Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 355:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 355

As the first note flowed from Subin’s violin, Yulia Winter’s hand, holding a red pen, stopped.

It was a hand that had been busy moving to score the other contestants’ performances accurately.

Yulia Winter’s head lifted up involuntarily, unaware of her own reaction. 

The heads of the other judges also turned towards the stage. 

They all failed to hide their surprised expressions.

Under the bright lights.

His right hand holding the bow and his fingers on the violin strings were moving busily. 

He looked the same as the other contestants, but the sound that came out was different.

Yulia Winter felt that everyone in the hall was focused on that young violinist. 

The judges, who had heard countless violin performances, also forgot about their scoring and just stared at the young violinist as if they were bewitched.

She had thought of it as a half-joke, but when a real gem appeared before her eyes, Yulia Winter tried not to miss a single note with her nerves sharpened. 

She did not take her eyes off the fingers pressing the strings and the bow sliding down.

Maybe it was because she had been thinking of [Over the Rainbow] a while ago.

Yulia Winter felt as if she understood how the director felt when she first discovered ‘actor Lee Seo-jun’. 

She was shocked by the talent she had never heard or seen before, and she felt a surge of desire to nurture and introduce that talent to the world.

While Yulia Winter was shining her eyes, the audience was filled with silence, not of boredom, but of listening to the beautiful melody better.

Until contestant number 14, they had compared their sons and daughters who came to cheer them on in their minds, but now they did not have such thoughts at all.

It was as if they had come to a violin recital of a famous violinist. It was a sorry story for their sons and daughters,

‘He’s really good.’

The audience swallowed their admiration that seemed to burst out and listened to the violin melody.

Subin’s violin performance, accompanied by piano accompaniment, reached the waiting rooms of other parts participating in the concours. 

The contestants who were smiling at the appearance of the last contestant, who was smaller than the other kids on TV, closed their mouths at the same time.

The middle school part, high school part, and general part were all filled with heavy silence.

Someone swallowed dry saliva and someone’s hands trembled. 

The reactions were different, but they all could not take their eyes off the TV. 

The contestants knew more about violin than the audience, so they could better understand the talent of that small contestant.

“…Crazy.”

The first-year students of music and violin major at Mirinae High School could barely spit out a word at the performance of ‘Lee Seo-jun senior’s unknown younger sibling’.

Subin’s violin performance that they wanted to keep listening to ended.

The last note lingered for a long time and then slowly stopped. 

Silence flowed. 

The audience appreciated even that silence as part of the performance.

Subin, whose cheeks were flushed red, took a deep breath and lifted his chin from the violin. 

And he bowed politely toward the silent audience. 

He was a little sorry that he couldn’t hear applause because it was a concours, but it was okay.

‘I have to ask Seo-jun hyung and Eun-su how it was!’

The piano accompanist, Choi Soohee, also got up from her seat. 

Kim Subin’s mother gave him a thumbs up and smiled brightly as he left the stage.

Then,

Clap clap clap!!

Applause poured out from the audience.

Kim Han-seok and his friends couldn’t stand it any longer and let their hands move freely. 

Their palms clapping together were hot. 

They were sending applause for seeing such a great stage, but their hearts were complicated.

“He doesn’t care about age or anything like that… He’s really talented.”

“I wonder if our friends are okay.”

Kim Han-seok thought of his music friends who were watching TV in the waiting room. 

The first-year students of art major smiled bitterly without stopping their applause.

“They won’t be okay. But there are always one or two talented people who suddenly appear in this field. It’s hard to keep going if you care about that every time.”

“That’s true.”

“Well, he can’t go to every event by himself anyway. Let’s just think of him as the Lee Seo-jun senior of music. It would be nice if music grows thanks to his like Lee Seo-jun senior.”

The kids nodded at the words of the first-year student of music and piano major.

***

The middle school part concours began.

The middle school students showed signs of not being able to perform their best under the influence of elementary part 15th performance right before them. 

The judges evaluated them coldly even for such performances.

“We had a longer break than scheduled, but I guess it wasn’t enough to recover their mental state.”

