Superstar From Age 0
Chapter 118

Chapter 118

“Gray. Are you home now? Oh, right, today was your violin lesson, wasn’t it?”

Gray kept his head down even as his mother spoke. Seeing his state, his mother silently wiped him with a towel that was slightly damp.

She carefully opened her mouth, looking at her son’s pale face.

“What happened?”

“Mom…”

“Yes?”

Gray hugged his mother. He had been through a lot of shocking things, but he hadn’t shed a single tear. But now, he started to sob.

He was so, so hurt. His heart was in pain. He had thought for the first time that he had met a good adult, someone he wanted to emulate, a teacher he wanted to learn from. He was so, so happy to learn the violin from him!

“Swallow wasn’t a real teacher…”

Gray whimpered in his mother’s arms. He couldn’t finish his sentence as the tears came out involuntarily. He sniffled and barely managed to say the words.

Mom had tried so hard to find him… but he wasn’t a real teacher… he said my posture was terrible. And my playing…

He explained everything that had happened, and Gray’s cold body warmed up.

His mother closed her eyes and hugged her crying son tighter.

“I’m sorry. I should have looked into it more and found you a better teacher, even if it was more expensive…”

“No! No… it was me, I wanted to learn the violin… so…”

Anyway…

Gray thought.

Anyway, I can’t make money with the violin. I just did it because I liked it. It was the first time I felt excited about something.

But of course, it was too much.

It was too much for Gray, a child of Downlock.

“I’m sorry. Mom.”

Gray left his mother’s embrace and wiped his tears. His eyes were swollen from the rough and worn sleeve.

Gray spoke bravely, but with a look of giving up on something.

He had bloomed like a flower when he met the violin, but he was eventually blown away by the storm.

“They said I can get my money back at the police station. Let’s use that to pay this month’s rent.”

“…Sob.”

At that, his mother couldn’t help but burst into tears. She wished he had blamed her, or said he wanted to learn from another teacher. She felt like her heart was breaking at the sight of her son, who had grown up too fast and worried about money first.

Seeing his mother cry, Gray tried to hold back his tears, but he couldn’t and sobbed again.

“Cut! OK!”

The quiet set became noisy at the sound of the cut. 

The staff who had been watching the shoot with their mouths covered started to cry out loud as the shoot ended.

****

Gray, who was immersed in sadness, was left alone in the empty house after his mother went to work. He didn’t want to do anything. He didn’t want to think about anything. He just lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The pattern on the ceiling looked like musical notes. Gray drew five black lines.

This is do, this is sol… As he was thinking that, a melody flashed through his mind.

It was a sad and despairing melody that he had never thought of before. It seemed to reflect his current feelings.

His left finger moved as he stared blankly at the ceiling. It was like he was plucking the strings of a violin.

Dozens of melodies passed through his mind. His fingers moved faster with the explosive music.

He got up abruptly, only moving his hand. His head was noisy. He wanted to get it all out.

But, but could he? What if he got hurt again? He hesitated in front of the door that seemed to be closed tightly. His hand trembled.

His trembling hand barely touched the door. The door that was slightly pushed opened easily, as if it had never been closed.

And Gray couldn’t help but cry. There, in front of the door, were the pile of staff paper and the blanket that he had thrown away at the dump last night, soaked in the rain, and Rebecca’s violin that he had hidden under them.

He remembered his mother, who had dried and flattened the staff paper that had been wrinkled by the rain, and neatly placed them with the violin in front of the door. 

He couldn’t stop crying as he felt his mother’s heart, telling him not to give up.

Gray didn’t think about anything. He just moved his hand to the staff paper and pen. He lay down on the cold floor and wrote down everything that came to his mind.

Sadness, frustration, despair.

And between those moments, he drew a bright white hope.

Gray recalled and repeated his despair and sadness. And he moved them to his hand. He filled the staff paper with them. Drops of water fell from his eyes. Tears fell on the staff paper.

It was painful to remember that time, but composing was so much fun. He wanted to write more. His hand writing the music sped up.

The set became quiet.

Everyone’s eyes were on Seo-jun, who was acting in the set. Seo-jun was lying on the living room floor. He was writing something like crazy in that position.

“Wow…”

Someone opened their mouth, not to disturb the shoot.

“He’s like a genius.”

Seo-jun’s face was facing the floor, so they couldn’t see it. But they could tell how passionately he was composing from his moving hand and arm, his wriggling shoulder and the staff paper piled up next to him.

It was just acting, but they felt like an amazing masterpiece was being born there.

What kind of music would it be, made with that feeling? Even the staff who had no interest in classical music were curious. It was that powerful.

“They say artists use their emotions as nourishment, but do they all feel like this?”

“Then, are all artists…”

Crazy?

The staff’s eyes turned to Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore. Whether they knew it or not, Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore kept sticking their heads out to look at Seo-jun. Benjamin Morton whispered in a low voice.

“Can you see? What is he writing?”

“No. His back is blocking the view.”

“Do you think it’s his own composition?”

“Maybe not a complete song, but at least a basis?”

