Petrichor • MYG

6

"Finally, fresh air !" You said as you dropped your bag and laptop on the bench, and sat on the grass under the big tree, followed by Suga.

"Why are we here ? We haven't finished your work." Suga said, he laid on the grass beside you, taking his arms behind his head.

"We can continue that later. I need some fresh air to refresh my mind." You said, followed his move.

You and Suga laid there side by side on the campus yard, enjoying the wind breeze and the sunlight. You closed your eyes, hearing some students at their class practicing their music from afar, making you relaxed.

"Sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable earlier," You suddenly said to Suga.

"I never knew my friends could be that rude. How can they just ignore you like that ? And why do people have to stare at us like that, can we just be friends with anyone ?" You ranted at him, feeling a bit pissed.

"And you have to stop calling yourself a loser. How do you expect people to respect you if you didn't even value yourself ?" You said again, looking at Suga, "You have to step up for yourself."

"Said the one who never got bullied in her entire life." Suga said coldly.

"Sorry I can't be as positive as you, Little Miss Sunshine." He scoffed, raised an eyebrow at you.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to..." You said slowly, regretting your words.

You knew he must've been through a hard time with bullying that turned him into someone so stiff and skeptical like this, and maybe your words had crossed the line.

"Sorry, my bad." You said again softly.

"But at least, for me, you've never been a loser. You're a musical genius that inspires me to be better." You smiled at him, holding his hands in yours.

He flinched a little but he didn't pull his hand from yours, he gave you a slight smile instead, making you smile widely. You didn't know why, but his smile kinda warmed your heart.

"You keep calling me musical genius, have you ever heard my music ?" He asked you curiously.

"Of course I have, I even saved some on my laptop," You stood from your position and grabbed the laptop from the bench, searching for some files on your folders.

"When I consulted with the teachers for my composing project, they often gave me your song for reference. And I have to admit, they're great. Even though it's just an instrumentalia, it has some punch that moves you, that's what makes your music special." You said, finally finding the files that you were looking for and playing it, the mid-beat music spread through the laptop speaker.

You hummed and moved your head to the music, and Suga just looked at you without saying a word.

"What ?" You tilted your head, looking at him, "You think 'popular girl' like me didn't really have much interest in school subjects ?" You asked teasingly to him.

"No... I was just amazed to know that you listen to my music." He said uncertainly.

"I never knew the teachers would use my song as a reference." He said again shyly, a smile growing on his face.

"I told you you're not a loser." You smiled widely at him.

"And now that we're back in the right mood, can we go back to my work, please ? The deadline's tomorrow, I really need to finish it now." You said again, opening your classical number file that had been edited by Suga, and you both listened to it for a while.

"It's better now," You said, smiling at him.

"Yes, but it's still lacking something." Suga said, looking unsatisfied.

"It doesn't have that 'punch' like you said. You need to put your character into it." He explained.

"Mm... okay..." You nod slightly and think hard about some inspiration.

"Don't take it too hard, just think about the simplest thing about yourself. For example, what is your favorite day ?" He asked, now sitting towards you.

"I like it when it's rainy."

"And what do you like most about rain ?"

"The pleasant smell after the rain." You said after thinking for a while.

"The petrichor. Great, now think about it, imagine you're smelling the petrichor right now, how do you feel ? What memories does it bring ?" He asked again, trying to direct you.

You closed your eyes and did as he said. You imagined watching the rain fall through your open window, the sweet smell of soil, the comfort it brought you. You were getting into a relaxed mood and you could feel a soft melody forming in your head, a melody that came from your unconscious thoughts. You started humming to the melody.

"Great, you're already feeling it." Suga said while looking at you and smiled widely.

"Now let's record it, and we can build the song from that melody." He said again, rushing to his bag to take the recording stuff.

You opened your eyes and smiled widely at Suga, you felt like you just discovered something new, all thanks to him. You stood from the grass and followed him to the bench, and you both spent the day doing your number until it finished.

***