ARC ONE

dissonance
Origin: late Middle English: from Old French, from late Latin dissonantia, from Latin dissonant- ‘not agreeing in sound,’ from the verb dissonare 
Harsh, discordant, and lack of harmony. Also a chord that sounds incomplete until it resolves itself on a harmonious chord.

DISCLAIMER: The personalities and opinions of these characters do not represent those of actual idols themselves, the Juilliard students, the New York Philharmonic, or any of its employees. The Juilliard School is not responsible for the accuracy of information.

A/N: In this chapter, This font will be used when Chaeyoung is using unspoken communication. This font will be used when Mina is using unspoken communication

I'm aware that there's no In-N-Out in NYC.

The Twentieth Measure

Saturday: September 12, 2020

My eyes open to reveal a dimly-lit room, though it is supposed to be daytime as nobody has opened the curtains. I can't clearly remember what happened last night, but my eyes scan my current location — solo cups littered on the floor, white LED lights that died overnight, the pungent smell of alcohol and marajuana. Oh my god. I'm still in the eleventh floor lounge. My body instinctively jolts up from the blue couch and I try to get up on my feet. Damn, what the hell was I doing last night?

"OUCH!"

"What the—" My foot retracts as soon as it comes into contact with somebody's abs.

It was Jihyo, her messy bangs obscuring her eyes. In one hand she's holding an unfinished chicken wing from the mini buffet and in the other hand, Jeongyeon's empty bottle of Vodka from hell. Her crop top is pulled up to the point where her under-s could be potentially exposed.

Oh my gosh, I stepped on Jihyo. Gross.

I looked around and Jihyo wasn't the only one sleeping on the floor. A few of the other party guests were scattered all over the lounge, dry mouths sticky with thick saliva from all that hard alcohol. I rub my temples and the aching in my skull ebbs and flows like a cold tide. I feel as if the blackest of clouds are looming over my head with no intention of leaving any time soon. I whip my phone out from my cardigan pocket to check the time:

12:00 p.m.

Oh dear god. I have Juilliard Orchestra rehearsals in thirty minutes. I don't even have time to eat lunch and put on my makeup.

On weekends, Juilliard Orchestra rehearsals typically last for a longer duration of time because class isn't in session. Especially since opening night is nearing, Maestro Gilbert is going to take rehearsals very seriously. Dammit. I'm screwed because I have a massive headache and we're supposed to be rehearsing our entire program, including The Rite and my solo, whatever the hell it turns out to be.

Now, where is my bassoon?

My eyes trace the room, searching for my instrument. I have no idea how and why it is not in my hands anymore. I hope that it's not stolen because my dad would kill me if I had lost his seventy-five thousand dollar bassoon. The next thing I knew, I was stepping over party guests in search for my bassoon. I see that my case is still unopened and untouched, but who would want my bassoon?

"Mmmmm... I love you Jeongyeon. You bang in bed harder than you bang your timpani", I hear Momo murmur in her sleep, kissing and snuggling this long wooden stick with keys all over the place and—

Oh hell no.

That's not Jeongyeon.

That's my bassoon.

Momo is sleeping with my bassoon.

And she's having a y dream too.

"MOMO! WHAT THE ?" I tried slapping her awake so that she would let go of my bassoon. But it's no use. This girl is just as much of a heavy sleeper (and dreamer) as Sana. Her legs are wrapped around the boot joint and she's nuzzling the bell of my bassoon as if it were Jeongyeon's face.
 
"Noooooooo! Jeongyeon, don't leave me!" She wails as I yank my instrument away from her grasp.

I need to get out of here before I get in deep trouble. I dismantle my bassoon and hurriedly set away each separate joint in my case. I still smell like Vodka and I need to look for a change of clothes so that I don't stink up the rehearsal area. I see that Chaekyung has forgotten her long, red trenchcoat before she left the lounge for her cardio dance class this morning, so I strip off the cardigan that I wore last night and snag her coat from the rack. I'll just explain to her at rehearsals that I intended to borrow the trenchcoat from her.

