Chapter 42
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Reversal Charm
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The Major Class 1 room was buzzing with every student from the Piano Department crowded inside.
Lee Seong-hyuk glanced sideways at Kwon Do-hyun, who was yawning lazily with his head propped up, looking utterly exhausted.
In his mind, the footage of Kwon Do-hyun's performance from yesterday played on an endless loop. That playing, like shards of glass scattering in every direction while radiating brilliant light, refused to leave his ears.
'Do-hyun's scores come out today, huh? Can't wait.'
Talent was beautiful and cruel at the same time.
Because it couldn't be obtained just by wanting it. Because it was an innate gift no one could simply grasp.
It was quite fitting that the word "gift" carried both meanings: present and talent.
Thus, talent was a gift from the heavens in itself. Lee Seong-hyuk had always believed that failing to display its ecstatic brilliance to others was nothing short of a grave sin.
Naturally, Kwon Do-hyun was born clutching that light.
"That otaku stuff fun for you?"
"You wouldn't get it. This is our chance to see who's rising to Class A."
"You could've practiced instead... Ugh, why am I so sleepy."
Kwon Do-hyun shook his head and stretched long as he flipped through his notebook.
Lee Seong-hyuk momentarily dropped his usual sly grin. He let out a light sigh and gazed up at the ceiling.
'What can I do? I don't have talent like yours.'
Of course, he knew better than anyone that he had a knack for playing instruments. Getting into Ye-rim Arts High School, where top talents gathered, and securing a spot in Class A proved it.
But reality's harshness lay in the fact that talent had levels. The notion that effort alone could achieve everything was nonsense spouted by those blessed with both.
Lee Seong-hyuk knew his own limits.
'No matter how tall a skyscraper you build, if there's a ceiling, it's all for nothing.'
The higher it reached toward the sky, the closer the ceiling loomed. That thick limit always looked down on him.
I'm done here. Recognizing his own boundaries felt utterly filthy.
As he wiped the bitter smile from his face and closed his notebook, Teacher Choi Je-hun stepped up to the podium. The surrounding piano teachers signaled for the students to quiet down.
"Done chatting? Straight to yesterday's exam results, no fluff."
The classroom fell silent in an instant. Teacher Choi Je-hun, with a faint smile, picked up a sheet of paper.
"First, Class A. You lot who don't get along banded together for the exam—good work."
The announcements followed the order of the performances.
"Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21. Lee Ha-yeon, 100 points. Myeong Woo-bin, 96 points..."
Lee Ha-yeon with her expected perfect score, and Myeong Woo-bin close behind.
The other students showed no particular reaction. These were names they'd heard even back at Ye-won Arts Middle School.
Myeong Woo-bin accepting the results calmly without a twitch was perhaps surprising. According to Kwon Do-hyun, he'd poured obsessive effort into this exam.
"Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3. Baek Ji-ho, 100 points. Seol Yu-jin, 98 points. Jeong Hye-won, 84 points. Lee Seong-hyuk, 80 points..."
"Oh, what."
"Barely scraped by with 80."
Kwon Do-hyun nudged Lee Seong-hyuk with his elbow.
He responded indifferently, feeling no real emotion. His friends' rankings were as expected, and his own position unchanged from usual.
To those who knew their talent's limits, most things felt dull.
Thus, they were pathetic.
Too far gone to utter "give up," too far behind to catch the leaders.
Only two choices left.
Crash into the limit, have your past denied, and fall into despair—or drop everything early and become a coward who runs.
It might seem extreme, but the framework wasn't much different. Satisfaction was a close friend of giving up.
As he mulled this over without expression, a shocking result spread from the podium.
"Seo Ye-ri, 64 points."
"Huh."
"For real? Ye-ri, what happened."
"Seo Ye-ri?"
"Whoa... what."
Kwon Do-hyun and Lee Seong-hyuk simultaneously looked toward Kim Ju-hee in the distance. She simply held Seo Ye-ri's hand on the desk, showing no outward reaction.
Seo Ye-ri was the same. If anything, she seemed busy reassuring the worried onlookers.
"You knew? You watched Ye-ri's Beethoven to the end. I was so busy prepping I didn't even know she'd bombed."
"Well... 64 surprised me too. Why's Jeong Hye-won acting like that?"
The direction Kwon Do-hyun pointed revealed Jeong Hye-won.
