More Than Coincidence, Fate (8)
The performance ended, and the lights came on over the audience seats.
Jung Hee-sung turned to look at Do-hyun, who had not moved at all.
“Do-hyun?”
At his call, Do-hyun blinked once.
A bright smile slowly filled the face that turned back to him.
With a smile so radiant it seemed to brighten the surroundings, Do-hyun spoke in a voice full of excitement.
“It was the best!”
Jung Hee-sung felt a little proud.
Seeing him like it this much, it seemed coming to watch the play had been the right choice.
Should I bring him every day for the remaining week…?
Jung Hee-sung was not someone who particularly enjoyed plays, but if Do-hyun reacted like this every time, he felt like he could keep coming.
Not knowing what Jung Hee-sung was thinking, Do-hyun was still unable to calm his excitement.
He likes it that much, huh.
In Jung Hee-sung’s eyes, it was not as impressive as what Do-hyun called playing.
Of course, it was not that the theater troupe’s level was low.
This little kid was just absurd.
Seeing Do-hyun unable to let go of the lingering emotion, Jung Hee-sung asked,
“Do you want to go greet the actors?”
“Yes? Can we do that?”
“Yeah. After the play ends, they let you greet them at least. You might even be able to take pictures.”
Do-hyun, who looked as if he would say yes right away, seemed to think about it for a moment before slowly shaking his head.
“It’s okay. Let’s just go.”
Because if I go close, they’ll feel uncomfortable.
Do-hyun swallowed the rest of those words without much difficulty.
Then, with a calm face, he held Jung Hee-sung’s hand and left the theater.
For a moment, his steps slowed slightly as they went through the door, but as if that had never happened, his movement forward was without hesitation.
Jung Hee-sung tightened the hand that was not holding Do-hyun’s and clenched it into a fist.
Yes.
My choice wasn’t wrong.
This was the right path.
Jung Hee-sung pushed away the emotions that clung to him stubbornly.
One week. We just have to get through one week.
As if making a promise to himself, Jung Hee-sung repeated it again and again.
In a week, you won’t have to go through things like this anymore, Do-hyun.
Building relationships with other people, being loved, loving others….
That would happen.
Because this little kid was more than worthy of being loved.
After leaving the theater, Do-hyun and Jung Hee-sung wandered around nearby without any particular destination.
Whenever they saw food that caught their eye, they bought it without a second thought and shared it.
In that short time, Do-hyun and Jung Hee-sung had already eaten all sorts of things.
“I don’t think I can eat dinner today.”
“Same. I feel like my stomach is about to burst right now.”
Even while saying that, whenever they saw something that looked delicious, they bought it and ate it again.
Eventually, they reached the point where they would take one bite and throw the rest away.
“Isn’t it bad to leave food like this?”
Do-hyun had never gone to school, but he had still received basic education.
He at least knew that carelessly wasting food was not considered good.
“Kid. Worrying about every little thing is something you do only when you have the luxury for it.”
At those words, Do-hyun nodded without a single doubt.
Even while teaching Do-hyun bad knowledge, Jung Hee-sung remained confident.
This kid is too kind and innocent. He needs to become a little less kind.
In his own way, he was saying it out of concern for Do-hyun’s future.
After wandering here and there like that, the sky quickly grew dark.
Though both Do-hyun and Jung Hee-sung felt regretful, they turned back in order to return to the hospital.
When they reached the park in front of the hospital, Do-hyun smiled softly.
“This is where we first met.”
At those words, Jung Hee-sung let out a faint laugh.
“You helped me when I was stumbling around.”
It had not even been a few weeks, yet somehow it felt like something from long ago.
Do-hyun looked around the park with curious eyes.
Then his eyes caught sight of one bench.
It was the bench where Do-hyun and Jung Hee-sung had sat and rested together.
Following Do-hyun’s gaze, Jung Hee-sung also found the bench and said he had thought of something fun, then made Do-hyun sit there.
Then he took off the bag he had been carrying on his back all day.
Ziiip—
Do-hyun’s eyes widened at the black case that came out of the opened bag.
“Oh? It’s a violin.”
“Yeah.”
Jung Hee-sung opened the case lid and grinned.
“We lived apart for too long, so now I’m going to keep it close to me.”
After saying that, Jung Hee-sung took out the violin.
