Chapter 107
Translator: Dreamscribe
Gyeo-ul was wearing something that resembled a school uniform.
A pleated navy skirt with a white shirt.
The library's soft lighting cast shadows across her beautiful face.
Staff members were organizing books, as closing time was approaching.
They watched Gyeo-ul with curious eyes.
Even without any elaborate styling, she was someone who naturally stood out.
Seo-ha's breathing was settling down.
His brain, which had been racing out of control, cooled, and reason returned.
"What brings you here all of a sudden? Without even calling...."
The visit was so unexpected that Seo-ha had no idea what to say.
"I got accepted to a university."
"Where?"
"Curtis Institute of Music. It's in Philadelphia, so it's not too far from here."
"Oh! So that's why!"
"Yeah, I was busy preparing for the audition. The practical exam matters a lot there."
Gyeo-ul cut herself off and studied Seo-ha as if observing him.
"But since when have you been such a mess? Have you been like this ever since you came to America?"
The timing couldn't have been worse.
'Wait, or is it the opposite?'
Gyeo-ul always appeared when he desperately needed her.
"It hasn't been like this the whole time. The CD you sent really helped a lot. I know it's late, but thank you, truly."
"Looking at you right now, it doesn't seem like it did much."
Seo-ha shook his head.
"That's not true. Without it, I would've been in far worse shape than this. When I listened to the CD, I'd imagine you sitting at the piano. That alone was enough to cool the fever a little."
Gyeo-ul looked at him in silence for a moment.
That way of speaking so unique to Seo-ha, without embellishment or exaggeration, was exactly the same as it had been a year ago.
"Excuse me, you two! It's closing time now."
Someone broke the silence.
The staff members who had been shelving books at the edges of the hall began switching off the lights one by one.
"We should get out of here for now."
"Right. Still, I got lucky. I barely managed to find an open piano. And in a place as grand as this, too."
Before leaving, Gyeo-ul looked around the hall.
A high-ceilinged dome structure; what set it apart from a typical concert hall was that every wall was lined with bookshelves.
Gyeo-ul liked the way sound resonated in this place.
Once they stepped outside, the cool late-night air brushed against them.
There was almost no wind, but the damp, clinging humidity unique to New England made them hunch their shoulders.
After walking a few minutes past the edge of campus, they spotted a pharmacy with its lights still on.
Gyeo-ul quickened her pace and strode inside. A moment later, she came back out with antiseptic and bandages in her hands.
"Sit down."
Gyeo-ul lightly pushed Seo-ha onto a nearby bench.
When Seo-ha sat down without protest, Gyeo-ul opened the pharmacy bag and began pulling out its contents.
"Let me see your knee."
Swish.
He rolled up his pant leg, revealing a badly scraped knee.
The wound was deeper than expected.
Gyeo-ul's expression hardened.
"What were you doing to end up like this? It's way too bad."
"It's fine. It'll heal in no time. This kind of thing happened all the time back in Okcheon."
Gyeo-ul took out a small piece of gauze and soaked it with antiseptic.
Clearly unfamiliar with the task, she poured the antiseptic as if spilling it.
"Is this your first time doing this?"
Seo-ha barely held back the laughter threatening to burst out.
"Hush."
Her technique was slow and shaky, but she successfully disinfected the wound and applied the bandage.
"Does it hurt?"
"No, not at all."
It was strange.
His knee, which had been throbbing so badly he could barely walk, now felt perfectly fine, as if it had healed completely.
"Are you free tomorrow evening?"
Gyeo-ul frowned as if dissatisfied with her own handiwork.
"Yeah."
"Then meet me at six in the evening. In front of Boston Symphony Hall."
"Huh?"
It was a sacred ground for performers.
The place said to have the most perfect acoustics in the world.
"My teacher is performing with the Boston Symphony tomorrow. I have the tickets, so don't worry about that."
When Seo-ha's face lit up with surprise, Gyeo-ul grinned mischievously.
"What? Disappointed that I didn't come here just for you?"
Gyeo-ul had, in fact, come here because of Seo-ha.
When she heard that Seon-hwa would be performing in Boston, Gyeo-ul decided she absolutely had to go.
She had pestered Seon-hwa until she finally got two tickets out of her. Even Gyeo-ul's mother, back at the hotel, knew nothing about it.
"No, I thought you were performing there yourself."
Gyeo-ul's eyes went wide.
