Interlude

Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep—went the alarm clock. Myeongjeon reached out and turned it off, then looked at the time. 6:30 a.m. Time to get up, as always.

Before getting out of bed, he did his McKenzie exercises. Keeping his lower body in place, he lifted only his upper body straight up to look at the sky. Then he inhaled and exhaled deeply, restoring the natural curve of his spine.

Next came the cat pose. With his hips raised toward the sky, he pressed his upper body as close to the floor as possible. After holding the position for a few seconds, he felt the tension release from his lower back.

He wasn't old enough to need to loosen up first thing in the morning to prevent a slipped disk… but it was a habit he'd practiced since his days as ‘Seo Myeongjeon,’ and since it was good for his health, he saw no reason to change it.

After loosening his back, he went outside and found Ms. Lee Hyein waiting for him. The usual breakfast: one fried egg and various side dishes.

“Enjoy your meal.”

“Yeah, okay.”

For a while, the only sound filling the kitchen was the clatter of chopsticks. Myeongjeon continued eating absentmindedly until he raised his head at the sound of Ms. Lee Hyein’s voice.

“You remember you're coming to the company today, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

“The employees will finish work, eat, and then start, so you can come to the company at 19:00.”

“Yes.”

The part-time job ‘Mom’ had asked him to take—or, more accurately, had pulled strings to get for him. He was supposed to teach guitar to the office workers and provide a little band consulting.

‘I’ll do it since she pulled strings for me, but…’

He didn't particularly care, but from the students' perspective, it was a little awkward. He'd only been playing guitar for a few months, and if someone like that announced he was going to teach others, they ought to be grateful if they weren't cursed out on the spot.

Well, if they cursed him out, all he had to do was show them his skills. They'd shut up soon enough.

“Then I’m off, Mom~”

“Yes, have a safe trip.”

After finishing his meal, Myeongjeon sat down at his desk, enjoying the refreshing feeling of vacation. The number of subscribers to his YouTube channel had risen quite a bit—around three thousand. He hadn't received any more emails asking about session work since then.

There was no need to rush. Now that he had a way to make money, he could take things slowly.

After finishing a few tasks, he set up the camera to film today's performance. The song he would play today was Stevie Ray Vaughan's “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

While editing the video after finishing the song, his phone rang. The caller was Iseo.

[Today's practice file.mp3]

You worked hard practicing since morning. Myeongjeon opened the file. It was hard to call it rhythmic, but at least it was a bass line trying its best to have a sense of rhythm. Well, he could tell Iseo was trying, so that was nice.

[You've improved, but you're still a long way off. You should practice more. Are you practicing this afternoon too?]

[I have to go to my part-time job this afternoon…]

[Then practice after you get back.]

[No, I need to rest too;]

What did Iseo mean, rest? Wasn't playing an instrument supposed to be a form of rest? Myeongjeon couldn't understand at all. If touching an instrument itself didn't bring you joy, you had no talent for music. Had Iseo still not realized that, even after playing together once?

[You can only become a truly good musician once playing bass feels more familiar than breathing. In that respect, you're still a long way off.]

[You should be thinking about practicing bass all the time except when you're eating. The fact that you want to do something else at all is the problem.]

[No.]

[I know what you mean, but I want to have some fun too.]

* * *

They were office workers.

Ordinary… no, young workers employed at a fairly successful startup. Men and women in their twenties and thirties who knew how to maintain a work-life balance and enjoy a comfortable life.

Objectively speaking, their company was quite a good one. A young, capable female CEO. A product that could become a cash cow. A dynamic and lively corporate culture. A remarkably high salary. And a welfare program with so many perks that it was hard to take advantage of them all.

It was a work environment that made it difficult not to be satisfied.

Until yesterday.

“Oh… Assistant Manager Kim is here too?”

“Yes. What choice do we have?”

“I don't know what's going on… I mean, is this really okay? Even if it's a free employee-benefit program…”

“She must have something in mind.”

