Joo Won 주원 [Drama- The Midnight Studio/ 야한(夜限) 사진관]

[kittyna]

22 minutes ago, moonstrike said:

Sometimes talking banmal is naughty but in joo won case it's different. You can feel that he talk like that not to "humiliating" his senior but to show his affection towards them. So that is what i mean that his behaviour to talk banmal to his senior is not naughty at all. even his friends that older than him, his senior and staff on set is feel that he is doing that to show his love or even showing that he is comfortable with them.

 

30 minutes ago, moonstrike said:

If you open the link that i gave, you might be already read this.. there is a fan that confused about joo won's habit of talking banmal (casual) to person that older than him and this is the answer:

 

I hadn't read that comment - so thanks for sharing! It explained some things about the language that I didn't know myself

 

Spoiler

Since I mostly watch K-dramas in Cantonese dub and only occasionally in their original Korean, I have picked up enough to catch the difference between jondae and banmal, but only when they're being used exclusively - the mixed version still escapes me. However, if you look at my fic writing, you can probably tell that I have sensed enough to know when to use either jondae or banmal  As a tourist in Korea, though, I probably used more banmal than I should have, because I could only use the words and phrases I knew - and my knowledge is far from complete. I've learned more jondae since then, and hope to get to use it properly next time.

 

I think the thing that I've noted the most in JW's speech is the fact that it's natural and unconscious. So, yes, he is aware of the boundaries (when to use jondae or banmal or - most often - a mixture of both, and to what degree) that are dictated by etiquette, but which specific form he uses isn't something he puts much thought into. It'll just come out depending on how he feels about the other person: whether he likes them or not, whether he respects them or not, etc.

 

That's why a number of his hyungs have been surprised by both how quickly he switched to a jondae-banmal mix, but also at the fact that he's almost completely oblivious to the fact that he's doing that. I remember that from "Win Win": Lee Su Geun said that he scolded JW privately about using banmal too soon when they first started working together on 1N2D, and that JW had nodded and agreed with everything he said...then accidentally used banmal again immediately afterwards. Or that time in the same show that Park Ki Woong had told JW that it was okay for him to use banmal since they were now friends, but that JW had then said that he wasn't comfortable with doing that yet - again, as though he had no idea he had already been using banmal and that PKW had just wanted to officially give him permission.

 

JW has said as much himself on "Healing Camp": that if he likes someone who isn't, like way older than him (so 15 years older or less, is what I've observed so far of the age gap with which he'd do this), he'll unconsciously change to using a mix between jondae and banmal.

 

And while I know, @moonstrike, that you were quoting someone else, there are a few points in that comment I want to respond to directly.

 

36 minutes ago, moonstrike said:

how you speak to your elders is just a little part, how you behave towards them is the most important part of all. his manners towards elders is what makes him a polite and respectful person. he bows almost half way. like 90 degrees. hardly anyone bows like that anymore. Uee does that too. even within her group, she makes sure the new younger members show respect to the older members even when they eat or sit. JW is the same way. I bet money when he goes around with his grandparents, he is very attentive to them and their needs. probably even with his own mom. even on 1n2d, he might speak banmal to the hyungs, but watch his manners. when he hands something to them, he uses both hands like polite younger people should do. aside from when it’s part of the games, if giving up a seat means someone older can sit, he will stand. that sort of thing. so the part about showing respect in actions, no one can disagree that JW has manners.

 

I've noticed a few of those mannerisms. Another one that I've picked up on that wasn't mentioned here is how he sits when he eats with his hyungs on 1N2D. When they're eating together, he'll sit - but when he's serving them (e.g. handing out the rice bowls), he kneels. It's hard to spot sometimes because of how low the table is, but you can usually tell when you see JW suddenly being noticeably taller than his hyungs when they're all supposed to be sitting  

 

Of course, sometimes games are the exception, and I've seen JW slip up there a few times before. For example, there was one time on 1N2D when the guys were in two separate teams, and Lee Su Geun had started teasing the other team by calling them things like idiot or stupid or dummy. JW had joined in alongside him, but then accidentally let out what, from its context, seems to have been a bad word (the subtitles put it as "stupid guy", but I think that's just KBS trying to censor it). LSG immediately stopped him, saying in that gently chiding tone that an appa would use with his little kids, "No, Joo Won-ah, you don't say that to your elders," while the hyungs on the other team got all mock-angry like, "He said WHAT?" and threatened to beat him with their cushions. It was an accident and everyone knew it, so no-one was actually offended, but that's one of the few times when JW, just being himself, wasn't perfectly polite. He is human, after all.

 

1 hour ago, moonstrike said:

that’s why on dramas when a character is mad at the other person and doesnt want to use jondae, they reluctantly add the “yo” at the end which makes what they say jondae.

 

Another thing that comes to my mind is that one's tone of voice likely matters just as much - if not more - than the actual content of what is being said. So, for instance, just like someone could use banmal to a senior in a very kind and childlike tone like JW does, I imagine that the opposite can also apply: jondae is not guaranteed to be respectful, such as when someone uses it with a cold and disdainful "We're strangers, so why should I care about you?" sort of tone. So examples would be when people have already become close enough to speak to each other in banmal, but then switch to jondae if they become enemies.

 

1 hour ago, moonstrike said:

I never heard how JW speaks on the phone with his dad, but normally if he speaks banmal with his mom, he might not with his dad. you can usually tell just from what he calls them. if he calls his father “dad” then he speaks banmal but if he says “father” then he speaks jondae. for some reason, most guys grow up doing that. at least one parent – normally the dad -they speak to with jondae esp after they are grown like JW’s age. Uee’s case is the opposite. I heard her refer to her dad as “father” so I dont know if it was cuz of the camera or what, but she spoke jondae to her dad. but with her mom she spoke banmal like all girls tend to do. I dont know a single woman who speaks jondae with her mom.

 

I noticed that in dramas, although I don't know what JW does in real life. So, for instance, a lot of adult characters call their fathers "Abeoji" (jondae) and their mothers "Eomma" (banmal) - and JW's character in "Level 7 Civil Servant" actually made a comment about that, saying something along the lines of the first time a child calling his father "Abeoji" instead of "Appa" means that there is now a hierarchical gap between them and less affection.

 

You can see me using that pattern in my own fics, too.  

 

1 hour ago, moonstrike said:

By the way, i was impressed and touched that joo won is crying while watching yoon shibyoon receive an award. He said he is crying because he know his hyung suffers while working the drama. So sweet and kind of him...

 

I hadn't watched that rewards show or known JW's comments about that, but I did know about the crying. And at first I was like, "Why are you crying? He's the one that got the award!", but now I get it  

 

A quick status update on my story before moving on to pictures: It's coming along, and I hope to have it posted sometime in the next few days (preferably either on Dec. 31 or Jan. 1, my time). So I do hope that people will be checking in then, but I completely understand if real-life holiday and family commitments prevent that. Those things are more important than this thread, after all.  

 

And now for photos!

 

Spoiler

We don't often see him laughing this hard, but it's cute

 

 

JW in an all-white textured suit for a promotional event for the Chinese film "Sweet Sixteen"

 

 

@moonstrike In regards to your earlier comment about "Cha Yoo Jin at a movie premiere", I think this shot comes closer to the mark. It's from the premiere of the movie "The Pirates", which happened on July 29, 2014, according to the date-stamp

 

 

Another photo from the same event, because his expression here is really funny

 

 

A really nice black-and-white shot

 

And, finally, because awards season is once again upon us (this shot is from the 2014 KBS Drama Awards):

 

 

[moonstrike]

Because my internet is not working well and my phone is having a problem now, i just can write short reply.

 

By the way, i'm waiting about joo won's update in my phone right now. Maybe i can see it after i wake up tomorrow morning. And i'm still waiting your fanfic update 

 

I found this on youtube! I'm very proud of him and happy because he has that personality inside of him. And i'm waiting for his comeback on 2019! The most charming man in South Korea!

https://youtu.be/wHnPoHu0jEc

 

P.s: actually there is more video that has joo won in it like that, but i want to share this one first.

[kittyna]

3 hours ago, moonstrike said:

Because my internet is not working well and my phone is having a problem now, i just can write short reply.

 

That's okay; I had thought at first that people would be really busy right now anyway.

 

3 hours ago, moonstrike said:

By the way, i'm waiting about joo won's update in my phone right now. Maybe i can see it after i wake up tomorrow morning.

 

I'm presuming that you mean updates from the SBS Drama Awards - I have them here!

 

Okay, let's get this out of the way first: JW didn't win anything this time around. However, looking at which dramas did do well, it looks like there was some really stiff competition.

 

So while this may no longer be JW-related anymore, here's the list of winners:

 

Spoiler

Grand Prize (Daesang): Ji Sung (“Defendant”)

Top Excellence in Acting (Mon-Tues Drama), Female: Lee Bo Young (“Whisper”)

Top Excellence in Acting (Mon-Tues Drama), Male: Namgoong Min (“Distorted“) (not present)

Top Excellence in Acting (Wed-Thurs Drama), Female: Suzy (“While You Were Sleeping”)

Top Excellence in Acting (Wed-Thurs Drama), Male: Lee Jong Suk (“While You Were Sleeping”)

Top Excellence in Acting (Daily and Weekend Drama), Female: Jang Seo Hee (“Sister Is Alive”)

Top Excellence in Acting (Daily and Weekend Drama), Male: Son Chang Min (“Sister Is Alive”)

Best Character: Uhm Ki Joon (“Defendant”)

Excellence in Acting (Mon-Tues Drama), Female: Park Se Young (“Whisper”)

Excellence in Acting (Mon-Tues Drama), Male: Kwon Yool (“Whisper”)

Excellence in Acting (Wed-Thurs Drama), Female: Nam Ji Hyun (“Suspicious Partner”)

Excellence in Acting (Wed-Thurs Drama), Male: Lee Sang Yeob (“While You Were Sleeping”)

Excellence in Acting (Daily and Weekend Drama), Female: Son Yeo Eun (“Sister Is Alive”)

Excellence in Acting (Daily and Weekend Drama), Male: Ahn Nae Sang (“Sister Is Alive”)

Best Picture: “Defendant”

Best Couple: Suzy and Lee Jong Suk (“While You Were Sleeping”)

Best New Actress: Kim Dasom (“Sister Is Alive”)

Best New Actor: Yang Se Jong (“Degree of Love”)

Best Supporting Actress: Park Jin Joo (“Into the World Again”)

Best Supporting Actor: Kim Won Hae (“While You Were Sleeping”)

Best Child Actor: Kim Ji Min (“Super Family 2017”)

 

As for the story, that's almost done - I hope to have it ready and posted soon.

 

But in the meantime...pics!

 

Spoiler

I think these were from some time ago, so I doubt they're available anymore now. But they're so cute - can you imagine being able to chat on your phone with JW emojis?

 

 

Since I know you like glasses pics, @moonstrike

 

 

I really like how these shots turned out:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, finally, one of my favourite JW screenshots from "Nae Il's Cantabile", like, ever:

 

 

One last thing before I go: since I know it's past midnight in Asia already...HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

 

[kittyna]

Thanks for the patience, guys - this new fic took me a bit longer than I thought it would.

 

But, it's finally ready, and I'm still more-or-less on time (it's still the night of December 31 here where I am), so here goes!

 

Title: Angel of Music, Come Down from Above

Drama: "Nae Il's Cantabile"

Characters: Cha Yoo Jin, Seol Nae Il, Yoo Il Rak, Jung Si Won

Premise: Although being able to live and study in Austria is, for Cha Yoo Jin, a return to the childhood he had once loved, not all the memories it brings up are pleasant ones. Fortunately, though, he no longer has to face them alone.

 

Note: This story is a continuation of my previous story, "The Sound of Christmas", and you do need to read that story first in order to fully understand this one (both are sequels to the original drama, so have more original content than most of my other fics).

 

I won't repeat the details of the two pre-story notes that appeared alongside my previous story, but here are some new things to keep in mind:

 

Note on Language: Again, although the characters are speaking Korean to each other for the most part, to everyone else, you can safely assume the language is Austrian German.

 

So, once again, here's a quick glossary of the words/terms I use:

 

Mozartkugeln - Mozart chocolates; they're chocolate truffles that can be found all over Austria, but especially in Salzburg, with a filling of pistachio-flavoured marzipan (a sweet paste made out of almonds)

Ja - Yes

Kaiserschmarrn - Lit. "The Emperor's mess", it's a large pancake that is scrambled and broken up into little pieces while it's cooking. Usually, when found in restaurants, it's served as a dessert, but can be eaten as a meal in its own right, too.

 

One last note on language: you may already know "Bravo", but when referring to a girl's performance, the proper term is "Brava", and that's what I use here where appropriate.

 

Note on Timeline: Most of what I would need to say here has already been said in the note for my previous story, so I advise you to check there. But, once again, there's an additional detail I want to add.

 

In this story, I try to imagine a bit more about Cha Yoo Jin's backstory - in particular, his parents' story. A lot of what I have imagined for Cha Dong Woo (Yoo Jin's father) and Yang Sun Young (Yoo Jin's mother) comes from a particular detail I noticed from the Chinese Wikipedia page about "Nae Il's Cantabile".

 

Chinese Wikipedia pages about Korean dramas often include characters' ages, even when said ages are never explicitly mentioned in the show itself. I don't know if the information is coming from an official Korean source, or if they're simply meant to be estimates, but in the case of "Nae Il's Cantabile", I noticed something interesting:

 

Cha Yoo Jin, at the time of the drama's events, is 23 years old - and his mother is 45.

 

If you do the math, that means that he was born when she was 22 years old, possibly even 21 if she hadn't had her birthday yet. Point is: she had a child at an age when, in reality, she would have been in university. So that got me wondering: what happened, and what sort of impact did this have on her life? On Yoo Jin's life?

