episode_0013

There are times when a woman rejects a confession and says:

“Sorry, I like someone else.”

If you could identify that person through special abilities,

Would a man who failed in his confession despair?

Or would he brush it off as just a dream and move on?

This is one of my various random thoughts when sleep eludes me.

“Oh…”

But now, I think I know the answer.

It’s a hopeless case.

The impact was less than I expected.

I had anticipated that Chaewon could be involved with someone other than me.

I considered it fortunate that she had a trustworthy friend despite feeling like an outsider.

“Well, Seonghyuk was born in Austria, right?”

Vienna, the city where musicians fall in love.

That’s where they met. And their connection has led to this point.

Chaewon never mentioned it.

I had no idea about the relationship between Song Seonghyuk and Min Chaewon.

“That means…”

I speculated that SSunH might not be Chaewon’s marriage partner.

If that were true, Song Seonghyuk and Min Chaewon would be a future couple.

Maybe getting married in two years?

I need to put aside the perfect image of Chaewon for now.

What I want to confirm comes first.

“Are we getting along well?”

“Who? Oh. Young Master Seonghyuk?”

“Young Master… Right. Yeah, him.”

“You call him ‘him.’ Even though you usually call him ‘oppa’ even if there’s only a year’s difference….”

Here, I learned another surprising fact.

I won’t officially become an adult until after my birthday this year.

Chaewon is a year younger than me?

I thought she was either the same age as me or at least a year older.

“Anyway, is it good? Tell me more quickly.”

I asked the maid like a child clinging to her.

She seemed to think I was playing a mischievous prank.

“Miss is really….”

With the maid’s ambiguous remark that followed.

“If we’ve been together for a long time without arguing or any problems arising, then it’s a good thing, right.”

The relationship between Chaewon and Song Seonghyuk was roughly sorted out.

It’s regrettable.

Something feels regretful.

This woman, with many secrets and sins.

She’s hiding more than one thing.

“Although there’s no reason to be angry or hold onto regrets….”

When people encounter something ambiguous, they seek confirmation.

And maybe it doesn’t matter much to Chaewon who she ends up with.

I was naturally building up evidence to support the hypothesis that they might end up as a couple.

Chaewon’s secret channel, Aclerct.

As of now, Song Seonghyuk seems to be the only one who knows about its existence.

From childhood, knowing each other, meeting at the airport, giving rides to the studio by car, and even briefly showing faces like just now on the way home from school.

The national rule unfolds smoothly into a scenario.

However, Persona 884 presents a counterargument.

Since Song Seonghyuk was attending Hanyang University until then, if he got married, he would have definitely sent out wedding invitations.

Even if I overlooked our relationship being somewhat distant, at the very least, he should have contacted our mentor, Professor Baek Joong-eon, for it to be normal.

They could have secretly gotten married with only family present, couldn’t they?

…So I shot down Persona 992 for bringing up irrelevant topics.

The rest of the personas agreed on the common thought that “if Seonghyuk is close enough to someone to be awkward, he would definitely send a wedding invitation.”

Well, whether Chaewon marries Seonghyuk or not is unknown to me. But in the current situation I’m in, it’s physically impossible.

“If the marriage is revealed as a fact, I’ll somehow delay it.”

Save Jung Siwoo and declare it null and void until I move out of the room.

…After that, it doesn’t matter what happens.

I promised not to ruin Chaewon’s predetermined life.

“Relka. Do you think the same way?”

— Huh?

You must have been shocked to see a stranger enter your favorite sister’s body, right?

Don’t worry, I’m not a bad person.

I’ll just save one friend and leave quietly.

You wouldn’t want your sister’s friend to die, right?

“Krr!”

I wonder if my true feelings were read.

Or is it just my wishful thinking?

I don’t know. Anyway, as long as the puppy is cute, it’s fine.

I giggled while vigorously patting Relka’s head and chin.

“Yoyoyo. Yoyo, you’re so pretty.”

***

When feeling frustrated, I usually opt for a bath to wash away the unease.

But the music I listen to during baths isn’t predetermined.

It’s chosen on a whim each time.

Today, I selected Beethoven’s Concerto No. 5, from the 1st movement to the 3rd.

I don’t know why, I just felt like listening to it.

Concerto No. 5.

One of Ludwig van Beethoven’s masterpieces composed in his late thirties, a piece that commonly comes to mind when thinking of piano concertos.

The early 19th century in Central Europe, where the piece was written, was a chaos wrought by Napoleon’s successive wars.

Images of battlefields with flying cannonballs and cities being destroyed naturally formed in my mind.

The Napoleonic Empire, triumphant in battle after battle.

Vienna, the capital of Austria, was on tenterhooks.

The maestro had to take refuge.

Fearing further damage to his already deteriorating hearing from the sounds of falling cannonballs, he plugged his ears with pillows and endured, confined to the basement.

Support from nobles dwindled due to discord, accidents, and war. Livelihoods plunged into extreme hardship, indescribable poverty prevailing.

Praying for the birth of a hero who would quell these extreme anxieties.

