novelraw Chapter 283: Stranger (1)
Chapter 283: Stranger (1)
Im Chanyoung stopped the car at the entrance of a large apartment complex with an unnecessarily long name. Lee Cheonghyeon smiled brightly, said his thanks, and closed the car door.
Lee Cheonghyeon looked up at the forest of apartment buildings, which were easily over 30 stories tall. From the moment he entered the gate, his heart felt stifled.
Even after taking a deep breath, the tightness in his chest didn’t go away. Each step was heavy. The soles of his shoes felt sticky, as if they had touched a giant mousetrap.
However, Lee Cheonghyeon’s apartment was too close to the entrance for him to stall the time, and as you would expect from an expensive apartment, the elevator was fast.
“I’m home.”
His memory was far too good to have forgotten the password.
As far as he could remember, nothing in the apartment had changed since they first moved in—not the layout, not the items.
Every choice had been made carefully from the start. Once something was decided, it stayed that way. Money was spent generously to save time, and that time was to be used for more ‘valuable’ things.
‘Valuable thing’ meant something that could prove one’s competence among people—in other words, achieving something through competition.
This unspoken rule had not changed from the past until now. Rather, it had become even more solid.Lee Cheonghyeon fiddled with a frame hanging on the wall. Awards in all sorts of languages were fitted in, perfectly aligned.
In a small glass cabinet next to it, Lee Cheonghyeon’s concours trophies were displayed.
His achievements at home ended with those.
‘Not that I expected anything.’
Lee Cheonghyeon imagined inserting the small trophy he had received from a music show among the trophies in the glass display case. The thought alone was so funny that he let out a dry laugh.
“What’s this?”
Before he could even set his bag down, a provocation was thrown at him.
“…Hey.”
“Why are you here?”
“It’s vacation.”
Lee Cheonghyeon put his bag down with his back to his dongsaeng.
“You still crawl back just because it’s your home.”
Just like the furniture and certificates, the mockery hadn’t changed.
Why was this brat even at home at this hour? Shouldn’t he be off studying at one of those fancy academies he loved so much?
“Still running around, pretending to be an idol?”
The mocking voice loitered in front of the door.
Lee Cheonghyeon didn’t answer. It was easier that way.
“Pathetic piece of sh*t.”
After throwing the harsh words, the footsteps headed towards the kitchen. Lee Cheonghyeon swept his hair up.
‘Ah.’
His vision was filled with books packed tightly on a bookshelf that reached the ceiling. There was nothing in here that Lee Cheonghyeon liked.
‘I want to go home.’
At least for Lee Cheonghyeon, this place was not home.
* * *
They say that everyone gets three chances in life.
When Lee Cheonghyeon was very young, someone who was an older relative patted Lee Cheonghyeon’s head and said this.
‘Cheonghyeon, you’ve already had your first chance. You were born to good parents.’
Indeed, Lee Cheonghyeon grew up without knowing hardship. Before he could even feel the need for something, Lee Cheonghyeon already had everything. If there was anything Lee Cheonghyeon lacked, it would have been the experience of ‘lacking’ itself.
Furthermore, Lee Cheonghyeon was sharp. When he was given something and solved it, he was praised. The praise felt good, so he kept solving more. The more he solved, the more problems he was given.
Lee Cheonghyeon didn’t mind. Because solving problems was fun. Because studying was enjoyable.
However, the academic fields that Lee Cheonghyeon could reach were limited. That became clear the moment Lee Cheonghyeon realized that there were various ‘types of academia.’
Applied mathematics, numerology, physics, chemistry, economics—these were studies that were good for Lee Cheonghyeon to learn.
Astronomy, literature, aquatic biology, library and information science—these were not permitted for Lee Cheonghyeon.
He still remembered the answer he got when he asked, ‘What’s the difference between the two?’.
‘Do you think you can win a Nobel Prize by doing things like that? Literature field is a perfect way to starve.’
