Volume 5 / Chapter 169
TL: LightNovelCafe
[TN: Weird lunch]
“Tara, I’m willing to take on any events like this. Ha ha.”
Inside the car, Jun Hyuk laughed loudly with a light heart. He could not remember the last time he had been part of such a fun performance.
“Today’s performance is going to go up on YouTube right away. A lot of the students recorded it on their phones.”
“Violation rights – What, is it a problem that like?”
“No. It’s not that sensitive. It’s just…..”
Tara recalled the concert and had a subtle look on her face.
“It’s just? Ah, me singing?”
“Yes. I’m sure that will become tremendous news.”
“The first measure I sang was off pitch, but it was plenty that I could handle. There’s nothing special about it.”
Jun Hyuk had a nonchalant expression as if it was insignificant. Tara had found out about Jun Hyuk’s appearance on the audition program in Korea while looking up information on him. She also knew that he had become a hot topic because he was the only participant who had not been singing.
She had been taken aback when she saw that Jun Hyuk singing on the stage as though it is nothing. She had thought that he did not like singing itself.
“What were you going to do if the students in the audience hadn’t been singing along?”
“Of course everyone will sing along when it’s Chuck Berry’s famous song. Don’t you think I thought that far?”
Whatever happened, Jun Hyuk was extremely satisfied with today’s performance.
“Tara. Forget the other stuff. Today’s schedule was a success, right?”
“Yes. It’ll have 100 times the effect of an interview. ‘Maestro Sings Rock n Roll’. There isn’t any outlet that won’t use this great headline.”
When Jun Hyuk saw Tara smiling brightly, he felt good because it was as though he had helped her out a little when she is working so hard for him.
Jun Hyuk was praying for the time to go by quickly in this place with such a different atmosphere from yesterday’s performance. 20 minutes had not even passed in this lunch that had started at 1 in the afternoon. But Jun Hyuk had already cleared his plate.
More than 10 elderly women were in a small banquet hall in the Boston Symphony concert hall and eating little bits of the catered food.
They ate slowly and only wet their lips with their coffees. What frustrated Jun Hyuk more was that he could barely hear them with the way they speak.
He would need to use a hearing aid to hear them exchange their thoughts on Inferno and classical music.
However, the lunch took on an entirely different mood with one person’s question.
“Maestro, is today’s news true?”
“Excuse me? What news are you talking about?”
“The performance with the New England Conservatory last night.”
“Ah, yes. It just happened like that.”
“How did you come up with the idea to perform Chuck Berry’s song?”
It was not criticism about how Boston’s maestro could perform rock n roll. It was a question with wide eyes full of curiosity.
“It fit the mood yesterday. The students drunk in jazz were looking at me, and I couldn’t splash cold water on them. And I had fun.”
“Maestro Jun is taking on a variety of genres like rock n roll, blues, and jazz. I don’t know if you know, but his performing skills are on par as well.”
Tara, who was joining them for lunch, did not lose the chance to grab the sponsors’ attention and praised Jun Hyuk.
“I used to like Bill Haley’s music more than I liked Chuck Berry’s.”
“What are you talking about? Buddy Holly was the best at the time.”
“Ho ho. The conclusion is going to be Elvis Presley anyway.”
“Elvis is great too, but the Beatles’ musicality is on top.”
The women left the elaborate lunch on their plates and talked about old stars and their music. Jun Hyuk was no longer the object of their attention. The topic was their memories.
When they were young, America was a completely conservative society. It was a time when rock n roll was considered music of vulgar hoodlums or the devil’s music. They hid LPs from their parents and listened to them behind their backs.
The British Invasion, an expression for when British music took over America, started in February 7, 1964. The Beatles zone F. The girls who had been screaming their names when they first stepped foot in Kennedy airport, are now here to sponsor classical music.
Now they may seem to be people with luck as a lawyer’s wife, banker’s wife, CEO’s wife, but they loved their idols more than the teenagers today and had passionate youths with rock n roll.
The memories of their fiery childhoods are better topics of conversation than classical music or the young Asian genius composer.
Jun Hyuk, now forgotten, did not have much to do but listen to their conversation.
While drinking coffee and listening to them speak, he realized that they had experienced the music that he had only heard in albums with their bodies. They are now old women whose blonde hair has turned white, but they are the pioneers who opened the door to popular music.
When their time to reminisce ended, the lunch also ended. After reminiscing about their pasts for a while, it was evident that they had a lot of fun. Their refined and elegant expressions have disappeared and they were only left with the passion blushed red in their cheeks.
When a restaurant employee cleared the table, the sponsors pulled their checkbooks out of their bags. Then they wrote the amount for their donations on the spot and handed them over.
There were no envelopes with bills that hid how much they were donating, and there was no immature battle over who would write a larger number on their check. They each wrote an amount that was fitting for their circumstances, and handed the checks over proudly.
Jun Hyuk got a glance of the values of the checks and was surprised that they were not that high. The largest amount was just $10,000 and the rest were just a few thousand.
Tara put the checks in her bag and jabbed Jun Hyuk’s side.
“Thank you for giving us your precious time today. The donations you made today will be put toward the new challenge that the Boston Symphony will take on.”
Jun Hyuk recited the words that Tara had written for him politely and precisely.
“Ho ho. Maestro, will you put the music that we enjoyed as youths in that new music?”
“Of course. If it’s possible, I’ll try to create a stage to perform with those people.”
The meeting ended after Jun Hyuk kissed each of the women on the cheek. The sponsors now head to the concert hall to watch rehearsals. It is a benefit of being a donator.
“Tara, drop me off at the park on your way back. I don’t feel so good after sitting still and shoving meat down my throat. I’ll run a bit before going back to the hotel.”
“You know that you have another appointment in the evening, right? Please make sure you’re not late.”
Tara started to see Jun Hyuk in a new light because he was handling these situations better than she thought he would. He had handled today pretty well.
“Maestro. I know they are difficult appointments, but you are doing well.”
When Jun Hyuk saw Tara smiling brightly, he remembered something he had been wondering about.
“What did you think about the donations today? Is that much a success?”
Jun Hyuk was thinking that the donations might have been reduced because of himself.
“Of course. There’s someone who donated a whole $10,000. That’s more than 30% of what Maestro Quinn and the former conductor brought in.”
“Really? Donations are smaller than I thought they would be.”
“Are thousands of dollars a small amount? Ah, well Maestro’s income is so high….. With royalties, album sales, and everything else.”
When Tara listed Jun Hyuk’s income on her fingers, he blushed.
“Ah, that’s not what I meant…..”
Tara saw Jun Hyuk quickly waving his hands and burst out laughing.
“Ho ho. I’m joking, it’s a joke. There aren’t many sponsors in reality who donate tens of thousands of dollars.”
When Jun Hyuk thought of sponsors, he thought that the basic was tens of thousands of dollars. But just from today, he realized that it is just the middle, no more no less.
“Most donations amount to tens or hundreds in a year. If they go into the thousands, they are entered into celebrated contributions.”
“Then is it rare to see donators who give that much?”
“No, there are a fair amount of them. But most of them are private sponsors, not people who come to these lunches and rehearsal previews. Only the people we saw today want this kind of gathering.”
“I see. Then is the dinner going to be like those old women as well?”
“No. They will be women in their thirties. They are not housewives but rather successful women, so it won’t be boring. And just have a hard time today. For 2 weeks after this, you don’t have anything in your schedule.”
“That’s welcome news.”
Jun Hyuk had to run in the park again in order to go to dinner later.
