Three months of staying shut inside the house and living each day according to my routine.
The advertisements that tormented me end today.
For the past three months, whenever an advertisement came on while I was watching TV, Dad or Mom would grab me so I couldn’t escape and force me to watch it.
After being made to watch them so many times, I realized something.
The me in the advertisement had been pretending to cry.
That crying had been a performance of total commitment—an act so convincing that even I, the person involved, had been fooled.
Damn, to show acting of this caliber at five years old… Was I destined to win the Academy Award for Best Actress?
What could possibly be lacking in a person like me?
Phew, but my career as a child actress ends here.
What if all the other child actors despair after seeing my talent?
I’m quite the gentleman, thinking about other people too.
“Oppa, Dohee’s been talking to herself for a while now.”
“She’s still a baby. She’s at the age where playing alone is fun.”
“Really?”
And today marked ten months since I began learning piano. I was finally just a step away from finishing Czerny 100.
Piano lesson time.
I learned piano while leaning against my teacher’s chest.
Would I have been able to endure the mental strain of collapsing every time an advertisement came on if it weren’t for these perfect breasts?
“Teacher, I like you.”
“I like Dohee a lot too~”
“Did you accept my confession?”
“What are you talking about~”
“I’ll take that as a yes and touch you now.”
Over the past ten months, I had grown close to my teacher and gradually lowered my guard around her chest.
As a result, I was now able to touch my teacher’s breasts with my hands.
The first time I touched them, it was no different from heaven.
Of course, it was still heaven even now.
Even while touching them, I wanted to touch them again.
“Hmm, Dohee, you have to play the piano. That’s enough with Teacher’s chest!”
“Hmph…”
When I looked up at my teacher with pitiful eyes, her expression eventually softened.
“Fine. Just touch them a little longer, then let’s play piano again, okay?”
“Hehe, okay!”
Large breasts were peace. They were justice. They were acceptance.
But what if my own breasts grew large someday?
No, considering Mom’s breasts, large breasts were impossible anyway.
Why worry about it?
After touching my teacher’s breasts to my heart’s content, I resumed my piano lesson.
“Dohee, you’ll finish Czerny 100 in your next lesson, won’t you?”
‘Hehe, then I’ll get to touch her breasts as a reward~’
“Dohee, do you want to start preparing for a competition from your next lesson?”
“Huh? Not Czerny 30?”
“That would be fine too, but I think Dohee is ready to enter a competition now.”
In my previous life, I couldn’t even read sheet music properly.
To think I could enter a competition… I was deeply moved.
“Teacher, if I enter the competition, can I win a prize?”
“Of course~”
Me, a competition prizewinner?
Kyaa… If you’re Korean, please support Lee Dohee.
“But actually, in preschool competitions, everyone gets a prize as long as they enter and play their piece all the way through.”
Huh?
“There are a lot of prizes in competitions. There’s the Grand Prize, then the Special Grand Prize, the Special Prize, the Best Performance Award, the Excellence Award, the Gold Prize, the Silver Prize, the Bronze Prize, and the Encouragement Prize. The names vary slightly from competition to competition, but since there aren’t many preschool participants, they generally get a prize as long as they manage to play their entire piece.”
Then was there any point in entering…?
It wasn’t an award I could brag about. I wanted to win a prize so I could show it off to others.
Would my ten months of playing the piano for several hours every day go unrewarded?
“Oh dear, is our Dohee disappointed?”
“Yeah…”
“You can win a prize, that’s what I said. I never said the Grand Prize was meaningless, did I? Even in the preschool division, winning the Grand Prize means you’re incredibly talented.”
“Yeah…?”
“The Grand Prize even comes with more than a million won in prize money.”
“Yeah!!!”
“Haha, then shall we start practicing for the competition from the next lesson?”
“Okay~”
“What piece would Dohee like to play? You can use one of the pieces you’ve learned so far.”
“Please choose a piece that can win the Grand Prize, Teacher.”
“Hmm, then let’s try Mozart’s Rondo.”
“I haven’t learned that piece before. If I play it, will I win the Grand Prize?”