When an acquaintance asked if he was by any chance interested in that sort of thing, his mother had answered nonchalantly.
‘Cheonghyeon is not the kind of child to be interested in such things. He’s a born science student.’
The conversation ended there.
The next morning, Lee Cheonghyeon woke up to find that a few books from his bookshelf were missing.
People who lived well also needed hobbies that created a quality life, so Lee Cheonghyeon’s family went to a concert together for the first time in a long while.
His mother had laughed, saying that he had come when he was very young, so he wouldn’t remember.
‘Mom, I remember everything.’
His older brother said that, and their mother praised him, impressed that he remembered. At that time, Lee Cheonghyeon’s siblings were thirsty for praise.
‘I remember too.’
Including Lee Cheonghyeon.
His mother and father dismissed Lee Cheonghyeon’s words as a child’s lie to get atttention. They only gave a perfunctory response, saying that their Cheonghyeon was amazing too.
And when the concert ended.
‘Dad.’
‘What is it?’
‘Does the performance change when the conductor changes?’
Lee Cheonghyeon asked what he had been curious about throughout the hours-long concert.
‘There’s a framework called a musical score, so why does the tone change when the conductor changes? Does the conductor not just keep the beat, but also interpret?’
‘Our Cheonghyeon, why are you curious about that?’
His father asked as he set him down from his arms.
Lee Cheonghyeon’s answer was simple.
‘The performers hardly changed, but the way they used dynamics was different.’
Lee Cheonghyeon’s parents checked to see if they had indeed seen a performance by the same orchestra a few years ago.
The two of them, then and now, wanted to enjoy the best cultural life. Therefore, the orchestra that held the concert then and now had to be the same.
And the two of them came to see the articles that came up while searching for the orchestra.
[20XX Vienna Hillharmonic Korean Performance… Conducted by Stein Lebert]
[Stein Lebert, Retires After Final Performance in the UK]
[20XX Vienna Hillharmonic Finally in Korea with New Conductor…]
They were uncharacteristically flustered.
Their child was certainly sharp—but so was his older brother.
Still, Lee Cheonghyeon was only nine years old, too young to dismiss as merely a bit smart.
So when Cheonghyeon turned eleven and boldly declared he wanted to pursue music, their reluctant permission was likely influenced in large part by this moment.
* * *
Lee Soohoon, the eldest son of the Lee family, was smart. He followed the standard path of an elite, and in middle school, he was evaluated as being able to enter a gifted high school without any difficulty.
In fact, he did get accepted into a gifted high school with confidence, and he continued to perform well there.
The second son, Lee Cheonghyeon, had shown talent from a young age. Though he faced strong opposition, he was eventually allowed to pursue the detour of piano, thanks to Soohoon’s lack of interest in anything besides academics.
But perhaps it was because the intelligence of the third son, Lee Kangmyeong, fell slightly short of their parents’ expectations?
Though Kangmyeong was also talented and diligent, it was only Cheonghyeon who was forced to not give up either music or studies.
Despite being brothers, the feelings they held toward one another weren’t exactly warm, and yet, like strangers, they were all subjected to the same expectations
And so, the three of them grew up without knowing how to care for each other.
Around that time, a new wind blew for Lee Cheonghyepn, out of his parents’ sight.
‘I’m Kang Kiyeon, majoring in Korean dance.’
An unknown classmate had knocked on the door of Lee Cheonghyeon’s classroom, holding an unimaginable option.
‘Are you interested in being an idol?’
This became the catalyst that shook Lee Cheonghyeon’s foundation.
So much so that Lee Cheonghyeon even asked the boy in front of him if he had really come to see him.
‘You’re asking me?’
‘Aren’t you Lee Cheonghyeon? I am sure of it.’
‘How did you know me?’
‘I saw the recital.’
Kang Kiyeon, who said he had seen the recital held at the school every year, just handed over his phone number due to the short break time and returned to his classroom.
