Kidnapped

Episode 5. Kidnapped

 

Kang Pi-o has a nightmare about how he confronted his grandfather, Maestro Kang Seung-woon, who told him that he had no talent for piano even if his love for music mirrored his grandfather’s. He wakes up in the hospital suffering from pneumonia and asks his mother, Kang Ji-hye - who just intercepted Choi Jeong-yo’s call on Pi-o’s phone to tell him to stop calling her son - to call Jeong-yo and ask him to visit the hospital because he wanted to speak to him.  

Pi-o tells Jeong-yo that he would like for both to enter the Prague Harmonie International Competition to prove once and for all who was the better pianist. Pi-o challenges him to do his best or he would kill him himself. Jeong-yo agrees but tells him to practice harder than ever to do his best.

Pi-o’s mother is elated at hearing about the plans to enter the Prague Harmonie International Competition, but he warns his mother that if he loses the competition, he will quit playing the piano for good.

Professor Do Hyun-soo finds out that Choi Jeong-yo didn’t want to join the competition but agreed because he wanted Kang Pi-o to fall in love with music again. Professor Do makes Jeong-yo promise that he won’t give in to Pi-o for charity.

Kang Pi-o and Choi Jeong-yo practice in earnest to prepare their audition videos for submission to the Prague Harmonie International Competition which they both qualify for. They are among 60 participants and later are both among the 24 semifinalists who compete after a week as the 12 finalists for the competition.

Kang Pi-o overhears comments about Choi Jeong-yo’s genius in playing the piano, while the comment on Pi-o’s performance is his flawless technique.

Pi-o is annoyed when Jeong-yo comments about his bleeding pinky fingernail and tells him to have it checked before it gets any worse. Pi-o’s cures his pinky fingernail by dipping it in ice to stop the bleeding but does not have it checked. He catches his mother returning to the house at 4:00 a.m. and asks her about her unusual behavior. He suspects that she is planning something.

Kang Pi-o is the first to be called among the 12 finalists followed by Choi Jeong-yo. They are housed at the chapel and not allowed to socialize as next part of the contest. The contestants are given a common piece to play and one personal choice or free piece of sheet music to memorize in a week. Both are given Rachmaninoff Concerto No.2 by Professor Do because of the challenging score requiring depth and emotion. 

Other contestants at the chapel get angry at Pi-o’s practices that last until early morning because they can’t sleep. He doesn’t apologize but continues his obsessed practice.

At the press interviews where he was called a genius for playing the piano at age three, one journalist asked Kang Pi-o if his grandfather would collaborate as the conductor of the accompanying orchestra in his performance and he said that he would like that. However, when Pi-o performed a part of the piano piece that Maestro Kang requested, he was told to ask another conductor, Baryshnikov, for help, because he was better suited for the way Pi-o played the piano. Pi-o was dismayed and asked him why his grandfather would help Jeong-yo and not him. Maestro Kang said that conductor Baryshnikov suited his piano style. Pi-o listened at the door to the practice session of Jeong-yo and Master Kang which was considered as spying by another pianist.

The angry contestant knocked on Pi-o’s door again angry at the early morning piano practice as the other contestants watched the heated exchange. Jeong-yo stopped Pi-o from attacking the other contestant by bringing him to his room, he told him that it was anxiety that was affecting Pi-o. Pi-o would not calm down. Returning to his room, Pi-o noticed his musical score sheet missing and he entered and searched the room of the contestant he had an altercation with but couldn’t find it. Then he ran outside in the rain thinking that it fell in the pond and he was pulled out of the water by Jeong-yo whom he attempted to hit with a rock. He blamed Jeong-yo for what was happening to him. Unknown to all of them, it was taken by the female pianist who saw the notations that Pi-o did on their common contest piece and took it.

Brought back inside the house, Pi-o reviewed the CCTV to check who was outside the house but found no one. The security guard told him that there was no coverage in the hallway because it was for the staff. He told Pi-o that it might be a panic attack and that he should withdraw from the contest if he was too stressed.

The girl who stole the music sheet of Kang Pi-o left the chapel with it in her bag.

Jeong-yo brought food for Pi-o who refused to eat and practice. Pi-o told Jeong-yo that he was withdrawing. Jeong-yo asked him if he was seriously withdrawing just because of the music sheet. Pi-o asked if he was losing his mind because he wasn’t sure if it was stolen or if he just misplaced it and needed the notations he made on the sheets. Jeong-yo said that it wasn’t enough reason to quit. Pi-o said it was too ambitious of him to enter the international competition, and it was an impossible dream to become a great pianist amidst his love for the piano and wanting to play all music pieces. Pi-o apologized to Jeong-yo that he blamed him for his feelings of inferiority and insecurity.

Choi Jeong-yo slid his music sheet under the door of Kang Pi-o’s room and gave him a note that said, “I know it by heart. Use it if you need it.” Pi-o looked at the additional notations by Jeong-yo and when Jeong-yo overheard the piano playing, he felt amused.

The following day was the last day of the finals where Kang Pi-o and Choi Jeong-yo were the last two pianists. Pi-o’s performance awed the audience. Director Yoon Seong-ju and her sister Manager Eden Yoon were amazed by his rendition. Pi-o’s pinky fingernail was starting to bleed.

Meanwhile, Choi Jeong-yo is in the vehicle that is supposed to bring him to the cultural center when he notices that it was going in the wrong direction. He asks his escorts where they were bringing him. He tells them that he wants to go to the toilet when one of the men brings the gun out and Jeong-yo tries to get the gun. It accidentally goes off and the driver is hit, the car crashes into a tree. Jeong-yo gets out of the car and his chased and he is hit by a bullet and he is shown unconscious in the water.

Meanwhile, Kang Pi-o gives his greatest performance on his choice piece while the piano keys are covered with blood. He is given a standing ovation by the audience and also impresses his grandfather, Maestro Kang.

There is a commotion over the last finalist not arriving at the venue and has gone missing. 

Kang Pi-o is announced as the winner of the Prague Harmonie International Competition.

Kang Pi-o is suspicious that his mother, Kang Ji-hye, may have something to do with it. His mother hears his sobbing through the night.

Pi-o returns to Prague after nine years and begins to practice in a bar for another performance.

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