Two days after declaring that I would help my older sister with her Seolhwa High School performance evaluation.
Even though I hadn’t summoned him, Kang Beom-jun came out to meet me with a surprised look upon hearing that I had visited RT Entertainment.
“Is this… strange? Ryu Won, you’re not the type to do something like this?”
Then he alternated his gaze between my sister, who stood beside me, and myself, his expression one of disbelief.
No…
What on earth is this person imagining?
I was thinking this when he suddenly approached me urgently, threw an arm around my shoulders, and dragged me to a corner.
“What’s your relationship with that beautiful student over there? Your answer will determine… your life.”
“She’s my older sister.”
“Ah, she’s your sister? Phew, that’s right. I was foolish. You were never that kind of guy.”
…
Now, what exactly would have happened to my life if she wasn’t my sister?
It felt like I had prematurely interrupted something Kang Beom-jun was about to say.
Therefore, I wanted to ask about it, but…
“Come to think of it, I’m sure I confirmed this in the family relationship certificate. Wasn’t her name ‘Ryu Se-ah’?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Wait a moment…”
Kang Beom-jun suddenly turned his head and carefully examined my sister who stood alone.
And he began to mutter something to himself, looking puzzled.
“Isn’t this name and this face familiar? I’ve definitely heard it somewhere before…”
“Could it be related to the piano field?”
“Ah, that’s right! The piano prodigy Ryu Se-ah!”
It seemed that Kang Beom-jun immediately realized my sister’s identity after hearing my hint.
Apparently, my sister, who had been called a piano prodigy since she was a child, is quite a well-known figure in the music world.
I at least believe that if it weren’t for certain circumstances that caused her to quit the piano, her fame would have grown even larger.
“Is this the emergence of the prodigy sibling duo after the prodigy middle school duo?”
Hearing this, Kang Beom-jun looked between my sister and I again.
And then,
“But I heard that you suddenly quit playing the piano…”
“I did.”
Our conversation had been overheard by my sister, who responded in a detached tone.
“I can no longer play the piano.”
She added with a slightly bittersweet smile.
Ryu Se-ah.
She was a young girl who, from the age of 14, had been known in the piano industry as a prodigy, leaving a significant mark.
She had no rivals in international competitions, and when she participated in overseas contests, winning an award was a given.
Ryu Se-ah always repaid the expectations of people with her skills, praised for playing the piano as if a human was singing.
Ryu Won believed this evaluation suited her well.
Having listened to Ryu Se-ah’s piano music from the closest proximity since childhood, Ryu Won knows this very well.
Listening to her piano is heartwarming, and it compels one to keep listening.
In that sense, Ryu Se-ah might have been a hero-like presence to Ryu Won in his younger years.
Ryu Won recalled her standing on the competition stage, playing the piano more confidently than anyone else.
She never showed fear or tension.
She played happily.
With a bright smile, she played the piano as if meeting an old friend at a playground and enjoying a rousing playtime together.
The sight of Ryu Se-ah enjoying playing the piano like this was a tremendous source of pride for Ryu Won.
He thought that she could continue to perform on stage like this, stirring the hearts of many.
If she had continued to play, she would have easily fulfilled the wish of her younger brother.
However, that wish of Ryu Won ultimately became unattainable—more accurately, impossible.
“Because of a traffic accident, she has lingering aftereffects in her right hand?”
“Yes. It seems there was a problem with the nerves. If she moves it too aggressively, pain shoots through her index finger, middle finger, and wrist.”
Ryu Se-ah answered carefully touching her right hand in response to Kang Beom-jun’s question.
“It happened three years ago. I finished the overseas competition schedule and arrived at the airport early in the morning. My parents said they would come to pick me up at that time, but I told them I would take a taxi to avoid bothering them. Unfortunately, during the taxi ride, there was a collision with a car driven by a sleepy driver.”
Even now, the scars from that accident remain under the right sleeve of Ryu Se-ah.
They are a reminder of how severe that day was.
“Still, thanks to rehabilitation and treatment, daily life became possible. I nearly ended up using chopsticks with my left hand, you know?”
Ryu Se-ah smiled as if it were no big deal, in a natural manner.
However, Kang Beom-jun couldn’t respond to her statement.
While she was smiling, for him, it was a story that couldn’t be laughed at.
A brilliant talent of a girl…
It had vanished so pointlessly from the world.
The absurdity and disappointment couldn’t be expressed in words.
Let alone how the person directly involved might feel. How could she feel inside that smile? From Kang Beom-jun’s perspective, it was hard to imagine.
As a result, the atmosphere became somewhat gloomy, and someone spoke amidst that mood.
“Then, is our discussion over? I’ll go with my sister.”
It was Ryu Won.
He walked past Kang Beom-jun with an indifferent expression and started heading back toward the recording studio.
Kang Beom-jun sighed as he watched Ryu Won’s retreating back.
“Your reaction seems like it’s no big deal.”
