Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Falling Flowers
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In Yeonwoo’s mind, even the grandmother who played jazz piano the best in the world never let go of the piano.
But he knew not everyone was like that.
And the moment they set down their instrument, their skills inevitably dulled by that amount of time.
Yeonwoo wondered if they had consistently handled their instruments even while their activities were on hold.
That made sense, because aside from leader Takahashi Shigeru and bassist Maeda Nobuo, the other two had fewer fairies around them than Yuri and Annosuke, who had only just begun their rookie activities.
Orion-level musicians having fewer fairies than Yuri and Annosuke?
Impossible.
At least, if they had consistently played their instruments and music.
No, at Orion’s level, it wouldn’t be strange if each of them had clones of themselves.
And those clones had ranks too.
Shigeru and Nobuo’s clones were dimmer than Grandmother’s weakened clone that had passed its abilities to Yeonwoo.
“[Well, fine…… Then shall we have each of you play one by one?]”
“[Yeah, we brought all the instruments anyway to show Hima ri.]”
The four men’s gazes turned to one side.
Rather than just grilling Hima ri with words, their instruments were already set up on that side.
They had probably grilled the manager or JOP staff instead of Hima ri to set those up.
“[Hey, kid, is there a song of ours you want to hear?]”
Yeonwoo thought for a moment before speaking.
“[Falling Flowers.]”
“Falling flower?”
Falling Flowers wasn’t Orion’s representative song.
But it was a high-difficulty track with beats that split faster than expected, as if depicting falling petals.
Yeonwoo had deliberately requested a difficult song that came to mind to confirm their skills hadn’t died.
“[Good choice, that song.]”
“[Yuin must know a lot of our songs. To even know this one.]”
“Mm.”
The one most excited about playing Falling Flowers was Mori Takeo.
Because the drums had a lot to do in Falling Flowers, it was one of the difficult songs Takeo had enjoyed early on and one of his favorites.
Fired up at the thought of a group performance after so long, and even being tested by someone, they dove into the performance matching the timing of Takeo’s stick taps.
This song, inspired directly by scattering falling petals, was an excellent jazz piece.
It was a song befitting Orion’s fame, and one Yeonwoo had learned a lot from too.
But……
Not long after it started, the red fairy appeared, along with dissonance, making Yeonwoo frown.
The guitar couldn’t quite keep up with the beat subtly, the keyboard was struck too weakly, the bass fumbled several times with stiffened fingers, and the drums, overly excited on their own, overpowered all the other instruments.
Of course, their past experience produced that so-called veteran vibe that didn’t vanish, so it got corrected soon enough, but the drums alone rampaged wildly from start to finish without correction, consistently ruining the team’s breathing and performance again and again.
While Yeonwoo agonized over whether to stop their playing,
“[Stop, stop!!]”
Heo Ok stepped in instead.
“[What’s this? This mess of a performance?]”
At her words, Kobayashi Naomi scolded Maeda Nobuo.
“[Even if it’s been a while, how can you mess up that badly? That was more than two mistakes, right?]”
“[And what were you doing on keyboard? I couldn’t even hear it.]”
“[Before that, Takeo, what are we supposed to do if you get all hyped and bang away so loud? I can’t hear any other instrument!]”
“[What? You try playing with your shitty performance!]”
Heo Ok frowned at Orion pointing fingers at each other and clapped sharply.
At that, as if by magic, everyone’s gazes turned to Heo Ok.
“[Hey, you lot. When was the last time you synced up?]”
“[Uh…… well…… it’s been over ten years, I think.]”
“[Do you handle your instruments every day?]”
“[That…… too……]”
As all four showed reluctance, Heo Ok’s eyes turned ice cold.
“[Right. So what’s the reason for this? This is basically the same as disbanding and retiring.]”
At that, the four exchanged looks before scratching their heads.
“[We each…… got something we wanted to do and focused on that.]”
“[Well, we fought too.]”
“[Takeo straight-up vanished, so we couldn’t regroup.]”
“[That’s because I was sick of you guys.]”
Bands usually swapped one or two session members during runs. Sometimes not a single original member remained, or the sessions changed.
Jazz bands were the same, but Orion had miraculously almost no member changes.
The only keyboardist before had left early on, so Kobayashi Naomi had joined two years later than the other three.
After so long together, they fell into mannerisms.
They grew sick of each other, and the more they made music, the more their individual pursuits diverged, leading to internal conflict.
Some even came to hate music.
Unable to officially disband their beloved band Orion despite it all, they just drifted apart with less contact, halting activities without announcement.
They had gathered like this thanks to leader Takahashi Shigeru.
Long time no see, let’s meet once.
That one line brought together members with lingering affection despite everything, and talk turned to Yuin and then the orchestra, leading them here.
Hearing this, Heo Ok said coldly.
“[So you haven’t performed or played in ages, yet you harassed Hima ri to join my grandson’s orchestra orchestra based on your fame alone?]”
As the members fell silent, Takahashi Shigeru replied in a crawling voice.
