He screwed up. He's done screwed up.
How did he fool himself into thinking that the glorious resume he dreamed to create by using Park Joonyoung as his stepping stone could be achieved so easily? How did he delude himself into thinking that he could achieve success through Joonyoung without any mishap? All of this didn't turn out the way he'd imagined!
Just as he thought that things would finally look up for him with Joonyoung wanting him to find new gigs to do, that kid suddenly dropped the big bomb about wanting to quit his career altogether! So now not only Chris has started breathing down his neck over this issue, even his former colleagues didn't want to help him out.
What should he do?
"Ah! Joonyoung should've listened to whatever Song-ah would tell him, right? I should go ask her to change Joonyoung's mind—"
Just as he was about to leave, Ms Cha had grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Don't you go and tell Song-ah about this as well! Especially now, since Joonyoung and her have broken up."
Park Sungjae gaped his mouth at his former colleague. "What?"
xxx
He really screwed up badly this time, huh?
Was this... karma getting back at him? Because he said all of those nasty things to Song-ah before? Because he tried to control Joonyoung the way he wanted? So now he got his wish about the two breaking up, but at what cost? Instead of making Joonyoung focus in his career even more he just caused Joonyoung to want to end his career!
What should he do?
It was then that he saw Ms Lee Jungkyung walking out from the school compounds...
—
Call him shameless if anyone wanted. He'd already hit rock bottom so who cares about pride anymore?
Since he couldn't ask Song-ah to help him and Young-in had warned him against contacting Joonyoung's mom, he decided to rely on the next best person. Ms Lee Jungkyung. Ms Lee had known Joonyoung since they're very young... so if anyone could convince the kid to change his mind about quitting piano it should be her, right? If there's anyone around Joonyoung who could understand the value of Joonyoung's talent, that person should be Ms Lee.
He tried not to think about the many things he said about Jungkyung to Joonyoung to make him stop associating himself with his former close friends. He needed someone to help him after all. Jungkyung and Joonyoung were still quite close, weren't they? Ms Lee should be able to get Joonyoung to change his mind, right?
Alas, his hopes were dashed when he received no news by the end of the day. And then the news about the death of Director Nah came out.
xxx
How bad was his luck going to continue to be? Not only that Joonyoung still refuse to change his mind about quitting piano, but now Director Nah has passed away. Just as he thought that he could try going up to her to try to talk to Joonyoung when Jungkyung had failed to persuade the kid. It was as if everything around him decided to turn its back on him.
This was his punishment. It's punishment to him for going over his head and acted recklessly out of greed. If only he hadn't become conceited in thinking that he was better than the people working in Kyunghoo over how they managed Joonyoung's career and tried to take away the foundation's right of management over Joonyoung. If only he hadn't done that, things might not have ended up turning this badly. Joonyoung might have still just been on a sabbatical leave and not thinking about quitting piano completely. And he might've still had a secure job at Kyunghoo... and not having to worry about losing his current job due to the mess that he had started.
Park Sungjae started walking away dejectedly before noticing the crowd gathering towards the concert hall area. It took him a while before recalling that Seoryeong University was still having the recital concerts for their graduating students. Not even the death of the Foundation's director could stop the graduation recitals from continuing to proceed as planned.
He let out a long sigh.
If he hadn't quit working for Kyunghoo he should be quite busy now, handling the events behind the scene...
And just then he saw Joonyoung and Song-ah both walking towards the halls.
xxx
So Song-ah's having her graduation recital today. What an odd coincidence that it was also the same day the wake for Director Nah was held at the foundation's hall nearby.
Sungjae glanced back towards the pamphlet he got and skimmed the names until he found Song-ah's. He saw that Song-ah's accompanist was listed as a Ms Kim, so that should mean what Young-in told him was true about the two having broken up. Suddenly he felt very bad about it. Prior to this, he never actually told Joonyoung off about his decision to become Song-ah's accompanist for her recital but he did give clear hints to Song-ah that she should refuse the offer. He could remember Joonyoung being adamant about it though.
That reminds him. He didn't hear anything about Joonyoung helping Song-ah out for her graduate school audition. Did Song-ah already decide to change her accompanist since then?
Did Song-ah... broke up with Joonyoung because of what he said?
