Chapter 21
A woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown
“You’re all already here.”
Thanks to Minister Schmidt’s arrival just in time, the story about Hye-ryeong was pushed back.
After introducing himself as a record producer and the one who made Sang-yeon, Chairman Seo asked for understanding that he was present because he wanted to see his son-in-law’s face despite his busy schedule.
Because the reason was very plausible, Minister Schmidt also accepted the situation without awkwardness.
“I heard it from my son-in-law. He benefited a lot from the Minister during the European tour a few years ago.”
Chairman Seo spoke in German with a fairly good pronunciation.
“Yes, all flights were suspended due to heavy rain and strong winds at the time. But Conductor Park threatened me.”
“Oh, my son-in-law has that kind of power. Why did you threaten the Minister?”
“I don’t… remember well.”
“He said something like ‘But the concert has to continue! So, open the runway!’”
“Hahaha, I see. It must have been the day of the ventilation.”
“Huh? You know a little bit about airplanes.”
“I was in the Air Force even though I don’t look like it.”
“Oh, I didn’t think I would meet someone with whom I could talk about this.”
Chairman Seo and Minister Schmidt were already toasting together.
Sang-yeon had never told Chairman Seo about the episode of the European tour. Then, it meant that President Seo must have informed him in advance.
When Sang-yeon looked at her with resentment, President Seo reached under the table and stroke Sang-yeon’s thigh. It meant that he should calm down, have a drink now and spend the night with her.
This place, where everyone seemed to have no problem, was too uncomfortable and unpleasant for Sang-yeon.
Chairman Seo’s real name was Seo Chun-bae. He was a businessman and weapon lobbyist running a defense industry. It was never a coincidence that he, who was considered one of the wealthiest people in Korea, took Park Sang-yeon as his son-in-law.
If Linda, a weapon lobbyist who dominated the era, bought high-ranking officials with beauty and sex, Chairman Seo wanted to use Park Sang-yeon to expand his own area in a more elegant and sophisticated way.
He generously invested to make Park Sang-yeon the idol of intellectuals, a divinity of the art world and a star conductor.
Chairman Seo’s influence played a major role in Sang-yeon’s career, as a well-known pianist suddenly stopped working and transformed into a splendid conductor after a 10-year hiatus.
Just as a soloist needed an instrument, a conductor needed an orchestra. Chairman Seo had already given a practice orchestra to Sang-yeon when he studied conducting at Vienna National University of Music in Austria.
Unlike ordinary students who had difficulty getting a chance to practice with an orchestra, Sang-yeon was able to practice conducting whenever he wanted with a private orchestra.
The members received quite a lot of pay from Chairman Seo on condition that they remained silent that they were working as Park Sang-yeon’s private orchestra.
Thanks to such unconventional and full support from Chairman Seo, Sang-yeon made his splendid debut by being the first Asian to win the Toscanini Conducting Competition.
The reason why Chairman Seo was scared was that even though he planned all of this, he did not want the person being manipulated to notice it.
Sang-yeon had not been aware at all that his future was going as Chairman Seo wanted, and when he realized it, he had already come so far that he could not step back.
Sang-yeon had become Chairman Seo’s loyal dog all around the world. Chairman Seo used him to ease the process of making the political and business figures he wanted into his own people.
“War doesn’t need to break out to sell weapons. If it were, I wouldn’t have succeeded like this. How many countries around the world are in conflict? There aren’t as many as you think. But weapons continue to be developed, produced, and sold. That’s what I do, urging everyone to set up their shields and sharpen their knives to look peaceful on the outside.”
“I don’t need a shield like this.”
“Is that so? Keep in mind that I was the one who created your myth by buying tickets and hosting critics so that even when you fall into narcissism or play difficult and unpopular songs, you can keep record sales and play that brilliant artistic soul.”
“My father-in-law, I’ve done enough. Please let go of me now. Please stop doing this.”
“Why do you think I changed you from a pianist to a conductor? This is because conductors can never do anything alone.”
Sang-yeon often thought that it might not be possible in this life to escape from Seo Chun-bae, who hid his ruthless and violent nature behind his friendly face. Whenever that happened, he regretted again and again marrying Hye-ryeong.
‘Can I be free if I divorce Hye-ryeong? If Hye-ryeong disappears, can I break ties with this devil Chairman Seo?’
The more he struggled in this trap, the deeper the wound and the more devastated his soul became.
Germany was always ranked at the top of arms imports until the 1970s because of the Cold War and both World Wars. Since the reunification of West and East Germany in 1990, it had focused on exports rather than imports, being one of the countries selling the most weapons after the United States, Russia and France.
Chairman Seo was now making this country’s former defense minister his friend.
He was clearly trying to secure more customers through Minister Schmidt.
Despite not being a great humanist, Sang-yeon felt terrible that Chairman Seo was selling more weapons thanks to him, and that weapons were indiscriminately used to kill innocent citizens in civil wars and to suppress protests advocating for citizens’ rights against government policies.
It was breaking Sang-yeon’s desire to color the world beautifully with music by doing the opposite.
