“Again?”

“Yes, again.”

“How many times would it be, then?”

You twiddle the end of your curled hair listlessly.  “The fifth one this month.”

“Your grandfather must be crazy.”

You shrug and lean back in your chair as you look at your closest friend, Yoon Hee. 

“You have no idea,” you scoff.

Your body suddenly jerks forward when another one of your friends, Eun Ah, pushes herself against the back of your seat excitedly.

“No idea about what?

“The blind dates,” Yoon Hee answers for you as you rub your now sore shoulder.  “She has one this Thursday.”

Your friends were fully aware of your tedious routine of appointments.

Eun Ah pulls a chair from a nearby desk and sits to face you.  “Is he cute?”

To be honest, you don’t care if he would be cute or not.  You’re tired of all these useless dates.  Your grandfather wants you to be married as soon as possible, but he has no idea all the men he chooses for you are utterly, completely…not your taste.  Your grandfather arranged meeting after meeting, and you had been to, sadly, all of them, only to turn every one down.  Maybe true love really did exist only in fairytales.

“Is he cute?” Eun Ah says again.  “If he is, can I have him?”

“Cute…I don’t know.  But yes, you can have him,” you reply sarcastically.

You turn back to the book on your desk.  You study each line quickly, as if you are reading a regular book, instead of a book consisting entirely of Bach and his compositions.

“Speaking of cute boys,” Yoon Hee remarks, “I heard our school is accepting new group of students, before third term begins.  And they’re all going to be guys.”

You try your best to ignore her new gossip, but your ears beg you to listen.

“So?”

“So? This might be our chance to finally get a boyfriend!  You know, instead of always asking for someone else’s blind dates,” Yoon Hee says through gritted teeth. 

You smile weakly. 

Using a pencil, you trace the treble clef of Bach’s First Sonata for Solo Violin.  

You feel your life was shaped almost like that of a treble clef.  From the beginning, it was a dull, straight line until the age of 12, when your parents left, and created the desolate semi-circle at the top.  Being put into the care of your strict grandfather since then gave your life another short curve.  All you are missing is the spiral, which could resemble the love life you’ve never had, and the finishing , symbolizing the end of the love life you’ve never had.  Once in a while you found yourself craving to finish drawing—you could say, your ‘life clef’ that you had started—but hadn’t been given the chance yet.

But Yoon Hee could possibly be right.  Maybe your chance was coming.  If you do find interest in one of the new students, maybe your grandfather will terminate his controlling ways and let you love like you’ve always wanted to.

You look back at your two friends, who were now tittering to one another about the transfer students.

“Yoon Hee,” you declare, “when did you say the students were coming?”