Ch. 169 - Side Story

“Why the sudden piano? In the middle of eating, no less.”

“Because if I don’t do something, I feel like I won’t be able to hold on.”

Asking outright if someone was interested in you — it was a problematic statement, no matter how one looked at it.

It was embarrassing, and even reckless.

After saying such a thing, it was impossible to meet her gaze naturally. That was why he sat at the piano, which felt like the safest place to be.

The piano wasn’t just an instrument played to impress others.

It changed the atmosphere, altered emotions. Wasn’t it fascinating how a few notes on a staff could bring about such a variety of changes?

From the perspective of music, humans, too, were part of the instrument. This art, crafted through sheet music, could be considered one of the spells cast by a magician.

White keys, black keys. Seven scales divided into countless possibilities, creating millions of sounds — a peculiar sentiment lingered on that thought.

And the music he was about to play, well…

Moonlight.

A somewhat melancholic piece. As if it captured the moonlight itself within its score, it was gloomy and lonely.

It wasn’t a piece suited to breaking the awkward atmosphere, nor was it exactly ideal for dinner time.

But Soohyun didn’t stop. It was as if fate compelled him, a strange obsession insisting that he must play this piece now.

‘Why?’

Even he couldn’t answer that. His fingers simply moved.

The first note of Moonlight’s opening movement sounded from the grand piano, which bore no sheet music.

From the moment his index finger touched the white key, moonlight was already painting itself vividly in his mind.

He avoided pouring too much emotion into it.

Playing this piece with too much immersion would inevitably darken the atmosphere further.

The moonlight was cold.

It was chilling and lonely. The first movement of Moonlight encapsulated all of these qualities.

The essence of moonlight — the negative yet poetic emotions humans felt while gazing at the moon — was etched into this piece of music.

Yet amidst the darkness, there was undoubtedly a light.

Though clouds might obscure the moonlight, its glow ultimately brightened the night sky.

Soohyun’s performance wasn’t entirely somber. The pedal’s press and release accentuated each note, shaping the imagery of light momentarily veiled.

Everyone dining had become entranced by the performance, their attention fixed solely on the pianist.

“… isn’t that Lee Soohyun? The pianist?”

Some recognized him.

Some admired the unknown performer, while others, their mouths agape, even forgot to feel awe.

Yet it wasn’t gloomy. Stripped of excessive sentiment, the performance relied solely on skill, illuminating the restaurant like a crescent moon.

Dahng—!

When the performance ended, Soohyun wiped the sweat from his brow and exhaled softly.

Even without full immersion, the focus he’d poured into the piece had drained his energy.

The atmosphere… had changed enough that his earlier remark was forgotten. He gave a slight nod to the clapping audience and returned to his seat.

Irene stared at him, dazed. She’d been so captivated by the performance that even her awe had momentarily fled.

To perform such music with mere movements of the fingers — it was not simply talent, but something extraordinary, almost intimidating.

Envy, jealousy — those sentiments melted away in the wake of such brilliance. She clapped quietly, her lips moving just enough to form words.

“Did you just want to show off? To say, <Look how amazing I am>?”

“It was merely an apology. For saying something inappropriate earlier.”

“Oh? What did you say earlier? I can’t seem to recall.”

With a sly smile, Irene’s expression prompted Soohyun to furrow his brows slightly. She must have remembered everything but was pretending otherwise.

If she planned to drag this out, perhaps it would’ve been better to end the meal altogether.

It was just a fleeting connection. They likely wouldn’t contact each other again. This meeting had only come about thanks to Professor Chris’s introduction.

“… I don’t know. Does it need to be said?”

“Were you embarrassed about what you said, so you played the piano to cover it up? Well, if I were to judge… I enjoyed it. It was truly impressive. Shall I give you a more professional critique?”

“Things like that are enough for competition judges or critics’ articles.”

Irene chuckled softly as she watched Soohyun shake his head with a look of exasperation.

Well, wasn’t he someone far more famous than he thought?

He must have heard even more stories than what had appeared in articles. Stories about what kind of person he was.

Feeling a sudden curiosity, Irene shrugged her shoulders slightly.