The two of them, who were curious about the song that he was creating while acting so amazingly, waited anxiously for the shoot to end. And as soon as the shoot was over, they received a pile of staff paper from Emily, the assistant director, who nodded her head.

Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore looked through the pile of staff paper without a word.

“This is… the teacher’s song.”

“…Yeah.”

“Well, even Seo-jun can’t just pull out a song.”

Unfortunately, contrary to what they had hoped, what Seo-jun had drawn on the staff paper was ‘Over The Rainbow’, composed by Benjamin Morton.

The two of them, who had a look of disappointment on their faces as they looked at the pile of staff paper, caught Seo-jun’s glance as he ate a sandwich.

***

The shooting of Over The Rainbow was nearing its end.

There were only two scenes left. There were more if you counted the minor ones, but there were two big ones left.

Today was the scene where Seo-jun played ‘Over The Rainbow’.

“Ready, action!”

Today, they had rented the best spot in the park. The people passing by recognized Gray and the kids.

“Are you performing today?”

“Yes. We’re performing a song that Gray composed!”

“You compose too? That’s awesome.”

One by one, they sat on the park grass and waited for Gray’s performance.

George finished setting up the camera and Rebecca cheered.

He was happy. His days had been plain and ordinary, but he was happy when he met the violin, and he was despairing, but he had friends.

Gray, who was looking at the people who had gathered, strapped on the violin with his trembling hand.

My violin.

His chest and hand trembled.

George said.

“Gray. I’ll turn on the camera. Everyone’s waiting.”

“Okay!”

Gray smiled brightly. His black eyes sparkled like stars with the tears in them.

[(Line)Goblin Violinist’s Melody is activated.]

[(Line)Elf’s Basic Breathing is activated.]

The staff, the actors, the director, Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore all looked at the shining Gray. Even though it was an ordinary violin, it shone more than any other violin.

Gray’s right arm, holding the bow, slowly came down. Unlike the first time, when he pressed two strings at once, he pressed only one string and made a beautiful sound.

Gray’s comfortable melody, like his ordinary day, flowed, and the sparkling melody, like the joy he felt when he first met the violin and his friends, flowed.

He poured out his overflowing heart as he learned the violin and felt the utmost happiness when he met his teacher.

“Oh…”

Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore let out a groan at Gray’s rough but pure, and raw performance.

As the teacher was Rebecca, a student, the director ordered them to let Gray play his own way. A more raw, lively performance.

The strength and rhythm of the performance depended entirely on Gray’s heart. They thought it was amazing in the practice room, but the performance now was shocking.

The person named Seo-jun disappeared and only the child named Gray remained. There was no ‘Seo-jun Lee’ anywhere in the violin.

‘Until the seventh week, it was Gray’s performance, and the eighth week was Seo-jun’s performance.’

They had a comparison group, so Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore knew. The performance during the lesson was half Seo-jun and half Gray.

‘Maybe he was half immersed in acting and played. And this is 100% immersed performance.’

They got goosebumps.

Not knowing acting, but knowing well about violin and music, Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore felt that in front of them was not ‘Seo-jun Lee’, but ‘Gray Byni’ who was alive.

They felt Gray clearly in the violin melody, and they couldn’t help but feel awe at Seo-jun Lee, who could pull off such an act.

The performance continued, and everyone’s heart who listened to the violin crumbled to the point of agony.

Even Benjamin Morton, the composer, wondered how he could express it so well, so miserable and dismal, and hopeless.

Gray’s heart, which was burned black when he found out that his teacher was a fraud, pierced the people’s hearts like a dagger along the violin melody.

But there was a thin, thread-like hope in it.

His friends who said they would wait for him and his mother who left the staff paper and violin in front of the door.

Gray held onto that thin hope. And he slowly moved toward the light. It was a slow speed, but Gray walked. Holding hands with his friends and mother.

And so, one step. Two steps.

Finally, Gray met happiness. The day he met his friends again, the end of this song he completed.

Gray played with all his strength until the end. It was music that shook people’s hearts.

The rough rain fell and the rainbow rose. And there was happiness over the rainbow.

Over The Rainbow.

The bow of the violin brushed the string, and the last sound echoed in the park. No one could say anything.

Even the sound of nature was swallowed by the sound of the violin, and silence flowed in the park. The staff and the extras had nothing to do but enjoy the aftertaste.

“OK! Cut!”

Sara Roth, the director, shouted loudly.

With that sound, applause erupted. They all watched Gray grow and felt all the emotions of this song again.

They cried and laughed and congratulated Gray’s growth. Even though he was a character in the movie, he seemed to be right in front of them.

“Wow. This movie is going to be a hit.”

“I don’t know what the story is, but it’s amazing.”

“Where can I buy this soundtrack?”

The people who participated as extras for today grabbed the staff and asked.

Meanwhile, Seo-jun wiped his sweat with a wet towel that Andaho handed him. It was a performance that he had put all his strength into. If it was Gray, he would have played with all his strength, so Seo-jun did the same.

He drank the cool juice that Andaho gave him and took a good rest. He still had the bust shot and the close-up shot left.