Chapter 114
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: A Mother's Support
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Natalie headed to the park with Choi Yuseong. She looked surprised when he mentioned he had come to the park at this time on Sunday last week and the week before.
“So you go every week?”
“Well, this is only my fourth time. I hope coming once a week helps, even a little.”
“Really? You’re on a scholarship yourself, and you’re still so kind.”
“It seems like someone else comes every week, too. They’ve been recording a video each week and uploading it to N-tube.”
“They have?”
Choi Yuseong opened the N-tube app and showed her the video. A new channel with very few views and subscribers had three videos uploaded.
“What’s the reaction like?”
“Well, since the view count is low, there isn't much of a reaction. There are comments ranging from someone asking why he's busking with skills like that, to another saying it reminds them of when they first learned the violin.”
“I guess I was like that when I first picked up a violin. I was so amazed that it even made a sound.”
Natalie and Choi Yuseong walked on, reminiscing about the day they first held a violin.
Today, there were quite a few people standing in front of the violin boy. After exchanging nods with the people wearing the blue whale logo, Choi Yuseong stood in his usual spot.
It was to the boy's left, where he could clearly see the fingers pressing down on the violin strings. As the same screeching sound filled the air, Choi Yuseong noted the mistakes. He had started recording with his phone last week.
‘If we get to know each other by meeting like this every week, I’ll show him the videos and teach him later.’
As he filmed the boy with a fond smile, Natalie nudged him in the ribs with a surprised look on her face.
“What?”
At his quiet question, Natalie lowered her voice as well.
“He’s gotten so much better, hasn’t he?”
“...What?”
“You didn’t notice? His posture and sound have improved since the first time I heard him.”
At Natalie’s words, Choi Yuseong looked at the boy again, recalling the posture and sound he had seen and heard on the first day.
Huh?
It was true. The boy's posture was much closer to the proper form than it had been on the first day. The sound, despite a few mistakes, was now bearable.
Of course, to Choi Yuseong’s professionally trained ear, he still had a long way to go. But considering only three weeks had passed, the change was astonishing.
‘Does he have someone else teaching him?’
His clothes were worn, but clean. The violin was a bit small for his frame, but it had a good sound.
He thought that perhaps someone who had played the violin before might be teaching him.
He'll continue to improve. With happy faces, Choi Yuseong and Natalie put money into the violin case.
Seojun beamed as he dropped the coins and bills into the transparent money box.
This was his fourth time busking. He had earned 7 dollars, then 10, then 14, and today, 20 dollars.
“And your subscriber count has gone up quite a bit, right?”
“Yep! 100 now!”
Seo Eunhye and Lee Minjun burst out laughing at Seojun’s proud declaration.
It seemed the growth of the channel [JUN] had been abnormally fast. The growth of [RAINBOW], the channel created by Whale Studio, was as ordinary as any other.
At first, like most channels, it was subscribed to by acquaintances. It's just that Seojun had a lot of acquaintances; very few people who subscribed didn't know him.
“There’s me, Mom, Dad, the Brown Black guys, Eunchan, and Heesang.”
“And Daho hyung, Director Ryan Will, Evan, and Richel too!”
“Soohee, Sooryeon, and the staff at Cocoa Entertainment subscribed as well.”
“Professor Benjamin Morton and Jason, Catherine and Paul also subscribed. The director and the staff said they did too.”
All those people added up to 94. The number of subscribers who genuinely knew nothing about him was a mere six.
“Six people. Is this really going to work as promotion?”
“Won’t the marketing team handle it somehow?”
Seojun and his parents tilted their heads as the subscriber and view counts remained unchanged even after refreshing.
* * *
A new character appeared in this shoot: Gray’s mother. After her American husband died, she was raising her son alone in Downrock.
“This is Jiyeon Jo, playing Gray’s mother. And this is Seojun Lee, playing Gray.”
At Director Sarah Rothe’s introduction, Jiyeon extended her hand. Seojun smiled and took it.
