Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Aunt Jiyeong's Arrival
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"Korea’s nice."
Jiyeong looked up at the sky through her sunglasses after stepping onto her homeland for the first time in ages.
A hazy sky thick with fine dust welcomed her back.
Still, it was her hometown—even that polluted sky felt endearing.
"Gotta take a taxi."
She headed cheerfully to the taxi stand.
No matter how well she earned, she wasn’t one to splurge on taxis whenever she felt like it, but she didn’t want to ruin the thrill of her very first first-class flight.
"Who knew Mom would book me first class."
Her mother was cold-blooded enough to abandon her child in pursuit of her dreams, and she was just as strict about money matters with her own daughter.
Yet that same mother had urged her to come quickly and booked first class.
That was why Jiyeong had arrived in Korea earlier than planned.
"Just what’s so special about a grandson anyway."
She’d heard that no matter how stern the parents, they all melted before their grandkids and showered them with everything they had. Was her mom like that too?
She tried picturing Heo Ok cooing, Aigoo, our little puppy! while hugging her nephew.
She just couldn’t imagine it.
Sure, they’d reconciled because she was her mom and they got along fine now, but her mother had always been—and still was—a cool-headed musician. No, a professor through and through.
By then, she’d arrived at her mother’s place.
Dragging her massive suitcase with grunts of effort, she entered the apartment.
Her heart pounded.
Memories surfaced of the baby she’d seen as a child.
Her brother’s son. Her nephew.
The thrill of seeing that adorable little boy again—the one who’d inevitably turned her into a doting aunt—made her giddy.
Standing at the entrance, Jiyeong took a deep breath and punched in the door lock code.
"Huh? The password changed?"
Her mom was consistent— she hadn’t changed the door lock code in years.
Mom didn’t like change. The only thing she ever changed out of necessity was her music.
She embraced music with an open mind always, but outside of that, she was conservative to the core.
The password was the same eight-digit phone number she’d used since before the 010 era.
Ding-dong.
In the end, she rang the doorbell.
Soon, a beep sounded, the lock clicked open, and the front door swung wide.
"Mom! Why’d you change the code?! Huh??"
She called out toward where her mom’s face should be at the familiar spot by the door, but... huh? No mom.
Her gaze dropped lower to the person there.
"...Oh my god."
Beneath hair black as ebony gleamed skin so fair it seemed otherworldly—a child so doll-like and pretty that she stared up at Jiyeong.
"Y-Yeonwoo?"
The moment Jiyeong spoke tentatively, Yeonwoo toddled off toward the living room.
Jiyeong hurried after him.
Before she knew it, Yeonwoo had hidden behind his grandmother, peeking out just enough to eye Jiyeong.
"You’re here."
Heo Ok spoke to Jiyeong in the meantime.
"Y-Yeah. Um, Yeonwoo? Hi?"
But Jiyeong’s eyes stayed glued to Yeonwoo.
Yeonwoo gazed at her in turn.
A tall woman whose face somehow blended half her grandma’s and half her dad’s features stared back at him with sparkling eyes.
Yeonwoo tugged at his grandma’s hem, met her gaze, and mouthed the word.
Aunt?
Heo Ok laughed.
"Yeah, that’s your aunt."
"That’s right. I’m your aunt, Shin Jiyeong—your dad’s little sister! Wanna come to your auntie?"
Her face flushed red, she beckoned him over, but Yeonwoo ducked even further behind Heo Ok.
"Mom, why’s our Yeonwoo acting like this? He’s straight-up rejecting me."
"Would you go to some overexcited lady waving you over?"
"Lady? To someone who’s barely thirty-two!"
"At your age, you should have a kid Yeonwoo’s age."
"What era are you living in?"
Jiyeong grumbled before turning her gaze back to Yeonwoo.
Oh my god, he’s too pretty.
She just wanted to pinch those glutinous rice cake cheeks once—that’d be heaven.
Suddenly, she remembered her mom’s words.
