Chapter 115
"Haha, Teacher Kim Eun-ju! As expected, you're an expert. Everything you said was true. Junwoo is changing every day. Soo-hyun is stuck to him, practicing, asking questions, and improving."
In Professor Lee Chan-ho's office, Kim Eun-joo was sitting on the sofa, smiling.
"They didn't fight or throw punches, did they?"
"Haha, it's possible. Junwoo gave in after watching Soo-hyun practice."
"Great! It will be a mutually beneficial relationship."
"It already is. Soo-hyun teaches German and English, and Junwoo teaches other subjects. We've also submitted applications to participate in the Beethoven Competition. Junwoo has good skills, but he struggles to win an award. However, if Soo-hyun joins us, can't we expect Junwoo to get good grades?"
As Kim Eun-joo smiled brightly, Professor Lee Chan-ho snapped his fingers.
"You told me that Junwoo would try harder to catch up to Soo-hyun, and that those would be the feathers that would grow on the boy's wings! It was effective! You're really amazing!"
Professor Lee Chan-ho kept praising her. As an educator, he seemed very happy to have received advice from a psychologist and gotten good results. Kim Eun-joo just smiled without saying anything.
"By the way, Professor, how is your class going?"
Kim Eun-joo's face turned slightly red as she remembered the incident at the haunted house.
"Well, things are going pretty well."
"Are there any difficult parts?"
"It's not that Soo-hyun doesn't know emotions, but he doesn't know how to define them. He'll be able to do it naturally as he goes through life. I'll just help him. Also, it's fun to analyze his emotional state and learn about his past."
Professor Lee Chan-ho's expression changed.
"Past?"
"Yes. All conversations with Soo-hyun are recorded. According to the data, it seems that Soo-hyun grew up as a child who received a lot of love."
"Love… right? He lost his parents and lived with a complete stranger for seven years. It's a real blessing that a child like that was loved and raised."
Kim Eun-joo said, adjusting her glasses,
"That's right. At least, he was loved and raised by someone who treated him with the same feelings as a relative. He's a child with great emotional sensitivity, even if he doesn't know how to define it."
"That's great. Well, aren't you going to tell me what kind of people he's been living with?"
"Well, I already told you, but maybe we didn't realize it."
Professor Lee Chan-ho tilted his head.
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know. Soo-hyun is a child who always piques my curiosity. That's why it's fun."
'If it were anyone else, I would have slapped them for saying Soo-hyun was "fun." But after recognizing her as an expert, I realized it was just an excuse to pay more attention to him.'
"Please take good care of him."
"I'll do my best."
"Are you going to meet Soo-hyun?"
"Yes, I guess I should go now."
"Then please work hard today too."
Small classroom. Kim Eun-joo, sitting across from Soo-hyun, asked,
"I heard you're going to the Beethoven Competition with your friend?"
Soo-hyun smiled. It was because of the word "friend."
"Yes, teacher."
Eun-joo Kim smiled at the change in his expression.
"You must be happy. I don't think it's because you're going to the competition."
"Yes, it's good to have friends."
"Really? Are you a good friend?"
"He's a devil when he's teaching math, but otherwise he's fine."
"Hahaha. Are you learning math from your friend?"
"In return, I'll teach him German and English."
"Wow, what a great relationship! You can help each other."
"Yes, Jaehee really doesn't like it."
"Huh? Who's Jaehee?"
"She's my friend from school and lives downstairs. She's a girl."
"Really? Why would Jaehee hate it?"
"I don't know, because she doesn't talk much. But I get the feeling she doesn't like me."
Kim Eun-joo's eyes turned into crescent moons.
"Really? Can you tell me more about Jaehee?"
Soo-hyun had an expression that said, 'Why is the teacher curious about Jaehee?', but he explained her actions in detail. The teacher smiled the whole time.
"I see. You're a good friend. You like me, Soo-hyun. It's good to have a friend like that by your side. I would do anything for you without expecting anything in return. You can't do that if there's no love. And how do you feel? Do you like being with Jaehee?"
Soo-hyun shrugged when he noticed the professor's strange expression as she kept laughing.
"It's just comfortable being with Jaehee."
"Haha, really? I understand. What are you studying today? You're not going back to the haunted house, are you?"
"I'm sorry. I was wrong. And I think you've already experienced some of that fear. Today, I'd like to study anger in detail."
