Chapter 5: Softly 6
Looking at the phone, Song Mirae made a strange expression.
“Hey hey, look at this.”
“I’m busy.”
Perhaps she didn’t hear Lee Suh-ah’s indifferent tone but without stopping, Song Mirae started making a fuss. She swung her legs, slammed the bed and talked to herself…
“Wah~ Pretending to be so well-behaved now look at this.”
“…”
“Really unbelievable!”
In front of her full-scale obstructive tactics, Lee Suh-ah finally let go of her pen.
Annoying.
Peeling her gaze away from the exercise book on the desk, Lee Suh-ah flicked her head back. Song Mirae was looking towards her with a grin seemingly looking for some attention.
Heaving a sigh, Lee Suh-ah asked.
“It’s the mid-sem soon; are you not studying?”
“Tch. We’re going to uni with our singing anyway~”
“But a person should still have some things in their brain.”
“Ah whatever~”
Replying whatever, Song Mirae laid down on the bed and returned her eyes back to the phone. On the blue window, she could see the messages she had sent to and received from Han Dasom. Glancing over the greetings and messages that kept each other in check, Song Mirae stopped at the last message.
[Song: What kind of relationship do you guys have? Zzz You don’t seem to be going out but from what you did during the Concerted Music… you seem to be interested?]
As she gazed at the screen, Han Dasom’s reply suddenly popped up.
[Han: …We’re not in any relationship. The thing from the presentation day… I was just excited from my first prac test]
Ah~ so you’re saying it was a mistake? Thinking, who would believe that, Song Mirae grinned before fiercely tapping her fingers like a jab.
[Song: No relationship? Zzz that’s interesting.]
[Han: Interesting?]
[Song: Un? I mean zzz. Dasom and Yunjae are practising together every day~ I found it interesting that you guys weren’t in any relationship.]
Han Dasom who had been unable to reply for a bit slowly moved her hands to form a reply.
[Han: …Yunjae was purely doing it to help me.]
[Song: Thank goodness zzz. I should tell Yunjae that I want to practise with him as well and ask him to help me a bit.]
[Han: ‘Thank goodness’?]
[Song: Un. You said you weren’t in any relationship right? I’m interested in Yunjae you see.]
Their conversation over one wall started heating up.
[Han: Practice isn’t your goal.]
[Song: Practise as well~ but we can do other things alongside it zzz]
Han Dasom who had been reading the messages on her bed tightly embraced the penguin doll.
[Han: …Yunjae is a really amazing person who also works hard. Don’t try to shake that with a light heart.]
Reading the message, Song Mirae tilted her head. The tone of the message was weird – it was as if she was full of respect. Is this something to have for another student?
With a shake of her head, Song Mirae got rid of the side thoughts before taking her phone again.
[Song: Light heart? Zzz I’m saying I would practise like you did so why?]
[Han: That’s not what your tone was implying.]
[Song: What about my tone? Are you Yunjae’s mum or something? I saw last time when he seemed to be practising with Chloe as well. So why you chiming in to stop me?]
Receiving that message, Han Dasom was startled a bit and glanced at Chloe sleeping next to her. After looking at Chloe who wore cute pyjamas and a carefree smile, Han Dasom quickly sent a reply.
[Han: He’s close to Chloe so maybe that’s why.]
[Song: Ah I see zzz. Just like how you are also just friends with him, I’ll become friends with him to practise together.]
[Han: …From the messages I saw, Yunjae seemed to be completely uninterested though.]
[Song: What?]
[Han: ^^]
Seeing the smiling emoticon, Song Mirae trembled before screaming aloud.
“Ah annoying! Han Dasom!”
Looking at such Song Mirae, Lee Suh-ah clicked her tongue. She was a friend but sometimes was incomprehensible. After hitting the pillow to relieve her anger for a bit, Song Mirae flicked her head across to stare at Lee Suh-ah.
Lee Suh-ah met her gaze with eyes that said, now what, when Song Mirae opened her mouth.
“Hey, you’re friends with Yunjae right?”
“Not really.”
“More than me at least! Connect us two please.”
Making an abhorring expression, Lee Suh-ah stepped back.
“I don’t want to. Jo Yunjae, he’s weird.”
“What weird! He looked normal. Anyway, Han Dasom… I’ll make him fall for me and make her see.”
