For The Musical Genius (Novel) - Chapter 29

Chapter 29 

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“This guy is painting such a big picture, he’s a regular Picasso!”

A comment from the chief prosecutor who handled the Jeon Wan-yong case in my past life. There’s a saying about sucking out the marrow. The act of leaking detailed industrial technology without missing anything – from production process flow, equipment types, roles, placement, specs, to operation methods. This was an era when awareness of Article 356-2 of the Criminal Code regarding breach of trust was not widespread. Moreover, it was an abnormal period when promissory notes were rampant. The prosecutor’s office called the 90s the golden age of fraudsters.

‘No wonder they were completely devoured by foreign capital.’

It was like having your nose cut off right in front of your eyes. The incompetent uncles naturally wouldn’t have known, being men who cared most about their positions. The documents reported to grandfather were all cleverly disguised. I can clearly imagine how much that slick Wan-yong must have racked his brains.

“Child, already curious about the gift?”

That’s when grandfather looked at me with playful eyes.

“Grandfather, don’t you find it strange?”

The red pen made clicking sounds.

“Director Jeon, as you can see, is in charge of new material development. Matters related to new material development don’t fall under trade secret requirements like non-publicity, economic usefulness, and confidentiality management. But Director Jeon seems to be trying to fit them into trade secret requirements. Even unnecessarily expanding legal provisions. Why would this be?”

Grandfather was looking at me with curious eyes.

“It’s to avoid the Industrial Technology Protection Act. Since prosecutors have low technical understanding, they apply laws according to company decisions. But trade secret requirements are too strict for industrial technology to usually qualify. Eventually, Dongju’s new material development would end up being neither here nor there, not even falling under the Industrial Technology Protection Act. He’s exploiting a clever loophole in the law.”

Grandfather was looking at me with uncomprehending eyes. Understandable, as this was an era of prevalent makeshift operations. While companies should prioritize choosing between trade secrets and industrial technology protection law for new material development matters, Dongju didn’t even have a proper legal team yet. I should explain more simply.

“Since it falls under neither trade secrets nor the Industrial Technology Protection Act, even if he later sells off the new material development technology completely, Dongju can’t charge Director Jeon with breach of trust. In short, he’s a robber without a knife.”

Grandfather looked like he’d been doused with cold water. Finally, with eyes as big as saucers, grandfather asked me.

“Hyun-ah, how do you know about such things?”

What should I say?

“I saw it on the news. Remember when they had huge coverage about Hyunsung Group’s industrial technology being leaked to China? I watched carefully then, and this was their method.”

Grandfather’s eyes narrowed. Of course, even I wouldn’t believe it if a young grandchild said such things. But there was no choice. I couldn’t let Dongju fail again. Only the clicking sound of the red pen echoed in the silent room.

*

Pitter-patter―!

The downpour hadn’t stopped even by evening. As I was entering the Ichon-dong mansion with grandfather, young uncle was still kneeling in front of the entrance. Oh my, I thought something might really be wrong, but then I changed my mind. The color was the same, but the suit type had changed and the shoes were different too. As expected, it was obvious he had come back to Ichon-dong only around evening.

“Father! Please give me one more chance!”

Could there be a more ridiculous act?

He was acting with all his might, in his own way. If even I could tell, how could grandfather, with his keen eye, not know?

“Come in.”

Huh?

Young uncle’s face bloomed with a smile at grandfather’s words. But he quickly erased his expression and shed tears, clearly having pinched his thigh from what I could see.

‘It’s like a drama.’

Like a weekend drama, young uncle sat at the dining table looking like a drowned rat. Though the housekeeper offered new clothes, he stubbornly refused, apparently trying to properly imprint his pitiful image on grandfather. However, grandfather picked up his spoon without sparing young uncle a single glance.

As the tense meal continued like walking on thin ice.

“Beom-kyung.”

Grandfather called young uncle’s name quietly.

“Yes, father!”

Young uncle raised his voice, seeing his chance. Grandfather stopped eating and looked at young uncle with a strange gaze. In one way he looked furious to his core, in another way his face seemed gentle. A completely unpredictable expression.

“Do you now know what you did wrong?”

Young uncle’s face filled with confusion. Because he received the same question as this morning. His mind was spinning so frantically I could almost hear it from across the table. That’s when grandfather spoke firmly.

“I won’t say this twice, stop eyeing company management from now on.”

Young uncle’s eyes suddenly widened.

“Father! Isn’t this too harsh just because I mismanaged one subordinate? The embezzlement was unavoidable.”

Oh my, this fool.

He doesn’t know that lying low is the best strategy at times like this.

Grandfather had discovered Director Jeon’s misdeeds. He must have realized that Dongju could collapse from its core. No ordinary anger could express grandfather’s current state of mind. Grandfather’s eyes gleamed fiercely.

