episode_0150

The first day of the three-day concours was underway. The final round of the piano division, which attracted the most people, was about to begin.

“Congratulations on making it to the finals!”

Siwoo’s turn was the last.

The concert hall was well soundproofed, so the sounds of the previous performers could not be heard in the waiting room.

The only sound that followed was the tapping on the table by Siwoo, as if playing the piano.

“You’ve already made it to the finals. You just have to beat the other two. It’s not a difficult task! Let’s become the best in Korea!”

Chaewon didn’t think it was anything special.

Our goal is the 2025 international concours beyond that…

Whether she had experienced it before or not, everything was new to Siwoo.

Even after regaining his color in his performance, the sense of calm he used to feel in the waiting room had long disappeared.

As the wait grew longer, the tension increased. Especially on days like today when Chaewon wasn’t by his side, fear pierced the sky.

Yesterday, Chaewon collapsed.

It was so sudden.

Siwoo drove, ignoring even the speed cameras, with Chaewon in the car.

When they arrived at the emergency room, Margaret, Chaewon’s mother, who had heard the news through the security guards, was already waiting.

Chaewon went with her to the examination room.

During various tests, including MRI scans and blood tests, Chaewon lay unconscious, unable to open his eyes.

After a few hours passed, even after completing the admission procedures and moving to the hospital room, he still did not open his eyes for a while.

When Siwoo woke up leaning on Chaewon’s bed, it was already late at night.

Chaewon hugged him and comforted him with a smile.

“It’s okay. You must have been very surprised.”

Although he had come from just three years ago, he was an adult.

As if it wasn’t surprising that she suddenly collapsed, Chaewon smiled and stroked Siwoo’s head.

How beautiful and heart-wrenching her gentle smile was. Siwoo thought he might have had a heart attack that day.

“We need to do more tests to know for sure. It’s not a very dangerous situation right now. You just fainted from anemia.”

Eating the meal prepared by Kang Hwi, and being healthy enough to walk with Reika every morning, was this not the Chaewon he knew.

If the sudden fainting didn’t mean the death she had predicted, what did it mean?

Siwoo couldn’t agree with Chaewon’s words.

“Oh, really, it’s okay. We still don’t know!”

“You, if you mess up the concours tomorrow because of this, I’ll really die.”

Why did it have to be yesterday?

Why did Chaewon suddenly collapse yesterday?

“We need to do a few more heart tests for a detailed diagnosis tomorrow. So… I probably won’t be able to come see you perform. Sorry.”

“I really wanted to come see you play. It turned out like this.”

“As soon as the tests are done, I’ll come right away. Even if I’m not there, I’ll be watching over you. Relax and play as you always do. Got it?”

Despite comforting himself that everything was fine, his anxious heart did not seem to calm down at all.

“It’s okay. Even if I die, I’ll die in two years.”

“You don’t have to worry until then.”

If only she would stop denying it and keep her mouth shut.

“I’m serious!”

Chaewon tried to reassure Siwoo, but she seemed unaware that such words only made him more anxious.

“I’m not going to die.”

“You’re here.”

“We promised to change our fate together.”

Min Chaewon, who confidently declared that she would never die because she had a loving boyfriend, but now Siwoo also knew the truth.

“Are you nervous?”

“A little.”

Last night, leaving Chaewon in the hospital room with her mother Margaret, Siwoo had a drinking session with his father-like figure, Baek Joong-eon, after a long time.

Although he couldn’t drink much as the next day was the concours, if he hadn’t felt a bit tipsy, he wouldn’t have been able to properly listen to Baek Joong-eon’s story.

“Which side are you on? Because of Chaewon? Or because of the concours?”

Siwoo said, forcibly grabbing the trembling hand.

“Both.”

“…You brat.”

Min Chaewon is suffering from a rare disease.

It was a disease similar to the one Margaret had, where the heart could suddenly stop at any moment, like a game of Russian roulette.

“Is there really no treatment for it?”

“…There isn’t.”

“How can such a disease exist?”

“That’s the thing.”

Margaret was lucky to survive, but there was no guarantee that Chaewon would be the same.

“…The world is like trash.”

“That’s right.”

