Chapter 115
Chapter 115
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: The Symphony Rehearsal
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"Let's take a break from playing the guitar for a bit."
After deciding to rest on his own, Yeonwoo, who had been diligently focused on the guitar, declared it at some point.
At his words, Jimi Hendrix's fairy looked shocked, making a '0△0!!' expression before plopping down on the floor.
"Sorry, I can't just play guitar every single day. I bet even Mr. Jimi Hendrix didn't do that."
Yeonwoo spoke to Jimi Hendrix's fairy with an apologetic look, but the fairy just gave him a sullen expression.
"Don't make that face. It makes me feel bad."
It seemed like Jimi Hendrix's fairy was saying, *If you're sorry, then play the guitar!!*
Yeonwoo firmly shook his head.
At that, the thoroughly offended Jimi Hendrix's fairy vanished.
It would probably pop up out of nowhere the moment he picked up the guitar again anyway.
"You guys stop too. I have to head out today. Let's play later."
The other fairies, who hadn't been able to even suggest playing together due to Jimi Hendrix's fairy's overwhelming presence, swarmed Yeonwoo the instant it disappeared, clinging to him desperately.
As he pushed them away, Yeonwoo spotted the fairies in one corner, fidgeting restlessly because they wanted to play too but pretending to be dignified.
"You guys have it good, huh?"
When Yeonwoo looked at them and spoke, they all floated question marks above their heads.
They were the classical music fairies.
"We're going to see Grandpa Park Jeonghun today. You guys are gonna love it."
That was right.
The purpose of today's outing was to visit Park Jeonghun with Grandma Heo Ok.
To be precise, they had plans to watch an orchestra performance with Park Jeonghun.
According to Grandma, he had begged them to come every day, but Yeonwoo had secretly wanted to see a real orchestra too, so he told her he wanted to go.
"Yeonwoo, what do you want to wear today?"
On top of that, Dad was coming along today.
Whenever Dad had plans to go out somewhere, he always looked excited.
He seemed happy just to be going anywhere with Yeonwoo.
Yeonwoo felt the same.
Wasn't it natural for a dad and son to be like that?
"Today..."
Yeonwoo got up from his seat and opened the closet.
It was packed full of clothes that he had bought bit by bit at department stores with Dad, Grandma, and Aunt.
For today, Yeonwoo picked out white linen pants, a red long-sleeved T-shirt, and a matching red jacket on top.
While watching Power Rangers, Yeonwoo had grown fond of the color red after seeing the team's leader, Red.
"I'm gonna wear this!"
"Alright, that looks good. Hurry up and change, then let's go."
"Yes!"
Yeonwoo quickly grabbed the clothes, put them on, came out of his room, paused to check the mirror, neatly combed his hair, and then headed out.
The living room no longer had the piano; instead, it looked like any normal home with a sofa and TV in place.
The TV was a smart TV, so he could watch YouTube on a big screen.
Lately, Yeonwoo had taken a liking to sitting on that sofa and watching YouTube.
"Looks like everyone's ready."
In the meantime, Grandma came out of the master bedroom. With that, the three of them got in the car and headed to Seoul.
Their destination was the Seoul Arts Center.
Today, the country's top orchestra, the Korean National Symphony Orchestra, was scheduled to perform here.
The show started at six in the evening, but Yeonwoo's family arrived much earlier, in the early afternoon.
Park Jeonghun wanted to show them the orchestra preparing for the performance, and honestly, Yeonwoo was curious too, so he readily agreed.
"Which way do we go?"
After parking, as Shin Jihoon asked while getting out of the car, Heo Ok started to say, "Well..."
That was when it happened.
"Oh my, if it isn't our Yeonwoo!!"
A booming elderly voice echoed from afar.
It was none other than Park Jeonghun.
"Professor? It's so cold out, though..."
Heo Ok was astonished.
Had he been waiting in the parking lot in this chilly weather?
Seeing Park Jeonghun approach with his aged body, his nose was genuinely red.
It looked like he had been waiting here for quite a while.
"Hello, Grandpa."
"Yes, yes! My goodness, you've grown so much since I last saw you, huh?"
"Hehe, thank you."
Yeonwoo gave his usual bow from the waist.
Park Jeonghun gazed at him as if honey would drip from his eyes.
No, as if he could put Yeonwoo in his eyes without it hurting.
*Whose grandson is he, anyway...*
Heo Ok thought it was ridiculous. He was her own grandson, yet Park Jeonghun was looking at him with even more affection than she did.
"Alright, alright. You came because you're curious about the orchestra, right? Want to come with this old man and watch the rehearsal?"
"Yes."
If he were just ten years younger, he might have carried Yeonwoo.
Instead of carrying him, he reached for Yeonwoo's hand but paused when he spotted Heo Ok and Jihoon.
"You came."
"Yes."
It was a curt greeting between master and disciple, almost cold. Then Jihoon bowed to Park Jeonghun.
"Hello. I'm Shin Jihoon, Yeonwoo's father."
"Oh, I see. Who knew Heo Ok had such a fine, upstanding son. Haha. Thank you for bringing a genius like Yeonwoo into the world."
Park Jeonghun might come off as old-fashioned, but at least he didn't speak informally to strangers.
Jihoon simply smiled amiably and bowed to the grinning Park Jeonghun.
After that brief exchange of greetings, Park Jeonghun hurriedly led Yeonwoo toward the performance hall where the rehearsal was underway.
He seemed eager to show the orchestra to Yeonwoo even a moment sooner.
