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Chapter 8
“Hey, Sinu. Is this the right way?”
“Yeah, it is.”
On a secluded Liverpool street where the sun had already set, Itai nodded at Sinwoo’s answer and started walking again.
This time I really need to find a job for Helena…
It had already been two weeks since he’d come to Liverpool with his fiancée, but she still hadn’t found any work. When they first decided to come to Liverpool, he had assumed she would find something soon after arriving. She was fluent in English and had plenty of work experience. But once they got here, there was nowhere to get local information, and the job hunt felt hopeless. Even the few postings she did manage to find and visit went to locals time and again.
No matter how I think about it, I should just be taking whatever work I can find, too…
If given the chance, Itai wanted to quickly find a job he could balance with his studies and help with living expenses. But his fiancée Helena had talked him out of it, saying it would be too hard to do both school and work, so for now he had decided to focus on his studies alone. At least, thankfully, a year of tuition and a semester of rent were already paid.
The problem is living expenses from now on…
Since he was young, Itai had worked in the professional field as a drummer. In other words, he had been paid to play music. He had scraped together that money bit by bit to make a lump sum. But after paying a year of tuition and a semester of rent, only enough remained to barely get by on toast.
After all those years of playing music, this is all I managed to save…
Of course, a year of tuition and a semester of rent were no small sums. A big part of why he’d ended up like this was the band leader he’d once been under. That leader was a merchant blinded by money, not music. Rather than making music with the team and fairly splitting the pay, he had shoved strange contracts at the members from the start, just to fatten his own pockets.
Haa, I never should have signed that contract.
Back when he was just becoming known as a drum prodigy, he was still young and had no idea how the music industry worked. His family, with no ties to music, was the same. Then the call came. A new band was being formed, and they wanted Itai as drummer. There was even a signing bonus. So Itai and his family signed on the spot, with no idea how unfavorable the contract was for the performers. They had cared less about money than about Itai gaining experience in a new environment, so they’d signed first. For his age he had received a large signing bonus all at once, but compared to the amount of work afterward, his income was close to nothing. He could barely live day to day.
“Haa.”
A sigh escaped him as he recalled it. Even earning little, he had gritted his teeth and endured, proud that he was doing the music he loved. Even when people looked down on him for being young, or for having learned music on the streets with no academic background, no matter how talented he was. He had held on all this time, waiting only to get into LSPA. And now, running headlong into the reality of money, he felt himself shrinking. Even he, who had been called a genius, was now struggling in front of his own education because of money. Following behind Sinwoo, Itai drifted into thought, then shook his head hard.
No. Let’s not think like this. I only need to cover the living expenses I need right now. Then I can finish my studies.
He held on to that resolve. But soon, something sprouted in his heart and asked him back.
Do you really think you can graduate from LSPA? While you’re worried about living expenses right now? You don’t even have ten pounds in your wallet.
No. No. I can do it. Helena believes in me. He took out his wallet and checked inside. There was only a single five-pound note with the Queen’s face on it. The note Helena had slipped in that morning, telling him not to miss out on a good time having a beer with his new friends.
“…”
Itai’s eyes grew hot. He looked down at the five-pound note for a while, then closed the wallet. Somehow, he felt he wouldn’t be able to spend it tonight.
“Here we are. Let’s go in.”
Before I knew it, we had arrived in front of the Kentucky chicken shop across from the hotel, where cars sped past. In the end, the group that came to the Kentucky chicken shop was me, Hjalmar, Itai, and two more dance majors. Of course, Autumn Scott and the other crew members who were watching his reaction didn’t join. Autumn seemed to have stayed away because I’d wounded his pride. The others seemed afraid of getting on his bad side.
That’s fine. Even if I got close to people who follow Autumn, they’d only end up being his spies.
The few who followed me didn’t seem to have any lingering attachment to Autumn. When we stepped into the Kentucky chicken shop, a hollow-eyed, exhausted employee greeted us listlessly.
“Welcome. Ready to order?”
“Yes. Three pieces of Original, please.”
As I opened my wallet to pay, I heard Hjalmar and Itai’s voices beside me.
