Chapter 19
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Sketch (4)
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Seo Ye-ri's announcement naturally applied to our group as well.
The recordings of the performances I'd heard earlier tangled up in my head, buzzing and making me dizzy.
I'd had a vague hunch, but hearing it directly made the shock feel all too real.
"What if there's even one group that creates harmonious music without relying on a standout individual?"
That would be dangerous. I needed a brilliant solution.
A way to handle Kim Ju-hee's unexpected issues and Lee Ha-yeon's overwhelming presence.
My mind started racing at full speed again. I was even prepared to change our piece if necessary.
"I should head out now. My group's waiting."
As I drummed my fingers on my thigh, deep in thought, Seo Ye-ri stood up.
"Ye-ri, don't go—stay with me, okay?"
"Not this again. I'll catch you later. Everyone, keep up the good work! See you at the dorm, Ha-yeon!"
Seo Ye-ri waved breezily until the door closed behind her.
I shifted my gaze from Kim Ju-hee's reluctant expression to Lee Ha-yeon.
"You share a dorm room with Seo Ye-ri?"
"Yeah, we were roommates for two years in middle school too."
"That's so unfair! I've never even gotten to room with Ye-ri once."
Kim Ju-hee puffed out her cheeks and clung to Lee Ha-yeon.
I let out a shallow sigh and straightened out the chaotic atmosphere.
"Unfair, unfair—."
"We've got a little time before dinner, so let's run through it a few more times."
For now, repeating the same flow multiple times would be best.
The organic unity of each part relied most on syncing our breaths, so getting accustomed to this style of playing was the priority.
"Take it a bit more leisurely in the intro, like you're welcoming someone who's been waiting."
"Ah, sorry. Was it a little fast? I guess I was getting impatient."
"It's okay to make mistakes—just relax and sink in as deep as you can."
"Even if you say that..."
"But Ha-yeon, you're really good at this. This waltz suits you perfectly."
"...That's the problem— she's too good."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"It's nothing."
We went through several rounds of playing and feedback, and I could distinctly feel each part settling into place. The flow felt so natural it was almost like the performers hadn't changed.
But as the music came together more cohesively, an nagging issue stood out sharper than ever.
"Maybe I should just be satisfied with spotting the problems today."
The two issues were intertwined too complexly to fix right away.
It was a hundred times better than realizing them at the last minute. I decided to think positively.
We could figure it out somehow in the time left.
It was past 7 before I knew it. Still seated on the piano bench, I looked around at the group members.
"Let's call it here for today. We need to eat dinner too."
"You eating dinner? Tomorrow's Saturday— you're really not going home?"
What, was going home on weekends the norm?
Everyone, including Lee Seong-hyuk, stared at me blankly, so I asked out of curiosity.
"What do you all do on weekends?"
"I've got lessons, so home."
"Me too! Ugh, thinking about it makes me annoyed. Maybe I'll skip..."
"I've gotta go see my parents too—what about you?"
"Practice, obviously. Here at school."
I shrugged, and Lee Seong-hyuk snickered, bumping his shoulder against mine.
"Yeah, practice, you should."
"Say one more word, and I'll ditch practice and just dance at the exam."
"Do it—I’ll tip off the school YouTube channel."
"Then I'll drop out and become a YouTuber."
"If you make it big, hire me on staff."
"You're insane."
Lee Seong-hyuk and I stared at each other before bursting into pointless laughter.
"Boys are so immature."
If we were immature just for chuckling at that...
Kim Ju-hee fiddled with her phone and shook her head like a whale.
Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she frantically gathered her things.
"I gotta go to Ye-ri! Have a great weekend, everyone!"
Kim Ju-hee zipped out like a shooting star.
Watching her go, I briefly pondered who the real immature one was.
I let out a chuckle, and Lee Seong-hyuk nudged my shoulder.
"I need to grab my stuff from the dorm and head home too. Mom's picking me up by car."
"Oh, see you Sunday then?"
"Probably? Don't cry yourself to sleep alone, you wimp."
"You wish. Get lost."
Lee Seong-hyuk waved to me and Lee Ha-yeon before disappearing.
Now it was just Lee Ha-yeon and me left in the practice room.
I exhaled lightly and gathered the scattered belongings.
"You don't need to head out?"
"It's fine. I'll help clean up."
Lee Ha-yeon tucked her hair behind her ear and started packing her things.
A brief silence fell. Seizing the moment, I casually handed her my phone.
"If you get to the practice room first next time, give me a heads-up. I want to learn even if it's just for a bit."
Lee Ha-yeon's hand paused as she closed her tablet. She just stood there, staring intently at my phone.
"I meant put your number in."
