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- 10th Newsletter
Dear my reader
How are you today?
This is your A.thentic Jong Hee 💕
(This is my 10th newsletter to you. Wow, 10th, already.)
How is the weather in your area?
The weather is getting warm for the spring season here, around 17-23 degrees Celsius, but meanwhile Seoul is much warmer,(or hotter), like 20-27 degrees Celsius or something.
When I lived in Seoul, it was so hot in May, (the official summer season starts from June to August in Korea), but sometimes the temperature in May in Seoul rises up to 30 degrees. (I’m still talking about Seoul, Why? Because I lived in Seoul for longer than 20 years, but in Busan? Less than 2 years.).
Anyway, I love the spring season till the end of Summer. In Summer, especially the air quality gets much better in Korea, because the direction of wind is changed.
(Ah..I have so much good memories of how I enjoyed the summer season in Seoul.) 🌈💓
I’m just thinking this song now.
Song : “Unspoken Mind”
Okay, now I will share some Korean food in a traditional market around my town, Haeundae, Busan.
 All are fried foods |  Fried Squid, Fried peppers etc. |
 They sell ‘Tteokbokki’ |  And ‘Fish cakes’, etc. |
About the ‘Tteokbokki’, (떡볶이), I have so many things to explain. This is also THE NO.1 most favorite street food in Korea. Korean people loooooove~ it.💖🧡 (You must have already seen this food in any K-dramas). There are two types: one sold by shops in the streets, and the other made at home or from a buffet style. I will explain this later, one day.
 |  |
It’s a little irony that the customers are foreigners tourists from other countries, and the server also is a foreigner. All the fried foods are initially cooked by the Korean chef owner and the foreigner server just learns how to fry, technically reheating the food. But I’ve never seen this kind of scene in Seoul or other cities.🤔 Only here in Busan. Perhaps it’s because Haeundae is the most popular among the tourists.
It is like when I lived in New York, I wanted to eat some pizza, but the cook staffs were mostly from South America.
 |  |
The night views of traditional food market in Haeundae, Busan.
Anyway, today’s letter is about the backstory of my piano album.
I’m so glad that finally I share this story with you. Although I haven’t finished writing the story yet. I’m still in the middle of it, to be honest, I hardly have time to write more once or twice a week. But I completed all the story and synopsis long ago, and that’s why I released the piano album sequentially.
I may still share the story with you a little later than the album is released.
But I will try to complete the story and share with you, so you can better understand what the piano songs are about. (And I’m sure that you will like the story too).
And to make it a good story, or novel, I know I have to polish it more, but for now, I’ve roughly completed it and am sharing it with you because showing you my story is my priority. Later, I will polish it again.
I initially wrote this story (novel) in Korean version first, and I used a translation app, because I don’t have time to rewrite it in English. After translating it into English, I read it cautiously and corrected some words myself, because some were translated so incorrectly. And I also mostly use the present tense in the novel, because I prefer that tense, perhaps because I’m used to writing scripts for screen.
Okay, now, do you remember the title of the first piano track? Yes, It’s “I met you beautifully.”
I share the story about the first track, but now, please don’t share my story to other places, or sites, or anywhere. Because this is my original story I created and I wrote. Just enjoy it inside here.
(At first, I planned to divide the two parts in the first scene, but now I will show you the entire first scene (#1). This is experimental. So I’m I’m looking forward to your feedbacks. 💜 As for the next scene, I'm not sure yet.)
And this is so important! ; When you read my story, you’d better listen to my piano song, the first track, because I wrote the story while I kept listening to the music.
I will add the link, and follow the link and listen to it. Then you can be focused on the mood more deeply.
Okay. Now I’ll say goodbye here before showing you the story.
I hope you enjoy the story.
And have a nice Sunday, also a good week days.
I will see you next time.
Thank you for reading, my reader!🌹
You, who are reading this and will send me a reply, are the reason and motivation behind my ability to do this. Yes, it’s YOU. 😊💜💖 Thank you, as always.
Bye
From A.thentic Jong Hee
The back story of my piano album, ‘A love story’ (working title)
Okay, again, you should keep listening to these songs while you read it. It has #1, & #2, two songs, but no problem. (Or, you can keep listening to the #1 first track only, if you can).
