The Healing Life of a Music Genius - Chapter 218



Only Noblemtl

* * *

An outdoor cafe in Brussels.

“Vienna? Berlin? And even Amsterdam?”

Sister Lucas, who was feeding cake to Suyeon, looked at me in surprise.

Meanwhile, Sooyeon looks extremely happy as soon as she puts the cake in her mouth.

Suyeon immediately cut off a small piece of cake with a fork and handed it to me.

“Try it too, oppa. It’s so delicious!”

Yum.

As I accepted the cake that Sooyeon gave me without any hesitation, Sooyeon smiled bashfully.

“Is it as Suyeon said? It’s really delicious.”

“Hehehe. Right? But maybe it’s even more delicious when someone else feeds it to you.”

“Ah~ So it was so delicious because Sooyeon gave it to me?”

“Ahem! I can’t say it had no effect at all.”

I burst out laughing and only after Sooyeon lightly pinched my cheek was I able to answer Sister Lucas’ question.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t miss the cake Sooyeon gave me.”

“That’s right… Of course I would have done the same. Anyway! Did the world’s top three orchestras really send you love calls?”

“Yes. It looks like you had quite a hard time at ⌜Schmid⌟.”

“Hey. I think we’ve had a few conversations at our company, and they said that the schedule is tight for the next six months. It’s true that the Queen Elizabeth winner is treated differently.”

Sister Lucas smiles faintly while looking at me.

Soon after, Sooyeon cut the cake and gave it to her older sister Lucas, who looked very happy.

Suyeon is not shy.

Thanks to that, I was able to become close with people very quickly, and as an older brother, I enjoyed seeing that.

‘Should I say I’m very happy and proud?’

I felt that way.

The first, second and third place winners of the Queen Elisabeth Competition will first perform at a gala concert in Brussels.

After that, starting with overseas gala concerts, each member will have a different schedule depending on the agency they belong to.

In the case of Sister Lucas, she chose the United States as her first destination.

It seems that the influence of pianist Laurent, who is currently active in the United States, was significant.

My sister Lucas told me that talks with the New York Philharmonic are almost finalized.

Yankovsky decided to return to Russia for the time being.

His idea was to be the first to hold a gala concert in his home country where his brother was sleeping.

As someone who knows Yankovsky’s story well, it was a choice that I naturally nodded in agreement with.

“Then Seojin, do you have any of those three places in mind?”

I shook my head at Sister Lucas’ question.

“No. Until recently, winning felt like such a distant thing that I never even thought about it. I was so busy practicing and performing every day.”

“Right. But it’s a happy worry, so that’s fortunate. But didn’t Seojin say you’ve never been on a concert tour before?”

“Yes. What about your older sister?”

“I traveled around Europe for a little over a year. That’s when I found out about this store.”

Sister Lucas pointed to the ⌜Sweet Hill⌟ store sign with her finger.

“So how many performances did you do during that period?”

“At that time······. I performed about 4 times a month. I think I performed more than 50 times in total? I don’t know exactly. It was my first time going on a concert tour, so I was out of my mind. This time, it will be my second concert tour.”

“You have a lot of experience. I didn’t know you until now.”

At my joking remark, Sister Lucas coughs in vain.

“Ahem. That’s what it is. Is there anything you’re curious about? Like the performance period? Or something that other people never really tell you about······.”

Sister Lucas came close to me and whispered so that even Sooyeon couldn’t hear.

“Like a performance guarantee?”

I burst out laughing.

“If I ask, will you really answer?”

“Then~ If my little brother asks, I should answer honestly. As for how much I received back then······.”

I quickly held out both palms.

“No, it’s okay. Actually, I was worried about how many times I should perform in a year. It’s a bit difficult to fill up just 12 times in a year… School matters are also involved.”

“school?”

“Yes. In the case of a performance once a month due to attendance, the number of days recognized as attendance is not that many. In the end, they said that I had to attend. It’s also work to travel back and forth between Korea and a specific country every time. In order to focus on a performance tour, I think I would have to perform at least twice a month······.”

