the little bell ⇢ rensung

quatre

it was honestly a terrible day for jisung.

another session of practice deemed to be horrifying for the younger as he felt like his breath was taken away. barely catching up with the other strings of the orchestra, he knew he fucked up big time as his right hand started to shiver while his body tensed up, eliciting a very shaky melody that was easily conspicuous for the concertmaster's ears.

that was enough to kill his sanity for the rest of the day as he almost broke down in front of the orchestra members. excusing himself after getting a ton of scolds, he ran out of the practice room, his self-hatred fuelling up inside.

unable to stand his new friend in such great turmoil, renjun also excused himself to find jisung in the midst of the large rooms even though most of them are empty. soon enough, he found the younger hiding backstage and had to convince him to come for their own duet rehearsal.

and as a result, now they were both in an empty storage room with a grand piano nearby, waiting for mark to come by. it was rather just renjun who was waiting, while jisung was very scared, his hands already shaking as he suffered silently.

glancing at the younger, renjun knew he had to do something or the other but jisung looked as if he wanted to be left alone. ideas conflicting on whether to leave him alone or confront him about his situation, he clenched his fists as he mentally chose the latter option.

"sungie..." renjun started, garnering jisung's attention.

renjun could not help but approach jisung and hold his hand, glancing at him with an expression of melancholy laced with concern. "what's wrong...? you were playing good yesterday...but during the rehearsals, you don't play that well. what's going on your head...? please, tell me..."

"i-it's nothing..." jisung spoke out, stuttering badly as his speech was fragmented in between sniffles. "i-i'm...just a terrible p-player...t-that's all..."

"i-i...don't even d-deserve johnny-hyung's strad passed down to me...a-all i do is...p-play with a shaky bow...i-i hate myself s-so fucking much..."

with that being said, jisung immediately broke down, not able to handle his overwhelming emotions anymore. renjun immediately came to his grasp, wrapping his hands around his nape as jisung leaned forward, burying his head on his shoulder as he sobbed heavily— letting out everything he bottled up inside.

"there, there now..." renjun trailed off as he pat the younger's head, sighing as it hurt him as well to see his poor friend go through such mental turmoil. within his broken sobs, jisung quietly asked for a small favour. "i-i...n-need...a hug..."

renjun merely nodded in the affirmative as his hands heed to the query, tightening his grip on his nape while jisung wrapped his hands around renjun's waist, seeking comfort in his acquaintance, or rather, his about-to-be best friend.

a few seconds passed by gradually, each one dragging on like hours. there was pure silence fogged in poignant feelings with the exception of jisung's sniffles and the clock ticking in the distance.

and of course, that moment had to be interrupted as a very confused mark stepped into the scene, his mouth slightly ajar as he noticed the pianist and violinist embracing each other in a sort of adorable manner. he cleared his throat loudly to get the attention of the duo, his fingers fidgetting.

"d-did i come at the wrong time...?" mark stuttered out, his face tinged crimson, which led to the two turning to the flustered violist. "i'm so sorry, i didn't know you both were in a relationship! i swear i wasn't trying to interrupt you two!"