Chapter 11: A little respect

[Flashback]

“..Give yourself a little respect, child - it couldn’t be that bad. At least, you’re still alive.”

“I don’t feel so much alive though…”

“Yes, you do. Here, listen to this little tune.”

“What tune?”

“Your heartbeat”

…..

[Present]

Half week of being at home passed.

The girl sure never ran out of curiosity!

Never in a million years!

Even some said “Curiosity kills the cat.” Juhyun Cat would just go straight to that dead cat and investigate on how, when, why, etc, etc.

And today, after hours of studying English and basic computer, her teachers left - she started to wander around the house with great caution and greater curiosity - but if you considered, those two would never make a good combination.

Though Juhyun always respected the place and people; she tried not to trespass on invisible boundary this whole time. But does that invisible boundary ever exist? She would ask herself and then extended her survey a little further.

Sometimes we couldn’t help that either.

And that was how she stumbled upon this big room - A MUSIC STUDIO.

First, she just saw the maids walked in and out the room – she stepped closer, they looked up from their chores and asked how could they be a help?

So she asked ‘Can I go inside, too?’

They smiled adoringly to her ‘We don’t have the rights to allow you, ahgusshi.’ Then Juhyun thought about walking away ‘…but this room has never been forbidden to anyone. I mean Deoryeonim never suggest we should stop who want to get inside.’ The maid continued.

Juhyun curved her smile. “That means I can!” She shouted to herself and almost jumped.

So then she was here inside the room.

And what she found out…

‘He was or perhaps he has been in a band’ Juhyun thought - judging from many kinds of music instruments and what the maid told her that Yonghwa (Doryeonim) owned all of these; of course they are in his house!

So he could play, at least, one of these or maybe he played all of them and maybe he could sing, too!

Juhyun didn’t know why but she was excited with the idea of Yonghwa’s singing.

I would never think you are an artist type, samchon!

You sure keep them hidden very well, all those sides of yours.

Then she found a piano or it was a keyboard? She decided it to be a modern piano because she would love it for a piano! (So that means it’s a keyboard! Haha)

But a modern piano had few resemblance of such a grand piano which she always dreamed of – she dreamed of the white grand piano!

She used to own one, but a wood type and kind of small…no! no, not that small but when thought of it now it looked so small, or was it her that small?

Yes, that was when she was still a little girl, her appa and omma were also there – her omma taught her how to play piano. She used to play it very very well and they would smile proudly.

But…but then omma would upset every time she made a loud noise and… and…

She didn’t know it anymore, didn’t want to think of it again.

Juhyun shifted her gaze away from the piano. (To remind you, it’s a keyboard)

But after awhile she looked back at it, couldn’t help herself with that.

There was a big grand piano in her haraboji’s house, though she never touched it.

And back in hospital, Nurse Kim used to play piano for her too and sometimes made Juhyun played it, a smaller version of black grand piano – still not a white one, never tried a white one before.

Would it make some significant difference? Would a white one make it sound sweeter or that have to be a pink one? But are there any pink pianos? She sometimes wondered.

And somehow she has the urge, wanted to put her fingers on it. Am I allowed?

Before she knew, she put her finger on a piano note but no sound came out.

Ahhhh…modern piano need electric! Somehow she knew that, still insisted on part of calling it in PIANO form.

Juhyun turned to the maids who giggled something together while vacuumed the cushions.

Would you help me plug it in, unnies? She wanted to ask, but couldn’t find her voice.

They seemed to be caught up in conversation; she didn’t want to bother them.

She looked around until she found her modern piano’s plug and the switch and so many switches and else. She figured out she would plug this in, then turn that on, and put on that switch and everything would put back into life.

She wanted so much for this instrument, all instruments, to be alive again – it was like they were dead now. And that she forgot all of her reminder about being cautious, her aim now was playing SeoJuhyun to the rescue!

And so she went for it.

Her eyes shut closed and she held her breath as she waited for any signal, any loud noise, any sound at all.

What if I did it wrong? What if I break it already? What if the whole circuit went out or the electric current heat up and burn everything down – BOOM‼?

After a few seconds, she slowly opened an eye to observe. First, she noticed the LED light on the keyboard, and then she saw computer screen and PC nearby ran the start and some electric current sign on some parts of those weird objects. Her eyes were fully opened in agape. She seemed to signal the whole set of this…this DJ/MUSIC PRODUCER SOMETHING BOOT! Did she?

What do I do now?

And then she looked back to those maids; they were collecting their cleaning utensils now.

“We are getting out, ahgasshi” They informed her last thing.

What else she expected them to ask? Maybe asked for doing her a help again. She would beg for that but somehow she still couldn’t manage to find her voice.

Are you going to leave me to this alone? Juhyun wanted to cry out.

Finally the maids got out on their way.

No! Don’t leave me, unnies!

The door was left opened but Juhyun felt trapped somehow.

HA! It was only her now, but maybe it was only her from the moment she laid her eyes on that ridiculous modern piano and the moment she went for playing absurd SeoJuhyun to the rescue! She wanted to kill herself – not literally though.

Why did I do that – playing lame thing?

Who would come rescue me now?

Ottoke…?

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At first, the old lady thought she was being delusional for hearing the sound – the piano sound or something close to that, but then she heard it again and again. And she knew as well where the sound was coming from.

It came in ‘Do’ first and went silent a moment, then Do-Re-Mi and silence, then Do-re-mi-fah-son-la-ti and all those notes that piano could produce and repeated all over again as if someone was testing the notes.

She looked at the enormous luxurious wall clock, then started to doubt if Yonghwa was back earlier but then she thought of how long her nephew neglected such music things.

“Who is playing piano” She decided to ask those maids of hers.

