“Tsk.”
Viktor clicked his tongue audibly. He glanced at Kang Hyun with a blatant air of disregard.
In contrast, Kang Hyun maintained a relaxed demeanor. Only Eva, an employee from the Queen Elisabeth side who was assisting with the tape auditions, appeared tense.
“I thought you had an eye for performances, but I guess not.”
What is this old fart talking about?
“Do I need to teach you even these basic issues? Seating a violinist who can’t recognize the basics in the judge’s chair—don’t you think you are tarnishing the reputation of Queen Elisabeth?”
Kang Hyun suppressed a chuckle. Viktor was middle-aged, but his words and actions made his age questionable.
Of course, being older doesn’t necessarily mean being outstanding. Hadn’t he seen it often in his past life? People with no aptitude or ability as politicians, relying solely on their birthright.
“Can you explain why you eliminated this participant?”
At Kang Hyun’s question, Viktor crossed his legs. He glanced at Kang Hyun again with blatant contempt and clicked his tongue. Then, with a displeased expression, he moved his lips.
“We don’t need performances that fail to control emotions. While the tone may vary with warm-ups and the day’s condition, maintaining emotion is the performer’s fate. But this participant interprets the emotions in the score as they please. Can’t they hold back when they should progress calmly like the waves on a tranquil lake? It’s like overacting in a drama!”
Viktor added with a sneer.
“Then why did you pass this participant?”
It seemed he was waiting to hear some nonsense. But if anything unreasonable came out of Kang Hyun’s mouth, Viktor would not hesitate to lash out.
One could tell just by looking at his sly eyes. He had the gaze of a hyena eyeing its prey.
“Understanding the composer’s mind and interpreting the piece is important for a competition. But if the performance is strictly orthodox, why do competitions exist? Do you think composers like Sibelius, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, and Mozart would criticize a violinist for playing their piece with different emotions? Moreover, this participant accurately understood and performed the variations of the piece despite any emotional excesses. If I were the composer, I’d applaud them. Such bold attempts are necessary. If this participant had erased their own thoughts and only interpreted the composer’s intentions, they would have shown a performance as good as those who passed earlier.”
In Kang Hyun’s view, this young male student knew exactly how to use his wrist.
Not only did he handle high-difficulty variations, but he also emphasized the vibrato that appeared in an instant, bringing out his unique style. The flood of emotions, interpreted differently from the composer’s, was undoubtedly his intended performance.
At that moment, Eva spoke cautiously.
“Actually, the participant submitted two performance videos. It’s the same piece but performed differently. It seems they didn’t know that judges would only evaluate one video.”
“Really?”
“Yes, after the first performance, they immediately performed the same piece again.”
Just as Eva said, after the first video ended, the young male student performed the piece again.
But the atmosphere was entirely different from the first time. Even though it was the same piece, it felt like he was playing a different one.
No wonder, since it was a performance that perfectly interpreted the composer’s intentions.
‘Audacious.’
Kang Hyun found the young male student in the video quite endearing. He had confidently showcased his skills in the first performance.
In a way, it could be considered a gamble. If there had been two judges like Viktor, the participant would have been eliminated even before the first movement was over.
“Ahem.”
Viktor cleared his throat, furrowing his brows. He hadn’t expected his judgment to be wrong.
But his eyes were still filled with discontent. It wasn’t easy to get such a person to admit defeat.
If he were younger, he might have punched him, but that wasn’t the case. Moreover, a middle-aged man’s nature doesn’t easily change.
“What do you think?”
At Kang Hyun’s follow-up question, Viktor brushed his nose. Though no answer came, it was clear that the young male student had passed.
Kang Hyun nodded briefly and looked at Eva. There was no need to waste more time arguing here. There were still many tapes for Kang Hyun and Viktor to review.
Eva hastily picked up the next tape.
“Shall we see the next participant?”
With Kang Hyun’s faint smile, Viktor’s deep scowl grew even deeper.
“Arrogant brat!”
Viktor roughly gulped down his drink. His liver-spotted hand gripped the glass so tightly that his veins bulged.
“That punk got lucky once and acts all smug.”
He still vividly remembered the smug look on the young punk’s face. He was also curious. How did the participant know to do that?
“Did the staff tip him off?”
The vodka burned as it went down his throat. Viktor’s brow furrowed.
Come to think of it, the young punk and the staff member named Eva seemed quite close. It was possible they had conspired together to make a fool of him.
