Chapter 164 – Jinsooje (6)
It wasn’t our intention, but Yuri and I ended up being the finale of the Jinsu Festival.
When I stood on the stage at the outdoor performance hall in Citizens’ Park, I saw hundreds of people holding light sticks to cheer on, spread out in front of them.
It was dark, so I couldn’t see any faces, but there were Suyeon and Eunji among them, the kids in my class who I see every day, the kids in the class next to me, and someone else was a victim of me seeing dirty things in the past.
They are all looking at me and Yuri on stage now.
‘I’m nervous.’
No matter how brave I tried to be, I couldn’t help but feel nervous at the thought of standing in front of hundreds of people, playing guitar and singing.
Since you are in charge of the finale of the festival, if you make even one mistake, you are truly a disaster.
I sat down on the chair, carefully held the guitar, and looked to the side to see Yuri, who was more nervous than me, swallowing his saliva and just looking at me.
Since I hadn’t turned on the microphone yet, other people wouldn’t hear my voice, so I helped Yuri relax.
“Yuri, don’t be so nervous. You’ve been practicing well. You sang well. It’ll do well. If you’re so nervous that you can’t look in front of me, just sing while looking at me. Just like when we were practicing together.”
“Uh, yes… But… I’m still nervous…”
I was nervous too, but I didn’t want to make Yuri more nervous by showing it in front of her.
As we sat down on the stage with only two chairs and two microphones, the vice president of the student council looked at us and asked.
“Are you ready?”
I made an o sign with my thumb and index finger to show that I was ready, and soon the MR that I had prepared in advance came out from the sound room behind the stage.
When the accompaniment started, I started playing solo guitar along with it.
“Oh~”
When they saw him skillfully playing the guitar, gasps erupted from the crowd.
After a short guitar accompaniment, Yuri grabbed her microphone and started singing.
《All those days watching from the windows-♬》
“Wow!”
When Yuri’s clear and elegant tone spread through the microphone, people cheered louder than when I used my guitar.
《All that time, never even knowing just how blind I’ve been-♬ (All those times, never even knowing just how blind I’ve been-♬)》
Even though Yuri was nervous, once she started singing, she was singing just as well as when we were practicing together.
No, sometimes, whenever she felt nervous, she seemed to relax by looking at me playing the guitar next to her.
《Now I’m here- blinking in the starlight, now I’m here suddenly I see-♬》
Once she got into the flow, Yuri regained her confidence little by little and sang while looking at the crowd of people.
Then, as soon as she reached a certain verse of the song, she turned her head.
《Standing here, it’s oh, so clear-♬ (Now that I’m standing here, it’s clear)》
And instead of the crowd watching us, he looked straight at me and shouted powerfully, as if he were singing to me.
《I’m where I’m meant to be-♬ (This is where I’m meant to be)》
“…”
I also stared at Yuri, who was playing the guitar and singing the first verse of the chorus.
Hundreds of people cheered as the song reached its first climax, with the sound of my guitar, the violin MR prepared in the sound room, and Yuri’s voice mixing together.
Even during the short break after the first verse, my guitar continued playing.
And verse 2.
This time it was my turn to sing the guitar and sing at the same time.
I concentrated more than ever before in my life, tilted my head slightly forward and brought my mouth closer to the microphone.
《All those days chasing down a daydream-♬ (Past days chasing only vain desires)》
I was mentally tired from playing the guitar and singing, but I couldn’t make a mistake.
Even thinking about Yuri, who suggested making the first and last ordinary but wonderful memories during my school days.
I’m not the kind of person who likes to appear in front of others, but I couldn’t embarrass Yuri, who had first offered me this position and arranged practice just for me.
《All those years living in a blur-♬ (All those years living in a blur-♬)》
Not only did I practice with Yuri, but I also continued to practice this song at home whenever I had time, so luckily my fingers were moving on the guitar on their own.
《Now she’s here shining in the starlight, now she’s here suddenly I know- ♬ (Now she’s here shining in the starlight, now she’s here suddenly I know- ♬)》
This time, I sang while looking at Yuri.
