CHAPTER 28
“Good timing.”
Jung Tae-sung glanced at his wristwatch and continued.
“The other two students recommended for the scholarship will be here soon. You should greet them before you leave.”
“Right now?”
“Yeah.”
I frowned inwardly.
The timing felt too perfect, as if he had already expected me to accept. Or maybe, even if I had refused, he planned to subtly pressure me into changing my mind by setting up this situation.
Looking at Jung Tae-sung’s calm face, I felt slightly uneasy.
“There’s a presentation coming up soon. I was going to discuss what you three should prepare. You’ll be moving as a team from now on, so it’d be good to get close.”
As soon as he finished speaking, footsteps echoed from the hallway.
Knock knock.
“Come in~.”
The door slid open.
The first thing I saw was bright yellow bleached hair.
“Yoon-jae, you’re here.”
Jo Yoon-jae smiled when he saw me already seated. It looked like he was saying, “See?” I told you. It was oddly irritating.
—
I’m Jo Yoon-jae. I think we’ll be seeing each other often. I figured I’d introduce myself in advance.
—
So that’s what he meant.
After hearing my presentation that day, he must have sensed I would end up in the same scholarship group as him.
Well, not many people would reject this elite opportunity.
“Where’s Se-a?”
“She’ll be here soon. I ran into her on the first floor.”
“Really? Why didn’t you come together?”
“Well…”
Jo Yoon-jae trailed off awkwardly while naturally sitting on the sofa across from Jung Tae-sung—right next to me.
Soon, I understood the meaning of that silence.
“Professor!”
Fast, bouncing footsteps echoed down the hallway.
The half-closed door was pushed open roughly, and a short female student burst in energetically.
“I’m here!”
Her wide grin made her look like a mischievous child. Honestly, she looked young enough to be a middle schooler.
The guitar case on her back was almost as big as she was, making her look unsteady.
She wore a pink hoodie with bunny ears and was dressed head-to-toe in pink.
She looked like she had stepped straight out of a Japanese manga.
“Se-a’s energetic as always!”
“Yes~! I even met the cutest puppy on the first floor!”
The girl called Se-a started jumping in place, passionately describing how adorable the puppy had been.
Hmm. If she’d been like that earlier, it would’ve been hard to approach her casually.
I glanced at Jo Yoon-jae. As expected, he looked slightly exhausted already.
Even someone as sly as him seemed overwhelmed by her unstoppable, carefree personality.
“Alright, alright. You two, greet each other. Yoon-jae, you’ve already met her in class, right? This is Yoon Seol. She’s a second-year student and will be joining the scholarship group.”
“Nice to meet you. I transferred from the piano department.”
“Okay, you two introduce yourselves as well.”
At Jung Tae-sung’s prompting, Jo Yoon-jae spoke first.
“I’m Jo Yoon-jae. You didn’t take a gap year, right? Then we’re the same age.”
“I’m Kang Se-a!”
She interrupted before he could finish.
“I’m a third-year, and my main instrument is guitar!”
Third year?
She looked like a first-year at most. My surprise must have shown, because Kang Se-a grinned.
“Just so you know, I really hate it when juniors speak casually to me. So I’d appreciate it if you treated me… politely.”
“Of course.”
She must have suffered a lot because of her young-looking face.
When she warned me, her cheerful demeanor vanished, replaced by a chilling coldness.
‘She’s like a completely different person.’
The gap between her bright smile and her blank expression was huge.
‘Or maybe that cute act is fake, and this is her real personality.’
Jung Tae-sung clapped his hands to refocus us.
“Alright. Since introductions are done, let’s get to the main topic. We need to decide what to present in front of the sponsors.”
Kang Se-a’s eyes sparkled.
“How about an ensemble? Now that we have someone from piano. A trio would be nice.”
Jo Yoon-jae responded immediately.
“If we make it a performance-focused recital, we might just end up being compared. The classical majors will prepare recitals too.”
“True. If the composition department only does a simple ensemble, it might be a bit underwhelming.”
Jung Tae-sung nodded.
“Then how about each of us presenting an original composition?”
“That defeats the purpose of being a team. It would just be three solo performances.”
Kang Se-a protested.
“What should we do…”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm.”
Silence filled the room as the three of them pondered.
I carefully raised my hand.
“Then how about we each present our own compositions but show a single connected theme?”
“A theme?”
“Yes. For example, we could choose ‘Time’ and create pieces based on Past–Present–Future.”
“Oh~. That’s good. Like a four-part piece based on the four seasons.”
“It would be easy to show we’re a team.”
“That’s not bad!”
“Then what theme should we use?”
“Past, present, and future feel a bit abstract.”
“Maybe something more intuitive, but still open to interpretation.”
They fell into thought again. While Kang Se-a and Jung Tae-sung discussed, Jo Yoon-jae spoke up.
“What about Birth–Life–Death as a trilogy?”
“Oh? That’s good. It’s classic, but that makes it interesting.”
Jung Tae-sung responded positively. Kang Se-a immediately raised her hand.
“I want life! I’ll do Life!”
“I don’t mind either way. Seol, what about you?”
I nodded.
“Yay!”
Kang Se-a jumped excitedly after claiming her part.
“That leaves Birth and Death…”
Jo Yoon-jae looked at me.
“Which one do you want? I’m fine with anything.”
The choice was mine.
I slowly inhaled. Either was fine, but if I had to choose…
“Death.”
I answered in a low voice.
“I’ll do Death.”
“Then I’ll take Birth.”
Jo Yoon-jae nodded calmly. Jung Tae-sung looked at the three of us in turn.
“Good. Now that it’s decided, the key is to clearly show your own color in your composition. Bring a basic melody line next week. I’ll review it and help you improve what’s lacking.”
“Yes~!”
“Understood.”
“Alright.”
“Dismissed!”
At Jung Tae-sung’s announcement, Kang Se-a laughed brightly and ran out.
When I peeked outside, she was already just a small dot in the distance.
“It’s too early to be surprised.”
Outside, Jo Yoon-jae smirked.
“What?”
“Se-a noona. She looks a bit silly, but her talent is real.”
He spoke as if he knew her well. Seeing my curious expression, he explained.
“We’ve both been in the scholarship group since last year. A fourth-year senior graduated, and you’re filling the spot.”
I see. So they’d already known each other for a year.
Since they held a presentation every semester, they’d already prepared together twice.
“It’s always the same. First people are surprised by her young face. Then by her age. And finally by her skill.”
That much, huh?
I hadn’t heard her compositions before, but I was starting to feel curious.
“By the way, I didn’t expect that.”
“…?”
“That you’d choose Death.”
He smiled faintly.
“It looks like the easiest theme at first glance, but it’s actually the hardest.”
I waited quietly for him to continue.
“Birth and life are things we’ve all experienced. There are shared images. Birth—like a baby’s first cry, or a single beam of light found after curling up in darkness.”
He shrugged lightly.
“Life is the same. Joy, anger, sorrow, happiness. Everyone can project their own experiences onto it. Empathy is one of the most important things to hold the audience’s attention.”
His gaze locked onto mine.
“On the other hand, ‘Death’ is unknown. Something we, the living, can’t truly understand.”
I let out a small laugh.
Jo Yoon-jae narrowed his eyes, studying me.
“Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean your words were funny. It’s just…”
I paused for a moment before continuing.
“In that sense, I think I chose well.”
The distant pain that surges like a tide and then recedes. That chilling coldness. It’s something only those who’ve experienced it can truly understand.
I could say this with certainty.
In this world, there was no one who understood death better than I did.
