By Zephyria Ah. My mouth dropped open. Even though I had arrived at the place I wanted to be, I was so flustered by the situation in front of me that I couldn’t say anything.
“It’s okay, Mother. Tae-kyung seems a little shy.”
I turned my head and looked at the teacher sitting across from the sofa. The kind teacher who smiled warmly even after listening to my clumsy performance.
“Teacher.”
“Yes, yes. Tae-kyung.”
After calling the teacher, I looked at Mom. Mom, who had long, straight hair down to her shoulders, was much younger and prettier than I remembered. Seeing that, I felt both happy and touched, and I felt like I was about to cry.
“I… I don’t think I have any talent for piano.”
Mom’s eyes widened at my trembling voice.
“No, what are you talking about? Teacher, the academy he used to go to said that our Tae-kyung had a lot of talent!”
My Mom sincerely believed that I had talent for piano. That’s why she was even trying to get me expensive private lessons. It was all just a waste of money.
“Mom… I really don’t have any talent for piano. I’ve been doing it for over a year and I’m still terrible.”
“Huhu, Tae-kyung. Don’t worry too much.”
The teacher reached out and stroked my hair.
“It’s okay to invest in the basics for about two years if you take a long-term view. Artists can bloom late.”
There’s a limit to how kind you can be. How can you tell me to continue playing the piano when you’re raising a genius like Sung Se-han?
“Tae-kyung, you heard what the teacher said, right? Mom will take responsibility until you go to music college….”
“Mom, I’m not going to music college.”
I jumped up from my seat, but for some reason my view was low. As I turned my head from side to side, a mirror hanging on the wall caught my eye.
Lee Tae-kyung at the age of twelve, wearing a mature shirt. He was taller and noticeably more handsome than I remembered.
“Tae-kyung?”
Mom, who had stood up with me, pressed down on my shoulder. I stared straight at Mom, who had implicitly expressed that I would be scolded when I got home, and I retorted.
“Mom, I’m going to be an idol.”
“What, what?”
Mom let out a frustrated sigh as if wondering what nonsense I was talking about.
“Teacher, I’m sorry. He wasn’t like this at home….”
“Mom, I’m not going to learn piano. I’m never coming to this academy. I’m going to join a company and become an idol trainee.”
Mom’s face turned pale at my words, which I spat out without a break.
“Tae-kyung? What’s wrong with you? Why all of a sudden….”
“Hoh ho ho. Mother, please let Tae-kyung do what he wants.”
The teacher, who had gotten up from the sofa, persuaded Mom instead of me.
“I think Tae-kyung would be very popular if he became an idol. Wouldn’t it be better to let him do what he wants to do?”
“No… Teacher. I’ll try to talk to him when I get home. Oh my, I’m so sorry….”
Mom, who was very angry, grabbed my hand tightly and left the teacher’s room. As I was dragged out by Mom, I hurriedly looked around the hallway.
I never thought I would come back to this nostalgic academy, where Sung Se-han’s private lesson room was just one floor up.
“Come on! Don’t dawdle.”
Hearing Mom’s voice, I felt like I would be in big trouble when I got home. But I will never come to this academy again.
So, I won’t recklessly break into Sung Se-han’s lesson room in five days.
Sung Se-han will not have a chance to meet me, and I will not be able to meet Sung Se-han.
From this moment on, the dangerous element called me has been removed from Sung Se-han’s time.
That way, Sung Se-han will be completely safe.
After being dragged out of the old-fashioned academy building by Mom, I looked back one last time.
The beautiful times that would never come back to me were there.
*
I am a lucky person.
How many people in this world can go back to the age of twelve and live a new life?
No matter how many times I thought about it, I was truly a person blessed by the star of luck.
In that blessing, I lived a much more comfortable life than before.
Because studying, which had troubled me the most in my childhood, didn’t feel that difficult. Of course, it would be ridiculous if a twenty-year-old said that elementary school was difficult.
Anyway, it was nice to see Mom happy because I was taking the initiative to study the middle school curriculum in advance.
When I thought about it, studying might be the easiest thing to do. I wondered if it would be okay to keep working hard like this and get into a prestigious university to completely change my life.
