Chapter 124
Artbin Studio, a studio located in Stephansplatz in the city center of Vienna.
This academy, which offered both a hobby course for the general public and an entrance exam course for art schools, was a rather large art academy with about 100 students.
A relatively quiet hobby course compared to the busy entrance exam course.
The art teacher, who had opened the classroom door to begin the lesson, quickly closed the door again after seeing the entire classroom.
"What?"
'Did I go to the wrong classroom?'
As there was no time, the teacher ran to the counter and asked the staff.
"Has the hobby class changed today?"
"No? It's the same class as usual."
The mute teacher hesitated, pointing his finger towards the classroom.
"Oh, that's all…"
The counter staff smiled and said.
"Is it because of the number of students?"
The teacher nodded quickly. It was definitely a hobby class with only four students in class last week, but there were over twenty students sitting in the classroom right now.
The counter staff smiled and turned the computer monitor.
"Look at this. This week alone, we have over fifteen new members enrolled in the hobby course, haha. The director is very happy."
The teacher was embarrassed.
'Why would the news spread and the number of students explode in just one week?'
The master, who was grimacing, made a face as if he remembered something.
"Is it because of that student who showed up last week?"
The counter clerk snapped his fingers and said,
"Bingo! It's because of the silver-haired devil. Haha."
'Silver-haired devil? What is that?'
"Thanks to that handsome student, so many students have enrolled… No, it's a general hobby course, so they're not students… So there are so many members?"
"Haha, what a relief that the garden has 20 students, but there were actually more applications. Most of them were requests to be assigned to the same class. We received a lot of confirmation calls after someone posted on social media that a silver-haired devil was attending our academy."
"Ha ha ha…"
The teacher, who had been walking slowly to the classroom door, took a moment to catch his breath, then opened the door and greeted us warmly.
"Hello, everyone!"
A panoramic view of the classroom was available. A student who stood out in the front center seat. A group of people who had built a circle around a student with a mysterious appearance, silver hair, and blue-green eyes, like the famous Ring of Vienna, Austria. All of them were women, except for two men who had previously attended the academy. The traditional men were pushed into a corner and hunched over.
The professor, a little flustered but quickly coming to his senses, spoke.
"Today we will be drawing human faces. As there are many first-time visitors, it will take a while to draw the map, so please start slowly."
After the professor printed a large piece of paper with the faces we were to draw today and posted it on the wall, he walked around here and there to give us guidance.
'People who sneak peeks and steal glances at Soo-hyun's face even while he is drawing. Sigh. I didn't come to the academy to teach like this. It's all because of that student who looks like a silver-haired devil or something.'
The master, with a slightly resentful heart, looked at Soo-hyun. Soo-hyun with a straight face, framing the scene and drawing lines. He was drawing with a frightening concentration, regardless of who was watching him or whether the classroom was messy.
'There is no teacher who would hate a student who works so hard. Oh, I can't say anything to a student who tries so hard.'
He was a master who took steps to guide Soo-hyun without any force.
"No, sir. First, you must decide on the ratio. Of the entire head, take 0.5 to 0.8 as the hairline, from the forehead to the eyebrows as 1, from the eyebrows to the tip of the nose as 1, and from the tip of the nose to the chin as 1."
"Is this what you mean?"
"Yes. After dividing it horizontally into five equal parts, measure from the ear to the tip of the eye, between the eyes, to the eye, and again from the tip of the eye to the tip of the ear. Give the ratio of 1 to each."
"Ah, right."
In the Pianist's Village, something strange was happening in Rachmaninoff's room. The positions of the teacher and the student, who had placed the two canvases side by side, were reversed. Soo-hyun, who was learning to draw at an art school, was teaching Rachmaninoff how to draw. He smiled as he saw Rachmaninoff, who always had a straight face but today had a fun expression on his face.
'I think it was a good idea to pass on what I learned after attending art school. Because I am a teacher who likes to draw but has never had a chance to learn.'
After about thirty minutes of being absorbed in drawing, Rachmaninoff put down his pencil and started a short conversation as usual.
"The human hand has 27 bones and 39 muscles. They don't move independently. They are intertwined with the actions of the muscles, tendons, nerves, and the brain. When you try to move a single finger, the other fingers mimic it."
Soo-hyun looked at his hands and thought.
'There are 27 bones in your hand. That's a lot more than you think.'
"Yes, sir."
Rachmaninoff asked,
"Do you know the difference between humans and animals?"
"Well, maybe it's about manners and shame?"
"That's true, but what if we limit it to the body?"
"Uh… walking upright… is something monkeys do, and without hair… ah, there are animals like that, right? I'm not sure."
Rachmaninoff held up his thumb.
"Only primates have this opposable thumb. Dogs can't hold a water glass, but primates can. That's the biggest difference. Some say that the existence of this thumb is the secret to how weak primates can become the most powerful beings in the human race. They use it to make weapons, catch them, brandish them, and shoot them."
'Ah, I see. Come to think of it, that's right. Only primates have opposable thumbs. I'd never thought about it.'
"The thumb is also important for pianists. In addition, it moves differently from the other four fingers. The other four fingers are also present in animals, so even by moving them, you can change the position of the hand not only by bending and straightening the thumb to play, but also by supporting it when pressing."