“Do you even know what kind of things the people you brought in are doing! If I gave you an executive director position despite your ignorance of the world, you should feel that much responsibility. How long will you act like a child!”

At grandfather’s thundering voice, young uncle’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. Well, if he had only developed an eye for people from the start, this wouldn’t have happened. As they say, excess is as bad as deficiency. Grandfather had finally realized young uncle’s true capacity.

“Fa, father!”

Just as young uncle looked at grandfather with an expression about to cry,

Crack―!

Grandfather’s spoon struck young uncle’s forehead. From the red blood flowing, his forehead must have split. I pretended not to see and picked up some braised lotus root with my chopsticks. Compared to almost losing an entire company, this was nothing. By the way, today’s meal tastes fit for a king.

* * *

“Chairman, we’ve found the item you mentioned.”

Chairman Wang raised his head at his secretary’s words. The item his close friend had asked for, he had requested to find an auction house where it might be sold as per their Go game bet.

“Location?”

“It’s expected to be held in New York, managed by Sotheby’s.”

As expected, it was far away. The handling place was also a world-renowned auction house boasting hundreds of years of tradition.

“What’s the expected winning bid?”

Chairman Wang’s brow furrowed. The expected winning bid was higher than thought. Indeed, it should be treated more as an art piece than an instrument. However.

“Get it.”

The secretary withdrew at Chairman Wang’s words. His attitude was as casual as picking up snacks at a supermarket. Originally, he only needed to inform about the auction location, but Chairman Wang didn’t mind the extra effort. Only the aged fragrance filled the quiet reception room.

“Yes.”

Chairman Wang’s mouth corners lifted.

“He’ll make a good son-in-law.”

*

Achoo!

A sudden sneeze made my ear tickle. Is someone talking about me? At that moment, Son Yu-ha tugged at my sleeve and looked at me.

“Oppa, did you catch a cold?”

I shook my head while rubbing my nose bridge. She looked ready to serve me medicinal herbs right away. I don’t know how the Ice Queen became so smitten with me. But whatever, in this second life, I shouldn’t stop women who come or go.

“Hyun-ah, was there any awkward part?”

Park Sun-young carefully asked me after finishing her performance. She never hesitated to ask about things she didn’t know. I know this type well, people who don’t hesitate in pursuing knowledge. Commonly called hardworking geniuses.

“There’s something I’ve wanted to say for a while.”

Park Sun-young stared at me intently with sparkling eyes.

“Noona, your posture is wrong.”

“Huh?”

Park Sun-young unconsciously raised her voice. She couldn’t understand. She had spent her whole life learning how to hold the violin on her shoulder and grip the bow. She was skilled enough to take perfect positioning even with her eyes closed. Yet, her posture was wrong?

“You’ve played violin since childhood, right?”

“Yes?”

“Because you’ve been playing violin since very young, your posture has become completely standardized. Like it’s straight from a textbook. Of course, this isn’t necessarily bad, but for you specifically, it’s the wrong method.”

Park Sun-young’s eyes were filled with questions.

“Focused on the habit of making the bow cross the strings precisely, you don’t even notice that one of your shoulders is drooping.”

It was a difference so subtle it was hard to detect visually. The fact that Park Sun-young’s shoulders were at different heights.

“Try taking the position again.”

Rather than trying to explain verbally, I adjusted Park Sun-young’s posture while she held the violin. How much time had passed? Despite the difficult posture adjustment, Park Sun-young seemed quite unsatisfied with the position I created.

“Hyun-ah, if I take this posture…”

“You think it’ll make a scratching sound, right?”

It was natural to expect scratching sounds when bowing outside the orthodox position. At some point, Park Sun-young had stopped playing the violin in any position except what she was accustomed to. She hadn’t taken such an unbalanced posture even once since first touching the violin.

“Try playing.”

Park Sun-young swallowed and regulated her breathing.

Then slowly raised her bow.

“Huh?”

Though the bow touched the strings, there was no scratching sound. Rather, the melody was richer and smoother than before. It was a small difference but nonetheless shocking. Posture was the most basic of basics. Park Sun-young’s gaze immediately turned to me.

“Most people have their own posture. But because it’s hard to identify visually, they take fixed positions.”

Now Park Sun-young looked completely speechless. Son Yu-ha had already brought her violin case and was trying to take the position too. This is why you shouldn’t do things carelessly in front of children.

“Oh right, noona. You said we need a recommendation letter to enter the competition?”

At my voice, Park Sun-young seemed to finally snap out of her thoughts.

“Ah, yes.”

“Would a foreigner be okay?”

“A foreigner?”

Park Sun-young tilted her head at the mention of a foreigner. Meanwhile, two people naturally came to mind.