Superstar From Age 0

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 650 Part 2

The charity concert was not very impressive in terms of the amateur teams’ performances, but their expressions were happy enough to make the Sprouts smile.

The third team was a group of children younger than Gray. 

They walked awkwardly on the stage with butterfly ties and suits, but they looked happy when they held their instruments. Gray watched them with envy.

The charity concert continued until only the last performance was left, and then there was a 20-minute break.

“Let’s go get ready. Gray!”

“Okay.”

There was no hesitation in Gray’s answer.

Rebecca and George smiled after a brief look of surprise.

It seemed enough as it was, but there was still something left.

Gray Vainy’s waiting room.

It had been 20 minutes of break time, but it didn’t take long for Gray to change into a black suit.

Should I practice while waiting, he wondered, when George set up a monitor in front of him.

“? What is this?”

“Just watch. It won’t take long.”

Gray nodded as he answered that he understood. His friends wouldn’t do anything to harm him. Gray looked at the monitor.

There,

The interviews of his precious friends were playing.

‘So this is where they reveal it!’

The audience watched Gray’s expression with bated breath and excitement. They were surprised too, but how surprised would Gray be, the person involved!

[They are the people who sponsored you.]

His breath was cut off, and emotions that he couldn’t express in words swept over his heart. His chest was full and he felt like crying. He should have greeted them properly. He wanted to say thank you. Thanks to you, he was able to keep playing the violin.

The friends on the monitor said that the sponsors were inspired by Gray’s performance and effort. He remembered the expressions of the sponsors who played with him. He also remembered the mother and the people of Downlock who smiled as they listened to his performance.

Tears flowed out without him knowing.

‘I,’

‘I must have done well.’

He must have met their expectations, and done well.

The burden that had piled up silently melted away like snow, and turned into tears.

[There is still the charity concert left. To be precise,]

George said with a smile on the monitor.

[It’s a concert for Gray Vainy.]

“…A concert for me?”

Gray spoke in a choked voice, and George and Rebecca nodded with a smile.

“Yes. This charity concert is for you.”

“Do you know who the performers and the audience are?”

‘…Huh?’

The Sprouts blinked at Rebecca’s words. The quick-witted ones seemed to understand what she meant, and soon opened their mouths wide.

‘No way… No way…!’

“Gray, you said it yourself. You wanted to help others like they helped you.”

“They are the people you sponsored since you started making money.”

At the same time, the monitor showed the audience filling the Bread Hall. Gray looked at the monitor with trembling eyes.

Following his gaze, the screen showed the audience seats. They looked happy regardless of age or gender.

‘No, what are you saying?’

The Sprouts opened their mouths wide.

They thought they knew all the secrets of this documentary, but the surprise was not over with the interviews.

“And they are also the people who sponsored you. They all came to see you.”

The people who sponsored Gray and the people Gray sponsored were gathered in the Bread Hall.

It was the power of the broadcasting station.

“Gray. Just like you didn’t ask for anything when you helped these people, the people who sponsored you didn’t ask for anything either. They just want you to play the violin happily.”

Gray’s face, which was already full of tears, became wetter. Because of that, Gray could only nod slowly instead of speaking.

Gray wiped away the tears that flowed. But no matter how much he wiped, the tears didn’t stop. He couldn’t believe that the people who supported him and the people he sponsored were all here.

“And this.”

George handed him a violin case. It looked no different from a normal violin, but Gray Vainy recognized what it was at a glance and froze.

Stradivarius.

It was one of the three great instruments.

“The person who sponsored you sent this. They said they would like you to play with this Stradivarius from now on, if you don’t mind.”

“…What…?”

It was a voice like a scream.

He was so surprised that he couldn’t speak properly.

“Gray! Breathe! Breathe!”

He must have been really out of breath.

He gasped!

And breathed in. The blood drained from Gray’s face, which was already pale, slowly returned…or not. He still looked pale, and stared at the centuries-old violin in the case with trembling eyes.

“I…play the Stradivarius…?”

“You don’t have to play it if you don’t want to.”

Gray turned his head at George’s words.

“It’s up to you. If you want to do it, do it. If you don’t, don’t.”

Rebecca also said.

“It’s all up to you. Gray.”

There was a sudden relaxation in George and Rebecca’s eyes.