“The bad people aren’t taken away, but why Chaewon—.”

Thud.

Baek Joong-eon’s fist flew and struck Siwoo’s back of the head.

“You’re not dead yet, you brat.”

“……”

“Don’t cry! It’s an important day.”

Min Chaewon is in pain.

The woman Siwoo promised to live and die together with is in pain.

What could be more important than an important day. Is the piano, the concours more important than Min Chaewon? More important than her life and death? Absolutely not.

“If Chaewon gets tested and discharged safely, think of it as a gift. Do your best.”

What happens if you have a gift prepared but no one to give it to?

Isn’t that just like a fool’s errand?

It’s a lucky day.

“Why aren’t you smiling even though you brought back the winning trophy…?”

Siwoo muttered, altering a line from the novel as he pleased.

Baek Joong-eon sighed and approached him, patting his shoulder.

“Chaewon is watching.”

“How can she be watching? She must be in the middle of the test.”

“You can’t see her now, but you will later. I’ll be live broadcasting from the audience seats.”

“…Wasn’t individual filming prohibited at the concours?”

“What do you know. Look at Chaewon’s condition now. If you want to catch her, go ahead and do it.”

A confident statement that only a master pianist in South Korea could make. Siwoo, who would have laughed as usual, couldn’t laugh comfortably today.

“Siwoo.”

“Siwoo.”

Baek Joong-eon grabbed Siwoo’s shoulder again.

And, pressing firmly, he said.

“Do you remember what I said when you said you wanted to become a pianist?”

Siwoo slowly nodded his head.

That was when Siwoo was five years old.

It was a time when he didn’t know how many piano keys there were, what difficult path he had to go through to become a pianist.

But Baek Joong-eon, who was a young father, also didn’t know how to teach music to a young child.

At that time, Baek Joong-eon was only in his late twenties. It was a time when he was making a name for himself as a pianist, expanding his influence and interacting with his juniors.

He thought of Siwoo as his own son. But he was still an inexperienced teacher to raise him as a pianist. However, sending him to another teacher felt like entrusting a child who had lost his parents and was left alone to someone else.

With the thought that someday he might also become a piano teacher, Baek Joong-eon began to teach Siwoo.

The beginning was teaching about the attitude towards music.

“The piano is a tool to realize human desires.”

So Siwoo learned to listen and understand before reading the sheet music.

It was partly because Baek Joong-eon was lacking as a teacher at the time, but also because Siwoo preferred listening and playing along rather than reading the sheet music.

The speed of acquisition was so fast that Siwoo soon became able to clumsily follow along with the songs he liked.

And then he hit a wall.

Like any typical piano student, it was time for him to study the sheet music, practice technique, scales, octaves, chords, arpeggios, and other professional techniques.

“Playing is showing people the wind in the form of music.”

Baek Joong-eon nodded.

Then he offered the best advice he could give.

“Don’t think of the competition as an exam. The judges are just an audience who came to listen to your performance.”

“Show the audience what you want to convey.”

“What do you want most right now?”

Siwoo’s trembling hands finally stopped.

His shaky eyes showed a strong determination.

The posture that had collapsed with despair straightened up.

“I hope Chaewon isn’t in pain.”

“I hope Chaewon doesn’t die.”

“I hope Chaewon continues to smile by my side.”

Although they had promised to change their fate together, Siwoo was still anxious.

He was still young and had not experienced enough in life.

It was natural since he had never experienced such a thing before.

It was the same now.

If he played this piece, would Chaewon’s life be extended?

Would the stubbornness of a mere man reach the heavens?

The worries were overwhelming.

But.

“I am you.”

“You are me.”

There was Min Chaewon.

“We are always watching over each other within ourselves.”

“No matter how far apart we are, we see everything.”

In a corner of Siwoo’s heart, a very small Min Chaewon lived.

“Because we are one.”

The color that had not been able to be seen.

The color that had only been following others, regained.

That color sings of a girl’s survival.

Wishing for the girl’s longevity, love, and happiness.

With clenched fists, Siwoo ignited a resolute determination.

“…I will go out and play for Chaewon.”

Baek Joong-eon smiled.

“Yes. Let’s go.”