A Night with the Japanese Heiress (2)
A life of tedium.
Anyone else might have dreamed of living as she did, but the woman herself was far from happy. To become the heir of Mitsubal Heavy Industries, she had endured a murderous schedule from the time she was a child. The moment she opened her eyes in the morning, she was drilled in etiquette; without a moment's rest, she threw herself into her studies. Most of every day was spent sitting at a desk — all because she had been born the sole daughter of the chairman of Mitsubal Heavy Industries.
At some point, she began to lose her emotions. She started taking her heir training like a machine.
Then, one day, while opening YouTube to watch a lecture, she happened to stumble upon a video. It was a video of Guitar Hero.
My god.
She didn't need to understand the language. She could feel it — the emotion and the soul poured into his music. The beautiful harmony of that melody made her heart beat again.
From the moment she discovered Guitar Hero, whenever something was hard, she would watch his videos. And naturally, a dream took root. She would meet him in person, no matter what. To do that, she needed to learn Korean.
She carved scraps of time from her murderous schedule to study the language. She studied Korean history as well. Listening to Guitar Hero's songs, she had fallen head over heels for Korean culture itself.
What on earth happened to her?
The chairman was astonished when his daughter — who had always wandered around with the vacant eyes of someone already dead — suddenly started going about with eyes full of life. What could have changed her? He investigated, and it did not take long to find out. She had become utterly infatuated with a Korean composer.
The chairman knew all too well how brutal the heir training was. He had no choice but to raise her as his successor, and forcing that suffering upon her had always tormented him. Now, at last, it seemed his daughter had found happiness, and he was glad. At the same time, a question arose. Just how good could a song possibly be, for his own daughter to fall for it like this?
He listened to Guitar Hero's music. And so it became an open secret that the chairman of Mitsubal Heavy Industries was a die-hard fan of Guitar Hero.
At any rate, Mio studied diligently until she came of age and finally completed her heir training. After delivering extraordinary results as a team leader, she rose to an executive position in a remarkably short time. The chairman dispatched her to Mitsubal Heavy Industries' Korea branch. Part of it was so she could gain experience — but it was also to give her the chance to see Guitar Hero in person, the thing she had longed for more than anything.
"That's how it happened."
Mio explained everything that had happened to her to Park Siwoo.
Park Siwoo felt a somewhat unusual emotion. That he had a fan even in a distant foreign land — and that this fan was not some entertainment-industry figure, but the heiress of Japan's greatest corporation, Mitsubal Heavy Industries.
He smiled awkwardly.
"Thank you for being a fan of mine."
"Not just a fan. A superfan."
At the unwavering look in her eyes, Park Siwoo nodded.
"Right. A superfan."
Mio smiled in satisfaction, then went on.
"I listened to the new song you released, too."
"The new song…"
"Neon Heart."
"Ah."
Had it already spread as far as Japan? No — she was a superfan, so she must have sought it out herself. Neon Heart's influence was still confined to Korea.
Park Siwoo swallowed a faintly bitter aftertaste, and Mio added something more.
"Could you… play for me?"
"Play?"
"Yes."
She nodded. Of course he could. In this world, you did whatever it took to build a connection with a conglomerate family. Playing an instrument was a simple enough request. The problem was—
"I don't have an instrument with me."
Park Siwoo smiled awkwardly. Mio picked up her phone. Unlike other Japanese women, hers was not an iPhone but a Samsung.
"Moshi moshi."
She began speaking in Japanese. Soon she hung up, then smiled brightly.
"Don't worry. My attendant is buying a guitar and bringing it here."
"Pardon?"
Before Park Siwoo could even finish being startled, a knock sounded at the door.
Wait — they're already here?
Was this the power of money? He opened the door with wide eyes, and sure enough, Mio's attendant walked in carrying a guitar. They had even bought an amp so he could play immediately.
This is a Gibson.
It was a high-end guitar that anyone who played would have heard of at least once — roughly five million won.
"I had them buy it brand new. You can play right away, can't you?"
"Well, I can, but… isn't this a bit expensive?"
Being startled that they had bought a guitar on the spot was one thing; he had not expected them to buy something this pricey. The guitar Park Siwoo himself owned was a used one worth seven hundred thousand won.
And the amp is a Marshall, too. Did they raid an electronics store or something?
As he thought that, Mio spoke.
"I don't think this is expensive at all — not for the privilege of hearing you play."
"I'm grateful you feel that way, but…"
Park Siwoo trailed off.
She's the daughter of a company with two trillion won in operating profit this year alone. Maybe I don't need to worry.
He let out a breath.
"All right. I'll play for you."
The stiffness in Mio's face melted into a brilliant smile. Looking at her then, she was every bit a girl in her twenties — a twenty-something who happened to be able to swipe seven million won without blinking, but a twenty-something girl nonetheless.
A low note rang out as Park Siwoo plucked a string. As expected of a high-end guitar, the weight and resonance were extraordinary.
With this, I could play a whole lot better.