“It’s like ‘what was I doing at that age’ when someone with such talent comes out right in front of you.”

“But this kind of thing happens often in international concours.”

The three judges nodded at Yulia Winter’s words.

“Most domestic concours have similar ages participating in similar concours, so they are familiar with each other’s faces and skills. So the winners are also similar. It’s like a frog in a well.”

“A big rock fell into that well.”

Everyone smiled at the violinist’s words.

They thought of the ‘big rock’, elementary part 15th, but there were also middle school students who showed good performances in such a difficult situation.

“There were contestants who calmly showed their skills in such a crisis. With this kind of mentality, their skills will increase quickly.”

“The rankings will change a lot this time.”

“I’m looking forward to the high school part and the general part.”

It was only half over, but it was a very eventful concours.

***

After lunch, Seo-jun and his family headed to the Eunhasu Center annex to watch the high school part concours with Subin.

The menu was Chinese food.

Three families sat around a round table.

Of course, Eun-su and Subin took the seats next to Seo-jun.

They ordered and after a while.

The table was filled with dishes they each preferred.

Eun-su raised her hand brightly.

“I’ll mix it!”

“Okay.”

Seo-jun put a bowl of jajangmyeon in front of her and Eun-su mixed the jajangmyeon with a serious expression. 

She made sure that the black jajang sauce was well coated on the white noodles without leaving any gaps.

Subin seemed to be hungry from being nervous and ate jajangmyeon and sweet and sour pork without saying a word.

“Subin. Chew well.”

“Yes!”

Subin, who had black jajang sauce around his mouth, smiled at Seo-jun’s words.

The adults laughed at that sight.

“It feels like a dream to see him on stage earlier.”

“I know, right?”

They all chatted slowly while eating.

“How many places do they give prizes?”

Kim Hee-sang, who was eating jjamppong, answered Lee Min-jun’s question.

“Up to third place. Gold, silver, and bronze medals are given. But there was a time when no bronze medal was given.”

Everyone looked surprised at that.

“The judging criteria must be very strict.”

“But that means it’s a fair concours.”

“That’s right. It’s better than passing someone you know as a judge. This field is no joke.”

Kim Su-ryeon, the head of the publicity team at Cocoa Entertainment who had heard various stories while working there, said and everyone nodded.

***

After lunch, Seo-jun and Subin headed to the Eunhasu Center annex to watch the high school part concours.

“Then we’ll see you at the award ceremony.”

“Bye! Seo-jun oppa! Subin oppa!”

As everyone expected, Eun-su headed to the kids’ cafe. 

Her expression was full of regret, but her feet that held her mom and dad’s hands and walked to the kids’ cafe were lively as if she was walking on clouds.

“Subin, do you want to watch the general section too? Or do you want to go to the kids’ cafe after watching the high school section?”

“Hmm.”

Subin, who was holding Seo-jun’s hand and walking, pondered with a serious expression at Seo-jun’s words. 

He wanted to listen to the violin performances, but he also wanted to play with Eun-su at the kids’ cafe.

Subin opened his mouth after thinking for a while.

“I want to go to the kids’ cafe!”

“Okay. Let’s do that.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly at Subin’s decision.

Subin was excited by the thought of listening to the violin performances and going to the kids’ cafe. 

Seo-jun moved his feet with Subin in tow. 

As they entered the second hall where the door was wide open, they saw the relatives and families of the high school participants sitting in their seats.

Seo-jun and Subin also found a suitable place to sit.

Seo-jun handed a drink to Subin, who was dangling his legs. 

Seo-jun’s eyes turned to the people. 

They were whispering with the person next to them, but they could be heard well by Seo-jun who had good ears.

“Elementary section? An elementary student did that well?”

“That’s right. My kid was crying and making a fuss.”

They were talking about Subin.

‘There was a TV in the waiting room…’

It seemed that Subin’s performance had affected the participants who were in the waiting room. 

He wondered if they felt a great sense of frustration at the difference in skills, especially since they were still middle school students.