Otherwise, there was no way someone with his decades of musical experience wouldn’t have known. Just then, there was a knock.
Knock, knock.
The person who entered was Hugo, a renowned French maestro.
“Viktor, drinking alone?”
Hugo looked at Viktor with concern. He had already heard about what happened today from Eva.
It could have been brushed off as a simple incident, but knowing Viktor’s personality, it wouldn’t be easy for him to let it go.
“Viktor, you should acknowledge Hyun. He is not just a talented violinist.”
“Aren’t you praising him too much? Even if that punk is somewhat good, he’s still just a punk. Hugo, countless musicians have come and gone in the music world, falsely labeled as geniuses. It’s too early to judge whether that punk is truly exceptional.”
“Seems like you already don’t trust him?”
Viktor responded by gulping down his drink.
“Do you have a reason to dislike Hyun?”
“He took Nikolai’s place. If he doesn’t live up to it, it would insult Nikolai, who couldn’t be here. Since when did Queen Elisabeth become a playground for kids? While Hiroshi seems to have full faith in that punk Hyun, I don’t. I distrust him. Aren’t those so-called geniuses always like that?”
“Is it because of your brother Josef?”
Viktor remained silent. His brother Josef had once been called a genius and caused quite a stir in Europe. But he couldn’t bear the weight of the crown and ended his life.
“Those called prodigies or geniuses are just slightly more talented than others. Josef was the same. But he got addicted to the applause and cheers of others and couldn’t take off that mask. We’ll see in the finals.”
Viktor gulped down another drink and added.
“Whether that punk is the real deal or a fake.”
Kang Hyun took a big bite of a waffle topped with maple syrup and powdered sugar.
The weather outside was still chilly. On such days, a warm bowl of seolleongtang would have been comforting, but here he was with a waffle.
As Kang Hyun was sipping his coffee, Hiroshi approached.
“Hyun, how’s it going?”
Hiroshi had approached unnoticed. Kang Hyun smiled faintly and replied.
“My ears are enjoying all the violin performances after a long time.”
It would be a lie to say it wasn’t tiring. He had to watch the performances of hundreds of participants in a day. It wouldn’t have been so hard if he were alone. But he always had to share the space with the grumpy Viktor.
Fortunately, today was the last day of the tape auditions.
“This year’s Queen Elisabeth has the most violinists participating in its history. Only a very few will make it to the finals.”
“The competition must be fierce.”
Due to last year’s food poisoning incident, the competition had been postponed. Simply put, the competition rate had doubled. Every young violinist worldwide had submitted their applications.
Belgium even designated it a national event, and it had already started appearing on public broadcasts.
“We finished the tape auditions yesterday.”
“You evaluated with Maestro Hugo, right?”
“There were no disagreements with Hugo, so it went smoothly. How about you?”
Kang Hyun paused briefly. There weren’t many disagreements with Viktor. They were few enough to be counted on one hand.
“Few disagreements, but….”
“But neither side concedes when they do?”
“I try to concede.”
Hiroshi laughed and nodded. He could easily imagine the situation. He would have preferred to partner with another judge, but what could he do? The die was cast.
After parting with Hiroshi, Kang Hyun headed straight to the audition venue. He encountered Viktor in the hallway, but Viktor still didn’t acknowledge his greeting.
‘Old geezer.’
Kang Hyun moved on as if he had expected it. Eva naturally had to brace herself. Kang Hyun and Viktor were like incompatible chemicals that would cause a big explosion if triggered.
“Eva, thank you for your hard work.”
For six long hours, they watched audition tapes without moving.
They could have taken a break, but they ran non-stop for a simple reason: they didn’t want to be around each other any longer.
Fortunately, there were no clashes of opinion today. Viktor had disappeared like the wind as usual.
‘Should I get a beer?’
He thought about heading to the pub in the hotel basement for a beer. Spending six hours with an unpleasant person made his throat feel tight.
Kang Hyun walked past the hotel lobby toward the basement. Suddenly,
Wham!
He was startled by something wrapping around his neck. Instinctively, he grabbed the attacker’s collar to throw them down. His past life as a prosecutor was finally paying off.
But an assailant in the hotel lobby?
“Hyun!”
At that moment, the attacker, whose collar he had grabbed, shouted urgently. Kang Hyun finally saw it—the flowing platinum blonde hair and emerald green eyes that looked like embedded jewels.
“Anna?”
