episode_0021

What is this feeling?

Suddenly, as my self-esteem skyrockets, all fear dissipates.

Have you seen it, Song Seonghyuk?

This is the difference between you and me…

“Wait a minute.”

But Siu didn’t go home to sleep, it wasn’t Chaewon.

Even though I’m in a half-daze, leaning more towards Chaewon right now.

I practically dragged her there and put her to sleep, didn’t I?

As if fulfilling a promise, Jung Siu started taking off his printed t-shirt.

“Just managed to get one win…”

Thinking only about beating Song Seonghyuk somehow, I hadn’t considered what was truly important.

A disastrous defeat.

Jung Siu, complete loss. Cold game. Song Seonghyuk, overwhelming victory.

“…Oh no.”

That was the moment.

“And come to think of it, I forgot to show you this.”

Kang Hwi took out a thin wallet from his pocket and handed me a business card.

[KPAC Cultural Foundation | KPAC]

[Chairman / Kang Hwi]

…Huh.

“KPAC?!”

“Surprise, huh, Mom.”

KPAC.

Kang Hwi Cultural Foundation.

Maid Kang Hwi.

Ah, that’s why the name sounded familiar.

“You… are the chairman here?”

Introduced to me by a professor since childhood, could it be that the owner of the foundation that supported me until I attended university is now the maid standing before me?

“Yes.”

“…But why work as a maid?”

“A maid, you say. I am strictly a housekeeper.”

“A housekeeper…?”

To help me understand my confusion, Kang Hwi turned on the tablet’s drawing app and drew several diagrams.

“We have a somewhat unique family structure. We follow old-fashioned ways to some extent.”

That’s true.

Having a Victorian maid in the house is quite unusual.

“The master of the house can’t handle all the household affairs alone. Besides, they have their main profession.”

“That’s right.”

“So, we have a housekeeper.”

I see.

A personal assistant for the lady of the house.

Just dressed as a Victorian maid.

“Well, I’ve only been a housekeeper for a few months now. But even in Korea, being next to the lady of the house means power.”

In a way, Chaewon is like the Korean branch manager of the Min family, and Kang Hwi is probably the head of her direct secretarial office.

With his shoulders squared and his nose held high, he seemed quite proud.

“But well, although the chairman is over there, the lady actually owns all the shares of the foundation… so practically, she’s the boss.”

“Why go to such lengths… because I’m a minor?”

“No, it’s not related to that… It’s just that her name shouldn’t be revealed. That’s why I became the chairman.”

“…Wait a minute.”

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.

“Did someone recommend me to be managed as a prodigy by the foundation?”

“Ding dong. Miss 26 has a really sharp eye.”

“Who?”

Kang Hwi flipped through the tablet.

He showed me a file with someone’s picture.

As soon as I saw the familiar face, Ego 1 suddenly began to grow rapidly.

“If Chaewon is the chairman of KPAC, then Siu will find out….”

Then, he’ll know that I have feelings for Siu.

So, Kang Hwi was registered as the chairman to support me.

“Uh, heh, hehe. Ahem.”

I burst into laughter without realizing it.

Feeling Kang Hwi’s gaze fixed on me, I coughed awkwardly and bowed my head.

Calm down.

I’ve barely reached the starting line with Song Seonghyuk.

Everyone take off your t-shirts.

“The reason for the recommendation?”

I wanted to know Chaewon’s inner thoughts.

“Take a look. The lady has gained some weight, but the basis was written by the lady herself.”

I quickly scrolled down below the registration prodigy file displayed on the tablet.

[Referrer: Margaret Hebler]

[Reason for recommendation:

1. Unbelievably solid fundamentals for an elementary student, with expectations for growth based on this.]

At a young age, having studied mathematics for over ten years, he reached the level of a high school piano prodigy, and his playing speed surpassed any prodigy he had ever seen.

He showed innate talent in adjusting phrasing and fingering techniques, clearly aware of the limits of hand size. It is reasonable to expect rapid adaptation to changes in the body during the growth process.

While the average pianist of the same age distinguishes dynamics by about five levels on average, Jung Siwoo adjusts the dynamics with at least ten levels.

This varies depending on the videos or recordings he referred to before playing, almost perfectly reproducing the playing style of the performers in the reference material.

If he can infuse his own unique style, it is expected that even before becoming an adult, he will be able to compete with the world’s famous pianists.

2. Attitude towards the piano, overflowing passion for music. Firm goals.

While many prodigies of the same age tend to immerse themselves in practice to meet their parents’ expectations, Jung Siwoo plays the piano solely for his own satisfaction.

To become an excellent performer, it will be necessary to gradually learn how to empathize with the audience.

