The Black Strat's Secret
YouTube Myeongjeon showed no reaction. More precisely, it was closer to not being able to see it. Or even more accurately, there was nothing to say. It was inevitable. In fact, it would be weird if there was something to say. If someone blurted out, "Hey, isn't that your guitar—or at least it looks like it—why the hell do you have it?" the best response would be to think, "What kind of crazy bullshit is this?" and just ignore them. Of course, only Myeongjeon would find that perfectly natural. The other two didn't know that Myeongjeon was now Suyeon, and Suyeon was Myeongjeon.
"Huh?"
Instead of Suyeon, it was Hyein who responded first, as if asking what that meant.
Junhong fell silent for a moment instead of answering, staring at the guitar again.
Black Strat. Completely different from the original black Strat, naturally worn down. The tremolo arm's rubber grip replaced with metal, knobs chromed over. Overall, this is definitely Teacher Myeongjeon's guitar.
Junhong had stayed over at Seo Myeongjeon's place a few years back and touched his guitar a few times. The one he'd seen then was identical to the one in his hands now.
But how? Why was it here? It wasn't impossible, but it was incomprehensible.
"I'm having a hard time understanding right now."
Hyein spoke up, looking at the silent Junhong. What else could "This is Teacher Myeongjeon's guitar" and "How does a student have it?" mean? It implied the owner wasn't her, so why was she holding it? In other words, why was she holding someone else's thing? Which meant Suyeon had stolen it...
Rather than suspecting Suyeon, Hyein chose to trust her daughter's changed demeanor.
"Are you saying my girl stole that guitar? That's the only way it sounds to me."
"No, no, that's not what I meant at all..."
Caught off-guard by Hyein's thorny words, Junhong snapped back to reality. He'd meant nothing of the sort, so he waved his hands and opened his mouth.
"Uh, this guitar... uh... I think I need to explain from the beginning."
Junhong set the guitar on the table and glanced at Suyeon, who hadn't said a word. Her face was hard to read. What was she thinking?
"This guitar has a model name and all that, but more importantly... it's the guitar of Seo Myeongjeon, the guitarist I deeply admired."
"Okay, I get that part. So you're saying my daughter stole it from him..."
"And he passed away recently."
Hyein was momentarily speechless at Junhong's words. It felt like she'd insulted the deceased somehow. But that wasn't his intent.
"He was holding this guitar right up until the end. The police recovered it. So I'm not saying your daughter stole it."
Hyein breathed a silent sigh of relief. It wasn't stolen by Suyeon. Her daughter had truly turned over a new leaf.
Looking at Suyeon with that in mind, she noticed her daughter staring at Junhong with a slightly tense expression.
"I only found out about his passing after the funeral had already ended. He'd been out of the public eye for so long. By the time I heard and went looking, the landlady had already claimed the body, held a simple service, and cleared out the house. I couldn't even pay my respects at the funeral hall or help sort his belongings."
"That's tragic, but... what does that have to do with this guitar?"
"It might sound a bit crass, but..."
Junhong hesitated slightly in answering Hyein's question.
"The whereabouts of this guitar... it's been the hottest topic among Korean guitarists lately."
"Why?"
"...Because it's Seo Myeongjeon's guitar."
Junhong paused briefly before continuing.
"Among us guitarists, Seo Myeongjeon was... revered almost like a god. Top of the session guitarists, and one of the top three in all of Korea. He nearly became Korea's second Fender endorser—he turned it down himself. I admired him greatly too. And this guitar? He'd used it for over 15 years. Unless something special came up, it was always this one. I've seen it a few times myself."
Hyein looked at Suyeon. Why was a guitar like that in her hands? And why wasn't Suyeon saying anything? Was there some story behind it?
"Honestly, as a guitarist, I'd be lying if I said I didn't covet it. It's his guitar—I wanted to play it, and it's collectible. Someone actually acted on it right away. The landlady who handled the funeral said that after the service, someone came and took the guitar. After that, its whereabouts were unknown. So seeing it right here in front of me? Of course I'm shocked."
Junhong gently stroked the guitar, then looked up at Suyeon. She stared back at it expressionlessly.
The girl that old lady mentioned? High chance it's her.
The mysterious high school girl who showed up out of nowhere after the unattended funeral, claiming she'd bought the guitar and taking it away.
