Chapter 3: There’s a Foreign Guy Stuck to Your Back (2)
The shaman stared sharply at Jinwoo.
Then she slowly opened her mouth.
“Yes. It’s no wonder you’re worried. Your son has a foreign man riding on his back.”
“What?”
Jinwoo’s mother jumped in shock.
But she wasn’t the only one who was startled.
Paul, who had been wandering around the colorful fortune-teller’s house with great interest…
And Jinwoo as well.
Can that woman see him too?
Although he didn’t show it, he was just as shocked.
How is this actually real? Is she really that powerful?
Looking worried, Jinwoo’s mother asked the shaman,
“What should we do? Should we perform a shamanic ritual?”
“Those rituals are for ghosts. The thing attached to your son isn’t a ghost.”
“Not a ghost? What do you mean?”
Following the direction of the shaman’s gaze, Jinwoo’s mother nervously looked into the empty air.
The shaman was staring at seemingly nothing, and it frightened her.
“I said he isn’t dead. Sometimes there are souls that lose their way and wander into the wrong place. That foreign man is one of them. He crossed through time and came here from the past. He simply needs to be returned to where he belongs.”
“Then what should we do? If a ritual won’t work… should we use a talisman?”
“A talisman? I already told you he isn’t a ghost.”
The shaman kept saying strange things.
Suspicion appeared on Jinwoo’s mother’s face.
“If he isn’t a ghost, then how did he end up attached to my son?”
“He must have picked up an object carrying that foreign man’s lingering attachment.”
At that moment, something flashed through Jinwoo’s mind.
The notebook he had picked up in front of La Scala.
That man definitely said the notebook belonged to him.
Jinwoo looked at the shaman in amazement.
She’s the real deal.
The shaman continued staring at Paul floating in midair.
“Help him fulfill his lingering wish. Once you do, he’ll be able to return to where he originally belongs.”
“If we fulfill his lingering wish, he can return to his own world?”
The one who had insisted on not coming here was now the one questioning the shaman with a serious expression.
Jinwoo’s mother looked at him strangely.
“That’s right.”
Paul frowned in frustration after hearing words he couldn’t understand.
That woman just said something really important.
What was it? “Lingering wish?” What does that mean?
He hurriedly asked Jinwoo,
“Hey. What’s a lingering wish?”
Jinwoo answered quietly,
“It’s like an unfulfilled dream… something you couldn’t accomplish while you were alive.”
Paul felt as if someone had hit him in the back of the head with a hammer.
If I fulfill the wish I couldn’t achieve while I was alive… I can return to my own world?
He swallowed hard.
Then it has to be…
Only one thought filled his mind.
La Scala.
When they were almost home, Jinwoo’s mother’s phone rang.
Ring… Ring…
“Hello?”
“Sunyoung, did you go? How was it? Was the shaman really amazing?”
“Amazing? Not at all! Because of you, I just wasted two million won.”
“Why? What did the shaman say?”
“She kept saying that what was attached to Jinwoo wasn’t a ghost but some living soul. She just kept talking nonsense.”
“So what did she say? Did she tell you to perform a ritual?”
“No. Honestly, I’d have felt better if she’d at least said that. But since it’s not a ghost, she said rituals won’t work, and talismans won’t either. She just kept telling me to help him fulfill his lingering wish. I was so frustrated I thought I’d lose my mind.”
“That’s strange. The shaman isn’t usually like that. Has her spiritual power gotten weaker lately?”
“Ugh. I’m almost home now. I’ll call you later. Bye.”
Unlike his irritated mother, Jinwoo kept thinking about what the shaman had said.
If I help Leonard Paul fulfill his lingering wish, he can return to his own world…
After entering his room, Jinwoo quietly fell into deep thought.
His mind was a mess.
Paul had suddenly appeared and followed him all the way back to Korea.
Now the shaman’s words only made everything even more confusing.
“…Sigh.”
Jinwoo let out a long breath.
“Mister.”
At his call, Paul slowly appeared.
“Damn, you scared me.”
