Twisted Rope

LA Blues

Another eight years later. Los Angeles.

Park Hyun-ki settled down in a quiet corner of the hotel lounge, a cup of coffee on the table in front of him. He dug out his reading glasses from his jacket pocket and picked up this week's edition of LA Now! that he had just collected. He flicked to the arts and entertainment section and smiled, opening up the magazine to read it properly.

What's on in LA this week

This week offers a rare chance to see noted pianist Ri Jeong-hyeok perform at the new Gala Hall. Ri Jeong-hyeok has played just one concert in the US to date, in New York three years ago. That received rave reviews, so it is good to now have the opportunity to see him here in LA.

His performances are particularly noted for their emotional intensity, connecting artist and audience. Over the last 17 years, he has established himself as one of the leading musicians in East Asia, playing extensively in his home country of Korea. He is also well known in Japan, Australia and many other Pacific countries and performed in Europe to great acclaim. His recordings of Chopin and Mozart have proved to be some of the most popular by a current artist. He is also noted for his charitable work supporting emerging artists and young people. He will be performing for two nights starting Tuesday.

Underneath was a picture of Ri Jeong-hyeok sitting by the piano, smiling. It didn't make any difference that he was now in his 50s. He was still very good looking, and it was always easy to take a flattering photograph of him. This set of publicity photos was no exception.

Park Hyun-ki smiled with satisfaction. It was a good article, and with the picture as well, it had helped to get extra attention and interest in the performance. He was glad that they could be back in the States. The New York concert three years ago had been fantastic, and they had hoped it was to be a stepping stone to further performances here; but circumstances had interfered. Ri Jeong-hyeok's mother, Kim Yoon-he, had fallen ill, and he hadn't wanted to be on the other side of the world whilst she was so frail. That was one of the things he had always admired about his friend, his love for and commitment to his family. The last couple of years had been difficult for him though, supporting his mother through her illness and then dealing with her death eight months ago. It had been anticipated by the family, but it still hit them hard. It seemed to take Jeong-hyeok some time to come to terms with it, perhaps longer than Park Hyun-ki might have expected. But still, no-one could predict how someone might react to grief.

That aside, there was much to be proud of and be happy with over the 17 years he had worked with Jeong-hyeok. He was proud of the work he had done to help him build his reputation at home and abroad, and proud of the Swallow Foundation that had gone from strength to strength. Most of all, he was happy to call Jeong-hyeok a friend. He admired his talent, but more importantly, he admired him as a person. Jeong-hyeok, Seri and the girls were such a warm, loving family that it was always a pleasure to spend time with them. Over his years as an agent in the music business, he had worked with many artists. With some it had remained a functional professional relationship, but he and Jeong-hyeok had developed a warm friendship too. Just a few years older than Jeong-hyeok, he had helped him successfully navigate the complexities of the Korean music industry. He had been happy to respect Jeong-hyeok's artistic and charitable goals and had never pushed him into commercial deals where he would feel uncomfortable. In return, Jeong-hyeok had given him his trust, respect and friendship.

So here they were in LA with everything set for a successful series of concerts, building up to New York next week. He just hoped that Jeong-hyeok would settle in at the rehearsals better than he had so far. For some reason he was struggling to find his form far more than Park Hyun-ki ever remembered; which made him a little nervous for the first concert tonight. He was concerned about Jeong-hyeok, but at the same time his professional side made him concerned about the concert too. He'd never really had any worries about how a performance would go until now. He checked his watch. He'd go and find him soon.