"Oh, your number... Yeah? Mine?"
I nodded, and she snatched the phone, tapping away swiftly.
Her movements felt stiff and awkward.
"Here."
"I left it on missed call, so save yours too."
I took the phone back, turned away, and took a deep breath to calm my racing heart.
With this, I'd gotten Lee Ha-yeon's number. If the Kwon Do-hyun from my past life knew, he'd flip out in rage and demand a body swap—this was historic.
If we kept being in the same class, stuff like this would become routine... Was I overreacting?
"Looks like everything's cleaned up?"
"Yeah."
Soon the practice room was spotless. There hadn't been much to tidy anyway.
Feeling good, I hummed a tune while packing to head out, when suddenly Lee Ha-yeon grabbed my shoulder.
"What's up?"
I turned, wondering what was wrong, and saw a faint blush on her face.
She subtly avoided my gaze. When I leaned down to meet her eyes, she looked away even more suspiciously.
"Something you want to say?"
"Alone..."
"Alone?"
I furrowed my brow and tilted my head. Suddenly, Lee Ha-yeon started poking my shoulder with her fist.
"Don't cry yourself to sleep alone 'cause you're scared..."
"What?"
"You wimp, wimp..."
"..."
Don't cry yourself to sleep alone 'cause you're scared... Wasn't that exactly what Lee Seong-hyuk had said to me earlier?
"No way she's pranking me. Right?"
A genius pianist's joke was beyond what a normal person could predict.
To keep the mood from turning weird, I desperately brainstormed a response.
Damn, delivering humor that lame made the receiver suffer more.
How should I reply without offending Lee Ha-yeon? My mind went blank.
Lee Ha-yeon, cheeks flushed and glancing at me sidelong, suddenly bowed her head.
"I'm going."
She hugged her bag to her chest without even slinging it over her shoulder.
"Bye."
Then she brushed past me with quick steps.
Her swaying hair grazed my ear, stinging a little.
"...What was that?"
I dazedly rubbed my shoulder where she'd hit me.
She must've misjudged her strength—it actually hurt a bit.
The school on the weekend was incredibly quiet. Practice rooms empty, cafeteria sparsely populated.
Put differently, it was the perfect environment for holing up alone and pounding the piano.
Eat, play piano, sleep. After a day of that blissful routine, Sunday arrived.
I ambled out of bed for morning practice, then headed to the cafeteria for lunch.
"Jja-jang-myeon today, huh? I'm starving."
Even on weekends, predicting meal headcounts was tricky. Still, they kept the cafeteria open—Ye-rim really was great.
I loaded up my tray and hummed while scanning for a seat.
"Ahem."
As I set down my tray, a sudden cough sounded.
Thinking someone had something caught in their throat, I ignored it and sat.
"Ahem!"
This time louder, like it was meant to catch attention.
It felt directed at me, so I looked around.
Seol Yu-jin sat across from me, staring straight at me.
"Why's she sticking around school on the weekend?"
Um...
I quietly gripped my tray and lifted my butt to slip away.
It was a cowardly plan to avoid getting entangled.
"Huh, suddenly I feel like eating near the entrance..."
"Ahem!"
"Crap."
My plan was shut down immediately.
Embarrassed, I averted my eyes. Seol Yu-jin pulled out the chair next to her and tapped it.
"Sit next to her?"
No choice—I sat across from her instead.
She glanced at me, pushed her chair in, and silently started eating.
"...Hi."
"Yeah."
If she wasn't gonna say anything, why'd she call me over? I half-heartedly ate while observing her closely.
"She eats jja-jang-myeon so elegantly."
Twirling noodles on her chopsticks like bird feed—it was like she was eating pasta at a fancy restaurant.
"You're at school on the weekend?"
"So are you."
Come to think of it, this was the first time I'd heard Seol Yu-jin's voice.
I'd been wondering about her quirks anyway, so I decided to chat a bit.
"Everyone else seemed to head home for lessons."
"I don't need lessons to play well."
"I see."
Short answers like that left me with nothing to say... Silence fell as we ate.
As our bowls emptied, she spoke.
"When you're done eating, come with me somewhere."
"Where? No way—I gotta practice."
I shook my head no, and Seol Yu-jin twitched her eyebrows, looking flustered.
"...I'm going to the practice room too. Follow me."
"Practice room? Fine then."
She played well, so I might learn something. Unless it was some weird request—then I'd bolt.
I followed Seol Yu-jin to the main building.
The air was still chilly, but the sunlight was warm. Her long ponytail swayed in front of me.
"Baseball jacket and cargo pants..."
I felt sloppy in my tracksuit by comparison. Though even before regressing, it was suits or tracksuits for me.