Right, the keyboard.
Recalling the keyboard the child had so desperately wanted, Jiyeong went back to the entrance and rummaged through her suitcase.
She pulled out a case.
"Ta-da, Yeonwoo! What’s this?"
Yeonwoo’s eyes lit up at what Jiyeong showed him.
Piano?
The moment she read his lips, Jiyeong wagged her index finger side to side.
"Nope, nope, nope—not some outdated relic like a piano."
"Outdated relic?"
While Heo Ok frowned, Jiyeong ignored her completely and spoke to Yeonwoo.
"Curious?"
Yeonwoo nodded.
"Then come here."
The keyboard was an irresistible temptation.
Just like the fairies crowding around pianos, they swarmed the keyboard now, eyes aglow.
As Yeonwoo approached, Jiyeong set down the keyboard and scooped him up in a flash.
"Gotcha, you little rascal!!"
Startled, Yeonwoo’s eyes went wide.
Even that was unbearably cute. Jiyeong gazed at him, then spoke with an expression like she might cry.
"Do you know how much your auntie missed you, Yeonwoo?"
Back when she’d kept her distance from her mom and thought her only family in the world was her brother, Yeonwoo’s birth had made him her entire universe—not just for her brother and his wife, but for Jiyeong too.
To have that whole universe right here in her arms now, after worrying she might never see him again, felt like a dream.
Did he sense his aunt’s feelings? Yeonwoo stared at her quietly, then reached up to wipe the tears pooling at the corners of her eyes.
"Is our Yeonwoo comforting me?"
Nod nod.
"There’s no one but our Yeonwoo. Then your auntie has to return the favor, right? Just wait a sec."
Jiyeong asked Heo Ok.
"Mom, where am I staying?"
"The room with the desk."
"You have a desk in your house? Did you move the one from the master bedroom?"
"No, I bought one."
"For me? Wow... kinda touched."
It was obviously for Yeonwoo, not her daughter— the bare minimum setup of desk and chair for the MIDI keyboard and computer— but Heo Ok didn’t bother correcting her.
"Yeonwoo, wait there! Auntie’ll set it up quick and call you!"
Jiyeong headed into the room and got to work.
Yeonwoo watched the fairies swarm in after her but stayed put, as his aunt had told him to wait.
"Yeonwoo, with just your auntie here now, you can hear sounds from all kinds of other instruments. Let’s wait a bit till then. Want a snack?"
Nod nod.
Heo Ok stroked his head and set cookies and milk in front of him.
A bright smile bloomed on Yeonwoo’s face.
With his mouth full of cookie and a sip of milk, he wanted for nothing.
Dad didn’t give him treats often, saying they weren’t good for him, but Grandma gave them freely.
Lately, Yeonwoo liked Grandma just a tiny bit more than Dad.
Anyway.
By the time he’d polished off the cookies, Jiyeong called him.
"Yeonwoo, wanna come in?"
Yeonwoo jumped up to go to her but first took his empty plate and cup to the kitchen.
"Our Yeonwoo’s so good at tidying up."
As Jiyeong watched approvingly, Yeonwoo’s gaze was fixed on the room behind her.
"Oh, right. Let’s give it a try."
Jiyeong led him inside, sat down, and settled him on her lap.
A delightful baby scent wafted up from the crown of his head.
Jiyeong inhaled deeply as she opened the laptop.
Meanwhile, Yeonwoo stared at it intently.
It wasn’t his first time seeing one.
Dad was always glued to his laptop even after work.
Yeonwoo wondered.
Various instrument sounds from that? Really?
"Okay, now we’re gonna hear all kinds of instrument sounds with this keyboard. Ready, little Yeonwoo?"
Yeonwoo nodded eagerly, curiosity piqued.
"So, what first? Oh, Mom mentioned drums. Drums to start?"
Nod nod.
Jiyeong fiddled with the mouse, then brought her fingers to the keyboard.
Boom!
Boom boom!
