Chapter 11: Keyboard

Myeong-jeon walked home, beaming. His ‘mother’ had bought him a new MacBook, a camera for YouTube, an audio interface, and various other things. He’d worked hard to secure those items, worth over three million won.

‘It was worth it.’

He felt a twinge of shame, but it couldn’t be helped. At his age, he knew pride wasn’t worth much.

‘Now I can use this laptop to make YouTube videos. I’ll install Guitar Rig and become a digital native.’

He wasn’t one to embrace new technology. He understood the appeal of laptops and virtual instruments, but he believed physical objects held a certain value and sentimentality.

However, he wasn’t completely closed off to new ideas. He’d heard of some session musicians, even among the top tier, who only carried a laptop, a controller, and a guitar. It might be more useful than he thought.

But having been reborn, sentimentality and value were secondary to his lack of funds. He had to adapt. Even he, a staunch traditionalist, had to enter the virtual realm.

“Su-yeon!”

A voice called out as he walked, lost in thought. A familiar voice… it was her. She was quite talkative, so this would take a while… and he couldn’t just run away. This was going to be a headache.

“Good news!”

“What?”

“I found a member!”

“Already?”

Had she already had someone in mind? It was difficult to gauge someone’s skill level unless there was a significant difference, and finding someone better than him among his peers would be challenging.

Myeong-jeon had assumed it would take at least a year to find one or two members. But she’d found someone in just a few days…

Was it a vocalist? He didn’t need a vocalist. Anyone could sing, the instruments were what mattered.

“What’s their position?”

“Keyboard.”

“Keyboard?”

Myeong-jeon was surprised. Keyboard? The easiest position to fill in a band was vocals, followed by guitar, bass, and then drums. Keyboardists were so abundant they weren’t even ranked. It was unusual for them to find a keyboardist first.

But… Dirty Loops didn’t have a guitarist, but they did have a drummer. Unless he was planning to program MIDI drums – which was incredibly cumbersome and not ideal – they needed a drummer.

As if reading his mind, Yi-seo spoke.

“We have a drummer. Probably.”

“What do you mean ‘probably’?”

“The keyboard unnie’s friend plays drums. We’re going to meet up, and if they seem good, unnie will try to persuade them.”

Unnie, huh? It would indeed be difficult to find a girl her age in the same area who was a better musician than her. Myeong-jeon thought, running a hand through his hair.

“So the drummer isn’t confirmed, and we have to meet the keyboardist?”

“Yeah… but she hasn’t played keyboard for long. She’s actually a pianist.”

Yi-seo muttered that her keyboard skills might be lacking. But assuming they had a drummer, Myeong-jeon didn’t mind if the keyboardist wasn’t top-tier. Keyboardists were hard to come by, so having one was a plus.

“When are we meeting?”

“Um… are you free today? Unnie said she’s only free today this week.”

Yi-seo looked apologetic, as it was rather sudden.

“Today?”

Today was inconvenient. He had to set up his computer and other things… He was about to decline when he had an idea.

“Is this ‘unnie’ good with computers?”

“Huh? Uh… I don’t know. I think so? She seems to do a lot of things. I don’t really know, though.”

But why? Yi-seo asked. Myeong-jeon twirled a strand of hair and replied,

“I can meet today, but I’m stuck setting up my computer. If she can help me with that, I’m free.”

“I think she can. I’ll ask her.”

Telling his ‘mother’ he’d be eating out, Myeong-jeon headed to the cafe. He squeezed through the narrow doorway with his guitar case and was greeted by the aroma of coffee.

“Su-yeon! Over here!”

Two people were sitting at a table in the corner. Yi-seo, still dressed stylishly, and a girl with short hair and a gloomy aura.

So she’s the keyboardist.

Myeong-jeon thought, She doesn’t look very… presentable. Even in this day and age, people should make an effort to look presentable when going out.

Yi-seo passed in that regard, but this girl…

“Unnie! This is Ha Su-yeon. The guitarist.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Ha Su-yeon.”

Myeong-jeon sat down after ordering coffee and extended his hand for a handshake. The girl looked confused, then awkwardly shook his hand and mumbled,

“I’m Seibin… So-mat… nim told me about you.”

“So-mat-nim? Seibin?”

