“Maestro is more passionate than usual today.”
Emanuel, the principal cellist of the London Symphony, was relaxing his hand that held the bow. They had practiced for so long that his arm was lightly trembling.
Although there was still quite some time before the Asian tour, under Spencer’s perfect direction, the orchestra members showed no signs of stopping their practice.
“Dmitri, did something good happen to the maestro?”
Emanuel subtly asked the concertmaster Dmitri. The concertmaster was the only person in the orchestra who conversed with the maestro.
However, the answer that came was as cold as his icy eyes.
“Why do you think so?”
“Isn’t he different from usual? Instead of scolding the members who played wrong notes, he gave them another chance. Look at the other members, most of them seem confused.”
Dmitri nodded briefly. As Emanuel mentioned, there was something different about the maestro.
In the past, he was so sharp that he seemed like he could cut someone, but now he was as soft as down feathers. Even the baton, which used to sharply cut through the beats, seemed to be floating.
“It seems the maestro is looking forward to the Asian tour.”
“The Asian tour?”
Emanuel didn’t understand. Asia wasn’t a region that primarily embraced classical music. Moreover, Korea was even known as a barren land for classical music.
It was rather curious that the maestro chose Korea instead of Japan.
At that moment.
“Maybe the maestro’s muse is there.”
Dmitri stood up. Though it was a passing remark, the members didn’t just brush it off. No, some were even shocked to the point of widening their eyes.
A muse for the maestro, who is tenacious and a thorough perfectionist? And in Asia?
It didn’t make sense.
At that time.
Spencer was alone in the conductors’ room, watching a video. It was a recording of the London performance.
Spencer’s eyes sparkled as he watched the screen. He scrutinized the members as if not tolerating any mistakes.
Knock, knock.
With a knock, an old security guard of the London Symphony came to find him. “Sorry, Maestro. I heard you were resting in the room…”
The security guard bowed his head quickly upon seeing Spencer’s sharp eyes, but Spencer waved his hand and stood up. He had originally entered the room saying he would rest, but ended up not doing so.
“It’s fine, Joseph. What is it?” “A letter has arrived for you, Maestro.” “A letter?”
It was a small letter in a white envelope. At that moment.
Spencer’s expression changed upon checking the sender of the letter.
“Maestro?”
Joseph, the old security guard of the London Symphony, widened his eyes.
In over 20 years of seeing Spencer, he had never seen such a bright smile on the maestro’s face. People said the maestro had changed, and it seemed to be true.
“It should have arrived by now, right?”
The sky, cleared of the rainy season, was bright and clear. Since it was sent by express mail, it should have arrived in Japan and even in England by now.
As I came out of the bathroom with a towel around my neck after washing my face, “Kang Hyun.”
The housekeeper carefully called me.
“Ma’am, what is all this?”
A suit that looked obviously expensive at a glance.
“The master asked me to prepare clothes for you, Kang Hyun.”
Grandfather?
Grandfather unfolded the morning newspaper after finishing his meal. While the printed letters occasionally caught my attention, a large headline that decorated the front page soon caught my eye.
A wedding in a conglomerate family. It was the day when two top ten conglomerates were joining by marriage, so it was not unusual for it to be on the front page. It was as significant as a major corporate merger.
“There’s an important wedding today. You should get ready to go out as well.” I almost had orange juice come out of my nose from surprise.
No way.
As I looked at the morning newspaper, grandfather nodded briefly. “Do you know about Hyunseong Group?”
How could I not know?
I had even met the groom before.
The youngest of Hyunseong Group was famous in the business world. Of course, in a bad way. People jokingly said he would float even if he fell into water.
He enjoyed a decadent life so much that he was involved in numerous incidents. Where did I see him?
“Father, are you taking Hyun as well?”
Uncle raised his voice as he saw me following grandfather. His face was filled with evident tension.
I was tired of this already. Was he afraid I would take his place right away? As grandfather moved without responding, uncle glanced at me.
“Cough, be mindful of your behavior today as many adults will be there.”
“Yes, uncle.”
Seriously, does he think I can’t handle myself better than him?
After uncle’s forehead was injured, he seemed even more anxious. He probably didn’t expect grandfather to completely cut him off like this.
As I got into the car.
“Driver Kim, let’s go.”
Grandfather locked the back seat and closed his eyes. Driver Kim checked grandfather’s appearance in the rearview mirror and nodded.
Uncle was watching me with a blank expression from outside the car window. He looked like he didn’t understand what was happening.
“Father!”
Uncle’s desperate voice was heard from outside the car window, but the car soon started. As uncle’s figure receded in the side mirror, grandfather murmured to himself.
“I didn’t even call him.”
-There are three devils in Gramophone.