And one more thing. The mule account that suddenly commented on busking videos saying Myeongjeon wanted to join. And the girl in the busking footage—singing and playing guitar, filmed on a phone.
Circumstantially, all of it pointed to the "Ha Suyeon" sitting here.
So what did that mean?
Junhong racked his brain desperately, but no answers came. The person in question was just sitting there silently.
"Um..."
"Yes?"
Finally, Suyeon spoke up amid the tension. Junhong leaned in, eager for what she'd say.
"Let's just start the stream. Time's already up, right?"
But that wasn't what he'd expected. Suyeon smiled brightly, and Hyein chimed in, "Oh my, has it gotten this late already?"
"Ah... yeah. Let's get started, then."
In the face of Suyeon's straightforward logic, Junhong had no choice but to agree.
How the hell do I handle this?
Myeongjeon hid her inner panic behind a calm facade, scrambling for words.
"Could you introduce yourself?"
"Hello, I'm Ha Suyeon, running the YouTube channel White Room."
"How long have you been playing guitar?"
"I don't remember exactly, but not long."
After the standard YouTube interview questions, Junhong said, "Then shall we watch one of White Room's guitar videos before moving on?"
This is insane. Korea's top session guitarist? Top three in the country? People trying to collect my guitar?
Myeongjeon sighed inwardly in disbelief. What nonsense was this?
She found Junhong's whole story utterly ridiculous. Top three? Number one session? Were they crazy?
She acknowledged her own skill and took pride in it. But top three? Best session? Come on. There were so many great players out there—she was just a firefly to their sun.
Of course, that was before reviving as Ha Suyeon. Things were different now. All she lacked was stamina, fame as a guitarist... and songwriting chops.
But whatever, that's not the point right now.
Praising her skills could wait. The priority was navigating this mess. What should she say?
"Truth is, I'm Seo Myeongjeon. Woke up in this body after dying, went and bought my guitar from the landlady for 400,000 won. That's how I got it."
Or, "Bought it from a used market. Some punk kid was selling it—turns out it was this guitar. Handed over 400k for a million-plus-won axe!"
Neither would fly. She'd already mentioned going to the landlady for it. They'd probably figured out a high school girl took it. Not exact details, but enough.
Maybe just don't explain?
The thought flashed through her mind. Why should she? She hadn't robbed anyone at knifepoint or bought stolen goods. She'd legitimately bought it from the landlady. End of story.
Or say I knew Seo Myeongjeon. He's dead anyway, so I can spin a story...
Then a good idea hit her.
"So, teacher, could you play something for us?"
"Sure. Any song in mind?"
"Nope! Play whatever feels comfortable."
"Got it."
With that, Suyeon began setting up her effects. Civil War Big Muff, Bona Delay. Fuzz Face, wah pedal, and more.
Even the effects...
Part of Teacher Myeongjeon's setup was on this student's pedalboard. Not the full rig, but all the key ones.
Is she really connected to him? Inherited the whole setup...?
As Junhong pondered, the setup was complete. Suyeon sat in the camera's center with her guitar.
"Alright, then..."
"What song are you playing?"
"Let the listeners enjoy guessing."
The performance started abruptly. A familiar melody and tone.
"Is this... Manhattan?"
"Yes."
Eric Johnson's Manhattan. Overshadowed by Cliffs of Dover, but one of his finest... and a favorite of Myeongjeon's.
Junhong savored Suyeon's playing while feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. Something familiar. Like he'd heard it long ago... up until recently.
His eyes widened. The familiarity was the strumming pattern.
A guitarist's unique fingerprint. And the pattern from Myeongjeon's playing... was identical in this girl's.
Pretending to enjoy the performance, Junhong closed his eyes and thought deeply. It was on the tip of his tongue.
The girl who showed up after the funeral took the guitar like it was entrusted to her. Then the mule account for Myeongjeon appeared, followed by the high school busker with the black Strat. "Not long" learning guitar. His effects setup. Strumming pattern. Similar—no, near-identical—taste in songs.
Putting it all together... only one conclusion.
No way... his disciple? The last one he took on? Spotted her talent and taught her...?
The tragedy was that Junhong was an ordinary guy. He could never imagine a sudden-death guitarist reincarnating into a high school girl's body.