Pianist's Village

A week later, at Soo-hyun's house.

The terrace window on the fourth floor was open, and five or six young men stood in front of it, looking in and shouting.

"Easy! Easy! Do you know how much this piano costs?"

"If you get a scratch on it, it's a huge problem, so please, lift it slowly!"

The sound of a ladder truck could be heard.

It was a spectacular sight to see the grand piano, sent by a piano delivery company, being lifted along the rails fixed to the terrace. Usually, pianos that are too heavy are delivered by elevator, but Soo-hyun's villa didn't have one. Besides, for a grand piano, it's safer to use a ladder truck than to carry it up the stairs.

But it costs a lot of money.

Ji-ye, who was leaning against the terrace frame with her arms crossed as she watched, glanced at Soo-hyun, who was sitting on the newly delivered sofa, and said,

"Soo-hyun, aren't you curious to see what the piano is like?"

Soo-hyun smiled brightly from the sofa.

'Soo-hyun already knows. He received a call from Professor Lech a few days ago.'

After Soo-hyun bought his cell phone, only four people had entered their numbers. First was Kim Ji-ye, then Professor Lee Chan-ho, then teaching assistant Han Ji-hye, and finally Professor Lech. When he had called the number on his business card, the professor had told him he would give him a piano as a gift.

'This piano was sent from Warsaw, so it must be a good one, right?' 'Even if I'm hopeful, running to the terrace and clinging to it won't make the piano arrive any faster.' 'It would be a disaster if it got damaged because they were rushing. It's better to wait quietly so they can bring it up slowly.' 'I'm really excited, but I don't want to rush. How long will it take to set it up?'

It was a question for Ji-ye, but the answer came from the worker who had been listening beside her.

"It will take about an hour. It's not difficult to install, but it takes some time to tune it."

Soo-hyun nodded as if he understood, and seeing Ji-ye's "did you hear that?" expression, he stood up.

"I'm going to take a walk nearby."

"Don't go too far. Only go as far as you can see the house. Okay?"

'She makes me laugh. Sister Ji-ye is good at everything, but the problem is she's too overprotective. I'm fourteen in Korean age now, but she tells me to only walk where I can see the house. Of course, it might be because I haven't been here long and I'm not familiar with the neighborhood.'

"Okay, Sister."

Soo-hyun went to his room, grabbed his usual shirt to go out, and saw new clothes, still in their plastic wrapping, inside the open closet.

'This is the tracksuit Ji-ye bought for me with her own money when we went to the department store.' 'She said that these days, all the kids my age wear clothes like this.' 'Come to think of it, some people looked at me strangely when I was walking through the department store wearing a long-sleeved shirt.'

Soo-hyun, after thinking for a moment, put on the tracksuit and stood in front of the mirror. He thought the gray top and bottom set would be loose, but when he tried them on, they were a snug fit. The interesting thing was that even though they were fitted clothes, they weren't uncomfortable at all. In fact, they were much more comfortable than his original clothes, and the fabric felt quite nice.

'I really like these clothes, except for the slight new-clothes smell.'

"I'll be back, Sister."

Ji-ye was about to wave her hand as if to say "go on," but when she saw Soo-hyun wearing the tracksuit she had bought him, her eyes turned into crescent moons and she shouted,

"Oh, our Soo-hyun! You have such a lovely build, everything looks great on you! Have a good walk!"

The sound of Sister Ji-ye's voice from behind the closing door felt really good.

Soo-hyun smiled brightly and went down the stairs toward the third floor.

'The third floor has two doors side by side. She said there are two homes on each floor, from the semi-basement to the third floor, right? So, does the girl I saw then live in one of those two homes?'

Soo-hyun glanced at the third-floor door for a moment, then thought it would be rude to linger in front of someone else's door, so he went downstairs. Just as he was reaching the first floor, feeling the cold air from outside rush in, he heard the front door close in the hallway above.

'Is someone coming down? If so, it must be a neighbor. Sister Ji-ye told me to always greet my neighbors when I see them. She said if I did, I'd get rice cakes even in my sleep. But what are rice cakes?'

