“I’m surprised you agreed to this.” Chaerin says as she drives along a winding paved road. She glances out the corner of her eye and he meets her gaze for just a moment.

“Why are you surprised?” He asks with an awkward chuckle, now staring intently at the road.

“It felt as if you were avoiding me.” She says steadily but he peeks over at her nervously fiddling with her fingers on the steering wheel.

“I was.” He says with a long sigh which surprises her. “I didn’t know what to say.”

“I was maybe avoiding you, too.” She tells him honestly with a small laugh.

“Should we talk about it?” He asks her quietly and the truck swerves as Chaerin looks over at him. She turns back startled and rights the truck back onto the road.

“Later, we can talk about it later.” Seunghyun says with a laugh and she stares ahead at the road, her cheeks bright red with embarrassment.

“It’s amazing, right?” The young woman asks gleefully, changing the subject as they pull up to a large house sitting on top of a hill. He had thought the Lee house was large but this was the biggest house he had ever seen (other than Jiyong’s house, but he didn’t want to mention anything in front of Chaerin).

The two walk up to the prodigious holiday manor and are greeted at the door by a housemaid. She leads them up a formidable stairway and stops at an open doorway. A familiar face peeks out with a smile.

“Chaerin, hyung, please come in!” Soohyuk greets, gesturing into his room. The decor is as palatial as the rest of the home but with unkempt touches that are more typical of a young man. A newspaper and some music sheets strewn across the desk, a poster or two pasted on the wall.

Chaerin immediately gravitates to the large bookshelf filled with vinyl records. She slowly slides out a record one at a time, carefully studying the covers with reverence and then putting them back.

“I have no idea why you’re over at our place looking at my father’s records when your collection is this amazing.” Chaerin tells him, her fingers delicately gliding over a John Coltrane vinyl.

“I just admire your father’s taste.” He says simply, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Chaerin only laughs shyly in response, her cheeks pink as she now holds a worn out Billie Holiday. She can feel where the paper thins from Soohyuk’s eager fingertips. The tall pianist’s attention turns suddenly to the other man in the room.

“You know I haven’t gotten to speak to you much, Seunghyun. I’ve been meaning to commend your playing!” He laughs at the shock on Seunghyun’s taken aback face. “I can tell you’re Lee’s student, you’re seriously something else. Your Danse Macabre was transporting.”

“Ah, really? Thank you very much.” Seunghyun looks away, rubbing at his neck in embarrassment. “I mostly prefer a Shostakovich or Scriabin but if it’s a French composer then of course it must be Saint-Saëns or even Erik Satie.”

“Oh really?” Soohyuk responds, pleased. “Satie is Chaerin’s favorite composer, she used to play a beautiful Gymnopedie variation.”

His voice trails off and they can feel his unintended past tense hang thickly in the air.

“Thank you.” She smiles ruefully at her long time friend, the two men looking at her as if suddenly remembering she’d been in the room all along. “Would you like to hear a Gymnopedie for old time’s sake? I do miss playing that gorgeous piano in your parlor.”

“Are you sure?” Soohyuk asks, unable to hide his shock. “I’d love to hear you play again!”

Seunghyun smiles as Chaerin leads the way down the stairs to an imposing grand piano that would have made more sense housed in a royal symphony hall than a parlor in the countryside.

She seats herself at the bench as if returning home, her fingers effortlessly gliding across the glossy black and white keys. The men clap in amazement as she bites her lip, transitioning into a second piece. Seunghyun watches in awe of her beauty while she plays, seeming more free than when he first spied her through the window at her mother’s piano.

“Beautiful.” Soohyuk sighs out in content as she completes the suite, turning away from the piano to face her friends. She bows playfully as she stands up, walking toward them. The tall pianist once again turns his attention away from her. “I can’t believe I forgot all about it, but you two must come to my family’s New Year’s Eve party. Some of my friends from Paris would love to meet you, Lee Seunghyun. I’ve told them everything about you.”

“Hopefully not everything.” Seunghyun chuckles.

“Of course not, only the worst.” Soohyuk smirks, his eyes wandering to Chaerin. “I understand if you won’t go again this year, Chaerin. The other housemates don’t ever go no matter how many times I invite them.”

“Actually, I’d love to go.” Chaerin responds, surprising herself half as much as the ecstatic man in front of her.

“We’re really going to the party?” Seunghyun asks mischievously, stepping out of the rusted truck parked in the grass outside Soohyuk’s manor. His black leather shoes glisten with the wetness of an afternoon rain as he walks toward the driver’s side. He assists Chaerin as she hops from her seat wearing teetering heels and a long golden dress. “I just wanted to stare at you all night.”  

She rolls her eyes in response, treading toward the front door in her heels while Seunghyun follows behind dutifully. Her metallic dress sways above her ankles rhythmically as Seunghyun listens to the swishing sequins like a symphony. His gaze doesn't leave her form until they're inside the manor, his eyes bombarded by the drastic changes from he had last been in Lee Soohyuk's home.

“You actually made it!” Lee Soohyuk greets them in shock as they enter the lavishly decorated foyer. He brushes a stray curl behind Chaerin’s ear when they join him. “You look lovely in the earrings I got you.”

