Chapter 125
"Should we really call Austria the capital of music?"
Junwoo muttered as he sat on a small garden bench in the middle of a 'ㄷ'-shaped house.
Chairman Park Ki-jun had provided a large house that had been used as a guest house in the past, although it was quite old. As there were many rooms and many guests, the kitchen and dining room were also quite large.
The small garden in the middle was only about twenty pyeong in size, but it was enough for three friends to spend time.
In addition, Austria had a climate where the temperature rarely dropped below -3 degrees Celsius, even in the coldest winter, so for the three friends who had lived in Korea, the weather did not seem like February.
But it didn't seem cold, as Jaehee was sitting on a garden bench in a sweater. Junwoo said, seeing her eyes as if asking what he meant.
"What about the violin department? Are there any students our age?"
When the three friends who left Korea to go to Austria at the age of sixteen went to university, they were treated as prodigies. But when they got here, there were many friends who went to university at about the same age.
When Jaehee nodded slightly, Junwoo asked.
"How many people?"
She shook her head.
"You don't know? Are you not interested anymore?"
She nodded. Junwoo sighed.
Jaehee was a girl who didn't care about anyone but Soo-hyun. In addition, she mostly went to school and came back without a word.
"If you do that, will your German skills deteriorate?"
Jaehee laughed in vain. This was because she had recently obtained a B1, which was higher than Junwoo's. He changed the subject, licking his lips.
"Anyway, there are three people my age in the piano department. There are seven under the age of nineteen. Phew, we're just one of those students."
Jaehee pouted. He hadn't paid attention, so he hadn't investigated, but there was a boy in the violin department who looked younger than him.
Jaehee, who had been quietly agreeing, kept looking towards the door that led from the house to the garden. Junwoo rolled his eyes.
'Shin Jaehee, who only thinks about Soo-hyun. Don't look for Soo-hyun for now.'
Jaehee's mouth, which had been quietly assenting until now, suddenly opened.
"Why?"
"Tch, is Soo-hyun's story even worth telling?"
Jaehee's eyes showed the look of someone about to grab him by the collar.
"Tell me. What happened to Soo-hyun?"
It had been just over ten days since the semester began. On the first day, he met with the dean and looked around the college, and on the second, he was assigned a professor.
'What on earth happened during this time? Is it possible that you and the professor don't get along? Or is there a student from the same department who is harassing Soo-hyun? If it's the latter, Jaehee is ready to run to the school with a baseball bat or a hammer.'
Junwoo crossed his arms with a bitter smile.
"What a relief. Soo-hyun is in complete shock and fear right now. It's the very definition of confusion."
Jaehee, surprised by Junwoo's words, quickly looked towards Soo-hyun's room where the lights were on.
"Tell me more."
"Soo-hyun, that's what the professor in charge says. In fact, I've also heard rumors about that professor. He's Professor Lech's teacher. He's an amazing professor."
"The teacher of Professor Lech?"
Professor Lech's reputation alone was already intimidating, but being his teacher was unimaginable. It was hard to imagine the burden Soo-hyun would feel.
"Yes. Soo-hyun had high expectations. He said he felt like he had met a good professor."
"However?"
"He wasn't taught anything."
"Oh?"
Junwoo shrugged.
"The professor in charge has been teaching for eight days. But he just sits with his arms crossed, listening to Soo-hyun's performance. When the time comes, he just says he'll see us next time and leaves."
"…"
'A professor who has a duty to teach his students didn't teach anything for eight whole days?'
Jaehee was sweating profusely every day while taking classes. This was because even the slightest mistake immediately triggered a stop sign. The same would be true for Junwoo. But they said that Soo-hyun's professor, who was a great person, didn't teach anything.
"Why?"
"Would you be worried if you knew why? Soo-hyun is about to explode. Don't touch him for now. He's very sensitive."
Jaehee looked at Soo-hyun's room with a worried face.
'It's hard to see Soo-hyun these days because of the busy schedule. If we went to school together and saw each other more often, I think I would at least be comforted. Don't try to comfort him half-heartedly. That will only make the situation worse.'
"…"
At the same time, in Soo-hyun's room, he was seen sitting on the bed, dazed.