“… No matter how I saw it, neither of them were interested in romance though.”
With a scoff, Song Mirae concluded.
“Not interested in romance? There are no such kids in this world.”
*
Despite the chorus presentation being finished, we had come outside for practice like always, but there were several circumstances that had changed.
“What’s her name?”
“Han Dasom of the 10th class. Her voice was good.”
“Who’s that squid next to her?”
Glaring over, I saw a boy avoiding eye contact with an awkward smile. No matter how you saw it, I looked better than you so what’s this thing about squids?
Clicking my tongue, I glanced around and found out that it indeed was different from before. There was a larger ratio of boys stopping their feet after seeing us, which was hard to see considering that the Future Arts High had more girls.
There were some that looked blatantly at Han Dasom who had placed a pin on her bangs, and perhaps being awkward in front of those gazes, Han Dasom hid herself behind me a little.
“…”
Of course, there was a group that was there to solely evaluate our skills. The students that had been listening seriously nodded their heads.
“The girl is quite good but the guy is not any lacking in comparison either.”
“He’s Jo Yunjae. Right behind the two tops in the Improvement Concert.”
“Really? This year’s opera students are no joke.”
Students that looked over us and evaluated – glancing over them, I noticed the green and blue coloured nameplates hanging, and they seemed to be upperclassmen. Perhaps they were interested because they wanted to invite people to their circles and concertos.
“…”
Well, it’s a good thing to become famous. The performing arts thing was not that easy and skills weren’t the only things necessary for success. There were many helpful aspects I could earn by continuing this on-the-spot concert with Han Dasom.
Both Han Dasom and I could increase our specs and further our human relationships, and I can also practise my vocalisation. The problem would be that we had to satisfy the audience every time but…
After massaging my throat in thought, I tapped Han Dasom.
“The song just then, I tried changing the vocalisation method. How was it?”
Han Dasom replied with a smile after thinking slightly.
“Un… it was good.”
“Ah– then now?”
“I think… it’s good.”
“Ah– what about this?”
“It’s super good Yunjae.”
…It seemed like she would say it was good even if I just opened my mouth. Would this be good feedback? Tilting my head, I shrugged my shoulders and put it aside.
Well… although it seemed to be difficult to receive direct feedback on the vocalisation, it was certainly helpful in attaching the new method to my body. It was bound to become natural after singing several songs after all, and that was another reason why I received song suggestions.
While nodding away, I suddenly remembered the thing from yesterday and asked.
“Oh yeah, what happened with Song Mirae after that? I fell asleep with the phone in my hand.”
“Un. I said it was a misunderstanding, and that we were just friends…”
In the midst of her words, Han Dasom scanned my eyes before carefully meeting it with her own.
“We are friends right…?”
“Why bother asking something like that? Of course we are.”
Staring at Han Dasom who grinned bashfully at my response, I took out my phone to check the time.
Hmm… the time is… it should be just right to go for practice after one more song. As I was thinking that, a song suggestion came in.
“Are you singing any song that’s been requested?”
“Yes. If its something I know then yes.”
“Then sing Nessun Dorma please.”
Cheers of ‘ohh’ spread to the surroundings – I want to hear that as well, opera should be singing that, or that it would be good…
What’s with these high expectations though? How can I sing Nessun Dorma with this body when its something I could barely sing even with my previous body? Staring dumbfoundedly at the few standing nearby, I opened my mouth.
“I’m a bit lacking so it could come out weird.”
“Ay, I think you’ll be fine from how you’ve been singing so far.”
“Saying things to create an excuse in case you don’t do well? Kukuk.”
What do you mean; it really is a difficult song. While I had a frown thinking that, a cough sounded from a corner. Turning my gaze, I found Jun Shihyuk whom I didn’t even realise was there. With his arms crossed and staring at the students of other departments, he seemed somewhat used to this, and after gathering the gazes with a few coughs, Jun Shihyuk opened his mouth.
“There are actually separate types of tenors that can sing Nessun Dorma. It doesn’t fit Jo Yunjae.”
“There are types as well?”
“Yes. It’s from a different category so it might not even be in his repertory of songs.”
“Really? I was curious how it would be, but, what a shame.”
I thought while looking at the regretful crowd.
Curious.