Confused, Myeong-jeon looked at the girl, but she didn’t react. He looked at Yi-seo, who gave the girl a slightly exasperated look.

“Bin-nim! I told you she’s a total muggle. She doesn’t know that stuff. Use her real name, her real name.”

“Real name…?”

The girl stared blankly at Yi-seo. Myeong-jeon twirled his hair, looking at the person who called herself ‘Seibin’ and was called ‘Bin-nim.’

She looked like she was high, but he hadn’t seen any drugs. Her overall gloomy demeanor suggested she rarely left the house. Shouldn’t someone drag her out into the sunlight? Was she even human, or some kind of fungus?

“Isn’t using real names… a bit much?”

“No, using nicknames is worse. Just use your real name.”

“Okay. My name is Jung Hyun-ah. Pleased to meet you.”

“Oh, yes. Pleased to meet you, too.”

There was nothing wrong with the name ‘Jung Hyun-ah,’ but it took an unusually long time for her to say it. Yi-seo felt like she was walking on eggshells as she watched Su-yeon’s perplexed expression.

‘Why is unnie acting like this again? She knows about Su-yeon…’

As far as Yi-seo knew, Su-yeon wasn’t interested in anime or manga, even the mainstream ones like Demon Slayer, Spy x Family, or Oshi no Ko, which were practically considered common knowledge these days.

And that hadn’t changed after the accident. Su-yeon hadn’t reacted to any of the subtle hints she’d dropped.

A total normie.

Even BTS members were openly into anime now, and TikTok was full of anime-related challenges. The perception of otaku culture had improved, but there was still a distinction between the “well-adjusted otaku” and the “maladjusted otaku.”

And Hyun-ah unnie? She was borderline, but still on the “maladjusted” side.

The current Su-yeon probably wouldn’t say, “I don’t want to be in a band with a weirdo like this,” – the old Su-yeon wouldn’t even have bothered talking to her in the first place – but wouldn’t it be embarrassing? Yi-seo looked at Hyun-ah with concern.

“I heard you play keyboard. How long have you been playing?”

“I’m applying to music school for piano… I’ve played keyboard as a hobby for about a year.”

“What genres do you usually play?”

“J-pop, anime openings…”

Su-yeon looked at Yi-seo again, who met her gaze.

Now that she thought about it, they hadn’t discussed what kind of music they wanted to play. To dispel the slightly awkward atmosphere, Yi-seo quickly spoke.

“By the way, Su-yeon, what kind of music do you usually play?”

“Like I said before, I play everything. Anything you guys would know.” Yi-seo recalled asking her to play a song from Bocchi the Rock. “I guess my preferred genres are… blues and prog rock.”

Like most experienced guitarists, Myeong-jeon’s playing was rooted in blues.

To be precise, he was less influenced by the very early musicians like W.C. Handy, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Robert Johnson, and more by artists like B.B. King, Albert King, Freddie King, Buddy Guy, Howlin’ Wolf, and blues rock musicians like The Animals, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

“Those are all ancient history.”

“1950s to 1970s, I guess. Maybe some 80s, too.”

Yi-seo looked slightly disgusted. Myeong-jeon couldn’t understand her reaction.

“If you want to do something properly, you have to start with the roots. You have to explore the derivative genres, understand how they evolved, and only then can you create something truly original.”

“Oh… really?”

Yi-seo’s expression showed she didn’t agree at all. Surprisingly, the most positive reaction came from the side.

“I understand what you mean.”

“Oh…”

Myeong-jeon looked at Jung Hyun-ah. He’d initially dismissed her as unpresentable, but she understood something the younger generation didn’t. Maybe she wasn’t so bad after all…

“Kids these days don’t even watch The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya or K-On!. At best, they’ve seen BanG Dream!, or worse, Bocchi the Rock, and they think they know everything about bands and rock music…”

She was completely wrong.

“What are you talking about…? There are other band anime besides those. There were older band manga, too. You probably haven’t seen those, either, unnie.”

“Those are boring, So-mat-nim.”

“Ah! Don’t call me by my nickname, Bin-nim! Why do you keep doing that!”

Listening to their absurd conversation, Myeong-jeon wondered how he could possibly form a band with these people.

‘Should I just back out?’