'I've been patient for eight days. I thought that Professor Gruber had some plan, but now it's really hard to bear.'
"Ha, I miss Professor Lee Chan-ho…"
'Professor Kim Eun-joo and Professor Lee Chan-ho. I miss the two professors who always greeted me with warm smiles so much. If it were Professor Lee Chan-ho… what did he teach me? Ah, stories about musicians. And about performance... I didn't learn anything.'
The reason Soo-hyun was so worried was not just because of Professor Gruber. He looked at the time with a sigh, then slowly opened the door to the Pianist's Village, to Rachmaninoff's room. Rachmaninoff was still seen sitting in the middle of a dark room, painting on a canvas.
"I'm here, Professor."
The giant figure behind the canvas tilted his head slightly.
"Are you here?"
Rachmaninoff used a strange tone of voice, as if talking to someone his own age. Soo-hyun looked at him as he focused on his painting again, then brought a chair and sat in front of the window.
'Since I met him, I've never taken a piano lesson. I don't even mention the word "piano".'
'Will it be like this today too?'
As Soo-hyun was looking out the window, he spoke to him for the first time in a long time.
"Would you like to draw?"
"…?"
'I'm a pianist. You should teach me how to play the piano. Why are you suddenly asking me to draw, professor? I really want to cry. I feel like running to Uncle Beethoven's house and telling him.'
"A drawing…?"
Rachmaninoff winked.
"The materials are over there."
"Under…."
"I'm fine, sir."
"Really? That's a shame."
After saying a few words, he went back to drawing. Soo-hyun, barely able to suppress his anger, stood up.
"I'll have to go now because I have class tomorrow, Professor."
"Do it that way."
Soo-hyun, who returned to his room with a sigh, threw himself on the bed and shouted nervously.
"I don't know!!!"
'Let's go to sleep. When I was studying with Professor Beethoven, I really wanted to sleep. Now, I just want to stop sleeping.'
The next day. A practice room with a very expensive brand of piano. Soo-hyun, sitting in front of him, was also playing the piano today. As always, Professor Gruber came, sat in a chair, and watched him practice with his arms crossed. Finally, as the time passed, the professor stood up.
"I'll be back tomorrow."
Soo-hyun suppressed his urge to shout and spoke in a trembling voice.
"Excuse me, Professor."
Professor Gruber turned around.
"Hmm?"
Soo-hyun's eyes were trembling.
'Why, why are you doing this to me? If it was going to be like this, it would have been better for me to stay in Korea.'
"Why… don't you tell me anything?"
'Why, Mr. Rachmaninoff? Are you leaving me alone? Why on earth?'
Professor Gruber, who had been silently watching Soo-hyun, approached him again, placed the music book on the piano, and spoke.
"Are you trying to tell me that my teaching style is wrong?"
"…"
Professor Gruber said after seeing Soo-hyun biting his lip.
"Lech has told me a lot about you."
'Professor Lech?'
"Did you know? You're the first person Lech has called a genius. Even though he's my disciple, Lech is very stingy with his praise. Hehe."
"That doesn't mean there's nothing to learn, Professor. Please teach me," Soo-hyun said with his eyes wide open.
Professor Gruber patted his shoulder.
"When you're driving a car on a straight road, no one turns the steering wheel of a car that's going well."
Soo-hyun, who didn't have a license, didn't understand. Gruber smiled.
"When you're driving, you only turn the steering wheel when you want to go in a different direction. If you turn the steering wheel of a car that's going well, you'll have an accident."
Soo-hyun's expression relaxed. 'That means I'm okay, so don't touch me.' Gruber turned around. Then Soo-hyun asked,
"Professor."
The professor turned around with a face that said, "Do I have to explain more?"
"Yes."
"Hmm?"
"If the professor comes to the practice room and doesn't let us practice the piano, but only makes us draw, is there a reason for that?"
"…?"
'What is this child talking about?'
"If I did that, there must be a reason," the professor nodded.
"If someone sits next to you during your piano lesson and asks you to draw something, there must be a reason for that, right?"
"There must be a reason."
Soo-hyun bowed his head. Professor Gruber looked at him for a moment, then turned around.
"And that teaching must be related to the piano. Sometimes you have to experience something and not judge it by its appearance.