No answer came out; those maids kept looking at each other as if they, too, had no idea.

The old lady was getting a bit annoyed “Who is in that music studio now?” She asked again with richer tone.

“I’ll go check, madam” a head maid in her 50s, Park MiSun, replied and headed forward.

When Mi Sun returned, those sound turned into a tune of ‘the cat dance’ song and it sounded nice, not just nice but also jovial.

“It’s Juhyun ahgusshi, Madam” Mi Sun informed.

The old lady would stress on ‘Who?’ again if not because she now focused on the tune instead.

After the song ended, she would say. “So at least, some mental case could play the cat song.” Then she would smirk “Who would expect that, right?”

The maids knew very well not to say anything.

“So Yonghwa was back now. How was he doing today? Doesn’t he look tired? I think he must be tired of dealing with those oldies. That’s why I retired this early. I had enough of old stuff myself.” She would talk in long monologue until she had enough.

“Doryeonim isn’t back, yet, madam. It’s only Juhyun ahgusshi alone inside” Mi Sun informed further.

The old lady seemed a bit surprised but kept her awe look. “Then I found it impressive. How did she find that studio? Is it Yonghwa who introduce her to? Or it’s those maids?”

“I don’t know, madam. Do you want me to find out?”

“Of course you don’t. And no need to find out, I have the feeling that some mental case could accidentally stumble across it herself, since Yonghwa is more than oblivious to that room. How else could it be, huh?”

And then the tune started new round of ‘the cat dance’ song again.

“It isn’t a piano, right, in that room?” The old lady asked.

“I think it’s called a keyboard, madam.” MiSun replied.

Then the old lady looked upon her grand piano in a corner – the elegant crystal clear grand piano. “You think how long it takes for that mental case to stumble upon my grand piano? Should I do something to prevent it then?”

The maids remained silent. The old lady didn’t seem to care about that.

She kept fussing “Is she going to be all over this place soon? With that cat song? How can I stand that?” She sounded fierce and disturbed but her last sentence sounded different somehow.

As if she knew exactly how to handle the situation but she found it amused to fuss around that matter.

“We could teach her another song, madam. She seems to have talent.” A maid named Kim NaYoung couldn’t hold back her opinion this time.

And then the old lady would pierce at NaYoung with sharp gaze and the poor maid had to keep her face down.

“Teach yourself that cat song first, NaYoung.” She warned halfheartedly, still sternly as usual.

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A little respect?

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Somehow Juhyun found the way to deal with situation in the studio. She even sat down and played that modern piano (FYI, It’s a keyboard).

The first song which came into her mind was ‘the cat dance’, so she played it.

She thought it sounded ugly, she tried a second round and it still sounded wrong and ugly in her ears. She blamed it on her lack of training. So that even she wanted to play ‘Bethohen’s no.8 - pathetique’, her favorite piece – she decided to just give up because she couldn’t bear the thought of her ruining such a beautiful work of creation.

But I couldn’t do better if I deny doing it at all cost. She knew that.

Still she couldn’t hold her mind and her hands together for playing her favorite piece just now.

Not now, I’m not ready yet. But I soon will be. She noted to herself.

So that Juhyun put off the idea of playing anything at all and then just looked around. She had no idea how long she had been in this room.

Suddenly her gaze landed on the computer screen, that moment her curiosity kicked in. She thought about her basic computer class – those simple tasks she excelled already.

It couldn’t be that bad, I can try.  It’s just a computer PC, even 3 year-old kid can own an iPad these days.

She reached out her hand to hold the mouse that brought computer out of sleeping mode; she gave herself a plead smile. Alright, let’s see what we have here!

She dragged a mouse cursor to those folders while her eyes ran the check up. She still had no idea what she was going to ‘double click’.

There was this angel’s voice in her head warned her it could have some personal stuff she didn’t allow to see. ‘Just be a good girl and shut down the computer now’ it would say.

And then there was this evil’s voice ‘Just check them out a little bit won’t hurt, Juhyun’

Finally she settled down with Winamp program.

There is not much to SEE in Winamp anyway, I just….find something to listen. I’m serving this room its purpose, right? This will be fine.

She had never been this much curious, seemed like she got it bad today. But it was still okay, no real damage had been done.

What she found on Winamp then, was a bunch of mp3 files – seemed like all were English songs and none she would recognize from its title track.

Anywhere she decided to randomly double chick on one of too many tracks. The room was brought back to life somehow when the tune started doing its magic.

After first line, she decided she loved this song already so she checked the title track out.

It was written ‘A little respect – Erasure’

It can’t be the song title called ‘A little respect dash erasure’, right? Consider from other tracks, all with dash.

So it’s a song named ‘a little respect’ or it’s ‘erasure’ then?

(A little respect – Erasure)

I try to discover
A little something to make me sweeter
Oh baby refrain from breaking my heart
I'm so in love with you
I'll be forever blue
That you give me no reason
Why you're making me work so hard

That you give me no
That you give me no
That you give me no
That you give me no

Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please give a little respect to me

And if I should falter
Would you open your arms out to me
We can make love not war
And live at peace in our hearts
I'm so in love with you
I'll be forever blue
What religion or reason
Could drive a man to forsake his lover

Don't you tell me no
Don't you tell me no
Don't you tell me no
Don't you tell me no

Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please give a little respect to me

I'm so in love with you
I'll be forever blue
That you give me no reason
You know you're making me work so hard

That you give me no
That you give me no
That you give me no
That you give me no

Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please give a little respect to me
Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please give a little respect to me

“So now you are practicing on English and computer, right? Snoop girl” Someone said into her ears.

[TBC]

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Long time no update! I'm so sorry for that, but now I'm back and I'll post the new chapter every week, okay?

Hope you enjoy :)