"Even for me, that's a stretch right now. Maybe in about five years. But do you have a suit?"
He had grown over ten centimeters taller compared to a year ago. The suit he'd worn before wouldn't fit anymore.
"No. I borrowed one for a photo shoot once, but...."
"Then let's meet at the same place at four."
As if the matter were settled, Gyeo-ul pressed the bandage and antiseptic into Seo-ha's hands and walked away at her own leisurely pace.
* * *
The next day,
Seo-ha arrived at the meeting place well ahead of time.
"What an incredible building."
Seeing in person what he had only ever seen in photographs, the sheer grandeur was overwhelming.
Boston Symphony Hall was a remarkably unique structure.
Its massive columns were in the Doric Order, the kind found at the Parthenon. Yet, as if asserting that this was New England, the walls were built from red brick.
It gave the impression of Greek idealism shaking hands with American pragmatism.
"You're here?"
Gyeo-ul appeared in a casual pair of jeans.
Seo-ha checked his own reflection in the glass.
After much deliberation, he had put on the most presentable pants and shirt he owned. Now he felt embarrassed, as though he were the only one who had made an effort.
She looked him up and down.
"Come on, let's go!"
"Where?"
"The wardrobe shop."
"Huh?"
"You didn't think I was going dressed like this, did you?"
Seo-ha's face turned red.
"Oh...."
"There are a lot of wardrobe shops near orchestra halls. Performers need to change right after rehearsal. The stage lights make you sweat a lot, so...."
Seo-ha glanced around and asked.
"But I'm just a regular person?"
"You've got me. Don't worry, just follow along."
The place she found was a boutique run by a Korean owner, tucked slightly off the main street.
Befitting a city famous for its music, Boston hosted a variety of international competitions.
This was a shop Gyeo-ul had relied on every time she visited Boston.
Jingle.
At the sound of the bell, the staff peeked outside.
"Oh my! Gyeo-ul's here?"
"Really?"
The staff came out and gathered around Gyeo-ul. She smiled and exchanged warm greetings with them.
"Today's not my performance, so just keep it simple for me. More importantly, could you give him a proper makeover?"
Every pair of eyes turned to Seo-ha at once.
Flinch.
The staff appraised him with evaluating gazes.
Seo-ha tensed up and straightened his back without realizing it.
"Oh my, he's handsome?"
"I know, right. Gyeo-ul has a good eye. His frame is nice. Long arms, long legs. A kid like this, you put him in a suit and he'll look like a painting."
"Blue or navy tones would be good."
The staff burst into laughter and bustled about.
"All right, let's start with measurements. Come this way."
Seo-ha was swept along before he knew it, surrendering himself to the staff.
Meanwhile, Gyeo-ul went in to get her own outfit ready.
"Raise your arms, please."
After taking his measurements, they had him try on several outfits.
One of the designers sat Seo-ha down in a chair and picked up a pair of scissors.
Snip, snip.
After the haircut came styling and even makeup.
Someone brought out powder and a brush and evened out Seo-ha's skin tone.
'What on earth is happening?'
Seo-ha felt like his soul had left his body.
An eternity seemed to pass before the okay sign was finally given.
"Now that's rewarding. He really cleans up nicely."
The designer smiled with satisfaction as she looked at Seo-ha.
"Are you done over there?"
Swish.
At the sound of the curtain opening, Seo-ha turned his head.
Gyeo-ul was walking in slowly.
A tightly woven black dress accentuated her slender waist.
The off-shoulder dress bared her shoulders, giving Gyeo-ul an air of maturity unlike her usual self.
Even the staff inside the boutique were left speechless by how beautiful she looked.
"I knew it. Didn't I say Gyeo-ul's going to put actresses to shame when she grows up?"
"She's so, so pretty."
Gyeo-ul's cheeks flushed shyly at the staff's gushing.
She stopped in front of Seo-ha. And nodded.
"Mm, not bad."
She said it as if it were nothing, but her eyes lingered on Seo-ha's long neck and clean jawline for quite a while.
"You two look so perfect together. We should take a picture!"
"Absolutely. This could go in our portfolio, honestly. Come on, stand over here."
Inside the boutique, a small makeshift studio had been set up for photo shoots.
The two stood there and posed.
Seo-ha, stiff as a wooden block in an at-attention stance, and Gyeo-ul, smiling at him.
Click.
