"Here," she held out an envelope with the money Byunghun had given back to her, "I offered to pay, please respect my wishes." 

 

"You're gonna have to come up with something better than 'Please respect my wishes,'" he put down her hand with the envelope, "We offered to pay first though," he added. 

 

She wasn't one to pout but she did, out of frustration of course, "I thought you were one of those cool, as they say, oppa," he lifted an eyebrow, she wasn't one to refer to him as oppa, just plain Byunghun. He didn't expect her to add sshi, or ah, because in the US it was completely different. 

 

"Stop with that face, it's ugly," he shook his head, putting an arm around her, pulling her to the entrance of the school, "I was thinking after school we could go look at pianos?"

 

She hesitated before she answered, "Sure, but only for an hour or two, my mom wanted me to have dinner with her in Gangnam," she shrugged as if it were no big deal. He looked at her nonchalant attitude about it, but then she was probably used to expensive things. 

 

"Yeah, an hour or two would be fine," he removed his arm, stuffing his hands in his pocket again. She noticed he done that a lot. The bell rung, making the two separate into their different classes.  

 

"Suji Taylor. Suji, someone tap on her shoulder!" She heard her teacher, Mr. Kwon yell, she quickly looked away from the window, where she had the view of Byunhun in PE.

 

"The PE teacher wants to see you at the track, now." His voice was stern, angry with her for not listening who knows how many times he called her before she had looked. 

 

She quickly left, taking her time, she knew he was going to bring up the fact that she wasn't attending her class. Instead joining Byunhun in the music room. She placed her hands in her blazer's pockets. Once she stepped outside, she had the need to take off her blazer, the weather was hot and uncomfortable even. She found it hard to believe a few days back it was freezing cold. 

 

"Teacher, you wanted to see me?" She stood next to the teacher, who was blowing his whistle and yelling at the kids who were lagging on running their laps.

 

"Who are you?" He looked over at her, and it hit her that he doesn't know how she looked like because she never showed her face once to him.

 

"I'm Suji Taylor," she bowed, a little afraid that he'd curse her. 

 

"You're the girl who's ditched every PE class since she came here," he rolled his eyes, "I get your mom is famous, but you are no better than these kids over there," he pointed out to them. 

 

"It's not tha-" she began to say but he cut her off.

 

"But it's like mother like daughter, I suppose," he smiled at her, he wasn't old, maybe around her mother's age. He wasn't bad looking either, he was tall, muscular, and wasn't too bad on the eyes. His hair was light brown, a little curly as well, his jaw was thin, with a mustache going on. Well trying too.  

 

"You knew my mother in high school?" She smiled, she hadn't met any of her friends she had in Korea. 

 

"Who didn't, I'm glad she sent you here, it's better than those rotten private schools," he patted her on the head, "Just don't miss too much of my class, maybe show up once a week, and I might pass you," he nodded happily, she laughed. She couldn't believe this was happening, for a moment she thought she was done here. 

 

"Have a good day, I might show up today if that's the case!" She yelled the last part as she walked away.

 

When Byunhun first walked into the music room, he noticed she wasn't there right away. She had always been the first to arrive, settle down, and even was beginning to play full pieces to him, rather then the little snippets like before. He put his backpack on the bench, deciding he's go look for her. It wasn't until he was out on the track did he see her, she wasn't in the school PE uniform but in her usual uniform; sitting with Coach Hwang talking at the bleachers. 

 

"I thought you had a free period," Byunghun interrupted their conversation, they looked up. 

 

"No, I have PE but I ditch to be with you. But it's okay Hyunwoo said I only need to show up once a week for credit," she smiled. 

 

"Hyunwoo?" he looked over at the coach, "Are you a ert or something?" 

 

"No, just an old friend," he motioned for him to join them, 

 

'He knows my mom, it's okay," she assured him, "He has pictures of my mom when she was younger," she said lifting up a few pictures of a girl who looked like their age, in those pictures you could see the strong resemblance of the two. 

 

"Will you join me tomorrow?" He sat down, putting his hands on his knees, unsure how to act around Coach Hwang, knowing he could probably relay the message of her daughter hanging out with him. 

 

"Of course," she looked at the kids who were running a relay race now, "Jiyoung! You could do it!" She screamed out as loud as she could when she noticed her friend was handed the stick. 

 

"You could go now if you want," Coach Hwang said as he marked her full points for the day on his chart, "Leave school if you want, I don't care. Just don't tell your mom, okay?" He winked, letting the pair go off on their own. They both agreed to go off campus and go to the piano store, giving them an extra hour or so to hang out. 

 

"How about this one?" She looked at a mahogany upright piano, touching the smooth top to it, "It's beautiful," she looked at it in awe. 

 

"I was thinking maybe this one," he pointed over at a black upright, it wasn't much, but he just felt drawn to it. 

 

"How much is it?" She asked, he looked at the price tag, defeated. It was too much for his budget, it was almost 2 million won, "I have an idea," she quickly ran off to find the owner, an old man, who sat in the front watching over the customers. 

 

"Hello, my name is Suji, and this is my friend, Byunghun," she bowed, introducing them to him, "My friend and I are highly proficient pianist, and we were interested in the black upright, but don't have enough. I noticed you offer piano lessons, we could teach them, and as payment, you could give us the piano," she explained, and the man seem interested. 

 

"I am getting a little old, I'll do it. Plus with you two I might attract younger folks into coming in," he smiled. 

 

"When do you want us to come in for the first day of work?" Byunghun asked, also thanking him for accepting the offer. 

 

"Tomorrow would be great, I'll also calculate how many lessons you need to give to pay off the piano," he explained.

 

 

The pair left. amazed with how easy it was to come to an agreement with the man. There was another hour and a half they could have to stay together until she had to be home and get ready for dinner. But in the end they both agreed to just go to her home.

 

Suji was playing the piano, one of Byunghun's favorite pieces, Once Upon A December, while he sat next to her, his eyes closed, taking in the sound. He scooted closer to her, practically leaving no space between the two. He hovered his right hand over her left hand, until he held onto it. Making her stop her playing. 

 

"Byunhun, I was playing for you," she turned to face him. But he quickly intertwined his fingers with hers. But she knew she should shut up right there, she let him hold her hand, despite her being extremely nervous. It was her first time someone aside from her parents held her hand. They were in their own little world, uninterrupted, even as her mom opened the door, witnessing the two being close. She smiled to herself, lightly closing the door, letting them be on their own.