A story passed down in Gramophone, the world’s most famous classical music magazine.
Adam Wishaw, the chief editor of Gramophone, was a renowned music critic and violin collector.
The reason he flew to Asia was simple. It was to meet the queen of strings.
It was already a well-known story that he shed tears listening to Hirose’s performance, who he had harshly criticized for her violin play.
“Queen, it’s been a long time.”
Adam Wishaw stood up and greeted Hirose politely. For those who knew how heavy his presence was, it was quite a surprising scene.
The two greeted each other warmly as if reuniting with an old friend.
“Queen’s 30th album will undoubtedly win the Gramophone Award this time as well.”
“Adam, isn’t that too biased?”
“You know, Queen, Gramophone doesn’t just collect the one-sided opinions of the editors.”
Adam took a sip of tea and asked.
“Queen, why did you step down from the judging panel?”
It was one of the world’s top three competitions. The violin world was abuzz when the queen of strings, Hirose, took on the role of judge.
It was understandable. The queen had never even shown her face at competitions before.
But soon after, Hirose abruptly stepped down from the judging panel, leading to many rumors.
“I felt I couldn’t give a fair evaluation.”
Adam’s ears were filled with unbelievable words.
“Queen, what do you mean by that?”
“Adam, I’ve already been captivated by one person’s music. If he participates in the competition, I won’t be able to focus on others.”
Adam’s eyes were filled with confusion. What was she saying? Could it be Mozart reincarnated? Otherwise, who could captivate the queen of strings with their music?
Oppa―!
I felt like I was hearing a hallucination. Just seeing Son Yooha’s silhouette from afar made me hear her voice.
By the way, did they consult a famous fortune teller for a good date? The sky was so blue that it didn’t seem like it had rained.
Under the shining spire, countless members of conglomerate families were gathering. Where was this place?
Myeongdong Cathedral.
Of course, both conglomerate families were not devout Catholics.
At a time when there were many talks about arranged marriages between conglomerate families, could there be a more suitable place to disguise it as a love marriage and tie the knot?
“Oppa, are you all better from your cold?”
Son Yooha, who had come close, looked at me with concern, while Chairman Wang and grandfather watched with satisfaction. However, I could feel a sharp gaze from behind, it must be Son Ilsung shooting laser beams.
I saw many familiar faces from the last banquet.
Since it was a wedding of conglomerate families, it seemed that all the heirs of each group were present.
Most of them greeted the elders dressed in hanbok and then sought out Chairman Wang, as if it was a set course. On the surface, it was hard to tell whose wedding it was.
“Oppa, they look so beautiful and handsome, right?”
Son Yooha looked at the bride and groom in tuxedo and wedding dress with her mouth open. To a child’s eyes, they must look amazing.
But do they know that those two would have a bloody legal battle over their assets decades later? They were the ones who first popularized gray divorce in Korea.
The wedding proceeded in a solemn atmosphere. It was the conservative 90s, and with the elders from the conglomerate families gathered, appearances were important.
Even the old priest who officiated the wedding was sweating profusely from nervousness.
‘Huh?’
As the ceremony was in full swing, someone familiar walked to the piano for the congratulatory song. Grandfather was already looking at me.
‘The Iron-blooded Maestro?’
I remembered then.
That Baek Junghoon was a collateral member of Hyunseong Group. Later, the nickname “Iron-blooded Maestro” became more famous, almost overshadowing the fact that he was part of a conglomerate family.
I remember his cold and stern personality didn’t favor letting people know he was a member of a conglomerate family.
But to think he would play a congratulatory performance at a wedding.
Crunch.
Baek Junghoon bit his dry lips tightly. Was this how he felt when he participated in the Chopin Competition? No, it was even more nerve-wracking.
But he had to pull himself together. All his family members were watching him closely. If he hadn’t achieved this much success in piano, he wouldn’t even be facing them.
‘Hoo.’
He took a deep breath and his long fingers moved towards the keys.
Dooong.
With the start of a heavy melody,
Baek Junghoon’s fingers began to dance non-stop.
Following the overall flow of the piece, the dynamics changed as if singing. Eventually, the beautiful melody, no less than a heavenly voice, reached the spire of Myeongdong Cathedral.
It wasn’t just a simple piano performance. He was already emerging as a world-class pianist. Even those who were not familiar with classical music could tell how excellent Baek Junghoon’s performance was. But.
‘Huh.’
Maybe it was because he was too nervous.
Baek Junghoon made a mistake without realizing it. Of course, the conglomerate family members wouldn’t notice. It was just a small dot on a thick line.
At that moment, Baek Junghoon’s eyes met those of a boy sitting in the audience.
Aren’t you doing it properly?