“Hello!”
“Hello! It’s so nice to meet you!”
Seojun giggled at her words. It was his first time acting with an actor of Asian descent.
‘William’s mom, Melissa, was white.’
Unlike the cartoon where William was depicted as white, the movie's setting established William's father as a Korean-American.
Initially, since it was a passing role, such detailed settings hadn't been decided. But as Seojun also took on the role of Jin Natra in *Shadowman 2*, more details were added to his character.
Until the movie's official backstory was released, opinions were divided between him being mixed-race or adopted.
“I really enjoyed your drama.”
At Seojun's words, Jiyeon smiled shyly.
“The last one I filmed was three years ago. You watched that?”
“Yes. You acted in Korean, so you’re famous in Korea too.”
Jiyeon Jo had filmed a drama in the United States. It was a medical drama where she played a sharp-featured surgeon. After clips of her acting in Korean in a few episodes went viral on N-tube, many people sought out the drama.
“Well then, let’s work hard on filming!”
“Yes, let’s.”
Jiyeon, who now had a much softer impression than in the drama, said with a smile.
“Ready, action!”
A small house. A faded sofa. Worn-out belongings. But the home was clean and cozy. While his mom was out at work, Gray picked up the small violin he had received from Rebecca—the one she had used as a child. Gray recalled yesterday’s memories.
Rebecca and George had said they were leaving on a family trip. Rebecca apologized, saying she couldn't give him the expensive violin she was currently using. Gray had vehemently waved his hands, refusing.
“I had one from when I was little!”
Rebecca had thought it was thrown away, but it was in the house’s storage. It was old, but after replacing the strings and conditioning the bow, it was decent enough. George had packed him a bunch of delicious snacks.
“Practice with this. I’m going to check on you when I get back from my trip.”
“And work hard on your composing.”
At the stern warnings from Rebecca and George, Gray had smiled but couldn't help but shed a tear. And so, Rebecca and George left on their family trip, scheduled to return in three weeks.
“A trip…”
The view from his small room's window was gloomy. Dark clouds gathered as if it would rain at any moment. Summer in Downrock meant the rainy season was about to begin. After staring blankly out the window, Gray shot to his feet.
“They’ll hear everything.”
The man upstairs worked at night and was sleeping now, and the young man downstairs hated noise. It was terrifying when the man upstairs and the young man downstairs fought. The apartment wasn't soundproof.
Gray carefully pressed his fingers on the strings, pretending to play the violin.
“This is C, this is D.”
Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do. After playing silently, just pressing the strings, he put the violin back in its case and pulled out a piece of paper from his old bag. It was the sheet music he was composing.
Gray sat at the small, old dining table, picked up a pen, and began to write. He revised the beginning he had written in the park and came up with a new melody.
He paused to think, moved the pen, thought again, moved the pen again, and time flew by like light.
“...Ray. Gray?”
Completely absorbed in his composing, Gray didn't even notice his mother had come home. A hand shaking his shoulder startled him, and when he looked to his side, he saw his mother, who looked utterly exhausted.
“What is all this?”
There was something she had never bought for him. An old but expensive-looking violin. As his mother's expression hardened, Gray quickly spoke up. He told her everything that had happened. How he met friends at the park, learned the violin, and learned to compose.
“Rebecca lent this to me. She said she doesn't use it anymore since it’s from when she was little.”
Seeing her son’s eyes sparkle more brightly than ever before, his mother was at a loss for words.
“Cut! OK!”
Director Sarah Rothe’s voice rang out. Jiyeon, who had been genuinely lost in the moment, snapped back to reality. Looking at the brightly shining Seojun, Jiyeon thought of her own son.
Her son, who had said he wanted to walk a difficult and arduous path. For his sake, she had opposed that path, but Seojun’s face reminded her of her son’s bright smile.
“We’ll begin the next scene.”
Regardless of Jiyeon's thoughts, filming continued. In contrast to her, Gray’s mother was diligently searching for a way to help her son on his path.
