After having dinner with Arthur, Geon returned to the Red Castle and greeted Miroslav who was out in the garden.
Having already received a briefing about Kiska from Gregory, Miroslav treated Geon with even more respect than before, as he understood that Geon might become the next boss.
After their conversation, Geon went back to his quarters to shower, then called Kiska.
"Kiska, it's me."
"Ah, are you in America?"
"Yes, I met with Arthur first, so my call got delayed, sorry."
"It’s okay, it's not that late."
"Wow, Kiska, you’ve become so understanding?"
"Hehe, really?"
"Yes, you're so mature!"
"Hehe, thanks. Are you going to rest now?"
"No, after seeing Arthur, I feel like I should start working right away."
"Don't overdo it. There's still plenty of time."
"Thanks for worrying."
"The first song is called 'Song of Water,' right?"
"Yes, that’s right."
"If it’s a healing song... it must include piano, right?"
Kiska, sensing what Geon wanted to say, quietly laughed.
"Yes, it will include piano."
"…Uh-huh."
"Don't worry, I have no feelings for Shizuka."
"…Really? Shizuka is pretty, you know."
Geon smiled deeply.
"You're prettier."
Though no sound could be heard, Geon, imagining Kiska trying to keep her mouth from curling into a smile, laughed.
"Then I’ll start working, let’s talk again before bed."
"…Yes!"
Brightened by Kiska’s response, Geon hung up and stared intently at the blank music staff paper. Sitting cross-legged on the bed with his arms crossed, he slapped his cheeks vigorously.
"Put more emotion later! Let's start with three things first!"
Geon began to write various terms that meant planning on the music staff paper and started to scribble at the top of the blank staff.
"Let’s start the introduction with green, representing forest, safety, rest, peace, and relaxation. From the middle, let’s use blue, representing a reduction in heartbeat, relief of fatigue, and decrease in anxiety and insomnia, and at the end of the song, orange to signify revitalization and healing of illnesses. This way, the music can start comfortably and end with mental healing."
Geon quickly focused and wrote down the score in no time. He chewed on his pen, pondering at times, and at other times writing non-stop.
While Geon was concentrating, the usual guards were patrolling outside the annex with machine guns, vigilant as usual.
It had been precisely three years since Stanislav Chertsov came to the Red Castle in America. Now 29 years old, he was a robust man.
The guards, instructed to upgrade Geon’s security level at their daily morning meeting, were more attentive than usual to the annex’s security, and Stanislav Chertsov also included the back of the annex in the secured area according to the orders.
As he made his rounds, Stanislav noticed several bats settling on the roof, which wasn’t uncommon as bats from nearby forests often appeared.
However, feeling something strange as the number of bats exceeded ten, Stanislav watched the roof closely.
Seeing over ten bats on the roof was unusual, but it was even stranger that the bats seemed to notice his gaze and were looking back at him.
Stanislav picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it onto the roof.
"Hey! Scram, you nuisances!"
Though the stone didn't hit any bats directly, it was thrown close enough to be a threat, but the bats did not move and continued to stare at Stanislav.
Seeing their black pupils, which showed no whites, Stanislav shivered as if chilled and looked up at the sky.
Noticing a few more bats flying above, he stroked the goosebumps on his arm and tilted his head.
"Did the bats make a home in the nearby cave? What's with them coming in a group all of a sudden?"
Miroslav had instructed to report even minor things about Geon.
But Stanislav thought it would be lucky if bullets didn’t fly his way if he reported that ten bats were sitting on the annex roof, so he nonchalantly shook his head and looked away.
As he turned his head, the eyes of one of the bats on the roof glowed blue.
The next day.
At school, Geon met Shizuka, and they went to the cafeteria together. As they entered, the murmurs of the students grew louder.
“It’s Kaida…”
“Shizuka Miyawaki… Wow, she’s really pretty.”
Having become accustomed to people's stares due to her recent active presence, Shizuka picked up spaghetti and cutlets at the school cafeteria and set them on the table.
"Ta-da!!!"
In
addition to the school menu, Shizuka brought out side dishes from a shopping bag and eagerly awaited Geon’s reaction. He gasped in delight as if to meet her expectations.
"Wow! What's all this?"
"Hehe, I tried making kimchi."
Geon picked up a piece of cabbage kimchi and widened his eyes.
"Kimchi? They have kimchi in Japan?"
"Of course, just as it’s easy to taste Japanese food in Korea, it’s also easy to encounter Korean food in Japan. It's spicy, but kimchi is a must-try at Korean restaurants there. Hehe, try it."