There was not a bit of doubt in their eyes. They would trust and support him whatever decision he made.

That had felt like a burden at one point.

But now it felt like a huge shield that would protect him from any danger.

The human heart is strange.

He couldn’t believe it himself, and a small smile appeared on Gray’s pale face.

George and Rebecca smiled along with their friend.

“What do you want to do?”

“I want to. Play.”

Gray Vainy reached out for the Stradivarius. It was a careful but excited touch.

“I want to.”

Gray Vainy’s eyes sparkled and shone like they did 10 years ago.

In the midst of the storm-like surprise.

The Sprouts saw the light in Gray’s eyes and realized that it was almost the end, and waited for the last performance.

‘Really…’

They were moved and cried and surprised and surprised again and cried.

It was a movie with intense emotional ups and downs. That’s why they were happier.

Gray stood in the darkness and looked at the shining stage.

The stage that had started to scare him at some point, the expectations of the audience, his performance that filled the hall.

Gray looked at the Stradivarius in his hand.

The violin that had felt heavy felt light today. No, it was heavy. But it was warm. It was hot. He felt as if everyone’s hearts had materialized into the violin. He felt like he was not alone anymore.

So Gray was no longer afraid of the light.

Gray looked behind him.

There were his precious friends who had prepared such a big event for him. He felt like smiling at the worried looks of George and Rebecca.

Yes.

Ten years ago. And after that.

His friends were like this.

How could he repay them? They gave him so much love that he would agonize and worry about it.

Gray knew.

What to say to ease his friends’ worries.

“I’ll enjoy playing and come back.”

Rebecca and George’s eyes widened. And then they curved.

“! Yes!”

“Have fun. Gray.”

Just one word.

With that word alone, his friends smiled broadly and Gray hid the tears that seemed to come out with a smile. His friends were the biggest gift God had given him.

Clatter.

He heard a sound as if the heavy chains that had bound Gray Vainy’s hand and violin were loosened.

The violin in his hand was light.

Clatter.

The chains that had bound Gray Vainy’s legs too.

His steps into the light were light.

Clatter.

The chains that had wrapped around Gray Vainy’s body too.

His steps across the stage were cheerful.

Clatter.

The chains that had wrapped around Gray Vainy’s shoulders and neck too.

His bow in the midst of the roaring applause was pleasant.

Ha!

He felt as if all the chains that had wrapped around his body were gone.

With a light heart and body, the violinist Gray Vainy placed his chin on the Stradivarius.

The first song was [Over the Rainbow], the OST of [Over the Rainbow].

Gray Vainy’s performance, which had matured much more than ten years ago, made the audience happy with excitement and joy, and made them ache with more poignant despair, and finally made them grip the chair handles without knowing it with a brilliance like a wave.

The Sprouts didn’t know when they blinked, when they breathed. They were just immersed in the music.

That way, when the last note rang loudly in the hall, Gray’s bow stopped.

The audience rose one by one and applauded as Gray Vainy, who had shown a passionate performance, bowed. It was originally decided that way, but half of it was a compliment that came from the heart.

Then, someone who looked like a staff member handed Gray Vainy a microphone.

‘…Huh?’

Lim Yeon felt a sense of déjà vu. She had seen this scene before. And Gray’s suit and the Stradivarius he played were the same.

‘…!’

The Sprouts were the same. They could guess what Gray Vainy with the microphone would say. They all covered their mouths.

Gray, who had neatly combed his hair, opened his mouth with a smile. He had a confident expression and a gentle smile on his face.

“I didn’t expect so many of you to come.”

Gray Vainy looked at the audience with a grateful face.

The people who had sponsored Gray Vainy, and the people Gray Vainy had sponsored, who had only been shown in letters, were all sitting there with bodies.

It was amazing.

He suddenly remembered the tombstone.

There must have been people who couldn’t come…

‘They must be watching.’

Gray, who had closed his lips and looked around the audience, opened his mouth.

“Thanks to your sponsorship, I was able to stand here. I sincerely thank you for your long support.”

Clap clap clap clap!!

The applause that filled the Bread Hall was heard.

Ten years ago, Lim Yeon had taken out the commemorative ticket at this scene. And she felt a tremendous impression. It was the same now. Her chest was so full that she felt like her breath stopped.

