SinB took her seat back at the desk and put the headphones on while she waited for the computer to fire up again. In the corner of the room there was a keyboard, so she went over and switched it on while she waited. She’d attended a few piano lessons in middle school, but she was no expert. She tapped a few of the keys and turned out a few chords she could remember. It was no mastery, but she thought it sounded okay. She the metronome and began playing chords and a simple bassline, it matched perfectly with the tune in her head and so she pressed the record button to make a memory of what she was playing. She was so involved in what she was doing that she didn’t hear the door open behind her, or hear the person who entered shush the people outside. After a few moments, the other person in the room cleared their throat, scaring SinB out of her mind. “Sorry to interrupt, SinB, but you left this in the pocket of my cardigan and I wanted to return it to you before you thought you’d lost it.” It was Yuna, she was holding out SinB’s phone to her, which she accepted with a weak smile and a ‘thank-you’. “I didn’t know you played, it sounds good. May I listen?” SinB was shocked at the other girl’s interest.

“Ummm… I’d rather work on... in private, but… but if you’d like to keep me company… that’s… that’d be really kind of you” she choked out. Yuju’s smile in response was warm and kind.

“If you’d rather be alone, I can leave. It’s up to you.” she held her hands up as if to say ‘I’m leaving it up to you’ as she moved towards the door.

“No! Please don’t go! I don’t… I didn’t mean to sound rude… and I don’t want… you… to leave… I’m just not very good at talking to people so prefer to be alone before people choose to leave me” SinB put her head down and her hands into her lap. Yuna immediately crossed the room and knelt down beside her. She put one hand on SinB’s knee and looked into her eyes, her smile was warm and her eyes were laced with concern- or pity, SinB couldn’t really tell.

“You’re doing just fine talking to me. I think I’ll stay and listen. We don’t have to talk, if you don’t want to. I just want to listen” she grabbed the chair in the corner of the room and sat backwards on it, resting her forearms over the back and her chin on her arms. “I won’t distract you” SinB was suddenly very bothered by Yuju, not in a bad way bothered, but her hormones were bothering her. Something about the way she was sat brought to light something SinB had never seen in her before; usually she was pretty, sometimes she was cute, but SinB had never looked at her (or anyone for that matter) and thought of her as hot 'Yeah, third degree burns kind of hot'  SinB thought to herself as a crimson blush emerged across her cheeks. SinB spun round on the wheely chair and let out a long breath. Despite not wanting to distract her, Yuju was doing just that.

‘Okay, Hwang, you got this. She isn’t here to judge, she’s just interested and once she’s seen enough she’ll leave again and you can get back to work’. SinB had to focus really hard not to say that out oud. She pressed replay on what she’d recorded and played it again just to make sure she remembered it. Her fingers found the keys fairly easily as she played it once more after the recording had ended. She then turned back round to face Yuna who was just watching her quietly from her seat. “Does that sound okay to you?” she asked. The other girl nodded vigorously.

“It sounds good. What’s it for, might I ask?” it wasn’t a judgemental ‘what are you doing?’ it was more curious, more genuine ‘tell me about your interests’ kind of question. “Don’t feel like you have to tell me if you don’t want to” she hid her face in her arms, it seemed her curiosity embarrassed her. SinB chuckled. She wheeled her chair over to Yuna and placed a comforting hand on her knee.

“Don’t be embarrassed for asking questions, it’s how we learn. And don’t hide your face, it’s too pretty to be hidden” SinB gave her best smile when Yuna looked up into her eyes.

“YAH! Are you mimicking me?” she laughed. SinB laughed too and shook her head.

“It was wise advice given to me by a friend. I thought it was fair to share it” she playfully squeezed Yuju’s knee and wheeled back a few feet to give the girl some space.

“You’re yet to prove to me that you’re no good at talking to people if you can make friends this easily” Yuna laughed, and it was like a melody in SInB’s ears that she never wanted to end. “Anyway, what’s it for? Is it for some kind of video game you’re making? Is it for some revision tutorial video? What’s it for?” Yuna’s ideas about SinB were a little staggering. And some of the shock must have registered on SinB’s face. “Just because we’d never met prior to this afternoon doesn’t mean I haven’t heard of you ever. You’re known around school as a tech-whizz, as some kind of software engineer prodigy, a genius.”

“Wha- how- what do you mean?” SinB was bowled over by Yuna’s comments

“A lot of the girls here seem to think you’re destined to work in computing, so I figured this must be some kind of work towards that. You don’t seem to know quite how highly some of our peers think of you, SinB” Yuna was grinning from ear to ear, and SinB felt her chest swell with pride.

