Chapter 26
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Ears and Eyes (1)
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It was a morning like any other.
Class president Seo Ye-ri had arrived early to post the announcements, and a student who'd brought their guitar was plucking the strings to tune it. It was that kind of morning, with thick clouds hanging overhead.
I'd shown up first because of some overdue homework, working through math problems at my desk.
That's when a shadow fell over the mechanical pencil spinning in my right hand.
"Lee Ha-yeon?"
Lee Ha-yeon had approached and made her presence known. She was holding her dangling right arm with her left, her head turned away to avoid my gaze as she spoke.
"Hey."
"Uh, what's up so early in the morning."
Her eyes darted back and forth, stealing quick glances at me. From the side, her sharp nose bridge stood out strikingly.
"Nice weather, huh."
"They said it's gonna rain today, though?"
Sure enough, the sky darkened, and lightning flashed. Thunder rumbled right after, shaking my eardrums.
I hope the instruments are okay. The facilities here are top-notch, so the dehumidifiers should be doing their job.
"...Wanna grab lunch together later?"
Lee Ha-yeon, who'd been staring out the distant window, quickly changed the subject. But her questions felt so awkward.
"We always eat together anyway."
"Oh, right."
"Just the two of us?"
"No, not that... um."
She started rambling excuses, then suddenly froze and waved slowly at me.
I had no idea what that meant, but I waved back anyway. Only then did she turn and leave.
Her long hair swayed gently up and down as she walked away.
What was that about.
Maybe the afterglow from the first evaluation hadn't worn off yet. I brushed it off and plugged in my earphones.
Chopin’s Étude Op.25 No.8 started playing. It was one of the pieces I'd been practicing lately.
Taking advantage of the music, I tapped my fingers on the desk. My left ring finger—the fourth one—still felt a bit stiff.
Even with such delicate muscles, the technique of striking the keys with equal force using all fingers is commonly called "independence." It's not something you can cheat your way through.
While others build their repertoire by playing famous works, I had to keep drilling basics and technique.
I've got a mountain of practice pieces I haven't even touched yet.
It was frustrating, but basic drills left little time for other pieces—maybe once or twice a day, just for a mood changer.
Until the next evaluation pieces were announced, this was how I'd have to practice.
Once you're in art high school, you can't just play what you like all day; even practice time feels too short.
"Pretending to be the model student must be tough."
"You're here."
Lee Seong-hyuk had slipped into the classroom without me noticing and patted my shoulder before sitting down. Telling him he should study during free periods fell on deaf ears.
"Wanna?"
He sidled up next to me and jerked his thumb toward the hallway.
"What's that mean."
"Morning canteen run."
"..."
The kids in this country must get a thorn in their tongue if they speak in full sentences.
"Sure, let's go."
I was craving something cool anyway, so I followed him out. Even this early, the vocal majors' voices echoed boisterously down the halls.
As we walked slowly, I suddenly remembered somewhere I needed to stop before the canteen.
"Oh right, I need to buy a score notebook."
"Don't you have a tablet?"
"Paper ones are way better for grouping by composer."
Free score download sites have everything from different publishers and editors, so visibility sucks when you're browsing collections.
I dragged Lee Seong-hyuk along to the school stationery store. They sold stationery, odds and ends, and tools for music and art.
Standing by the score display, the price tags jumped out at me first for some reason.
23,000 won...
That's pretty steep. A few by composer, and you're easily over 100,000 won.
"Gonna call my dad real quick."
My finger hovered over the call button on my phone.
Am I asking for money too much lately?
Got an expensive tablet, laptop, earphones, and shipped a ton of stuff to the dorms.
Hmm...
Acting like a rich kid felt awkward; my hand wouldn't move. I'd been a bit spoiled, but I felt a little guilty toward Dad.
Tuition's no joke already; I should handle something like this myself.
Plenty more expenses coming up. Maybe just download from online.
Even if a few notebooks wouldn't burden Dad, there's such a thing as filial piety.
"What's wrong, broke?"
"I have money, but... not really."
