Track No. 03 – On the Melody (2)
The concert that Sangah-noona had been preparing over the past year had attracted more attention than I had expected it to — some of the fans, those who shared a more personal connection to her, had actually lined up at midday for a concert that was starting at seven in the evening, even though there appeared to be no need for that.
Sangah-noona was the only band member in ‘Margaret’. While it might seem strange to be in a band alone, that was how things were in this case. Whenever she had a concert to play, or music to record, Noona would call on her acquaintances, just like she had now with Myungjoo-hyung and Jinhee-noona. Neither were members of her band; they were just colleagues.
I could still recall the time when I had asked her why she ran a one member band, when people normally formed bands with other people. She had answered that she wouldn’t have been able to do whatever she wanted if she was in a group.
It made sense. No matter how friendly one was with the other members of a team, there were bound to be disagreements, such as differences in worldviews and preferred courses of action.
Music bands were no different.
The members would conflict with each other on topics like what direction to take the music or their taste in style. Sangah-noona, despite loving music the most, could not stand being restrained like that. A one-man band really seemed like the best option for her.
‘Margaret’ was the product of that attitude. The creation of a musician desiring personal freedom over the beauty born when normal bands were able to get past their creative differences and move forward with newfound understanding.
Our entire family knew the story from three years ago, when Sangah-noona had been dragged back home after having run away, only to announce, “Mom! I’m gonna make a band!” Aunt had actually slapped her right across the face. Sangah-noona herself had told everyone what had happened, likely trying to expunge the shame and highlight her admirable dedication to music. All it earned her, though, had been chastisement for making her parents worry.
Nevertheless, now, three years since those events, she had a group of dedicated fans and a track record of concerts with other bands that had taken a liking to her music.
She had faced some challenging times, of course, but she had overcome all of that. Her love of freedom was infectious, and it had a way of making those who were watching over her from the side smile.
That emotion was probably what had attracted everyone to this place tonight.
Just few moments ago, when we had been selling tickets, the audience had been wearing several layers of clothing, but when I looked through the black curtains now, I could see them enjoying the concert with their jackets off.
Rock never cared about the cold, according to the star of the night. That is what she thought, so that was how it would be.
Sangah-noona was excited by being able to hold a concert after such a long time, so she even played two encore pieces before leaving the stage, accompanied by sad sighs and wild cheers. After that, the chattering, cheering, excited people started to stream out of the venue.
I greeted the exiting people from a merch booth located next to the exit. The same entrance that had been packed with people trying get in was now full of those on their way out, some of whom stopped to buy CDs and other merchandise.
One person shouted from excitement on their way to the booth. Judging from her behaviour, she must have been a winner of the raffle that had been held at the end of the event. As expected, the girl soon handed me a ticket while milking the crowd for every last bit of attention. I found her chatter obnoxious.
However, I quickly put her out of my mind. The number of people wanting to buy something was unexpectedly high. Some of them even bought multiple copies of the same thing. Perhaps they were gifts for someone. The fan spirit behind buying multiple copies of the same product was not something I could understand. After all, Sangah-noona had boldly announced that there were no new products on sale this time around.
There was one person who stuck out like a sore thumb in that queue of oddballs.
My eyes were drawn to the large, oversized parka, the beanie pulled deep down onto the forehead, and scarf and mask that covered the face. This was all strange, but not that unusual, since the person might have simply rushed out of their home in a hurry. However, the person was also wearing a pair of sunglasses in this dark, underground venue. I wondered if they could even see anything. It was an outfit that made everybody looking in their direction feel stuffy.
After a while, the queue had progressed enough for that person to have their turn at the stall. They spent quite a while browsing the merchandise in silence, as if mocking my earlier nosiness.
Finally, when a discontent grumble or two could be heard from the people waiting behind the stranger, their gloved hand pointed at a large bath towel that had “Margaret” name embroidered on it in a fancy manner, which Sangah-noona had asked someone to make in the past.
“That will be 13,000 won, please.”
(ED: For those who would like an easy conversion, that’s a bit less than $13 USD. Just divide by 1,000 for a rough overestimate.)
I handed them the bath towel. They accepted it and took out their wallet, removing a glove to start rummaging through their banknotes with a shockingly pale hand. It took much longer than I expected, but they finally took out some money. It was only 8,000 won. I refused to withdraw my hand and waited for the rest they owed, which seemed to annoy them. They lowered their sunglasses a little, perhaps to read my face better while they recounted the notes, and I saw their eyes.
Eyes that contained a lingering, light brown hue.
The stranger, the girl, turned on a dime and disappeared into the crowd before I managed to say anything.
“Are you doing alright?”
With miraculous timing, Myungjoo-hyung entered the booth through the back door, having apparently finished his work on stage. He was quite a famous drummer in our neck of woods, and his appearance raised a cheer from the crowd. I took that as my cue to dash out.
“Hyung, look after the booth for a bit! Thanks!”
I dashed towards the entrance that the girl had disappeared to, ignoring his confused questions. The venue was deep underground, and the staircase that led out was still jammed with people. It was hard work going up, but it would be just as hard for her, if not harder, given the difference in our build.
Kim Ahyoung. There was no way in hell I wouldn’t recognize those eyes.
I didn’t get why she had come here, but right now, that wasn’t important.
