that good."
Soo-hyun, who was kicking the floor and heading towards the counter, looked at the woman who was smiling like a snake.
'This is all thanks to you, ma'am.'
At that moment, the woman looked behind Soo-hyun and smiled.
"Did you choose our Jaehee's snack? Give it to me."
'Huh? Did you already choose a snack you've never chosen before?'
When Soo-hyun turned around, he saw Jaehee still holding the two snacks she had bought for the exact amount, with a red face, clinging tightly to Soo-hyun's back.
'Wow! Why are they so close?'
Jaehee trembled and hunched her shoulders. But for some reason, she looked happy.
'What?'
The old woman said with a smile.
"Three thousand won. This is a service."
The woman winked as she took two small lollipops from the counter and put them in Soo-hyun's hand.
'What kind of signal is this?'
"Goodbye~ It's not that cold today, so it would be nice to go for a walk. It's a waste to stay at home~"
'What about a walk? I need to go see the sheet music quickly.'
After finishing his calculations, Soo-hyun looked at Jaehee. Jaehee was stuck next to Soo-hyun, wondering what to expect.
"Do you want to… take a walk?"
Nod, nod. He nodded without hesitation. As if he had been waiting for it.
"Then let's do it for ten minutes."
'Yeah, it's too late to play the piano anyway. Let's take a walk while reading the sheet music. It's not that cold today, as the lady said.'
Soo-hyun was strolling through the neighborhood with Jaehee. He was walking very slowly while looking at the sheet music in his hand. Although they walked in silence, Jaehee felt good because her steps were so light.
"Did you say you knew this song?"
Nod, nod.
"Is it that famous a song? Do ordinary people know it? Even Ji-ye's sister and your father?"
Nod, nod.
"I see. It doesn't look like a very difficult song."
Shakes her head.
"Huh? Is it difficult?"
Nod, nod.
Soo-hyun read the musical score again. Soo-hyun developed the habit of reading music slowly from a young age.
'It's a score that's not technically difficult at all, but it's strange. Why is it difficult?'
Soo-hyun asked again.
"Which part is difficult? The emotions?"
Nod, nod.
"Do you know what this music is about?"
Nod, nod.
"Is it too long to explain?"
Nod, nod.
"Then send me a message later."
Jaehee nodded again.
'Even though she doesn't say anything, Jaehee is the first friend to come running when Soo-hyun needs something. A friend who goes out with me even late at night, even though it might be annoying.'
Soo-hyun, who suddenly felt grateful to Jaehee, put his hands in his pockets and said as he headed home.
"Thanks for today."
A faint smile appeared on Jaehee's lips.
'Well, I can't see your eyes, but you look very pretty today. Is it because the moonlight is so pretty?'
Soo-hyun said this in front of the stairs leading to the house.
"And that thing from before."
"…?"
"You know? That thing they said at the supermarket."
"…?"
Jaehee tilted her head. Soo-hyun coughed loudly and then ran up the stairs.
"I said you looked pretty today, it was true."
Soo-hyun running. Jaehee blushed, looked at the boy, and froze. Soo-hyun's face, who was running up the stairs, also resembled Jaehee's. Soo-hyun screamed inwardly as he ran, grabbing his head.
'I'm crazy! What did you just say?!'
After arriving at the house and getting into bed, Soo-hyun kicked the blanket and struggled for a while. Fifteen minutes later, Soo-hyun, who had fixed his hair that had become a magpie's nest from tossing and turning under the blanket, looked at the sheet music.
'Moonlight Sonata. After Uncle Franz played it, the roots of the Zelkova tree opened up. Where does it lead? Uncle Frederick also used that path to get to Uncle Franz's house, so it must have led to someone's house. Judging by the conversation between the two, that path was probably not the one that led to Uncle Frederick's house. Because it was the length of the roots of a different tree from the one Uncle Frederick came from. It makes me a little sad that the old men hid something from me even though we lived together for seven years. But the two old men are people who only do things that help themselves. If both of them had kept their existence hidden until now, there must have been a reason. You've been hiding it for seven years, so you probably wouldn't tell me even if I asked.'
Soo-hyun muttered as he read the musical score.
"If you don't tell me, I'll open the way."
Soo-hyun wanted to run to the piano and play the music several times, but she stayed up all night because she had to be mindful of Ji-ye's expression, who had repeatedly emphasized that playing late at night was a nuisance to the neighbors.
The next day, Soo-hyun waited for piano practice time to arrive quickly, looking at the clock every five minutes while taking boring classes. Finally, it was time for piano lessons. As Soo-hyun ran to the private practice room for the students and opened the door of the small practice room with a single piano, Professor Lee Chan-ho, who seemed to be the first of the piano students to teach Soo-hyun, was sitting on the piano stool.
"Are you here?"
"Hello, Professor."
"Well, sit down. How was class today?"
"It's boring, huh?"
"Haha, just remember that if your test score is below schedule, you won't have time to practice the piano."
"Yes...."
Professor Lee Chan-ho said as he took out the textbook he would be using in today's lesson.
"Well, today...."
"That professor."
"Huh?"
Soo-hyun said, taking out the sheet music that Jaehee had printed for her.
"Could you please teach me from here?"
Professor Lee Chan-ho looked at the sheet music Soo-hyun had handed him and smiled. Then he held out the textbook he had brought and said,
"I knew you'd say that. The textbook I prepared and the one you prepared are the same."
"Ah...."
'Professor Lee Chan-ho knows Soo-hyun's mind perfectly.'
Satisfaction was reflected on Soo-hyun's face. It was very satisfying for a teacher that a student brought something they wanted to study. The efficiency of studying what they wanted was tenfold. Professor Lee Chan-ho patted Soo-hyun's shoulder and said.
"Alright. Then, from today, let's delve into the world of Beethoven together."
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