She glared at Seo Ye-ri's seat with a newly bewildered expression. No glee, no smugness—just plain confusion, unlike her usual venom.
"Worried about Myeong Woo-bin maybe."
"Who knows. Not me."
"You still don't know why they fought?"
"Asking the parties involved would be awkward."
"Fair."
Kwon Do-hyun shrugged and soon awaited his own score.
Lee Seong-hyuk felt far more tension than when his own results were announced.
"Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1. Kwon Do-hyun, 100 points. Kim Ju-hee, 88 points..."
"Yes."
He clenched his fist unconsciously. Beside him, Kwon Do-hyun stared blankly ahead, blinking.
"100 points?"
"Him? No way, how?"
"Same as Ji-ho and Ha-yeon?"
"Insane."
"Ah, screwed... Thought I'd make A Class."
It was the first upset signal.
For the first time today, the kids reacted with noisy surprise rather than concern. Most glanced at Kwon Do-hyun in disbelief.
Some voiced strong doubts or complaints, but Teacher Choi Je-hun shut them down quickly.
"100 points..."
Kwon Do-hyun murmured his score in quiet awe.
Just yesterday he'd whined about rating music with numbers, spouting cringy lines. Recalling that, Lee Seong-hyuk chuckled and nudged him.
"Didn't surprise me at all. Congrats on the perfect score."
"Man, this feels awesome."
"Didn't you hate evaluating music with scores?"
"Whatever, guess I've become a full arts high kid too."
"You've been one since March."
Teacher Choi Je-hun stepped down, followed by the Class B and C teachers announcing their results in turn.
After that, "100 points" never passed the teachers' lips again.
"Do-hyun, you know."
"What."
"They say at Ye-rim, over 80 was plenty good—absolute standard."
"Our year does that well overall?"
"Yeah. They said 90+ was a pipe dream."
The announcement ended with clear divides of joy and lament. Teacher Choi Je-hun took a sip of water and drew everyone's attention.
"What do you think? Remember what I said before the class placement exam?"
An awkward silence fell. Kim Seong-hyun, who'd protested fiercely back then, was just coughing awkwardly now, perhaps embarrassed.
Lee Seong-hyuk snorted smugly at guys like him.
"Kwon Do-hyun, anything to say about this result?"
"Ah, yes."
Kwon Do-hyun lifted his head at the call and cleared his throat.
Lee Seong-hyuk watched him dully, chin propped. The guy would probably say something bland and wrap it up.
'Lucky, humble stuff like that... Anyway, he won't strut like our family elders.'
Thinking about it, it was odd.
Those who shone in music or any field never hid their confidence. They might act humble, but not excessively self-deprecating.
Excluding Seol Yu-jin, had Lee Ha-yeon or Baek Ji-ho ever downplayed themselves like Kwon Do-hyun? At least, they'd normally assert their right to that position.
'Not mature... More like he's truly never satisfied.'
Precisely, he was harshly critical only of his own music. Given how he praised others' playing, his self-standards were sky-high.
What ideal did the guy chase? Lee Seong-hyuk couldn't even guess.
"First, our orchestra friends did amazing..."
Lee Seong-hyuk snorted at the opener. Classic humility, as expected.
Suddenly, Kwon Do-hyun took a short breath and switched gears.
"But I played pretty damn well too. So stop strutting around from now on."
"...?"
Lee Seong-hyuk's eyes widened.
"Pfft...!"
Lee Ha-yeon beside him broke first.
"Kh, heh heh... Puhahaha─!"
She quickly covered her mouth, then Seol Yu-jin in the back burst out laughing hysterically.
Teacher Choi Je-hun chuckled in disbelief, scratching his head.
"That aimed at me?"
"...No way."
"Everyone heard. 'Stop strutting,' he says."
"Ugh..."
Kwon Do-hyun slumped forward, clicking his tongue irritably.
"What was that about?"
"Ah, because of Kim Ga-eul, driving me nuts."
Kwon Do-hyun sighed deeply, rubbing his neck. Lee Seong-hyuk smiled faintly as he watched the guy bicker playfully with the prodding Lee Ha-yeon.
'No idea what changed his mindset, but...'
Anyway, impressive guy.
Yesterday's performance still overlaid Kwon Do-hyun's back in his vision.
