Chapter 15

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As the recital was coming soon, Nara and the other students were practicing in the auditorium. She patiently queued as she watched the others played their numbers. She and other students were sitting in the audience seats.

"Nara eonni, right?" A younger girl greeted her. "I'm Kwon Jinah, your duet partner hehe." She looked cute with her fluffy pink jacket.

"Ah, yes. Yes, I am." Nara smiled at her. "What grade are you in school?"

"High school second grade." She shyly answered. "Eonni?"

"I'm currently taking a leave absence in college. Architecture." Nara then reminded by the boys. "I have friends- well, more like little brothers- they're around your age."

"Friends? You mean like there's a lot of them?"

"Five. Wait, Haechan just joined them... So six. Six of them. They're the cutest." Nara bragged about the boys.

"I bet they are." She giggled.

"Kwon Jinah. A698." One of the instructors called from in front of the stage.

"Ah, it's my turn, eonni. See you later for the duet practice." She excused herself. Nara showed her thumbs to support her, when she heard a group of girls were talking about Jinah.

"Look at her. She thinks she's the best. And what is it with her clothes. Trying hard to be cute while she's already the youngest here. What a bitch."

"I know. I'm glad that I don't have to be partnered with her. Rumours say that she always looks down to anyone under her skills. I want to scratch that cutesy face of her."

Nara just stared at Jinah, who had started practicing. She was good, just like everyone said. And it's true that she was better than her. But Nara didn't see anything bad in her. That she was just a normal high school student being cute on her age.

--

After the duet practice was over, Nara and Jinah walked together. Then Boram came to cheer for her. She was waiting outside the auditorium.

"Ja-jann!" She surprised Nara. Her expression was controlled when she saw Jinah. "Why is she with you?"

"Don't be rude, she's my duet partner."

"Ah, my poor Nara..." Boram pouted. She glanced at Jinah who stood awkwardly. "Don't make her look worse, okay? She needs to look great with her piano."

"N-ne, sunbae." Jinah stuttered.

"Eeeyy, you can call me eonni. It's fine." Boram poked her shoulder. Nara was relieved when Boram didn't treat her like other girls in the academy. "Cute jacket, I like it."

"Really? Thanks, eonni. It's a bargain price, I got it in a flea market. Cute, right?"

Nara saw someone familiar walking in the hallway, with two other older men. She couldn't focus on Boram and Jinah's conversation as she was sure that it was someone she thought. The three walked further away.

"Excuse me for a while." Nara followed the three. At the intersection, she stopped when they were talking with the principle. He noticed Nara right away.

"Park Nara ssi, what are you doing?" He asked. The three men turned to look at her.

"No, I just- I thought-"

"Nara?" The guy she thought she knew was right. It was Doyoung, one of Youngho's friends. And he remembered her.

"You two know each other?" The principle asked. The two older men were confused.

"Well, he's a friend of-" but Nara didn't get to finish her sentence.

"She's a friend of a friend, sir." Doyoung cut her, half-panicked. "Is she a student here?"

"She's in classical piano department. Right, Park Nara ssi?" The principle smiled at her. "Now if you excuse us, you two can have a little chats while we older men discuss some matters in my office."

"Ne." Doyoung bowed and the three men entered the principle's office. He then turned to look at Nara. "So you play piano? Of all instruments?"

"Well, yes. Why? Is it wrong?"

Doyoung looked flustered and scratched his forehead. His panicking face was somewhat looked cute to her. "It's bad. What should I do?"

"What's wrong?"

--

Nara handed Doyoung a cup of hot chocolate from the cafeteria. She then sat next to him. He was anxious that his legs wouldn't stop shuddering.

"Do you want to tell me now?"

He immediately turned to look at her. "Will you keep it a secret?"

"Why? Is it something big?"

"It's Youngho hyung."

"Yes. What about him?"

"He used to play piano. The best one. If his name is mentioned the teachers will know right away. That's why I stopped you earlier. I'm in the same academy with him. I also play piano myself, if you don't believe me."

"I believe you."

"Really? Okay." Doyoung continued his story. "Then there was this- but I'm not sure if I can tell you this..." He was flustered and almost tried to slap himself but Nara stopped him instead.

"Calm down, you look like a panicked rabbit. Breathe."

He exhaled. "Okay, maybe I should tell this at least to someone. The other guys don't know this story." She just nodded. "So Johnny hyung- by what name do you call him?"

"Youngho. Just use whichever comfortable."

"Okay. Johnny hyung used to play piano, and the teachers favourited him so much. His mentor and him were close as they used to smoke together, and he took a fatherly figure from his mentor."

Doyoung fanned himself before continuing the story.

"Then the incident happened. Johnny hyung was standing by the stairs when one of the piano in vocal room, which I was at, was removed. The guys who lifted the piano didn't see him. I remembered he was talking with his mentor about an imported box of cigarettes..."

"Then?"

"Then the piano hit his arm as he lost balance. He fell from the stairs, along with his mentor, who was protecting Johnny hyung's hands. In his stead, his mentor's hand was squashed by the weight of hyung's body."

Nara covered her gaping mouth. She didn't expect a story like that.

"It wasn't bad, small fractures here and there. I heard my mentor said that hyung's mentor could play piano again. But Johnny hyung is traumatised, until now." Doyoung recalled something. "Ah! And you've seen him eating candies, right? He replaced the cigarettes, since it reminded him of his mentor."

"So he just quit the academy like that?"

"After the incident, yes. But technically he was still a student there. He's a great one, so the academy considers him taking a break instead of quitting."

Memories of him trying to help her flashed before her eyes. 'He's trying hard to help me, yet he needs one for himself.'

"But please don't act like you know this story, okay? Only you and me. Hyung told the others he was expelled from the academy for smoking inside the building thrice."

"Okay. I promise."

Doyoung smiled showing his bunny teeth.

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