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< For the Music Genius - Episode 001 >
Paaaaang─!
I hear a horn honking. Loud.
It was a successful life.
There is a saying that a dragon rises from a stream, and it was a proverb that was specifically about me. My parents washed other people’s clothes all their lives. They raised me with sore hands in a laundry shop that was about ten square meters. However, I did not like my parents’ job. It was a sore spot that I wanted to hide, and I hated the smell of oil that I could usually smell in a laundry shop like a bad smell.
“Hyun-ah, you should take your lunch box!”
“Okay.”
My mother packed me a lunch box every morning. However, I didn’t always take a lunch box. The side dishes were the same every day. Stir-fried anchovies, braised lotus root, and fermented kimchi. I hated these side dishes as much as the smell of oil. It was better to replace rice with bread and milk sold at the convenience store.
I studied to death. I had been greedy since I was young. I didn’t want to define the limits of my life in a one-room apartment attached to a laundry shop that was about 10 pyeong. I studied so hard that I was given the nickname of “monopoly.” There’s a saying that high school friends last a lifetime, but that’s nonsense to me. I had long since trampled on human relationships. My only friend was my study book.
-3rd grade, class 7, Kang Hyun, accepted to the Department of Law at Korea University-
It was the moment that marked the end of my college entrance exam life. My mother wiped away tears as she looked at the fluttering placard in front of the school gate. Even my blunt father had tears in his eyes. Everyone congratulated me on my acceptance to the University of Korea. I took pictures with teachers I wasn’t close with, and I heard countless times that I had worked hard. But it was a dream come true. I thought differently. This was the beginning, the first step toward my new life.
“The topic is my belief in the unfairness of sentencing.”
This was the topic of the third group interview for the bar exam. Unfair sentencing refers to a sentence that is too light or too heavy compared to the content of the case committed by the defendant, such as the process leading to the crime or the damage caused by the crime.
The eyes of the old professors sitting on the interview committee are sharp.
A hundred people have a hundred thoughts, and ten thousand people have ten thousand thoughts. The law is also created by human hands. If a judge had a narrow perspective instead of a correct perspective, the judgment would certainly have been different. The judgment of the court is not immutable. However.
“I had many questions while studying law. I didn’t understand the rulings of my senior judges, and there were times when I thought they were wrong. However, as I studied law, I was eventually able to realize that it was just the arrogance of a young law student. As time went by, as I studied law, I was able to understand the rulings of the courts at the time, and I was able to understand the true feelings of my seniors in the legal profession.”
It wasn’t a perfect answer. However, the corners of the lips of the old professors sitting on the interview panel went up.
I was called a “monster” even among the Judicial Research and Training Institute students. Even among the “flying and tall” geniuses, I never missed out on being the top student. The Judicial Research and Training Institute was like a gateway to a new life. Moreover, as I achieved excellent results, I was approached with secret contacts.
“You know about Jeil Group, right?”
This is a question from a professor. Jeil Group, is there anyone who doesn’t know?
There is a saying that it is the best republic. It is the place that is truly the pinnacle of the business world in South Korea.
In particular, it was also called a dream workplace for job seekers. There was even an old saying that if you join Jeil Group, you will have a chance to get married and a neighborhood party will be held.
“Would you like to become a scholarship student at Jeil Group?”
Scholarship student, a metaphorical expression.
To put it bluntly, the question is whether or not he will become the dog of the first group.
I felt my heart pounding. It was an offer I had been waiting and waiting for. I didn’t care if I became a dog. As long as I could become a member of the first group.
That evening.
Beethoven symphony no.9 4th
I listened to the fourth movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, ‘Choral’. It is a grand and thrilling hymn of joy. The chorus resonates like the intensity of percussion instruments based on the beginning of string instruments. Since it is a piece composed by Beethoven who lost his hearing, I can feel his passion for human victory. I liked classical music when I was young. However, I quit it early because I had no talent. Furthermore, classical music does not make money in Korea.
Freude, schöner Götterfunken! Götterfunken!
O joy, oh joy, beautiful flame of the gods! O beautiful flame of the gods!
I closed my eyes as I listened to the choir’s loud cries. Now, a new life begins.
That would be right. After graduating from the Judicial Research and Training Institute, he worked as a prosecutor at the Western District Prosecutors’ Office. For over a decade, he worked as a prosecutor, taking charge of the secret affairs of Jeil Group. It would be more correct to say that he protected Jeil Group rather than protecting law and justice. An apartment with a clear view of the Han River is not something that can be purchased with a prosecutor’s salary. It was all thanks to Jeil Group.