"Yes, teacher."
During the class, Eun-ju Kim would tell Soo-hyun to draw or meditate. As Soo-hyun prepared the materials, she spoke.
"What do you think anger is?"
"If you're asking for the dictionary definition, it refers to a negative emotional state that arises when our desires are blocked or we are forced to resist."
Soo-hyun recited academic content. Kim Eun-joo shook her head.
"I'm asking what you think."
A thought crossed Soo-hyun's mind. He remembered the moment he wanted to tear the two boys to pieces.
'Mr. Beethoven said, "That's anger." But is it okay to say that?'
"Honestly?"
"Yes, it's okay."
"To want to tear apart and kill. So cruelly that not a single piece is left in the world."
"...what?"
Kim Eun-joo's face was filled with surprise. But Soo-hyun's expression was calm. That was even stranger. Soo-hyun said, tilting his head,
"But I have learned that while there are always reasons for anger, there are rarely just causes. Anger steals a person's true nature."
Kim Eun-joo looked even more surprised.
'Does this child have another teacher besides me?'
"I don't think I should get angry at others' stupidity and ruin my heart. When others do wrong, it's their misfortune. Therefore, I should feel sorry for them and not resent, blame, or make myself suffer."
"…"
'How can I teach him more? He already knows perfectly well. Did he see it in a book?'
"No, I was just honestly telling you how I felt."
"…"
This little boy, who couldn't even define anger, knew the wisdom of old people.
'How should I explain this?'
"Ah, right."
The professor, who was always adjusting her glasses, looked blankly at the materials she had prepared.
'It's all useless. What good is this material to a child who already knows everything?''The education on fear has failed, and the educational materials on anger have become useless.'
"Ha, ha, ha…" she laughed, confused. At that moment, Soo-hyun asked,
"Teacher, do you know anything about Beethoven?"
'Oh, this boy, he's going to the Beethoven Competition, right?'
"Of course I know."
"Ji-ye told me that Beethoven was very ill. Do you know anything else about him?"
A strange light appeared in Kim Eun-joo's eyes.
'This is it!'
"Yes," she said with a faint smile. "If you want to talk about anger, there's no better textbook than Beethoven."
"…?"
"A republican who dedicated his famous Third Symphony to Napoleon, but, disappointed, tore up the score when he became emperor; a hero who overcame difficulties; an artist who spent his last years in solitude. This is the Beethoven we know, but his true self was different."
She pushed aside her materials.
"I am a scholar. What I am about to tell you is an achievement of musicology. Anton Schindler, Beethoven's secretary, destroyed his dialogue notebooks to glorify him. This was discovered in the 1970s. In fact, he tore up the Third Symphony not because of republicanism, but because Austria was at war with France, and if he had praised the enemy emperor, he would have been ostracized."
Soo-hyun asked,
"How do you know?"
"It has been confirmed that when a French envoy visited Vienna, Beethoven praised Napoleon and asked if he could be granted a title of nobility. I'm not saying this to denigrate him, but so that you know him well before judging."
"Please explain."
"Respect for a musician is due to his music, not his life. Beethoven was very unhappy. He had to feel anger. But he, who is called the saint of music, did not convey it to his music. That's why he remained a great musician."
Kim Eun-joo said, tapping the table with a pen.
"Beethoven's mother was widowed at twenty-one. His father, a mediocre and heavy-drinking tenor, would come home in the middle of the night, hit the sleeping Beethoven, and force him to practice the piano. He discovered his talent and, seeing that prodigies like Mozart were making a lot of money, forced him to play to exploit him."
Kim Eun-joo shook her head.
"It is said that his father lied about Beethoven's age to boast that he was a prodigy. As a result, Beethoven, who was eight, was known as if he were six. He became famous and began to earn money, but his father squandered it on alcohol, plunging the family into even greater decline."
Soo-hyun frowned. He remembered his own father working very hard.
'Uncle Beethoven's father was too much.'
"They say Beethoven laughed at his father's funeral. I don't know if he laughed with joy or frustration. Maybe…"
Kim Eun-joo said, looking into Soo-hyun's eyes.
"I think what tormented Beethoven throughout his life was none other than 'music' itself, which his father forced him to start."
Soo-hyun's eyes widened.
- - - -
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