What she had done was a crime. That 5,000 won was part of my pay today.
As I expected, she had no chance of getting through the throng of people with that small frame of hers. I caught up quickly.
First, I saw the beanie. I immediately closed in on her and grabbed her hand. She attempted to shake me off, but I just strengthened my grip. I could feel her arm through the fabric — so slender that it felt like it would break.
Our struggle on the stairs slowly attracted the attention of bystanders. When she noticed, she immediately stopped resisting and stared at me motionlessly.
“Hey—”
Before I managed to say anything else, she covered my mouth with her hand and dragged me up the stairs.
I was about to protest, but I realized that it was in neither of our interests to attract attention here, so I followed her up the stairs without resistance.
We ended up inside a men’s bathroom in a secluded area on the upper floors of the building housing the venue. There was one man inside, washing his hands in the sink. Kim Ahyoung nonchalantly entered and pushed me in front of the urinal, before taking out the familiar MP3 player and fiddling with the screen.
Was she really trying to tell me to pretend to pee in front of a girl?
To my relief, the delicate issue resolved itself when the other man left before I was forced to go ahead with the idea. I sighed in relief, my eyes glued to the closing door. Suddenly, she grabbed the back of my shirt and unceremoniously dragged me into an empty stall.
I heard the click of a lock.
I weakly flopped onto the toilet seat and watched her remove her sunglasses. Her otherworldly eyes that I hadn’t seen for a week were frozen in a cold gaze, just like back then.
“Um—”
“Shut up and don’t move. I’m about to die from the embarrassment here.”
She pulled her mask down and shut me up with a sharp, quiet rebuke. Apparently, even Angel0 was embarrassed when entering men’s bathrooms.
She steadied her breath in silence, glaring at me the whole time. Then, she abruptly looked away.
“Why did you undo your zipper?”
“Who pushed me in front of the urinal again?”
“…Pull it up already.”
Here I was, a boy with his zipper down in front of a girl, but the scene lacked even a hint of eroticism. Actually, I felt like I might be killed at any moment.
When I pulled the zipper back up, Ahyoung began to barrage me with questions.
“Who are you?”
“Yu Jun.”
“Cut the jokes. Why are you here?”
“Part-time job.”
“What? Why did you follow me then?”
“You need to pay.”
I pointed at her bag.
Only then did she appear to realize that one end of the towel was still sticking out from her bag. She opened her mouth, but in the end, she didn’t say anything and fumbled for the merchandise. Suddenly, I saw her lips seal into a tight, thin line. A moment later, somebody entered the bathroom.
She really had a godly pair of ears.
We both held our breath.
“Where do you wanna go to drink?”
“Let’s just go somewhere normal. Ah, won’t ‘Margaret’ have an after-party somewhere? We could go there, if we manage to find out the location.”
“They’re probably going to have a drink somewhere private. Dammit. I’m a pretty good drummer too, you know?”
“Say that once you wipe that dust off your drums, idiot.”
Both men snickered. They finished their business to the backdrop of some more small talk and left the bathroom. Ahyoung gasped for breath, even more flushed than when she had been just embarrassed.
“It looks like we may struggle to have a good, long chat here.”
I had no intention of having a long talk, though..
However, before I could even start to grasp where she was going with this, she forcefully added a short phrase that might as well have been a death sentence.
“Follow me.”
“Why? Just give me the money. I won’t get in your way after that.”
Her eyes narrowed at my reply. She shook her head spoke in the same agitated voice.
“Do I need to actually threaten you? Cut the whining and follow me.”
That was already a threat.
My discontent must have shown on my face, because those pretty brows of her knitted together and she came right up to me. My nostrils were tickled by a faint, sweet scent.
The faint whisper that leaked from her lips overcame my resistance in an instant.
“I ran away. I cannot be found by others. But you, you saw me. For some reason, I feel like you’re everywhere I go. That’s a matter for another day, since dealing with a witness comes first. Whatever business you may have, I don’t care. I’m in no position to care. Do you understand? That’s why, listen to me while I’m being nice.”
In front of my eyes, the angel smiled like a devil. Just like I had seen a month ago.
“I’m going to shower first. We’ll talk afterwards.”
“What?”
I asked, dumbfounded. She answered with annoyance.
“Do you know just how hot it was watching the concert in those clothes?”
She pointed at a jumper, scarf, mask, and sunglasses she had taken off as soon as she had entered the room.
How would I not? To spend a full hour in a concert wearing those…I didn’t even want to think about it.
“You better not be having any dirty thoughts while I shower, or else. Stay put until I come out.”
With that final demand that was more of a threat, she collected a change of clothing and went into the bathroom.
A moment later, I could hear water pouring from the shower.
Here I was, a young man alone in a room with a young woman. I was nervous alright, but not in the sense of a guy waiting for his girl to come out of the shower.
I was full of concern and questions about my current situation.
Everyone at the event would be able to handle cleaning up after the concert without me, since I was just an extra part-time helper. However, I wanted to at least contact Sangah-noona, so that she wouldn’t worry about me.
I thought about my phone, which had been brutally smashed just a little while ago, and sighed automatically. I was sitting on the edge of the bed and scratching my head when I heard a voice I had not expected to hear for a while longer.
“Hey, can you hear me?”
Before I realized it, the sound of the water had stopped.