Chapter 4
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Discovery (2)
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“So, like, what song is it……”
Jackpot.
Lee Jin-seong froze in place, arms crossed.
“I told you, you’re overdoing it, right?”
Park So-hee sidled up beside him and poked his side repeatedly, teasing him. Lee Jin-seong squeezed his eyes shut and racked his brain furiously.
Then, like a lightbulb flashing on, his eyes snapped open.
‘Movie music!’
He recalled the OST from the hero movie that had recently swept the world box office.
The track inserted during the climactic battle scene, praised for heightening the tension.
This piece would be easy to ride the wave of popularity and would stick in people’s minds long after.
Regaining his composure in an instant, Lee Jin-seong asked Kwon Do-hyun.
“By any chance, did you catch that hero movie that just opened the other day?”
“Nah, I’ve never been into those kinds of films, not even in my past life.”
“Past life?”
“……Slipped out. I mean since forever.”
Better this way. Since it hadn’t been out long, dodging any manipulation accusations would be a breeze.
“Alright, I’ll play a short OST snippet for you now, so just listen and play it back right away.”
Lee Jin-seong wasn’t unfamiliar with people who could replicate a first-time-heard piece on the spot.
But that relied on secondary talents like memory, ear, and reflexes.
In plain terms, it was pure talent territory. Plus, it didn’t help much with piano performance, so no majoring students practiced it.
‘Wonder if he can pull it off……’
With eyes mixed of hope and worry, Lee Jin-seong hit play on the music.
The piano melody kicked things off first. Short and simple.
After a few bars of piano, the bass guitar took over the exact same line.
Once the storm-before-the-calm tension built, pounding drums crashed in immediately, mimicking a heartbeat alongside the suddenly appearing electric guitar.
The melody straddled punk and pop rock, with familiar synth sounds gradually seeping in.
Just as the blood-pumping excitement crested.
“Up to here!”
Before it dragged on, Lee Jin-seong stopped the track.
About 1 minute 30 seconds of playtime. Now Kwon Do-hyun had to transpose it all to piano.
“……Isn’t this a bit unfair?”
“Even if he can’t, don’t give him crap about it.”
“Obviously, you think I’m crazy?”
Stepping aside by the camera, Lee Jin-seong and Park So-hee watched Kwon Do-hyun quietly. Overwhelmed by secondhand embarrassment wrapping around him, Lee Jin-seong clammed up.
It was a hastily thrown-together mission with no easy difficulty. Even if Kwon Do-hyun fell short of expectations, nothing to be done.
If the footage looked iffy, they’d tweak the edit and flow. Lee Jin-seong bit his lip, mentally lining up Plans B and C.
“Nice song, huh?”
At that moment, eyes closed, Kwon Do-hyun spoke with a faint smile.
His head bobbed steadily to the beat, his foot tapped the floor, his fingers danced freely over the keys in the air.
As if committing the music to memory with his whole body.
‘……What’s this?’
Lee Jin-seong unconsciously rubbed his arms.
An indescribable, eerie feeling. Like the music they’d just heard was about to burst from the guy’s fingertips any second.
Soon, Kwon Do-hyun pinched the keys. The opening piano melody revived.
“He plays piano so prettily.”
“Right?”
Lee Jin-seong gave a short affirmation to Park So-hee’s simple impression. And it wasn’t about looks.
Just as every voice is unique, every performer draws unique sounds from the piano.
Commonly lumped under ‘tone color,’ Kwon Do-hyun had something utterly distinctive.
During the perfect pitch mission, Lee Jin-seong hadn’t questioned the piano’s tuning for nothing.
Even pressing just a few keys produced a sound worlds apart from the other contestants.
“Sounds a bit different.”
“That was piano, right? And now guitar?”
“Kinda seems like it……”
Even roughly grasping the melody and piecing it sporadically, the song’s framework emerged. Like glimpsing a silhouette while the full form stayed hidden.
Anticipation budded for how he’d assemble that teased melody.
Finally, hammering the keys hard to nail the drum line, Kwon Do-hyun glanced down at the piano and said.
