Memorial (3)

“Hello. The weather has warmed up considerably, hasn’t it? At this rate, it’ll be summer before we know it. The world and the weather alike seem to be changing a great deal. When I was young, spring was unmistakably spring, and fall was unmistakably fall, you know.”

“It’s been quite a long time since I met Teacher Myeongjeon. I’d heard rumors that his health wasn’t good, but one day I couldn’t reach him. When I asked around, I learned that he had passed away. It was nothing short of a bolt from the blue. Once the grief had passed, we had arrived at this moment.”

“In any case, I’d like to welcome you all to this suddenly organized memorial concert for Teacher Seo Myeongjeon. To commemorate Teacher Myeongjeon, who left his mark on Korean music, many musicians have sent us messages, if only by video…”

The concert began, and one of the people Myeongjeon remembered climbed onto the stage as the MC and began to speak.

Most of the people who had sent video letters were famous musicians who had either recorded sessions for him or merely encountered him in passing. Some of the famous musicians who had been close to him came in person as well.

Seeing everyone flocking here to mourn him and doing this and that, Myeongjeon did feel a little touched. No one was paying them, yet they had gathered like this to remember him. Wasn’t that something to be grateful for?

‘The problem is, I’m actually alive right here, yet they’re calling me dead and holding all this for me. It’s a little surreal.’

Myeongjeon twisted a lock of his hair and went into the waiting room. Since the concert was expected to last about three or four hours, there were plenty of people inside.

The noise of people chatting reminded him of a funeral home. Old men gathered around a table, opening shrimp crackers and bottles of soju. Young musicians who had been dragged here sat around without even understanding what was going on. People bustled back and forth, busy with the concert preparations.

Some people did take an interest in Myeongjeon, but after he tried a few of the things he considered ‘what high school girls these days do’—only saying, “Oh, yes,” and making a show of not being interested—most of them went back to minding their own business...