Even after several days, he still wasn’t used to seeing a ghost suddenly appear.
“What?”
“You called me.”
“You heard what the shaman said earlier, right?”
“Yeah.”
“We’re both uncomfortable living like this forever, so I’m planning to send you back where you belong.”
“Please tell me what your lingering wish is.”
Paul quietly closed his eyes.
His final memory was still as vivid as if it had happened yesterday.
Slowly, he began speaking.
“I had just secured my debut at La Scala. While I was on my way home… my car suddenly plunged off a cliff.”
“That’s my last memory.”
“So you had your accident just before your La Scala debut?”
“That’s right.”
“Then… could your lingering wish be…?”
Paul opened his eyes wide.
“Exactly.”
“To stand on the stage of La Scala.”
“That’s my unfinished wish.”
Jinwoo thought carefully.
After a moment, he looked at Paul with a puzzled expression.
“If your wish is to perform at La Scala, how am I supposed to help you? You’re not alive anymore.”
“…Hmm.”
Paul also sank into thought.
He’s right.
Only my soul crossed into this era.
It’s impossible for me to perform at La Scala now.
Then what am I supposed to do?
Just then, he remembered the first time he had met Jinwoo.
“Hey. Where did you get that notebook?”
“I found it buried near the entrance.”
Jinwoo had picked up the notebook Viotti had once given him.
Ever since this kid picked up that notebook, I’ve been stuck to him.
That means we’re connected.
If that’s true…
Paul straightened his posture.
Maybe the curse will only be broken if this kid performs at La Scala instead.
He remembered what the shaman had said.
“Help him fulfill his lingering wish. Then he’ll be able to return to where he belongs.”
Maybe what she said wasn’t nonsense after all.
At the very least… it’s worth trying.
Paul’s expression turned serious.
“You said you’re studying opera, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then listen carefully.”
“Starting today, your goal is to perform at La Scala.”
“What? Where did that suddenly come from?”
“You asked me earlier, didn’t you?”
“You said I’m not alive anymore, so how could I possibly stand on the stage of La Scala?”
Jinwoo nodded.
“You’ll do it in my place.”
“When you perform at La Scala, my curse will be broken.”
Jinwoo looked dumbfounded.
“Mister… sorry, but I’m ranked dead last at Seowoon Arts High School.”
“I don’t care if you’re last.”
“I’m Leonard Paul, a genius opera singer.”
“What difference does that make?”
“I’ll make sure you debut at La Scala.”
“So stop arguing and do exactly as I tell you.”
“Genius opera singer Leonard Paul?”
“Were you famous?”
“Of course.”
Jinwoo knew practically every legendary tenor from the past.
But he had never heard the name Leonard Paul.
“I’ve never heard of Leonard Paul.”
“You study opera, and you’ve never heard of me?”
“Me? Leonard Paul?”
Jinwoo looked at him suspiciously.
“I’ve been wondering since we first met.”
“Who exactly are you?”
“You called Luci an idiot.”
“You said you’d make me debut at La Scala.”
“And you claimed you had an accident right before your own La Scala debut.”
“Was all that really true?”
Jinwoo stepped closer.
“Be honest.”
“You’re a con artist, aren’t you?”
Paul exploded.
“You crazy brat!”
“What would I even gain by scamming you now?”
Well…
It wasn’t like a ghost without a body could scam anyone.
Jinwoo remembered what Paul had just said.
If I perform at La Scala, his curse will be lifted?
He sighed deeply.
So basically… I’d have to live with him until then.
He desperately hoped Paul was lying.
But if it’s true…
The thought of spending the rest of his life with this grumpy old ghost made him feel suffocated.
Holding onto a tiny bit of hope that Paul was lying, Jinwoo asked,
“So your claim is that you were a tenor who lived during the same era as Enrico Luci?”
“That’s right.”
“Fine.”
“Let’s verify that.”
Jinwoo turned on the computer at his desk and searched for Leonard Paul.
No matter how much he searched, only Enrico Luci’s name appeared.
Leonard Paul’s name was nowhere to be found.
“See?”
