Luckily for me, I recognized one of the students.

“Changmin!” I waved my skinny hand at the guy I met the previous year at a summer music festival in France. “I haven’t seen you in a long time!”

“Oh, it’s you, Jaejoong,” he replied with wide eyes. “I, uh, never expected you to be here. I thought only people who are at least eighteen are allowed.” His surprise was genuine.

I fought against scowling. “Well, here I am!” From my personal experience, I came to despise age limits. I wasn’t legible for ANYTHING until I was eighteen, apparently. “Do you know what we do for the orientation?” I asked.

“First we introduce ourselves. Then we perform a piece that’s about five minutes long.”

‘Good thing I practiced,’ I thought.

“What are you going to play?” I asked Changmin.

He shrugged.

“Okay, settle down, class!” I heard a familiar deep voice call out.

I stifled my cry of happiness when I saw the world-renowned Professor Jung enter onto the podium. I have only met him once the year before in America, and since then it became one of my dreams to study with him. He was on the jury of ALL of the major piano competitions, and conducts almost EVERY single orchestra as a guest every year. Therefore, every year, his best students have a chance to win a competition and play alongside an orchestra as its featured soloist.

Changmin was one of his students, and I envied him for that fact for a long time.

“Now, as you have all gathered here today, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Jung Yunho, and I am the president of this art’s school. Many students who graduated from here have moved on to become successful musicians with prosperous careers, which is what I, too, hope for you as a group.” Professor Jung paused.

There was the sound of shuffling feet and coats scraping the cushioned seats. All twenty students cast their eyes around, uncertain about what to expect. Some exchanged worried looks, some glared at one another, and some just looked down at their shoes.

After a moment, Yunho continued in his even and steady voice. “All twenty of you will be auditioning for the five professors here, I included. However, I will be taking only two of the twenty of you, for there are two students here who are already my students from the past.”

I saw Changmin beam with pride.

“Nevertheless, let’s begin.” Yunho looked around and his eyes landed on his first target. “Changmin, why don’t you start? Introduce yourself.”

Changmin eagerly stood up and bowed to the audience.

I instinctively clapped and smiled at him. When I realized that I was the ONLY one clapping, however, my face flushed and I heard Professor Jung chuckle lightly.

“Good evening, everybody, my name is Shim Changmin and I am from Seoul. I started playing the piano at the age of five and studied at the Seoul Academy of Music ever since. I was recently the youngest contestant in the Korean Chopin Competition, and advanced to the semifinal round.”

He started to sit down but Professor Jung pointed to the piano. Poor Changmin’s face turned red as he realized his mistake, and he shuffled towards the piano to perform his most recent encore piece (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8alxBofd_eQ); he was always good at fast light pieces. There was a polite flurry of clapping after his performance.

Then Professor Jung tilted his head towards his next victim, and my heart skipped a beat. His hazel eyes burned a hole into me, and yet seemed to give me a warm strength. I knew from his glance that he remembered me from last year, but then again most people remember me.

I stood up hesitantly and swallowed the lump in my throat. “Hi,” I gave a little hesitant wave, “I am Kim J-Jaejoong. I am sixteen years old, uh, and started to play the piano when I was three. I-I studied in Germany for a little bit last winter, and had master classes with many people.” ‘God, was I sounding stupid or what?’

As if to save me, Professor Jung (who was laughing in his eyes, I knew) motioned me to the piano and I exhaled sharply. Giving speeches was never my thing. I sat in front of the piano and quickly decided on my most recent encore piece (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwc-nmyPm4I). Like Changmin, I was a fast player, but I also had technique and a large tone.

By the time I was finished, my hands were shaking and my face was drenched with sweat. Nobody clapped except Changmin and Professor Jung (probably due to courtesy), and I awkwardly stepped off the podium and into my seat again. ‘There goes impressing everybody,’ I thought to myself.

This continued until all twenty of us had introduced ourselves and performed. Every single one of them received an adequate applause, and I sank deeper into my bubble of depression and disappointment. ‘I played fine, didn’t I?’

“Well, then, it was nice to meet you all,” Professor Jung concluded. “The practice rooms are on the second floor, and they are on a first come first serve basis.”

I felt Changmin tense beside me, and immediately I knew that there was going to be fierce competition for those rooms.

Once everybody was sure Professor Jung had nothing more to say, they quickly gathered their things and rushed out the door. They were all gone before I could even stand up.

I puffed up my cheeks. ‘There goes a day of practicing.’

“Jaejoong!” I jumped when Professor Jung called out sharply behind me.

“Y-yes, sir?”

“Come,” he ordered.

Blinking rapidly, I walked towards the professor and took this chance to have a good look at him. His dark brown hair was well combed, his well-built body was hidden beneath his business clothes, and he possessed an aura of utter leadership and control.

Was it just me, or did he get better-looking since the last time I saw him?

