Keyboard

Myeongjeon headed home with a broad grin. The things ‘Mom’ had bought him yesterday: a new MacBook, a camera for YouTube, an audio interface, and all sorts of other things. How much effort had he put into getting items worth more than three million won?

‘It was worth it.’

He did feel a little self-loathing, but Myeongjeon decided it couldn’t be helped. Once you reached his age, you learned that pride weighed less than you might expect.

‘Now I can use that laptop to make YouTube videos and install Guitar Rig, too. I should try becoming someone who’s comfortable with digital technology.’

He had always been the sort of person who didn’t adopt new technology. He knew laptops, virtual instruments, and all that were useful, but he believed physical things had a value and charm of their own.

But he wasn’t deaf to new developments. He had heard that some session musicians who actively embraced new technology carried nothing but a laptop, a controller, and a guitar. Apparently, there were even people like that among the S-tier session players, so he had wondered whether the technology might be more useful than he thought.

After being reborn, he found himself unable to buy such things because he had no money, regardless of their charm or value. When you have no teeth, you have to chew with your gums, and even Myeongjeon, who valued the old ways, had no choice but to enter the virtual world.

“Suyeon!”

As he walked along thinking about that, a voice reached him from the distance. It was a familiar voice, so… was it that girl? She talked for so long that getting caught by her would cost him quite a bit of time. But he couldn’t exactly run away, either. What a headache, Myeongjeon thought.

“Good news!”

“What is it?”

“I found one member!”

“Already?”

Had she already had someone lined up? Unless there was a tremendous difference in ability, it was difficult to assess a person’s skill. And finding someone their age who was better than her would be quite difficult.

In Myeongjeon’s estimation, it would take until next year at the earliest to gather one or two people. But the fact that she had found someone in only a few days meant…

Could it be a vocalist? In his opinion, they didn’t really need one. Anyone left over could sing. In the end, instruments were what mattered, not singing.

“What’s their position?”

“Keyboard.”

“Keyboard?”

Myeongjeon repeated the word, surprised. A vocalist was the easiest position to fill, followed by guitar, bass, and drums.

Keyboards were so difficult to find that they were practically excluded from the ranking altogether. So the fact that a keyboardist had been found first was quite unexpected.

But… Dirty Loops had been without a guitarist, not a drummer. Unless they were going to program a drum track in MIDI and record over it—which was extremely inconvenient and not even a very good solution—drums were absolutely necessary.

Perhaps she had read his expression, because Iseo spoke first.

“There’s a drummer, too… probably.”

“What do you mean, probably?”

“Piano… The keyboardist’s acquaintance said they played drums. We’re going to meet them once, and if they seem really good, she’ll properly persuade them to join us.”

An older sister, huh. Then again, it probably wasn’t easy to find a girl her age in the same area who was better at music than she was. Thinking that, Myeongjeon ran a hand through his hair.

“The drummer isn’t confirmed yet. And we have to meet the keyboardist first?”

“Yeah… But she hasn’t played keyboard for very long. She was originally a pianist.”

So she might not sound quite good enough to you… Iseo muttered. But assuming they had a drummer, Myeongjeon thought a keyboardist could be slightly lacking in skill. It was a difficult position to fill, after all, so having one was a good thing.

“When can I meet her?”

“Um… Are you free today? She said today was the only day she had time this week.”

I know it’s really sudden, Iseo seemed to say apologetically.

“Today?”

Today was a little inconvenient. Myeongjeon had things to do, like setting up the computer, and he was about to say that today wouldn’t work when he came up with a good idea.

“Is this older sister good with computers?”

“Huh? Uh… I don’t know about that. But I guess she probably is? She seemed to be doing all sorts of things. I don’t really know, though.”

“Why?” Iseo asked. Myeongjeon twisted a lock of hair as he answered.

“I can meet her today, but there’s some computer setup I can’t manage on my own. If she’s willing to help me, then I can meet her today.”

“That much should be fine, right? I’ll ask her.”

* * *

After telling his family that he would eat dinner out, Myeongjeon left the house and headed to a café. He made his way through a door that was a little difficult to pass through with a guitar slung over his back, and was greeted by the calm scent of coffee.

“Suyeon! Over here!”

Two people were sitting at a table in the corner: Iseo, still making an effort with her appearance in her own way, and a woman with slightly short hair and a gloomy air about her.

Is that student the keyboardist?

She looked to be in poor condition from her appearance alone, Myeongjeon thought. No matter how much the times changed, you had to make yourself presentable somehow when going outside.

By that standard, Iseo deserved a passing grade for her attitude toward life, but that girl’s appearance was just…

“Unni! This is Ha Suyeon. She’s the one who plays guitar.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Ha Suyeon.”

After ordering coffee and sitting down at the table, Myeongjeon held out his hand. The other woman reacted as if wondering why he wanted to shake hands, then awkwardly took his hand and muttered,

“I’m Seibin… I heard about you from Somat…-nim.”