"What? Allowance cut off?"
I was just staring at the notebooks when Lee Seong-hyuk went "Aha" and slapped my shoulder.
"I know a way to get these for free."
"Free? How?"
"After first period, let's hit the office together."
"Ah..."
A quiet sigh mixed into the brisk sound of sweeping.
Not mine—Lee Seong-hyuk's.
"Why do I have to do this too? I told you I'm rich."
"It's your parents' money, not yours."
His solution was school volunteer work. Do odd jobs to earn store credit usable on campus.
Pay equivalent was decent, and it didn't interfere with practice—solid option.
Basically a welfare perk; they didn't skimp on support for less fortunate students.
"Shouldn't have told you..."
"You save water in the shower but spend like it's nothing—makes sense?"
"Don't make me sound bad. And I don't skimp on shower water."
"You should."
First task: clean the flower beds. Just pick up wet trash after the rain stopped.
Tomorrow, practice room cleanup maybe. I found peace next to a piano more than lush greenery anyway.
"School's so ridiculously big, they need tons of cleaners, huh."
"Pretty much."
In the distance, student council seniors in vests were pitching in. I'd heard they handled grunt work, even with entrance exam prep.
We were sweeping away when bright laughter rang out nearby. Lots of people passed through, so nothing odd—but hearing my name mixed in was.
"Do-hyun!"
I turned toward the voice. A girl stood there, staring straight at me.
Brownish bob cut shimmering faintly, big sparkling eyes—Kim Ga-eul.
"Hey, Ga-eul."
I waved casually to say hi. She stepped forward from her friends, tilting her head cutely as she asked.
"Yeah, what's with the cleaning? Got punished?"
"Paying penance as an unfilial son."
"Huh? Weird. Anyway, hi!"
Kim Ga-eul linked arms with her friends and vanished quickly. I went back to cleaning, but Lee Seong-hyuk grabbed my shoulder and spun me around.
"Whoa, scared me."
"What's your deal?"
"Kwon Do-hyun, that's me."
"How do you know Kim Ga-eul?"
"I'm kinda recognizable."
"Flirting since early semester would start weird rumors..."
I'd been joking, didn't expect it to land. Straight explanation needed, but where to start?
Impatient, he pressed.
"She's in Class 10, right? Not even our class—why her?"
Simple reason I knew a girl not in our class: I'd been moved by her performance excellence admission and gone to say hi.
Lee Seong-hyuk had spilled her profile at orientation, making it easy. No ulterior motives.
I explained playfully.
His confusion lingered.
"You're something else. How'd you think to approach her out of nowhere?"
"She plays trumpet great."
"Great? She's top of the school. Lee Hyo-sung couldn't touch her."
He jotted something in his notebook, nodding smugly. Wanted an intro later—had questions.
After that died down, time passed. Trash around us was mostly cleared.
"Do-hyun, since we're at it, let's do something fun. Instrument-related."
"That a thing?"
"Found a bunch."
Grumbling Lee Seong-hyuk made a good pitch.
Helpful activity? Win-win. I checked the school homepage, picking promising ones.
Wind instrument maintenance? Sounds fun.
"But... you sticking with me ongoing?"
"Yup."
Next day, we reached the warehouse at the end of the hallway branching like a G from the main building. Server-room huge.
Black leather cases of woodwinds stacked floor to ceiling.
"Two guys showing up feels reliable. I'm Jung Da-eun!"
The senior in charge majored in horn, second-year. Ponytail and round glasses gave her a lively vibe.
...Da-eun, Jung Da-eun?
Up close, she was the future horn soloist who'd make waves. WDR Symphony, right?
Surreal seeing her here. Ye-rim really was a cradle of geniuses.
Staring blankly, she circled explaining.
"Job's simple! Note names, classes, numbers for borrowers, log returns..."
Like other activities, mostly grunt work—but that's not why I signed up.
Instrument cleaning and maintenance.
When else could I inspect woodwinds this closely? Cases alone excited me.
"Do-hyun majors in piano, right?"
Explanation done, she tilted her head and leaned in.
