“Inauguration?”
The tea swayed in the wind.
“Alexei, that’s not my style at all. I know that even when you were appointed as the head of the conservatory, you unusually didn’t hold an inauguration, right?”
Receiving attention from others was enough on stage. It wasn’t like he ended his long rest to take on a title.
Moreover, if his close friend Alexei hadn’t been the head, he would have declined the position of department head.
“Anton, let’s be clear. There are far more people waiting for you at Tchaikovsky than for me. If you had actively stepped up, you would be sitting in this chair instead of me. You know I’m not very popular with the students.”
“Are you still pushing the students to the edge of a cliff? Like a mother lion.”
Alexei twitched his cheek.
It was extremely rare for the head of the conservatory to teach. It was the first time since the founding head Tchaikovsky taught harmony a hundred years ago.
Was it a good opportunity for the undergraduates? Of course, but considering Alexei’s nature, he wouldn’t have spared harsh criticisms.
He was the kind of person who, in his younger days, would openly criticize even professors who lacked skills.
“I heard the eternal maestro will also attend this inauguration, so don’t think of skipping it.”
“Gustav?”
Anton’s voice naturally rose.
He couldn’t help but be surprised. Who was Gustav? He was a legendary violinist who dominated the era alongside Jascha Heifetz and was now an eternal maestro, respected by countless musicians.
“Anton, it seems you have quite a reputation. People are coming from all over to congratulate you on your inauguration. They even say a ghost has appeared at the conservatory. It seems even ghosts welcome you.”
“A ghost? Are you talking about Tchaikovsky?”
It was a rumor that circulated when Anton and Alexei were undergraduates at the Moscow Conservatory. At midnight, the portrait of Tchaikovsky in the concert hall supposedly came to life. It seemed far-fetched, but quite a few believed it at the time.
“Alexei, do you remember the bet we made in the dormitory when we were young? The loser of the vodka game had to fetch the sheet music left in the concert hall. In the end, you lost, didn’t you?”
“Ahem, I don’t remember. When was that?”
“It feels like it was just yesterday. You fainted right after entering the concert hall that night, mistaking the night patrol guard for Tchaikovsky’s ghost. Is Tchaikovsky’s ghost still wandering the conservatory this time?”
At that moment, Alexei furrowed his brows and shook his head. “No, this time it’s a little ghost.”
A burst of good-natured laughter echoed beyond the door.
Knock, knock―!
My ears were itchy as if water had entered them while showering.
For the first time in a while, I changed into a suit with my father. My mother had packed it just in case, and here I was, needing to wear it.
I never imagined I would participate in an event in a foreign land.
“Hyun, I always feel this way, but doesn’t this hotel look like a building from a movie?”
My father said as we waited for a taxi at the hotel entrance.
I looked up at the hotel. It was true. The entirely pink exterior and the courteous manager reminded me of the Grand Budapest Hotel directed by Anderson.
Just then, an old-fashioned Russian taxi arrived.
“Tchaikovsky?”
The taxi driver checked our faces in the rearview mirror and was startled. It was none other than the bearded driver I had met before.
The bearded driver’s face twisted as he tried to fill his pockets from his first customer. I had already mouthed “200 rubles.”
“We’ve arrived, sir.”
Still, out of a sense of affection, I gave the bearded driver an additional 20 rubles. After all, people are the same everywhere. He was probably someone’s father too.
We arrived in front of the Tchaikovsky statue, passing the Lenin statue, a relic of a past era. However, Dr. Tikhonov was nowhere to be seen even after waiting for a long time.
Eventually, my father, who had been checking his wristwatch, spoke up.
“Dr. Tikhonov is later than expected?”
“Russians are not very punctual with their appointments, Father.” It wasn’t incorrect. Not many cultures adhered strictly to appointment times.
Fortunately, Dr. Tikhonov wasn’t of Arab descent. In my previous life, when Middle Eastern buyers arrived late for appointments and excused themselves with “Inshallah” (God willing), it made me want to give them a knock on the head.
Just then,
“There he is?”
A dilapidated car that could be spotted from a distance appeared. It looked so old that no old car could compare, as if all its parts were mismatched.
Dr. Tikhonov, who had spotted us, wildly rolled down the window and waved his hand, causing the car to shake back and forth. Oh, please don’t. Watching him made me more anxious about a potential accident.
“Mr. Kang, I apologize for being late. Black Martin broke down midway.”
“Black Martin?”
“This fellow here. I realized all the coolant had dried up and had to perform emergency treatment. I almost had to leave Black Martin by the roadside. He’s my friend for the next twenty years, after all. Haha.”
It seemed even the old car had a name.
By the sound of it, we’d better take a taxi back after the inauguration. Otherwise, I might end up in the emergency room before Black Martin.
“Doctor, there are more people than I expected.”