 

Some hints at what I imagined in response made it into this story as a result  

 

So that's it for the pre-story stuff - on with the story!

 

Once again, please do not repost this fic on any other website without my permission. Sharing is fine, so long as you are just sharing the URL and not any text from the story itself. Thanks!

 

Spoiler

Angel of Music, Come Down from Above

 

This trip to Vienna had been months in the making.

 

Ever since we realized that Jung Si Won, Nae Il and I would all be studying abroad in Austria at the same time, the three of us along with Yoo Il Rak had known that we wanted to spend some time together as a group. It didn’t matter when nor what we were doing: the point was just for the four of us to do something fun together as friends.

 

Or, as Nae Il put it, go on a “double date”.

 

Trust her to try to squeeze romance into this somehow.

 

For most of our train ride to Vienna from Salzburg, neither of us has said much of anything. Instead, we have been sitting in companionable silence watching the Austrian countryside flow past us in the window. At some point, I’m not sure when, Nae Il’s hand had worked its way into mine, and the two of us have just stayed there, fingers intertwined, neither of us willing to let go.

 

As we approach the outskirts of the city, however, Nae Il’s calm mask starts to crack. She starts to wriggle in her seat, her eyes darting back and forth as she tries to take in the entire view all at once.

 

I give her hand a light squeeze. “Are you that excited for tonight?”

 

“Ne.” She touches her fingers to the window and leans even closer to it so that her face is just inches away from the glass. “I feel like all of my dreams have just come true.”

 

I let out a small chuckle. “All of them?”

 

Nae Il nods firmly, then turns away from the window to look straight at me. She starts to count on her fingers. “There’s just being able to always stay by your side, there’s the fact that we live in a place that’s filled with music everywhere, there’s the chance to see Rak-kun and Si Won-eonnie again, there’s the fact that we actually won the draw for tickets to the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Eve concert tonight…

 

“And finally,” she adds, puckering her lips and tapping on them coyly with one finger, “there’s this.”

 

I turn away from her then, rubbing my own lips as I swallow instinctively. That’s right. It was just a week ago that Nae Il and I had kissed for the first time. I still don’t know how it had happened, what had come over me then to make me do something so rash, to let go of my reason so completely.

 

And yet, despite all of that, I don’t regret it one bit.

 

Still, that doesn’t mean that that kiss had not been a point of no return for Nae Il and I. It was, after all, a progression in our relationship. I had already come to accept other forms of affection in the year we have been together, but redrawing our limits to include kisses has made all those other thresholds we’d reached thus far – holding hands, backhugs – seem like child’s play by comparison.

 

It’s why I don’t resist now when Nae Il suddenly leans forward and gives me a light peck on one cheek.

 

“Komapsumnida, Orabang.” She wraps her arms around me in a warm hug. “I shall cherish your gift forever.”

 

At that moment, our train pulls into the station and, as though for the first time, I notice where we are and the glances we are attracting from other passengers. While many of the young people don’t pay us any heed, and I catch a teenager rolling her eyes at Nae Il’s display, I also see kind smiles from some of the more elderly passengers.

 

Perhaps we remind them of what they had been like in their youth.

 

But they shall have to reminisce some other time. Pulse quickening in embarrassment, I hurriedly pry Nae Il off of me and distract her by pointing out that we had finally arrived.

 

~~~~~

 

“Ya, Yoo Jin-ah – am I doing this right?”

 

I glance away from the mirror in the guest room of Si Won’s apartment to look at Il Rak’s handiwork: his first attempt at tying a bow-tie.

 

To be fair, he’s not bad for a beginner, but could still use some help.

 

I shake my head slightly in amusement and beckon for him to join me by the mirror. Then, undoing my own tie and making sure he could see my actions clearly, I demonstrate each step, waiting until he follows suit before moving on to the next one.

 

As I work, I can’t help musing, “I thought you already knew how to do this. If I recall correctly, didn’t you wear a bowtie that time the S Orchestra performed Mambo?”

 

“Oh, that? That was one of those fake ones you get in a costume shop. This? This is the real deal, and I want to get it right,” he replies breezily. It takes him a moment, however, to realize the rest of what I had said. In an instant, he rounds on me, eyes wide. “Wait…what? You were there for that?” His jaw drops. “Daebak….”

 

One corner of my mouth twitches up in a playful smirk. “Of course. Just because I had been banned from playing with you guys didn’t mean I’d stopped caring about how you did.” I shift my gaze from my own reflection to his. “Besides, how many of you secretly watched my performance afterward?”

 

Realizing he has been caught, Il Rak doesn’t say anything to that. Instead, still shaking his head in disbelief, he steps over to retrieve his jacket from where he had draped it across the bed.

 

“You know, you don’t have to dress up like this if you don’t want to,” I point out to him as he puts it on, wanting to change the subject. “The suit you usually wear when you’re performing would have been fine.”

 

“Eh…” He makes a face at me. “And what if I want to do something extra? It’s been months since Si Won and I have been able to do something together. Besides, this is the Vienna Philharmonic we’re talking about!” He places his right hand over his heart. “As the Rising Star Orchestra’s concertmaster, I should at least give them some respect.

 

“Also, you’re one to talk, Cha Yoo Jin: you’re wearing a tux, too!”

 

Touché.

 

I suppose none of the four of us – Il Rak and I, Si Won and Nae Il – can help it. After all, it’s not every day that an opportunity like this comes along. Tickets to the Vienna Philharmonic’s series of New Year’s concerts are hard to come by: so hard, in fact, that it’s impossible to purchase them directly. Instead, when sales open up in January, interested buyers are only allowed to claim raffle tickets for up to four seats; these all are entered into a draw that takes place in March.

 

If you’re lucky, you get the spots you entered the draw for and can start planning your trip to Vienna. And if not, then not.

 

To be honest, I’m still reeling at the fact that we actually succeeded on our first try.

 

True, we had tried to rig the system somewhat. First of all, to increase our chances, we all individually entered the draw for four places each. We had also opted not for the most desirable seats in the centre of the concert hall or the balcony but for the less expensive seats right in the first few rows in the front. Those spots reportedly offered a more obscured view of the musicians, being too close to the raised stage to allow a decent look at the orchestra as a whole. But we didn’t mind. After all, if we wanted to watch an orchestra play, we only needed to look at ourselves. What mattered was the sound. The music. And that could be accessed just as well anywhere in the hall.

 

But still, despite all our efforts, we had known that the result would come down to pure, simple luck. Our plans to meet this New Year’s here in Vienna had not been at stake – whatever the result, we would all have been here now anyway – but receiving the e-mail saying that my bid had actually won had still felt like a miracle.

 

It is not just Nae Il who feels like a lifelong dream has come true.

 

So it’s little wonder that all four of us are trying to make the most of it. The concert venue, the Musikverein, has no specific dress code, but that hasn’t stopped us from wanting to dress up.

 

In this sense, I have been lucky: my experiences both as a pianist and a conductor at Haneum had already required me to invest in buying a formal tuxedo and an even more formal tailcoat. I am neither royal nor an aristocrat who would be invited to a white tie event, so the tailcoat is only for work, it being the standard dress for an orchestral conductor. So it is the former, the tuxedo, that I have brought with me from Salzburg for tonight.

 

Il Rak, on the other hand, had only made the splurge to acquire a tuxedo of his own after we knew that our bid for the concert tickets had actually gone through. He told me afterwards that he had considered simply renting one, but that his father had convinced him otherwise: that it would be a good investment for the future to actually have one of his own. Of course, Il Rak being Il Rak, he has decided to put his own touch to it: choosing a subtly patterned tie as well as a dark red pocket square, and capping the entire ensemble – literally – with a fedora.

 

It’s hardly traditional, but when has he ever been? And unlike in the past, I wouldn’t have him change a thing now.

 

As for the girls….

 

“Did you get anything out of Si Won?” I call out.

 

Il Rak shakes his head. “Ani – all she said was that it was a secret. How about you? Has Nae Il said anything about what she’s picked for tonight?”

 

I shake my head in turn. “Just that I should be prepared to be completely blown away.” I frown as I think it over. “It’s not like her: being able to keep secrets like that.”

 

“Must be a girl thing.”

 

Speaking of the girls, something comes to my mind. Heading over to my luggage, I take out the two scarves that I had brought with me from Salzburg: one white, and the other black. I weigh them for a moment in my hands before passing the black one to Il Rak, keeping the white for myself.

 

“Here. You might need this.”

 

Il Rak looks back and forth between the scarf and me in confusion. “Wae? Are you worried that I’d be cold?”

 

“Ani.” Draping my own scarf over my shoulders so that the ends hang down in the front, I take his scarf and do the same for him. “It’s not for you; it’s for Si Won. Offer this to her when she takes her coat off, so she’ll have something to cover up with if she needs it.”

 

“I see,” he replies, absentmindedly feeling the silken fabric with the fingers on his right hand. “By the way, where did you learn all of this? You know: the bow-ties and fancy scarves and all that stuff.”

 

For an instant, I feel myself tense involuntarily. Then, before Il Rak could notice that something is amiss, I respond with a casual shrug. “I just looked it up online,” I say in as nonchalant a tone as I could manage. “It’s not that hard once you’ve read up on the subject.”

 

But that’s a lie.

 

In truth, I had learned it from my parents.

 

Countless times in my childhood, I had watched Abeoji getting ready either to attend or to perform in a concert just like this: Eomma tying his tie for him, he offering her his scarf whenever they were indoors, both of them whispering and laughing to each other in some sort of secret jest that my innocently unformed mind could not understand.

 

How sweet and loving they had been back then. How badly I had yearned to someday be let in on their secret: to one day have a loving wife of my own to whom I could whisper sweet nothings like they did.

 

But that had all been before the accident. Before I knew the unhappy truth that lay beneath the surface. Before I knew the kind of man that Abeoji really was.

 

In the ensuing years, that sweet memory has since turned to bitterness in my mouth.

 

And the last thing I want to do tonight is taste it once again.

 

~~~~~

 

Unable to stand still, Il Rak paces back and forth across Si Won’s living room, eyes never leaving the short corridor leading to her closed bedroom door.

 

“Ya! What’s taking you two so long? We’ve been waiting here forever!”

 

Si Won’s voice comes ringing back out. “Just another minute!”

 

He rolls his eyes and lets out an exaggeratedly loud gasp. “Again? You said that last time!”

 

I bite back a laugh at their antics as I glance at the clock on the wall. We actually still have plenty of time before we need to head out to our dinner reservation, but I don’t fault Il Rak for getting antsy. To be honest, I am on tenterhooks myself, wondering when Nae Il will come out.

 

Do girls do this on purpose? Do they know that keeping the men waiting makes the reward of being with them that much sweeter?

 

Finding that pacing isn’t working as a distraction, Il Rak stops and glances at me. “Yoo Jin-ah, do you want to make a bet?”

 

I raise an eyebrow quizzically. “About what?”

 

A devilish glint appears in his eyes. “I’ll bet you a drink tonight that Si Won looks prettier than Nae Il.”

 

I let out an incredulous laugh. “Seriously?” I shake my head, declining the offer. “There’s simply no way either of us would judge fairly, and you know it. You’ll just have eyes for Jung Si Won, and I’ll just have eyes for Seol Nae Il. And that’s how it should be.”

 

Il Rak steps closer and punches me lightly in the arm. “Ya, you’re no fun! Who said I was being serious?”

 

Just then, Si Won calls out to us again from inside.

 

“We’re ready now! Which one of us do you want to see first?”

 

I open my mouth to respond, but my answer dies before it can actually come out. Instead, after an awkward silence, Il Rak and I exchange glances, at which point he calls out in reply, “You decide!”

 

Yes. It’s better that way.

 

“Ne, arasseo,” Si Won’s voice rings out. Then, seconds later, the bedroom door opens and she steps out.

 

Naturally, Il Rak gapes in open-mouthed admiration when she emerges, but I surprise myself by doing the same.

 

She is dressed simply, in a close-fitting black dress that reaches down to her knees, the rest of her legs covered by black tights. The only decorations keeping her ensemble from being too austere for tonight’s celebration are the lace on the dress’s sleeves and hem, and the silver jeweled chain she has loosely slung around her hips.

 

The last girl I had seen in as fitted a dress as that was Chae Do Kyung – but where Do Kyung had looked like a seductress, Jung Si Won instead looks poised and elegant. “Chic,” I believe, is the word a woman would use.

 

The dangling loose end of the chain now swings in time with her steps as, wearing high-heeled black boots, she strides confidently towards Il Rak. Gently, jaw still dropped in surprise, he takes hold of her arms just below her shoulders and looks her over from head to toe. Then, as though they have both forgotten that I’m still there, he bends down to give her a kiss on the lips.

 

Tearing my eyes away from them to give them some privacy, I try to cover my cough of embarrassment by turning it into a disdainful-sounding scoff. It must not have been all that convincing, though, because when I glance back at the two of them, Il Rak is smirking mischievously at me.

 

To my dismay, my voice catches tellingly in my throat and I am forced to cough once again. “Could you two get a room next time?” I sputter out eventually.

 

Il Rak and Si Won exchange knowing glances and smiles. He then looks me pointedly in the eye. “Don’t be so quick to say that, Cha Yoo Jin – it’s your turn now,” he says, punctuating his statement with a wink.

 

Likewise, Si Won looks back over her shoulder towards her bedroom door. “You can come out now, Nae Il-ah.”

 

Cautiously, wondering just what on earth I should expect, I turn to look at the door just as Nae Il steps out into the corridor.

 

There are absolutely no words that could describe what I am seeing.

