episode_0124

One day later, at the Largisimo Studio.

The preparation for filming the content, which was not a hidden camera but felt like one, had finished, with almost everyone in the waiting area knowing the identity of the performers.

Although their faces couldn’t be seen while enjoying the performance behind the screen, who was the performer? The existing judge, Professor Baek Jung-eon, was an expert in judging performances that even surpassed Professor Jang Geon-se, known as the professional judge.

Moreover, one of the performers today was a disciple of Baek Jung-eon, and the other had listened to his performances several times before. How could they not tell them apart?

And to make matters worse, Yoon Hak-cheol, a friend of Yoon Kwan-cheol who took the place of Judge Jang Geon-se today, was also in the same situation.

“Hello, Professor Yoon Hak-cheol. It’s been a while.”

“Oh… Why are you here, hyung…?”

“I’m here as a substitute today. I also came as a substitute. I’ve been quite free lately. And do you know me?”

Baek Jung-eon’s warning eyes not to pretend to know each other until the filming was over followed them as they faced each other.

“Oh… Hahaha! It’s fate, isn’t it? Shall we have a meal together after this?”

“Sure. How have you been?”

Yoon Hak-cheol shook hands with Baek Jung-eon and glanced at the two staff members, but they were too preoccupied with the filming preparations to notice his gaze.

‘Got careless…’

The person who was supposed to judge with Yoon Hak-cheol today was neither a piano professor nor a professional performer.

As Aclerct was a piano YouTuber, the plan was to invite someone from the industry rather than a professor to judge this time.

So naturally, Yoon Hak-cheol thought he could give his judgment freely. But this was unexpected.

Professor Baek Jung-eon. Yoon Kwan-cheol’s plans were completely ruined.

“Hello, professors!”

“Yes. Hello. Oh, thank you so much for inviting us to this event.”

“Oh no, thank you for supporting the filming, thanks to you, the content has become very rich. Thank you very much.”

“Haha. Was it that good?”

“Yes, as you suggested. We invited one more judge today.”

“Oh, really? Who did you invite?”

He was truly like a cunning fox.

There wasn’t much time, but did he manage to meet the staff separately and suggest content modifications?

He knew he had a wide network, but he didn’t expect it to be this extensive.

“Among the two competition songs today, one of them is a game song.”

“Yes, I saw it. Is it Aozora Memories? That game, right?”

“Oh. How did you know?”

“My disciple often has to do daily quests while having it on next to him during lessons.”

Thanks to his disciple Yoon Ji-chang, he knew first, and the song was then informed by the disciple candidate Min Chae-won. Aozora Memories’ mysterious boss, the Three-Headed Archangel.

“So, I directly invited the game director to this event. Actually, I wanted to invite the whole development team, but they said they were busy preparing for an update. So, I had no choice but to invite the director as a representative.”

The director of Aozora Memories, who introduced that boss to the world, was the third judge today.

Approaching with a smile, a middle-aged man with a full head of curly hair, who knew he was introducing himself, reached out his hand to Professor Baek Jung-eon.

“Hello. It’s an honor to meet the master Baek Jung-eon.”

“Oh, no. It’s truly an honor for me to meet the game director that my disciple loves the most. Can we take a picture together? I want to tease my disciple a bit.”

“Of course.”

While the three of them laughed and joked, Yoon Hak-cheol couldn’t bring himself to smile.

He couldn’t voice his dissatisfaction alone in a situation where the atmosphere couldn’t be overturned.

Yoon Hak-cheol openly favored Jo Jin-yeol, while Baek Jung-eon openly favored Min Chae-won. The director of Aosora Memorize, Ha Yong-jin, remained neutral.

It is uncertain how much emphasis is placed on music aesthetics, but compared to professors who mainly focus on skill-based evaluations, there is a higher probability of evaluating based on ‘sensitivity’. In this case, Min Chae-won could win by a 2:1 ratio.

In other words, no matter how much Yoon Hak-cheol favors Jo Jin-yeol, it meant that he would definitely lose if he did not win over Ha Yong-jin.

‘But wouldn’t this be disadvantageous for himself…?’

However, since the judges were an odd number, there was no outcome other than victory or defeat.

For Min Chae-won, who would win in case of a tie or victory, the option of a tie itself disappeared.

In other words, Baek Jung-eon declared war while also declaring victory.

In today’s showdown, the winner can only be Min Chae-won.

‘It turned out well.’