I was also curious about it. After changing the vocalisation method, my vocal range had indeed gone up so although minute controls and breath might be lacking compared to before, high notes were most probably better now.
“…”
Whether I could properly make use of the current vocalisation… should I try it? Thinking for a bit, I opened my mouth.
“I’ll just do it.”
“Ohh~”
After staring at the purely enjoying crowd, my eyes met with Jun Shihyuk’s and could see him glaring at me for some reason. Taking my eyes off and taking a step back, I closed my eyes.
‘Nessun Dorma.’
It was an aria that appeared in ‘Turandot’, an opera by Puccini.
Even someone not interested in classic would’ve at least heard it once. A famous song that meant ‘let no-one sleep’; that famous song, sung by Pavarotti.
“…”
That’s why even without the difficulty of the song in the equation, it was difficult to sing. How many opera singers were there that could survive on after being compared to Pavarotti?
Well… if all of that were ignored, then it was a tenor aria that was loved everywhere. The high note was fabulous after all. A B4 highlight which was one note under C5 – just by singing that, rounds of claps and cheers were bound to fall. And that was also why it was a song I had forced into my repertory back in the days.
“Huu…”
Heaving out a deep breath, the crowd became quiet, and gazing over them I slowly opened my lips.
“Nessun dorma–”
Lunchtime, with bright rays of sun welcoming the earth. When I let out that famous first verse, the eyes of all passersby gathered at me – the students that had finished meals, people walking by and chatting, the frowning Jun Shihyuk and the worried Han Dasom…
They all focused their gazes on me, and matching my eyes with all of them, I continued onto the next verse.
“Nessun dorma…”
Slowly singing the introduction, I reflected on the new vocalisation method. I had gotten the general feeling of it, but still hadn’t perfectly made it as my own and had to focus my all to be barely able to sing with it.
In other words, I could do it after focusing.
“Tu pure, oh Principessa.”
Grabbing onto the feeling I got after yesterday’s practice, I slowly thought back on it. The explanations of teacher Ku Mingi, the changed vocalisation and teacher Kwak Jungsoo’s last lesson.
Naturally – throwing away the obsession of trying to have control over everything. Keeping that feeling across, I could feel my rigid resonance easing and getting softer.
“Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me.”
Going slower than usual, I proceeded while digesting each lyric. I grasped barely on the faint feeling of the vocalisation and to keep the resonance there, I desperately kept my mouth open. Then, I tried to comprehend one by one, all the passage of air that resonated the oral cavity before leaving.
“Il nome mio nessun saprà.”
I could feel air rapidly touching through the naturally relaxed throat. That ball of air then fluttered the thin vocal cords, went around the mouth before squeezing through the gap between the lips.
The finalised sound had in itself a strange resonance – the new resonance that teacher Ku Mingi had shown.
“No–! No—-! sulla tua bo–cca lo dirò–”
When I realised, I was at A4.
A4.
Even whilst resonating that high note, the throat was astonishingly relaxed. As if there was nothing wrong, asking what the difference was between itself and a low note. However, below the throat was filled with the pressure trying to supply crazy amounts of breath, and felt like my stomach was being squashed.
Despite finding those two contrasting feelings painful… I liked the feeling of my head ringing.
“Dilegua, oh notte–! Tramontate, stelle–”
The approaching highlight.
Nearing its limits, the body started creaking. The diaphragm that had pushed all of its breath to the max screamed in pain while the unfamiliar vocalisation confused my brain.
Space, breath, vocalisation.
Having to do layers upon layers upon layers of every tiny thing that had to be controlled, the head heated up from overwork and the face started reddening.
“All’alba vincerò–”
The last verse.
Cutting off the song, I slowly built my breath and sucking all the air in, I forcibly moved the aching muscles. Filling the stomach with air like that, I opened my eyes.
“Vincerà–”
Like casually starting a car, I let that out and glanced around. From the people around me, I could see eyes filled with expectations. Will I be able to fulfil those expectations? With a smile of nervousness, I stepped forward.
To the summit called B4.
“Vince——!”
The vocal cords fluttered like crazy and the mouth that had opened to its limits was attacked by intense vibrations. All the air that had passed through the lengthened throat and the resonating chambers within the body rang and shook the head.
Forcing out every single bit of breath remaining in the lungs, I let out the last sound.
“Rò–!”