The Twenty-First Measure

"Wow. Mina has a bed head today? That's new", Vernon, the fourth chair bassoonist, comments on my unkempt, wine-colored hair that I carelessly tied up into a messy bun while I was running from the Meredith Wilson Residence Hall to the Alice Tully Hall.

"What? Mina's not wearing any makeup today too? That's also new", Joshua, the third chair bassoonist, teases me as I pull my reed out of my reed water.

"Oh, shut up you two!" I grumble, holding the reed with my mouth, "I have a hangover and I'm not proud of it."

I'm not proud that Sana has become a brilliant horn player as well.

"Is that why your bassoon smells like Vodka?" Minggyu points out and Joshua, Vernon, and contrabassoonist Jun start laughing at me.

Ah, crap.

I knew that something was wrong when I stuck that reed in my mouth. Not only does my bassoon reek of alcohol, but so does my reed water and my spare reeds. Just when I pull out my cork wax and apply it to the bell, Maestro Gilbert slams opens the double doors to the auditorium of the Alice Tully Hall, trudging his way up to the podium with a stack of papers in his hands.

"Listen up, folks! I have three important announcements to make. First things first, I've decided on Mina's solo. Kai, do me the honors", Maestro Gilbert hands the concertmaster a laminated copy of the yearly bulletin.

Oh great, here we go.

"Mina's solo..." Kai seems uneasy as his eyes run across the bulletin several times, "Well... it's Jolivet."

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I'm screaming in my head. I've played Jolivet's Bassoon Concerto for the 2015 Young Artist Bassoon Competition in Tokyo, and it is a pain in the . I was only fifteen years-old when I played this piece, but other kids my age couldn't even play a complete concerto without running out of breath. This was because during the summer, my parents would pull me out of bed at 6:00 a.m. and force me to practice scales, arpeggios, and other complex bassoon etudes for thirteen hours a day just so I could play this concerto. I had small hands at the time and I needed my fingers to be trained so that I could build up the agility to play fast passages and muster up the strength to hold up a heavy bassoon.

I still have nightmares about Jolivet, even up to this day.

Although the piece is only thirteen minutes long, it is considered one of the most difficult concertos in bassoon repetoire — a "delight for virtuosos". It requires the highest musicality and expressive phrasing, precise articulation, fluency in intonation, and an extremely wide range. It is The Rite of Spring times ten. After performing the highly technical Jolivet, I could play almost anything. 

"And for that, I'm taking out The Rite from our program", Maestro Gilbert added. Sighs of relief went all around the auditorium. 

But now I'd rather play The Rite.

"On another note", Kai continued, "The Juilliard Orchestra's entire concert season will be viewed nationally by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and internationally by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), in which every performance will be broadcasted live for other people to watch. The goal of doing this is to attract viewers' attention to classical music as well as satisfy those who enjoy the art itself. Our orchestra, among several other ensembles worldwide, have been chosen to participate in this joint project by the two companies."

Now my face is going to be on live television. I've been on live television before because of the Last Night of the Proms and the Grammy Awards, but there's something unsettling about having cameras monitoring your every move, especially if the entire world is going to be watching. 

"Thank you, Kai. Everyone, take his word for it. This opportunity will not be taken very lightly so I expect each person to squeeze out every bit of effort into rehearsals and performances alike", Maestro Gilbert said before having the concertmaster return to his seat, "Now, I have one last announcement to make. I've decided to add another new member to our renowned ensemble."

I'm still half-asleep because of my hangover, but I can hear people chuckling behind me. Himchan's laugh was the most obvious — his gales, his chortles, his giggles were enough for me to identify the joshing percussionist. Eventually, the communal amusement. became more than just Himchan's guffaw. Each and every member around me gave a wry laugh at the sight of our newest member.

Ah, it's Chaeyoung. I could tell because of her short stature and short hair.

"Introduce yourself", Maestro Gilbert patted the girl on the back. Chaeyoung exhaled, revealing a large sketchbook from her shoulder bag. She opened the sketchbook to one of the pages with her handwriting scribbled with a dark, green Sharpie marker.

Hello. My name is Son Chaeyoung

She flipped to the next page.

I use this notebook to communicate with other people.

And then another page.