Me
[I’m not a composition major though]
Kang Kiyeon (Korean Dance)
[I know.]
Me
[Then why did you ask if I was interested in being an idol?]
[Are you a trainee or something?]
Kang Kiyeon (Korean Dance)
[I am a trainee]
[Is it rude to suggest a different path to someone who has a major?]
[Sorry. I guess I thought others might be open since I’m not pursuing a conventional path either.]
Me
[It’s not really like that]
[It’s just that people don’t usually ask, so I was curious]
No one had ever asked Lee Cheonghyeon what he wanted to do.
In Lee Cheonghyeon’s world, there were only ‘do’ and ‘don’t.’
Kang Kiyeon (Korean Dance)
[Because you received the most bouquets at the recital.]
Me
[What]
Not even ‘the performance was good.’ Just because he received the most bouquets?
Just as the budding interest was about to cool down, Kang Kiyeon’s reply arrived.
Kang Kiyeon (Korean Dance)
[It means you have a lot of friends.]
[Being loved by others is a talent.]
Lee Cheonghyeon stared blankly at the screen.
Kang Kiyeon (Korean Dance)
[I don’t have a good ear, so I don’t know exactly how well you play the piano]
[But if you were the representative at the recital, it means you’re the best in our grade.]
[I thought that if you’re a kid who can work that hard, you could do anything.]
[I heard from the other kids that you’ll be successful enough in that field too.]
[I just wanted to suggest it, so I hope you don’t take it too badly.]
Kang Kiyeon said he asked even though he thought he would be rejected. Because he believed Lee Cheonghyeon would do well.
Him, whom no one in his family believed in.
Many thoughts came to mind.
It wasn’t difficult to find Kang Kiyeon in the Korean dance department.
In fact, it was easy. Because there were almost no boys in the Korean dance class.
‘What do you want?’
Kang Kiyeon looked at Lee Cheonghyeon, who had called him, with a displeased expression.
‘What do you do after school?’
‘I go to the company and practice.’
‘I mean, for fun.’
Lee Cheonghyeon, who had changed his career path once, needed certainty. Certainty about whether it was okay to walk a different path again. Because he had only ever changed his mind without achieving anything.
So for a few days, Lee Cheonghyeon followed Kang Kiyeon around. He went to a place called a comic cafe, and he even entered a small agency, smaller than one of the research complexes of the institute where Lee Cheonghyeon’s mother was the vice director, for the sake of a tour.
During lunchtime, he watched videos of people dancing on the streets.
‘So you joined UA after watching this person?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Then are you going to debut with this person?’
‘I’m just thinking it would be nice if that happened.’
Kang Kiyeon turned off his phone and stood up from his seat. His skinny wrist dangled as he picked up a can of soda.
What kind of reason could there be for not being able to eat what you want, dancing all day and night, and having to wait for an uncertain debut instead of a concours where you could win an award with just your own ability?
‘Why do you want to be an idol?’
Lee Cheonghyeon looked up at Kang Kiyeon.
Kang Kiyeon answered.
‘Does there have to be a reason? I do it because I want to.’
Lee Cheonghyeon thought about it. Whether the piano was really the final destination of the music he wanted to do.
And he belatedly remembered. That the piano was a compromise between him and his family.
Kang Kiyeon had essentially re-lit Lee Cheonghyeon’s broken fuse.
Lee Cheonghyeon believed this was the second chance in his life. So for the first time, he tried to rebel. He used every means he could to persuade them.
As the old saying goes, there were no parents who could win against a child who went on a hunger strike, refused to go to school, and cried and screamed every day.
Instead, Lee Cheonghyeon was no longer a member of this household.
To a family for whom the gazes of others were as important as their own lives, Lee Cheonghyeon’s deviation was an unforgivable act.
Conversely, appearing as a normal family to others was also important.
So Lee Cheonghyeon couldn’t completely distance himself from his home either. It was a cruel thing.