It had already been tuned, but he carefully drew the bow across the strings once more and finished tuning it again.
Then, holding the bow behind his back, Jung Hee-sung bent at the waist.
“Welcome to violinist Jung Hee-sung’s performance.”
Only then seeming to realize what Jung Hee-sung was thinking, Do-hyun clapped his hands like a member of the audience.
Jung Hee-sung smiled playfully and spoke with shameless confidence.
“Thank you for the passionate response. Do you have any song requests?”
There was no way Do-hyun knew any violin pieces.
Do-hyun shook his head.
“I don’t know any.”
“Then you’ll know one today. Once the performance ends, you’ll be curious about the title.”
Jung Hee-sung guaranteed it with a confident voice.
Do-hyun knew his words were not a lie.
Because he had seen him play in the hospital room before.
Watching Do-hyun, whose face was full of anticipation, Jung Hee-sung raised the bow with a smooth movement.
A quiet park where people could be seen passing by from time to time.
In front of a bench with its light turned off.
The silence that had settled like darkness lifted, and the clear sound of a violin rang out.
A short introduction, faintly rising like a tiny spark.
The bow slowly swam over the strings.
The gentle vibration and the notes that followed stirred up a subtle tension.
The flexible movement of his body, and the tone that tickled the heart, were endlessly elegant.
The sight of Jung Hee-sung holding the bow and playing the violin was like a piece of music in itself.
Do-hyun lost himself in the performance.
And then,
Like a spark suddenly swelling into flames, an intense rondo burned to life.
Before it could become heavy, the light and swiftly sliding tone of the bow captured the ears.
The rondo passed by, alternating between the main theme and the inserted sections, completely stealing Do-hyun’s soul away.
Then the capriccioso appeared.
Freely and fantastically.
Jung Hee-sung interpreted that instruction more intensely than anyone else.
It was a performance into which he poured his entire soul, to the point that Do-hyun worried the strings might snap at any moment.
The sound, as if scraping down the strings, strangely held a magic that seized the ears.
Do-hyun felt as if a lively little demon were whispering beside his ear.
Soon, the speed of the violin performance grew faster and faster, reaching a superhuman level.
The park was lit only by a few scattered lamps in the distance.
Within that dim light, Jung Hee-sung was burning redder than anyone else.
The sunset was not calm.
A sunset burning through its final moments was hotter and more brilliant than anything else.
Allegro ma non troppo.
The notes danced without rest through the endlessly surging performance.
A red hem spun round and round, wrapping itself around him.
Within the dance of the melody, the man playing the violin increased his speed.
Soon, the cadenza decorating the finale gained force and poured out its passion.
The hair swaying slightly after becoming damp with sweat.
The eyebrows furrowed out of habit from concentration.
And yet, the joyful smile held on his lips as if he were entranced.
That fleeting moment seeped into Do-hyun’s mind like eternity.
But the moment that had seemed as if it would never end passed.
With the final note settling down, silence arrived.
The hand holding the bow slowly lowered, and Jung Hee-sung lifted his head.
So this is what it meant to stop the soul’s time. I played, but I’m not tired at all.
The more he played, the more his body collapsed.
It had been fine that he could no longer stand on stage.
There had been no one he wanted to play for anyway.
Playing alone had been enough.
But when even that had been taken away,
He could no longer find meaning in life.
He had found himself ridiculous.
Since when did I like the violin that much?
Mocking himself, he had put the violin down.
He had waited only for death.
No, he had not even had the passion to want to die.
He simply breathed because he was able to breathe.
And then,
The moment he was swept up by Do-hyun and held the violin again, he realized it.
The violin he had thought was so tiresome had, at some point, perhaps a very long time ago, become everything that made him who he was.
I like this gift.
For the time he had left, he would be able to play freely.
As he thought that and smiled in satisfaction,
Clap.
Clap, clap, clap!
“…Huh?”
Before he knew it, people had gathered around the bench where even the light was not working.
Starting with the first sound of applause, some whistled, and some clapped as they praised his performance.
Belatedly understanding the situation, Jung Hee-sung bowed with a troubled face to show his thanks.
The moment people began trying to approach closer,
Tak!
“Huh? Hyung?”
Jung Hee-sung grabbed Do-hyun’s arm and started running.
“H-hyung! Why are we running?”