“Hey, wait a minute. School? Seojin, you were a student there?”

“Right? Second year middle school student in Korea. You could say that I’m just starting to act as a senior. By the way, I also have juniors.”

“······.”

As I spoke proudly, Sister Lucas pressed her temples together.

“······ Middle school student? Haa. Seojin, you really are young. Your speech and actions are so mature that I forgot. Okay. Then······. It would be just right to schedule two or three performances a month. Four performances a month is a tighter schedule than you think. I don’t think you need to be greedy from the beginning.”

Sister Lucas told me a lot about the concert tour, and I listened to her intently.

In fact, the school problem could have been easily solved by studying abroad.

According to Director Rogers, there must be a line of European music schools willing to accept me even if it means paying for it.

He also advised me that it would be a great choice if I wanted to pursue my studies while working, as I would be working mainly in Europe for the next year.

but.

‘Snow Flower was the school I wanted to go to······.’

I wanted to graduate somehow.

Well, I don’t know what will happen after that.

After a while.

My parents, who had come to pick up my new spare suit that I had taken in for alterations, joined us at the table.

Jankowski, who had just finished a rehearsal at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, also joined.

Professor Kang Yoo-han also appeared with conductor Hoffmann and teacher Richter.

We moved to a new location to conduct an interview with Gramophone, the world’s leading classical music magazine.

The interview proceeded as scheduled.

Perhaps it was because of my experience conducting countless interviews while hosting Queen Elizabeth, but it wasn’t particularly difficult.

Questions about how he feels about winning the contest, his future plans, and his first destination.

Jankowski and Sister Lucas answered quite easily.

Only on the last question, which has not yet been decided, did I remain silent.

There was one hidden problem in the interview that I thought would end smoothly.

A woman of Lucas’s age, with impressive dark brown hair, appeared in the studio.

As soon as Sister Lucas saw him, she jumped up from her seat.

“you······!”

“Sylvie. Long time no see. How have you been?”

“Alice! It’s you!”

I glanced at the host’s face and he was full of smiles.

A surprise show that took place without anyone knowing.

The studio quickly became abuzz with the appearance of Alice Dana, a friend of Sooyeon’s who had been with her older sister Lucas at the orphanage when they were around the same age as her.

The Brussels Broadcasting Corporation camera, hidden behind the studio, appeared, and Lucas was hugging her old friend tightly, whether she wanted to or not.

Two people shedding tears so heavily that their clothes were soaked.

As I watched that scene, a deep smile formed on my face.

The interview ended quickly.

Sister Lucas hugged me tightly and said goodbye to me tomorrow before leaving the studio first, laughing with her friend.

On the way back to my lodgings after having dinner with the musicians who helped with the ⌜Gramophone⌟ interviews.

Sooyeon kept fidgeting while holding my hand, so I asked her what was going on, and she sighed.

“Why? What’s going on?”

“Ugh. It’s nothing. I just······. I was wondering when you were going to tell me.”

“······?”

Suyeon’s bright eyes.

I looked into those eyes for a while and then spoke softly.

“Are you talking about your brother going on a concert tour?”

“huh.”

“Are you saying that it will last for about a year?”

“huh.”

“Hmm. How should I start this story? Our Suyeon will be really upset.”

“······ Yeah. That’s right.”

Suyeon held my hand a little tighter.

Then he continues talking while looking at his mother and father walking in front of him.

“I love you the most in the world.”

“Thank you. I like our Suyeon the best too.”

“So what my brother is trying to do is… I know that a pianist has to keep performing. I know what my brother, who I like, is trying to do. My mother said that my brother, who won the competition, will be even busier in the future. I know that for sure….”

Suyeon fidgeting with the hand she’s holding.

I stroked my brother’s head with my other hand.

“Are you upset?”