Even amid such extreme unrest, the maestro persisted in penning hope.

Thus, a concerto embracing the creation of a hero was born.

‘We need a hero….’

Ironically, future generations dubbed this piece “Emperor.”

With its depiction of masculinity and heroic narrative, perhaps there was no more fitting term than Emperor to describe it.

Beethoven, who harbored deep disdain for Napoleon, might have risen from his grave shouting, ‘You scoundrels!’

Listening, I pondered repeatedly.

‘Come forth, hero of troubled times.’

The cadenza that adorns the opening of the 1st movement.

The piano solo heralds the hero’s arrival.

Followed by the orchestra.

The orchestra, like a gathering of bards and refugees come together to sing the hero’s tale.

Repetitive and straightforward, yet resounding with cheers, it grandly supports the epic of the hero.

The hero advances.

To wash away the world’s anxiety, pain, and despair.

The Secret Forest. The Witch’s Garden. The Deep Swamp. The Blade Mountains.

Numerous trials befall the hero.

Even upon the shining hero, danger descends.

Ah, does the hero fall?

Will salvation not come to our world?

Bards embellish the peril, describing it with exceptional detail.

The audience sighs in sympathy.

Do not give up, oh hero.

Everyone’s prayers reach him.

In a desperate situation, the goddess of victory performs a miracle.

The hero does not fall. He fights and moves forward.

Now, similar perils cannot threaten the hero.

The pace of the advance quickens.

Finally, the legendary altar is found.

A wicked black dragon blocks the hero’s path.

Empowered by the protection of the goddess, the hero, armed without hesitation, engages in a decisive battle.

The victor stands tall on the earth, the hero.

‘Without rest.’

Continuing into the 2nd movement.

Unsealing the altar and reaching the sanctuary marks the hero’s inner growth.

Intentionally subdued instruments paint a transparent and surreal world.

Enchanting.

At times pure.

Unseen spirits gather around the hero—.

“Hehe, look, miss.”

“Like an angel. Are you asleep?”

Awakening to the hushed whispers of two ticklish individuals, I opened my eyes.

I met the gaze of the maid clinging tightly to the bathtub.

“Splish!”

“Eek!”

Slipping, my face briefly submerged in the water.

Scrambling to rise, I found foam surrounding my face.

Looking in the mirror, Chaewon had transformed into an Eskimo.

“I thought I was going to fall!”

“I’m sorry. I startled you.”

“Oh. No… no, it’s okay.”

She must have added the bath salts.

I reacted unnecessarily; she was trying to quietly add them.

“Let’s get out quickly. I’ll only be a hindrance.”

“However, you didn’t dislike classical music, did you?”

“Shh!”

“Why, even when you were with the young master, you used to get scolded for playing classical music.”

“They can hear everything, you fool.”

Two maids murmured as they withdrew.

There are many snippets gathered here and there like this, and clues about Chaewon are piling up little by little.

There are many things I’m curious about, but surprisingly, it may not take a long time for those curiosities to be resolved.

‘She… disliked classical music.’

That’s unexpected.

He befriended an outstanding musician named Song Seonghyuk, yet he disregards classical music.

‘No way. Dislike it?’

The piece they played when we met again at the café after a decade was Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

Arranging a grand symphony, considered a masterpiece of the century, into a piano piece and performing it in a cafe with guests present.

“Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium—!”

Even singing the Ode to Joy directly?

You were hiding something at home, Min Chaewon.

If I keep dragging this out like this, I’ll just end up frustrated.

It’s better to grab a maid and talk openly rather than deducing from vague answers.

After the bath, let’s ask.

Before that, it’s best to check the main phone again as I might have missed something.

Ding.

Ding.

Ding.

Trying to go to the app list, multiple deposit notifications appeared from a familiar account.

[Deposit: In front of the hotel / 1 won]

[Deposit: Come down for a moment / 1 won]

It was Jung Siwoo.

“… What does this guy want?”

There’s something to say even though we can’t contact each other.

Since we don’t know when Chaewon will show up again.

[Deposit: I have something important to say / 1 won]

Up to 7 characters can be displayed as the depositor’s name.

He was using that to send messages.

Although we didn’t exchange phone numbers, we exchanged account numbers, right?

Because we don’t know which hotel he’s staying at, we can find him if he comes, right?

[Transfer completed]

[Withdrawal: Wait thirty minutes / 10,003 won]

Somehow, I felt clearer in my head.

“Excuse me!”

“Yes, miss~!”

“I’m leaving!”

Was it because the desire to go down quickly took precedence?

The embarrassment I felt when I faced the maid naked earlier was nowhere to be found.

“Sorry for the sudden request, but I have to meet a friend, so please help me get ready.”

Running out of the bathtub with the phone in hand,

Ding.

As soon as I saw the deposited amount, I burst into laughter and almost fell over.

“Ahaha! Oops!”

“Miss!”

[Deposit: I’ll wait for you / 10,003 won]

Right. He’s just an ordinary person who doesn’t want to owe money if he could have just returned ten thousand won.

Return even 3 won out of ten thousand won, that’s me, Jung Siwoo.