“[We didn’t know it’d be this bad…… Yes, I’m sorry, Senior.]”
Takeo cut in at those words.
“[How can it be this bad? Can you even call yourself a musician like that?]”
Everyone in the practice room turned to his brazen words.
“[You were the worst of all, Mori.]”
Mori Takeo frowned.
“[Senior, even if you’re senior, that’s hard to accept. Where did I fall short?]”
“[You were banging the drums so hard they’d break, pleased with yourself?]”
“[Huh? Why’s that?]”
“[Did you go deaf by any chance?]”
“[No……]”
Heo Ok cut off Takeo and said.
“[This won’t do. The others are so bad you don’t even realize how awful yours was. Play with me and my grandson. Hima ri, can you record it?]”
“[Yes, Teacher.]”
While Hima ri rummaged for her phone, Heo Ok stood in front of Kobayashi Naomi’s keyboard.
“[What about that kid? Doesn’t he only play piano?]”
At Mori Takeo’s question, Heo Ok looked at Takahashi Shigeru and said.
“[He plays guitar too. Right now, it looks like my grandson plays better than you, Takahashi.]”
“[No, even a genius couldn’t……]”
“[Just give our Yeonwoo a guitar.]”
Takahashi Shigeru grumbled but handed Yeonwoo the guitar.
Mori Takeo snorted as Yeonwoo dragged a chair over, sat, and set the guitar as big as his body on his lap.
‘Looks like that old hag’s got dementia.’
No matter how much she doted on her kid, how could she say that about Takahashi Shigeru?
Though he didn’t show it, Mori Takeo had never seen a jazz guitarist on par with Takahashi Shigeru.
“[Let’s start.]”
At Heo Ok’s prepared words, the performance began matching Takeo’s stick beat.
In that instant, Yeonwoo’s hands moved dazzlingly, and Takahashi Shigeru, watching beside him, twitched an eyebrow.
‘Wes Montgomery?’
As Japan’s top jazz guitarist, Takahashi Shigeru couldn’t fail to recognize Yeonwoo’s unique technique.
No, any jazz guitarist not knowing Wes Montgomery would be the problem.
With that distinctive technique, Yeonwoo strummed the strings dazzlingly.
By now, Yeonwoo’s guitar was peaking.
Because the more he played, the clearer and brighter the Wes Montgomery and Jimi Hendrix fairies clinging to him became, reaching a level anyone could see they’d grown stronger, and among them, the long-time Wes Montgomery fairy had passed its abilities to Yeonwoo.
Just as Grandmother’s fairy had inspired him to play piano more proficiently, receiving Wes Montgomery’s fairy powers let Yeonwoo fully assimilate his techniques and jazz into his own.
Yeonwoo played the falling petals as if tormenting listeners’ hearts.
Takahashi Shigeru gaped in awe, completely immersed in Yeonwoo’s playing.
The same went for the others.
Except Heo Ok and Takeo.
Heo Ok knew better than anyone how Yeonwoo’s guitar skills had surged like a bursting dam, and Mori Takeo was lost in his own playing.
After finishing Falling Flowers, Heo Ok looked proudly at Yeonwoo and said to Hima ri.
“[Hima ri, play the recording?]”
“[Yes, Teacher.]”
Takeo, who had poured his soul into the performance with sweat beading on his forehead, crossed his arms and glared.
Let’s see it.
As the recording played, Takeo’s burning gaze rapidly dimmed, his face stiffening the more he heard.
Lost in his own playing during, he hadn’t heard others, but the recording let him compare.
Hot-tempered but not stubborn, Mori Takeo knew.
“[No way, my playing was this shitty……!]”
He realized how awful it was.
And how Heo Ok and Yeonwoo, the grandmother and grandson, had forcefully synced by placating and chasing his wild pounding like handling a baby.
“[Get it now?]”
“[Yeah, like Senior said, do you get it? How was your playing?]”
“[You’re not gonna stubbornly insist you were great, right?]”
Mori Takeo was, after all, Japan’s top jazz band drummer.
“[If you don’t know this…… you’ve got dementia. Or your ears are shot, so retire.]”
Takeo said that, then deeply bowed to Heo Ok.
“[Thank you for showing me, Senior. This body’s rusted way more than I thought.]”
A man who admitted what needed admitting, Mori Takeo looked at Yeonwoo and said.
“[Senior’s not wrong. The current Takahashi Shigeru can’t compare. No, not even prime Takahashi Shigeru could match you.]”
“[Thank you.]”
Yeonwoo bowed politely from the waist in thanks.
Watching Yeonwoo, Takahashi Shigeru said.
“[Ah…… to think we’re this bad. No wonder joining the orchestra is greedy.]”
Yeonwoo shook his head.
“[No.]”
“[Huh? You’ll take us?]”
“[You were the best once. Your skills are hidden, not dead. Let’s become the best again together. I’ll help.]”
Kim Beomsin, Yoo Jaehyeok, and now Orion.
At this point, Yeonwoo might have gotten hooked on reviving broken or faded artists.