“I heard that even the accompanists asked where he goes to school.”

“Really? Which school does he go to? I want to transfer him if it’s in Seoul…”

But people’s conversations didn’t last long. 

The short break was over and the high school concours began.

Just like in the elementary section, the judges came in and the curtain went up. 

There was a grand piano on the wide stage and the accompanist and participant walked onto the stage.

‘It’s the first order.’

The first order of the high school section was the first-year music major violinist whom he met earlier. 

The first note from his violin flowed out and Seo-jun and Subin listened carefully to his melody.

***

[We will now begin the 8th ATR Violin Concours award ceremony.]

The participants who gave up early because of their mistakes on stage and their families left their seats, while those who had some hope stayed in their seats.

The participants sat in the front row of the audience seats so that they could go up on stage as soon as their names were called.

Seo-jun and Eun-su had bouquets in their hands. 

Seo-jun had a purple lilac bouquet, while Eun-su had a yellow freesia bouquet and a pink rose bouquet.

“This is Eun-su’s!”

Eun-su gave her pink rose bouquet to her dad who was sitting next to her and hugged her yellow freesia bouquet with a bright smile like a flower.

“Do you like it?”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun also smiled along with Eun-su.

He bought two bouquets because he thought Eun-su would be disappointed if only Subin got one, but he was glad that she liked it.

[Elementary section bronze medal.]

The child whose name was called went up on stage with an excited face.

On stage, there was the director of ATR Foundation holding a trophy and a bouquet. 

He was a familiar face to Seo-jun as well, since he had seen him at Yeoul Arts Middle School and Mirinae Arts High School entrance ceremonies and graduation ceremonies.

[Middle school section bronze medal.]

The middle school student whose name was called looked incredulous as he got up from his seat hesitantly. 

The people who looked like his family also seemed surprised as they didn’t clap at first.

But soon applause erupted and the middle school student went up on stage with a flushed face.

“Isn’t he one of those who couldn’t make it to the top ranks?”

“Probably. This must be his first time getting an award at a concours.”

Two people who looked like academy instructors were talking.

“Wow. Really?”

“Yeah. Most of the top-ranked kids in this section made mistakes this time. I only watched this section, so I don’t know, but they said it was because of the kid who played last in the elementary section.”

“? Isn’t it the same for all concours to have good kids?”

“That’s what I’m saying. I don’t know what happened.”

Hmm.

Seo-jun scratched his cheek.

It would be shocking if that good kid was a second-grader in elementary school.

‘And not just good, but shockingly good.’

Our Subin is the best.

He nodded his head with a proud face and turned his head to the stage.

[Elementary section silver medal.]

The child who went up on stage smiled brightly and bowed deeply. 

Applause sounded and camera flashes flashed.

[There is no silver medal in the middle school section.]

The audience seats stirred at that announcement.

Especially, the faces of the middle school participants’ families were gloomy.

“Is there no gold medal either?”

“Really…”

The high school and general section silver medals were announced and finally.

Only the gold medal was left.

[Elementary section gold medal.]

Even before the name was called, the eyes of those who watched the elementary section performance were focused on one place. 

The judges, who unanimously decided on the gold medal without a second of hesitation, also had excited faces.

Seo-jun and Eun-su prepared to clap, while the adults prepared their cameras.

[Maesil Elementary School 2nd grade. Kim Subin.]

Subin got up from his seat with a bright smile.

The loudest applause so far filled the hall.

As Seo-jun and Eun-su clapped their hands hard, the adults held up their cameras and took pictures continuously.

Subin, who had a beaming smile on his face, walked up to the stage with his short legs.

The director was momentarily surprised by the sight of the small child, but he smiled softly and handed him the bouquet and trophy.

“Congratulations, Subin. Please let us hear your wonderful performances in the future.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

Subin bowed to the director and hugged the bouquet and trophy in his arms. 

He looked at the audience seats.

Among the sparkling camera flashes, he felt like he could see his mom and dad, Seo-jun hyung, and Eun-su sitting in the audience seats very clearly. 

Subin smiled brightly.