"Want one?"
Seol Yu-jin pulled a gum from her pocket and offered it. Xylitol—perfect after a meal.
Chewing it as we walked, we soon reached the practice room. She went in first, sat at the piano, and crossed her legs haughtily.
She just stared at me without saying why she'd brought me, so I spoke first.
"So, why'd you call me here?"
"Got some questions. First, what piece did your group pick...?"
"Wait, hold up. Can't tell you that."
Couldn't she have asked over lunch? Anyway, I needed to get to practice.
"Might as well fish for useful info while we're at it—no loss for me."
After a moment's thought, I put on a serious face.
"You gotta give to get. What can you offer me?"
Seol Yu-jin's eyes rolled as she stared at me, deep in thought.
Her expression darkened. The confident air vanished; she shrank and pulled out more xylitol.
"This is all I have..."
She looked embarrassed, avoiding my gaze with a deflated posture.
For the record, I didn't have a habit of chewing two pieces of gum.
I pondered as she waved the gum insistently.
"I can practice following Lee Ha-yeon's tips for a while."
Trading info and parting ways sounded good. I was curious about other groups anyway.
"Fine, I'll ask a few too, okay? But I go first."
"Sure, ask away."
Seol Yu-jin snapped back to her bold self in an instant, chin up.
I was dumbfounded but quickly fired off a question our group needed.
"How's your group practicing? Order, individual parts, etc.?"
"Obviously, I—the best one—play last."
"Right."
"And my part's the longest."
"Hm..."
What? Similar to ours.
Not shoving her forward as blatantly, but playing like this might give the same impression.
"Your group agreed to that?"
"Who plays better than me? Though Ji-hee made me trim my part a bit."
"That girl always next to you?"
"Annoying. Always nagging like my mom."
Who wouldn't nag you...
What next?
She didn't seem to have close friends, but nothing to lose—might as well ask.
"Know how other groups are doing?"
"Why would I? We're winning anyway."
I regretted asking.
As I prepared to answer, Seol Yu-jin let out an "Ah—."
"Myeong Woo-bin kept bothering me. He's so cringey—I hate it."
"Myeong Woo-bin? What'd he say?"
"...Answer this, then you answer mine."
"Got it."
"He's pissed Lee Ha-yeon didn't join his group. Says they'll win no matter what, that he can play even better."
Her words hit me like a hammer to the head—I blanked out for a second.
Everyone was missing the point spectacularly.
Where'd they sell the 'harmony of sounds' criterion kindly listed in the guidelines?
"Hmph, wasting energy. Can't even identify the real competition. Bragging that to me? Anyway, their group..."
Seol Yu-jin's grumbling trailed off as she sank into deep thought.
"This makes it even worse if Lee Ha-yeon becomes the highlight..."
In short, we couldn't turn the evaluation into a showdown between group aces.
An overpowering presence wasn't something to embrace. One stellar performance could poison the 'harmony of sounds.'
That was the point of this evaluation.
"Can't tell Lee Ha-yeon to play worse on purpose... But maybe a way to tone down her presence while lifting the overall average?"
Ideas swirled, but none fit perfectly.
Impatience furrowed my brow.
"My turn now?"
"Ah, yeah."
I snapped back to see Seol Yu-jin smirking.
"Actually, never mind your group's piece. Something more important."
She pointed at me dramatically with her index finger.
"How do you usually practice?"
"...What?"
"Any special methods? Who taught you?"
My mind blanked again. She was seriously asking me that?
Aside from a few tips from Lee Ha-yeon, I was clueless and desperate myself.
I felt bad monopolizing her time every day.
"I don't know either—what's the best way to practice?"
Seol Yu-jin scowled at me. Clearly not the answer she wanted.
"I felt it in your playing. The same... specialness as mine."
"..."
How could she hear her own playing as identical to mine?
If anything, Seol Yu-jin was closer to current Lee Ha-yeon's style. Worlds apart from my tone.
"She's totally misunderstanding something."
No special methods whatsoever—I was still finding my way—but protests fell on deaf ears.
"So you won't tell me."
"That's not it."
"Whatever, I didn't expect much. You're watching me too, right? I get it."
Watching? Whatever.
I'd never even seen her as competition.
"I'm tense. On exam day, I'll shine way brighter and more special than you."
She delivered shonen protagonist lines with a straight face.
Absurd claims were impossible to refute. I just accepted it.
"Sure, sure. Shine bright and be special all you want. But can you clear up that misunderstanding?"
Seol Yu-jin shot me a sly rascal look, smirking impishly with sealed lips.
Her intense gaze made me—guilty of nothing—feel like I was confessing sins.