Everyone in the hall suddenly started clapping as Sungjae glanced back up towards the stage. So the kid who was performing before Song-ah had just finished their piece. Song-ah walked out from the back of the stage as she took her spot at the middle of the stage. But then Sungjae let out a soft gasp as he saw Joonyoung came out to act as Song-ah's piano accompanist.
xxx
"While playing the piano, I wasn't always happy."
"I probably thought I was unhappy most of the time."
"But... when I was with you, I was really happy. I realized that only now..."
As if he wasn't already feeling bad about everything, and he had to overhear that confession from Joonyoung to Song-ah in the waiting room. He was planning to wait for Joonyoung to come out and tried to convince him again about changing his mind on quitting. He ended up witnessing—no, accidentally eavesdropping—on such a private conversation instead. After hearing Joonyoung bare out his feelings towards Song-ah, he abandoned his intention in trying to talk Joonyoung out of quitting piano.
After all, what right did he have to ask Park Joonyoung to change his mind after all of the things he's done in the past?
He thought of the performance Song-ah had done earlier. Violin Sonata No 3 in D Minor, aka F-A-E Scherzo by Johannes Brahms. Quite a powerful piece. While Song-ah was not as good as some of the better-known violinist in the classical music industry, he could feel the emotions from the piece she played. 'Frei aber einsam' or otherwise translated as 'free but lonely'. Somehow, despite her level of skill... Song-ah managed to bring out the essence of the piece on how Brahms interpreted Joachim's motto.
The piece resounded into his soul, which surprised him. Because he thought that Song-ah wasn't really THAT good at the violin. He'd heard her reputation at school after all. But her playing was actually good this time, anyone could tell that she practised very hard to play the sonata well.
Joonyoung's piano was also good... but his piano playing did not overshadow Song-ah's. And while he wasn't seated very close towards the stage, he could sense something different about the piano accompaniment that Joonyoung had played. He didn't quite understand why back then but after hearing Joonyoung's confession earlier, he realized it.
This time, Joonyoung was playing the piano because he wanted to do it for Song-ah. Not because he needed to play the piano to receive high marks for competitions, not because he needed to play well in order to get paid for the performance. And definitely, not because someone else told him to play the piano just because he had the talent for it. It was brief; when the two gave the last bow before leaving the stage to make way for the other student, but he thought he saw it. It was the barest of a smile, yet it was still a smile.
Joonyoung was smiling at the end.
xxx
It was late, but he thought he could finally understand now why the late Director Nah had a specific way to how she wanted to handle Joonyoung's career. Because she wanted Park Joonyoung to be able to play the piano freely without being shackled by needless concern. It might not have turned out well in the end... but the intention was right on track.
He finally understands why Ms Cha was the one chosen to manage Joonyoung's activities in the past. Unlike him, Ms Cha was very empathetic and supportive of others well-being. When dealing with talents like Joonyoung, that kind of ability to relate to others could be quite useful. It's how they can help the talents they found and raise them to become great musicians.
That kind of ability... to which someone like him was lacking. How could he be the representative of a classical musical agency that deals with talented musicians if he couldn't even take care of one gifted pianist?
He thought of the things he used to say to Joonyoung in the past. How he made light of Joonyoung's talent just because the kid placed second in the last piano competition. He had blatantly told the kid that no one would care about his playing unless they resorted to other means to make him more seen. Which was actually a lie.
Joonyoung did not need to resort to some sob stories about himself to make people listen to his piano playing. His piano playing was enough to get people to want to see him perform even more.
He should've trusted Joonyoung a bit more when he was still managing the kid. He should've been more supportive of Joonyoung, regardless of what kind of rumours or reputations the kid might have stuck on him. And most of all...
...he should've treated Joonyoung as a person who has his own will, not just as some object that he could use to make a profit from.
He should resign his position. The branch company to which he was supposed to manage also wasn't even established yet so there shouldn't be any issues arising from his resignation.
Still, there should at least be something he could do to make amends to Park Joonyoung.
Just then, Park Sungjae spotted Han Hyeonho at a bus stop near the foundation.
The ending of the drama is satisfying but since the drama doesn't really show what happened to Park at the end I wanted to rectify this.
I left the ending line hanging because I don't think I needed to add more to that scene. Suffice to say, I put in my own theory on why Hyeonho ended up visiting Joonyoung later that night and made up with each other.