Then she casually pulled out her phone, revealing the dialing screen as she spoke.

“To answer your earlier question, to be honest, I’m interested. Could you give me your number? I’ll reach out when I’m bored, so don’t block me.”

What Irene’s eyes fell upon was the logo of the restaurant.

The logo read <Siren>, with a small drawing of a lake and a forest next to it. Perhaps, just as the name suggested, she had been enchanted.

#

[Thanks for the meal today. Where shall we meet next time?]

Soohyun stared at the message with the disappearing <1> for a while before slowly putting down his phone.

He hadn’t expected to exchange numbers with someone he met for the first time today. What was it about him that had caught her attention?

“… my looks?”

The face reflected in the window was as neat as ever. It was flawless, and… wasn’t this level enough to pass for a celebrity?

While Soohyun had always taken pride in this aspect, he couldn’t understand why Irene seemed so intrigued by him.

“Did we meet at a competition before?”

Her persistent questions about his past memories felt suspicious. Had they met before by chance?

If so, he felt a bit apologetic. Back then, he’d focused solely on his performance, caring little for anything else.

Yet, he didn’t entirely dislike Irene Yurice, this woman he’d just met.

Fortune? That was a fair way to describe it.

She seemed cold but wasn’t truly so. She had treated him naturally, even though he was awkward around women.

As a violinist, she was a fitting conversational partner when it came to music.

Ding!

When another alert went on, Soohyun opened his phone, and a flood of notifications caught his eye.

[Hey.] [Why aren’t you answering when I know you saw it?] [Was I not your type? If I made a mistake, wouldn’t it be better to just say so?] [… I’m sorry. I think I was a bit hasty. I wasn’t joking earlier — I’m genuinely interested. I really am.]

Among countless messages that had been rewritten and deleted, only four remained.

He hadn’t checked for a moment, but she reacted so sensitively. Pausing mid-text, Soohyun finally made a call.

Ring, ring.

After a few moments of ringing, Soohyun took a deep breath and opened his mouth as a voice answered.

“… hello?”

“Are you pretending to speak English now? You seemed fine speaking Korean earlier.”

“Forget about that. It’s just… um, I felt ignored. And that’s your fault.”

“Then, do you not want to talk? If so, feel free to hang up.”

“You know what? You’re really unfair.”

Was he? For a moment, the thought crossed his mind, but it didn’t matter much.

For some reason, this conversation was surprisingly enjoyable.

When he finally arrived home, he was surprised to find that their call had lasted an hour.

“I just got home, so I’ll have to hang up now.”

“Then let’s meet next time. Where should we meet?”

“… I’m not sure.”

Next time. Since when had he unconsciously started anticipating their next meeting?

Frowning slightly at the unexpected realization, he gazed at his brightly lit house.

When he left earlier, he hadn’t expected to forge this kind of connection. Human relationships were truly fascinating.

His now-silent phone felt warm, as if it still carried the lingering heat of their conversation.

If he placed it to his ear, he felt he might hear her calm voice again.

“Was I enchanted?”

The thought slipped out unexpectedly, and he couldn’t find an appropriate answer. Honestly, perhaps he had been.

A person he met for the first time, who seemed to know him so well, yet was a complete stranger.

Could this be considered getting close? Recalling the day’s events, he finally walked toward the lit house.

“You’re late. Looks like things went well with the person you were meeting?”

Soojin, with a towel over her head and a toothbrush in her mouth, greeted him. Soohyun sighed.

They were both women, yet the difference was striking. Was this disparity okay?

Perhaps it was just a natural rebellion against his blood relative.

“Well, it wasn’t bad.”

As Soohyun smiled, Soojin’s eyes widened as she grabbed his collar.

She bombarded him with questions, was it a man or a woman, how did they get close, were they already dating? Tilting his head slightly, Soohyun replied.

“For now, just friends. For now.”

If it were Irene Yurice, progressing beyond friendship might not be a bad idea.

Of course, the problem was that this was purely his own thought. Leaving the dazed Soojin behind, Soohyun smiled faintly.

It was the freest, most genuine smile he’d had in a long time.