‘This was the last scene of [Over the Rainbow1]!’

She thought it would end here, but unlike [Over the Rainbow1], Gray’s words didn’t end there.

“And I also want to thank the people who came here overcoming difficulties. It was a really wonderful performance.”

“Wow!!”

The people who had been sponsored by Gray Vainy cheered with gratitude.

“I have a song I want to play for you and my friends.”

George and Rebecca, who had been clapping their palms until they burned with red eyes behind the stage, opened their eyes wide. He felt like he knew what expression his friends would make without looking, and Gray said with a small smile.

“The title is For My Friend.”

Gray put down the microphone and stood under the spotlight.

And he placed his chin on the Stradivarius that the sponsor had given him and drew his bow long.

The violin, which had met many violinists and played beautiful sounds for hundreds of years, also gave a great melody in Gray’s hands.

♪

He saw someone who was alone.

He was lonely and tired and sad and lonely.

It was Gray Vainy.

It was himself.

He closed his eyes and pressed the strings of the violin and drew his bow, and Gray let go of the sadness and tears that he had not realized until then through the song.

As if he had fallen into a swamp, the depression that had slowly eroded Gray was too late to realize.

In the swamp of depression where he couldn’t even budge, Gray squeezed out his last strength and reached out his hand.

His face was buried in the heavy mud, his breath was blocked, his eyes were covered, and he just reached out his hand desperately, without anyone’s comfort, without any meaning. The emotion of that time, the sound of Gray’s stifled sob, resonated with the listener’s heart.

Save me.

Someone.

Save… save me.

Even though he knew there was no hope, he just reached out his hand meaninglessly, like a last struggle, with loneliness deeply buried.

♬

Something touched me.

It was warm.

The loneliness that clung to his hand like mud fell off one by one.

Led by the hand that held me, I slowly rose up, pulled out of the swamp of gloom.

♪-

The owner of the warm hand asked me.

“Are you okay?” with a gentle voice.

♪- ♬-

The flow of the song changed.

Each and every note was filled with warmth and blissful tenderness.

The vessel of emotions in my heart was filled to the brim and overflowed, filling me from head to toe. My chest was bursting with too much emotion, not knowing what to do.

[For My Friend]

The beautiful and pure melody relaxed my whole body and I closed my eyes.

At the word ‘friend’

The sponsors and the sponsored who were sitting in the audience thought of ‘Gray Vainy’,

George and Rebecca thought of ‘Gray’,

Gray thought of ‘George and Rebecca’, and ‘the people sitting in the audience’.

They didn’t shake hands or exchange stories and bond directly, but the melody for the ‘friends’ who were connected through the ‘special bond’ of crowdfunding and sponsorship flowed from the Stradivarius and filled the Brad Hall.

♪-

It was so quiet that even the sound of a needle dropping could be heard.

No one made any sound. Even the children who lost their concentration easily listened quietly. The melody of the Stradivarius that was full of Gray’s emotions was truly fantastic.

♩♬-

Even the overflowing tenderness and affection and love had an end.

As if he had played with all his strength, Gray’s breath quickened as he ran towards the end. He was sweating profusely as he expressed the emotions that burst out under the hot spotlight with the appropriate melody.

But Gray Vainy’s expression looked very happy.

Like the old musician in Cleveland, like the three musketeers in Chicago, like the Linda family in Kansas City.

And like the ‘young Gray Vainy’ ten years ago.

♪-!

The long bow drew the last string.

Haa- Haa-

Only Gray Vainy’s rough but satisfied breath echoed in the silence.

Clap!

There was a sound of applause from behind the stage.

It was Rebecca, who was crying and smiling. Following her, George’s applause, who was sniffling, was also heard, but

Clap clap clap clap!!

Wow!!

It was buried by the applause and cheers from the audience.

In the midst of the loud applause and cheers.

Gray Vainy, who had the happiest face in the world, bowed to his ‘beloved friends’.

Clap clap clap clap!!

The theater was also filled with applause. It was really, an unbearable emotion.

Along with those Sprouts, Lim Yeon, who was clapping her hands until they hurt, soon took out the commemorative ticket from her bag, like that day ten years ago.

[Lim Yeon. Thank you for your deep friendship and love.]

[Your friend, Gray Vainy.]