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Wearing the uniform of the neighboring middle school, the male student was just over 5′ 6″. He met eyes with Ye-rin as she was dragged along like an animal, and in that moment, the boy jumped forward.

There was no warning or anything. He picked up a wooden stick from the street and beat the daylights out of the three delinquents, as if he were beating mere animals.

Then, leaving the high schoolers who were bigger than him with the honest advice to live their lives properly, he had turned to leave.

That was when Ye-rin saw it. By the dim light of the streetlamp, she caught a glimpse of the name tag on the boy’s uniform.

The name she saw was Kang Hyuk.

* * *

“That was fun! Hyuk, what’s the next course?”

We came out after watching a movie called Rotten, Filthy, Shitty Bastard. It had gotten good reviews for being fun on the Internet. The movie had been funny throughout and had combined awesome scenes with action to give us a thrilling ride.

After relieving our stress and coming out of the movie theater, it was already almost six o’clock.

“Ye-rin, do you like jazz?”

“Jazz? How did you know, that I like jazz?”

The unique Ye-rin was clearly different from normal kids. I remembered the jazz tunes that had flowed from her MP3 the other day.

“Let’s go. There’s a place that does live jazz on Daehangno.”

“Really? Impressive, Hyuk! But Hyuk, are you maybe..”

“What?”

Having cheered while praising my meticulousness, Ye-rin’s doubtful eyes sparkled. “Are you one of those playboys I’ve only heard about?”

“P-playboy?”

I heard the word ‘playboy’ on my first date ever.

“Ye-rin.”

“Yeah?” At my quiet call, the goddess-like girl’s large eyes glimmered with playfulness.

“As the one who compelled me to become a playboy, you’re more likely to be one. And..” I trailed off as I gazed gently at Ye-rin’s black eyes. “For you, and only you, I want to become your playboy, always.”

Tremble.

‘That’s right, she should be moved. Huhu.’

Words so naughty that they made me want to go into a hardware shop and bang my head on a metal bar came out of my mouth.

“Hyuk..” Her eyes trembling as if she had been touched a hundred times over, Ye-rin called me with trembling lips.

“Yes, Ye-rin.”

On some street corner of Daehangno, as the dusk wrapped the city in shadows, Ye-rin called my name warmly.

And I waited for Ye-rin’s next words.

“I’m cold.”

‘GEH!’

“Has winter come so suddenly? Why is it this cold? Hohoho! Hyuk, be careful. You were so corny you almost made me fall over. Hohoho!”

“..”

‘Of course. I’m the idiot for having believed that dating was easier than studying.’

In middle school, in preparation for the upcoming world of love, I had thoroughly studied a $4 textbook on dating. It was something I always felt, but the truth was, theories and reality were really as different as night and day, and the price of an item showed in its effectiveness.

* * *

“Welcome. Do you have a reservation?”

Though it was located on Daehangno, a street that targeted young people, the live jazz cafe Prius maintained a dignified air. I had found through the internet that it was a place with jazz performances of the highest caliber.

“I have a reservation under the name Kang Hyuk.”

“Please wait a moment. Ah, here you are. You’re in the top VIP room. Please follow me.” The cordial waiter guided us to our table.

“Hyuk, isn’t this too much?” Ye-rin’s eyes had turned as big as saucers at the words ‘VIP room.’

“I spent all my allowance. It’s fine as long as you feed me and keep me alive for the next month, Ye-rin.”

“Ha, what? Well.. you’re being cute, so I’ll think about it.” She was pouting slightly with her cherry red lips.

‘Those lips sure look cute.’ The strange warmth the sight of her lips gave me made me unable to look away.

“The VIP room does not take specific orders. In a short while, we will bring the chef’s special course meal.”

‘Looks like we won’t be able to drink even a single glass, though some wine would be perfect.’

We were clearly still youngsters. The waiter didn’t even ask about alcoholic drinks and left with a nod.

“Looks like there’s a quintet here. Saxophone, drum, contrabass, trumpet, piano. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Ye-rin was making an expression filled with expectation as she looked at the instruments on the dimly lit stage. She brushed back her long, glossy black hair with her right hand, as she made an exceedingly expectant expression.

“This place specializes in performing standard pieces in the fusion jazz literature. It’ll be pleasant to hear.”

“Hyuk, do you have a lot of interest in jazz, too?”

“No, well.. a bit.”

I stuttered a response to Ye-rin’s query. At one point in my life, I hadn’t just been interested in it— I had thought about pursuing the path of a musician professionally. Now it was a dream of the past.

“For a car accident to have suddenly happened..”

“It’s no good if we don’t have the performance..”

“And at the time when all the customers are in, too.”

‘A car accident?’

We could hear some shocked voices from behind the stage.

“Hyuk, looks like something happened.”

Having waited with anticipation for the performers to come onto stage with starry eyes, Ye-rin made an expression of disappointment.

‘Argh, my perfect first date is—!’

I wondered if this was the shitty feeling a painter might experience if they drew a woman of unequaled beauty but were stopped before they could draw the eyes.

At this unforeseen situation, my heart fell. Today’s main date course, the jazz concert, was about to go down the drain.

‘We can’t go back like this.’

There must have been some news, because the waiters who had been serving the customers were running about in confusion. I was struck with the feeling that they would offer us a refund soon.