For a simple department head’s inauguration, the number of people who came to the Moscow Conservatory seemed quite large.
From the entrance, people were bustling, making it hard to imagine how many were inside the inauguration hall.
“It might be immodest to say, but my cousin is quite well-known in the Russian classical music scene. He returned after traveling the world for several years, so it’s been a while since anyone has seen him. Oh, and in Russia, families usually come out in full force for such events. Those people walking ahead are all my relatives. And those behind, too.”
As Tikhonov said, many people indeed looked alike. I thought all Russians looked similar, but it turned out they were all related.
As we moved forward with Tikhonov leading, the security guard gave me a puzzled look.
“Guests looking for Dean Anton Tikhonov’s inauguration hall, please go this way.”
Undergraduates were guiding people to the inauguration hall, and a familiar face caught my eye.
The young man with dark brown hair and long fingers left a strong impression on me. Except for not shedding tears this time, he looked the same as in my previous memory.
Unconsciously, the young man guiding people to the inauguration hall glanced at me. Then he snapped his head back like a spring.
“······!”
His eyes widened as if seeing a ghost.
Creak―!
The dormitory cafeteria door screeched as if it were about to break, startling everyone.
Students who were eating had puzzled expressions. It was only natural, as the person who should be guiding guests to the inauguration hall had run in, drenched in sweat.
He would soon be relieved, but he must have been unable to resist the sweet smell of the soup to run in like this.
“Maxim, you’ll be relieved soon. Why are you in such a hurry? If you leave your post, guests to the dean’s inauguration will get lost. Have you already forgotten how big our conservatory is?”
The burly female student closest to him, eating an omelet, stood up. Judging by the calluses on her large hands, she was probably a percussion student.
The other students seemed relieved. If Maxim gave a flimsy excuse, the object in her hand would turn from a baton to a club.
“G, g, ghost!”
But Maxim was stuttering like he had seen a hallucination. The students realized he hadn’t come for the sweet soup smell.
The female student’s thick palm rested on Maxim’s shoulder.
Like fixing a broken toy, she snapped his shoulder a few times, shaking Maxim’s body violently.
“Maxim, speak properly!”
In a voice that rang like an alarm bell,
“A ghost appeared!”
“A ghost?”
“Yes, the kid I told you about.”
It was a legend that had spread widely at the Moscow Conservatory. Some professors even said it might follow in the footsteps of the Tchaikovsky ghost story that swept through decades ago.
Could that ghost have reappeared? In broad daylight? However, the next shout made all the students stand up simultaneously.
“The ghost is sitting in the inauguration hall―!”
The eyes of Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Glinka, and Rubinstein on the wall were piercing.
The space usually used as a concert hall was set up as an inauguration hall today.
Anyone would think a famous musician’s solo concert was happening, as the first and second floors were packed. So many people came that even the stairs were crowded.
Huh?
At that moment, ‘Maestro?’ The great Russian maestro Alexei was stepping onto the podium. His raised eyebrows and sharp eyes were unchanged. I almost stood up in delight.
“That is the president of the Moscow Conservatory.”
“Excuse me?”
“He is a very renowned maestro in Russia. His nickname is the Eagle of the Sky because of his immense charisma.”
I couldn’t believe the maestro had become the president of the Moscow Conservatory. He seemed disinterested in nurturing future generations.
Another person then stepped onto the podium, and my father gave me a knowing look.
‘The old gentleman?’
It was the old gentleman I met on the Russian airline. I could never forget the man with whom I passionately discussed Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy. My father, with his keen eye, also recognized him immediately.
Why is he here?
“He is my cousin. He will be the new department head at the Moscow Conservatory.”
I almost laughed out loud. What a coincidence. Anton’s inauguration speech felt like Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.
The enthusiastic cheers indicated that he was a highly anticipated professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Even the maestro with the stern expression was smiling broadly at this moment.
As the inauguration was wrapping up, Alexei approached the microphone.
“On behalf of the Moscow Conservatory, I extend my gratitude to everyone who attended today’s inauguration. Especially to violinist Andrei, who visited despite his solo concert schedule, and to Karleya, who won the Chopin Competition and is preparing a congratulatory performance.”
Quite a few famous people attended.
“And a special honor to the eternal maestro Gustav, who came all the way from Brussels to Moscow for this inauguration.”
Gustav? The eternal maestro came too! It dawned on me how significant this event was.
Then, Alexei’s gaze froze as if broken, fixing on one spot.
Everyone was puzzled by his eyes, which seemed to stop time.
Gulp―!
His Adam’s apple bobbed significantly. It felt like Alexei was looking at me with a ‘cheeky kid’ expression. For a moment, Alexei’s cheek twitched slowly as if he were pleased.
“Come to think of it, the youngest winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition is also here secretly.”