Since it wasn’t her section, Yuri, who had put down her microphone for a moment, met her gaze and smiled slightly at me.
Yuri’s smile was always beautiful, but now, as she was illuminated on this stage, the smile she gave me was more beautiful than ever.
《If she’s here it’s crystal clear, I’m where I’m meant to go- ♬》
As she sang the last part of her solo, Yuri put her microphone in front of her again.
And then the duet between me and Yuri, the culmination of the song we prepared for a month, began.
《And at last I see the light-♬ (I finally see the light)》
Along with the two people’s chorus, the sound of the violin MR and my guitar reached its peak, and exclamations erupted from the crowd.
《And it’s like the fog has lifted-♬》
This was our song.
It wasn’t simply because the two of us sang it; this song itself was our story.
Han Seong-jin, who lived a life of wandering in the fog, faithful only to the desires in front of her and longing for unfulfilled affection, changed as she became herself.
After reuniting with Yuri, Soo-yeon, Eun-ji, and Yu-min, although they could not give up their greed for women, they no longer had a physical relationship like before.
After deciding to give up a life marred by drinking, smoking and violence and start a new life, I started hanging out like a normal peer, studying sometimes when I couldn’t, and trying to find something I could do.
《And at last I see the light-♬ (I finally see the light)》
《And it’s like the sky is new-♬》
Yuri, who lived in a world where only Gong Young-bae could be seen outside the window, shook off her unrequited feelings and jumped out of her window to meet me.
In the meantime, she found out about all the things she had fun with that she didn’t know about, and sometimes, being true to her desires, she even gave up her heavy title as student president and joined the sports day.
Our relationship was definitely a bit different from that of an ordinary couple, but she told me that when Yuri met me, she found true happiness.
《And it’s warm and real and bright- and the world is somehow shifted-♬ (Warm and real and bright- and the world is somehow shifting-♬)》
We became complete when we met each other, and we reached happiness when we met each other.
As the story of the twisted and distorted destination in my world and the story of not reaching the destination in her world came together, we suddenly found ourselves in a train running on one track and whispering love.
Even though Yuri is not the only one in my world, I am sure that her love and care for Yuri will never change.
Before we knew it, we were in a world of our own, looking only into each other’s dark eyes, paying no mind to the crowds cheering at us.
Now this stage was no longer a talent show.
They only sang songs of love filled with sincerity toward each other.
If I wasn’t playing the guitar, we would definitely be holding hands right now.
《All at once, everything looks different, now that I see you-♬》
After the climax, the song regained its calm and our voices became much softer.
《Now that I see you-♬ (When I see you)》
When the song ended in a calm and gentle atmosphere, we were just looking into each other’s eyes.
It was only one song, but we were in ecstasy, and before we knew it, we were slowly putting our heads forward.
If we weren’t careful, we would have almost kissed in front of so many people.
It was the vice-student president who brought us out of our trance.
“Yes! Han Seong-jin and Lee Yu-ri’s performance! It was truly a beautiful song! Is this the power of a couple?”
“!!!”
We, who were in a half-daydream state, came to our senses when the vice-student president proceeded and walked forward to say hello.
As thunderous applause poured in, only then did I feel relaxed, and my fingers relaxed.
‘You didn’t make a mistake.’
I was worried that we might have made even one mistake, but fortunately our performance ended well, fitting for the finale of the festival.
Yuri didn’t make any noise and I didn’t make any mistakes or make any other mistakes, so my score is literally 100 points.
Now it was time to get off the stage and do some final cleaning, but…
I held the microphone for a moment and opened my mouth.
“Wait a minute. Can I say a few words for a moment?”
“? Yes, I’m fine.”
After getting permission from the vice-student president, I grabbed the microphone and walked forward a little.
Since this was an unplanned event, Yuri didn’t know what was going on and just looked at me blankly.
I headed to the edge of the front of the stage, closest to the crowd, grabbed the microphone and lowered my head.
“… I’m really sorry.”
From now on, it’s the first proper step for me to become a human being.
It was time to properly confront the past.
