GIJS

Chapter 32

Let's get going quickly.

The geomungo or gayageum.

How long has it been since he heard those names?

Even just adjusting the leather covering, the scholar was already overcome with emotions.

He wants to meet these old friends right away and share the stories they couldn't before.

...If only he knew how to remove this leather covering.

Fortunately, the scholar's team was quite skilled at removing the covering. Pulling on the metal ring on the side, a familiar instrument appeared with a whoosh.

"Wow..."

The first to reveal itself was the geomungo.

Of the four classic scholarly arts, the geomungo holds the first position.

A body made of paulownia and chestnut wood, with six thick strings laid on top.

Although the detailed appearance was slightly different from the scholar's memory, the major parts were like the geomungo from 300 years ago.

The scholar gently touched the body of the geomungo.

The surface was cold, but it seemed he could hear a voice calling him from within the empty resonance box.

"..."

As if mesmerized by that voice, the scholar sat on the floor and placed the geomungo on his left knee.

"Seonbi, can you really play the geomungo..."

"Shh."

Jang Min-ki was about to speak to the gentleman, but Cha In-hyuk quickly stopped him.

"Let him concentrate."

"Oh, right."

With everyone's attention focused, the scholar quietly took the small stick used to pluck the geomungo strings.

His right hand, holding the stick, was positioned near the head of the geomungo, while his left hand rested lightly on the six strings.

The posture was so noble that no one dared to make a sound until the scholar struck the first note.

Doom, doong—

Finally, the scholar began to play the geomungo.

Starting with solitary notes, the geomungo sanjo (improvisational music) gradually filled the room with a minor key melody.

Plucking the strings with his right hand and gently soothing the thick strings with his left hand.

The scholar felt as though he was reuniting with an old friend.

Doom, doong, doom—

It had been such a long time.

Before he crossed over time, the geomungo had been his daily companion.

Although he had been somewhat forced into playing it by his uncle, the moment he first plucked the strings, the scholar fell in love with the geomungo.

Even his uncle, who detested music, never interfered with the geomungo, seeing it as a basic quality of a scholar.

Of course, when the scholar played improvised pieces rather than following the set tuning, his uncle would harshly chastise him for doing something trivial.

In this world, there was no uncle who oppressed him or a storage chest to confine him.

However, the geomungo, which he cherished so dearly, still remained after 300 years.

How could he not be thrilled?

Doom, doo-doom, doo-doong—

With a faint smile, the tempo gradually increased.

From the jin-yangjo to jung-mori, jung-jung-mori, and finally to ja-jin-mori.

The performance maintained the characteristic of the sanjo's increasing tempo as the melody deepened.

Every time the scholar plucked the strings, the team members seemed to see deep, secluded valleys unfolding before their eyes. In that beautiful nature, they seemed to hear the scholar's voice reciting poetry.

"Wow, how..."

"Who is this guy really?"

But the scholar's performance didn't end there.

Doom, thud, tick, thud—

Instead of plucking the strings with the stick, he began tapping the body of the geomungo, treating it like a percussion instrument.

It was as if he applied the 'percussion' technique, commonly used by modern acoustic guitarists, to the geomungo.

As the sanjo melody was joined by lively percussion rhythms, the music gained a three-dimensional quality.

"Wow..."

"...This is insane."

Though his uncle criticized such unorthodox playing methods, the scholar found this approach quite appealing.

The geomungo was not only a precious instrument but also his friend. It was only natural for him to seek ways to play more enjoyably with a friend.

The geomungo sanjo reached its peak.

Finally, the tempo reached the huimori, and the secluded valley before his comrades transformed into a cascading waterfall.

As the geomungo performance, now at its climax, slowly regained its calmness.

With a gentle smile, as the scholar struck the final string.

"Waaah—!"

"What's going on? What is this?"

"Who are you?"

Once again overwhelmed by his comrades' enthusiastic reactions, the scholar crumpled like a pancake.

Such strange friends.

They had reacted the same way during the sword dance, but the geomungo is a basic quality of a scholar.

To make such a fuss just for playing the geomungo.

Though he had enjoyed playing the geomungo, the scholar still felt a lingering sense of regret.

That thing set up there is the gayageum, right?

Like its nickname, 'the scholar's instrument,' the geomungo was widely loved by scholars 300 years ago.

However, the gayageum was somewhat different. It was strongly associated with courtesans performing for the nobility.

Though some scholars enjoyed the gayageum, it was unlikely that his uncle, Yoo Hyung-won, would allow such deviations.

But even so, the scholar secretly learned the gayageum, avoiding his uncle's gaze. He taught courtesans poetry in exchange for learning how to play the gayageum.

The clear, gentle, and sometimes sorrowful sound of the gayageum had a different charm from the deep and firm geomungo.

"Let me try this too—."

"You can play the gayageum too?"

"Open it..."

At the scholar's earnest request, his comrades hurriedly opened the gayageum case and presented the instrument to him.

As the gayageum emerged from the leather case, the scholar smiled brightly and sat down to start playing.

Doom, doong, daang—

"Wow—."

"The sound is so good."

The gayageum definitely produced a different sound from the geomungo. It was much softer and gentler. If the geomungo's sound was like a pine tree, the gayageum evoked the image of a blossoming cherry tree.

Not only the sound but also the scholar's playing style was somewhat different.

The vigorous plucking with the stick had completely disappeared, and instead, the right hand, now empty, gently caressed the twelve strings.

The comrades surrendered to the beautiful and melancholic sound. In particular, Ji Hyun-soo seemed completely absorbed in the gentleman's performance, with eyes half-closed.

"...It's beautiful..."

The scholar himself was deeply immersed in playing the gayageum.