Soo-hyun moved his hands himself.
'That's right. When going down an octave without changing hands, you play the last note with your thumb and then change the position by moving your index finger under your thumb.'
That is, the thumb served as a support and a reference point when moving the position.
"Do you have any friends around you who don't major in piano?" Rachmaninoff suggested.
Jaehee came to mind.
"Yes, sir."
"Then go and compare your finger movements with theirs. I'll give you something for entertainment."
'Hmm? Fun, sir?'
Thump, thump, thump!!!
Jaehee's hasty footsteps came down the stairs from his room to the dining room. Joy remained on his face as he ran down the stairs two at a time. It had been a month since he had seen Soo-hyun's face. Then, this afternoon, Soo-hyun contacted me first.
'If you have time, let's meet Junwoo at the restaurant.'
Jaehee was so happy about today's meeting. As I ran quickly and opened the restaurant door, I saw Soo-hyun sitting opposite Junwoo at the table.
"Jaehee, are you here? It's been a while."
Soo-hyun's appearance as he greeted the others without any particular concern. I hadn't seen you in almost a month, but you've changed a lot. First of all, he grew a lot taller. It made you wonder if it was possible for a person to grow that fast.
Junwoo said that Soo-hyun exercised every day these days. It seemed that Soo-hyun's shoulders, which were originally a bit thin, had become quite broad.
"Sit down."
Soo-hyun pointed to the seat next to him. Junwoo asked, nervously moving his five fingers on the table.
"Hey, what's so hard about this?"
'What are you guys doing?'
Soo-hyun made a suggestion to Jaehee, who was sitting with a curious expression.
"Jaehee, do you want to try it? Put five fingers on the table like this. Raise your palm slightly. Starting with the thumb, without moving the other fingers, tap the table five times in order. Don't move the other fingers."
Jaehee looked at Soo-hyun with a questioning expression and then did as she said.
The thumb was plump, the index finger was plump, the middle finger was plump, the ring finger… 'Huh? When moving the ring finger, is the middle finger heard?'
"What? Is it really not going to work?" Junwoo asked in surprise after watching Jaehee struggle.
Jaehee looked at Junwoo. He was in the same pose as her and moved his fingers freely.
'I hate Junwoo for asking if something so easy is really impossible.'
"Can't I just do that?"
Junwoo nodded.
"Is it easy for Soo-hyun and me? Look at this."
Junwoo and Soo-hyun moved all their fingers freely in the same pose at the same time.
'Am I really the only one who can't do it?'
Jaehee with a sad face. But it was strange. Unlike Junwoo, who had a teasing face, Soo-hyun was watching his finger movements intently. Jaehee, feeling something, asked.
"Does this just not work for me?"
Soo-hyun nodded slightly and said.
"Well, that's true."
"What?"
"It is said that pianists have freedom of movement in their fingers. Of course, it is not innate, but acquired through practice. Those who do not play the piano say that when they only move their ring finger, they feel discomfort in their other fingers."
Jaehee pouted.
'If I had known this would happen, I would have played the piano. Since I can't do it alone, I feel like I've become someone who is lacking something.'
"Does your teacher teach you things like this? Wow, how interesting! Our teacher only talks about playing instruments all the time," Junwoo asked, moving his fingers.
Soo-hyun smiled bitterly.
'Junwoo, our professor doesn't say anything. He just stands there and then leaves. You should know you're happy.'
The friends who met after a long time asked about Soo-hyun's well-being.
"You've been spreading rumors lately, right? Both at the art store and while training."
Jaehee tilted his head.
'Although we haven't met yet, I heard from Ji-ye, who prepares meals for me, that Soo-hyun is going to the art studio and exercising.'
"But what does it mean that the rumor is so widespread?"
"Don't you use social media?" Junwoo asked.
"I don't, it's a waste of life."
"Hey, were you wondering about the news about Soo-hyun?"
"So what does that have to do with social media?"
"What does it matter? If Soo-hyun sees that, he'll know where that guy is and what he's doing."
"What?"
Junwoo took out his cell phone and launched SNS. If you searched for "Dämon Mit Silbernem Haar" (Silver-Haired Devil) in the search bar, they all came up. Jaehee, who didn't know what he was talking about, blinked and looked at Junwoo's phone screen, and pictures of Soo-hyun exercising and drawing appeared. Jaehee looked at Soo-hyun in surprise after seeing that there were over 400 search results. But Soo-hyun seemed even more surprised.
"Are all of those my pictures?"
Junwoo laughed and shook his phone.
"Yeah, you hooligan. I'm your friend, and these guys found out about you before I did. Are you just trying to seduce all the Austrian women?"
Jaehee's eyes rose as if they were going to burst at Junwoo's words and she roughly snatched the cell phone away.
"Give it to me!"
Jaehee turned on the twin lights and looked at the hashtags. Her eyes became more and more fierce as she looked at tags like #silver_haired_devil, #silver_haired_prince, and #prince. Junwoo and Soo-hyun were speechless at his cold attitude.
"I'll buy you a mask, so wear it. The fine dust is really bad," Jaehee's words were heard as he threw his cell phone down and looked at the two people.
'Huh? What's with the fine dust in Austria? Is it really because of the fine dust, Jaehee?'