Violin ≛ Seo Changbin

redo

We were comfortable with each other now. Her father, of course, was still skeptical about me spending time with her, but she invites me over and has me sneak through her balcony door a lot anyway. I perched at the edge of her bed, studying as she practiced her violin. She was a lot more confident than she used to be, not afraid anymore to show me her full skill. I couldn't really explain why, but somehow her playing put me in some type of trance that made me feel gratifying, reflective, and urged me to be productive all at the same time.

"H-hey did I ever tell you-?" She stopped playing.

I paused from writing my essay, which was actually turning out pretty decent thanks to her, and looked up. "Tell me what?"

"I want to ask Mr. Kim if I could redo my chair audition and hopefully get a better spot tomorrow."

_

"Woojin!" I called as I was passing by the orchestra room during my off hour.

"Hello Changbin, what did you need?"

"Did any of your students recently request to do another chair audition?" I asked.

"Yes actually, she's your friend, right?"

"Yeah! How did she do?" A grin etched its way onto my face at the thought of her finally coming out of her shell and showing her peers her true talents.

"Sorry Changbin, but I actually couldn't allow her to re-audition this late in the game," Woojin said apologetically.

"What?! No way, you have to hear her play! She's so much better than you think, she deserves to be first chair!" I exclaimed, surprising myself with how heated I was getting.

"I'm sorry. Maybe next year she can audition for chairs, but not now."

"Please, Woojin, I swear to you, you won't regret it. Please just give her one chance!" I begged.

Mr. Kim sighed, reconsidering my statement. He thought for an agonizingly long time until he finally said, "Alright. Get her here if she's off right now and I'll have a listen."

"Thank you!" I smiled and bolted down the hallway. I knew exactly where she was because there's really only one place she would care to be at this school. I never ran to the library so fast in my life. I spotted her, her little button nose buried in a textbook, before waving and calling for her to come over.

"What's the hurry?"

"Mr. Kim-"

"Oh, yeah I was gonna tell you that he didn't let me audition again." She frowned, her lips turned down in disappointment.

"No, I came here to tell you I talked to him and he said he'll let you redo it." I grasped onto her small fingers and pulled her along with me back down the hall.

When we arrived back at his classroom, she immediately began unpacking her violin, her eyes gleaming with anticipation. I seated myself on a stool outside his office as the two of them went in. Before Woojin was able to close the door though, she stopped him.

"Um..." she started. She was trembling again. Her fingertips and her knees reflected her nervousness ever so slightly, but I noticed. "I-is it okay if Changbin comes in with me too?"

Woojin agreed and I stepped into his office, taking her handing and squeezing it for a moment as I passed her. I looked at her encouragingly as she took a deep breath and brought the instrument up to her chin.

She was no longer shaking, and when she began playing, the ambiance of the room immediately shifted to match the mood of the piece she chose. Not only that, but I realized she hadn't brought any sheet music with her. She was playing a memorized piece, one I hadn't heard her play before.

Woojin listened intently. He nodded along to the song, clearly satisfied with her technique and the high-level artistry she displayed. She painted an image of eloquence with each note she played until the very end of the song. There was a minute of silence, no one said a word until Woojin breathed out.

"Wow- I just- that was incredible," Mr. Kim said. "You are really talented. Your intonation was brilliant, I couldn't find anything wrong with how you played! I can't believe I never knew how good you were until now. I don't usually like to make decisions like these right away and on the spot, but I think I might just bump you up to first chair!"

She laughed through her nose, relieved. I don't think I've ever seen her so happy before. She smiled widely and thanked him, her features wrinkling up and her eyes squinting into a crescent moon shape. I stared at her in disbelief. How could she just take my heart like that without even knowing?

.

some development in this story si? ;)
also I'm pretty sure laughing through your nose means like breathing out through your nose but you're kinda laughing? idk how to explain it, but I hope I used that correctly

Vote and comment if you enjoyed! <3