But less than a month after entering middle school, I completely erased that thought. I was already sick and tired of the tough curriculum.
“Lee Tae-kyung.”
While I was walking alone in the schoolyard after eating lunch, a female student followed me. I couldn’t pretend not to hear her, so I turned around.
It was a second-year Noona with long, wavy hair down to her shoulders, who was called a goddess at our school.
“Lee Tae-kyung, will you accept this?”
The white and pretty hand held out expensive chocolate that wasn’t sold at the store.
“I like you. Take this and go out with me.”
It was a confident confession from a pretty middle school student who had never been rejected before. If I had heard this kind of confession from Noona before, I probably would have bought ice cream for the whole class. But now I can’t spend money recklessly like I used to. It was because I had experienced to some extent how damn hard it was to earn money.
“Noona, I’m really grateful, but I have someone I like.”
“What?”
Noona pouted her lips as if complaining about my rejection. And she smiled as she tucked her hair behind her ear. It must be her special move.
“Who is it? Are they a student at our school?”
“Originally….”
My gaze naturally turned towards the school gate. In the past, we used to wait for each other in front of the school gate as if we had promised to do so from the first day of school, and we would go to school together.
“Originally, we were at the same school… but strangely, it’s different this time. I don’t know why….”
If I entered the same middle school, I wanted to watch over Sung Se-han even from afar. It wasn’t that I was greedy to get closer, but I just wanted to confirm that he was living in the same world, even from afar.
In fact, I had been holding on while waiting for the middle school entrance ceremony where I could see Sung Se-han.
It was only when Sung Se-han wasn’t seen at that entrance ceremony that I admitted that I was creating meaningless reasons and being greedy.
I couldn’t let go of my selfish greed, which was of no help to Sung Se-han.
“School assignments aren’t up to you.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
I wanted to take a walk a little more before the afternoon classes started, but Noona didn’t seem to want to leave.
“Is that kid so pretty?”
“Well… in terms of looks, she’s actually the best in the world.”
Noona’s eyes narrowed at my answer.
“Love goggles.”
“I would say it’s love goggles if I was the only one who liked her. She was actually the most popular.”
Noona also fell for Sung Se-han and ignored me back then. My heart ached at the sudden thought of the old days. I was tormented by inferiority when I watched Sung Se-han’s love life, but looking back, it was the happiest time.
It was a dreamlike time when we could always be together.
“Tell me if you change your mind. I can wait three months for you if it’s you.”
Thanks to Noona’s prim expression, I laughed after a long time.
“Don’t wait, Noona. My heart will never change.”
I had already offered my entire life’s worth of heart as a price. The pride that I had bet everything for Sung Se-han was what made me live. It was the power that helped me get through today.
Actually… now that we’re on the subject, I didn’t know that a day was such a long time before.
Even if I spent the whole day busy, 24 hours felt like 240 hours, flowing slowly and sluggishly. I think it was also because I had insomnia.
In the slow and boring time, the only thing I waited for was the Global Enter audition. In the spring of the year I became a third-year, I set foot in Global Enter at the same time as the day I had auditioned before.
And in front of the familiar faces who participated in the screening, I sang five of Seol Ye-eun Noona’s hit songs in a row. Thanks to my improved singing skills, compliments poured out on the spot, unlike before.
“Your looks are good and your vocals are top-notch.”
“He can even be the main dancer at that level. It’s okay to debut him right away.”
“Really, haven’t you been to any other companies? Is our company your first?”
It was quite rewarding to see the team leader, who used to scold me for my basic dance skills, looking at me with admiring eyes. And… I almost laughed because of Team leader Jang Ju-mi, who was looking at me as if she had discovered a treasure.
“The trainees practice over here, so remember that.”
Team leader Jang Ju-mi seemed to think that I would go to another agency, so she took me to the practice room right after the audition.
“Okay, everyone gather around! This is the new trainee who has been confirmed today.”
Huh? I haven’t even signed a contract yet? I chuckled at Team leader Jang Ju-mi’s hasty appearance, but I stopped right there.