“Wait a moment.”

“You’re going somewhere?”

“Yeah. To the bathroom for a bit.”

“Alright.”

She must have really been looking forward to it, because Ye-rin’s pretty face was filled with heavy disappointment.

‘For you, Ye-rin, no, for the monumental first date of this man, Kang Hyuk!’

I resolved myself and went towards the person who looked like the manager.

To show her that nothing was impossible on the path walked by the man Kang Hyuk.

* * *

“Sighhh!”

Hyuk, who went to the bathroom, didn’t come back even after a long time.

‘Even though it’s my first date with Hyuk..’

Ye-rin felt pained. This was the event that her prince charming, Hyuk, had prepared for her. The live jazz that she hadn’t even thought of had moved her in a way that couldn’t be expressed with words.

Even her considerate parents couldn’t pay attention to Ye-rin because of work. Moreover, it was her birthday today. Her father managed a small business, and something must have happened because he hadn’t come home for the past few days and practically lived in his office. And her mom was busy lamenting her woes to her relatives and friends on the phone. Ye-rin didn’t know the details, but from what she could gather, something bad had definitely happened to her father’s business.

The date with Kang Hyuk had found her while she was anxiously spending her birthday like that. Seeing Kang Hyuk’s pure and vigorous smile, a guy who was so considerate of her, allowed Ye-rin to brush aside her gloomy mood.

The only problem was, the live jazz that she had secretly looked forward to had been canceled.

“Everyone, we apologize for the wait. We will start the performance right away.”

A sudden announcement rang throughout the store by mic.

“..?”

Surprised, Ye-rin looked at the stage.

And walking forward to appear on the stage were five men and women. Most of them were wearing black attire that allowed free movement, but interestingly, one man was in comfortable jeans and a blue shirt.

“H-Hyuk..”

The short-haired man who came up onto the stage with the performers was indeed Kang Hyuk. Not believing her eyes, Ye-rin looked at Hyuk again.

In that moment, Ye-rin saw him flash a confident and refreshing smile.

“We apologize for being a little late. We hope you’ll enjoy your night.”

The mild-looking saxophone player, who looked to be in his early 40’s, tilted his head in a brief bow.

Clap clap clap!

With the performers’ greeting, the audience naturally applauded, and Kang Hyuk went to sit at the piano.

Boom boom boom! The contrabass rang softly.

Ti-ring, ti-riiing, puuuuu! (piano and brass sounds)Then the harmony of several instruments began weaving a smooth, jazzy melody.

“Hyuk..”

A piece Ye-rin knew well, called Fly Me to the Moon, began flowing out as jazz.

And touched by immeasurable emotion, Ye-rin’s large eyes were wet with tears.

* * *

‘What a relief.’

I had never been so grateful for my safari breeding program. I had ended up learning the piano because of my mom’s opinion that even a panther struggling on Kilimanjaro needed to be able to play an instrument or two in order to lure in a mate.

Thanks to my mom, who had become an applied music professor, despite majoring in the classics, I was capable of performing all sorts of styles, including jazz.

Thus I was able to safely overcome the crisis that had struck our first date.

Bada, boom boom, bada boom!

‘So this is an ensemble.’

Because jazz music was pleasant and comfortable to hear, I had often practiced standard jazz at home.

Although I had started playing for Ye-rin, at some point I became immersed in the ensemble of jazz.historical

Jazz, a type of music that was said to be loved by free-spirited people.

I closed my eyes and fell deeper into that mellow and harmonious world.

* * *

‘Impressive, Hyuk!’

At seventeen years, he was still a young boy. He didn’t fall behind even in the midst of professional players who made a living out of jazz. Rather, the piano had somehow become the center of the jazz and Kang Hyuk had become the leader.

The sight of Hyuk, who was gently swaying with his eyes closed and absorbed in the jazz, made Ye-rin’s heart race on and on.

Ever since he saved her from danger, she had truly looked forward to the day she could meet Hyuk, and after coincidentally entering the same school, she had been able to meet him. She had hesitated so much before talking to him at the school field trip, too.

‘He’s beautiful.’

Ye-rin was vividly experiencing the fact that men could also be beautiful at times.

Buoyed by a hazy feeling of intoxication, she had a taste of the illusion that she was flying towards the moon on the melody crafted by Hyuk.

* * *

‘That’s it! That’s what it was!’

Jazz could only be played well if the ensemble was one.

In the middle of doing my best to play the piano out of consideration for the other players, an enlightenment suddenly came to me.

I had discovered the key that could unlock the 3rd Circle that had been my wall.

‘3rd Circle magic starts from harmoniously combining magic up to the 2nd Circle. Just like how one plus one becomes two and two plus two becomes four, if I naturally combine them, I can break the wall in my magic. It’s like how more water can be held if the vessel increases in size.’

From what Master Bumdalf had said, from the 3rd Circle onwards, you would receive the title of ‘Mage’ and be able to go out into the world and make a living out of it. But he had said that most mages in training were unable to overcome the wall and go from the 2nd Circle to the 3rd Circle for their entire lives.

And now, I felt like I would be able to make a living as a mage.

‘Thank you, Ye-rin.’

Ye-rin, who stood with me on the starting point of a new life. There was no doubt that she was the goddess of good fortune who watched over me.