May, after the midterms were over.
The day to participate in the piano competition was approaching.
Of course, there were many types of competitions held every month, but the most prestigious major competition among them, the Korean Student Musicians Association Competition, was held only once a year in May.
Since I could only participate in competitions twice a year due to time constraints, the Korean Student Musicians Association Competition was one I absolutely had to enter.
What piece should I perform this time?
It was my first time participating in the middle school division of a piano competition, so I couldn't decide easily.
I took out my phone and called my piano teacher.
I had been keeping in touch with my piano teacher steadily, but after entering middle school, I had been so busy that I hadn't been able to contact her.
"Oh, Dohee! What's the occasion?"
"I'm sorry for contacting you after so long."
"No, no~ I'm just glad you called after so long. What have you been up to these days?"
"Ah, after entering middle school, I've been going back and forth between school and the company."
"Come to think of it, Dohee, you're already a middle schooler?"
"Haha, yes."
"When we first met, you were totally a baby. Do you know how cute you were? So how's middle school life? Is it fun?"
Middle school life...
Honestly, it's fucking awful.
Especially lately, I don't know how they got my KakaoTalk, but I got messages from random guys every day.
"Yes, I'm getting by okay."
"Isn't trainee life hard?"
"No, trainee life is enjoyable."
"I'm glad to hear it's enjoyable~"
"What have you been up to these days, Teacher?"
"Me? I'm just busy taking care of our Jinhyeon."
The teacher had gotten pregnant right on her honeymoon and given birth the year before last, so she was currently living a child-raising life.
"Then you must be very busy?"
"It's okay~ My husband helps out a lot."
"Huh? Weren't you working at a university hospital?"
If you're a doctor at a university hospital, you should be incredibly busy.
"Ah, I opened a private clinic this time. Now I get off work early, so I have plenty of time."
"Ah, I see... Then Teacher, do you know that I'm participating in the middle school division this time?"
"Really? So Dohee is in the middle school division now?"
"Yes. So, I'm worried about which piece to choose, and I want to practice my performance. If you have time, could we meet so you can teach me?"
I was cautious, fearing I might be bothering the teacher for no reason when she was busy.
Fortunately, the teacher spoke in a bright voice.
"Really? I'd love to see Dohee's face after so long! Then let's make an appointment right away. I'm free anytime~"
"If it's too hard because of childcare, you don't have to force yourself to accept my request."
"No, no. If that's the case, how about meeting at my house this Sunday?"
"Oh, I don't go to the company on Sundays either, so that day works best for me, but if it's Sunday, won't your husband be home?"
"Hey~ My husband will be thrilled if Dohee comes."
"Really? Then can I come to your house on Sunday?"
"Of course! Then see you on Sunday?"
"Yes~"
.
.
.
I arrived in front of my teacher's house and rang the bell.
*Ding-dong*
"Dohee~ Just a moment~" "Huuaang"
From beyond the door, I heard the sound of the teacher walking and Jinhyeon crying.
The teacher opened the door and welcomed me with a bright face.
"You're here, Dohee?"
Oh...
The teacher was wearing a long H-line dress that clung tightly, the so-called "missy look."
I can't resist this.
"Teacher~"
I put down the strawberries I was holding on the floor and ran to the teacher, burying myself in her chest.
"Oh my, our Dohee is just the same as when you were little, even though you're a middle schooler now."
"Hehe. It's because I'm so happy to see you, Teacher."
The teacher was hugging me when she saw the fruit I had put down and spoke.
"Dohee! You didn't have to bring anything; why did you buy strawberries?"
"I bought them because I wanted to eat them. Haha"
"Don't bring them next time, okay?"
"Yes~"
I'll have to buy something even better next time.
"Huuaang"
Jinhyeon was still crying inside the house.
"Isn't that Jinhyeon crying?"
"He's crying because I didn't give him candy. It's okay."
When I followed the teacher to the living room, her husband was holding the crying Jinhyeon and comforting him.
I greeted him.
"Hello, mister~"
"Oh, Dohee, you're here?"
"Yes, have you been well?"
"Then you've been well too, right?"
"Haha, yes."
The teacher took Jinhyeon from her husband's arms and spoke to him.
"Stop crying. Dohee noona is here, so you should stop now, right?"
Even though the teacher was holding him, Jinhyeon showed no signs of stopping his crying.
"Candy. Huaaang"
Teacher's chest made our Doa stop crying quickly, but Jinhyeon seemed quite stubborn.
I approached the teacher and made eye contact with Jinhyeon.
"I bought strawberries. Want to eat strawberries with noona?"
Only then did Jinhyeon pause his crying and say.
"Ung..."
"Sigh, you wouldn't listen to Mom at all, but you stop right away because a pretty noona came."
"Haha."
While the teacher washed the strawberries I bought, I sat in a chair in front of the dining table holding Jinhyeon.
The teacher washed the strawberries, put them on a pretty tray, and set them on the table as she spoke.
"So, are you still playing the piano every day these days?"
I picked up a strawberry and put it in Jinhyeon's mouth as I spoke.
"Yes, I arrive home at night after practice, so I can't play at home, but instead I play consistently for an hour a day in the company's vocal room."
"Really? That's a relief. So you haven't chosen your competition piece yet?"
"Yes, I have some candidates, though."
"What are they?"