“If someone recognizes me, things will get annoying!”
“!”
Do-hyun, who had not thought that far, ran along as Jung Hee-sung pulled him.
“Phew.”
After entering the hospital, Jung Hee-sung lightly caught his breath.
“Hah, haah….”
Do-hyun looked as if he were about to run out of breath.
Looking at Do-hyun like that, Jung Hee-sung spoke in a voice filled with laughter.
“You need to manage your stamina a little. You’re still young, so how is your stamina already like that?”
Do-hyun glared at him in a way that was not hateful.
It was a joke only the two of them could make with each other.
Straightening his waist after bending slightly to catch his breath, Jung Hee-sung let out a hollow laugh.
“But still, to think the place we ran away to is the hospital….”
He looked dumbfounded.
“Then can’t we play more?”
Do-hyun looked up at him with sparkling eyes.
But Jung Hee-sung playfully tapped Do-hyun’s forehead.
“No.”
“Why?”
“It’s late. Wandering around at this hour is dangerous.”
Do-hyun did not give up.
“Then should we go inside and read books together?”
“Would there be time for that?”
Jung Hee-sung answered with a mysterious smile.
Do-hyun, who had been making a slightly sulky expression, suddenly seemed to remember something and asked,
“By the way, what was the title of the piece?”
“Ah.”
Because of the sudden cheers from the people, he had forgotten to tell him the title.
“Saint-Saëns’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A minor.”
Do-hyun frowned slightly.
“The name is too difficult.”
“It is. They could’ve given it a more interesting name.”
“Mm.”
Do-hyun nodded slightly, then looked at Jung Hee-sung and said,
“But I don’t think I’ll forget this piece.”
At those words, Jung Hee-sung smiled arrogantly with a confident expression.
And a short while later,
Do-hyun understood what Jung Hee-sung had meant.
Do-hyun was scolded once by Kaylee, who had not even been able to leave work because she was waiting for him.
Then once by Helia, who had been worried the entire time that he might have collapsed somewhere.
And once by Benjamin, who was angry at a patient who had ignored the doctor’s orders.
In the end, Do-hyun failed to keep his promise to play more and melted into the bed.
It had been a tiring but happy day.
The corners of Do-hyun’s lips, lifted upward, could be seen faintly as he buried his face in the pillow.
The next day, after they had played so wildly.
Unlike their resolve to play madly for the whole week, Do-hyun and Jung Hee-sung did not leave the hospital room.
Part of it was because Benjamin had firmly declared that they were to have absolute rest for the day.
And part of it was because their weakened stamina had run out.
Instead, they decided to spend the whole day rolling around and enjoying peace.
Jung Hee-sung came to understand Kaylee’s hard work in playing along with Do-hyun’s acting.
Acting opposite Do-hyun required that much mental energy.
Completely drained from playing opposite Do-hyun, Jung Hee-sung sprawled limply on the bed like a piece of clothing that had been thrown down.
“Why does it feel like I’m more tired than yesterday?”
When Do-hyun looked at him with a clear face, as if he knew nothing, Hee-sung felt like hitting him once.
Quick to read the mood, Do-hyun swiftly turned his body and placed the violin in Jung Hee-sung’s hand.
Then, as if he had never been sprawled out a moment ago, energy returned to Jung Hee-sung’s body.
At that sudden change, Do-hyun swallowed a laugh inwardly.
It’s a relief that the private ward is well soundproofed.
Thinking that, he closed his eyes and listened to Jung Hee-sung’s performance.
It was a peaceful and warm day, the kind that made one want to cough for no reason.
After that, Do-hyun and Jung Hee-sung spent each day doing their best.
They searched for plays they both wanted to see, booked tickets, and watched them.
They impulsively played outdoors, drew crowds of people, and then ran away in a panic.
They went to the movie theater too.
On some days, they went to an amusement park.
Because both of them were not in good health, they could not ride intense attractions, but simply being together in the lively atmosphere was fun.
They ate cotton candy and ran around here and there wearing animal ears.
Then they were scolded by Benjamin again.
The next day, they spent the day leisurely in the hospital room.
And the day after that, they secretly went out to play again.
As they walked through the city lit with dazzling lights, Do-hyun suddenly spoke without thinking.
“Should we just end it like this?”
It was the day before the week the Lump had spoken of would arrive.