One of the company's welfare programs was support for employee clubs. While they were enthusiastically making use of the subsidies, the CEO announced that she had hired an instructor to teach guitar and look after their band.

Since the CEO said the instructor was quite skilled, they assumed it might be a famous artist and asked, “Who is it?” The answer they received was, “My daughter.”

“…Yes? Your daughter?”

“Yes. My daughter plays guitar well.”

“…Ahahaha~! Your daughter plays guitar well, huh? Sounds exciting~!”

The place that had been one of Korea's leading startups just minutes ago had somehow turned into a fucking small-time company that had parachuted in a family member.

Actually, she hadn't been hired; she'd merely been pushed into the role of cultural-program instructor, so perhaps it wasn't quite a small-time outfit… But then again, the employees couldn't help tilting their heads and wondering what kind of company sent its CEO's daughter in as a cultural-program instructor.

“I don't know if this is right.”

“Well, her daughter could be good at guitar…”

“But didn't you say that daughter of hers went around causing trouble? I remember when the CEO got completely wasted at a company dinner a few months ago and complained to me about her.”

“Did she say she was doing music back then?”

“No, I didn't hear anything about that.”

At that, sighs rose from all over the room. The ‘CEO’ was definitely a good person. A good employer and a capable boss. Like a typical startup founder, she did often force projects to fit her own abilities and impose her own schedules, but that was something most business owners did anyway.

But even so, wasn't it going too far to put her daughter into the welfare program as a guitar instructor while saying, “My daughter plays guitar well~”?

What if her daughter couldn't play guitar? Were they supposed to say, “Excuse me, Instructor, you play guitar terribly”? With her mother as the CEO? Or were they supposed to say, “Ah, CEO, I haven't had time for band activities lately…” and quit? It would be obvious that they were running away from her daughter.

The employees felt a needless headache coming on at the thought that this was the kind of bizarre place where shit started happening.

“The CEO is here.”

The click-clack of heels and the thud of footsteps echoed through the hall. At an employee's words after taking a quick look down the hallway, all the employees who had been slumped over in a whatever-happens-happens attitude straightened up at once.

“Hello~ Did everyone enjoy dinner?”

Two people entered. Their CEO, ‘Lee Hyein,’ and… behind her, a pretty high school girl with a cold look about her. Rather than greeting anyone upon entering, she narrowed her eyes and swept her gaze over the people in the room… leaving the office workers with a decidedly bad feeling.

“This is, uh… my daughter, as I told you. Her name is Ha Suyeon. Suyeon, say hello. They're Mom's employees.”

“Hello. I'm Ha Suyeon.”

The high school girl gave a quick bow. After the polite, obligatory applause, Ms. Lee Hyein continued speaking.

“Some of you were probably caught off guard because I said I'd bring an instructor and brought my daughter instead, right?”

The responses that followed included, “Not at all~,” “You look like you play guitar well~!” and “Your daughter is incredibly pretty~.” Hyein smiled bitterly as she listened to them.

“I know exactly how you feel. If I were in your shoes, and the CEO suddenly brought someone to our company club saying, ‘My daughter plays guitar well, so learn from her,’ I’d be incredibly troubled too. How could you possibly say anything to the CEO’s daughter?

“But my daughter really does play guitar incredibly well. I can guarantee that objectively, too. And it turns out she's also very good at teaching other people. If you try taking a lesson, you'll know right away.”

Having said that, Hyein gestured to Suyeon without waiting for a response. Suyeon stepped forward while Hyein moved into a corner of the room and sat down.

‘How are they supposed to learn if you said they’d know after trying, but you don’t leave?’

That thought wasn't limited to the employees; Myeongjeon had the same thought. The employees were people too. Their boss needed to leave if they were supposed to learn and talk comfortably.

Well, it couldn't be helped. First, he had to dispel the distrust they were harboring, then get ‘Mom’ to go buy some coffee or something before starting the lesson.