Before she knew it, Jiyeon had become one with Gray's mother.
Gray’s mother, who worked at a supermarket in Downrock, went around asking people about violin teachers.
“A violin? Who would teach such an expensive instrument?”
“You don’t have the money for such nonsense anyway.”
Despite the sharp words, she searched diligently. She couldn't forget Gray's sparkling face.
They were right. The further one got from Starfeel, the worse the security in Downrock became. To live with a child, the apartment they were in now, close to the park, was the safest option.
It was a place where they barely managed to pay the high rent. There were many other expenses as well.
“But still…”
If she looked, she might find a good, affordable teacher. The mother’s eyes sparkled with determination for her son.
And at the end of that road, she saw hope.
“Gray! I heard there’s a violin teacher over by the bridge.”
At his mother's words, Gray, who was playing with his sheet music, tilted his head. He couldn't go to the park because of the rain. A safe, quiet place. Other than the park, there was nowhere to play the violin.
So, Gray had been focusing on composing instead of the violin. There was a certain joy in transcribing the musical ideas that popped into his head onto the staff paper.
His mother, bursting with excitement, continued with a smile.
“The lessons are cheap, and while she’s not famous, she apparently graduated from a music university.”
“...I see.”
Gray just blinked. What does that have to do with me? Expecting her son to be surprised, his mother opened her mouth.
“So, Mom asked her to teach you too. Starting tomorrow, you can go every other day.”
Uh. The sound escaped Gray’s lips before he knew it.
“What about the money?”
As soon as he said it, he covered his mouth with both hands in shock. Money worries were what saddened his mother the most. Covering his mouth, Gray rolled his eyes to look at his mother.
She had expected her son to smile happily, but that one phrase shattered her heart. Nevertheless, she didn't let it show. She smiled even more brightly and said.
“I told you, it’s super cheap! Mom can afford that much.”
Whether he truly believed her words or not, young Gray’s eyes began to sparkle.
I can learn the violin. I can learn from a teacher!
He was so, so happy that tears began to well up. Gray smiled brightly as tears streamed down his face. Too surprised and happy to know what to say, he mumbled for a moment before bursting into sobs and crying out one word.
“Waaah! Mom! Waaah!”
“You have to work hard, okay?”
“Yes! Yes!”
Crying and laughing, Gray hugged his mother tightly. He was so, so happy.
“Cut! OK!”
With Director Sarah Rothe’s voice, sniffles could be heard from here and there.
Some were moved to tears by the child's overwhelming emotion, while others cried at the mother's profound love. Seo Eunhye and Lee Minjun’s eyes reddened as well.
Jiyeon decided that after today's shoot, she would find a way to make the path her son wanted to take a little easier for him.
* * *
“What are you doing, Seojun?”
His mother and father, their eyes red, peeked their heads in and looked at Seojun sitting at his desk. Seojun's acting, which they would recall every so often, had kept their eyes red all day.
Curious about what script Seojun was so engrossed in under the desk lamp, his parents tilted their heads.
“That’s not a script?”
“Staff paper? Is that music?”
“Yeah. There’s a scene in the movie where I’m composing. So I wanted to give it a try.”
“I see. Let us know if you need anything.”
“Okay!”
Seo Eunhye and Lee Minjun quietly left Seojun’s room. Seojun thoughtfully tried to recall the melody that had flashed through his mind at that moment.
A joyful and pleasant tune. He couldn't write it down then because of filming, but he had been jotting it down little by little since coming home.
“So, what came after this…!”
The only problem was that the inspiration that had struck like lightning had left only a faint trace behind.
It wasn't something that required using his composing ability. It didn't have to be perfect, and it could take as much time as needed. It was just something Seojun wanted to do. He decided to take it slow, like a hobby.
“Ah, I remember!”
Composing, expressing the ideas that came to his mind directly onto the sheet music, was a different kind of fun from acting. Giggling, Seojun began to fill the staff paper with notes.
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