“Listen carefully. From now on, your name is Tofu. However, I won’t be giving you a last name yet. You and I aren’t close enough for that, right?”
“......”
“Our Han family is known for its strict rules. You have a lot to learn, especially about manners. You'll need to be thorough in that. And depending on how you do, your outcome will vary.”
“......”
“It's no use protesting! You don’t deserve to be part of our family. Maybe you got in easily because of your connection to my brother, but things won't be so easy from now on. Jason! Keep a close eye on Tofu from now on. Got it?”
“......”
“......”
“Watch his every move and report everything to me.”
Tofu and Jason exchanged a silent glance.
But they didn’t dare utter a word.
Perhaps they were incredibly nervous.
Well... what can be done?
After all, being born as a teddy bear and then ending up in the Han family was just unfortunate.
This is why you shouldn’t follow anyone just because they take you in. You need to pick the right connections.
I silently prayed for Tofu, who had been sold to my house for just 9,900 won.
Thankfully, Suyeon seemed to like my gift.
There was a pretty large toy store near Hongdae Station, and I had carefully selected Tofu after much deliberation.
“Gasp?! So Tofu was actually a trusted confidant of the royal family? No way... I thought you were just a kid picked up from the marketplace... In that case... you're the traitor of the family!”
Suyeon’s doll play was increasingly turning into a “revenge action drama set in medieval times.”
I knew that Suyeon read a lot of books, but where on earth did she come across stories like that? She was a hard child to figure out.
Judging by how the story was progressing, it seemed I could leave her be for a while.
I left Suyeon in the living room and headed to my room, picking up the guitar.
I tried playing a simple song.
It definitely felt different from the guitar I used to play on the deserted island.
This guitar wasn’t cracked on the top, hadn’t absorbed any water, and the frets weren’t worn down.
Touching a “perfect condition guitar” for the first time was more than enough to immerse me.
I started randomly playing the songs I knew.
Sometimes on the 5th string, then on the 6th.
Occasionally, I’d tap on the guitar body to match the rhythm.
This guitar brought back countless memories of the things I experienced on the deserted island.
The feelings of freedom I had felt there were being revived once again.
The endless stream of music kept boosting my spirits.
Just this alone was incredibly enjoyable.
I felt grateful to have reunited with this guitar.
I lost track of how much time had passed.
Knock, knock.
There was a soft knock at the door, followed by a doll peeking its head in.
The youngest of the bear dolls, Tofu, made a cute sound.
“Musician. Ahem! Would it... perhaps be alright if we... joined the banquet as well? That is, if you have the time.”
Suyeon spoke in a slightly lowered voice, doing her best to sound serious.
However, that youthful voice of hers remained unchanged.
She's really bad at doing impressions.
I smiled and said to Suyeon.
"Come in. You must have been bored in the living room, right?"
"Not really... Ahem! Well then, if I may put aside formalities..."
Only then did I notice that Suyeon was holding a doll. Pitter-patter, she quickly walked over and sat down in front of me.
With her eyes sparkling, Suyeon asked me.
"But, when did you get so good at playing the guitar? I was so surprised."
"Well, it's been a little while, I think."
"Then why haven't you shown me before? Were you hiding some secret?"
"...."
Look at her, hitting right on the mark all of a sudden.
But it's not like I could explain everything 'as is' to a 5-year-old.
I decided to steer the conversation a bit.
"I learned guitar at school, but I could only use the school instruments, so I couldn't bring one home until now. I finally bought one after saving up my allowance from our parents. That's why I haven't shown you before."
"Then... why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"Hmm?"
Suyeon continued, sounding like she had been disappointed about something.
"I could've caught a pig and bought you an instrument! Should I catch another one for you now? Do you need anything else?"
"...."
"Wait a second. I have a blue piggy bank hidden in my room that Mom doesn't know about. I could just crack it open right now..."
I chuckled and had to stop her before she actually went ahead with it.
Suyeon sat in front of me and asked me to play the guitar.
There were quite a few song requests.
Most of them were children’s songs she had learned in kindergarten.
Of course, I carefully played each one for her.
Suyeon’s eyes sparkled as she listened to my guitar playing, but soon, she gently closed her eyes. Then suddenly—pop!—she opened them wide, as if realizing she had dozed off.
Come to think of it, she hadn’t even taken a nap, yet she was managing to stay awake.
It must have been dinnertime already because I heard the front door open.
My parents had come home together.
Mom handed me a gift, thanking me for taking care of my little sister.
“Oh.”
“It’s a smartphone. I opened it ahead of time to activate it, but it’s nice, right?”
“Of course! Thank you!”
Finally, modern technology was in my hands!
How long had I lived like a caveman?
I don’t even need to mention the deserted island, but just yesterday, I had to print out a map at home to find my way to Hongdae.
Normally, I would have just pulled up a map app on a smartphone.
While Dad and Suyeon were chatting in the living room, and Mom was busy cooking...
The first thing I did was save the phone number of the owner of Star Music Store.
Yesterday, he had given me his business card, so this time, I decided to send him a message first.
[Hello. This is Han Seojin, who visited your store yesterday. I feel overwhelmed with gratitude that cannot be expressed in words, and...]
Thus began my 1,500-character thank you note.
I received a reply from Daesung hyung about a minute later.
[Dae-sung Hyung: Yanma! Lol, I thought it was something from my uncle! Did you get home okay yesterday?]
[Me: Yep! I got home safely, thanks to you!]
[Dae-sung Hyung: I swear, you're such a funny guy. So, how’s the guitar? Is it good?]
[Me: It’s excellent. I played for about 4 hours today, and the sound is getting better and better.]