 

If Jung Si Won is the picture of minimalist sophistication, then Seol Nae Il is the ingénue: the innocent young girl who remains oblivious to the effect she is having on those who look upon her.

 

The bodice of her sleeveless dress is completely covered with silver sequins, twinkling and shimmering under the light shining down from the ceiling. Her skirt is black, flaring out like the petals of a flower to end just above her knees in the front, and just below them in the back. Like Si Won, Nae Il, too, is wearing black tights in anticipation of the winter’s chill, but her shoes are different and are definitely something she would pick: low-heeled pumps instead of stilettos, they are similar to the shoes she wears while performing, but these are covered with glitter in the front and capped with black velvet bows.

 

And, around her neck, the jewel in its centre sparkling in the light, is the necklace I had given her for Christmas.

 

Already, I can feel myself swallowing compulsively, my breath shaking and catching in my throat, my heart beginning to race.

 

But then, flashing me a knowingly coquettish smile, she turns around.

 

Omo.

 

This time, my jaw drops involuntarily, and I can only stare in wonder.

 

The back of Nae Il’s dress is just simple black, but what really catches my eye is the large teardrop-shaped opening spreading out from just beneath the nape of her neck to a fine tapered point at her waist.

 

The sight of the exposed skin of her back is enticing, captivating, just begging for me to touch it.

 

Indeed, there is nothing more that I want in that moment than to place my hand there, resting firmly at the small of her back, in order to pull her into an embrace.

 

But instead I find myself frozen in place, suspended in time, unable to do or say anything. Like a mortal man who has just been struck dumb by an angelic being from above.

 

And Seol Nae Il is my angel. My inspiration, my muse. My angel of music, come down from above.

 

The spell is broken by the sudden click of a camera shutter. Startled, I tear my eyes away from Nae Il and scan the room for the culprit.

 

It was Il Rak.

 

Somehow, while I had stood there spellbound, he had left Si Won and snuck behind Nae Il. And the phone he is holding at the perfect height just over her shoulder tells me exactly what had just happened.

 

In an instant, Nae Il is beside him, peering at the phone. Whatever she sees there makes her burst out laughing, one hand pressed firmly over her mouth, no longer an angel but the girl I know once more.

 

“Orabang,” she gasps out between her giggles. “Your face!”

 

“Huh? Let me see,” Si Won says, moving to join the others. Sure enough, one look at whatever is on that screen, and she starts laughing as well.

 

Finally, my voice comes back to me. I take an urgent step forward towards them. “Ya, Yoo Il Rak – what did you do?”

 

He peers up at me, a mischievous grin on his face. “Do you want to see?”

 

I shake my head vigorously with a shudder. Then, with as much dignity as I could muster, I stretch out one hand at him. “Give me the phone.”

 

“Wae?” Il Rak asks. He darts a few steps away, holding the phone just out of my reach, when I lunge for it. “You’re just going to delete the photo anyway – what’s the fun in that?”  He peers closely at the screen once again, before saying to himself, “Now, who should I send this to?”

 

“Ya!”

 

That’s enough to send me chasing after him across the living room again, the two of us darting this way and that around the two girls trapped in the middle. And by the time Si Won finally stops laughing long enough to cut in and suggest that we replace that first photo with a better group selca, I have started laughing as well.

 

~~~~~

 

I must say that Seol Nae Il’s innocence is infectious.

 

Or perhaps there is still a bit of a child inside of each of the four of us.

 

It started with our dinner, which we had at the aptly-named Café Mozart just several blocks away from the Musikverein. To be fair, our reservation was at an awkward time: the concert was set to begin around the usual supper hour, so choosing to eat earlier meant that our meal overlapped significantly with the customary mid-afternoon coffee break, something that Si Won, Nae Il and I had already adopted into our routines. So it is little wonder that, through some strange combination between the timing, Nae Il’s infamous sweet tooth, and Il Rak’s curiosity about this particular Austrian custom, we wound up ordering just two entrées for the four of us to share, and stuffing ourselves with coffee and pastries instead.

 

Then there had been the short walk from the café to the concert hall. Our route cut through a veritable pilgrimage site for classical music enthusiasts, passing right in front of the famous opera house. And none of us had been more affected by this than Nae Il. High with excitement, high on a heady mix of caffeine and sugar, she moved in short bursts, dashing several feet ahead before doubling back to join us like a puppy on its leash. With a bright spring in their steps, Il Rak and Si Won walked arm-in-arm a few steps behind Nae Il; they made a picture-perfect couple as Si Won pointed out various sights and landmarks along the way. Finally, as the rearguard, while I would prefer to think that I had been a bit more sedate than the others, I know that I had been unable to stop myself from smiling fondly at them, taking advantage of the fact that I could see them more clearly than they could see me.

 

In the end, the one thing that ends up reining Nae Il in is her first look at the Musikverein itself. Bursting out from the side road into the large plaza in front of the building, she stops in her tracks and stares in open-mouthed wonder at the sight. It looms over us, a red building adorned with white columns and arches, glowing in the darkness with the aid of strategically placed stage lights.

 

It is only because Nae Il has thus frozen in place that I am finally able to catch up with her. Then, linking my arm with hers, I guide her inside.

 

The first thing all four of us do once we have entered the main foyer is find the coat check and leave our thick, woolen coats there. Then, just as I had told Il Rak I would do, I take off my scarf and gently drape it over Nae Il’s shoulders, taking a moment to adjust it so that it lies beautifully smooth. She, in turn, chooses not to leave the ends of the scarf dangling, instead tying them in a bow behind her back. The scarf complements her dress well, adding an extra hint of elegance to her look; it also covers almost all of the opening in the back of her dress, but still leaves enough exposed to hint at what lies beneath.

 

As we make our way through the corridors towards the main auditorium where the concert is set to take place, Nae Il, her hand placed in the crook of my elbow, casts curious sideways glances at the people around us. After doing this several times, she peers up at me worriedly.

 

“Orabang,” she asks, “is it just me, or are people looking at us?”

 

I follow her gaze throughout the crowd and, sure enough, I end up making eye contact with several other patrons. Those moments never last long, with both of us – myself and the other – averting our eyes once they meet. Yet I cannot help how many of the sneaking glances, oftentimes accompanied by warm smiles, are aimed at Nae Il specifically.

 

I pat her hand in reassurance. “Don’t mind them,” I whisper, just loudly enough for her to hear but not so much that we could be overheard. “They’re just marvelling at how beautiful you look tonight.”

 

Nae Il relaxes and flashes me a relieved smile. “Is that so?” Suddenly, I feel her pull me towards her, almost causing me to stumble in the process. Leaning in closer, she rests her cheek against my arm with a contented sigh. “Well, then, you must be the luckiest guy here: to be able to say that I’m yours.”

 

By this time, the four of us have reached the Großer Saal, the grand auditorium – and once again, Nae Il is struck speechless and I have to guide her to our seats.

 

It is a long, narrow room ringed with a balcony and filled with folding wooden chairs for the patrons. The walls and ceiling are covered with gold, and the latter is also brightly painted with the figures of Apollo, the ancient Greek god of music, and the muses, his attendants. Large crystal chandeliers hang down from above, perfectly framing the enormous pipe organ sitting at the front of the room. The Großer Saal is regal in and of itself, but this is the New Year’s series of concerts, and the walls as well as the front edge of the stage are covered with floral bouquets and garlands.

 

Even after we have been seated, Nae Il could not stay still. She turns this way and that, craning her neck to try to take everything in. I know that I should stop her, that her behaviour is hardly dignified, but I don’t. Instead, I only intervene and rein her in when she tries to turn her entire body around and not just her head. Reaching out a hand to her shoulder and giving it a slight squeeze, I prompt her to turn back around towards me. When our eyes meet, I give her a small smile as I shake my head.

 

“I know it’s beautiful, Nae Il-ah, but you’ll disturb the people sitting behind us if you do that.”

 

She nods in understanding and shifts to sit facing forward once more.

 

After the entire orchestra has made its way onto the stage, and we have greeted both the concertmaster and the conductor with the proper standing ovation, we settle into our seats as the music starts.

 

It’s true that, where we are, we cannot see the entire orchestra: our view is partially obstructed by the floral decorations, and those members in front loom large enough to hide those behind. But what does it matter? Those we could most relate to – the violinists and the conductor – are readily visible, and I’m sure that each of us, either deliberately or by instinct, closely watched our respective senior within the orchestra.

 

Of course, as a pianist with no direct counterpart to look to, Nae Il is the exception to that. Instead, whenever I glance at her, she is looking at the orchestra as a whole. Eyes wide and sparkling, lips slightly parted in an “o” of surprise, she is entirely absorbed in the music itself.

 

Every year, the program of the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s series of concerts changes, but there are a few foundational principles that link them all together. It primarily focuses on the works of the Strauss family, famous for their dance music. Waltzes and polkas, mazurkas and marches, the music is always bright, always festive: a way to celebrate the year that has passed and welcome the one to come.

 

I know that most of this escapes Nae Il’s notice; her knowledge of musical pieces still does not extend far beyond either her own personal repertoire or piano music more generally. But there are within the programme some classic works that even the greenest listener of classic music would recognize, and these traditionally are played at the end of the concert: the Blue Danube Waltz and the Radetzky March. As these last two pieces are played, I can see Nae Il start to move in time with the melody. The hand resting in her lap pats along with the beat, and she gleefully claps along with everyone else at the conductor’s prompting during the final number.

 

So absorbed has Nae Il been in the music of tonight’s concert that I would not be surprised if I were to discover her composing a piano transcription of any of it once we arrive home in Salzburg.

 

From her, imitation is the highest form of praise.

 

~~~~~

 

Although the concert has now come to an end, none of us want to head home.

 

It is New Year’s Eve, and we are still young. We have no intention of returning until at least midnight has passed.

 

But that does not mean we want to go clubbing like many others our age would. Out of our group of four, only Il Rak shows any interest in that, and even he has his limits on how much he could tolerate. I, on the other hand, can never bring myself to even go inside, much less enjoy the experience: the flashing lights, the cacophonous and booming excuse for music that drowns out any chance for conversation, the free-flowing alcohol, the gyrating bodies of the so-called dancers…it is simply too much for me.

 

Besides, having prepared for and just come out from a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic, we would probably stand out like sore thumbs in a nightclub anyway.

 

Instead, we have decided to continue the celebration in the Imperial, a luxury hotel just next door to the Musikverein. We have no intentions of staying a night there, the rooms being far out of our reach; but the plan is to while away the final hour or so before midnight just relaxing and catching up over drinks.

 

Once again, Nae Il dashes on ahead of us in her excitement, bursting through the hotel’s revolving doors into the marble-floored foyer. Coming to a stop just underneath the grand crystal chandelier, she twirls around in an improvised waltz, the music from the concert clearly still ringing in her head.

 

Watching her dance like this from afar, I find myself once again enchanted at the sight. Although her dress is hidden underneath her long black coat, that, too, has movement, flaring out as she turns like a blooming flower. And although Nae Il is not a skilled dancer, meandering aimlessly around the centre of the foyer, her joy is genuine, contagious, and lends her a special sort of grace.

 

Finally, after a short moment that feels much longer, she notices our presence, and prances eagerly towards us. Stopping just in front of me, she takes my hands into her own and gasps out, “Isn’t this beautiful, Orabang? I feel like I am a movie star – no, a princess in a fairy tale!”

 

Aware that we are most likely being watched by Il Rak, Si Won and whatever strangers are around, I restrict my response to a fond smile. Then, moving to place one arm around Nae Il’s shoulders, I guide her straight through the lobby into the hotel’s lounge.

 

For all its grand décor, the lounge feels comfortably warm and welcoming. The gold covered walls trimmed with white marble and twinkling crystal chandeliers are brought back down to earth by plush upholstered armchairs clustered around small dark wood tables. Bookshelves of the same dark wood are scattered at regular intervals around the perimeter, filled with leather-bound tomes just begging to be read. Along one wall is the bar, its side panels made of frosted glass painted with gold music notes. A tall Christmas tree stands in one back corner, a reminder that we are still in the middle of the holiday season. And opposing it, continuing the musical theming, is a grand piano. As we enter, there is a man sitting there, softly playing light jazz, Christmas carols and popular love songs from our parents’ time: music that is subtle, easy, and soothing to the soul.

 

We find an empty spot near the piano and sit down: Si Won and I across from each other, Nae Il on my right and Il Rak on my left. As the waiter comes to take our orders, Si Won beckons him closer and whispers something to him. Swiftly, he turns and leaves without a word, but then returns just moments later with a cart, upon which rest a bottle of champagne and four individually sized servings of the hotel’s signature chocolate cake: a surprise gift Si Won had ordered for us in advance.

 

“These are all the original flavour,” she says as she divides the plates up among us. “Except for yours,” she adds, pointing at Nae Il’s portion. Sure enough, while our three pieces had all been decorated the same way – topped with a piece of chocolate with an ornate coat of arms painted upon it – Nae Il’s is different. There is, instead a man’s silhouette, along with the words “Mozart Edition”.

 

“Komapsumnida,” she murmurs, “but why do I get a different one, Eonnie?”

 

Si Won smiles encouragingly in response. “Just try it and you’ll see.”

 

Cautiously, Nae Il takes a small bite. Immediately, her expression transforms from confusion to delight. Her eyes widen and she places one hand over her mouth to hold in the squeal of excitement that threatens to burst out from her.

 

“Omo…” she finally manages to gasp out. “It’s Mozart-flavoured! Eonnie – how did you know that that’s my favourite?”

 

Il Rak stares at her in confusion. “‘Mozart-flavoured’?”

 

Fully aware of how incoherent Nae Il can get when she’s excited about food, I quickly explain. “What she means is the combination between chocolate, pistachio and marzipan. That’s the same flavour as the Mozartkugeln – you know, the chocolates we’d brought back for you from Salzburg the first time.”