“Yeah. And a little······. sad.”

Our parents, who were walking ahead of us, glance back.

I turned my gaze towards the bench, and my mother looked at me quietly and nodded.

Even without speaking, our family had a general understanding of each other.

I sat on the bench with Suyeon.

Mother and Father also sat on the bench opposite us.

Brussels was already getting dark.

Apart from the orange streetlights, the lights from the buildings, and the soft moonlight, there was nothing to illuminate this street.

I talked about various things with Suyeon.

A story about reading a fairy tale to Suyeon when she was very young and couldn’t fall asleep because she was afraid of the dark.

A story about going to buy ice cream together.

A story about going to Seolhwa Yejung together.

A story about playing claw machines together.

My brother and I had a lot of stories to tell.

A performer has a destiny.

The fate of having to play one’s own music to many people.

A musician’s music is not his own music, so he always has to share it with someone else.

I told Sooyeon all those stories.

Suyeon thought about what I said for a while and then answered.

“Then······. If oppa works so hard on music, will something as happy as unnie Lucas’s today happen in this world?”

Our younger brother asks difficult questions.

Our smart Suyeon understood what her brother said very well.

“I hope so. I always hope that people will listen to my music and make small changes. That’s why my brother has to go play. He has to make music. That’s the kind of music he learned.”

“······ I see.”

“I’ll be visiting Korea often during my concert tour. So don’t worry too much. I’ll be video chatting every day. I might even write you letters every now and then. Don’t you think that’ll be a little better?”

Suyeon nodded deeply and leaned her head towards me.

I gently patted Sooyeon’s shoulder.

Even though he’s grown a lot, he’s still a much younger sibling.

Suyeon didn’t complain even once and just wished me a safe trip.

Suyeon and I sat on a bench in Brussels, staring blankly at an unknown building with its lights all lit up.

Talking about the cake I ate during the day.

Discussing the teddy bears we have at home.

We joke around sometimes.

I hummed along to the piano piece I had started composing and sang it to my younger sibling.

Our Han siblings created another precious memory in Brussels.

* * *

The waiting room of the Palais des Beaux-Arts.

“Is it an empty pill?”

“Yes, I decided that. My brother gave me a hint.”

“Haha. Is that so? The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Austria… That’s good. It’s a place that can be called the mecca of classical music. Then I’ll notify the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.”

⌜Schmid⌟’s director Rogers went to the corner of the waiting room and picked up his cell phone.

Yesterday, Suyeon told me an interesting story.

When I was young, Suyeon was younger than she is now.

There was a time when someone secretly watched me while I was watching a classical educational program on TV in the living room late at night······.

The performance at that time.

‘You said it was an empty field performance.’

The orchestra introduced by the host was a foreign name, so it was immediately memorable.

He said that moment was strangely impressive.

My parents and Suyeon decided to return to Korea at the end of my first overseas gala concert.

So, I also wanted to show the collaboration with the orchestra that Suyeon mentioned.

Even if there is no particular reason, considering the status of the empty field, it could be said to be an obvious choice······.

It’s not like Suyeon’s ‘mention’ didn’t have any effect on me.

At that time, the operating staff of the Beaux-Arts Concert Hall approached me and spoke to me.

“There are 3 minutes left. Pianist Han Seo-jin, I think it would be a good idea to get ready soon.”

“all right.”

Today was my last day in Brussels.

⌜Pianist Han Seo-jin’s Queen Elizabeth Gala Concert⌟.

The stage that will be the starting point.

I closed my eyes and concentrated for a moment, then got up from my seat.

As soon as the waiting room door opened, the audience cheered.

They no longer called me a contestant, they called me a pianist.

The Belgian National Orchestra rises to welcome me.

The conductor also came down from the stage and greeted me.

I smiled and shook hands with the conductor.

From the center of the stage where the piano was, I looked out at the audience.

Over 2,000 people came to see my performance.

I turn to them······.

He bowed his head slightly.