So here you are :
The piano tracks : #1. “I met you beautifully” #2. “We walked together”
A love story for Piano (working title)
Written by A.thentic Jong Hee
Scene #1. “I Met You Beautifully”
The wind blowing through the forest is always refreshing. Regardless of the season or weather, it always feels that way. The quiet rustle of the wind, the chirping of birds, and the distant sound of a stream all come together to tickle Hyun's ears as he takes a stroll in the forest on this midday. The warm sunlight filters through the straight pine trees of the forest, scattering here and there.
Although it has been almost ten years since he gave up his lively youth in his twenties in Seoul and moved to this small rural village, he still seems to live each day as a stranger in this area. When his father passed away and his mother's health deteriorated, he decisively quit his life in Seoul and moved here. Despite this being his father's and mother's hometown, since he wasn't born or raised here, and with no friends or acquaintances around, he became a taciturn man in his late thirties, with few words to spare.
Working on the farm alone, following his father's footsteps, he takes care of dozens of cattle in the backyard, tends to the cattle shed, raises ducks and chickens, gathers eggs, and even milks and feeds the cows, all without any help. He used to come down and help his father when he was in school or working, and the experience gained from those times is now proving helpful. Even though his father never criticized or gave advice, the reason he did not was perhaps due to an unspoken pressure, as his father only hoped his son would live an easy life in the city, not to dream of farm work.
Since his mother's health has improved significantly since he came down, she occasionally goes out to check on the cattle shed and offers them meals, but each time he discourages her, fearing her health may worsen again.
"But people have to move sometimes. How can you just stay home?"
She tries to persuade her son, but Hyun's attitude is always firm.
"Just take a walk. Don't try to carry heavy things."
He says, urging her, as he prevents his mother from working.
"That's why if you bring a girl home, I'll worry less.."
Whenever the topic of his son's marriage comes up, he never responds with any words.
"Oh, look at these cherry blossoms. They've already bloomed so wide. The whole neighborhood looks bright."
As his mother comes out of the front yard and sees the cherry blossoms that fill the path in front of the forest, she says with a brightened face. And when she calls the large shepherd dog, Baekdu, who was circling around her son, Baekdu runs to her across the front yard. Hyun, who was paying attention to the cherry blossom trees at the entrance of the forest and the path filled with cherry blossoms, rather than the stacks of straw and feed on the cart that he had loaded up for the cattle shed, gazes absent-mindedly into the forest path.
The next day, Sunday morning dawned. As he usually does on Sundays, Hyun decided to take a break from farm work around noon, before even eating breakfast, and quickly tidied up the backyard and checked on the cattle. After breakfast, Hyun brewed coffee as usual, put it in a tumbler, grabbed a book, and headed for the forest.
"Don't be too late. Come back before lunch. Don't skip meals."
His mother, sitting on the backyard chair, brushes off Baekdu's back while speaking with a worried look on her face.
"I'll be back soon.."
He puts on earphones, plays quiet new-age music from his phone, and walks towards the forest. With the bright sunlight and blue sky of the refreshing spring day, and the cherry blossoms blooming widely on both sides of the entrance path, he is greeted.
The forest path is pretty, and the pine and oak trees in the forest are densely packed, making it quiet and infinitely beautiful. However, because it is so far from the city and far from the village houses, there are hardly any people to be seen. These reasons have made him like this place even more since he came here.
Shortly after he starts walking, a small forest path neatly guides him deeper into the woods beyond the entrance. Walking quietly inside, the only sounds are the chirping of birds, the distant sound of farm machinery from the village, and occasionally, the passing villagers, but nothing disturbs him except for the occasional footsteps.
When he first came down here, he secretly worried that he might miss Seoul, but when he came down and saw him enjoying this forest, he gradually began to think that perhaps all the people and noise he felt in Seoul would have been so annoying.
The trees in the forest are so tall that they cover the sun, but it is not dark inside the forest as it is still daytime. After walking for a while, he looks ahead. There are only pine trees visible, but he stares blankly ahead as if lost in thought. Then he hears the sound of footsteps sweeping the dirt floor of the forest path from a little distance away. He turns his head to look down the path and sees someone walking towards him. Seeing the vague figure, Hyun thinks to himself.