“Itai, aren’t you ordering?”
“Uh… I drank a lot of beer earlier, so I’m full. I’ll just sit next to you.”
I blinked at Itai, then snapped back to my senses.
Right. Itai is in a situation where he has to save every penny.
In his previous life too, he hadn’t been able to cover living expenses for himself and his fiancée, and had given up school after one semester to return home. He had followed us all the way here now to get information about jobs for his fiancée. So every penny spent socializing with friends must have felt precious.
If burdensome gatherings like this keep happening, Itai won’t want to meet me later either. Money would go out every time. That would be a real problem for me…
I hoped to become close to him, and eventually bring him into my band. I dug through my memories of the past and fell into thought for a moment.
Even if it’s a bit of a stretch, maybe it’s better to do that…
Then:
“Hold on, guys.”
I stopped my friends who were ordering chicken. I apologized to the employee, led them out of the Kentucky chicken shop, and stepped outside.
“What is it, Sinu? You want something else?”
“I’m hungry~.”
“And there’s nowhere else around here that sells food.”
Hjalmar and the two dance girls whined from hunger. I smiled and answered them.
“There is one more place we can eat.”
I looked at the hotel across the street. The Dolby Hotel where I was staying. The others made baffled faces.
“The hotel restaurant?”
“Sinu, where would we get the money for a hotel restaurant?”
“Yeah. Let’s just eat Kentucky chicken.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“What if we could get a free dinner at the hotel?”
Their eyes widened and blinked.
“A free dinner?”
“At the hotel restaurant? How?”
Of course, the word “free” had hooked them. I answered with a friendly smile.
“In my room, which has even more varied Korean food than the hotel restaurant.”
In truth, I wasn’t going to take them to my room. Well, if they really wanted, we could stop by after eating. But the meal itself would be at the hotel restaurant.
Because today is the day that incident happens at the hotel.
In my previous life, when I’d returned to the hotel after the opening ceremony, I had been lying in my room killing time, and for some reason the hotel lobby had been especially noisy that day. I had gone down to the reception to see what was happening and found Derek struggling against a barrage of complaints from many people. The hotel had prepared a dinner show and sold seats, but the band scheduled to perform that day had gotten into an accident on the way and couldn’t attend. The guests had been demanding refunds.
So if we can take over that performance, we should at least get free food. Then Itai can enjoy dinner with us without any burden.
And it wasn’t just free food. If I negotiated well, there could be performance fees, maybe even tips. There was no better opportunity. But I couldn’t say this yet. It would look like I already knew what was going to happen. So first I’d say we should share the food I’d brought from Korea, and move toward the hotel.
“Oh, Sinu must have brought some good stuff from Korea.”
“I’ve never had Korean food before! Great~.”
Fortunately, nobody seemed to object.
“So you all agree?”
And so we crossed Charlotte Street and headed for the Dolby Hotel where I was staying.
“Oh. Good evening, Sinu.”
“Good evening, Derek.”
I had worried that someone other than Derek might be working the reception. Fortunately, he was standing there when we arrived. His expression was still cheerful, so he didn’t seem to have heard about the band’s accident yet.
Should I wait a bit longer? Then I’ll have to stall with this and that.
As I thought this while exchanging light greetings with Derek, his gaze moved to the people behind me.
“Are these your friends?”
“Ah, yes.”
I glanced at Hjalmar, Itai, and the two dance majors standing at my sides, then looked back at Derek.
“My friends would like to visit my hotel room briefly today. I wanted to ask if that’s all right.”
Derek raised the corners of his mouth as if to say not to worry.
“Of course. That’s fine. Overnight stays aren’t allowed, but a short visit is no problem.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Then first I’d take them up to my room, and come back out in about ten minutes. As I was about to lead my friends to my room for a moment…
Ring-ring-ring.
The phone at the reception began to ring. Derek picked it up and spoke, and his expression began to darken.
“What? The car’s tire blew out? So you’re saying you have to cancel tonight’s dinner show? Couldn’t you just take a taxi?”
That was the call.