 

As Il Rak nods in understanding, Si Won joins in. “Anything made with that flavour combination has been labeled ‘Mozart’ ever since. But how it came to be associated with Mozart in the first place is anyone’s guess.”

 

She then turns to Nae Il. “But to answer your question…” She nods in my direction. “Yoo Jin told me.”

 

I feel my face flush and cough uncomfortably when the others turn to stare at me. “Ya, Jung Si Won,” I sputter, “you only asked me what Nae Il’s favourite dessert was and I answered the Mozartkugeln. I did not have anything to do with this!”

 

That still does not deter Nae Il, though, as she turns to thanks me anyway. Then, to my astonishment and the others’ amusement, she suddenly darts forward and gives me a chocolate-smeared kiss on the cheek.

 

Immediately, my hand flies up to wipe it off. “Ya, Seollebal!”

 

“Mianhaeyo, Orabang,” she says in reply. But the coyly dancing look in her eyes tells me that she is, in fact, not sorry at all. In fact, I’m willing to bet that were we not in public, she would have kissed me someplace else instead.

 

Seemingly satisfied at having made her point, Nae Il deftly cuts her special piece of cake into quarters and gives each of us a piece; to balance things out, we each give her a quarter of ours. Il Rak then, rather redundantly, offers a bite of his cake to Si Won; and although she rolls her eyes at first, she eventually gives in and lets him feed her.

 

We eat and drink together like this for a while, chatting naturally about various nothings. At one point, Il Rak listens raptly as Si Won explains more of what she knows of the hotel’s history, including that it has been frequented by such illustrious composers as Brahms, Wagner, and Mahler. Upon hearing this, he gushes excitedly at the thought of being in the same space of such greats of the past, but then starts fidgeting uncomfortably, tugging on his jacket to straighten it.

 

It is at this point that we notice that Nae Il has disappeared.

 

Worriedly, I lift myself partway out of my seat, scanning over the other patrons in the bar. Her curiosity and eagerness to learn and discover are among her greatest strengths, but in her excitement, she could easily get lost or wander off to places where she shouldn’t.

 

Where on earth could that girl be?

 

Moments later, I spot her. Unbeknownst to us, the piano player had left the room, most likely just away on a short break, and Nae Il had taken the opportunity to approach the instrument herself.

 

I stand up and walk briskly towards her, reaching her side just before she could put out a hand to stroke the piano’s keys. In an instant, I move to stop her, taking her hand in mine.

 

Startled, she looks up at me. “Orabang!”

 

“Andwae, Nae Il-ah,” I say, using as gentle and soothing a tone as I can manage.

 

She pouts at me in response. “But it’s so beautiful!”

 

And it most certainly is. This piano is a Bösendorfer. Native to Austria, this is one of the most prestigious brands out there on the market; many pianists dream of owning a Bösendorfer instrument, or at least having the opportunity to play one. It is no wonder that Nae Il has become so enchanted by the one in front of us now.

 

But still, there is only so much that we can do. “I know you want to, but not this time. We don’t have permission – and besides, the pianist might come back at any moment.”

 

“May I help you two with something?”

 

Jumping in surprise, we both turn to look behind us. It is the lounge’s pianist, standing there as though my words had conjured him up.

 

Feeling a rush of embarrassment at being caught red-handed, I find myself unable to keep eye contact for long. Instead, I glance guiltily behind me at the piano itself, wracking my brain for something to say that could get us out with our pride still intact.

 

Nae Il, however, has no such qualms. Instead, to my astonishment, she gets straight to the point:

 

“This is a beautiful piano you have here. I’m just wondering: may I try it, please?”

 

My grip on her hand tightens as I round on her in astonishment. I give her a little shake to warn her to stay quiet, then, murmuring a quick apology, I turn to take her back to our seats.

 

“Are you any good, young lady?”

 

The pianist’s reply makes me stop in my tracks. Slowly, I turn back around to face him, Nae Il following suit.

 

Could it be that he’s actually interested in hearing Nae Il play?

 

The man seems to have noticed my expression, because he moves to clarify. “Not many people would be so bold as this young lady here; and I can see by the look in her eyes just as how much she is filled with music.”

 

“Ja, that’s true enough,” I reply. Hearing his comments now give me something to stand on, and the direction that this conversation is going is a temptation that I cannot resist.

 

There is nothing I desire more than to show my angel’s talents to the world, to give her the full recognition she deserves.

 

“Seol Nae Il is a piano student from the Mozarteum University in Salzburg,” I offer. “If you do not mind letting her play just once, I can assure you that she will do both your instrument and this establishment justice.”

 

~~~~~

 

Within minutes, everything is ready. The pianist put in a quick word with the rest of the staff and asked the other patrons for their patience. By this time, Il Rak and Si Won, too, have noticed what is happening, and have gotten up from their places to join me beside the piano. As for Nae Il, she has seated herself on the bench and is all set to begin.

 

Except that for a long moment, she doesn’t. Instead, she sits there, frozen in silence, her hands seemingly unable to move from her lap.

 

In an instant, I recognize what is going on. Waving a quick hand in apology to the others, I step over to her side and place a hand on her shoulder.

 

“Gwenchana?” I ask quietly.

 

She nods shakily.

 

“You know, Nae Il-ah,” I begin, “you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. I know that you were the one to ask first, but it’s perfectly fine if you have changed your mind.”

 

“Gwenchanayo, Orabang,” she says. “I can do this. Just…could you stand behind me, juseyo?”

 

Blinking in confusion, I move behind her as asked, and once I do, realization clicks. Standing here, my face appears behind hers on the polished surface of the piano’s music rack, watching over her like some sort of guardian angel.

 

Now that she is able to see me, to focus upon my reflection rather than all the others in the room, I feel Nae Il begin to relax. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she glances up at the ceiling for a moment, then, her eyes returning to the piano, she begins to play.

 

The piece she has chosen is Liszt’s La Campanella, the same one she should have won with in the competition in Seoul last year had she not lost on a technicality.

 

Clearly, Nae Il has taken her inspiration from the lounge itself. The tinkling high notes, ringing out from the piano like the bells they are meant to evoke, are a representation in sound of the twinkling lights of the crystal chandelier hanging above our heads. Other images come to my mind as I hear her play: the jingling of sleigh bells, the sunlight glinting off of freshly fallen snow, the joyous sound of laughter.

 

Whatever image Liszt had intended in his composition, Nae Il has made her performance about this moment, this season.

 

Once the music has reached its exuberant clanging climax and the piece has finally come to an end, yet another sound replaces it: applause. All around us, the other patrons in the bar are clapping; and clearly the sound of her playing has echoed out into the lobby, as the doorway separating that space from ours is now also filled with people who have been attracted by her music. I can even see that a few people have their phones out, clearly having just filmed Nae Il’s performance.

 

Closer to us, Il Rak is unable to hold in his excitement, jumping up in the air with an excited whoop.

 

“Brava, Nae Il-ah! That was awesome!”

 

Meanwhile the bar’s pianist also compliments her on her playing, thanking her for the experience and wishing her the best in her studies to come.

 

Had things gone according to my intentions, this would have been the end of it.

 

But then, to my astonishment, Nae Il suddenly gets up and grabs me by the hand before pulling me to join her in front of the keyboard. Then, before I could react, she shoves me down into the seat she had just vacated.

 

“Ya, Seollebal,” I whisper urgently. “What do you think you’re doing?”

 

She shoots me a mischievous smirk. “What? Do you think that you’re the only one who wants to show someone off?”

 

“Ani, but I never said –”

 

I don’t get any further than that, though, because already, Nae Il is speaking quietly to the bar’s pianist, telling him that I, too, am a student at the Mozarteum, as well as having once been the star pupil in Haneum’s piano department.

 

Desperately, I try to find some way to escape graciously, but am left stuck without an answer – especially since by this time, not only has the pianist announced that I, too, would be playing something but Il Rak and Si Won have also joined Nae Il in egging me on.

 

Maybe there is something about the absurdity of this situation – my being pushed to perform when it is Nae Il who I believe better deserves the attention – that makes me more irritable than is wise. Because when I finally concede and search my memory for something to play, the image that comes to my mind instead is Abeoji.

 

How he had scorned me for my fears. How he had belittled my work with the Rising Star orchestra. How he had said that he would only accept me if he could see me perform here.

 

In Europe. In Austria. In the heart and soul of classical music.

 

Well, then, let me show him what I am capable of. Let him see that I am not the boy I used to be, that I am no longer afraid.

 

Almost by instinct, I begin playing the final movement of Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy. It is a highly virtuosic piece: bold and strident, powerful in its dissonance. As the tension between the march-like chords builds up to a rolling climax, I feel my emotions connect with the music, my passionate anger and its intertwining into an explosion of sound.

 

Are you happy now, Abeoji? Are you, just this once, proud of your son?

 

A stunned silence fills the room after the pieces comes to its end, the last chords echoing out around me.

 

And then…I hear it.

 

Applause.

 

Not just any applause, either.

 

Thunderous, exuberant applause, filled with clapping and cheers.

 

These people loved my performance – they loved me.

 

Under any other circumstances, I might have welcomed the recognition, even enjoyed it. But this time, as realization sets in, I am struck by a sudden gripping sense of alarm.

 

What have I done?

 

This is wrong. This is so completely wrong.

 

This was supposed to be Nae Il’s night, not mine!

 

Gasping for breath, my pulse pounding in my ears, I brace my hands against my knees in an attempt to steady myself, to keep the rising wave of guilt and anxiety at bay. But it is only when Nae Il comes forward and wraps her arms around me, genuinely happy and proud for me, that I finally feel myself begin to relax.

 

As long as she accepts me, as long as she continues to hold on to me, I can overcome anything.

 

Even myself.

 

Slowly, I return her embrace, placing my arms around hers and pulling her close. Glancing over her shoulder, I spy Il Rak and Si Won’s looks of questioning concern. Trying to reassure them, I give them a small smile and shake my head.

 

Everything will be all right, because my angels – all of my friends, but especially Nae Il – are there for me.

 

Finally, I push Nae Il off of me and we stand up together, holding hands. Turning to thank the bar pianist once more for the opportunity, all four of us head back to our seats, I still stumbling in shock and leaning against her for support.

 

On the way back to our table, we are met by a portly middle-aged man and a woman who looks to be his wife. Coming up to us, he claps slowly in applause.

 

“Bravo, young man – bravo!” he says to me. “It looks like the devil has finally come to us at last.”

 

Nae Il shoots the man a glare, her lips pressed into a thin line. Placing her hands on the inside of my elbow, she pulls me protectively to her side. “My boyfriend is not a devil!”

 

Cringing at her heated reaction, I move to apologize to the man on her behalf. Then, patting her reassuringly on the hand, I explain, using German for the benefit of the man and his wife. “It’s all right; it’s just a joke,” I say, as Si Won quietly translates my words for Il Rak. “Schubert was known for composing music that exceeded his own abilities as a pianist, and when he tried to play the Wanderer Fantasy, the piece you had just heard, legend has it that he gave up partway through, saying in frustration that only the devil would be able to play what he had written.”

 

“Ah…” Nae Il murmurs in realization. Slowly, she lets go of my arm and returns to holding my hand instead. Then she, too, turns and apologizes to the couple for her mistake.

 

Ruffled feathers thus smoothed over, we chat cordially with them for a few minutes about the various merits of the pieces we had played. They also ask us whether we are students from the conservatory here in Vienna, at which point I explain that Nae Il and I are actually from Salzburg and that Il Rak is visiting us from Seoul.

 

“Seoul?” the woman asks. “So you kids are Korean, then?”

 

“Ja.” I nod slowly and cautiously, not sure where this is going. “Why do you ask?”

 

Instead of answering me right away, she turns to her husband, clasping her hands in delight. “I knew it,” she babbles excitedly, “I simply just knew it.”

 

She then turns her attention back to me. “My apologies if I’m confusing you, young man, but you and this young lady here remind me of two others my husband and I met here once ages ago. It’s probably just coincidence, but they really were just like you: two young pianists who were visiting from Korea.” She peers questioningly at her husband. “How long ago would you say it was, dear? About twenty years…?”

 

He nods in response, then moves to place an arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Twenty years, at least – but we’ll never forget the performance that they put on. It was beautiful, sublime…much like what you two just did.”

 

“And they were a couple, too,” she adds with a light, tinkling laugh. “We – my husband and I – were still newlyweds then, but not even he could dote on me the way that that young gentleman had treated his partner then. Of course it might have helped that – pardon the expression – she had been starting to show a bit as well.” As she says this last bit, the woman sketches out a discreet curve over her stomach in a universally recognized mime for pregnancy.

 

She then lets out a blissful sigh at the memory that has clearly come to her mind. “Such a sweet young couple they were…I wonder what happened to them.”

 

“Now, now, dear,” her husband chides her. “How would they know?”

 

At this point, Si Won, who had been discreetly translating everything for Il Rak, steps in.

 

“Do you happen to know their names, by any chance?” She gestures to encompass our entire group. “My friends and I are somewhat familiar with the classical music scene in Korea, so if either one of them is well-known, we might be able to help.”

 

As I watch the woman and her husband try to think back to see what they remember, I am doing some mental calculations of my own. Something about her comments thus far just simply isn’t sitting well with me.

 

But what?

 

Two pianists. From Korea. A bit more than twenty years ago. Presumably married. A pregnant girl and her doting husband.

 

Damn.

 

The answer comes to me just a split second before it comes to the woman and, incidentally, we both say it aloud at the same time:

 

“Cha Dong Woo.”

 

“Cha Dong Woo?” Il Rak echoes. He looks back and forth between the woman and me in surprise. “The Cha Dong Woo?”

 

She nods, reacting sooner than I can. “We did not know it at the time, since we were not familiar with classical music in Asia, but we recognized his picture in a magazine article soon after running into him here. And he’s become world famous ever since, hasn’t he?” Her eyes scan to take all of us as she smiles warmly. “You must all be proud to have a countryman like him, am I right?”

 

Instinctively, against my better judgment, I feel myself tense up. I try my best to hide it, to keep my expression unchanging from the cordial smile it had been just moments before, but I could feel my teeth grit together, my jaw harden, my eyes narrow – imperceptibly, I hope, but shifting all the same. The hand that is still intertwined with Nae Il’s tightens its grip, while the other, which had been resting idly by my side, now shifts slowly behind my back, balling up into a fist.

 

I’m not an idiot. None of us had introduced ourselves by name, thinking that we were just in a casual conversation with no consequence. So it’s not like this woman could have known just in whose presence she was praising Abeoji. It’s not like she could have known the truth.

 

Nae Il clearly notices that something is wrong; I can tell by the way she gives my hand a slight reassuring squeeze. But otherwise, there is little even she can do to help.

 

However it is that this conversation will end, I have to handle it on my own.

 

Oblivious to the dark cloud that has come over me, the woman continues on. “I’m not sure about the girl, though. I do wish I knew, since she played the piano so beautifully that night. But I just can’t remember seeing or hearing any mention of her after that; it’s as though she disappeared –”

 

“Yang Sun Young.”

 

Startled at my interruption, the woman glances at me in surprise. “Pardon?”

 

“Her name,” I bite out in as calm a voice as I can muster, “is Yang Sun Young.”

 

Nae Il pats my arm lightly with her free hand. “Orabang…”

 

But I can’t stop.

 

Trying my hardest to keep my voice from shaking, I continue, “You’re right, Madame. She was Cha Dong Woo’s wife, and she was a promising concert pianist in her own right. But you were lucky to see her, because what you saw must have been one of her last performances. She retired soon after that, when she gave birth to a son, and has been all but forgotten since.”

 

“I see…” the woman says with a nod. “But how did you come by all of this? Did you know her?”

 

I’m not sure if any of the others would have jumped in at this point to explain our connection, but I beat them to it.

 

“Ja, I do know her. She now owns a coffee shop near the conservatory where I had studied in Seoul, and I used to go there quite often.”

 

I sense rather than see Il Rak turn to look at me, startled at my omission. “Ya, Yoo Jin-ah...” he says in concern.

 

But by this point, I am beyond caring about niceties or etiquette. I just want to get out. I have had enough of this.

 

Feigning the need to make a phone call as an excuse, I make my exit, pausing by our table just long enough to grab my glass of champagne and down what was left in it in a single shot. Then, after slamming it hard onto the table, I storm out of the lounge without a backward glance.

 