“It’s all Luci.”
Jinwoo clicked on Luci’s profile.
Enrico Luci
A tenor active in the early 1900s. He rose to stardom after becoming the youngest singer ever to debut at La Scala. He was also recognized as one of the greatest specialists of the opera Turandot…
“See?”
“It says Luci was a famous La Scala tenor in the early 1900s.”
“And he was a Turandot specialist.”
Luci’s profile was impressive.
Even after scrolling for a long time, it continued with endless achievements and praise from later generations.
Paul looked completely speechless.
“What?”
“Turandot specialist?”
“That guy?”
“What a joke.”
Then Jinwoo noticed something written in tiny letters.
“Huh?”
“Related search: Leonard Paul?”
He clicked it.
A short profile appeared.
Leonard Paul
A tenor who lived during the same era as Enrico Luci. Died young in a car accident. Some claim he possessed extraordinary talent, but because very few records remain, it is difficult to verify.
“…It’s true.”
Everything Paul had said…
That he had lived during Luci’s era…
And that a car accident had been his final memory…
It was all true.
At least now, Jinwoo knew Paul wasn’t a fraud.
Paul, however, was furious.
“Only two lines?”
“Luci gets pages and pages…”
“But the genius tenor Leonard Paul only gets two lines?”
Jinwoo looked at him.
“Were you really that amazing?”
“As far as I know, no tenor back then ever surpassed Luci.”
“He was considered the greatest tenor of his era.”
Those words irritated Paul.
“Hey.”
“Can you play the piano?”
Paul’s voice was completely serious.
“A little.”
Jinwoo had learned piano when he was young.
He wasn’t an expert, but he could at least play accompaniment for songs he knew.
He sat down at the piano in the corner of the room.
“You said Enrico Luci was a Turandot specialist, right?”
“You know the aria ‘Nessun Dorma’, don’t you?”
Jinwoo nodded.
It was his favorite aria.
“Play the accompaniment.”
Ding… Ding… Ding…
The piano began.
Then Paul’s voice followed.
“Nessun dorma.”
(None shall sleep.)
People often said that the true charm of a tenor appeared in the high notes.
Usually, it wasn’t until the climactic high register that a tenor truly amazed the audience.
But Paul was different.
Just the very first line…
…was enough to completely capture the listener’s heart.
His voice poured into Jinwoo’s ears.
Powerful.
Refined.
Full of strength.
The emotion Jinwoo had felt from that opening line multiplied several times as the song continued.
His heart felt as though it were swelling like a hot-air balloon.
As if it might float away.
“Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me,
Il nome mio nessun saprà! No! No!”
(But my secret is hidden within me. No one shall know my name! No! No!)
Can a human being really produce a voice like this?
He had never understood what people meant by something feeling both cold and hot at the same time…
Until now.
Paul’s voice fit that description perfectly.
It was gentle…
Yet rough.
Warm…
Yet razor-sharp.
Sweet…
Yet powerful enough to make his knees weak.
Soon, the song reached its climax.
It was the part Jinwoo had heard hundreds of times in Enrico Luci’s recordings.
“Vincerò! Vincerò!”
(I will triumph! I will triumph!)
At that moment, Jinwoo realized something.
That’s the voice…
The one I heard in my dream after collapsing at La Scala.
The breathtaking voice that surpassed even Enrico Luci.
So the man from that dream… was Leonard Paul?
Jinwoo was only an eighteen-year-old high school student dreaming of becoming an opera singer.
But one thing was absolutely certain.
Leonard Paul’s voice…
…was far superior to Enrico Luci’s.
It felt as though every cell in his body had awakened and begun dancing with excitement.
Simply hearing such an incredible performance from only a few steps away wasn’t just happiness.
It was pure ecstasy.
Paul looked at him confidently.
“Now do you still think I can’t make you debut at La Scala?”
The legendary tenor Leonard Paul…
A singer even greater than Enrico Luci…
He’s going to teach me?
Without realizing it, Jinwoo swallowed hard.
Maybe…
Maybe reaching La Scala really is possible.
