ch. 44

"i want to change my mind."

-happier

"you want to change your performance song?"

eunbi answers with a confident nod. "yes, i really want to sing this one."

ms. hwang gives her a confused expression, taken back at the sudden request. "but we've already changed one of your songs in your performance set, why do you suddenly want to change another one?"

"because it feels right. this one settles with me."

"i want to hear you sing it first then," the woman sighs, not wanting to argue anymore. "if i like it better than our original choice, then we'll change it."

pleased with the opportunity, the girl skitters to the piano, an instrument that once was foreign to her, and settles herself on the bench. her hands hover about the keys and her fingers press some of the notes as her feet adjust to the pedals from below.

feeling comfortable with the musical tool before her, she presses the damper pedal and begins to press a few keys, the notes resonating in the empty classroom. her left hand plays a series of chords while the right hand creates the leading the melody of the song.

after her little introduction, only chords follow while she takes in a deep breath and sings to her heart's content.

from afar, her teacher can feel the emotions flooding into the room as she immerses herself into the music. she closes her eyes and immediately an image flashes before her eyes due to the depth of the lyrics.

a girl sitting by herself in the garden of beautiful flowers, wearing a mask to hide her insecurities. her lips are curved into a bittersweet smile when a boy appears, his back facing her.

her arm leaves her side and reaches out to him, but he simply walks away from her.

she is so lonely.

a tear slips down her face.

the fact that the instructor can visualize this picture displays her student's ability to portray the message of the song with her beautiful voice.

it is as if she's telling her a story.

concluding the song, eunbi presses the last key and allows it to linger in the silence as her heart aches in pain like before. the lovely sound fills the scars of her shattered heart with gold, rebuilding her little by little.

music has always been an important piece of her life. every time she sings, it makes her excited to express herself through these songs. it gives her confidence, courage, pride, happiness, peace of mind...

things that life can't give her.

she recalls the late night when her relatives brought her to their studio room, her eyes gleamed at the sight of the recording room. she sat next to yoongi, who was in charge of running the recording, as taehyung entered the other side of the room with a piece of paper in his hand.

the younger male grabbed the headphones that are dangling on the music stand and placed them on his head. positioning himself in front of the microphone, he waited for his cousin's command before singing.

this process repeated itself as seokjin, jungkook, and jimin contribute their voices to the production of the song. sighs of content escaped their mouths at the sound of perfection when yoongi gives each one a thumbs-up.

the song they were singing had an impact on her.

with the desire to learn the song, she begged yoongi for days to teach her how to play the piano, which eventually worked, and had jungkook help her with her vocals.

and now here she is, presenting it to her teacher.

the student nervously awaits for her teacher to comment on her performance, fiddling with her fingers. she avoids making eye contact with the woman, so she does not meet the angry expression on her face.

but instead, she hears sniffling from her seat and she averts her gaze from the piano, seeing her teacher wiping her tears with her handkerchief.

"that was beautiful," she says as she blinks the tears from her eyes. "absolutely beautiful."

eunbi sadly smiles at the female's comment since she does not want to go into detail about her personal connection with the song, although she is glad that she enjoyed her performance.

eventually, the two of them resolve the small argument in the beginning by obliging to the student's request. they work on improving the performance, ms. hwang advising her with different techniques and exercises.

after the practice session has ended, eunbi bids her teacher goodbye and thanks her for helping her before she exits the room. her hand makes its way to the door and opens it, allowing her to step out of her classroom. once she turns her head to the side to observe the hallway, she notices a familiar figure leaning against the locker, their eyes focused on their phone.

"yeosang, what are you doing here?" she asks as she tilts her head to the side. "shouldn't you be at practice right now?"

he diverts his attention from his game and looks over to his friend with a small smile.

"i remember you saying that you were staying after school for an hour to work on your singing today, so i decided to wait for you."

she playfully slaps his shoulder while rolling her eyes. "yeah right, you're still worrying about me."

hearing that makes the blonde frown a little, slightly sensitive to the topic. "you can't blame me though, wooyoung still hasn't made a move and it's becoming suspicious."

"you know, hasn't it been a while since you left practice?"

"they think that i'm going to the restroom, so i can tell them that i had to take a shit."

with that, the girl chokes on her salvia and laughs at her friend's blunt response before the both of them head to the school entrance. as they carry the conversation along, they make small gestures with their hands to exaggerate their comments.

suddenly hearing a loud honk, the pair flinches in surprise and notices a familiar black van waiting for the girl's arrival. eunbi rushes over to the vehicle and turns around to wave her companion goodbye with a big grin on her face.

she pulls the door handle and enters the van, seeing namjoon smiling at her. he welcomes her by patting the passenger seat and she gladly takes the spot. after hearing the sound of the seatbelt clicking, the male maneuvers the car away from the school and turns on the radio.

on the way to the cafe, the female decides to check her phone for any notifications. her screen lights up and she opens the messager app, causing her to almost drop her phone onto her lap when she reads the recent message she received.

4:47 pm

yeodanced:never thought you were good at singing