~~~~~

 

Part of me wants to act like the heroes that appear in films, who shout their frustrations up to the sky, oblivious to whether or not they are heard.

 

But I am not like that. I never will be like that.

 

Instead, I find myself walking briskly, my strides growing longer and faster, out of the hotel. Seeing the busy line of traffic on the street before me, I make a sharp left, heading for the corner of the building before turning left yet again. I continue heading in that direction, back the way we had come, until I stop once more at the plaza in front of the Musikverein.

 

There, my breath coming in ragged, shuddering gasps, my pulse still pounding hot in my head, my fists still clenched tightly at my sides, I look up at the building before me as though it, not my own ambition, had betrayed me.

 

Why?

 

Why must tonight of all nights turn into such a damned mess?

 

Perhaps, had it not been for the guilt I had already been feeling about my performance earlier, I would not be so agitated now. But I am.

 

When I was younger, I had feared Abeoji’s disapproval.

 

But now? Now things are different. Instead of fearing Abeoji…I fear becoming like him.

 

Nae Il’s parents were not the only ones who had urged me to be cautious in our relationship. Shortly before we moved here to Austria for good, Eomma had told me the same.

 

It was not Nae Il’s virtue she was worried about, however; it was her spirit.

 

For as long as I could remember, I had sensed that Eomma was younger than my friends’ mothers, but I had not questioned or thought much about it. Nor did she see fit to tell me more: not even after the accident, or after she and Abeoji had divorced.

 

So it was only at this last meeting that she told me her story: the full story, not just the parts that I had lived alongside her.

 

She had been twenty years old, just starting her university studies in piano performance, when she first met Abeoji. He had been her sunbae: a graduate student five years her elder, and already starting to make a name for himself as an accomplished concert pianist.

 

Eomma told me that her experience was the same as Nae Il’s: that she had fallen head over heels in love as soon as she had heard Abeoji’s music. That she had stuck closely by his side ever since. That slowly, he had come to reciprocate her feelings, promising her that he would support her talent in the years to come.

 

They had married about a year after they had first met, and I had been born a year after that, when Eomma was just twenty-two years old and still in school. She had struggled for a time trying to keep it all together: trying to be pianist and a student, a wife and a mother, all at once. But it had been too much, especially once Abeoji had started performing abroad more and more. So finally, when he had received a long-term position as a pianist in Salzburg, she gave in: dropping out of university so that we could all go to Austria together as a family.

 

In telling me all of this, Eomma made it clear that she had made the choice of her own free will, and that she certainly had never regretted having me.

 

But that had not stopped her from growing to resent Abeoji for it. Ever since the accident, when he had told her on the phone that he could not come to us because he was still needed at work, she had hated him. Abeoji had never cheated on her, but he had been unfaithful nevertheless: his work, his own ambition, had been his mistress.

 

When Eomma told me her story, urged me to make sure that neither Nae Il nor I would make the same mistakes, I had reassured her that I would not. That I was not like Abeoji. That I cared deeply for Nae Il and that my only intention was to help her to grow as a pianist of her own.

 

But now, tonight, I am not so sure anymore.

 

Nae Il’s impromptu performance, mine afterwards…all it takes is a single moment, a single misplaced thought, a single slippage away from perfection.

 

Did I intend to outshine Nae Il tonight? No.

 

But did it happen anyway? Yes.

 

That couple whom I had spoken to earlier, they did not know it, but they were like my own guilty conscience: forcing me to face what Abeoji had done all those years ago, forcing me to face what I had just done now.

 

I had tried to make up for it.

 

With Eomma, it had been easy. All I had needed to do was to say her name to restore her to her rightful place.

 

But what about Nae Il? How do I do that?

 

Just then, I hear running footsteps behind me and then, seconds later, a pair of arms urgently wrap around my waist. They pull me backwards, and I can feel someone’s face pressed into my back.

 

Nae Il.

 

Once again, just like at the piano inside, I feel myself start to calm within her embrace. And she must sense it, too, because we stay silently like this for a long moment before, finally, I find myself able to speak.

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

“I thought you would come here, Orabang.”

 

“What about the others?”

 

“They’re still waiting for us inside. Don’t worry; I took care of them. Rak-kun had wanted to run out after you right away, but I stopped him. I knew you wanted some time alone.”

 

“And that couple?”

 

“They’re fine. They were a bit offended that you had just left like that, but I set them straight. I told them that you didn’t like talking about other people’s personal business and that we really shouldn’t pry any longer. But I didn’t give anything else away, I promise.”

 

“Komawo.”

 

Then, turning around to face her, I add, “It looks like our Nae Il has grown up and now knows how to handle sticky situations like that.”

 

She nods in thanks and then pulls out of the hug, taking one of my hands. “If you’re feeling better now, we should head back. It’ll be midnight soon, and we shouldn’t leave the others hanging.”

 

So I let her guide me back inside the hotel, through the lobby into the lounge, straight towards our table.

 

Once we arrive, and I have mumbled out an apology for my behaviour, Il Rak gets up from his seat and moves to stand beside me, patting me kindly on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it,” he says. “Nae Il already told us what we needed to know.”

 

I glance sideways at him. “What did she say?”

 

“Not much. Just that you and your mom are still on bad terms with your dad, so you don’t like talking about it.”

 

“Well, don’t start now, then,” I shoot back.

 

Smiling gently, Si Won hands me my glass, newly filled with champagne. “It wasn’t just you,” she says. “We all thought those two were annoying, too. But you’ve gotten better at it, Cha Yoo Jin; you put up with the likes of them longer tonight than you ever have in the past.”

 

Finally, realizing that I have been forgiven, I feel myself being able to smile in return.

 

As midnight strikes and the four of us toast to the New Year, I remind myself that this is a turning point, a time of new beginnings. That no matter what has happened, our fates are not set in stone.

 

~~~~~

 

“Yoo Jin-ah.”

 

I crack open my eyes to look up at Il Rak from my place in the pull-out next to his bed. “What?”

 

“You know, about what happened tonight at the bar…I’m actually a little bit glad that it did.”

 

That surprises me enough that I sit up to stare at him, frowning incredulously.

 

“All right, so maybe I put it wrong.”

 

“No wonder, Yoo Il Rak – you’re drunk.”

 

He chuckles. “I know. But I mean it, though.”

 

“Mean…what?”

 

He tries to fumble for an answer. “Do you remember how we first became friends? That time we had to play a duet together?”

 

I nod.

 

“I still remember that time you just grabbed my violin without asking and played my part right back at me.”

 

I bite back a laugh at the memory. “Well, that’s because you sucked that much then.”

 

“I know that now, but I remember that I was so mad when you did that. I didn’t know that you were trying to help, then; I just thought you were a show-off.

 

“But here’s the thing,” he continues. “By the time I got home, I’d changed my mind.”

 

This part I have not heard before. “You did?”

 

“It was your playing. Just one line – just one simple melodic line – and it got stuck in my head. No matter what I tried to do to drown it out, I couldn’t. Because it was perfect. Just completely perfect. And so was your performance with the A Orchestra – funny how I don’t mind that anymore now that Si Won and I are together – and so was your playing tonight. Nae Il’s, too, but she doesn’t have the same vibe that you do: she’s fun and quirky and makes mistakes. Point is, she’s human and I can relate to her. But you, Cha Yoo Jin…sometimes it feels like I’m looking at something that’s not of this world. I don’t mean an alien – I mean something more like an angel or a god.”

 

I scoff incredulously. “Now you’re starting to sound like Ma Su Min.” On impulse, I grab my pillow and throw it up into his face. “Go to bed, Yoo Il Rak. You’re not making any sense.”

 

He tosses it right back down at me with a laugh. After we have both settled back down in our places, he continues, “I know I’m not making any sense, but it’s true.

 

“So something like what happened tonight…I know it must have sucked for you, and I can’t say that I wanted you to go through that, but I can’t help feeling relieved that you are just a person after all.”

 

~~~~~

 

The first thing I am aware of is Il Rak nudging me awake. Opening my eyes just a sliver, I glare up at him. “What now? Do you have any idea what time it is?”

 

“Mianhae,” he says with a sheepish look on his face. “It’s not that I want to disturb you, but I need to get up – and it’s either this or stepping on you, and I’m sure you’d like that even less. And to answer your second question, it is already morning, so we need to get up now anyway.”

 

Well, I do want to sleep a bit longer, but there’s really not much I can say to that.

 

“Oh, all right,” I grumble, getting up so he could climb past me off the bed and make his way outside. Then, once I am alone, I start to tidy up: folding the blankets and pushing the pull-out bed I had slept in back to its original spot underneath Il Rak’s bed.

 

In all fairness, this whole concept of the pull-out bed is a clever idea. Si Won’s apartment is typical of Vienna’s expensive real estate market with its small size, and the landlord had tried to divide what by rights should be one comfortably-sized bedroom into two very narrow ones. Si Won’s bedroom is the larger of the two, and can fit a bed large enough for two people to share – that’s where Nae Il is now, the two girls having decided to bunk together. But this means that there simply is not enough space in this guest room for much more than a desk, a wardrobe, and a single-person bed placed all in a row along the wall. Adding the pull-out bed underneath means that there is room for at a fourth person – in this case, me – to stay the night should the need arise.

 

It’s a good idea, but at this rate, I think, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and feeling the beginnings of a headache that suggests a mild hangover, that I’d prefer the couch outside.

 

Still tired and reluctant to move, I sit down on the bed to wait for Il Rak to return from using the bathroom. Sure enough, just a few minutes later, he comes back, looking far more relieved than he should at the tidied space.

 

“It’s a good thing this is just one night,” I growl in greeting, “or I’d make you do all this tomorrow morning.”

 

He takes one look at me and winces in sympathy, shutting his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.

 

“You, too?” I ask.

 

The silent nod he gives in response is answer enough.

 

I tilt my head towards the wall dividing our room from the girls’. “Are they up yet?”

 

He shakes his head. “Not that I know of.”

 

“Well then, how about this.” Slowly, I push myself up off of the bed and make my way toward the door. “You go on ahead to the kitchen. See if there’s anything you can get started for breakfast. The girls will probably also be feeling pretty bad this morning, so we shouldn’t make them do it. I’ll join you once I’m done washing up.”

 

I note with surprise how reluctantly Il Rak agrees to my idea, but it is only a few minutes later, after I quietly open the sliding door separating the kitchen from the living room, that I see why.

 

“Ya…” I gasp as soon as I have stepped inside the room and closed the door again. “Didn’t you get anything done?”

 

To his credit, Il Rak does know his way around Si Won’s kitchen, having already been staying here for almost two weeks now. So he has managed to find a bunch of ingredients: eggs, milk, flour, sugar, things like that. But that’s it. Nothing’s actually been started yet.

 

“Let me guess: you don’t know how to cook.”

 

Il Rak laughs sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. “I do know some things, like how to make toast and stuff. But it’s New Year’s Day, and it’s for the girls, so I want to make something special, and – problem is, Abeoji’s always been the one in charge of that at home, so….”

