A Familiar Face
It was a long detour, but I’d finally arrived. Though I’d gone way too far out of my way. Who would’ve thought that something that started with just wanting a karaoke room would turn into all this? I let out a small sigh and looked at the finished result in front of me. Even if the path had been roundabout, as long as I’d reached the destination, that was what mattered. Good is good, right?
Nodding to myself, I carefully pushed open the thick door that looked just like a karaoke room entrance. I’d already watched the whole installation process earlier, so there was no real reason to feel excited walking in, but seeing the completed space still made my heart flutter a little. Stepping into a car you’d only seen on display feels different from getting into one you actually own, after all.
Anyway—
“Grand opening!”
The room was completely different from the study it had been before. What used to be my library had become a full-fledged karaoke room. An air conditioner, a karaoke machine, and a large monitor were set up just like in a coin karaoke spot. In front of the machine sat the sofa and table I’d carefully chosen—elegant and inviting. The sofa was huge and plush enough to lie down on after singing.
I sat down right away and stared at the already-powered-on karaoke machine.
“Finally…”
Now I could sing to my heart’s content without leaving the house. If I got thirsty or hungry, I could just grab something from the kitchen. And if I got tired, I could even sleep right here. Perfect.
Since everything was exactly how I wanted it, it was time to sing my lungs out. Tomorrow was my first vocal lesson in a while, so I might as well practice hard today.
“Then for the first song…”
Hyeonseong looked at me with an incredulous expression before breaking into a light laugh. I’d thought I could still sing even if my throat felt a little scratchy, but he firmly told me it was out of the question. Especially the day before a lesson, overusing your vocal cords would interfere with proper vocal training. On top of that, he warned that abusing your voice like that at karaoke could even lead to vocal nodules.
“You understand, right? Once you get nodules, it’s hard to recover your original voice. Even if treatment lets you live normally, for someone who sings it’s never a light issue. Please be careful.”
“I’m sorry…”
“No need to apologize. You’re just practicing in the hobby class, after all. I’m simply saying that no matter how much you want to sing well, don’t push yourself too hard. Hmm… training today will be difficult, and I can’t just send you home right away either…”
Because of me, today’s schedule had gone off track. I gave an awkward smile and turned my head slightly to the side. I used to think that the more you used your vocal cords, the stronger they’d get, but apparently overusing them caused problems too. Even if my throat was scratchy, as long as I didn’t crack, I’d figured there was no issue. Someone as tone-deaf as me trying to self-teach would probably get nodules first.
It really hit me how important it was to listen to someone’s advice instead of just banging my head against the wall alone.
“In that case, let’s study instead.”
“Study?”
After a moment of thought, Hyeonseong offered studying as an alternative. The word “studying” in the context of singing didn’t quite click, so I just stared blankly at his face. He pointed at the monitor beside us.
“Yes, studying. Don’t worry, I’m not talking about heavy theory like harmony. To put it simply… think of it as image training.”
“Image training…”
“Singing is important, but so is listening. Noticing a singer’s breathing, pronunciation, where they use falsetto for emphasis, how their vocalization shifts throughout the song… listening while paying attention to those details makes it much easier to understand the song.”
I sort of understood, but also kind of didn’t. Then I suddenly remembered how, back when I used to sing all the time, I’d listen to songs on my MP3 player and mouth the lyrics without making a sound. Isn’t that a kind of image training too? Yeah, it felt similar. Songs I’d practiced that way felt completely different when I actually sang them compared to ones I hadn’t.
“Do you understand now?”
“Yes, I think I get the feeling.”
I nodded confidently at Hyeonseong’s question. He nodded back and pulled up the songs I’d said I wanted to sing on the monitor.
“If you want to take notes, go ahead. It helps to glance at them whenever you sing.”
“Okay.”
After that, we carefully analyzed one song, then two, then three—listening to each dozens of times. Even though I already knew the songs, hearing a professional break them down one by one made them sound completely different. What was even better was that I was starting to get a feel for how I, as a woman now, should sing songs originally performed by men.
If I could just follow what I’d noted down, something like that disastrous pitch-cracking incident from before would never happen again. My confidence was slowly returning. I could sing well even in this body.
Today’s lesson had started with scolding and ended with ear training.
“Practice is good, but don’t overdo it. When you sing for more than an hour, drink plenty of water, don’t only pick high-note songs, and give your vocal cords breaks with some gentler songs in between…”
I listened to Hyeonseong’s long list of advice until it was practically drilled into my ears, then gathered my things to leave. Just as I was about to step out, someone entered the practice room.
A male college student who looked to be in his early twenties. He was shorter than me, with a slightly thuggish face. Judging people by their appearance was incredibly rude, but… the way he was staring at me made me feel unpleasant, so thinking this way probably wasn’t too bad. If someone sends you a dirty look, it’s only natural to return one, right? Well, if his face just naturally looked that unpleasant, then maybe I was the one in the wrong.
“I’ll be going now, then.”
“Sure~ Good work today.”