Even if Min Chae-won is an amateur, he is an exceptional musician, Jo Jin-yeol cannot win.

He shines as the second-place winner of the Chopin Competition, the most successful pianist Korea has produced.

Even if he plays a piece outside his field, would he really lose?

‘You have seriously underestimated, senior.’

Although evaluations of art may be relative, in the face of absolute skill differences, such relativity becomes dull. Even non-professionals can distinguish which music sounds sweeter to the ears.

Therefore, Yoon Hak-cheol firmly resolved not to be swayed by Baek Jung-eon today.

No matter what happens, he will make Jo Jin-yeol the winner.

*

In the waiting room, just minutes before the start of the shoot.

I peeked through the small window on the door into the hall where the piano was placed.

‘About ten people are watching…’

About five people, including the judges behind the screen. And inside the screen, there were about five people including Jo Jin-yeol, the cameraman, the host, and the staff.

It was a very tense situation.

However, I have absolute confidence in my color.

The pure pink of Min Chae-won that was first revealed in front of Yoon Ji-yu and Professor Baek Jung-eon. Not the color of Seokamun Jung Si-woo, but a subtle color.

That was the symbol of my existence and the evidence of my entangled destiny.

Born from the difficulties, hardships, frustrations, and failures of my past life. Min Chae-won, who has experienced failed love.

And added to that, a girl Min Chae-won who is in love and doesn’t know what to do, and me, who is succeeding in everything I wanted.

The pure essence of ‘me’ will be reflected in today’s performance.

I closed my eyes tightly and tightened my grip on my hands.

The fire in my heart is fueled by the exciting emotions I felt from Si-woo.

Standing in front of this burning fire, I called out to Si-woo using the flames as a mirror.

‘Si-woo, help me.’

I thought of Si-woo. More precisely, I recalled the warm peace of his chest that I felt when I was embraced by him yesterday.

As the flames in the fire grew larger, the heat of my heart spread throughout my body.

The room temperature, which was set low to cool down the midsummer heat, no longer felt cool.

My body is burning like a fireball right now.

Alright, ready!

“Don’t be too nervous.”

After finishing my prayer and standing there absentmindedly, Jo Jin-yeol approached and chatted with me.

“Oh, thank you.”

“Indeed. The Aclert in the video was perfect, but she was still human… right?”

“Haha….”

“I wasn’t nervous at all, so I was worried that I might mess up the performance because I was shaking.”

Jo Jin-yeol’s fingertips trembled slightly as he showed a warm smile.

Even without asking, it seemed like I could understand what was in his heart.

Chopin Competition, even the person who came in second place is nervous on such a small stage.

I’ve always heard it from the professor, but it was my first time seeing it in person, and it was fascinating.

“Before going up to the piano, waiting in the green room like this is really tough.”

“Yeah… it is.”

Before I die, I had never experienced nervousness in the green room. I had never felt worried or anxious about what would happen on stage.

I thought of it as just showing others what I had practiced. Just a normal performance.

The competition is a kind of strict test. The person who can showcase their abilities the best gets the highest score. To do that, I believed I shouldn’t be nervous.

“If your heart is as cold as a robot, there would be no reason to be nervous. But if you throw that away, it’s difficult to put your sincerity into the performance.”

But perhaps that was a wrong way of thinking.

“So, I started practicing playing in a state of tension. To convey my emotions to the audience and minimize any mistakes in my performance.”

Senior Cho Jin-yeol also mentioned it.

Playing is not mechanical, it’s done with the heart.

The heart comes first, and perfect execution comes next.

Since becoming Min Chaewon, my goal in playing was not perfection but emotional richness. Except for some pieces where I had to restrain certain emotions, I focused on incorporating the excitement I felt from meeting Siwoo into my playing.

Of course, it was undeniable that this was built upon a foundation of perfect technique and skill.

Jung Siwoo, who I thought could play without making mistakes, and the current me standing here was the result of the countless efforts of Min Chaewon’s accumulated selves.

Having experienced failure once, I was able to correct my mistakes and move in a different direction. I learned from death and despair and was reborn anew.

“Even though it may not be a real-time performance, Mr. Aclert is already accustomed to playing in that tense state. That’s why I’ve felt a tremendous sense of respect for him since we first met.”

My opponent, who was already at a level that could be called the best in Korea, extended his hand to me with a firm expression devoid of relaxation.

“I look forward to our match today.”

After taking a deep breath, I shook his hand.

“I look forward to it as well, senior.”