If the geomungo was an old friend, the gayageum was a lover he could not meet due to fate's interference.

Yet, because their feelings for each other were so strong, he inevitably fell in love again every time they reunited.

How wonderful that these instruments still exist in the present!

After finishing a piece on the gayageum.

Finally regaining his senses and looking around, he saw his comrades all with their chins resting on their hands, absorbed in his performance.

"...So, so beautiful..."

Ji Hyun-soo seemed almost out of his mind.

Cha In-hyuk was rubbing his red nose, which seemed to have shed a few tears.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, the scholar scratched his head and spoke to Ji Hyun-soo.

"Uh, did you get some inspiration?"

"Too much."

"Hmm?"

"Too, too, too much."

It was a rather burdensome look, but it was good to hear that it helped with the inspiration. The scholar sighed with relief. As if the blocked channels had been cleared, the exchange of opinions became active again.

Ji Hyun-soo was the first to speak.

"What I felt from hearing the geomungo was that it's said to be a scholar's instrument, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Maybe because of that... I felt a sense of purity that made me reflect on my own behavior."

"!"


This time, Gunja was surprised by Ji Hyun-soo's insight.

Hyun-soo's words were close to the truth. Playing the geomungo and hearing its sound was a way to purify and cleanse one's mind, which was part of a scholar's daily routine.

"But listening to that sound made it feel like the geomungo was talking to me."

"Talking to you?"

"Yeah. It's like it's saying, 'Are you living properly? Young man, act with proper manners!' The sound is so refined that it makes me feel a bit embarrassed, like it's confronting me..."

"It's strange; it sounds weird, but I get it."

"Right? You felt that way too, didn't you?"

"Yes, I completely agree."

Hyun-soo's sentiments were echoed by Hyeon-jae and Min-ki, who also nodded in agreement.

"So, how about we take that feeling we had and make it the theme of the song?"

"The theme? How?"

Instead of explaining with words, Hyun-soo quickly stood up and went to the whiteboard.

"Like this..."

Taking out a marker, Hyun-soo wrote his thoughts on the whiteboard in big letters.

[Those Without Manners]

"Those without manners?"

"Yeah, there are so many people without manners in this world. Just watching them is infuriating."

"That's true."

"Instead of just pouring anger into something serious in hip-hop, let's channel that anger towards the people who really deserve it. People would resonate more with such lyrics."

This time, Gunja nodded slightly, as if agreeing. In fact, what surprised him the most about moving to the modern era was exactly that. Even though he could understand the dilution of Confucian values, he had encountered some cases that were completely incomprehensible.

"Not long ago, I saw an old man throw a 1,000-won bill at a clerk in a convenience store."

"Wow, that's infuriating. Why would someone do something so rude?"

"Yeah, how can someone throw the portrait of Toegye like that..."

"...It seems like Gunja-hyung is angry from a different perspective?"

Everyone's opinions smoothly converged. There were indeed too many people without manners in everyday life.

At that moment, In-hyuk, who had been silent, spoke up.

"Hyun-soo."

"Yes, hyung."

"But that topic about manners, manners... Hehe..."

"...?"

"Oh, sorry."

In-hyuk, who had momentarily failed to suppress a laugh, caught his breath and continued.

"It's an extension of 'No manners, no manners'."

"..."

"It's definitely interesting. It resonates."

"..."

"But I'm against repeating the same story in the same way."

Gunja agreed with In-hyuk's point. No matter how interesting the story, repeating it in the same way would reduce its freshness.

However, Hyun-soo seemed to have anticipated this objection and confidently responded.

"That's right. Repeating the same story in the same way is something I'm definitely against. So, we need to change the approach."

"How..."

"I'm thinking of sampling Gunja's performance and using it to create a beat."

"Sampling the geomungo and gayageum to make a hip-hop beat?"

"Yeah."

"Like 'Jangdu' or 'Freestyle'?"

"Oh, that sounds fresh."

"Not just creating a beat with traditional instruments, but also including live performance. Using a loop station, Gunja can perform live with the geomungo and gayageum session."

"Wow, using a loop station on stage?"

"That sounds amazing."

The previously gloomy expressions of the team brightened up again.

Sampling and loop stations...

Although these were concepts Gunja had trouble understanding, he smiled along with the mood. After all, things seemed to be progressing well.

"Hehe, it's all thanks to Gunja."

"Haha, it's not because of me."

"Hehe, no. You've inspired me."

"Haha, I'm glad to hear that."

Warm words were exchanged in the pleasant atmosphere. Gunja hoped that this would mean the mission would go well.

However, in the next moment, Ji Hyun-soo dropped a bombshell.

"Shall we head to the studio now?"

"St-Studio?"

"Yeah, we need to start with recording the samples."

The mention of the studio made cold sweat break out on Gunja's back. The studio was where Trainer Young Eun-chae had said she would lock him up, right?

"Y-You're not planning to lock me up there, are you..."

"Huh? How did you know?"

"—!?"

"Hehe, I won't let you out until we get satisfactory samples."

"...I really don't want that..."

"Why are you like this? Let's go quickly!"

"Aah, no—!!"

As Gunja tried to escape, In-hyuk grabbed him and lifted him onto his shoulder.

"Ugh, please not the storage...!"

Struggling was useless. It looked like he was about to be trapped in the studio, just like in a storage room!

When they arrived, as expected, Trainer Young Eun-chae was waiting for them.

"...Hehe... So... You're here to record..."

"Yes, we're going to record the geomungo and gayageum."

"...Geomungo... Gayageum... Could it be... Gunja-nim...?"

"Hehe, yes."

"...Let's get started right away..."

"Alright."

Thus, the two crazy composers pushed Gunja into the studio.