[Dae-sung Hyung: Yeah. Instruments sound better when you break them in properly. Oh, by the way, Seojin, are you free next Saturday at noon?]
[Me: Uh… I’m free during the day.]
[Dae-sung Hyung: Of course, during the day. Lol, as if I’d call you at night? It’s nothing big, but I told the other members about you, and they got curious. So, if you’re free, come watch our performance. We’re playing at Star Live House, and that day’s performance is during the day, so I thought I’d invite you.]
'A performance?'
Come to think of it, I’ve never been to a live performance.
I’ve gone to a few piano recitals with my mom, but that’s completely different from the kind of “performance” Daesung hyung is talking about.
'Hmmm…'
I was debating whether to go or not.
But Daesung hyung quickly removed my hesitation.
[Daesung Hyung: Our band’s new member is joining, so we’re having an after-party that day. We’re going to Outback. I was wondering if you’d be interested. By the way, minors don’t have to pay for the party.]
Outback? Steak?
There’s no way I could pass that up.
[Me: I’ll definitely be there.]
[Dae-sung Hyung: Lol, sounds good. See you then.]
After exchanging a few more words with Daesung hyung, I returned to my phone’s home screen.
There’s still a lot of work to be done.
There are already so many apps I need to install.
But just now, when I exited the chat window, I felt a slight sense of discomfort.
It was like I saw something that seemed unusually simple.
I went back into the chat app and checked my friends list.
And then.
Memories of how bizarrely I used to live began to resurface.
Friends List (10)
Father
Mother
Homeroom teacher
Piano teacher
Su-yeon’s kindergarten teacher
Masterclass chaperone
Dae-sung hyung
.
.
.
Contacts that had been backed up in the chat app.
I could hardly even remember the faces of the people whose names I assumed were friends.
In short, I…
‘Lived my life like a crazy person just playing piano.’
At that time, it really was everything to me.
Even now, I don’t regret it.
Thanks to all the hard work I did back then, I was able to meet Uncle Miller and do all those things together with him.
I was satisfied with that.
But then—
"Uh... Oppa..."
I heard Suyeon's voice from directly behind me, though I hadn’t noticed her approaching.
She was standing there, hugging Tofu, silently watching me.
Suyeon's gaze shifted awkwardly.
Her fingers fidgeted.
Her toes, too.
I could sense her restlessness.
'What’s gotten into her all of a sudden?'
Suyeon cleared her throat and suddenly placed her hand on my shoulder.
Pat, pat.
Then she continued speaking.
"Oppa."
"Yeah? What?"
"You know, if you want to make friends, you’ve got to learn to approach them first."
"......"
Huh?
"And try smiling a little more. Then people will like you. You may not get it since you're kind of a fool who only knows about playing the piano, but that’s how you make friends."
"......"
"And, um... Next time, I'll introduce you to one of my friends. If they're my friend, they can probably be your friend too."
"......?"
"They say we live in an age where people live to be 100 these days. A seven-year age gap is nothing. At this point, we're basically friends! Friends!"
"......"
"A-and Mom says it's time to eat. The kimchi stew looks so good! Right? Oh! And Tofu wants to be your friend too! I'll introduce you to Jason later. And we have cookies as well. That makes three friends already!"
"......"
"Oppa. Hang in there!"
"......"
For some reason, I ended up being comforted and encouraged by my younger sister.
Thanks to that, I was left feeling quite strange.
Well, at least dinner was delicious.
* * *
I finished my entire vacation homework in two days.
It was a lot more work than I expected, so it was tough, but I still managed to get through it.
Honestly, I spent more time playing the piano and guitar in between, so I can't really complain.
In the meantime, I received a message from someone.
The piano teacher from the neighborhood music academy.
It was a message from the teacher who was responsible for guiding me through my entrance exam for the arts middle school.
The teacher first asked how I was doing and said I should stop by anytime.
'I was planning to go anyway. It really has been a while.'
This teacher was the one who was most upset when my efforts didn’t reflect in my performance.
She always let me use the piano whenever I needed, without any time restrictions, and guided me with such dedication.
You could say she was a major reason I was able to reach this level of piano playing.
I walked out of Saebom Apartments and along the alleyway.
The path I thought I had surely forgotten quickly came back to me.
I saw children sliding down the playground slide and practicing passes with a soccer ball.
As I entered the alley deep within the residential area, I could already hear the sound of a piano.
It had been almost three and a half years since I last came here.
The memories stirred up a wave of nostalgia.
Then, at that moment—
"Huh? Hyung!"
A kid sitting crouched in front of the piano academy spotted me and waved excitedly.
Before I could figure out who he was, the door to the piano academy swung open.
A group of kids came rushing out and all stared at me at once.
About five or six of them.
They started chattering among themselves as they looked at me.
"Wow! No way! Seojin hyung is actually alive!"
"See? I told you Seojin hyung is the best! An accident like that is nothing for him!"
"But how did he survive?"
"If you jump right before you hit the ground, you’ll be fine. I bet Seojin hyung did that too."
"Doesn’t that make him practically immortal?"
"He used to play the piano like a machine, so maybe he’s actually a cyborg? He probably just swapped out his parts and came back."
"For real?"
"Nah, I’m just messing with you."
"Hey!"
"..."
Should I say it feels hard to approach?
The aura those elementary school kids (though I'm an elementary schooler too) were giving off was quite powerful.
It felt like my energy was being drained.
Then, someone poked me in the shoulder from behind. When I turned around, there was a girl standing there.
She was about 10 cm shorter than me.
The girl greeted me as if she knew me well.
"Hi. Did you have a good time in Singapore?"