“Now then, how are you?” he started off casually, the control never leaving his eyes. “Are your parents alright?”

“G-great, sir. They could never have been better.”

“Good, good. I received your message. Congratulations on your matriculation.”

I suddenly remembered that I sent him a message before leaving my home that I just graduated from secondary school with top marks.

Oh yah, did I mention that? I have basically been whizzing through school ever since the start of ninth grade: I completed my secondary school diploma in less than two years. Not only that, I managed to complete it with top honors while travelling around the world for competitions and performances. It was hard, but it was definitely worth it.

“Thank you. Congratulations to you, too.”

Professor Jung suddenly grinned. “What for?”

‘Crap.’

“For, uh, everything?” Once that word slipped out of my mouth, I wanted to sink into the ground and never reemerge.

The professor just laughed. “You’re very sweet.”

I chuckled nervously. Was that a good thing?

“Anyways, I wanted to talk about your place here in the school. Since you are so young [I resisted the urge to roll my eyes], you are illegible for a great many things [I rolled my eyes anyways]. Many tests and examinations require that you are at least eighteen, seventeen at the youngest, and there are hardly any exceptions. When things like this happen, I want you to find me, make me write you a note, and then hand that note in.”

I nodded quickly. “Sure.”

“Next, your living quarters. Are you alright with living alone?”

“Perfectly f-fine,” I lied. Truthfully, I hated living alone. It was just so… eerie.

“Because I can set up a host family t—”

“Oh no, no!” I insisted though any alternative to living alone would have been welcomed. After all, the last thing I wanted to do was become a bother to Professor Jung. “Really, I am okay with it.”

Professor Jung said nothing and looked directly into my eyes. It took all of my willpower not to flinch.

Desperate to change the subject, I smiled widely. “I can tell that you are worthy of your occupation as a professor.”

The professor widened his eyes in surprise. “How so?”

‘Isn’t it obvious?’ “Most, well, all of your students have been successful in the music career! That’s a grand feat, is it not?”

The middle-aged man in front of me smiled softly. “That was not me, Jaejoong. Success requires dedication and hard work from the student, not the teacher. I am only here to lead them in the right direction. They themselves must be the ones to walk towards it.”

“Well, at least you lead them in the right direction!” I added optimistically. ‘I should know,’ I thought. ‘I have had MANY ty teachers before.’

*Flashback*

“Play like this!” Mr. Choi demonstrated the passage. “Do it.”

I imitated him the best I could, but my attempt was met with dissatisfaction.

“NO NO NO!!!” he shouted, shattering my eardrums. “Like this!” He played it again.

Behind his back, I rolled my eyes and tried once again to imitate him. This, too, was rejected.

“ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING AT ALL?” he yelled with frustration was written all over his face. “Play it like THIS!!!” By this time, Mr. Choi was banging on the piano as if he was actually trying to kill the poor instrument.

And so on.

*End of Flashback*

“It is my duty to,” the professor replied as I shivered at the thought of Grouchy Ol’ Mr. Choi. “And therefore I have come to a decision.”

I looked up, confused. Decision?

“I see potential in your playing, Jaejoong,” he explained. “And I think, with the right training, your best will shine.”

I almost laughed out loud. Everybody, at one point or another, has said this to me. But it was always “You have potential to play well” and never “Damn, you play well.” I smiled bitterly. ‘Eh, at least I have potential.’

“I understand.”

“Therefore, I have decided to admit you into my own studio as my own student.”

My head snapped up. Did I just hear clearly?

“S-sorry?”

Professor Jung grinned. “You are now my youngest piano student in my entire teaching career.” His face darkened. “If you would like to think this over, though—”

“Oh no, no!” I butted in, clearly delighted. “I would love to become your student!”

“Good. Now, you had better go. Practice rooms, I heard, are difficult to obtain. Go on.”

“Don’t remind me,” I groaned, earning me a light laugh from the professor.

Elated at the prospect of becoming Professor Jung’s youngest ever student yet forlorn that there was a very slim chance of me finding a practice room, I grabbed my bag, bid the professor a simple ‘Thank you’ and ‘Farewell’, and skipped towards the door.

“Oh, and two more things,” Professor Jung called out normally. He didn’t need to yell; his voice had such a commanding tone to it that practically everybody would stop in their tracks.

“Yes, Professor Jung?”

“First, call me Yunho from now on. It’s easier and much more efficient in many ways. Disregard politeness just this once, Jaejoong. And second, I just wanted to comment on how brilliantly you played today. Absolutely marvelous.”

I stood there, not knowing what to say. It didn’t seem like anybody thought I played well; was he just trying to make me feel better about myself?

Utterly confused, I bowed deeply, said a final word of thanks, and quickly slipped out the door. I felt Yunho’s eyes on me the whole time.

````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Comments and criticism much encouraged.