lonely sounds | l. heeseung

11. old new beginnings

"You picked Kreutzer?" Eun byul questioned, raising her brow, "Do you even know how to play it? As in the accompanist part?"

"Yeah, sorta," Heeseung shrugged his shoulders and leaned back into his desk, "I've only officialized it yesterday, but that doesn't mean I wasn't considering the piece. I was practicing here and there as I was preparing for the recital. I think it's a good piece."

"I do too, but-"

"But what?"

"The last time I played Kreutzer was when I was 14. It's been a really long time since I've played that piece and played the violin in general," she sighed.

"Well it looks like you have some practicing to do," Heeseung said.

"Easy for you to say," she exclaimed with exasperation, "Honestly, I have no idea why I'm even trying to play the violin. Maybe you can consider playing the violin with someone else."

"Please, you jump to conclusions so easily. Stop being a quitter and try. Just try. If you don't like playing even after the talent show then you don't even have to play with me again. Eun byul, don't give up now," he said softly

She nodded her head.

"Come on, during lunch, we can look over the music in the music room. And you can correct me if I make any mistakes since you know this piece better than I do. Plus, nobody will even hear us since the hallway is on the west side of the 3rd floor. No one goes there anyway."

**

"Well, you pretty much play perfectly," Eun byul exclaimed, leaning against the wall in the piano room, "Just follow the score and don't go crazy."

Heeseung smiled, "Okay, now your turn."

"What?"

"You didn't think that I'd be the only one playing, did you?" he questioned.

Eun byul bit the bottom of her lip, slightly perplexed.

"I didn't realize you wanted to play today and I didn't bring my violin."

"Knowing you, you wouldn't have brought your violin even if I told you to," Heeseung said bluntly, "Just use one of the school's."

"Our school has violins? I-"

"Eun byul, you keep making excuses. I know you're probably terrified, but maybe you'll feel something when you play," Heeseung shrugged, opening one of the cabinets, "Here."

Sighing softly, she accepted the violin case he handed to her.

"It looks ancient and is probably going to be hideously out of tune," she exclaimed.

She brushed over the strings only to hear the unsettling twang from the out-of-tune strings.

"It sounds awful," Heeseung exclaimed with a soft laugh.

"I'm aware, but it's not that hard to tune the violin. After all, we do have perfect pitch."

**

"Eun byul, that was amazing," Heeseung smiled while giving her small applause, "I didn't know what to expect, but that was amazing!"

"Not really," she mumbled, "It's nothing like my playing back when I did competitions. I'm far from perfect."

"Come on, give yourself some credit. It's been two years since you last played and I can say it's pretty good for the first time in a long time," he exclaimed.

"The tempo was off, my fingers were out of placement, I used the wrong bowing technique, and I missed a lot of notes," Eun byul sighed with frustration.

"That doesn't matter because we have some time to practice. But with you grounded, then our rehearsals will be delayed."

Ignoring Heeseung, Eun byul's head drooped to the ground. Aggravated at her horrid playing she couldn't help, but think about practicing again.

"This isn't even close to how I played before. If Heeseung is serious about Nationals we're going to get cut on the first round and it'll be all my fault. His reputation will be ruined and we're going to get bullied by the media," she thought, distressed.

"Eun byul, is something the matter?" the boy questioned Eun byul as he saw her frazzled expression.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she responded cooly, beginning to pack the violin, "Let's go back to class."

As the two finished tidying up the music room, they grabbed all of their belongings and left with Eun byul carrying the school violin.

**

After school...

As the last bell rang, Eun byul gathered her belongings and walked out of the classroom. She heard quick footsteps come her way and a light tap on her shoulder.

"What do you want, Heeseung?" she questioned monotonously.

Turning around, she faced Jongseong with a skeptical look on his face.

"Heeseung, really?" He raised a brow.

"Sorry, Jongseong," Eun byul sighed.

"Hey, I haven't seen you for a while," he began to say.

"Sorry, I've been a little bit busy these days."

Jongseong's eyes immediately went to the violin case she was holding.

"I can see..." Jongseong's voice trailed off, "Anyways, do you want to hang out one of these days? I feel like we haven't talked to each other at all. What about the movies tomorrow?"

"Jongseong, I'm so sorry, but I can't," Eun byul bit her lip.

"Why not?"

"I'm kinda grounded right now," she exclaimed with embarrassment, feeling her cheeks heat up.

"Wait how? It's interesting because I never thought you were the troublesome type. What happened, did you score low on an exam?" he joked.

"I snuck out to Seoul and I came home late," she confessed.

"The city?! On a school night?" Jongseong asked with surprise, "Why would you go in the first place? Seoul is so far away."

"I know, but Heeseung asked me to go with him so..." her voice trailed off.

"Heesung, huh?" Jongseong scoffed in disbelief, "You barely know him, but you would rather be with him?"

"Jongseong, it's not like that. I promise you-"

"It's fine. You can do what you want. See you around Eun byul."

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a/n: oh my gosh guys it's been months since I last updated. I want to sincerely apologize for not uploading any chapters. Because of school and testing, I've been really stressed and have put this story aside. At times, I honestly thought about giving up, but I'm going to try and finish this book! I hope you'll be patient with me and support me. I love you all and thank you so much for 300+ reads for this book <3