God of Piano

— Is that okay? Still, shouldn’t a pianist focus more on the music itself than on such incidental things?

You can’t say that your friend is wrong. But even that friend had no right to say that Heather was wrong. Even though she might be an unqualified pianist, Heather wanted to become a captivating pianist. It was good to see that that was the biggest reason she played the piano.

And so, what she heard when she won second place at the Chopin Competition Junior was shocking in many ways.

– red. i like your playing However, I couldn’t give it a good score in this performance. If this were your recital, I would have enjoyed it with great pleasure, but this is the Chopin Competition. It’s a place where Chopin’s traces should stand out as much as you do. But, well…

— Was there Chopin in your playing?

Hearing those words, when the professors at the California Conservatory audition said, ‘Your performance only contains you,’ Heather felt the need to change. Until now, it was enough to show her, but now comes the time when that is not enough.

Showing Chopin, showing Brahms, showing Beethoven… I had to be able to put all the heroes of music into the performance.

And looking at Rowoon, Heather seemed to know roughly what that meant.

“…”

“How about this?”

lesson room. Heather, who had just presented Brahms’ Paganini, turned to Donati. However, Donatti still remained silent with an unknown face. He stared at the white and black keys of the piano for a while. And soon he leaned against the body of the piano.

“Heather. Having your colors and copying Rowoon are two different things.”

“······yes? Suddenly, what is that…”

“Don’t try to lie. Just now, anyone can see that it was a performance that was conscious of Rowoon. It’s good that you tried hard to capture Brahms. But in the process, all your colors died. It’s a play that’s neither this nor that. There’s no way you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

Heather didn’t say anything for a moment.

“But, sir. You said last time that I only express myself too much.”

“okay. It’s good to try to express Brahms.”

Donatti looked at Heather with clear eyes. Those eyes seemed to be tired somehow.

“But do you understand Brahms properly?”

It was a question that dumbed her down.

After the lesson, Heather trudged away and collapsed on the couch in the break room. It felt like gin was sucked.

‘Roun, is that bastard that great?’

It’s great. No, rather than great, it was a bit special. The performance itself seems to be just okay, but the feeling of the sound at the end of it has something that captivates the listener.

Heather raised her hand. Thin, long fingers crushing the light of the fluorescent lights. A hand that was never able to do nail art and always overworked it.

‘Do I only play myself too much?’

pout your lips I felt gloomy. And that was when Covering the fluorescent light that was seeping through my fingers, a familiar face stood.

“ah.”

It was Rowoon.

“What are you doing here?”

“Don’t you see? Hitting me down.”

“Aren’t you practicing?”

“Do you want to keep talking about practice to the person who just finished the lesson?”

“Oh sorry. I didn’t know that.”

“busy?”

“no. I was just trying to listen to music.”

“······Sit down and go. I’m bored.”

Rowoon pondered for a moment. But for some reason, Heather’s expression looked very lonely, so he ended up sitting across from her. After all, he wasn’t that cold-blooded who only knew music.

“Ah, I want to eat tteokbokki.”

“I am surprised. Do you like tteokbokki?”

“I can’t speak Korean as well, because Koreans are Koreans, right? Ever since I was little, my mom and dad took me to Koreatown every now and then. I know how to eat Cheonggukjang.”

It would be rare for people to brag about the fact that they know how to eat Cheonggukjang. Rowoon swallowed a laugh and took out his Walkman. It was an intention to listen to Chopin’s music if Heather wanted to keep her mouth shut. But that rather piqued Heather’s curiosity.

“You always carry it with you?”

“Walkman?”

“uh. Is there any reason you insist on that?”

“My mother gave it to me as a present.”

“······I don’t think I’ll keep using it no matter how much it’s a gift for my mother. Isn’t the sound quality too bad?”

“know. But I couldn’t. Because it was the last gift my mother gave me.”

Rowoon spat out the words and glanced at Heather. She couldn’t have known what the last gift meant. And usually after hearing this, people’s reactions were always the same. Embarrassed, apologized immediately.

But Heather was different. She opened her eyes wide for a moment, then calmly adjusted her expression. Then he looked straight into Rowoon’s eyes and said.