"Paganini-Liszt Etude No. 6, Chopin's Revolutionary, and Liszt's Mephisto Waltz. I was thinking of these for now."
"Hmm... I think Mephisto Waltz would be good."
"Isn't Mephisto Waltz too difficult?"
"Hey, you played a scherzo at age 8? You must be confident enough to put it on your candidate list."
"Haha, that's true."
"Let's play it once and decide. Shall we try it right now?"
"Yes."
I picked up Jinhyeon and handed him to her husband next to me, then followed the teacher into the piano room and sat in front of the piano.
The teacher took the Mephisto Waltz sheet music from among the scores on the bookshelf and placed it on the piano music stand.
"Now, shall we try playing it once?"
"Yes, I'll try it once."
I began to play.
In the middle of playing, the teacher stopped my performance and pointed at the score.
"Dohee, you're playing the first and third passages too similarly here. You need to give a more intense feeling on the third one, otherwise it gets boring and the music becomes flat."
"Yes. I'll play it again."
I started playing again.
Again, in the middle of playing, the teacher stopped me and said.
"Dohee, you did well on what I mentioned earlier, but could you play the beginning a bit shorter? I think it's too long. Play it more frighteningly."
"Yes."
During the lesson, the teacher gave various pieces of advice.
"When I say play it short, I mean play it dry like a percussion instrument, Dohee. You know?"
"Tone it down a bit. Lighten up toward the end of the phrase, like finishing a slur."
"You're playing the second passage long like the first one now. Make it longer."
"Try thinking of it as pizzicato."
"In and out~"
Indeed, learning with the teacher, I could immediately tell what feelings I wasn't capturing.
.
.
.
As I practiced piano, before I knew it, it was getting dark outside.
I think I had already played for four hours.
"Teacher, aren't you tired?"
"Why, are you tired, Dohee? Should we stop?"
"I'm tired too, and more than that, you need to have dinner. He must be hungry."
"Oh my, is it? I forgot. I need to prepare dinner quickly."
And the teacher hugged me like she used to and said.
"But Dohee, your skills have improved even more. Right?"
"Haha, no. Rather, I think my skills have decreased because my practice time has decreased a lot."
"Hey~ How could they decrease? Mephisto Waltz is such a difficult piece in the first place that even high schoolers play it while making mistakes every time, so it's amazing that you can play it without mistakes."
"Hehe."
"And what I taught you today is my feeling, so later you need to find your own feeling and play with it, okay?"
"Yes~"
"Yes, yes. Let's eat quickly."
.
.
.
On the day of the competition.
I sat alone in the waiting room, wearing earphones, and reviewing the piece I would perform by listening to it again.
Honestly, since it was my first middle school division competition, I had a lot of expectations when I came.
They said the middle school division had a larger audience and longer performance times than the elementary division.
I thought I might be able to enjoy a real stage.
But when I actually came, the audience was about the same, and the performance time was two minutes, longer than the elementary division's one minute.
The organizers couldn't help it either.
"Number 706, Lee Geonu."
First of all, there were over 800 participants.
If every participant played for 2 minutes, even a simple calculation meant 1600 minutes of performance time.
So unlike the elementary division, the middle school division held the main competition over 5 days, but even then it took 6 hours per day.
"Number 707, Lee Naeun."
Finally, the next number was me.
I moved to the stairs below the stage.
After two minutes.
Along with a ding~ bell sound, the announcer spoke.
"Number 708, Lee Dohee."
I went up on stage along with my name being called.
And I sat in front of the piano and immediately began to play.
The beginning was dry, concise, yet frightening, like hitting percussion.
Moving to the second passage, more intensely, but not too strong.
In the third passage, overflowing with power.
Yet giving soft touches in between.
Soon the two minutes passed, and the bell rang signaling the end of the performance.
"Number 709, Lee Boa."
I went down below the stage.
Ugh, the performance is so short it's not fun at all.
Should I not participate in the next competition?
I want to debut quickly and stand on a proper stage.
I left the waiting room and went to the audience seats where Mom was.
At first, Dad and Doa came with us too, but now since it was an annual event held twice a year, I told them not to come.
Even if they had come, it wouldn't have been much.
It's just a 2-minute performance at best.
There she is.
I approached Mom and spoke.
"Mom, did you film it?"
"Yeah. There's no awards ceremony, right?"
"Right. The award comes by courier a week later. We can check what award it is then."
"Really? But maybe because it's the middle school division, all the kids played so well. What if you don't get the grand prize this time?"
I looked at Mom and sighed as I spoke.
"Sigh. Your daughter is a musical genius, but Mom has a tin ear. It's a tragedy, a tragedy."
"What's with this kid again."
"Mom. The details are different, the details. Even pressing a single key, the strength and duration are different."
"Really? Well, there's a 2.6 centimeter difference between you and me, and Mom is a B-cup while you're an A-cup, so details are important indeed."
Normally, I would have been speechless hearing Mom belittle my chest.
Not anymore.
"Sorry, but I'm going to be a B-cup soon too? I measured a few days ago because my chest felt tight, and I'm 1 centimeter away from a B-cup."
"Yes, next A-cup."
Sigh...
I asked Dad, and he said my late paternal grandmother had a very large chest.
I believe in Dad's genes and pomegranates.
.
.
.
In the package that arrived a week later, there was a grand prize trophy and a plaque.