“Thank you.” She laughs timidly. “I had a hard time finding a dress that wouldn’t look strange with the extravagant earrings.”

“Why are you being so modest?” Seunghyun laughs at her side. “Everyone knows you’re beautiful.”

Soohyuk raises a brow at the remark and Chaerin gives him a pointed look. She’s about to kick him when she notices a familiar face in the crowd. A frown forms on her face as she sees Kwon Jiyong speaking with Lee Soohyuk’s parents.

“Lee Seunghyun!” Jiyong waves as he excuses himself and goes toward his direction, not seemingly seeing Chaerin beside him.

She suffers through the conversation with a drink in her hand, cradled tightly in her fingers. Despite her not quite secret feelings of animosity toward Jiyong, she can act decent for Seunghyun’s sake. Her gaze darts toward the pianist in alarm, feeling his arm cradle around her waist, his hand settling on her lower back. She subtly moves his arm away, a slight frown settling on her lips.

“Ah, well, I’ll see you another time then, Seunghyun. Chaerin seems uncomfortable.” Jiyong nods toward her suddenly and her head pops up in surprise. Before she can say anything else the two men have said their farewells.

“I’m sorry, I know you’re friends with him.” Chaerin apologizes, her skin tingling and now hyper aware of how close his body is to hers. A slender hand reaches to brush against her cheek and her eyes close at the sensation.

“And I know you’re not fond of him.” Seunghyun counters with a contented sigh as her eyes snap open.

“Can we talk outside for a moment?” She whispers in annoyance, greedily drinking the last drop of her champagne and discarding the glass on a table.

She holds her long fox fur coat tightly against her body as they go behind the manor to the tree covered yard, away from prying eyes and ears.

“I don’t like when you’re so touchy, especially not in front of others.”

“Touchy?” He asks in surprise. “Why can’t I touch you? I can’t help that you so beautiful.”

“That’s not my fault.” She hisses, her warm breath visible little puffs in the chilled air.  

“Even when you’re angry and your cheeks are red, you’re so beautiful to me.” He continues with a smirk, though she can hear his building displeasure. “I can’t hold you or kiss you in front of others, all I have is to brush my hand against your shoulder and pretend it’s an accident.”

“I’m sorry.” She apologizes in a quick whisper, looking back to brightly lit house. “I just don’t want the others to find out about… this.”

“If that’s how you feel then let’s not see each other at all.” He says harshly, causing her to look up in surprise.

“Why?” She asks in desperation, her lips open slightly as her hair glitters with falling snow.

“Because I don’t think I can control myself.”

Before he can continue she leans up suddenly, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him down and kisses him. He grasps onto her hip, pulling her closer, his knee slipping between her legs. His tongue slides into and she groans, digging her nails into the back of his neck. He pulls away and steps back, leaving her heaving for air.

“I’ll really become obsessed with you.” He tells her in between ragged breaths. “We can’t just play games, you have to make up your mind and take responsibility for what you’ve done to my heart.”

“Why are you being so serious?” She sighs, her expression going blank. “Take responsibility? We all know you’ll leave us one day when you’re suddenly cured and bored of country life.”

“Chaerin, don’t.”

“I’m not like the people in that party. I don’t want to travel or see the world or go to beautiful places. I want a husband and a family in the countryside where I want to die one day and be buried in the earth I farmed.” He can only watch her quietly as she speaks. “I refuse to let you give that to me when I know what that means you’ll have to give up. You have talent, incredible talent, so you’ll leave us all behind. But that’s okay.”

She pauses to inhale the chilly air, her voice wavering from the intensity of the emotion welling in her heart and threatening to explode.

“Seungri is smarter than he looks, maybe I’ll marry him. He event went to university.” She supplies nonsensically, giving him a stubborn frown. “He’s the manager of the only hotel in the area so it’s not like we’ll be poor.”

“You’re not going to marry Seungri, the children would be so ugly.” He gruffly interrupts but knows that she’s just rambling at this point.

“That’s how it’s supposed to be, I won’t cry over you.” She murmurs, letting herself be held silently. She doesn’t cry, only rests her head on his chest. He knows this isn’t really about him.

“I probably will leave.” He speaks softly into her hair. “But I’ll never forget you.”

He sighs as he gently her hair, feeling the warmth of her breath on his chest.

“Let’s just figure it out as we go.” He reasons quietly. “You’re right, it’s better if we keep it a secret until we figure things out.”

Chaerin nods, leaning back to look up at him. He brushes her hair back behind her ears and kisses her lightly on the forehead. She smiles.

As they join back with the party, the manor is lit by a multicolored lights, the whole property buzzing with whistles and noisemakers. Confetti covers the floor as couples sway together while music plays and a group huddles together by a television in the background.

“You missed the countdown!” Soohyuk runs up to them, a metallic party hat looking out of place on top of his perfect hair. He catches them off guard by tossing a handful of confetti toward them with a pleased smile. “Happy New Year! It’s 1970, a whole new decade!”

- - -

Author's Note: And there we have it! I can't believe it's been nearly a year since I last updated. I promise I haven't abandoned this story or really any of my stories. Thank you for being patient with me even though I'm the YG of updates! I love you all and appreciate all of your support and kind words. I hope that you enjoy this chapter and don't worry, I will be updating soon!