He waited on the first floor, pretending to look away. But he didn't hear any footsteps coming down the stairs.

'Did she not come down? Was she just leaving something outside?'

Soo-hyun turned his head toward the stairs and was startled.

'Did she come down on her tiptoes?'

The girl, who had descended without a sound, was now on the last few steps of the first floor.

"Ah…"

A girl with long, straight hair and bangs that made it hard to see her eyes. The girl with thick, voluminous hair was casually wearing a gray tracksuit the same color as Soo-hyun's. Since you couldn't see her eyes, you couldn't tell if she had seen him or not. She simply walked past Soo-hyun, glancing briefly at the ground.

"Hey, there!"

The girl stopped when Soo-hyun called out to her. But she didn't look back.

"Um. Nice to meet you. I moved into the fourth floor."

When Soo-hyun spoke, the girl looked back. But instead of making eye contact, she just bowed and left without a word.

'She's the girl with the most unique reactions of anyone I've ever met.' 'Could it be because I heard beforehand that a kid my age who goes to the same school lives downstairs?'

Moved by curiosity, Soo-hyun slowly followed the girl. Fortunately, she went into a supermarket on the first floor of a nearby building. Soo-hyun followed her in, looking around and fiddling with snacks while watching her. The girl walked to the counter holding a container of soft tofu.

The lady at the supermarket smiled happily.

"Our Jaehee is here? Are we having soft tofu today?"

The girl, still not making eye contact with the woman, nodded silently.

'Could this be a child who can't speak?'

When the woman put the soft tofu in a black plastic bag, the girl handed her money. The girl, who had meticulously prepared even the change, bowed her head again and ran straight home.

"Goodbye~ Come again."

A woman waved goodbye to the departing child. As Soo-hyun approached the counter, holding a snack and watching the girl's back, the woman held out her hand and spoke.

"Here you go. It's on me."

"Huh?"

"Aren't you going to buy that?"

'Oh no, I didn't bring any money. What do I do?'

"Um, I forgot my wallet. I'm sorry."

The woman looked at Soo-hyun's face with a kind smile.

"I've never seen that face before. Are you from another town? Oh, you're so handsome!"

Soo-hyun quickly put the snacks back in their place and spoke politely.

"I moved into the fourth floor of the yellow brick house over there."

The old woman looked outside, slightly surprised, seeing a house in the distance with a huge piano being lifted by a ladder truck.

"Really? Wow, a new kid just moved into our neighborhood! Nice to meet you. Come by often. Don't just go to the big supermarkets; stop by places like this too. We can eat together."

"Oh, yes."

"Are you a student?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Wow, you must be popular at school. You look like the most handsome person I've ever seen. Sixteen? Eighteen?"

Soo-hyun was now just over 170 cm tall. He was quite tall for a fourteen-year-old.

"I'm fourteen, ma'am."

"Oh my! You're so tall at that age! You must be very popular! If you become a celebrity, we'll have to promote our supermarket too."

Soo-hyun tilted his head.

'What's a celebrity? I don't know what it is, but they seem like really amazing people.'

"Ah, yes. What…?"

"Take those cookies from before. They're a housewarming gift."

"Yes?"

The woman smiled brightly and brought the snacks herself, putting them in Soo-hyun's hand.

"Eat up," she said. "We're neighbors now. But you have to come to the supermarket often. Okay?"

"Oh, okay, thank you."

"Hey, if an adult gives you something, you say thank you and eat it."

"Thank you…"

'When was the last time I had a snack? Will it taste as good as ramen after all this time?' 'But is it really okay to get it for free?'

As Soo-hyun hesitated, unable to leave the supermarket, the woman quickly waved him off as if to say, "go on."

'I see a lady waving. She seems like a very nice person. If she had been even a little like my mother, perhaps I would have thought of her.'

After leaving the supermarket, he walked through the neighborhood, which was deserted during the day. He kept worrying about the snack in his hand.

'Should I eat it? Or should I go home and eat it with Ji-ye?' 'The old men always let me eat first. When I asked them why they didn't eat, they said it was natural to attend to their loved ones first. Even when you're hungry, sharing food when you have it is love.' 'Yes, I have to go home and share it with Ji-ye.'

