Chapter 38
Myeongjeon showed no reaction. More precisely, he was unable to show one. No, to be even more precise, he simply had nothing to say.
There was no helping it. In fact, it would have been strange for him to have anything to say. If someone told him, “Hey, that isn’t your guitar, but it looks like your guitar. Why are you holding it?” the best thing to do would be to think, “What the hell kind of crazy nonsense is that…?” and refuse to engage with them.
Of course, Myeongjeon was the only one who found that obvious. The other two didn’t know that Myeongjeon was Suyeon, and Suyeon was Myeongjeon.
“Huh?”
Instead of Suyeon, Hyein asked as if she had no idea what he meant. Rather than answer, Junhong remained silent for a moment and looked at the guitar again.
‘The Black Strat. Completely different from the original Black Strat, simply aged in a natural way. The rubber grip on the tremolo arm has been replaced with metal, and the knobs are chrome-plated. Looking at it overall, this is definitely Mr. Myeongjeon’s guitar.’
A few years ago, Junhong had stayed at Myeongjeon’s house and handled his guitars several times. The guitar he had seen back then was exactly the same as the one he was holding now.
But how?
Why was this guitar here?
It wasn’t impossible.
But it was certainly impossible to understand.
“I’m having a hard time understanding this.”
Hyein looked at the silent Junhong and opened her mouth. What else could he have meant by saying, “This is Mr. Myeongjeon’s guitar,” and, “How does a student have this?” The owner of that guitar wasn’t her, so why was she holding it?
In other words, wasn’t he saying that Suyeon had taken someone else’s property? Hyein decided to believe that Suyeon had changed rather than suspect her.
“Are you saying my daughter stole that guitar? Because that’s the only way I can interpret what you’re saying.”
“No, no, that’s not what I meant…”
At Hyein’s barbed words, Junhong came to his senses. He hadn’t meant it that way at all, so he waved his hands and spoke.
“Uh, this guitar is… Um… I think I should explain from the beginning.”
Junhong placed the guitar on the table and looked at the silent Suyeon. Her expression was difficult to read. What could she be thinking?
“This guitar does have a model name and things like that, but more importantly… it belonged to the guitarist I respected, Mr. Myeongjeon.”
“No, I understand that. Then are you saying that my child stole the guitar from him…?”
“And he passed away not long ago.”
Hyein was momentarily speechless. Somehow, it felt as though she had just disrespected the deceased. But that wasn’t Junhong’s intention.
“He was still holding this guitar until the day he died. The police recovered it, you see. So I wasn’t trying to say that your daughter stole it at all.”
At that, Hyein inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Suyeon hadn’t stolen it. She really had changed her ways. With those thoughts in mind, Hyein looked at Suyeon, who was staring at Junhong with a slightly stiff expression for some reason.
“We didn’t learn that he had passed away until after the funeral was over. He had been so reclusive lately that no one knew where he was.
“When I finally heard the news and went to pay my respects, the landlord had already taken custody of the body, held a simple funeral, and cleared out the house. So I couldn’t even attend the funeral or help sort through Mr. Myeongjeon’s belongings.”
“It’s tragic, but what does any of that have to do with this guitar?”
“This may sound a little vulgar…”
Junhong hesitated slightly before answering Hyein’s question.
“The whereabouts of this guitar were the hottest topic among Korean guitarists.”
“Why?”
“…Because it was Myeongjeon’s guitar.”
Junhong fell silent for a moment, then opened his mouth again.
“Among us guitarists, the name ‘Myeongjeon’ was practically revered like that of a god. He was skilled enough to be called the foremost session guitarist, and he was easily one of the top three guitarists in Korea. He almost became Fender’s second endorser in South Korea (Footnote 1), though he ultimately turned them down. I respected him a great deal myself.”
“And this is the guitar Mr. Myeongjeon used for more than fifteen years. Unless something special came up, he always used this one. I saw it a few times myself.”
At those words, Hyein looked at Suyeon. Why was such a guitar in Suyeon’s hands? And why wasn’t Suyeon saying anything? Was there some complicated story behind it?
“To be honest, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t coveted this guitar as a guitarist. It belonged to someone like him, so of course I wanted to play it… and it was worth collecting, too. In fact, there was someone who acted immediately…
“The story that person heard from the landlord who had arranged the funeral was that after Mr. Myeongjeon died and the funeral was held, someone came and took the guitar. After that, no one knew where it had gone.
“So seeing that guitar right in front of me now, I can’t help being shocked.”
Junhong gently stroked the guitar, then raised his head and looked at Suyeon. She was staring at the guitar with an expressionless face.
‘The girl that old woman mentioned is probably this one.’
After a funeral no one had attended, a mysterious high-school girl had suddenly appeared and taken the guitar, claiming that she had been supposed to buy it.
And there was one more thing. After Mr. Myeongjeon’s death, his Mule account had suddenly left a reply saying that he would participate in a busking performance. Then there was the high-school girl in the busking video filmed on a phone, singing and playing guitar.
Judging from the circumstances, those two people and the Ha Suyeon here had to be the same person. There was no other way to see it.
If so, what did this mean?
Junhong racked his brain desperately, but no answer came to him. The person at the center of it all was simply sitting there without saying much.
“Um…”
“Yes?”
Just then, Suyeon finally spoke. Junhong wondered what words had struggled their way out of her mouth.
“Let’s start with the broadcast. It seems we’ve already run out of time.”
