Chapter 7: Best Way To Learn Piano

I sat in the Palace’s very own music room, while my mother lectured me on how playing an instrument builds character and how, as a princess, I should start practicing again.

Honestly, I wasn’t really listening. I was too busy wondering where Taeyeon was.

It had been a week since she took me to that park and since then we’ve become very good friends.

Now that I look back at it, it was really sweet of her to plan that small trip for us to get to know each other. Siwon had never even thought about doing something like that with me.

“Hwang Miyoung, are you even listening to me?” My mother snapped.

I looked up at her and nodded slowly, pretty much clueless.  

She sighed and took a seat next to me on the piano bench.

“All I’m saying is that I want you to try learning the piano again.” She said, gesturing to the grand piano sitting in front of us. “You used to be so good at it.” She expressed, putting an arm around me.

It was true. I was pretty good at the piano and if I had kept on doing it, I could have been amazing. But even though I was good, Michelle was always better. Eventually, I lost interest, like I did in most of my hobbies.

“Okay, mother.”

“I want you to practice for at least an hour. I’ll have the maids, butlers and the guards on look out if you try to escape.” She said, slyly.

I nodded. She kissed my forehead gently and left.

I sat alone at the piano and looked at the music sheets.

Because I hadn’t’ played in so long, it all looked like gibberish to me. I made an attempt but failed. I sighed in frustration and gazed out of the window.

I heard the door open on the other side of the room. I turned my head and smiled when I saw Taeyeon poking her head through the door.

“Fany-ah? Are you busy? I can come back later if you want?” She said, readying herself to leave.

“No! Come help me with this!” I pleaded.

She nodded and smiled as she crossed the room to where the piano was situated.

“Wow. This is a beautiful piano.” She said as she ran her hand across the glossy white paint of the instrument.

“You know how to play?” I asked, moving over to make room on the bench so we could both sit down comfortably.

She sat down, our shoulders touching.

She nodded as she took the music sheets and flicked through them. “My uncle used to own a music shop and he had a piano in the back that he and my father had built together. My father used to take me there and he taught me how to play.” She said, smiling.

She placed the sheets on the stand and began to play.

I was utterly shocked at how good she was.  She made it look so effortless. Every note was filled with so much emotion that it was unbelievable.

After about two minutes she finished the song with a huge smile on her face.

“Wow. Taeyeon, that was amazing!” I squealed like a total fan girl. “Where did you learn that?”

She chuckled. “I wrote it for my Father when I was younger. It was always his favourite.” She smiled warmly.

“Can you teach me?” I asked hopefully.

She nodded. “Of course. Just give me a second.” She stood up and grabbed some blank music sheets and a pen and started to scribble down something.

After about 10 minutes she stopped and looked at me with a huge smile on her face.

“Done.” She stated proudly as she sat beside me again. “So, the first part goes like this.” She said as she played the first section.

“Now, you try.” She gestured.

I took a deep breath and attempted to play the beautiful song without much success. I hit the wrong note and sighed in frustration.

She simply looked at me and gave me a reassuring smile. “Not bad. But you’re doing this part wrong.” She stated as she got up and stood behind me.

She leaned forward and put her arms around me, placing my hands on top of hers.

“See, you were doing this.” She said as she replayed my mistake, leaning her chin on my shoulder. I could feel her body heat, my hands mimicking hers as they lay on top loosely. For some reason this felt so right.

I could feel myself blushing. I was glad that she couldn’t see my face because I must have been as red as a tomato.

“But it should’ve been like this.” She continued to demonstrate, not noticing my blushing state.

“Okay, now you try again.”

I thought she was going to sit back down beside me, but much to my surprise, she stayed where she was with her arms around me. She swapped our hands around so her hands were on top of mine.

“You don’t have to rush it. Take your ti