“Of course. It’s a piece often played by elementary school students who place in competitions. Even in the elementary division, if you play it all the way through without making a mistake, you’ll win the Grand Prize.”
It seemed to be a fairly difficult piece.
“Then I’ll do it!”
“Okay. I’ll print out the sheet music next time I come. Shall we end today’s lesson here?”
“Yes! Teacher, then hug me now~”
After lessons ended, I never left on my own. I always left the room in my teacher’s arms.
“Oh my, our Dohee is such a spoiled little thing. Haha. When are you going to leave by yourself?”
“Waah, hug me.”
Still held in my teacher’s arms, I opened the door, stepped outside, and called for Mom.
“Mom, my lesson’s over~”
“Ma’am, our lesson is over~”
“You worked hard~ Hey, Lee Dohee, didn’t I tell you to stop making Teacher carry you? She must be tired.”
“Haha, I’m fine, ma’am.”
“Teacher says she’s fine too.”
“Hmm, Teacher’s tired. Come here and let Mom hold you.”
Mom opened her arms and looked at me.
And I looked at Mom’s breasts.
“Sigh…”
Surely mine wouldn’t be that small when I grew up, right?
Of course, I didn’t want them to be too big, but a woman needed at least a certain amount for clothes to look good on her…
“Hey! Lee Dohee, did you just sigh while looking at Mom’s breasts?”
“No…”
“What’s wrong with Mom’s breasts! You have Mom’s genes too. Do you think you’ll be any different?”
“I’ll stake my entire future chest on Dad’s fifty percent of the genes.”
Perhaps annoyed, Mom finally gave me a flick on the forehead—a punishment she hadn’t used since the commercial shoot.
“Ow!”
But I didn’t cry.
Back then, it really had been acting.
“Hic… sob… hng… hoo…”
Through countless sessions of mental imagery, I had finally overcome it.
The nightmare of that day was over for good.
“Hehe, Mom’s flick can’t make me cry anymore. I’ve won.”
“Are you asking for a beating?”
“Ow!!”
She hit the exact same spot again.
“Bwaaah!”
I guess my body couldn’t endure two hits.
Two days later, it was time for piano lessons again.
My teacher had brought the sheet music for the competition piece she mentioned last time.
“All right, Dohee. Shall we try playing it once?”
“Yes.”
After ten months of practice, my skills had improved so much that I could immediately play most unfamiliar pieces with both hands.
“As expected, Dohee, you’re so good.”
“Hehe.”
“But you made a few mistakes, so let’s try it once more.”
“Yes.”
“As I said last time, this is a piece played by elementary school students aiming for the Grand Prize, so it may be very difficult for a five-year-old. Let’s take it slowly.”
I nodded and repeated the piece.
But every time I played, I kept making mistakes because I lacked strength.
At five years old, my fine motor skills had not fully developed, so it was difficult to maintain a consistent rhythm and pressure.
“Dohee, if it’s too hard, you don’t have to use this piece. You should be able to win the Grand Prize with something a little easier.”
“I want to keep trying this piece. There’s still time before the competition, and I think I can do it.”
A man’s pride. Once you draw your sword, you have to cut at least a radish.
“Haha, you’re so passionate, Dohee. It’s adorable.”
My teacher hugged me, saying how proud she was of me.
As long as I had these breasts, nothing was impossible—not Mozart, not Beethoven.
***
About a month later.
The day of the Korean Music Competition.
“Sweetie, hurry and get dressed.”
“Can’t I wear something else?”
“What?”
“For starters, get rid of that princess dress.”
“Aww, Mom saved and saved to buy it for this day.”
“Go get a refund.”
A pink princess dress covered in frills… It was utterly unacceptable.
“Hmph… Then at least wear this one…”
After a dramatic compromise with Mom, we settled on a black dress with a large collar.
“Oppa, are you all ready?”
“Yeah~ I’ll be out in a minute~”
Dad had decided to come along for my first competition.
“Your teacher’s waiting downstairs, so let’s hurry.”
“Okay.”
We left the house, got in the car, and drove out onto the street, where my teacher was standing.
Wow, her breasts were huge today too.
“Oppa, that’s Dohee’s teacher. You can stop the car up ahead.”