 

I lift up a hand to stop him. “All right, I get it. Give me a moment: I’ll figure something out.”

 

As I look over the ingredients that Il Rak has laid out on the kitchen counter, an idea comes to me.

 

Yes, this could work. I know Nae Il likes it, so maybe Si Won will as well….

 

Quickly, I explain my plan to Il Rak, and once he nods in agreement, throwing in a cheery, “Ne, chef!” for good measure, we begin.

 

I set him to mixing the flour and milk together before I then separate the eggs, dumping the yolks into his bowl and the whites into a separate one. I then tell Il Rak to add the rest of the ingredients into his bowl and mix it all together.

 

Now, the real work begins, as I start beating the egg whites. Normally, I would use an electric mixer for this, but since neither of us want to risk making any noise and waking up the girls, it’ll have to be done by hand. Once Il Rak finishes his task, he takes over for me for a few minutes, allowing me to find a frying pan and place it on the stove before we then switch back. Although both of us have strong arms and hands – playing the instruments we do, they have to be – whisking egg whites by hand is still tiring work, so having two people do it is definitely helpful.

 

Finally, when the egg whites have reached the consistency I am looking for, I tell Il Rak to turn on the stove and get the pan warmed up. Then, after combining the contents of our respective bowls, I pour in the resulting batter to form a large circle in the centre of the pan.

 

Shortly after the pancake has started cooking but before it is ready for me to flip, I hear the dividing door quietly slide open. Then, before I can turn to see who has just come in, I feel someone hugging me from behind.

 

“Guess who!”

 

I laugh softly in response. “Nae Il-ah, annyeong.” After a brief pause, I add, “Mianhae – did we wake you?”

 

I feel her shake her head against my back. “Aniyo – not unless making something that smells really, really good counts.” She tightens her grip on me, and then I suppose she must have turned to look at Il Rak, because the next thing she says is directed at him: “You should learn a thing or two, Rak-kun – Eonnie was telling me that you’re hopeless in the kitchen.”

 

I laugh far harder than I should at that, given that I am now trying to flip the pancake while Nae Il is still holding onto me like a koala bear. “Don’t tease him, Seollebal – Il Rak actually helped a lot.” I glance at him out of the corner of my eye. “I think he’ll know this dish at least by the time I’m done with him.”

 

That prompts Nae Il’s curiosity enough for her to finally let go and move to stand beside me. She leans forward to peer into the pan, where I am now breaking up the pancake into smaller pieces.

 

“Is…is that Kaiserschmarrn?” She gasps and claps her hands in delight when I nod. “I love that! Orabang, you’re the best!”

 

It’s a testament to how well Nae Il and I know each other by now that I don’t even have to look at her to know that she’s about to pounce on me. Also, that I can instinctively reach out with my free hand and push her back without even missing a beat.

 

“Ya, Seollebal – be careful! You’ll burn yourself.”

 

Thank goodness Il Rak is quick to react; he chooses this moment to call out to Nae Il, “Is Si Won up yet?”

 

Just as predicted, Nae Il turns her attention to him, finally giving me a moment’s peace to finish up.

 

“Ne, Rak-kun – Eonnie’s already awake. I’m just waiting my turn to use the bathroom.”

 

Il Rak laughs in response. “Then you’ll have to wait for a while, Nae Il-ah – she can stay in there for ages, especially if she has to wash her hair.”

 

Hearing that gives me an idea. Since the rather disastrous turn of events at the bar last night, I had wanted a moment to speak with Nae Il alone; yet, our time outside had been far too brief, and I had not had the opportunity since.

 

Not to mention that the Kaiserschmarrn is ready now.

 

Perhaps now would be a good time.

 

I take the pan off the heat, dust some sugar on top, then stick four forks inside.

 

“Il Rak-ah, you can take this out now.” I give him a wink. “Make sure that Si Won knows that you had a hand in making it.”

 

He clearly notes something in my expression, because after glancing between Nae Il and me for a moment, he nods and winks back at me. Then, he takes the pan and slips out into the living room, which doubles as the dining room, making sure to close the door behind him.

 

Once we are alone, Nae Il turns to look at me.

 

“What is it, Orabang? Is something wrong?”

 

Where do I begin?

 

For a moment, I struggle to find the right words to say. Then, I decide that I might as well just get straight to the point. It may be embarrassing, but she deserves my honesty right now.

 

“Nae Il-ah, about last night…mianhae.”

 

She blinks several times in surprise.

 

“What are you talking about, Orabang? What do you need to apologize for?”

 

“I…”

 

“Ne?”

 

Why is this so damned difficult?

 

Gulping nervously, I turn my face away from her and stare instead at a random spot on the floor.

 

“I never got around to telling you how well you played the Liszt last night. And on top of that, there was the whole mess afterwards with my own playing. I know that I should have picked something else, something that would have made your performance stand out by comparison, so –”

 

“Babo.”

 

Raising my eyebrow in surprise yet fearing the worst, I slowly raise my head to look up at her.

 

She is smiling.

 

Not her giddy smile or her excited smile, or the one she uses when she is content or wants to flirt. This is a very different smile from all of those.

 

It’s a warm, nurturing smile: the one that a mother would use when trying to comfort her child.

 

“I’d told you already, Orabang – what if I was the one who wanted to show you off? Listening to you play made me feel so proud, you wouldn’t even believe it.”

 

“I get that. But I wanted people to talk about you – not me!”

 

Nae Il lets out an exasperated sigh. “Don’t you get it?”

 

No, I don’t.

 

“Why does it have to be either-or, Orabang? Why must it be a matter of which one of us is better? Why can’t be about us – both of us?

 

“I’ve been doing some thinking of my own last night. Hearing how those people spoke about your parents, and then how you stood up for Eomeonim…I can’t say I know all the details, but I can guess what you were afraid of. But you know what, Orabang? You don’t have to be – because you are not Abeonim. You may have some things in common, but you are not him.”

 

Her last comment gives me pause.

 

How did she know?

 

Something in my expression must have given me away, because Nae Il nods and even dares to give me an impish smirk. “Did you think that Eomeonim only met with you before we flew here from Seoul?”

 

My jaw drops in surprise. “So you knew all along.”

 

“Ne.”

 

“Then how come…?”

 

“How come I don’t mind about last night? Because I’m not Eomeonim, either. You and your parents, you live in a world where competition is everything. Where if you’re not the best, then you’re not good enough. Or where your loved ones become your greatest rivals, or – in Eomeonim’s case – where the only way to prove that you love someone is to give up your own dream.

 

“I know that you don’t believe in any of that stuff, Orabang, but the point is that that doesn’t automatically mean you need to swing so far the other way that you end up feeling bad for getting the applause that you deserve.

 

“If you ask me, a perfect musical world would be one where ambition, competition, who’s better than whom, who gets more applause than whom wouldn’t matter. Not so much a world where it doesn’t matter which one of us is better, but a world where that whole idea doesn’t even exist. A world where, instead, we can simply enjoy music for its own sake – where everyone is good. Not better, not best – only equally good.”

 

She takes a step closer and places a hand over my heart.

 

“And I’ve seen you with the S Orchestra, the Rising Star Orchestra, and with me. I know that you feel the same way that I do – and that’s why I think we can make this work, Orabang.”

 

I had told her as much last night, but I sense it even more now: Nae Il has grown up. A lot.

 

While she is still childishly exuberant and able to be pleased at the simplest of things, there is a lot more to her than meets the eye, and she is far more mature and understanding than what one might think.

 

Now she is able to support me as much as I have supported her.

 

Gently, I grasp onto the hand that rests against my chest and raise it to my lips. As I kiss her palm in thanks, she giggles in excitement, slowly pulling me along with her as she edges backwards.

 

It is only when she has backed up all the way to the kitchen counter that I realize what she is about to do – and by then, it’s already too late.

 

Too quickly for me to dodge, she wipes her free hand along the inside edge of the mixing bowl and smears some of the leftover batter on my face.

 

Startled, I let go of her hand and stumble backwards. Immediately, I search for a towel with which to wipe up the mess.

 

Nae Il, for her part, bursts out laughing, shaking so much that she stumbles in turn and has to grip onto the counter for support.

 

I flash her a mock-glare from over the towel’s edge. “Ya, Seollebal, you little – get over here!”

 

With that, I lunge for her, but she’s too fast. Just managing to squeeze past me, she makes for the door, slipping through it to the room beyond, still shrieking with laughter.

 

The sound of her mirth is music to my ears.

 

Author's Note (in "Hidden Content" because of spoilers)

 

Spoiler

If the prequel to this story was difficult for its being my first attempt at romance, then this one is challenging for the number of different moods and genres I'm fitting into it: friendship, romance, cute fluffy stuff, angst...loads of stuff.

 

Still, it was a lot of fun to write about this one, so here are the behind-the-scenes features I want to show you:

 

1. Planning the Event - Locations

 

Most of the first half of this story is centred upon a real-life annual tradition in Vienna: the New Year's concerts held every year by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra on Dec. 30, Dec. 31, and Jan. 1. This story in particular, involves the second concert in the series, which is held on the night of New Year's Eve.

 

It is, as suggested in this story, notoriously hard to get tickets to attend any of the three, but especially the last one. So the process I have described here is exactly how it would work in reality: interested buyers have to submit an online application, stating which concert they want tickets for, the number of seats they want (four maximum for the first two concerts, then just two for the third), and the price/seating category they want. And, yes, the first few rows are actually cheaper than the majority of ones further back. The Großer Saal does not have the terraced seating we're used to seeing in theatres today. Instead, all the seats are placed on the same horizontal plane, and it is the stage that is terraced.

 

 

So, yes, it's hard to see everything if you're right up at the front - but that doesn't affect the sound quality all that much  

 

And, for the sake of completion, here are some of the other locations that show up in this story - because some of these really have to be seen to be believed:

 

The exterior of the Musikverein

 

 

The Café Mozart

 

 

The lobby of the Hotel Imperial

 

 

The 1873 Hallensalon (i.e. the bar/lounge in the Hotel Imperial)

 

 

As with my previous fic, where I used the lay-out of a real apartment in Salzburg to help me visualize Cha Yoo Jin and Seol Nae Il's place, I also did a fake real-estate search for Jung Si Won's apartment. Ultimately, I settled on this listing here: https://www.spotahome.com/vienna/for-rent:apartments/124348

 

And here's the floorplan, which is really what I ended up using (FYI: "Bedroom 1" in this case is Si Won's bedroom, and "Bedroom 2" is the guest bedroom)

 

2. Planning the Event - The Girls' Looks

 

This was arguably one of the most fun parts of the entire writing process this time around, but it's also proved to be one of the most challenging. To put it simply: Cha Yoo Jin's a guy, and I'm a girl. So while I know that I want to be able to visualize everything about both Jung Si Won and Seol Nae Il's outfits while writing this story, I was unsure about just how much I could describe it using Yoo Jin's voice without it sounding way too elaborate.

 

Turns out, I could actually get away with a lot.

 

However, for those who, like me, want some sort of visual, I'll include pictures of the items I actually had in mind anyway.

 

Jung Si Won's Outfit

 

The Dress

The Belt

 

The Shoes

 

The Coat

 

The Hairstyle (the video features several, so it's the one that I've started the playback from)

 

 

Seol Nae Il's Outfit

 

The Dress (including a close-up of the open back detail)

 

 

The Shoes

 

The Coat

 

The Hairstyle (again, I've set the video to start at the specific style I used)

 

 

Also, this is also where I decided to hide my little Easter Egg: a nod to the real-life actors behind the characters. JW has commented before about finding girls in backless dresses attractive, and that's a detail I transferred to Cha Yoo Jin as well   Writing that bit was interesting, though - how do I write physical attraction without getting explicit?

 

3. The Music

 

Because I can't write a "Nae Il's Cantabile" fanfic and not include this somehow.

 

Once again, there are two main pieces that are featured in this fic, and most of what you'd need to know about them is already mentioned in the story itself.

 

So, instead of going into any further detail, I'll just share the recordings that I used:

 

Liszt's La Campanella

 

 

Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy

 

Note that while this video features the entire 20-odd-minute-long piece, I have set the playback to begin at the beginning of the fourth and final movement, which is what Cha Yoo Jin plays. The entire piece is really crazily difficult, though, so I imagine Schubert's comment about only the devil being able to play it is not just a reference to the finale, but to the accumulated exhaustion of playing everything before it as well.

 

I also got the idea for using this piece from "Secret Love Affair" - it's not heavily featured and just shows up in passing, but is definitely one of those pieces that sticks with you in a "Damn...that's impressive!" sort of way.

 

Which I thought was perfect for someone like Cha Yoo Jin, who 1) is actually really good at playing the piano, and 2) on some subconscious level, feels like he has something to prove and someone to impress (i.e. his father)

 

 

4. Miscellaneous Tidbits

 

There are a few more details that I would like to elaborate on - again, just to help you guys get a clearer picture.

 

First of all, the chocolate cakes that are mentioned in this story are the signature dessert of the Hotel Imperial: the Imperial Torte. It's made out of chocolate and marzipan, and actually looks quite pretty. They're available for purchase in a variety of sizes, either in the hotel's restaurants or packaged to take home from the specialty gift shop devoted just to them.

 

This picture shows what the individually-sized cakes look like. The "Mozart" version is the cluster on the left, and the original version is the cluster on the right; in the middle is an orange-flavoured version.

 

 

The other main food item mentioned in the story, the Kaiserschmarrn, should be fairly self-explanatory from the story. However, there are a lot of different ways to make it, it seems - it's one of those foods that can have the fancy restaurant version, but where each household also might have their own take on it. So, if anyone's curious, I wrote the cooking scene using this particular recipe for reference: Kaiserschmarrn - The Emperor's Breakfast

 

Finally, if anyone's thinking that I've made a lot of allusions to "Phantom of the Opera" as well, you'd be correct  

 

So, that's it for now - midnight struck in the middle of my writing this, so here's wishing you all a happy new year!