‘They think I’m destined for greatness, to be a genius, to do great things. That’s awesome. And because of that reputation you’ve got this pretty girl staring at you like you’re some kind of genius… staring at you like… she… expects some kind of response. DAMNIT! How do I respond?’ SinB giggled awkwardly. “Ummmm… it’s not for a computing project, more… umm… pursuing personal interests… yeah! It’s just a project I’m working on to satisfy my curiosity. And I’m no genius, I just understand how computers work and you know, work with them.” SinB finished her little animated monologue by folding her hands into her lap. Yuna’s eyes were fixed to the other girl, her jaw a little slack by this random outburst of character.

‘She really isn’t what they think she is. She’s sweet and charming, and sincere, and cute, and loveable, and passionate, and excitable, and…and…. What did you do to make them think you’re a weirdo, SinB? What happened to make someone as special as you think you’re a no one?’ Yuju smiled a warm smile at the other girl. Choi Yuna felt like she was seeing something no one had ever seen before, a side to Hwang SinB that she only saved for herself. She didn’t say a word, but communicated everything she wanted to say with that one smile. She didn’t know if SinB understood, but she could tell from the warmth in SinB’s eyes that the other girl was glad she was there, glad she was spending time with a person who she could be herself around.

After the moment of sincerity spent just staring at each other, something clicked in SinB’s mind. In a flurry of excitement and a sudden surge of courage, she wheeled the chair across the room to the computer that had now well and truly fired up. She plugged in the flash drive and wheeled back across the room to where Yuna was sat. She held out her hand and her eyes were bright and saying ‘come with me’ it was like an adventure that Yuju didn’t want to miss. SinB guided her across the room to where the computer sat, ready and waiting. She picked up the headphones which had been sat on the desk since she went to play with the keyboard and placed them over Yuju’s head. “This is what I’ve been working on, this is what that little bassline is for” she wiggled the mouse a little and clicked play at the start of the timeline. She couldn’t physically hear what Yuju was listening to, but could hear it in her mind. After playing it and prepping it earlier, she knew the exact timings, the rhythm, and the transitions between melodies. A flicker of excitement crossed Yuju’s face and it expressed itself in a grin, in a mystified expression of wonder as SinB’s work filled her ears. When it ended, she removed the headphones and left them to hang around her neck. The expression of pure wonder still hung on her lips, and her eyes twinkled with a childlike excitement SinB didn’t think was possible from the older girl.

“That was wonderful. I never thought that those songs could be as interesting as they sounded just then. You really made this?" SinB nodded shyly.

“Yeah, it’s something that I’ve been thinking about for a while but only recently decided I could make a reality” she could feel a tinge of embarrassment creep up her cheeks, right to her ears as she talked about her private thoughts with this girl she barely knew.

“I think it’s remarkable- you’ve really got some talent Miss Hwang” Yuju said with a lingering smile. She giggled shyly, and so did SinB.

“Thank you, Yuna. I’m glad you enjoyed it. This… umm… this is what I love, music. This is what I want to do… more than computing. I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but I think I can trust you. Normally when I tell people, they laugh or they tell me I’m just wasting my time. Because it won’t get me anywhere, because I won’t be able to do it. They laugh and then they walk away from a childish dreamer. I won’t blame you if you walk away like the rest of them, but this is me. This is Eunbi who loves music, who dreams of producing music and writing songs and symphonies. And this is just the beginning. Before now, I never had the confidence in myself to try and do anything like this, I still don’t really. I just wanted to try and prove to myself that I could if I set my mind to it. Now that I’ve done this, and you like it, I feel like I can do anything.” SinB stopped, and took a breath. She’d never spoken this much to anyone about her dreams before, not even her friends. It felt good to finally express all of her thoughts about it, and in doing so, she had reaffirmed in her own mind that this was definitely something she wanted to pursue. The older girl smiled and hugged her. She whispered into SinB’s ear, her breath was warm and tickled against her neck.

“I wouldn’t walk away from you. I think your dream is amazing and I really hope that you can achieve it. With this much talent, even from a first attempt, this shows enormous potential, and I think any producer would be a fool not to take you on”

Author's note: So, chapter 2 has arrived. This was a bit of a random splurge of thoughts, I don't know about you guys, but I think it works (let me know what you think). Just as a disclaimer, I know absolutely nothing about music production or general musical composition (I just know how to appreciate a good piece of music, otherwise I'm useless), so I'm just going with the flow and hoping that some of what I'm saying makes sense.

On a personal note: 2017 has finally come to an end, and 2018 is here. Happy new year, I wish you all the luck in the world and hopefully what will become the best/ most successful/ happiest year yet. :)