Thinking that, he connected the cable to the amp. After a quick tune-up, he asked her,
"Is there a song you'd like to hear?"
"There is."
She nodded. Her pale eyes sparkled so brightly it was obvious she had a song she truly wanted to hear. Park Siwoo shrugged as if to say, go ahead, and she spoke softly.
"Deimos."
Park Siwoo was a little surprised. Deimos was a track he had uploaded a very long time ago. Unlike his other songs, which were generally dreamy and full of hope, Deimos was deeply bleak. He had deleted it a year after posting it.
She saw that?
He looked at her in surprise, and Mio said,
"It's a song I really want to hear. It was my favorite."
"All right."
Park Siwoo nodded. He may have deleted it, but he still remembered the melody.
"Then I'll begin."
"Yes."
And so Park Siwoo's performance began.
Isakawa Mio gazed at the man before her.
He was a dreamlike existence, the kind who belonged in a K-drama. Tall, handsome, and kind besides. Any woman would have been drawn to him. But Isakawa Mio had no interest in his looks. Of course she liked them — but that was not the main thing. Even if Guitar Hero had been ugly, Mio would have loved him. What made her heart race was his music.
A deep strum rolled through the room. Park Siwoo's performance had begun.
Deimos was Mio's favorite song. Unlike the others, this one was deeply gloomy. The song's protagonist lived a lonely, desolate life, and his agonizing feelings were poured into the music without a drop wasted. Guitar Hero's compositional skill turned a song into something like a film — an overwhelming appeal and immersion incomparable to any other track. That was why, the first time she heard it, her breath had caught in her throat.
But that was not all. Toward the end, the song's protagonist rose above that bleak past. And he resolved to fight against the world's harsh storms. The song ended there. Whether he won or lost his battle with the world — the song did not say.
That was why she loved it. Because the song's protagonist felt exactly like her. It felt as though she had received Guitar Hero's message: that the only thing that could change an uncertain future was her own effort. She had heard it during a period of deep wandering, and it had struck her all the harder.
A final note hung in the air… and faded.
The song was over.
"Ah…"
Isakawa Mio let out a small sigh. It was a performance far, far more magnificent than anything she had heard on YouTube — incomparably so. She was on the verge of tears. Even long after the song had ended, she could not easily pull herself out of its lingering resonance. Park Siwoo's music had that kind of power, that kind of appeal. It was why he was called a genius among industry professionals.
"How was it?"
When she still said nothing after quite some time, Park Siwoo asked carefully. Isakawa Mio flinched, her body trembling. She felt exactly as if she had been woken from a wonderful dream. With dazed eyes, she said softly,
"It was wonderful. Really, it was so, so hontoni amazing!"
She had been so moved that Japanese burst from her lips of its own accord. Only then did Park Siwoo breathe a sigh of relief. To his eyes, Mio's expression had looked unwell.
No — she was just immersed in the song.
"How can you make music this good?"
She sprang up from the bed and asked. Park Siwoo smiled awkwardly.
"I just… like music, that's all."
"Honto? Really?"
She crawled across the bed on all fours and thrust her face forward. Sparkling white eyes — and below them, a glimpse of cleavage.
Hey now, this young lady has no sense of caution.
Park Siwoo hurriedly lifted his gaze. Then he edged back a little and said,
"Yes. More importantly — is there another song you'd like to hear?"
Only then did Mio return to a normal posture. She sat on the bed, thought for a moment, then said,
"No. This is enough."
"Really?"
"Yes."
She nodded. She had spent a full seven million won just to hear one of his songs? A conglomerate heiress's spending habits truly soared far beyond ordinary common sense.
And yet.
"The truth is, I didn't call Guitar Hero here just to hear a song. No — I did call you because I wanted to hear a song. No — I just wanted to see Guitar Hero, that's why I called you."
She waved her hands around, then said,
"Anyway, the reason I called Guitar Hero here is because our company wants to sponsor you."
"Pardon?"
A proposal like this, out of nowhere? Park Siwoo was stunned. Conglomerate families sponsoring influencers they liked was something that happened from time to time, but he had never imagined such an opportunity would come to him. He tried to calm his pounding heart as he spoke.
"You mean Mitsubal Heavy Industries wants to sponsor me?"
"Yes. I've already spoken with my father."
"In that case… I should put you in touch with our company president."
Mio shook her head. Unlike the flustered, stammering girl of a moment ago, she now spoke with the cold eyes of a corporate executive.
Which meant they intended to support him personally, one way or another.
"I already have a company."
"That doesn't matter. The only condition is that you don't forget us when you succeed. And don't forget me, either. Play me a song now and then."
There were a few conditions attached, but they were all fairly minor. Receiving sponsorship from a giant Japanese corporation with terms like that was practically getting it for free.
"Would it be all right if I thought it over for a moment?"
"Of course."
Mio nodded. Park Siwoo stood and headed for the bathroom. He figured he would splash some water on his face.
Once inside, he washed his face with cold water and thought — when his phone chimed. He checked it.