“Son, how are you?”
My mother’s voice is weak. It’s been more than ten years since I’ve visited my parents’ home. Occasionally, my parents would come to Seoul with a lot of food, but even then, it was hard for them to see my face. When I got married, I didn’t even have a proper meeting with my parents. My wife was the daughter of a city council member, and she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth.
“I’ll send you some pocket money.”
“Son, that’s not it…”
“I don’t have time, so I’ll hang up first.”
I hung up the phone as if I was running away. I thought I was doing my parents a favor by sending them money every month. I told them not to run a laundry, but they didn’t leave the laundry they loved. But I still hated the smell of that oil.
After finishing as a senior prosecutor, I left the Western District Prosecutors’ Office.
It was to transfer to Jeil Group. Most people looked at me with envy. Before I knew it, I was the deputy head of Jeil Group’s legal team, and I was washing away all kinds of corruption in Jeil Group. I did it day and night.
“Kang Seo-bang, shouldn’t you start showing your ambitions in politics now?”
It was an order from the father-in-law, who is a three-term member of the National Assembly. The Jeil Group also welcomed it with open arms. How great it would be if one’s dog were to take charge of one axis of the government. It is a position that is useful in many ways.
“I will take care of the financial issue first, and your family background is pretty good, right?”
“yes?”
“The common people don’t like the saying that a dragon rises from a stream, and that’s exactly what you are. In the old days, you were a dragon rising from a family that did sewing for a living. Let’s promote your unfortunate childhood by highlighting it.”
The craftsman blatantly ignored me. He thought I had adopted the family dog just to maintain a strong relationship with Jeil Group.
But that didn’t last long.
In the process of preparing to enter politics,
I found out that I had terminal pancreatic cancer. I thought it was just indigestion. The doctor said that there was no difference in the progression of cancer until the early stages. However, when it reached the terminal stage, there was a sudden and drastic change in the body. As evidence, I lost weight rapidly and my face was covered in jaundice.
The first group no longer wanted me. My father-in-law was no different. My political career was in vain, and my wife, as if she had been waiting for it, proceeded with the divorce. Of course, I could not receive a single penny in alimony. I could have fought a legal battle, but I had no more time for that.
Thump.
My steps were heavy. It felt as if someone was grabbing my feet and pulling me. The doctor recommended chemotherapy, but I didn’t take it. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in the hospital.
“Son, how are you?”
I started to cry at the sound of my mother’s voice.
“I’m doing great…”
“Son. Why is your voice so bad? Are you busy?”
“No, I’ll be down soon.”
I hung up the phone in a hurry. I wanted to see my parents’ faces one last time. Even if it was from a distance. I headed to the subway to go to Seoul Station. It was a subway I hadn’t taken since my school days. It had changed a lot since decades ago.
A raucous laughter was heard.
They are female students carrying large cello cases and violin cases on their backs. Their fingers are covered in calluses, which doesn’t match their innocent faces. I used to love music that much too. It was in a very distant past that I can’t even remember.
[The subway is currently arriving at Noryangjin Station.]
The subway came in with a rattling sound. A faint light was visible in the distance. It was the time when everyone was stepping outside the yellow safety line. A drunken man staggering alone caught my eye.
“Uh, uh······!”
Like someone’s cry,
thud!
It happened in an instant. The drunk fell onto the tracks.
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The drunkards, who were completely drunk, didn’t move as if the tracks were their beds. People watched the scene, stamping their feet. They could see the subway coming in from afar. No one was willing to step forward. But why?
Pot.
I kicked my foot. I have been selfish all my life. But as if possessed, I ran down to the tracks. My heavy body felt light now, just like before. The strong smell of alcohol from the drunkard tickled my nostrils.
“mister······!”
It was when I pushed the drunkard to the side of the tracks with all my might that the female student carrying the violin case opened her eyes wide and shouted. It was then.
Paaaaang─!
A horn honked. Loud.
The subway lights that had seemed dim soon came into view.
People’s astonished stares immediately caught my eye, and some even shut their eyes tightly.
But why, at that moment, I remembered something without realizing it.
Freude, schöner Götterfunken! Götterfunken!
O joy, oh joy, beautiful flame of the gods! O beautiful flame of the gods!
Beethoven’s 9th symphony, choral.
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