“Starting now.”
Lee Jin-seong’s brow furrowed instantly.
He’d given a full 10 minutes prep. Barely 5 had passed, and he was jumping straight in?
“Still time left……”
Kwon Do-hyun breezily ignored the mutter.
And the moment he began, the faint anxiety of their two-person audience melted like ice on a summer day.
‘I can hear it.’
Kwon Do-hyun’s fingers threw a little dance party on the keys.
Light glissandos sliding by. Piano and guitar melodies differentiated by texture.
Reinterpreting the thumping drums in the piano’s low register added fresh charm.
Not overwhelmingly intense, but delicate. Like stylized destruction.
The electric guitar, fragmented into frantic, urgent nuances, rang utterly convincing.
Absorbed in the performance, Kwon Do-hyun’s shoulders bounced feather-light, as if ready to take flight, his head whirling circles to follow the beat.
‘There’s the shot.’
Just dozens of seconds in, but YouTube veteran Lee Jin-seong clocked it immediately.
This performance would hit.
The guy’s expressions, movements, tone, delivery—top-tier among everyone he’d ever put in front of a camera.
Perfect. Everything was perfect……
“Doesn’t it feel a bit off somehow?”
“He’s nailing it almost exactly.”
“Yeah, but……”
As Park So-hee said, Kwon Do-hyun’s playing had awkward spots.
Some people have too many stories to tell, but their brain can’t keep up, so they stammer.
It felt exactly like that.
His expressiveness shone in fidelity to the original and instrument distinctions, but glaring mistakes popped up often too.
Brimming with skill to unleash, yet fingers overloaded, creaking under the strain.
Unnatural sounds stabbed like awls, clumsy hand motions squeezed out awkwardly.
‘Like seeing talent in ill-fitting clothes……’
Still, Kwon Do-hyun pressed on undeterred.
No hint of shrinking. His brazen confidence, optimistic to the point of infuriation, had Lee Jin-seong cheering inwardly.
“That makes it even cooler.”
“Huh?”
“This is what makes it fun……”
Was he so immersed he didn’t even register his own flubs? Or did he shrug them off as no big deal?
His lips curved into a crescent right at the mistakes.
There, Lee Jin-seong was certain.
‘He’s nuts.’
Unable to contain his leaking grin, Lee Jin-seong clapped a hand over his mouth.
Screw mistakes—they didn’t matter a bit. Missions and all, petty stuff wasn’t the point now.
‘The shot…… it’s a freaking killer shot!’
A musician delivering killer performances with raw technique. The kind of raw perfection only a freshman could pull off.
“Whoa……”
As the playing continued a bit, Park So-hee let out a dazed sigh.
Beside her, dummy-mouthed Lee Jin-seong suddenly had a question pop up.
‘To get into our school, shouldn’t basic technique be near-perfect?’
Not a music major himself, Lee Jin-seong wore a puzzled look before shaking it off and staring holes into Kwon Do-hyun.
Thumbnail had to be this guy. It just felt right, naturally.
“Why’d he ask for a mosaic, though?”
“……Yeah.”
“If I played like that, I’d beg to be front and center.”
Park So-hee’s bafflement was reasonable. With that musical talent, what was there to be shy about?
Lee Jin-seong pondered the same when the song’s mood flipped in a blink.
The signal: a jaunty glissando. Fingers splayed, nails and wrist lightly sweeping the keys.
‘Song’s almost over, right?’
Did he forget the ending? Nailing it this far only to botch the close would ruin everything.
Before that worry could fade, a light tempo softened the intense playing.
His right hand fluttered like flags. Percussive pops swallowed the mood.
“Not forgotten.”
“What’s this all of a sudden?”
“……Freestyle?”
More like an arrangement—his spin via improv.
Like something for a post-battle peaceful street scene.
The left hand’s gentle comping lit up the silent streets.
Staccato raindrops shattered the quiet. The right hand leaped buoyantly in reaction.
Flawless structure. Melody nods to the original felt instinctive.
“Jin-seong, you know stuff. Makes sense to play like that after hearing just a bit?”