Quite some time had passed.

'I wonder if the piano installation is finished by now.'

Arriving in front of the house, he saw the workers who had finished installing and tuning the piano starting the truck. He ran up to the fourth floor, out of breath.

'I think I need to get some exercise.'

He opened the front door using the method his sister had shown him and ran to the living room. In the empty space where only a sofa had been before, there was now a black-bodied piano, reflecting the sunlight and shining.

'Hello, I'm from Poland. Are you my new friend?'

It was as if the piano was speaking to him. Indeed, even if it didn't say it out loud, this was the first piano Soo-hyun had ever owned. There was no way he wasn't happy. Soo-hyun ran to the piano with a heart leaping with joy and carefully touched its shiny body. The snacks he had tossed on the sofa were already out of sight.

Ji-ye, who had washed the new blankets and hung them on the terrace, smiled as she looked at him and picked up the bag of chips.

"What's this? Did Soo-hyun buy it?"

"No, I didn't bring any money, but the lady at the supermarket gave it to me as a gift."

Jiye tilted her head for a moment.

'It must be true, because a boy like Soo-hyun would never steal anything. He's a child who doesn't know how to lie. But for people to just give things away like that these days... They must be very warm-hearted people.'

"Can I eat this?"

As Soo-hyun, who was completely engrossed in the piano, nodded vaguely, Ji-ye opened the bag, ate a chip, and said,

"Should you give it a try?"

Only then did Soo-hyun look at Ji-ye. Then he glanced at his watch. This was because Ji-ye had told them to only play during the day because playing at night would disturb the neighbors.

Ji-ye said with a warm smile.

"It's only four o'clock. It's fine. Just avoid playing after seven."

"Yes, Sister."

'I'm so excited. What kind of sound will this friend make?'

He rolled up his sleeves and opened the piano lid, revealing shiny black and white keys. Ji-ye asked as she sat cross-legged on the sofa, eating a snack.

"What song are you going to play?"

'I haven't thought about it. Come to think of it, I haven't properly greeted the people in the neighborhood. I want to play with a heart that greets everyone, including the piano. Even if my greeting doesn't reach every corner of the neighborhood, I hope it reaches and greets those who hear it. What kind of song would be good? Something light and cheerful, right? Of course, that's right. It's our first greeting.'

Soo-hyun smiled brightly and placed his hands on the keyboard.

"Scherzo."

Jiye pouted her lips.

'I think I need to study some music. If scherzo sounds like the name of a medicinal herb, then that's that.'

"Okay, try anything."

At Soo-hyun's gentle gestures, the piano, which seemed like it would only produce grand sounds, began to play an energetic rhythm.

Very clear. Very trivial. A joke that doesn't really mean anything. A performance that seems to be a play on words for friends or neighbors in the neighborhood.

Soo-hyun's greeting spread throughout the neighborhood. Ji-ye, who didn't know much about music but couldn't help but smile at the cheerful and playful rhythm, tilted her head in the middle of the performance. This was because she perceived a very faint, different sound.

'Did I mishear?'

Ji-ye, who was concentrating on her ears, slightly opened the terrace door.

"The sound of a violin?"

Ji-ye saw Soo-hyun performing. Soo-hyun was greeting with a big smile.

'Can that boy hear this violin? And besides, isn't he... playing the same song?'

Hello? Hello. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too. Let's get along. Could that be possible? Of course! Well, then. Let's get along.

Chopin's Scherzo is not a duet. It's a piece originally composed for piano, being followed by a violin performance. Ji-ye, who had been listening to the two instruments greeting each other and joking with the terrace door open, asked Soo-hyun, who was smiling brightly after finishing his performance.

"Did you hear that? I just heard a violin while you were playing. It was outside."

Soo-hyun smiled brightly and looked out the window.

"She nodded and left earlier. Now she's finally greeting me properly."

"Oh?"

The evening sun was setting as Soo-hyun looked out the window with a smile, and Ji-ye looked bewildered, not knowing what was happening.