'Is it a tourist…?'
As the figure gets closer and reveals itself to be a young woman, although she is far away, from her clothing and shoes that don't match the forest, it's clear that she is not a local in the village.
As she walks along the forest path, Hyun quietly whispers to himself while observing her scanning the surroundings with curious eyes above, below, and all around.
"Should be careful there…”
With that word, a short scream is heard immediately.
"Oh, my..!”
She cries out from a distance. There was a place that was sunken on one side of the forest path, but it was hidden by the grass and couldn't be seen, so she stepped in. When she lost her balance and fell forward, her knees hit the ground, but fortunately, she didn't get hurt. Instead, she stands up, touching her hand to the ground. However, her skirt and hands were covered in dirt, leaving muddy traces on her pale blue skirt. She tries to dust off the dirt on her clothes, but as the faint muddy traces don't disappear quickly, she just gives up and brushes them off, then walks back. Hyun quickly lowers his head towards the book, afraid that she might feel embarrassed.
"Did you see that?"
As she reaches him, she throws a short question with a slightly smiling face.
"..What...?"
Hyun responds reflexively, looking into her eyes. With eyes as clear and radiant as can be, cascading curls of long hair, and delicate features. Captivated by her beauty, he momentarily loses his words and can only reflexively respond, ‘what..?’. In that moment, he is surprised to find himself speaking in the highest tone for the first time since coming here.
"Did you see it all..?"
She asks again, her tone slightly probing, yet still retaining her cute and lovely voice, with a hint of pride. After a brief pause, he responds briefly,
“Yes…”
In response to his answer, she momentarily looks at him and then nods slowly.
“I see.. You saw it…”
“…..."
"It's okay. I often trip and fall. It's my first time here, so that happened. Well, then."
As she nods briefly in greeting as she passes by, Hyun's voice is heard from behind.
"Here, take this…"
She turns her head at his words.
“Use this..."
He is taking out wet wipes from his bag and handing them to her.
"Oh, wet wipes? You have it. Thank you. This should do it."
As she sits next to him and takes out a wet wipe to wipe off the dirt on the front of her navy skirt. Her action is so cute and pretty that Hyun just stares at her, and she pauses wiping to look at him. He is startled and turns his eyes to the book.
"Do you live in this neighborhood?"
After wiping her skirt and hands for a while, she suddenly asks Hyun.
"..Yes.."
"That's nice... It's pretty here... If it weren't for this trap."
“….."
Without any response, Hyun looks at the book.
"Oh, is this coffee?"
She suddenly asks in a bright tone, pointing to the tumbler next to him.
"Ah... Yes.."
"Can I have some? I've been wanting coffee so much. There doesn't seem to be any cafes nearby, either."
"But I was drinking…"
"It's okay. I'll just have a little."
Interrupting Hyun's words, she picks up the tumbler and drinks the coffee straight from it. Hyun simply watches her unexpected behavior.
"Oh… It's good.. Is it from Brazil..?"
After taking a sip of coffee, she says. Hyun has no reply to her words.
"On days like this, warm coffee is much better than iced coffee. But you already knew that?"
Even with her bubbly words, Hyun has nothing to say and remains silent.
"I'll have a little more."
After drinking a few more sips, she hands the tumbler to Hyun.
"Do you want some? I'll drink it all at this rate…"
"Ah.. It's okay. Even if you drink it all…"
"Ah, then I'm sorry. I'll stop drinking. But I'll definitely pay you back for this. Whenever I get a chance."
With that, she closes the tumbler and puts it next to Hyun.
“Okay, so… Nice to see you. See you next time"
As she stands up, Hyun also ends up standing unconsciously.
“Thank you for the coffee”
As she says goodbye with a slight smile, she bows lightly and turns to leave. Hyun also reflexively lowers his head for a moment. Then he watches her walk away with bright steps.
The refreshing spring breeze filled with the scent of flowers brushes against his cheeks as it passes by.
<The end of #1 (Scene#1)>