 

If you want to access my other fics, as well as additional Hallyu-related writings, you can find a master list under the "About Me" tab on my profile page. Enjoy!

[moonstrike]

18 hours ago, kittyna said:

Okay, let's get this out of the way first: JW didn't win anything this time around. However, looking at which dramas did do well, it looks like there was some really stiff competition.

No one is a row of actors who were born in the year 87 in the winner in sbs drama award yesterday. They all go to military service. 

 

They will back in 2019... and there will be a great competition in that year. I'm waiting for joo won and his amazing projects. He will be a nominee of some award in 2019 and he will not appear in 2018. Thinking of it makes me sad and want to end this year quickly.

 

And i almost forgot to say HAPPY NEW YEAR TO JOO WON AND ALL MY FRIENDS HERE!!! HOPPING THIS YEAR WILL BE BETTER THAN 2017. 

 

11 hours ago, kittyna said:

Title: Angel of Music, Come Down from Above

Drama: "Nae Il's Cantabile"

Characters: Cha Yoo Jin, Seol Nae Il, Yoo Il Rak, Jung Si Won

Premise: Although being able to live and study in Austria is, for Cha Yoo Jin, a return to the childhood he had once loved, not all the memories it brings up are pleasant ones. Fortunately, though, he no longer has to face them alone.

The sequel is so sweet. Cha yoo jin is opening his heart wider for naeil. In previous fanfic, cha yoo jin is loving naeil but not so open about it like other character. Good step! 

 

And picture time!!

 

Its so funny if you can understand what is he saying. 

 

Jae cheon (joo won's manager a.k.a angel manager): Don't take picture, please!

 

His cute meong face in park shi on character.

 

Its so funny! Its about park shi on (Joo won) that first said he can't curse but the next scene you can see lee kang to (joo won) cursing in bridal mask. And the second, park shi on said he can't hit people but the next scene you see lee kang to hit people like crazy, he even hit his own hyung . And the last, park shi on said he don't know how to love someone, but the next scene you can see that lee kang to is so in love with mokdan and the kiss scene tho! And there is an ahjumma (cut of a drama) saying this man is lying. His behavior and what he talk is very different. 

 

P.s : this is showing that joo won can play many characters very well. although the characters have opposing personalities. Proud of him!

 

His side view. So handsome! His smile is so cute!

 

This is art! So beautiful.

 

[Ma OO]

So my "dead" Instagram was discovered! Yes. @ma_oo_jw is me.

 

Hello! Long time no see! Happy New Year Cuties!Sorry that I disappeared(and sadly I most likely will be ) So many changes in my life and so busy right now. I am already final year college student! YAY!! But then, imagine the workload that I need to do.  I wish Joo Won all the best and you guys too! Please stay active and sassy for Joo Won's sake. My best regards to you all! ^^

 

[kittyna]

44 minutes ago, moonstrike said:

No one is a row of actors who were born in the year 87 in the winner in sbs drama award yesterday. They all go to military service. 

 

They will back in 2019... and there will be a great competition in that year. I'm waiting for joo won and his amazing projects. He will be a nominee of some award in 2019 and he will not appear in 2018. Thinking of it makes me sad and want to end this year quickly.

 

With so many comebacks, we might end up with a bit of a bloodbath on our hands in the 2019 awards season - which could get...interesting, I think would be the best word to use.

 

Still, I think I'll be a supporter of any comeback project JW takes on, award-winning or otherwise.

 

46 minutes ago, moonstrike said:

The sequel is so sweet. Cha yoo jin is opening his heart wider for naeil. In previous fanfic, cha yoo jin is loving naeil but not so open about it like other character. Good step! 

 

Glad you enjoyed it! I do think I'll leave those two alone for a while, though - I should do some writing for other dramas as well. Still, this pair of sequels was a ton of fun to write, and may end up growing into a whole series of spin-offs (the way my "Gaksital" stories are, for instance).

 

Personally, I think the emotional connection between Cha Yoo Jin and Seol Nae Il was already there by the time you get to the end of the drama itself, but that would have grown even deeper in the time since. In terms of physical intimacy/skinship, though...I think it'll always be Nae Il who's bolder on that front  

 

49 minutes ago, moonstrike said:

Its so funny! Its about park shi on (Joo won) that first said he can't curse but the next scene you can see lee kang to (joo won) cursing in bridal mask. And the second, park shi on said he can't hit people but the next scene you see lee kang to hit people like crazy, he even hit his own hyung . And the last, park shi on said he don't know how to love someone, but the next scene you can see that lee kang to is so in love with mokdan and the kiss scene tho! And there is an ahjumma (cut of a drama) saying this man is lying. His behavior and what he talk is very different. 

 

P.s : this is showing that joo won can play many characters very well. although the characters have opposing personalities. Proud of him!

 

lol - I remember that video being featured on a KBS "Entertainment Weekly" segment where the "Good Doctor" actors were interviewed at the post-filming dinner.  It's funny because of the contrast, but in terms of emphasizing JW's acting range...I actually prefer the "Good Brother" fan-made video.

 

And now for pics!

 

Spoiler

Two really cute faces

 

 

"Nae Il's Cantabile" Behind the Scenes - This would be from the Jeju Island scene

 

 

"Yong Pal" Behind the Scenes - I love the shot on the bottom right  

 

 

I have no idea what the story is behind this photo (save that it's from filming "Love Express"), but it's funny

 

 

Nice reading shot

 

 

These photos are all from a charity fanmeeting in 2014 - I don't know the details, but it looks like something (maybe from his fans?) wound up really moving him, as usual

 

 

 

 

So, on a happier note...

 

 

 

[moonstrike]

17 hours ago, Ma OO said:

Hello! Long time no see! Happy New Year Cuties!Sorry that I disappeared(and sadly I most likely will be ) So many changes in my life and so busy right now. I am already final year college student! YAY!! But then, imagine the workload that I need to do.  I wish Joo Won all the best and you guys too! Please stay active and sassy for Joo Won's sake. My best regards to you all! ^^

Wow... congratulations for your studies. You can comeback anytime if you have time. We are happy to welcoming you in this thread!

 

17 hours ago, kittyna said:

With so many comebacks, we might end up with a bit of a bloodbath on our hands in the 2019 awards season - which could get...interesting, I think would be the best word to use.

Yeah! I feel there will be a war and tight competition in 2019 because in that year all actors that comeback from military will make their career shine again from the bottom. 2019 will be an important year for them including our cutie. 

 

But before that, we have to go through 2018 without the presence of a handsome actor born in 87. What I mean is Joo Won a.k.a Moon Jun Won. I've been thinking about something, that if we might be able to see Joo Won at the military festival if he's invited like in 2017 or a small event where Joo Won be the MC. but we can't be 100% sure that we will see him at that time, because the event is not fixed yet. Imagine passing a whole year without his presence is boring and very unpleasant.

 

17 hours ago, kittyna said:

Glad you enjoyed it! I do think I'll leave those two alone for a while, though - I should do some writing for other dramas as well. Still, this pair of sequels was a ton of fun to write, and may end up growing into a whole series of spin-offs (the way my "Gaksital" stories are, for instance).

Yeah I enjoyed it very much. You have to try make another fanfic using other joo won's drama projects. I can imagine that will be daebak. Or you want to make another stories about bridal mask. I will read it with pleasure.

 

17 hours ago, kittyna said:

but that would have grown even deeper in the time since. In terms of physical intimacy/skinship, though...I think it'll always be Nae Il who's bolder on that front  

Haha.. naeil is very active woman even yoo jin is very difficult to keep an eye of her. Its like seeing a mother take care of her child. but if naeil is seducing yoo jin, her eyes will change with a blink of an eye. and I can see that yoo jin is always almost falling of her seduction everytime. Like when she wants to hug him, kiss him, or even just holding hands with him. But in this fanfic, we can see that their relationship is growing even more deeper and yoo jin is also welcoming all skinship that given by naeil.

 

 

[kittyna]

5 hours ago, moonstrike said:

I've been thinking about something, that if we might be able to see Joo Won at the military festival if he's invited like in 2017 or a small event where Joo Won be the MC. but we can't be 100% sure that we will see him at that time, because the event is not fixed yet. Imagine passing a whole year without his presence is boring and very unpleasant.

 

I, too, wonder what's going to happen with that. If he keeps this up, he could very well be invited to MC events like these festivals again this year, but I also think it's likely that that role would be passed on to someone else. 2017 is the first time that I really started noticing military activities (besides the usual stuff that's in the news about North Korea, that is), so I actually don't know if the army invites celebrities to MC the festival in consecutive years, or if their pattern is to invite someone different each time.

 

If they are open to repeats, then maybe JW will do it again? I think that as things are progressing right now, he'd have the proper experience, credentials and reputation for it. But we'll have to see - it seems like a lot of celebrity recruits have been doing well recently.  

 

5 hours ago, moonstrike said:

Yeah I enjoyed it very much. You have to try make another fanfic using other joo won's drama projects. I can imagine that will be daebak. Or you want to make another stories about bridal mask. I will read it with pleasure.

 

Right now, it's "Good Doctor" I'm leaning more towards, but we'll see  

 

I think I'm finally starting to get some ideas for things that could be told from Park Si On's point of view, but those ideas are still small and I need to wait and see which ones, if any, end up growing into something bigger that I could actually write about.

 

5 hours ago, moonstrike said:

Haha.. naeil is very active woman even yoo jin is very difficult to keep an eye of her. Its like seeing a mother take care of her child. but if naeil is seducing yoo jin, her eyes will change with a blink of an eye. and I can see that yoo jin is always almost falling of her seduction everytime. Like when she wants to hug him, kiss him, or even just holding hands with him. But in this fanfic, we can see that their relationship is growing even more deeper and yoo jin is also welcoming all skinship that given by naeil.

 

lol - Not all kinds of skinship, no - I think the guy still has his limits  

 

But that said, I do think a healthy dating relationship does need to have two people who are aware of each other's comfort zones and are willing to work with that. We see in the drama that Nae Il...wasn't there yet, by a long shot! And in these sequel fics I've written, I'm still not sure if she's entirely there yet, but she's learning to respect Yoo Jin's boundaries at the same time that he is learning to loosen them. So...meeting somewhere in the middle, I guess?

 

And since I'm already here, although it's not my usual time of day for doing this...pics!

 

Spoiler

Speaking of "Nae Il's Cantabile" and skinship....Okay, this one is from behind the scenes, but you can imagine it, right?

 

 

I'm really liking this colour on him - I don't see it often, but it's nice

 

 

JW airport fashion - This was from the fall of 2014, when everyone in his agency went on a trip to the Philippines for the company's 10th anniversary (i.e. it's the same trip that ends "Life Log")

 

 

 

Uhm Tae Woong also ends up appearing in some of the photos from that day, like this one

 

 

And, finally, just because I really like this shot:

 

 

Depending on the traffic flow in this forum, I may come back again later with more pictures, but we'll see.

[rionae]

Happy New Year everyone! Dropping by a little~ There's so many posts that I can't backtrack anymore xD

 

@kittyna The pic below - That's some snack given by Joo Won's Hongkong fanclub during a support project for Love Express. That photo was posted by the director (guy in that marshmallow(?) thing) with an accompanying text, "Is it delicious? Me? "  

His post here: https://weibo.com/1807294262/Dbs0gs9AD?type=comment#_rnd1514905300651

 

21 hours ago, kittyna said:

 

 

Spoiler

 

I have no idea what the story is behind this photo (save that it's from filming "Love Express"), but it's funny

 

 

 

 

[moonstrike]

3 hours ago, kittyna said:

If they are open to repeats, then maybe JW will do it again? I think that as things are progressing right now, he'd have the proper experience, credentials and reputation for it. But we'll have to see - it seems like a lot of celebrity recruits have been doing well recently.  

They might be do it! I have to believe in him and all people that holding the event. Because in one video joo won said something about this. There was one ahjumma fan that asking joo won if he would reappear during the next festival (which is the festival 2018). joo won replies that he does not know but he has the belief or thought that he might be invited again at the next festival. we just have to wait (again).

 

3 hours ago, kittyna said:

Right now, it's "Good Doctor" I'm leaning more towards, but we'll see  

I'm curious now! What will the story about and how you portray park shi on cuteness into words. Waiting for this! 

 

14 minutes ago, rionae said:

Happy New Year everyone! Dropping by a little~ There's so many posts that I can't backtrack anymore xD

Hi.. @rionae!!! Finally you comeback here again. And thanks for the information, by the way. The post that the director posting on his weibo is so funny tho. 

 

I found this video on youtube. This is joo won as melchior! He is so cute! 

 

There is a news that i found today! Joo won's sister in my sassy girl is joining joo won's agency a.k.a Huayi Brothers. In the comment section, there is one netizen said that joo won is adore her and even give her some advise about life as an actor (not the one about acting). There are news about it but i don't have the link now. 

 

Since you know that i like glasses especially if joo won wears it. Here is some cute photos of him wearing it. Not the one that he always bring, the legendary round glasses, but the square(?) one. 

 

WHO IS THIS CUTE LITTLE BABY?!!

 

Yup! He is professional photographer! Actually, I noticed that joo won's another hobby was photography. Even when he was holding a birthday party and fanmeet at the Same time, his fans held an event to buy Joo Won a professional camera. he is very happy when the gift is given. he said that he had thought to buy it himself but he did not think that his fans had bought it first.