“Somat-nim? Seibin?”

Not knowing what she was talking about, Myeongjeon looked at her, but she showed no reaction. When he looked at Iseo, she wore a slightly troubled expression as she scolded the other woman.

“Bin-nim! I told you, she’s a total Muggle. She doesn’t know that stuff. You have to use names, names.”

“Your name…?”

At those words, the other woman stared blankly at Iseo. Myeongjeon twisted a lock of hair and looked at the person who had called herself ‘Seibin’ and whom they called ‘Bin-nim.’

What was wrong with her? She wasn’t on drugs, so why was she like this? She was gloomy all over, the sort of person who seemed as if she might hole up at home forever. Shouldn’t people like this be dragged outside and forced to get some sunlight? Was she even human, or was she a host?

“Isn’t using names a little…?”

“No, actually, nicknames are worse… Never mind. Just use your name.”

“I understand. My name is Jeong Hyuna. Please take care of me.”

“Ah, yes. Please take care of me, too.”

‘Jeong Hyuna,’ huh… There was nothing wrong with the name, so why had it been so difficult just to hear it? As Suyeon wondered about that, Iseo felt as if she were walking across thin ice.

‘Why is this unni acting like this again after what I heard yesterday?’

As far as Iseo knew, Suyeon had no connection even to manga that were now considered general cultural literacy, such as Demon Slayer, Spy x Family, and Oshi no Ko, let alone hardcore otaku content.

And that hadn’t changed even after the accident. Iseo had tried tossing out bait a few times, but Suyeon hadn’t reacted at all.

The ultimate social butterfly.

These days, even people like BTS watched otaku content, and TikTok was overflowing with anime-related challenges. Public opinion toward otaku had improved a little, but a person who took care of themselves was still a ‘good otaku,’ while someone who didn’t was a ‘bad otaku.’

And the Hyuna unni in front of her? She maintained the bare minimum, but ultimately, she was still someone who didn’t take care of herself.

The Suyeon of today wouldn’t say, “Ah, I’m not forming a band with an otaku like this.” The Suyeon of the past wouldn’t even have bothered with Iseo herself—but wasn’t this still a little embarrassing? Iseo looked at Hyuna with concern.

“I heard you play keyboard. What’s your experience?”

“I’m aiming to attend an arts university for piano… I’ve only played keyboard as a hobby for about a year.”

“What genres do you mainly play?”

“J-pop or anime openings and things like that…”

Suyeon looked at Iseo once more. At that gesture, Iseo looked back at Suyeon.

Come to think of it, hadn’t they neglected to discuss what kind of music they were actually going to play? To break through the slightly awkward atmosphere, Iseo hurriedly opened her mouth.

“By the way, what do you mainly play?”

“Me? Well… Like I said before, I play everything. I can play anything you guys would know.” At those words, Iseo remembered how she had once asked Suyeon to play an insert song from Bocchi the Rock. “As for my preferred genres… I suppose I mainly play blues and prog.”

Like most guitarists with long careers, Myeongjeon also based his playing on the blues.

More precisely, he had been influenced less by extremely early musicians such as W. C. Handy, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Robert Johnson, and more by people like B. B. King, Albert King, Freddie King, Buddy Guy, and Howlin’ Wolf, as well as blues-rock musicians such as The Animals, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

“How long ago were those people?”

“Around the 1950s through the 1970s. The 1980s count, too, I suppose.”

Iseo wore an expression that suggested she was already a little tired of the conversation. But Myeongjeon couldn’t understand her thoughts at all.

“If you want to do anything properly, you have to start by digging into its origins. You trace the derivative genres back to the source, carefully learn why each change occurred, and only after understanding all those changes can you create something properly.”

“Ah… Really?”

Iseo’s expression showed that she didn’t agree in the slightest. Unexpectedly, a proper response came from beside her.

“I think I understand what you mean.”

“Oh…”

Myeongjeon looked to the side. It was Jeong Hyuna, whom he had thought seemed to be in terrible shape. But seeing her agree with something young people completely failed to understand, he wondered whether she was actually a decent kid on the inside.

“Kids these days don’t even watch The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya or K-On… At best, they watch Bang Dream, and at worst, they only watch Bocchi the Rock, then say they know bands and rock and announce that they want to make music.”

She certainly didn’t seem like it.

“No, what are you talking about…? Besides, it’s not as if Japan only has those band anime. There must have been band manga back in the day. You haven’t read those either.”

“Those aren’t fun, Somat-nim.”

“Ah! I told you not to call me by my nickname, Bin-nim! Why are you like this?”

As he listened to this absurd conversation, most of which he didn’t understand, Myeongjeon wondered how he was supposed to form a band with people like these.

‘Maybe I should just say I’m not forming a band.’