Considering that most prodigies fail to progress to higher levels due to mannerisms and loss of interest during the growth process, Jung Siwoo’s strong desire is expected to provide more than enough fuel for him to strive without getting tired for the next decade.

Above all, his ambition to become the best pianist playing “Mephisto” in Korea was impressive.

Listening to Jung Siwoo, who aspires to become the Franz Liszt of Korea, one might say that although there are many mistakes due to his small hands, he did his best not to make mistakes in terms of rhythm and dynamics, despite missing some notes.

After reading everything, I was dumbfounded.

“I gained a little weight…?”

There’s no way Chaewon could have written such an evaluation alone.

Moreover, I’m 12 years old now, so Chaewon was 11 when this happened.

Isn’t it a time for her to indulge in music and play rather than focusing on performance and critique?

“Yes. It’s more than a little…”

Ahaha.

Kang Hwi smiled awkwardly and scratched his neck.

“I’d like to see the original.”

“Well, I don’t even know where the original is. The lady mentioned it vaguely to me, though.”

“Even that’s fine.”

Lost in thought, she slowly recounted her impressions of 11-year-old Chaewon’s performance.

“So, maybe number 1 was ‘Plays better than me’… and number 2 was ‘I want to keep listening to this performance in the future’… right?”

————Kwaaaah.

Sweet Room.

The entire hotel.

This world, the universe, was engulfed in silence.

A self, number 1, larger than the sun, floated in the black space.

The face of Jung Siwoo drawn on this damn T-shirt is bigger than the Earth.

Cosmic signals are detected.

Want to keep listening.

Want to keep listening.

Want to keep listening.

Want to keep listening.

For life. By my side. Want to keep. Listening.

“Aaah!”

“Kyaa! Why, why are you acting like this again?!”

Time reversed, and the Colosseum was rebuilt.

I crushed self number 1 using the crowd.

‘Excessive, excessive, it’s too much.’

Where did I go, who used to mock Jung Siwoo saying, ‘Are you thinking of having three kids?’

I have no right to mock anyone.

Who’s laughing at whom while indulging in wild fantasies.

“Could you fill the bathtub with water?”

“You want to bathe again?”

“Yeah. Quickly. Hurry up and fill it.”

Trembling, I picked up my main phone with shaky hands.

I need to calm down.

I need a piece that soothes my mind.

It seems like I’m having a heart attack from hyperventilating.

Bach’s Aria on the G String.

Gounod’s Ave Maria.

Would calming down be enough?

Should I forcibly overlay a gentle sadness on my heart?

What about Chopin’s Nocturne?

Is it too pathetic and materialistic to borrow the power of the masters now?

But I can’t do without the masters.

I feel like I’m going to collapse at this rate.

Ding.

“… Secret Mode?”

Curious, I pressed it, and a screen prompting me to enter a password to unlock appeared.

Secret Mode.

Yoon Ji-chang had once told me about this.

“In computer terms, it’s like a hidden folder.”

“A hidden folder?”

“These days everyone watches adult videos online, but our ancestors used to download and watch them.”

“Hey, hey. Watch your voice.”

“Anyway, if you just put them in any random folder, it’s easy to get caught, right? So, you hide it completely so that it’s not visible normally. You have to set up the hidden folder to be able to see it.”

A mode designed for important things or things you don’t want others to see by mistake, like photos, files, messages, etc.

It’s like a safe inside Chaewon’s main phone that can’t be accessed without going through another security check.

Thinking it might be the same as the password for the sub-phone, I tried entering 0409 again this time.

The lock was released, and push notifications were displayed properly.

[Message from Hyukseong Song 1]

I immediately apologized to Professor Chopin.

Sorry for showing an embarrassing side earlier.

— Hyukseong Song: Visit the cosplay costume shop once

— Hyukseong Song: The next costume has many parts, let’s try it on once before completing it

He not only helped with the rental but also with preparing the costumes.

Well, considering Chaewon didn’t contact any place for costumes alone, it seemed somewhat businesslike.

Oh?

What song to play each week, what character to cosplay as.

Did Song Seong-hyuk decide all of that too?

— Hyukseong Song: Have you decided on the next song?

— Hyukseong Song: If not, I recommend one

There were no exchanged messages.

It was because I didn’t know about the existence of Secret Mode that I couldn’t check.

Conversations with Song Seong-hyuk.

Conversations about Channel Aclert continued endlessly as I scrolled up and up.

“Wow.”

The rapidly scrolling screen stopped around 2021.

I couldn’t bring myself to check messages exchanged even before that with Song Seong-hyuk.

It felt like I would admit defeat upon seeing them.

Even the ego number 992, which had been mocking me all along, was comforting both itself and me at this moment.

Professor Chopin, I’ll change the music selection.

Instead of Nocturne, I think Winter Wind would be nice.