“Two days ago, you asked me how it felt to realize that I couldn’t play the piano anymore.”
That… That’s a bit too much, isn’t it?
Kang Beom-jun was taken aback by Ryu Se-ah’s statement.
But Kang Beom-jun is well aware that Ryu Won wasn’t someone to casually ask something like that.
And naturally,
“Sis! Let’s go.”
“Yeah, I’m coming.”
Ryu Se-ah, too, was fully aware of this fact.
Two days ago.
When Ryu Won declared his intention to help, Ryu Se-ah felt happy and somewhat excited.
But those feelings didn’t last long.
“I thought I knew my sister pretty well… but now I’m starting to think that I might not.”
“What do you mean?”
“I just want to hear your story before we start working together. For example, how did you feel when you realized you couldn’t play the piano anymore? Why did you start down the path of music again?”
It was because of my younger brother’s questions.
At first, when she heard those words, Ryu Se-ah’s eyes widened.
All these topics were sensitive for Ryu Se-ah.
And Ryu Won, who had posed these questions, didn’t show any particular change in expression.
There was neither ill intent nor sympathy.
There was simply a gaze seeking sincere answers from Ryu Se-ah, purely to finish the song “Cantabile.”
In fact, Ryu Se-ah had anticipated this to some extent.
She knew she would have to open up about the emotions she had kept hidden in order to work together with her younger brother.
Hence…
“To tell you the truth, it was hard to believe at first. Though my life hasn’t been long, I had spent it alongside the piano.”
Ryu Se-ah started sharing her story with a slightly bittersweet smile.
Her reason for starting the piano was straightforward.
Around the age of four, she received a toy piano as a birthday gift from her parents.
Though it might sound like a joke, it could have been the moment that changed her life.
Ryu Se-ah described that moment as meeting her first best friend, and she continued to cherish that beloved friend until she was fourteen.
And then the farewell arrived quite unexpectedly.
“At first, I thought it was fine. ‘Ah, it’s finally over. Now I don’t have to practice late into the night and can rest comfortably,’ I thought. But as time went by, I started to feel a void.”
For Ryu Se-ah, the piano might have been a friend and a kind of “game.”
Like playing hide-and-seek or tag with friends.
That’s why she really enjoyed playing the piano. Furthermore, when people were surprised by her piano performances, she was joyfully filled with an involuntary smile.
But the moment she realized those moments would never come again, her void began filling with something new.
“Yeah, I’d say it left me with immense longing. Even now, it feels like I could reach out and touch it, but I can’t. But then I wondered, what’s left if the piano is taken away from me? Can I live without the piano in the future?”
She pondered and answered.
The answer was impossible.
Who could accept parting with a lifelong friend?
But Ryu Se-ah had no other options.
She had to somehow accept this sudden and heartbreaking farewell.
─ Hmm… Should I play just a little of the accompaniment from the song I secretly composed?
Until the day Ryu Won played a melody for her that he had secretly composed.
“Who was it for? But in the melody of the song ‘Cantabile,’ I heard a familiar piano sound. You were imitating my playing, weren’t you?”
“Maybe.”
Ryu Won smiled wryly.
He had never intentionally imitated it.
He simply learned the piano the way his counterpart did in another timeline, and all he saw at the end was the satisfied smile of his counterpart.
Perhaps…
Sister had rediscovered a lost sound of herself in his playing.
─Still, it feels a bit cathartic.
It somewhat links to what he had mentioned earlier…
As Ryu Won was contemplating this hypothesis, Ryu Se-ah continued.
“Anyway, hearing that sound after such a long time made me nostalgic. The moments of joy came back to my mind too.”
“While playing the piano on stage?”
“Yeah, so I wondered… Could I find that joy again without the piano?”
Simultaneously, she felt a kind of certainty.
If this song, which included her piano sounds, was what she thought, she could surely perform on stage with a joyful heart.
Thus, she started singing, diving into it as intensely as she had played the piano.
There was no doubt that her younger brother sitting in front of her had exceptionally high musical sensitivity.
She went to Seolhwa High School mainly to test her capabilities.
Gaining the top spot among excellent students boosted her confidence considerably.
“Anyway, that’s the end of my story.”
Ryu Se-ah smiled faintly as her heart felt a little lighter.
And looking at the person who had prompted her to share her story, she said,
“I originally intended to show you on stage, but it’s embarrassing coming from the mouth of your big sister, right? You’re an unqualified younger brother.”
“Isn’t that awesome?”
“Huh? You’re making it awkward again. Nonetheless, give me the best ‘Cantabile’ as your appreciation.”
With that brazen look from Ryu Se-ah, Ryu Won smiled.
It was so typical of how his sister usually behaved.
And Ryu Won responded to her,
“Alright… Your expectations may be incredibly high, but they aren’t low, right? In that sense, it should be plenty.”
“Plenty?”
Yes. It’s more than good enough for a mere performance evaluation.