"We'll print the photos and send them to you later."
"Please send the original files too."
Gyeo-ul carefully wrote down her email address on a piece of paper.
Once they left the boutique, every passerby turned to look at Gyeo-ul at least once.
"It'll start soon. Let's go."
Seo-ha began to walk. But Gyeo-ul stayed rooted to the spot, not moving.
"What?"
She crossed her arms and looked at Seo-ha with an expectant, almost reproachful expression.
"Right hand on your waist!"
"Huh?"
"Put your right hand on your waist."
"O...okay."
Caught off guard, Seo-ha did as Gyeo-ul said and brought his right hand to his waist.
Then Gyeo-ul sidled up to him and lightly linked her arm through his.
"Walking in a dress is a pain, you know."
Seo-ha's face turned red.
The two began to walk, matching each other's pace.
Walking through downtown Boston with Seo-ha, Gyeo-ul felt a strange, unfamiliar feeling.
Every time a car passed, Seo-ha's profile brightened and then darkened again.
The small boy she once knew had grown so much, now standing a full head taller than her.
As the sun set, the two arrived at the hall right on time.
Near the entrance, an attendant was checking tickets. Gyeo-ul, arm still linked, used her free hand to produce a small envelope.
"Enjoy your evening."
He smiled, returning the ticket stubs to them.
"Wow...."
Seo-ha gazed up at the lobby without thinking.
A massive chandelier hung from the ceiling, and along the walls, gold ornaments and classical Greek motifs formed a striking harmony.
"Our seats are on the second floor. The good seats were all taken already."
They climbed the stairs and found their seats.
From the stage came the sound of the orchestra tuning their instruments.
"It's about to start."
When the conductor walked out, silence fell in every direction.
He stood on the podium and raised his arms, and the smooth sound of violins rippled outward.
The air trembled.
Sounds that had existed only within the pages of a score became reality, reaching their ears.
Bach's Sinfonia, arranged by Stravinsky.
Every instrument repeated patterns of symmetry, inversion, diminution, and augmentation within the rules Bach had set.
When the violins ascended, the violas played the same motif in a lower register, and the cellos stretched the notes out long at half the tempo.
Each voice interlocked at precise ratios without ever interfering with the others.
Gyeo-ul kept sneaking glances at Seo-ha, who was absorbed in the orchestra, and then quietly took hold of his wrist.
"Hm?"
Seo-ha flinched in surprise and looked to the side.
Gyeo-ul put her index finger to her lips as if it were nothing.
"Shh! Stabilization Session."
She pointed to the wrist where his pulse ran.
"Oh...."
Seo-ha nodded in understanding.
Music created by a master of the Baroque era,
performed anew by the finest musicians of the modern day.
'Come to think of it....'
From the moment he had been picking out clothes that morning until now, Seo-ha realized that he had not thought about numbers once the entire day.
He could feel Gyeo-ul's warmth at his wrist.
Thump, thump.
The sound of her heartbeat seemed to come through with vivid clarity.
Over the past year, he had pushed himself relentlessly, doing far too much. The nerves inside his head had been pulled so taut that it wouldn't have been strange if they snapped at any moment.
But now, at Gyeo-ul's touch, they were gently loosening.
The warm strains of Bach drifting as if floating beyond the edges of consciousness; Gyeo-ul, gradually syncing her rhythm with his own heartbeat. The tension melted away from Seo-ha's face, little by little.
An unsolvable problem, an equation that refused to yield.
In this moment, Seo-ha forgot all of it.
He simply felt at ease, for the first time in a very long while.
'Hm?'
Gyeo-ul flinched.
Seo-ha had been nodding off, and his head drooped onto her shoulder.
She stole a sideways glance at him.
Seo-ha's face looked utterly at peace, a faint smile resting at the corner of his lips.
Gyeo-ul shifted her body back slightly so he could lean on her more comfortably.
Before long, the piece ended and Seon-hwa took the stage.
It was the first time in a while that Gyeo-ul was hearing her teacher perform, yet nothing reached her ears. All she could do was hope that Seo-ha wouldn't notice how loudly her own heart was suddenly pounding.
Why were his words from the night before surfacing in her mind now?
'Do you truly need me?'
Gyeo-ul gazed quietly at Seo-ha's sleeping face.
'Even without the music?'
Her eyes turned to face the stage.
And in a voice so small that no one could hear, she murmured.
"I do."