Devil’s Music

Gushion and Pyemon had stayed at Red Castle for nearly two weeks.

They spent ordinary days with Geon, building intimacy and trust.

Gamagin visited Gushion after Geon fell asleep, informing him that he would return to being an angel, which startled Gushion enough to repeatedly confirm Gamagin’s intention.

Realizing that Gamagin’s decision was not a temporary thought from a day or two ago, Gushion finally understood that the angels' inactivity was not merely due to their affection for the child named Geon.

Gushion, realizing that a high-ranking demon like Gamagin returning to an angel would have effects on other demons, wore a worried look but did not consider interfering with Gamagin's ceremony, having already sworn a pact of friendship under the name of a demon.

After a considerable time at Red Castle, the two left on the fourteenth day, and despite the long time together, Geon felt a pang of sadness as he and Byung-jun were left alone, sitting on the sofa in the slightly desolate annex living room.

Byung-jun, who always seemed to be alone, seemed to feel the absence of the ever-perceptive Pyemon, who had quickly grasped his metaphors.

That day, as usual, Byung-jun, in his underwear, kicked at Geon who sat near his feet.

“Geon.”

“What?”

“Aren’t you working on your album? You’ve just been playing all these two weeks, with the kids.”

“Who's playing? I’ve got the structure of the tracks all sorted out.”

Byung-jun sat up excitedly and said.

“Oh! Really? Ah, is it about what we discussed at the drink session? The song of fire, water, wind, and earth?”

“Yes, I’ve basically finished the structure and concept.”

“Oh, tell me about it. I'm dying of curiosity. You know if you don’t finish it in the next six months before graduation, the headlines will be buzzing with news of Juilliard’s prodigy Geon being held back.”

Geon got up and went to his room to fetch a sketchbook filled with scribbles, flipping through it before handing it to Byung-jun.

“For now, it’s the song of fire.”

Byung-jun frowned as he took the sketchbook full of incomprehensible scribbles and tossed it aside, scowling.

“Stop joking, man. Chairman Wang Hao is also worried.”

“That’s the actual concept. I always write like this.”

Byung-jun picked the sketchbook up again with a laugh and handed it back to Geon.

“Just explain it to me so I can understand, starting with the song of fire.”

Geon, looking at the sketchbook Byung-jun was holding, said,

“The genre is rock, and the key point is energy. The song of water, as you know, is closer to ballad music, not rock ballad but an R&B ballad.”

Byung-jun looked puzzled.

“The song of water was an R&B ballad? I had no idea.”

“It doesn’t have lyrics yet. Once Kiska’s lyrics are finished, we’ll add an R&B-style vocal melody line, reformatting it into more comforting, restful music.”

“Well... I see. What about the song of fire?”

“As I said earlier, it's rock, very intense rock, rhythmic rock that will make listeners involuntarily move, think of it as groove metal.”

Having already toured other bands in groove metal and having been acknowledged for his work in the genre as Fury, Byung-jun nodded without much worry and flipped to the next page of the sketchbook, again scowling as he extended it.

“What's this?”

Geon, looking at the sketchbook page filled with brown crayon scribbles and indecipherable drawings, said,

“That’s the concept for the song of earth.”

Byung-jun looked again and turned the sketchbook back to Geon, scowling as if staring at a toddler's scribblings.

“The key point of the song of earth is hope. It’s a story about rising again from cracked and dried earth, and the genre is hip-hop.”

Byung-jun, astonished, asked,

“Hip-hop? You can’t rap, can you?”

“That doesn’t matter; I have many people I can ask for help. It’s my album, but I don’t have to be the only one singing.”

“Well, people like Snoop Dogg or Eminem?”

“Probably, I'll use people I know, who are also very skilled.”

“Hmm... I should prepare the contracts.”

“Yeah, do that.”

“What about this one?”

Byung-jun flipped the next page without looking and turned the sketchbook towards Geon. He was giving up early and demanding an explanation

.

The sketchbook was filled with blue crayon scribbles, much more complex than the other pages. Geon laughed,

“That’s the song of wind. I pondered this one for a while. Wind is such a fascinating thing; it carries the seeds of flowers to new places to spread life, it brings sailors to land, but when it's angry, it becomes a hurricane that sweeps everything away, or a storm that harms people. Of course, the song of wind I'm creating isn’t that kind of music.”