“huh. Then it’s worth it.”

“…”

At that point, Rowoon couldn’t help but be embarrassed. I’ve never seen anyone take this story so coolly. While Rowoon was unable to say anything, Heather turned her head forward and sighed.

“Do you want to see it?”

“······huh. what.”

“If you want something like soybean paste stew that mom cooks, tell me.”

“why. Will you boil it?”

“No, let’s go play at my house. My mom cooks soybean paste stew well.”

“But why is your mother cooking the stew and you bragging?”

“no? Don’t hate it.”

“······Soybean paste stew with meat in it?”

“Chalbak and tofu. Add a little chilli to make it spicy. no?”

“No, I like dogs.”

The two of them giggled as they talked until there. Heather stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment before opening her mouth.

“You were playing the puppy waltz the other day. Chopin VS Beethoven, Liszt… who else? Anyway, that’s how I expressed it.”

“It seems so, but.”

“what do you mean? I really didn’t understand.”

“I think I played Chopin too drunk. Meantime.”

Rowoon shrugged.

“So I just wanted to get some control back.”

“……Are you and I really opposites?”

Heather said with a curious expression. A pianist who lost Chopin in claiming himself, and a pianist who lost himself in claiming Chopin.

“Let me ask you something. What the hell is Chopin in you? What is it that has such a big presence that it eats you up?”

“Chopin?”

Rowoon thought for a moment.

Chopin, who loved Sande but couldn’t hold her until the very end.

Chopin never lost his loyalty to Sande even though he was harassed by all kinds of noble ladies in the social world.

Chopin, who would never do anything fine even if I said a word to him.

Chopin always accepts people’s compliments with a twist.

After combining such Chopins, it was decided what words he could give back. Rowoon touched the Walkman and said.

“Are you an emotional nerd who pretends to be strong?”

#

The Los Angeles International Piano Competition has yet to announce that it has passed the preliminaries. Nonetheless, Rowoon prepared to go to the finals. It was pointless to worry about whether or not I could go to the finals. I had that much confidence.

And for him, Rowoon has been fighting Chopin head-to-head for a long time these days.

‘I’m an emotional loser.’

Rowoon giggled as he recalled what he had said to Heather. On a subject so embarrassing in front of Chopin. Maybe pretending to be strong was rather the low side.

But why? After saying that to Heather, Rowoon felt a little more comfortable with Chopin than usual.

‘Everyone, please. You can’t lose to just one Chopin. humanly.’

Beethoven, Liszt, Bach, none of them were people who would not be pushed by pride. There was no way to see Chopin swallow Rowoon like this.

I raise my fingers in faith and face the piano. I don’t pay attention to Chopin’s memories that come to mind without knowing, and I focus all my attention only on the music he will create.

The song played is Chopin’s Ballad No. 2.

This song was written by the young Chopin, who had just settled in Paris, gritting his teeth.

Rowoon knows this song too well. Shortly before the release of this song, Maria Bozanska, who had promised to marry her, broke off her marriage, that Chopin might have let go of everything if his friend Liszt had not comforted him, and that Sand, whom he met in the midst of such a difficult time, He had already looked into and felt everything in Chopin’s life, including the change of heart that he had ignored at first, thinking she was just a strong and innocent woman. multiple times too.

Just as it is not easy for Heather to let go of herself, it is not easy for Rowoon to let go of Chopin.

then don’t put it down

carry sustain It’s not that I’m going to carry all the weight of Chopin. It’s just as much as this ballad, or 8 minutes of playing, to overcome him.

And that was also the homework given to all pianists in the world.

As it was a song he hadn’t played in a very long time, Rowoon’s fingers missed the keys several times while replaying the song. There were times when I missed a beat, and there were times when I inadvertently forgot Chopin’s instructions that I received through my notes.

But there was no need to worry. Even if his brain doesn’t remember everything, his fingers are different. As he played again and again, Rowoon’s fingers began to prepare for movement before his eyes reached the next bar.

Before I knew it, the finger started to let out a pretty good Chopin sound.

‘I can handle it…’

I no longer feel like being eaten by Chopin. can run away can overcome Beethoven, Liszt, and the saints of music were supporting him.