Anyway, I didn’t want to keep being stared at like that, so I hurried out of the practice room as fast as I could. What’s his problem? He looked strangely hostile toward me, even though I hadn’t done anything wrong. Shrugging it off, I got in my car and headed home.
After parking in the garage, I let out a short yawn and stepped inside. Meonji greeted me right away. Having something that welcomed me home always felt nice. Watching him run over with little meow sounds and rub his head against my legs made me relax. It was definitely more pleasant than coming home to a dumb robot vacuum that had gotten stuck in the shoe rack.
“Yeah, yeah. Move over a bit so I can pick you up.”
I went straight to the dressing room, neatly put away my clothes, changed into loungewear, and came back out to gently lift Meonji, who was waiting in front of me. He seemed a little heavier—had he put on some weight?
“If you get any fatter, I won’t be able to carry you, you know?”
—Meow!
Not like he’d understand even if I said it. I ate the side dishes Nayeon had made earlier, then sat on the sofa with Meonji on my lap, relaxing. A text message arrived.
A university joint expo. And a hotel culinary department exhibition… Since it was a big event, they’d probably pour their heart and soul into the food. Anything served there was bound to be delicious. Sounds amazing.
While absentmindedly playing with Meonji’s front paw as he lay sprawled out asleep, I found myself already looking forward to it.
University. How long had it been since I last breathed this air? Even though my old team leader used to mock me for only having a high school diploma, I had actually graduated from university. It was just a mediocre local one, that’s all. So standing in front of a prestigious school like this made my chest feel strangely heavy. If it weren’t for Nayeon, I probably never would’ve set foot in a place like this in my life.
Wearing a bitter smile, I slowly drove inside. People glanced at my car, but no one stared openly in surprise—luxury foreign cars must be common here. Made sense. Plenty of wealthy students at a school like this.
“It feels weird coming to school together like this.”
Nayeon laughed from the passenger seat. I understood exactly what she meant and couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Yeah, it does.”
“You can park in the public lot over there.”
I followed her directions, parked, and stretched as I got out. Looking around, there really were a lot of foreign cars. At least mine didn’t stand out too much.
“Our reservation’s still a while away, so we can look around a bit first.”
“There’s plenty to see, so that’s nice.”
“Right? It has a different vibe from a festival, which makes it more fun. Festivals are all about watching performances and drinking together, but expos feel more like each department showing off what they’re proud of from their university life. That’s what makes wandering around interesting.”
I nodded at her words. Drinking and partying was fun too, but I preferred this calmer kind of sightseeing. It felt more peaceful, and seeing the effort that went into each exhibit made me want to look more carefully.
Since we still had plenty of time before our restaurant reservation, we decided to start exploring from the buildings near the parking lot. Following Nayeon’s lead, we arrived first at the College of Arts. The orchestra and regular instrumental concerts were first-come, first-served, but we were a little late, so we couldn’t get in. Instead, we looked at some paintings from the Western Painting and Oriental Painting departments.
I didn’t know much about art, but I could tell these were well done. One painting in particular—a Western-style sailing ship docked in a harbor—caught my eye. This could easily hang in the New Era Gallery without looking out of place.
Title: One Week
Artist: Min Woo-jin
I memorized the name. I wasn’t sure if I could buy exhibition pieces like this personally, but… It would look beautiful in the living room.
Imagining the painting hanging in my living room, I moved on to the next spot. We saw some intimidating-looking sculptures from the Sculpture department, then some installation art, before leaving the College of Arts. It really was fun. Maybe it was because I usually only saw art at places like the New Era Gallery, but seeing it here made me feel oddly excited.
“Next to the College of Arts is… the College of Humanities! Want to check that out too?”
I nodded at her suggestion. Did the humanities building have an exhibition too? Curious, I followed her, only to find it wasn’t an exhibition but a bunch of participatory events. There were multicultural experiences, Korean word quizzes, and student-made poetry and essay collections you could read. There were also thesis displays and exhibitions of artifacts (replicas) excavated from the local area. Hmm… I’ll pass. Not interested.
Nayeon seemed to read my expression and quickly guided me toward the main plaza. There weren’t many people there, but folding chairs were neatly arranged in front of a small stage. Wondering if there was a performance, I checked the banner nearby—it said “Central Club Concert.” Ah, probably the band clubs or something. There were band clubs, orchestra clubs, jazz clubs… looked like a lot of different clubs were planning to perform. No wonder there weren’t many people around. Unless you knew someone in a club, there was no real reason to watch.
Might as well watch a bit before we go. My legs were starting to ache from all the walking, and we’d pretty much seen everything worth seeing at the arts college. We could grab some snacks from the food trucks nearby and watch the performances until it was time to leave.
“Want to watch for a little while?”
“Sure. Oh, out of the clubs here, the jazz club performing second is really popular…”
Listening to Nayeon’s explanation, we took seats in the front row on the far right. After a while, students from the band clubs started coming up on stage one by one. And there, I spotted a familiar face.
“Huh?”
“Someone you know?”
“No, not really…”
More precisely, not someone I knew—just a face I recognized. That guy with the unpleasant expression.
The male student I’d seen at the vocal academy was standing in the center of the stage, his face slightly pale.