“I-I should go.” Minjoo stood up from the piano seat and left the auditorium drying her eyes. She called for a taxi, too embarrassed to take a bus – her eyes were a scary shade of red and she didn’t want people staring.

She held her phone up to the driver; on it was a text from her mother with the new address of the place where she was going to live. She sighed, feeling a bit guilty for leaving Kai so bluntly and quickly. As soon as she placed her phone into her handbag, it sounded for a text message. Minjoo groaned and took it out. The message was from Kai.

“Don’t do anything rash.” She noticed the concern in his text, but left it un-replied, not knowing what to say.

The taxi stopped outside of a large house. Minjoo stared at it in surprise – she never had seen this kind of luxuries before. She thanked the driver before ringing the doorbell hesitantly.

The door opened with a click and she stepped in, taking in the wondrous surroundings. The glass chandeliers, the new furniture – everything, looked so beautiful.

“Unnie,” Jieun called. Her voice was lifeless, like her face. “I’ll show you around,” she croaked. Minjoo shook her head and put her hands on her shoulders.

“Have some rest. Just show me to my room – I’ll explore myself.” Jieun had no energy and they both walked upstairs and along the endless hallways.

“Your room.” Minjoo looked inside it. Her first impressions weren’t bad. It looked sophisticated, though a little empty – but she could fix that.

“Go to bed now. It’s getting late.” Jieun nodded and left Minjoo in her thoughts.

In curiosity, Minjoo explored the house – the bathrooms, the backyard and the kitchen, her fingers already tired from turning every doorknob she could find. The last room she approached was particularly hard to open – the door was half stuck. The room looked old in general, but her face then lit up, seeing a piano and a cabinet next to it. Inside, were all her piano trophies.

Minjoo smiled at the choice of room. It was situated a bit further away from the rest of the rooms of the house, so it was almost guaranteed to be quiet. It wasn’t too big, so it was perfect for her. The oldness of the room gave an antique feeling, which she liked.

Having no time to explore upstairs, she went to sleep straightaway, her eyes falling shut from the fatigue of the day.

Minjoo woke up the next morning earlier than she would have expected; she was still slightly jet-lagged. She found her way to the kitchen, where Jieun and her mother was eating dinner.

“Morning,” Jieun chirped. Minjoo smiled, knowing that Jieun was doing her best to be unaffected by the recent events. She patted her back, earning a small look from her mother.

“I’ll send you to school today – I’m assuming you go to Seoul High?” Jieun nodded, as she downed the rest of her milk.

“Thanks – unnie.”

“You know – you don’t really need to send her there,” her mother interrupted.

“Why mum? It’s no trouble. It’s too close to take the bus and it’s pretty far to walk.” She sighed, sending a glare to Jieun who nodded hesitantly. She muttered an ‘I’m ok, I walk every day,’ bowed slightly and walked out the door with a slightly dismal expression.

“No really – it’s ok.” Minjoo reached for her keys, stepped out of the house and grabbed Jieun’s hand, dragging her towards the car. She dropped her into the front seat and she got into the car herself.

“I-I should go,” Jieun squeaked, as she tried to open the car door, but failing as Minjoo locked the car doors.

“Why?” Minjoo began to drive towards Seoul High and to her dismay, Jieun stayed silent, with her head hung low the entire way.

Minjoo could tell that Jieun was hiding something; she could see it in her actions – her fingers breaking the tissue in her hands viciously, and her lifelessness, unlike how a person like her should and would have been.

“Jieun-ah.” Jieun looked up slowly, uncertainly meeting eyes with her. “Please trust me – I don’t want to hurt you. I know you need help, but I can’t, unless you open up to me. I want to do my part as your unnie.”

They were in a brief silence. “I hate changing schools,” Jieun whispered. “It’s hard for people to accept me – in the middle of the school year that is.”

Minjoo let out a little chuckle. How a little kid like her could be so stressed about such a petty thing – it just seemed so stupid. She felt that she had real things to stress about – like maybe she’d be kicked out of college the moment that she played a wrong note, or the fact that her mentor now had no existence anymore. It was the same for Jieun and her father, so Minjoo came to a conclusion that she was just covering up for that – yes; that must be it.

“Come – I’ll introduce you to a good friend of mine.”

“Y-You have a friend…at Seoul High? Aren’t you graduated?”

“Yes…but he’s a nice person. I think you two will get along very well.” Minjoo winked at her as she parked the car in reverse. “By the way,” she continued, “his name’s Kai.”