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The teacher referee who was watching the girls’ dodgeball game heard a kid crying and ran over.

“Youngjun, why are you crying?”

It seemed this kid’s name was Youngjun.

“Hick, she hit me.”

This ugly crying ******* points at me.
A man should not be tattling.

After hearing the details of the whole story, the teacher decided to have a parent-teacher conference with me and my parent.

After all the classes were over,
during the after-school hours, I stayed in the classroom and had a conversation with the teacher before my mom arrived.

“Dohee, why did you hit Youngjun?”

The teacher began to interrogate me.
Although I felt unjustly wronged, arguing about who was right and who’s wrong in a situation like this is petty.

“I have nothing to say.”
“It was my fault.”
“I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“I’m a piece of trash.”

I said, making a tearful face as if I was sincerely reflecting.

“I deserve to be beaten.”

Finally, I slapped my own cheek to go along with my words.
And with a tear dropping performance worthy of an Academy Award for Best Actress(in the future), I acted perfectly.
This is first-rate.

The teacher, extremely flustered, grabbed my hand to stop me from slapping myself on my cheeks.

“No, no, Dohee, why are you saying that? That’s not what the teacher meant.”

“No, I’m a nasty *****.”

“No…!”

Dramatically, at that moment, my mom walked into the classroom.
The scene that met her eyes is:

The teacher holding my arm,
My cheeks are red with handprints,
And me shedding pitiful tears.

Anyone seeing this could misunderstand this, right?

My mom quickly ran over, released the teacher’s grip on my arms, and hugged me while screaming.

“Teacher, why are you hitting my child like that?!”

“Mom, that’s not…”

“Dohee, be quiet. My child is a good kid who can follow directions, so why did you hit her!”

“Ma’am, that’s not…”

…

“I’m so sorry, teacher.”

My mom kept bowing her head, apologizing.

“No, ma’am, anyone would’ve misunderstood this situation.”

“Okay, mom, an apology is enough. Don’t do that again.”

“Lee Dohee, go outside.”

“Gasp…”

On the way home after the conference,
My mom is pulling both my ears.

“Mom, it hurts!”

“Are you going to hit your friend again?”

“I won’t hit them! I won’t hit them! I will never do that again.

I barely got my ears released.

“Sob, what if my pretty ears become donkey ears because of mom…”

“Do you want to get scolded again?”

“Hmph…”

“Sigh…”

My mom sighed and then picked me up and embraced me.

“So why did you hit him with the ball?”

“That kid pulled my hair first and pinched me.”

Of course, as an adult, I shouldn’t act childishly towards a child.

“Okay, good job. If someone bothers you again, hit them too.”

“Huh.”

“But don’t start it first.”

“Okay, I love you, mom.”

“Yeah, I love you too.”

Still, I guess a mom is a mom after all.[1]

A few days later during my piano lesson time,
It has been three years since I’ve started learning the piano and I have finished all of Czerny and was playing Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, and others.

“Dohee.”

While I was leaning on the teacher playing the piano, the teacher softly called my name.

“Yes?”

“Dohee, why do you play the piano so diligently?”

There wasn’t a particular reason. In my previous life, people who played instruments looked cool to me.

“Well, I just thought it would be cool if I played well.”

“The teacher thinks it would be good for you to pursue a career in music. You would do well even as a pianist.”

“Hey, I’m just good compared to other kids.”

“Dohee, you practice a lot, and at an age when others are just starting Czerny, you’re playing Chopin, Beethoven, and Mozart.”

“That’s just because I practice a lot.”

“Not only that, but Dohee has emotional depth in her performances and that is uncommon for a child. I definitely think you have talent.”

I’m not really a child so it’s doable for me, and I think the teacher is overestimating me…

“And although it’s just the kindergarten level, you’ve won five consecutive grand prizes. So, about that…”

The teacher was about to say something but swallowed her words

“First, let’s prepare for the upcoming competition.”

“Yes.”

“You know starting from this competition you’ll be competing in the elementary school division this time, right?”

“Yes, I know.”

“Starting from the elementary division it is much more prestigious than the competitions you’ve entered before. Participants will gather from all over the country. Moreover, in the elementary division, first graders compete with sixth graders.”

“Then I won’t win the grand prize?”

“Instead, there are awards for each grade and an overall grand prize. I believe you’ll definitely win the grade-level award. Don’t worry and let’s just practice first.”

For the upcoming competition, the piece I was preparing was Chopin.
As usual, I practiced for five hours a day.

…

On the day of the competition,
I sat in the waiting room with the teacher as I was accustomed to.

“Dohee, don’t be nervous. If you play as you usually do, you’ll definitely win the grade-level award.”

The teacher, worried that I might be nervous, comforted me, which was unnecessary.

“It’s my sixth time participating in a competition, so I’m not nervous. This is Doa’s first time watching the competition so I have to do well.

After the performances of the previous participants, I went up on stage and sat at the piano.
Since I was participating, I aimed not only for the grade-level award but also for the overall grand prize.
I began playing Chopin’s Scherzo No. 1.
After a minute, when I heard a ding, I stopped playing and got off the stage.