"Yes."
"We met before?"
Her eyes sparkled mischievously through her glasses.
I'd seen her. She hadn't seen me.
"No way."
"Figured. Anyway, nice working with you!"
We hung out there short stints around lunch or after school.
Larger instruments seemed school-loaned mostly. Group practice, high prices.
Days later, routine down, a senior grumbled over.
"This seems broken... Not reed. No idea why."
Bob-cut senior detailed her clarinet woes. Not her fault, always like that...
She played E-to-F scale in front of me, so I took the instrument and name.
I'm just a grunt—no responsibility anyway.
Da-eun sunbae returned soon; I reported.
"Sunbae, this one's apparently broken."
"Bass clarinet? Broken? School's? Why? Got the name? Super expensive!"
I calmed her rapid-fire questions.
"Yes, name here."
"Phew, not totally wrecked..."
Watching her disassemble beside me, the scale from earlier echoed.
"Maybe the lower key? A note was offish during scale. Slid to B maybe..."
"A? Lower joint?"
"Uh... yeah, bottom-ish."
She disassembled, stuffing tissue between joints.
I'd heard plenty but knew zilch about woodwind guts.
Horn major handling clarinet well—cool.
Done, she plugged the bell and blew hard.
Bubbles gurgled somewhere.
"A key issue, yep. Repair guy's fix in a snap."
Simple—relief. Last day as warehouse keeper, nice to notch a win.
"Do-hyun, your ear's insane? How'd you spot from a quick listen?"
"...Gut?"
"Ear's gut, sure. Mine's relative—calculate everything."
"Yeah."
No fancy reason for what I just heard.
"You're not first-year ear-training top?"
"Plenty better than me."
"Aw, too humble—boring. Last day today?"
"Yes."
Assembling humming, she whipped her head to me.
"Wanna hear you play sometime! Or concerto with our orch—how?"
Ye-rim orchestra concerto? Thrilling just thinking. Seemed pro-level already.
"Needs credits, can't just say yes."
"So excel. Always exciting with juniors."
She grinned playfully, flashing a V-sign.
Post-warehouse, I kept roping Lee Seong-hyuk into volunteering.
"Sacrifice a bit, get infinite canteen vouchers?"
"Mom's card's infinite..."
"Filial piety sometimes. C'mon."
Wheeling him when Kim Ju-hee bounced over laughing.
"Hey, boys! What's got you so busy?"
"Uh... like a job?"
"Job? Why?"
"School volunteering gives vouchers usable here."
"Huh, didn't know."
Kim Ju-hee shrugged cluelessly. Rich kids ignored it mostly.
"Why though? You get allowances."
"Class prez says earn your own—filial duty."
Lee Seong-hyuk griped. Kim Ju-hee eyed me oddly, eyes wide.
"Class prez... you got uncle vibes sometimes."
"Just say mature."
Not vibes—actual adult.
I poked Lee Seong-hyuk anyway.
"Just this week. Buy you something later."
"Fine, let's do it."
"Nice."
His reluctant nod let me happily browse the homepage again.
Light duty? Practice room cleaning perfect. Clean what I use—happy chore.
Faint instrument sounds nearby? Nice vibe.
Regular classes ended.
Lee Seong-hyuk running late, I grabbed tools and climbed to practice rooms alone.
Scouting empty ones to clean first.
"Damn school... maintain pianos properly..."
A guy stormed past grumbling.
He'd just left it—door half-open practice room caught my eye.
What?
Stepping up, peeking in: grand piano lid wide open.
That's what pissed him off.
Curious, I pressed low notes upward.
Seems fine.
Maybe sensitive to condition. Kept testing keys.
"Ah."
Vibration through fingers spread body-wide—keys faulty. Slow check confirmed.
Weak D4 and muffled, dull C5 troublemakers.
Can't tune. No tools or tuner.
School has tuners—no need me messing. Don't break, good.
"Memo and bounce..."
Skipped full clean, just Post-it.
Don't disrupt routines messing "helpfully."
Finish cleaning.