“Okay, got it.”
In the brief moment it took to stop the car, I saw it.
Dad’s eyes traveling toward my teacher’s breasts.
“Mom, Dad was just looking at Teacher’s chest.”
“Really?”
“Ah… No, what are you talking about? Lee Dohee, you’ll be punished if you lie.”
“Goodness, ma’am, I saw it clearly with my own two eyes.”
“N-No, I didn’t!”
“Just wait until the piano teacher isn’t around…”
Sigh. This was why men were so shameless about breasts. And he was a man with a wife and children, too.
We stopped the car in front of my teacher, and she opened the door and got into the back seat where I was sitting.
“Hello, ma’am. Dohee~”
“Hello.”
“Mr. Lee, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Joo Yeonji, Dohee’s piano teacher.”
“Oh, hello. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“I thought Dohee was pretty because her mother was beautiful, but her father is handsome too. Haha.”
Uh-oh… Teacher shouldn’t say something like that right now…
“Ahaha… Thank you.”
Mom glared at Dad beside her.
She poked Dad in the waist with her finger and spoke so quietly that only he could hear.
—Do you like that? You must be thrilled, huh?—
Ah… Maybe I shouldn’t have told her?
The suffocating atmosphere in the car continued until we arrived at the art hall where the competition was being held.
After arriving at the art hall, checking the performance order, and receiving my number tag,
my teacher and I went to the performers’ waiting room, while Mom and Dad went alone to the audience seats.
You can do it, Dad! Hang in there!
My teacher and I sat in the waiting room and waited for my turn.
Watching the children who performed before me, I could clearly see that they made frequent mistakes, the force with which they pressed the keys was inconsistent, and they lacked control over dynamics in sections that required emphasis.
‘Looks like I could’ve won the Grand Prize with an easier piece.’
Before I knew it, my turn had arrived.
I went up onstage and sat down at the piano.
Honestly, I was nervous.
Phew… I just had to avoid making mistakes in the piece I’d practiced all this time.
I calmly placed my hands on the keys and began to play.
Once I started, my body played the piece cleanly on its own. I had played it countless times over the past month, so I didn’t even need to consciously recall it.
After my brief one-minute performance ended, I bowed toward the audience and came down from the stage.
My piano teacher was waiting for me in the waiting room.
She lifted me into her arms and said,
“Dohee, you did so well today. You were the best. You’re definitely winning the Grand Prize!”
“Yes, I think I played really well today.”
Even I had to admit it had been a clean performance.
Once the tension left me, my hands began to tremble faintly.
Filled with an inexplicable exhilaration, I went to the audience seats where Mom and Dad were waiting.
When I arrived, Mom lifted me into her arms and said,
“Our daughter did so well. You were amazing.”
“Yeah, I did pretty well.”
When I looked at Dad, wondering why he was being so quiet for once, I saw that he was watching Mom’s mood.
Sigh… I’d better help him out.
“Dad, hug me.”
At my words—words he had never heard before—Dad was delighted and quickly picked me up.
“Daddy loves our Dohee more than anything.”
“Okay, I get it. Tell Mom that.”
Even so, the atmosphere seemed to have eased a little thanks to me.
For the rest of the time, I sat in the audience and listened to the performances of the children who came after me.
I could definitely feel it now.
I was several times more practiced than those children.
Once all the participants had finished performing, the award ceremony began.
My name wasn’t called for the Bronze, Silver, or Gold Prize, nor for the Excellence Award, Best Performance Award, Special Prize, or Special Grand Prize.
In the end, my name was called for the Grand Prize.
A thrill surged through my entire body.
Even though it was only the preschool division,
the Grand Prize was more than just something I could boast about.
The effort I had continued to put in after being reborn had, for the first time, appeared as a tangible result.
Holding the small trophy and prize money, I felt as though I had confirmed that I had not been wrong.
—
Mom’s social media that day
Kwon Juhui
November 4, 2012, 7:43 p.m.
Today was the day our little princess won the Grand Prize in her piano competition.
Mommy is so proud of and happy for our princess ♡
(Video of me playing the piano)
(Photo of me receiving my award)