(Siyeon)

I was just an ordinary person who worked as a part-time retailer in a musical instrument store...

...until the contest that changed my life forever began.

You know what I'm talking about.

The third international guitar contest. Held in Leeds, UK. The grand prize for the winner was a Jackson USA Randy Rhoads RR1.

Randy Rhoads has inspired me a lot ever since I was a beginner, to be honest. I wanted that guitar. SO BAD.

I talked to my family about this the other day. Dad told me he would prepare for a family trip to Leeds and let me enter the contest.

A week later, we set off. Right before going to the check-in booth, we were stopped by my boss.

"Si-yeon!" The boss waved at us. "You can't go to Leeds without this!"

He opened his case. It was one of his favorite guitars, a modified silver Fender Telecaster with double humbuckers and a heavy-as-hell set of Ernie Ball strings. You know, once people said Telecasters weren't born for this kind of music. To be honest, I would say no more.

At first I was a bit afraid, because I messed up one of my old guitars before.

"Only with this, you can win that Randy Rhoads guitar. Even if this guitar was broken, I would fix it. Now, take the Telecaster with you and show the British what you got!"

Later that day we came to Leeds. We went straight to the hotel that mom booked and took a break. It was a hard flight, we couldn't sleep on the plane, so...

Dad took me to Duck & Drake the next day to sign up for the contest. Most of the contestants here are from the UK, the States, Germany and Japan. There were only two from South Korea. I was one. The other was Baek Han-byul, the winner of the first tournament held four years ago in Amsterdam.

(This contest is held every two years.)

The first round took place right after the registration. A guitarist chooses a song he wants and performs it in front of the judges. I chose Ozzy Osbourne's "Mr. Crowley". The crowd were surprised by the techniques that I used for the solo part.

"Amazing!"

"That Randy Rhoads guitar is definitely for nobody else but that beautiful Korean girl!"

And so were the judges. They let me in the second round without saying a word. Strange, though.

The ones who had gotten qualified were given a backing track of the solo part (plus breakdown) of Pantera's "Domination" and their mission was to improvise solos. The judges would pick two of the contenders for the finals.

We were given about five minutes to get ready. To me, it was a piece of cake.

Meanwhile, Seok-ju, my brother, came to the club and, of course, straight to my place. Moments ago, he was watching the contest through the television, and right after the second round was announced, he knew he had to go.

"Si-yeon, listen. This is Pantera. Remember what we did with the Pantera songs?" Seok-ju gave me a box.

It was another distortion pedal.

"I already wrote the settings here. Set all the knobs to this, and you know what comes next. You can't play a Pantera song without the Pantera tone. And don't forget about all techniques that I showed you."

"Don't worry. I can do this."

You can tell. Domination is one of the most powerful Pantera songs ever. Especially the breakdown in the very end of the song.

So, I actually used the sweep picking technique plus fast-paced tapping. The judges were once again shocked. They said, "You could have played that solo with the wah pedal, Si-yeon. But, we have to say that you did a very great job. We are surprised. One question. Are you Han-byul's student?"

"No, sir, I'm not, I just heard of him a little bit. We have never met or talked to each other."

The crowd started discussing.

"Wow, she can speak English that well!"

"Her accent though, I think she's not a hundred percent Korean."

"Four years ago there was another Korean guy who won the first tournament. I guess Korea is making history again."

The results are easy to guess. They let me in the third round, also known as the finals. And there was my opponent. A guy named Rory Simpson. From the States. He is now the lead guitarist for Han-byul's band, Trephination.

This round is like a freestyle battle. There's no background music. All you have to do is show off everything. The contender who gets better cheers goes home with the grand prize.

Rory was a little bit anxious and hot-tempered. So he missed a few notes in his own freestyle solos. I can recognize that. But Rory was pretty good though, like, he used five or six different techniques. But still, he couldn't beat me. Eventually I decided to perform a classical song. You know, Moonlight Sonata. Third movement. By Beethoven.

Rory was completely shocked. He was silent for a while, then all of a sudden, he played the rhythm part for me. The crowd cheered for both of us loud. After this, Rory declared, "We have a new champion, ladies and gentlemen. Representing South Korea, Lee Si-yeon! Congratulations!"

My dream came true. We went back to the hotel with the Jackson.

The next day, we flew home. I was on the news, like, everywhere. Most people even recognized me immediately without asking if that was me or not.

My new guitar was hung somewhere in the store. Some of the customers got really interested in the Jackson, but I told them it was not for sale. Oh, yeah, of course, the store became more successful after the contest. My co-worker, Dong-wan, told me that I should quit this job and form a band. He also said he would be on drums if I did so.

Meanwhile, there was a man walking into our store.

Baek Han-byul.

He came to congratulate me on winning the contest and expressed his interest in playing with a band.

"Oh, Dong-wan and I, we just discussed that topic. If you want, you can join us."

"Cool. Then we should arrange a meeting soon. Do you guys have a bassist already?"

"No. I'm on guitar and he's on drums."

"Then I know a friend of mine who's pretty much an ultimate fan of hardcore punk. His bass playing is outstanding. I'll contact him. If you guys are not busy, let's meet in my garage tomorrow afternoon, after work."

"Sure."

And that's when Minx was born.