And so they arrived at the grand Seoul Arts Center.
"Wow...!"
Yeonwoo couldn't help letting out an exclamation at the majestic sight.
It was different from concert stages or music show sets.
Looking up from the lowest level where the stage was positioned, the audience seats stretched out imposingly all the way to the heights above.
"This place is scientifically designed so that sound reaches even the farthest seats clearly, no matter what."
"I see..."
"When you play here, the sound resonates so richly. It fills people's hearts to the brim."
At Park Jeonghun's words, Yeonwoo looked around.
"Oh, looks like they're about to start the rehearsal."
At that, Yeonwoo turned his gaze to the stage.
In front of the musicians seated in their sections was a podium.
An man who looked at least ten years older than Dad approached it, spotted Park Jeonghun, gave a respectful bow, and then took his place.
As Yeonwoo looked at the man, Park Jeonghun said,
"That fellow is the conductor of the Korean Symphony Orchestra."
"Ah, the conductor. Like you, Grandpa?"
"Exactly."
Remembering when he first met Park Jeonghun, Yeonwoo spoke up, and Park Jeonghun nodded eagerly.
"The song lives or dies by that man's fingertips. Watch closely."
Yeonwoo nodded and turned his eyes to the orchestra members.
The conductor half-closed his eyes, surveyed his orchestra, and slowly raised his baton.
The moment he swung it, the music began.
Yeonwoo perked up his ears at the sound.
"Doesn't it sound familiar?"
"Yes."
Just as Park Jeonghun said, it was music he felt like he'd heard somewhere before.
"Vivaldi's Four Seasons. It's the first movement, Spring."
"Ah, right."
As he recalled while studying classical music, it was definitely a piece stored in his memory.
There was just so much information that he hadn't immediately remembered the title, but the sound itself was fully etched in Yeonwoo's mind from start to finish.
However, it felt somehow different from the Four Seasons he had heard.
"It feels different from the one I heard."
"Haha, you noticed that? Yes, it's because each conductor interprets and unfolds the piece differently. If the original composer's intent is precisely preserved, they might stick to that exactly, but they also infuse their own ideas."
Given classical music's deep history, interpretation seemed to be an important aspect.
If someone from hundreds of years ago hadn't left the exact intent, it was up to today's musicians to infer it from the score and delve into it.
Thinking that far, Yeonwoo resolved to always properly document his own intentions when composing pieces in the future.
Who knew?
Hundreds of years from now, someone might hear his music and interpret it all wrong.
The thought of a piece being performed against his wishes was unbearable just imagining it.
Maybe even Vivaldi had thought the same.
And Yeonwoo had a way to know those musicians' intentions from hundreds of years ago more accurately than anyone.
"I need to practice more."
"Hm? What did you say?"
"Nothing."
He could communicate with their avatars.
It was just still a distant goal.
Those people from hundreds of years ago—and such great musicians at that—their avatars didn't appear easily.
Even Beethoven's fairy from last time had only shown a brief silhouette before vanishing.
He had studied hard for a while but then drifted away, so during this guitar break, he should dive back into classical music exploration.
But anyway.
"Grandpa."
"Yes?"
"That sister playing violin keeps messing up. And the clarinet player in the back messed up once too. Oh, and that trumpet guy over there... Ah, is this because of the conductor's interpretation?"
"...Probably not."
As Park Jeonghun marveled, the conductor swung his baton to halt the music.
"What the hell? Why are you all messing up so much? The performance is just a few hours away—do you plan to keep screwing up? It was the second violins who erred. Who was it?"
The violinists flinched and glanced at each other warily, until the woman Yeonwoo had pointed out hesitantly raised her hand.
The conductor clicked his tongue at her in clear displeasure.
Amid that, Park Jeonghun clicked his tongue while glaring at the conductor instead.
He was the most outstanding active conductor in Korea, but he didn't impress Park Jeonghun.
Lacking in detail, perhaps?
Anyway.
"Yeonwoo can pick out exactly who messed up even amid so many people playing?"
Park Jeonghun remarked in astonishment at Yeonwoo's sharp ears, loud enough for the conductor and every orchestra member present to hear.
It was a bit intentional.
Like emphasizing that this child had such exceptional talent and deserved watching.
Amid that, Yeonwoo just let out an embarrassed "Hehe" laugh at Park Jeonghun's words.
Yeonwoo hadn't spoken up casually because he could spot the mistakes quickly and accurately not just by ear, but by watching through the fairies.
Hearing and seeing made a difference, timing-wise.
Even if it was just a 0.1-second gap, seeing was faster.
So Yeonwoo figured that without the fairies, he would have heard it just like everyone else.
The key point was that most people couldn't pinpoint errors as precisely as Yeonwoo could by ear.
Not knowing how others heard things, Yeonwoo naturally assumed everyone could easily spot mistakes in an orchestra like that.
Meanwhile, regardless of Yeonwoo's thoughts, Park Jeonghun eyed him with greedy intent.
*Such a genius wasting his talent strumming guitar and making pop songs...*
No matter how he thought about it, the kid was squandering his musical gifts.
He had to somehow lure this child into the classical world... But the very orchestra he brought Yeonwoo to see—the best in Korea—was busy making blunders...
It was a relief if Yeonwoo didn't find them pathetic.
*Should I give those fools a good scolding to whip them into shape?*
Park Jeonghun, once called the Tiger Maestro in his prime, felt the urge to roar at his much younger disciples after so long.