But that wasn’t what Junhong had been expecting. Suyeon said it with a bright smile, while Hyein added, “Oh my, how has it gotten this late already?”
“Ah… yes. In that case, let’s go in…”
Faced with Suyeon stating the obvious, Junhong had no choice but to say that.
* * *
‘What am I supposed to do about this?’
Myeongjeon hid his panic behind a calm expression and cobbled together whatever words came to mind.
“Could you introduce yourself?”
“Hello. I’m Ha Suyeon, and I run the White Room channel on YouTube.”
“How long have you been playing guitar?”
“I don’t remember exactly, but I don’t think it’s been very long.”
After the usual questions that invariably came up in a YouTube interview, he heard Junhong say, “Then shall we watch one of White Room’s guitar-playing videos before we move on?”
‘Seriously, what the hell? Korea’s top session guitarist? One of the top three Korean guitarists? People trying to collect my guitar?’
Myeongjeon inwardly sighed, utterly dumbfounded.
What on earth was all this nonsense? Myeongjeon thought Junhong’s rambling was absurd. What did he mean, top three or number one session guitarist…? Were these people crazy?
Myeongjeon himself acknowledged that he played guitar well. He was also proud of his skill.
But saying he was one of the top three or the best session player… wasn’t that a bit much? There were so many excellent guitarists in the world. Compared to them, Myeongjeon was nothing more than a firefly before the sun.
Of course, that had only been true before he was reborn as Ha Suyeon.
Things were definitely different now. All he lacked was stamina, a reputation as a guitarist… and the ability to write lyrics.
‘But… that’s not what’s important right now.’
He could list his abilities as a guitarist later. What mattered most right now was figuring out how to get out of this situation.
What on earth was he supposed to say?
“Actually, I’m Myeongjeon. After I died, I woke up in this body. So I went to get my guitar and bought it from the old lady for 400,000 won. That’s why I have this guitar.” Should he say that?
Or should he claim that he had bought it at a used-goods marketplace? “I bought it from some delinquent high-school kid, and it turned out to be this guitar! He sold me a guitar worth more than ten million won for 400,000!” Should he say that?
Neither story seemed remotely plausible.
Hadn’t he even gone to the landlord’s house for the guitar? Then they had probably found out that ‘Ha Suyeon’ had taken it. Even if they didn’t know exactly what she looked like, they would at least know that a high-school girl had bought it.
‘Should I just not explain?’
Myeongjeon thought of that for a moment. Actually, come to think of it, why should he explain?
Why did he have to explain himself?
He hadn’t threatened anyone with a knife and taken it, nor had he bought stolen goods through some illegal channel. He had legitimately traded with the landlord and taken the guitar. That was all.
‘Or maybe saying I knew Mr. Myeongjeon wouldn’t be so bad. He’s dead anyway, and I can make up the details however I want…’
As he thought that, Myeongjeon came up with a good idea.
* * *
“Then, could you play the guitar for us?”
“Yes. Is there a particular song you’d like to hear…?”
“Nothing in particular! Just play whatever you’re comfortable with.”
“I see.”
After saying that, Suyeon began setting up her effects. A Civil War Big Muff, a Buna Delay, a Fuzz Face, a wah pedal, and so on.
‘Even the effects…’
Some of the setup Mr. Myeongjeon had used was on that student’s pedalboard. It wasn’t a complete copy of his setup, but it included all the essential effects.
‘Could she really have some connection to Mr. Myeongjeon? Did she inherit even that setup from him…?’
While Junhong was thinking that, the setup was complete. Suyeon sat in the center of the camera’s frame with the guitar in her hands.
“Well, then…”
“What song are you going to play?”
“That can be a surprise for the listeners.”
And then the performance began without warning. The melody and tone were both quite familiar.
“Is this… ‘Manhattan’?”
“Yes.”
Eric Johnson’s “Manhattan.” Though overshadowed by “Cliffs of Dover,” it was one of the greatest songs Eric Johnson had created, and…
It was also a song Mr. Myeongjeon had loved.
= Wow
= She’s really good at guitar
= Holy shit
= Is she really a minor?
= No ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Listening to this person play guitar makes me feel so inadequate…
= You play incredibly well. Eric Johnson isn’t easy, but it seems like you’re reproducing everything perfectly, from the tone to the technique.
Junhong watched Suyeon play guitar and felt a sense of déjà vu at the same time. It was a familiar feeling, like something he had heard somewhere—a sound that had continued from long ago until quite recently…
Junhong’s eyes widened. The source of that familiarity was the strumming pattern. It was a unique pattern, almost like a guitarist’s fingerprint.
And the strumming pattern he had sensed in Mr. Myeongjeon’s playing was present in this girl’s performance too, exactly as it had been.
Pretending to focus on the performance, Junhong closed his eyes and thought deeply. He felt as though something was just about to come to him.
The girl who had appeared suddenly after the funeral had taken the guitar as if it had been reserved for her. Then there was Mr. Myeongjeon’s Mule account, which had suddenly appeared one day, followed by the high-school girl busker using a Black Strat. She had said she hadn’t been playing guitar for long. Mr. Myeongjeon’s effects setup, the strumming pattern, and similar—no, extremely similar—tastes in music.
Putting all of that together…
There was only one possible conclusion.
‘Could she be his student? The last student Mr. Myeongjeon took in? Someone whose talent he recognized and taught…?’
Unfortunately, Junhong was an ordinary person. He was utterly incapable of imagining that a man who had suddenly died on the roadside could have been reborn, with his gender changed, in the body of a high-school girl…