“Dunno, but he’s doing it right now.”
“……Talent freak.”
Innate talent—no other words fit.
Even if Ye-rim Arts High was a playground for geniuses.
‘Never seen anything like this.’
This level of potential was unprecedented across music, art, dance.
Having filmed music students for nearly a year, Lee Jin-seong could gauge Kwon Do-hyun’s show instantly.
Still humming some unknowable tune, lost in trance, Kwon Do-hyun kept playing until Lee Jin-seong snapped to, checked the time, and cut in.
“Ah, that’s enough! We’ve heard plenty, seriously.”
More than enough, really.
Worried now about the footage running too long.
“Oh.”
“Sounded great, for real.”
“Ah…… This good enough?”
Mumbling hazily, Kwon Do-hyun turned. Face like he’d forgotten it was a performance with purpose.
His eyes still glowed with the melody’s lingering heat.
“How was it? Kinda disappointing.”
How was it? Freaking awesome. Truth be told, Lee Jin-seong wanted to beg for more.
“Do-hyun…… Mind if I call you that?”
Half-speech already slipped out, but politeness’ sake. Excitement stripped away his last pretense.
“Whatever’s comfy.”
“Do-hyun.”
“Yeah.”
“……”
Lee Jin-seong met Kwon Do-hyun’s gaze hazily, mouth working silently.
‘This guy’s stock’s gonna skyrocket after enrollment.’
Shameless, but he had to ask.
As Ye-rim Arts High YouTube head, he couldn’t let this slip.
Taking a small breath, Lee Jin-seong mustered it.
“Come out for one more next time.”
Grinning awkwardly, head bowed.
If he’d requested a mosaic, he probably wasn’t thrilled about appearances.
Anxiously awaiting a refusal, Kwon Do-hyun stared then burst out laughing.
“Sunbae.”
“Uh, yeah?”
“What year?”
“Ah, forgot intros. Me and her back there, both second-years.”
“Major…… dance? Art?”
“How’d you know? Dance major, yep.”
Kwon Do-hyun nodded slowly.
“Piano again next time?”
“What’s that mean?”
“Asking if you’ll feature piano again when you call me next.”
“Probably, since you’re killer at it.”
Tapping his thigh, Kwon Do-hyun’s gaze swept sideways into space.
“Fine. As long as I can play piano anytime.”
“For real? Promise?”
Surprised by the easy yes, Lee Jin-seong grinned.
“But.”
Lightly slapping the piano body to grab attention, Kwon Do-hyun said.
“This means you owe me. Big time, probably.”
“Obviously! Wait, what?”
Lee Jin-seong’s confident opener trailed up.
He wasn’t the type to beg then ghost, but the emphasis on ‘owe’ felt odd.
‘Gotta buy him meat later or something.’
Brushing it off, Lee Jin-seong checked the time again. Ceremony soon.
“Do-hyun, number?”
Business first before sending him off.
Numbers swapped, Lee Jin-seong waved at the departing Kwon Do-hyun.
As the silhouette faded, Lee Jin-seong shook his head and exhaled big.
“Whew…… Intense, way intense.”
Packing camera gear, Park So-hee patted his shoulder laughing.
“Footage turned out great, though? Handled it well, I was shocked for real.”
“I’m pretty quick on my feet. And showing just Baek Ji-ho would’ve been boring.”
“Pfft, your acting sucked so bad we gotta cut it all.”
“Hey, at least it reeled him in.”
“Heh, true.”
Ready to head back to editing, Lee Jin-seong went, “Oh,”
“What’d Jeong-won say? Running late?”
“Prep’s done…… Waiting. Asked who got you so hyped.”
“Jeong-won’ll flip when she sees.”
Picturing the soon-finished product, Lee Jin-seong smirked.
“Right, someone’s here to help edit? In the room.”
“Helper? Who, Jin-woo hyung?”
“Nah, not Jin-woo oppa. Some music whiz.”
“Music whiz…… We have one in broadcasting club?”
“Dunno, let’s hurry.”
Hauling the piano with grunts, Lee Jin-seong cocked his head slightly.