Turning his head, Lee Seong-hyuk caught the distant blue sky outside the window.
'Makes me wanna go all the way too, because of you.'
Watching him turned him into a fool naturally.
Even knowing the ceiling was there, he wanted to bash his head against it and despair.
'What do you see?'
With a wry smile, Lee Seong-hyuk flipped through the notebook on his desk.
If he hit his limit, where all efforts became meaningless. When no amount of struggling yielded growth, just stagnation.
What would he think then? Would something different appear, something heard?
He might regret this choice forever.
'Still, I wanna understand.'
Then... maybe he'd match Kwon Do-hyun's eye level, even a little.
That tiny hope fueled his drive.
This foolhardy resolve felt surprisingly not bad.
'Hey, sometimes show your cocky side! Confidence, got it?'
Kim Ga-eul's words to me.
Show my cocky side...
Problem was, I'd never lived that way. So I had to imagine someone who did.
'There's exactly one like that around me.'
Seol Yu-jin.
Analyzing her behavior for about two seconds, I knew exactly what to say.
Stop gossiping behind backs, voice complaints directly, quit the weird stares, and if you wanna protest scores, go to the teacher.
...That's what I wanted to say.
Too long, so I trimmed it a bit.
"So that's why you suddenly said that?"
"Ah... Felt like I bombed spectacularly."
"Thought I'd die holding back laughter. Teachers probably wrote 'lunatic' in the roster. Needs watching or whatever."
Back in the classroom, Lee Seong-hyuk wouldn't stop teasing me about it relentlessly.
"Gonna lose it."
"Guys, midterms schedule's out!"
Then Seo Ye-ri flung open the front door, waving a few sheets and shouting to the class.
"Midterms?"
"Oh yeah, exams coming up."
Midterms... Right, those too. Back-to-back exams right after the last ones.
Pretty murderous schedule, but it didn't apply to me. Class time reviewing sharpened my mind enough for studying.
The problem was the others. Turns out arts high had plenty like Lee Seong-hyuk.
'Will they study during exams?'
Perfect time to hog practice rooms freely. Strategy: hole up then.
"You look chill. Skipping study?"
"What do you take me for? Gotta study too."
"You?"
"Mom wants at least third grade."
"Third grade... You won't even hit that?"
Lee Seong-hyuk sighed lightly and pulled his mock exam scores from the drawer.
"3, 4, 5, 4... What, a phone number?"
"Better than average."
"Average baseline makes life rough."
As I stared at the slip, Kim Ju-hee approached with confident steps.
"Seong-hyuk, told ya to study ahead. Exams test usual skill, right?"
"Oh, Ju-hee."
"Hey, class rep, hear me out. I won't gloat, just listen."
"...Can't we pretend it never happened? Erase from memory?"
"How do you un-happen a happened thing?"
Kim Ju-hee laughed heartily, thumping my shoulder. Good she was fixated on teasing me. Better save Seo Ye-ri talk for later—I pivoted to the topic at hand.
"You study surprisingly?"
"Check this."
She shoved her mock scores at me.
If she was a brainiac, that'd be wild. Her normal take on exams fit, though—hidden genius?
"4, 4, 3, 4... Password this time."
"Hehe, no twist."
Figures. As I nodded with a droop, footsteps approached again.
"Ha-yeon's here."
"You got scores too?"
I looked up, and Lee Ha-yeon nodded coolly. Somehow, I knew she wouldn't betray me.
Diligent, steady, gives her all, amazing person, genius pianist, century's prodigy... That image anyway.
"Lemme see."
Kids crowded as I took her paper.
"4, 5, 5, 6, 5..."
"Whoa."
"Ha-yeon, you're that type?"
Worst of all.
I met Lee Ha-yeon's wavering eyes.
"...Excuse?"
"Reversal charm..."
She whipped her head away, face flushing.
"Not studying can't be charm."
"Hey, class rep!"
Kim Ju-hee grabbed my hands clutching the scores.
"What."
"Help me study! No, us!"
"If I bomb, allowance cut—help!"
"Your issue..."
Shy-faced Lee Ha-yeon nodded vigorously too.
"Help a bit!"
"What're friends for?"
Six sparkling pairs of eyes fixed on me.
I smiled helplessly, sighed, and said,
"Yeah, figure it out yourselves."
"Aww, why!"