“Hello. I'm Ha Suyeon, whom you met earlier. Let me greet you once again.”

She bowed, and a somewhat listless round of applause broke out. Myeongjeon chuckled to himself.

“My mom is, uh… how should I put this? She has an excessive amount of confidence in her child’s abilities, so she went ahead and put me in charge of teaching all of you. I suppose I’m partly at fault for accepting without thinking, too.

“At a glance, I think I can guess what you're all thinking. ‘What kind of skills does that girl have to think she can teach other people guitar? She's not even an instructor—she's a high school student. Even if she's the boss's daughter, isn't this a bit much?’ You're probably thinking things like that, right?”

A burst of laughter broke out. Some people laughed awkwardly, as though embarrassed, while others laughed sincerely, as if they genuinely found her words and the situation funny. If Myeongjeon could see it, Ms. Lee Hyein could see it too. Shouldn't that person be a little more careful?

Myeongjeon opened the guitar case and took out the acoustic guitar he'd brought. It was a guitar Ms. Lee Hyein had bought for the lessons—a perfectly ordinary Korean-made Cort.

“I suppose I should show you how well I play first. After that, let's begin the lesson…”

* * *

When the gentle guitar performance ended, a different kind of applause filled the room. The first round had been reluctant; this time, it was sincere. How could he tell? After performing hundreds or thousands of times, you developed a feel for it.

“You really… play guitar well.”

One of the employees let the words slip out in a dazed voice. The others began voicing their agreement.

“You're really good,” “Your feel is insane,” and “Isn't that a Cort? How does it make a sound like that?” were some of the things they said.

Myeongjeon found the last comment a little irritating. At his level, he could pick up any guitar and play it like it was worth several million won.

In the end, the sound came from the player's hands, not the guitar. Of course, having a good guitar was nice, but…

“So? Do you feel like taking lessons from me now?”

“Yes!”

The voices that came back were lively, unlike before. Myeongjeon grinned and looked toward Ms. Lee Hyein. She was smiling brightly as well.

“The song I just played was Pink Floyd's “Wish You Were Here.” For a while, I'd like to base our lessons on this song. Of course, before that, I need to assess everyone's level.

“According to what my mother told me, you all know how to play guitar at least a little. So, to assess your level, I'd like each of you to come up one at a time and play a song you know. It doesn't matter if you play badly or well. Just play a song you know…”

* * *

Myeongjeon packed up his guitar. Next time, they would probably need to hold the lesson somewhere they could use an amplifier or something. Perhaps they could rent a group lesson room.

By the time he'd assessed the students' guitar skills, talked about what might come up while they learned guitar and various other matters, and scheduled their future lessons, the lesson period had already ended. So today, they only held an orientation.

“The CEO's daughter plays guitar so well! I was really surprised at first. Her feel is incredible…”

“Right? I had no idea my daughter was that good either. She learned guitar somewhere without even telling her mother… Ahaha.”

Even after the lesson ended, several employees stayed behind to chat with Ms. Lee Hyein.

Considering how they kept praising ‘Ha Suyeon,’ perhaps it wasn't sincere praise so much as praise intended to help their careers.

But even so, what parent disliked hearing their child praised? Ms. Lee Hyein was smiling so broadly that the expression ‘her ears reached her mouth’ seemed perfectly fitting.

“I'm all done tidying up.”

“Are you? Goodness, it's already this late.”

As the old saying went, even an ax handle could rot while immortals played. ‘Mom’ had been so engrossed in chatting about her daughter's praises that she hadn't noticed time passing.

He didn't want to interrupt such a pleasant moment, but he had to go home eventually.

“Come to think of it… does your daughter practice by herself at home?”

“That's right.”

“There are a lot of audition shows these days. Couldn't she try appearing on one? She seems talented enough to have a real shot…”

As they exchanged farewells and prepared to go home, they heard something that was difficult to simply brush aside.

A television appearance…? An audition show…?