 

[kittyna]

2 hours ago, moonstrike said:

There is a news that i found today! Joo won's sister in my sassy girl is joining joo won's agency a.k.a Huayi Brothers. In the comment section, there is one netizen said that joo won is adore her and even give her some advise about life as an actor (not the one about acting). There are news about it but i don't have the link now. 

 

Thanks for the update! I've noticed that Huayi Brothers is really tight-knit - it was when it was still Sim Entertainment, and that's persisted for a while. So, I've noticed, for instance, just how many times actors from that agency had supporting roles in JW's dramas and films.

 

Examples I've found, excluding "My Sassy Girl"

• "King of Baking, Kim Tak Gu" - Jeon Mi Seon (as Tak Gu's mom) - she's no longer with the agency now, but I think she was then
• "S.I.U." - Uhm Tae Woong (as Kim Seong Beom) - okay, in reality, UTW's lead and JW's second lead, but you get the idea  
• "Ojakgyo Brothers" - Jeon Mi Seon (as Kim Mi Suk)
• "Level 7 Civil Servant" - Lim Yoon Ho (as JJ/Choi Woo Jin) and Uhm Tae Woong (as Choi Woo Hyuk)
• "Fashion King" (film) - Kim Sung Oh (as Kim Nam Jung) PLUS almost the entire "Life Log" group - this film wasn't produced by the agency, but man, did they provide a lot of the casting!
• "Nae Il's Cantabile" - Bae Min Jung (as Jung Si Won) and Lee Joo Hyung (as Gu Sun Jae - a.k.a. the A Orchestra oboist)
• "Fatal Intuition" - Yoo Hae Jin (as Pharmacist Min) - this is another first lead/second lead combo
• "Yong Pal" - Park Hye Soo (as Kim So Hyun)

There are probably more still, but I just don't have the time to search through everyone's filmographies right now.

 

The crazy thing is - this agency is not all that big. If you go to the the current list of actors, it's not like they have a ton of people, especially really big-name people. They have added some bigger names in the past few years (e.g. signing on Joo Jin Mo was a big plus), but it's not like you're getting super Hallyu stars or anything like that (e.g. the Big 3 or Blossom Entertainment - which, while smaller than Huayi, has the powerful one-two punch that is Song Joong Ki AND Park Bo Gum), so just seeing how often people from the same agency show up together is quite noteworthy, in my opinion.

 

2 hours ago, moonstrike said:

Since you know that i like glasses especially if joo won wears it. Here is some cute photos of him wearing it. Not the one that he always bring, the legendary round glasses, but the square(?) one. 

 

I think those are his old glasses, because he's usually seen wearing them in photos from several years ago.

 

So, since traffic here is decent enough, it looks like I can add a second bunch of photos today  

 

Spoiler

More photos from the Sim Entertainment trip to the Philippines I referred to the other day - this time, the actual publicity shots instead of candid ones 

 

 

 

 

And a few other miscellaneous photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

[moonstrike]

6 hours ago, kittyna said:

I think those are his old glasses, because he's usually seen wearing them in photos from several years ago.

Yeah i know it. Its when his fanclub "1 act 1 scene" was still exists. You can see it in the photo.

 

[moonstrike]

This video is so beautiful. I personally like the last one. Its slow and calm. The song is showing their desire and sadness. Plus, joo won was the one that sing it. It gives me goosebumps when i heard it. I want the full version but i don't know where to find it. Seems like i have to go to the musical. The sad thing is the musical is already finish long long ago. 

 

[moonstrike]

Just another random photos that i found!

 

This color is suits him. Never seen him in this color before.

 

Lucky dog. By the way, whose dog is this?

 

Joo won in white t-shirt.

 

This one is not from instagram, its from Joo won DC gallery... its so cute! We need to wait one year and two months to see new photos and videos like this. (Its joo won mukbang contest!!)

http://m.dcinside.com/view.php?id=joowon&no=318135&page=1

 

this is funny! 

 

 

[kittyna]

6 hours ago, moonstrike said:

This one is not from instagram, its from Joo won DC gallery... its so cute! We need to wait one year and two months to see new photos and videos like this. (Its joo won mukbang contest!!)

http://m.dcinside.com/view.php?id=joowon&no=318135&page=1

 

That is really funny!

 

I notice from the pictures that JW changes how he eats to match how he imagines the character he's playing would eat. So, there's how he eats when he's himself (as you can see on variety shows like 1N2D or "Life Log"), there's how his character eats (which usually ends up lacking some of his more distinct mannerisms)...and then there's Park Si On, who seems to be the only one of JW's characters for whom he just eats as he normally does.  

 

Adding to the mukbang pics:

 

Spoiler

"Yong Pal" Behind the Scenes

 

 

And this is the full video that that image is from:

 

 

More Park Si On mukbang! - I think I'd shared this before, but it's relevant, so I'm doing it again. And I'm posting it as a link because the image shows up big on Pinterest but tiny here.

 

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/07/71/68/077168b226956e7fb680a530799ca2b1.jpg

 

And one more from "Life Log" - The sketch he drew of his manager is funny, too.

 

 

 

And just a few more miscellaneous pics

 

Spoiler

Cutie face

 

 

I'm not really sure how I would go about describing this expression - what do you think?

 

 

Best picture of the red and black outfit from "Nae Il's Cantabile" I've seen thus far, from this Instagram slideshow https://www.instagram.com/p/BcI3Y_znYtV/?taken-by=moonstarjw_

 

I still really like him in this, either as Cha Yoo Jin or as Moon Jun Won himself  

 

 

 

Again, if people pop on again later on today, I'll add some more pics.  

[moonstrike]

31 minutes ago, kittyna said:

notice from the pictures that JW changes how he eats to match how he imagines the character he's playing would eat. So, there's how he eats when he's himself (as you can see on variety shows like 1N2D or "Life Log"), there's how his character eats (which usually ends up lacking some of his more distinct mannerisms)...and then there's Park Si On, who seems to be the only one of JW's characters for whom he just eats as he normally does.  

Yeah... He always analyzes his character so he can play his character well. It is one of the advantages and his personality that I like. he analyzed his character in great detail, from how to walk, how to eat, how to speak, and other small things. he even watch the documentary and also meet his grandmother and grandfather to be told the story of the Japanese colonial era. 

 

But after the shoot ended, he will become himself again . The cute and humble man.

Although he takes time to release his character from his previous drama in order to play his new character, he do it slowly and even though he release his character, he never forget it. He remember every details in the drama. 

 

Like in this video! This video also showing joo won revealing his greatest dish.. hahaha

 

33 minutes ago, kittyna said:

And one more from "Life Log" - The sketch he drew of his manager is funny, too.

Its funny. He drew his manager and write "don't take picture, please!" And "I'm Jae cheon"..

 

All of his fans is calling joo won's manager as angel manager because he is so kind and understanding. I read it in the fan diary. They said that the manager is treating them politely and kindly. In lifelog, joo won is laughing because he read a letter that said the letter is for angel manager. 

 

Photos again! 

 

With his sister in yong pal.

 

 

So handsome!!!

 

Hello there! 

 

[kittyna]

4 hours ago, moonstrike said:

Yeah... He always analyzes his character so he can play his character well. It is one of the advantages and his personality that I like. he analyzed his character in great detail, from how to walk, how to eat, how to speak, and other small things. he even watch the documentary and also meet his grandmother and grandfather to be told the story of the Japanese colonial era. 

 

But after the shoot ended, he will become himself again . The cute and humble man.

Although he takes time to release his character from his previous drama in order to play his new character, he do it slowly and even though he release his character, he never forget it. He remember every details in the drama. 

 

It's also because of this that he can still go back into a character when requested by fans, interview hosts, etc. So, for instance, because JW did not so much learn his lines as Park Si On as create a whole manner of speaking for him (i.e. a specific posture, the use of really formal endings, a particular tone of voice, etc.), he can literally say just about anything as Park Si On when asked.  Or, like you'd mentioned once, the time he was asked to say the 1N2D slogan in Lee Kang To's voice.

 

4 hours ago, moonstrike said:

All of his fans is calling joo won's manager as angel manager because he is so kind and understanding. I read it in the fan diary. They said that the manager is treating them politely and kindly. In lifelog, joo won is laughing because he read a letter that said the letter is for angel manager. 

 

I love the relationship that JW has with Angel Manager - it's, from what I can see, a really healthy working relationship, and even a friendship. We see a lot of depictions in dramas of actors picking on their managers (e.g. "My Love from Another Star") or managers who act almost like the actor's boss (e.g. "Producers"), but I think the reality probably is closer to what we see in shows like "Life Log". That still doesn't stop me from thinking JW's incredibly fortunate, though - because we do know that the bad sort of actor-manager relationships do exist.

 

And now for some more pictures!

 

Spoiler

I never even noticed that JW made this face so many times on "Healing Camp" until someone compiled the shots like this  

 

 

I really like the lighting here - it's the classic chiaroscuro effect, meaning that, yes, JW's a rather artistic photographer (or poster, at least) when he wants to be  

 

 

I've seen a few of these pictures before separately, but not all at once

 

 

No real reason, here - I just like these shots just because.

 

 

 

 

 

By the way, a quick fic-related announcement: my next story will be for "Good Doctor" and will be from Park Si On's point of view. I'd said that I had a few ideas floating around on my mind, and I can tell you now that one of them's starting to actually form into a story  

[kittyna]

Just popping by to share some new stuff I've come across today that I'm really excited about.

 

1. A ton of photos I haven't seen before from "My Sassy Girl" that have now been added to my hanbok photo collection:

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Something that isn't directly JW-related, but that is relevant to the New Year's story I posted the other day, "Angel of Music, Come Down from Above".

 

(So, yes, this will be under "Hidden Content" as well, both because of its indirect relevance to this forum, and because of potential spoilers for those who haven't read the fic.)

 

Spoiler

Recall the piano-playing scene in the story that's set in the bar/lounge of the Hotel Imperial in Vienna? Well, tonight, I happened to stumble across a video of a real piano concert that was held in the same location in 2014 (although the video is from 2016).

 

 

But I'm not just here to share the video - rather, I'm here to share a detail that I hadn't known at the time I wrote/posted the story, but that I think is worth noting now. Basically, when I had been looking up photos of the lounge for reference, I had noticed that there was something a bit unusual about the piano (as seen in this photo from 2014)

 

 

It's a bit hard to spot, but do you see what looks like silver lines on the piano lid? At the time, I hadn't thought much of it, and just dismissed it as a trick of the lighting.

 

As it turns out, the piano was described as a limited edition Bösendorfer piano known as the "Beethoven" - which has, as part of its decorative detailing, the same silver etching that you see in the 2014 photograph; in reality, that etching is part of score for Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata".

 

(You can't see that detail in the video because it's only visible from a specific angle that wasn't used in the filming, but you can see it in this photo)

 

 

By this point, a different Bösendorfer piano is currently in that lounge in the Hotel Imperial, but that's a model that was released after the events in this story took place. Also, the next major limited edition piano that I've seen in the Hotel Imperial after the Beethoven was released in March 2016 - and thus, again, after the story's events took place.

 

In other words, going back to my fic...this could very well be the literal instrument Seol Nae Il and Cha Yoo Jin played in the story, and I'd had no idea it was actually that special until now.  

 

Edited January 4, 2018 by kittyna
Updated the second item posted here, since I've found some more information.

[moonstrike]

8 hours ago, kittyna said:

 

It's also because of this that he can still go back into a character when requested by fans, interview hosts, etc. So, for instance, because JW did not so much learn his lines as Park Si On as create a whole manner of speaking for him (i.e. a specific posture, the use of really formal endings, a particular tone of voice, etc.), he can literally say just about anything as Park Si On when asked.  Or, like you'd mentioned once, the time he was asked to say the 1N2D slogan in Lee Kang To's voice.

Yeah... in 2013, he always asked to be park shi on and talk "ppalli ppalli ..." its great because first, he is him but after he asked, he will be park shi on and make gestures that park shi on does. Like his legs close together, his hands together, his body will bend slightly, head tilted, and his eyes are not focused. then he will talk like a child. Its so incredible that joo won can form this character himself and also return to park shi on precisely then back to himself again after some years. He still can do it in healing camp.

 

8 hours ago, kittyna said:

Or, like you'd mentioned once, the time he was asked to say the 1N2D slogan in Lee Kang To's voice.

Its funny tho. Because he was coughing after doing it. Our cutie is rarely using that tone in real life and always using his cute aegyo voice when talking. But if he become a sunbae or hyung, he will change again. 

 

8 hours ago, kittyna said:

I love the relationship that JW has with Angel Manager - it's, from what I can see, a really healthy working relationship, and even a friendship. We see a lot of depictions in dramas of actors picking on their managers (e.g. "My Love from Another Star") or managers who act almost like the actor's boss (e.g. "Producers"), but I think the reality probably is closer to what we see in shows like "Life Log". That still doesn't stop me from thinking JW's incredibly fortunate, though - because we do know that the bad sort of actor-manager relationships do exist.

Yeah... i love it too! I've seen many manager that making his celebrity suffer and just consider them as working partner only. The manager and the artist is not working so well like friends. But when i watched lifelog, i feel like their relationship is like bestfriend. I remember one episode, when joo won took a snack from one of the managers(?), angel manager realized it and immediately ran to take more snacks for joo won in his car then gave it immediately to joo won. it also happens when joo won hurt his hand while shooting CF. angel manager immediately took the plaster to cover the wound. 

 

And also, he is not only good to joo won but also to his fans. he would say politely and kindly to them. you should see it and read it yourself to know it.

 

Instagram Video! Its cute.

 

By the way, yesterday joo won's movie "Fatal Intuition" is in the list of the most search in naver. Its on 16!! Even though its been almost 3 years!!! Congratulations!

http://m.dcinside.com/view.php?id=joowon&no=318150&page=1