“What kind of song are you making then?”

“It’ll be a refreshing wind. A pleasant wind that blows away stress.”

“Hmm... Sounds plausible, but... what genre?”

“I'm thinking of dance music, something for clubs.”

“What? Suddenly club music? You’ve never done that before?”

“It’s a chance to try something new. Hehe.”

After hearing the descriptions of all four songs, Byung-jun cocked his head, knowing he couldn’t win a musical argument with Geon and that he had never disappointed him musically, so he nodded and handed back the sketchbook.

“Have you decided on the album name?”

Geon raised his index finger and smiled,

“The Nature. Nature itself will be my music.”

Byung-jun pursed his lips and nodded as if he agreed,

“Hmm... That’s good. I’ll give a rough report then. But can you keep to the schedule?”

Geon folded the sketchbook and said,

“Well, it seems okay for now, but Kiska’s lyrics are taking a bit longer. Normally, she writes them in an hour or two, but this time she seems to be stuck.”

Byung-jun chuckled,

“Hey, how long did it take you to make the song of water?”

Geon thought for a moment and replied,

“Well, a few months, I think. Why?”

“Even a genius like you took months to make a song, how easy do you think it is to add lyrics? Kiska isn’t someone who writes nonsense; she calculates and considers emotions to write the best lyrics.”

“Ah... Is that so?”

“Pfft, anyway, you’ve been through the military and are about to graduate college, but this guy hasn’t matured in anything but music.”

Geon tickled Byung-jun’s feet, laughing,

“Hehe, I have you and Director Lin for that.”

“Pffhah, hey, that tickles!! Cut it out!!”

Byung-jun, laughing while pushing Geon away with his feet, caught his breath and said,

“Heh, heh. Oh! Actually, Director Lin asked me to ask you about the concept.”

Geon widened his eyes and looked at Byung-jun,

“Director Lin? Why didn’t he ask directly?”

“This guy, musicians are sensitive about their work. If someone at the director's level talks, it feels like a rush. Haven’t you felt that? Like, you sit down to study, and just when you start, your mom comes in and asks if you aren’t studying, and suddenly you don’t want to?”

Having never been pressured by his parents to study, Geon shrugged,

“I don’t know.”

“Damn, I should avoid hanging out with smart guys. Anyway, Director Lin didn’t want his casual comment to even slightly disturb your music work, so he told me to ask you subtly.”

Geon threw the sketchbook onto Byung-jun’s chest and shouted,

“Was this asking subtly? You kicked me while asking!”

Byung-jun laughed heartily,

“That’s typical me, the most natural thing! You little rascal! Pffhahah!”

After their playful banter, Byung-jun again turned serious,

“Do you remember?”

“What?”

“The day you have your official stage, I promised to create the best stage in the world for you.”

Caught off-guard by Byung-jun’s words, Geon looked at him and smiled broadly,

“I remember.”

“Look forward to it.”

“I trust you.”

“Is that a rhyme?”

“It seems so.”

“Let’s stop.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Is it fun?”

“It is.”

The two continued their playful four-letter rhyme conversation for a while. Byung-jun straightened up and asked,

“This is my personal question, and it might be sensitive.”

Knowing Byung-jun’s serious side, Geon straightened up and said,

“Yes, ask your question.”

Byung-jun looked intently into Geon’s eyes and cautiously asked,

“What about Kiska? I heard about what happened in Georgia. Was there talk of an engagement?”

As the topic of Kiska came up, Geon closed his mouth. Hesitating for a moment, he said,

“Um… actually, I’m worried about that. No matter how tall and big she is, I’ve known her since she was too young, and I can only see her as a child. I love her, but it’s not

the love of a man for a woman. More like the love for a family or a younger sister?”

“Did you tell that to Gregory or Kiska?”

“I couldn’t, bro. If Kiska knew I said this, she’d cry and make a scene.”

“Hmm, that’s good. So you haven’t made a decision yet?”

Geon pursed his lips and said,

“I’m just waiting, unless someone I love appears.”

“Waiting? What does that mean?”

“Kiska is still young. She hasn’t met many men in her life. As she grows up, she might naturally come to like someone else, and then I’ll remain her brother.”

Byung-jun asked with a serious look,

“What if she still feels the same even after she becomes an adult?”

Geon stretched lazily,

“I don’t know, I’ll think about it then. My feelings are important too.”

>

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