"Hold on, let’s wait for Kevin to eat together."
As Geon spoke, the entrance area stirred. Kevin, who had gained fame through his activities with Montana and the success of Fury, appeared, causing even more enthusiastic reactions from the students than usual when seeing Geon and Shizuka.
"Ahhhhh! It’s Kevin!"
"Whoa!! Montana!!"
Students who had bought CDs took them out of their bags and waved them, asking for autographs, and Kevin, smiling, signed for them. He then headed to a corner where Geon and Shizuka were watching him and waved.
"Hey! Just a sec."
Kevin responded to the students' requests and then, realizing he was not a Juilliard student, laughed awkwardly as he approached their table.
"Ha, what's all this? Shizuka's handiwork?"
"Yeah! My handiwork."
Seeing the two seeming close, Geon asked Shizuka about their tone.
"Huh? You two speak so casually?"
Kevin smirked at Shizuka.
"Yeah, we got pretty close while you weren't around."
Sensing their closeness, Geon smiled and gave a thumbs up.
"That’s good, keep it up. But Shizuka, are you going to keep speaking like that to me and casually to Kevin? I feel a bit sad about that."
Shizuka visibly flustered, stammered in response.
"That, that's not it…"
"Ha, just kidding. I hope someday you'll think of me that casually too. Let's eat! It looks really tasty. But what’s this fish?"
The three laughed and enjoyed their meal together. After a while, Kevin, cleaning off some fried crumbs from his mouth, said,
"Dad said to come over sometime, for a meal."
Imagining someone as important as the President of the United States inviting them over in such a neighborly tone, Geon nodded smilingly, and Kevin looked at Shizuka.
"You should come too."
"Me? Really?"
"Yeah, dad wants to see you."
"Why?"
"Well… that’s…"
Suddenly blushing, Kevin babbled,
"He, he just wants to see my friends, I guess. He hasn’t talked about my friends since middle school, but he’s been hearing a lot about you guys lately, so maybe he’s curious."
Knowing Kevin’s intentions, Geon winked at him secretly. Seeing Geon’s signal, Kevin, still red-faced, feigned distraction as Shizuka looked concerned.
"It’s the President of the United States, though. It feels a bit daunting. What should I wear?"
"Just wear what you normally wear. Forget he's the President and just think you’re going to see my dad."
"Where are we eating? It’s the White House, right?"
"Well, there is that."
"Should I wear a dress to the White House?"
"It would be nice if you wore one… no, I mean, wear whatever."
Listening to their conversation, Geon burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!! Kevin, what are you doing?"
Seeing Geon suddenly laugh, Shizuka looked puzzled, and Kevin made a face as if to tell him to shut up.
After calming down, Shizuka was about to ask why when Kevin quickly changed the subject.
"Are we going to record today?"
Still holding his stomach from laughing, Geon, with tears in his eyes, said,
"Hehe, let’s just lay down the basic structure."
As the conversation turned to music, the topic changed immediately. All three were now of such stature that they could be called professionals, and a serious discussion unfolded quickly.
Listening to the concept of the music, Shizuka, moved by a story she heard from a lady in Chicago, nodded with tears in her eyes,
"There are many people suffering from physical illnesses, but even more from mental illnesses. If it's that kind of music, I really want to play it."
Kevin nodded in agreement, and Geon stood up, clearing the table where they had eaten.
"Let's start right away."
As the three left the dining hall, blindly following students gradually increased in number as they passed through the hallways.
Having hardly been able to eat at the cafeteria at first, Kevin walked with a relaxed smile, hands in his pockets, and Shizuka walked closely beside Geon,
matching his steps.
After the three entered the second-floor rehearsal studio and closed the door, students pushing phones with cameras peered in, busily taking photos, then poured out of the school chattering.
Students exiting the school gates chatted and uploaded photos to SNS. During this, one student let out a sharp, annoyed scream.
"Ugh! What is this?!"
A white liquid had splattered on his phone. The annoyed student looked up at the sky and said, bewildered,
"What the, bats in broad daylight?"
Other students burst into laughter.
"Haha, is that bat poop? Ew, gross!! Ha ha."
The annoyed student, pretending to smear his friends with bat poop, swung his phone, and the laughing students ran away.
Watching the cheerful students, the security guard smiled warmly, noticing a few bats flying in the daytime sky, hand on his waist.
"It's all because of pollution, bats being active during the day, the world must be coming to an end."
The security guard, picking up cleaning tools, grumbled as he cleaned up the bat poop scattered in front of the school gate.
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