Thud!
"...!!"
Yeonwoo’s eyes went wide as he stared at Jiyeong.
No way—drum sounds from the keys?!
"Next, violin!"
Before his aunt arrived, Yeonwoo had encountered tons of instruments on YouTube.
Hearing the classic string instrument’s sound pour from the keyboard, he looked at her in wonder.
"Amazing, right? This keyboard and computer program create virtual instruments you can play. Pretty much all modern pop songs are made this way."
Pop songs...?
Yeonwoo tilted his head, and Jiyeong glanced toward the door outside for no reason.
"I mean, if you’re gonna show a kid jazz or classical, shouldn’t you mix in some pop too? Why start with the hard, stuffy stuff? But still...!!"
Jiyeong pinched Yeonwoo’s cheek as she held him.
"Our Yeonwoo’s taken an interest in music. Amazing, amazing. I’d love to start with pop, but let’s do what you want first. This program lets you combine sounds using the keyboard to make music. Like this."
On the spot, she laid down a drum bass, added violin and piano melodies, and whipped up a simple tune.
In Yeonwoo’s eyes, a few red and blue fairies of middling size popped out.
The music itself wasn’t anything special, but the point was she could play multiple instruments with just that one keyboard and layer them to create a song.
Excited, Yeonwoo slid off her lap and fetched the sheet music his grandma had made.
"What’s this?"
"That’s what Yeonwoo made."
"Yeonwoo...? Sheet music...?"
"I heard it and wrote it down."
"Hmm."
Jiyeong couldn’t gauge the music from the score alone, so she placed her hands on the keyboard.
"Can you play by sight?"
"Mom, you think I’m an idiot? I’ve got solid fundamentals!!"
In an era where tons of people made music without reading scores, Jiyeong’s skills were more than solid—practically perfect.
"Here goes."
But...
Tap tap!!
Not long into her playing, Yeonwoo placed his hands on the keyboard, interrupting her.
"Why?"
Yeonwoo frowned, copied her playing.
Then shook his head and flawlessly played his own familiar tune.
"Oh... I got it wrong, huh?"
Nod nod.
It was just a slight rhythmic mismatch, but this precocious nephew had spotted it perfectly and called her out.
Jiyeong’s expression grew serious as she looked at him.
"Got it. Okay. I’ll play it right."
She set Yeonwoo down, cracked her knuckles and neck, placed her hands on the keyboard, and took a deep breath.
She dove in earnestly.
But.
Tap tap!!!
Not childlike at all, Yeonwoo frowned and blocked her playing.
"I-I got it wrong again?"
Nod nod.
It wasn’t enough to satisfy him.
No helping it.
Yeonwoo was judging based on his grandma’s piano playing, which even summoned fairies.
Yeonwoo looked at Jiyeong, sighed, and turned to his grandma.
Seeing that, Heo Ok chuckled and said to Jiyeong.
"Come on out. I’ll play it. Record me."
She nudged Jiyeong aside and placed her hands on the unfamiliar keyboard.
Unfamiliar didn’t matter.
It was keys, after all.
A true master used whatever tools were at hand.
As Heo Ok’s playing began, Yeonwoo finally looked content, sticking close to her side.
Jiyeong squinted at the grandma and grandson.
No— at her mom, specifically.
The pianist who played cold winters. Or the iron-blooded jazz pianist.
She recalled her mom’s globally renowned nickname in the jazz world.
But now?
The eternal glacier that never melted was thawing pathetically at the tiniest spring breeze.
Had she ever seen that smile on her lips before?
"Indeed."
They said there were parents a child could beat, but no grandparents a grandchild couldn’t.
She was right.
Jiyeong smiled warmly at her mom pounding the keyboard and her aloof grandma’s nephew plastered happily to her side.
But that was that...
She couldn’t just let her pride stay bruised from flubbing the piano.
The moment Heo Ok finished, Jiyeong rolled up her sleeves.
"Now it’s my turn."