Every time I participated in a competition, I felt that the stage was too static.
You go up when your number is called, play for just a minute, then stop when the bell rings, and quietly come down.
The more I participated in the competition, the more I realized that the stage I desired wasn’t classical music.

I went to the waiting room and hugged the teacher’s chest.

“Dohee, you did so well.”

“Yes. Hehe.”

Without this kind of comfort, I would have lost interest in the piano.
The teacher, who usually went to the audience after my performance, sat me down on a chair in the waiting room.
Even though today’s performance was perfect, the teacher’s expression was dark.

“The teacher thinks it might be a good idea to stop the lessons with Dohee now.”

The words from the teacher, who had the strongest bond with me outside my family in this life, left me dumbfounded.

“Why… why?”

“To be honest, I am no longer qualified to teach Dohee anymore.”

“But you won awards even in high school and play much better than I do, right?”

“Of course, I still play better than Dohee now, but by the time Dohee is in middle school, you’ll play better than her teacher, you see? Dohee’s talent can only bloom only when she meets a renowned professor rather than her current teacher”

“Since I’m still in elementary school… Can’t we continue? Besides, I don’t particularly want to become a pianist.”

Talking with the teacher, I began to cry out of sadness.
Having never experienced such heartbreak before, the sudden break up from the person who had loved me more than anyone else in this life, and perhaps even in past lives, was a pain unlike any other.

“Oh, my Dohee is still a baby. Come here.”

I hugged the teacher.

“I’m 27 now and need to get married. I can’t stay with Doheeforever.”

“It’s not like we have to part immediately. We can still meet and play anytime we want, right?”

Seeing that I still hadn’t stopped crying, the teacher seemed to give up.

“Alright, let’s continue the lessons only until the teacher gets married”

Even though I was crying, I smiled and answered.

“Okay…”

After calming myself down I went to the audience where my family was.
Doa, seeing me, toddled over to greet me first.

“Unni!”

“Shh, other people are still performing.”

“Okay! Shh.”

When I made the “shh” gesture by putting my finger to my lips, Doa imitated me.
My little sister was so adorable that my sadness dissipated.
I decided I must take care of Doa for the rest of my life.

Soon, the competition ended and the award announcements began.
The bald man announcing the awards called out names one by one.

“First-grade grand prize, Kim Minsu.”

Huh?
Why wasn’t my name called?
I was confident I’d win the grade-level award.
I’m not at grade-level?

After all the grade-level awards were announced, only the overall grand prize was left.

“The overall grand prize in the piano category of the National Student Competition goes to first-grader Lee Dohee.”

Since I wasn’t called for the grade-level award, I ended up winning the overall grand prize, which spans from first to sixth grade.
The audience buzzed with surprise at a first-grader winning the overall grand prize.

“Dohee, go up and receive your award.”

Smiling, my piano teacher, Yeonji, said to me.
It seemed the teacher was confident I’d win the overall grand prize, which is why she talked about stopping lessons.

I went up, received the 2 million won prize, the sheet music, and the trophy.
After taking pictures, I was interviewed by some journalists who had gathered as it was the national competition.

A few days later, an article appeared on the internet:

Unprecedented Best Piano Prodigy Of The Century!

First-grader Lee Dohee wins the national piano competition, a rare feat.
Lee Dohee showed exceptional piano performance as well as remarkable looks.
Below is a Q&A with Lee Dohee, who has the potential to become a world-class pianist.

Q1. How do you feel about winning?

I’m happy to have won the grand prize six times in a row.
I didn’t expect to win the overall grand prize as a first-grader.

Q2. You mentioned six consecutive wins. Can you tell us about your competition history and performance experience?

I started playing the piano at the age of five, and I’ve participated in six competitions, winning the grand prize each time.

Q3. How many hours do you practice each day?

I practice for five hours a day.

Q4. What motivated you to start music?

Because it looked cool.

Q5. Do you have any hobbies outside of music?

I enjoy exercising or playing with my younger sister.

Q6. Besides music, what do you like? Is there anything else you want to do?

Not particularly. I want to continue with music, but I’m not sure about classical music.

Q7. What are your future plans?

I plan to find something new I want to do.

Q8. You’re very pretty.

Thank you.

Seeing the article, my mom broke her promise not to post about me on social media and ended up posting again.

Kwon Johee – May 20, 2015, 11:23 AM

Our Dohee won the grand prize again in the competition!
(Article link)
Even as a first-grader, she beat the older kids and won first place, even beasting the older sixth graders! (ˊᗜˋﾉﾉ*
(Elementary division overall grand prize winner photo)

Comments:

└ Wow, a first-grader beating all the older kids. Incredible talent.

└ I’m looking forward to Dohee’s future~

└ She has everything: looks, talent, nothing missing.

└ Practicing for five hours a day for three years. That’s what it takes to be a genius.

└ If a first-grader is working harder than I am, then I’m upvoting lol
└ Damn, what have I been doing?
└ It’s not too late. Get going and do something. Come on
└ You always left weird comments on my posts, why are you being nice suddenly?
└ Yes

└ Do you have any plans of becoming an idol? If so, please contact me.