Wasn’t it ironic to know that his music was staining the world more and more with blood!
Could he dismiss it as just a leap forward for a musician?
Eventually, Sang-yeon also took a drink even though he should not. He was planning on getting drunk quickly and going back to his hotel room. No one could stop him, even though he drank a strong alcohol without resting with a smile on his face.
As the speed of emptying and refilling the glass increased, Sang-yeon’s heart began to ache and his eyes became empty. Alcohol made his soul far away from his body. Thanks to this, Sang-yeon was able to smile without being ashamed of himself for a moment.
Sang-yeon came back to the hotel room with the help of President Seo, drunk enough not to remember when and how the meeting ended…
President Seo took off Sang-yeon’s shoes and coat, sat on the sofa and tried to catch her breath, but Sang-yeon’s cell phone vibrated at that moment.
On the cell phone that she found after searching through his clothes, there was an unsaved number without information except that the caller was from Korea.
“Hello?”
“Uh… Hello?”
It was the voice of a young woman.
“Who are you?”
“Isn’t it Park Sang-yeon’s phone?”
“That’s right.”
“Who are you?”
“You, who are you?”
“…Perhaps, are you Seo Hye-ryeong?”
“The caller should identify herself first. It’s not even a saved number.”
The phone was cut off. It was a call made at 9 p.m. in Berlin time and around 5 a.m. in Korea time.
“You’re the main character of this childish play.”
President Seo muttered in a low voice, looking at the sparkling cuff links at the end of Sang-yeon’s shirt sleeves.
* * *
At this time, there were only two women who could answer Sang-yeon’s phone and speak so confidently: his wife or his manager.
Because it was a business trip to record and promote his album, it was much more likely to be the latter, but that did not mean that Minju’s anxiety would go away.
To Minju, Seo Ji-hee was a woman who had freely said, ‘Should I sleep here?’ and Sang-yeon had hold her in his arms without hesitation.
The hugs of the two had not been awkward. It was difficult to find a space between them, as if they had been attached to each other for too long. At least that was what Minju felt when she saw them.
How could he be so indifferent as to not call her when he knew she was home alone?
Minju was not strong enough to endure the fact that her man was with another woman at night. No, she really was not in a good position.
Just in case Sang-yeon called her back, Minju fell asleep on the sofa with her cell phone tightly in her hand. Then, she suddenly opened her eyes in surprise at the cold that was transmitted all over her body.
The curtain was swinging far away through a window that she did not remember leaving open.
Even though she knew that there was no one behind the curtain, Minju felt an irresistible fear.
When she closed the window, the doorbell rang as if it had been waiting for this moment. Minju felt pain as if the bullet of a machine gun hit her ears with the aggressive sound that rang several times without a break.
Scared, Minju slowly walked toward the video phone. The screen was pitch black, so she could not see anything. It was difficult to determine whether it was because it was still before dawn or whether someone was intentionally covering the camera with their hands.
Thinking rationally that a drunken passerby must have rung the bell of the wrong house, Minju turned off the video phone. But after a while, someone madly pressed on the combination lock of the front door.
Who in the world would open the heavy iron gate, enter the garden, and press on the lock of the front door? It was absolutely impossible for a random passerby.
Then it was clear that this was… the real owner of this house, Seo Hye-ryeong. Seo Hye-ryeong was back.
When the intruder pressed the wrong combination of numbers, the door lock blocked itself for a while. In the meantime, the phone in the living room rang. Minju ran to answer the phone in case it was Sang-yeon.
“Hello?”
“…”
“Sang-yeon-ssi, is it you? Hello?”
No words could be heard on the other side. Instead, there were rough breathing sounds! She heard the sound of kicking the front door. The phone call was from the person outside the door.
Minju took her phone and carefully walked back to the front door.
Bam bam bam!
When the door did not open as she wished, Seo Hye-ryeong, full of anger, kicked like crazy.
‘No matter who comes, never open the door. Okay?’
Minju thought about opening the door for a very short time, but then thought of what Sang-yeon had said before leaving, and ran away to the bedroom on the second floor after locking the safety hook on the front door.
She climbed into the bed, covered herself with a blanket, and covered her ears tightly with her palms, but it was useless. The sounds constantly dug into Minju’s eardrums.
Hye-ryeong’s shout that she shouted out of nowhere became the cry of a sad beast, and Jerry’s evil spirit, disharmonic sounds of a cello, a phone ringing that would not stop even if she picked it, and the doorbell tightened her breathing at faster intervals…
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Minju’s soul was chased by the fearful sounds that were heard nonstop and wandered to find a place to hide, but eventually failed.
When Minju saw the morning coming without closing her eyes, she only wanted to live. It was such a blurry judgment that she could not even tell whether this was a fantasy or a reality, but she felt that she wanted to live more than ever.
For the first time that day, Minju admitted that she was sick.
She was afraid that all the noise that disappeared with the sun would come back with the moon. She could not sleep, but she could not delay a moment.
Minju had a reason to go to the Evergreen Nursing Hospital again on her own.