I hope that we can all be friends.

Her facial expression grew more solemn.

I'm completely deaf.

Oh my god. Now all of her hearing is gone. I remember her mother mentioning that she was only partially deaf when I visited her in the library. Now she has to resort to using a sketchpad to communicate with others. I don't even know what to say.

And then Chaeyoung's eyes focus on me, frowning.

The Twenty-Second Measure

Sunday: September 13, 2020 — Saturday: September 26, 2020

I still didn't get to talk to Chaeyoung, just because I was all caught up with my "precious solo" for opening night.

For the past few weeks, nobody in the Juilliard Orchestra has given a single thought about Chaeyoung's condition. In fact, it was because of Chaeyoung that Maestro Gilbert had to push back opening night to the end of the month. Rehearsals have gotten slower and more tedious for the musicians of The Juilliard Orchestra because they have other worries on their plate, including me.

Chaeyoung was a disturber of peace to our orchestra; she dragged everybody else down with her. Whenever she raised her hand to ask a question through her sketchpad, the rehearsal session had to be put on a halt just to accompany the deaf girl. She would have to ask her section mates to answer her inquiries by writing in her sketchpad. Countless times, her section mates would have to tune the drums and the mallet instruments for her because she was still getting adjusted to having a complete hearing loss. 

They called it "Chaeyoung time." 

Eventually, everybody grew sick of dealing with Chaeyoung and her section decided just to put her on auxillary percussion. She would make blatant mistakes, such as carrying out cymbal crashes at the wrong time, during rehearsals that would cause the whole percussion section to babysit her. 

And yet, Chaeyoung would still never approach me.

The Twenty-Third Measure

Sunday: September 27, 2020

I caught up with my friends again after avoiding them for the past two weeks because of my concerto. 

All six of us met up at the library close to the Juilliard SAB Café — the same exact library where I had a panic attack. While me, Reina, Shuuka, and Yuzuna studied for our 20th Century Music History test in a couple of days, Karen Fujii was tutoring Somi in music theory. 

Well, at least we tried to study.

Reina's boyfriend, Shori Satou, s our reviewing session by having his girlfriend sit criss-crossed on his lap, Reina rubbing his pant leg while Shori unfastens three boxes of different-flavored chicken wings from Wingstop — Garlic Parmesan, Hickory Smoked Barbecue, and Lemon Pepper — in the middle of our table. The next thing I knew, hands from all directions start flying over our notes and textbooks in pursuit of some juicy, tender wings. I look back at my textbook and Shuuka has dripping grease from her chicken wing painted all over Shostakovich's face.

"Sorry, Mina!" She apologizes with full of food.

"Hey guys, can we get back to studying?" I asked.

"Alright then", Reina says almost snappily, "Then which one of Stravinsky's ballets caused a huge riot?"

"The Rite", I answer. Duh. Of course I'd know that.

"You're right!" Shuuka attempts at a pun, but everyone else sitting at the table just glares at her. Somi was the only one who gave a positive reaction by giggling.

Reina tries to recover herself from unease after I had guessed her question correctly, "Fine. How about this? Name five futurist composers." 

I give her ten, "Other than Stravinsky I'd say Honegger, Antheil, Mosolov, Ornstein, Varèse, Ravel, Prokofiev, Russolo, and Pratella."

Reina's face sagged; she looked defeated.

If there's one thing that Reina and I have in common, it's that we both hate losing, no matter how trivial it seems. I exhibited these kinds of thoughts after Sana had won that musical drinking game. And even though there were no grand prizes at the end, the fact that I was deemed as "the loser" made me feel like an utter failure. It's disconcerting for me to know that someone could be better than you at something, even if it's just by an inch. My dad would always say that, "it's more fun if you're winning."

I'm starting to believe that Reina's easy- 20th Century Music History trivia is just a stupid gimmick to see whether I'd fail. Jokes on her, I actually study rather than copy notes off my friends and mosey around with another colleague during reviewing sessions. Eventually, I become tired of waiting for my friends to regain their focus. So I pull out the score to Jolivet's concerto and start taking notes as to where I should be taking breaths. Somehow, my mechanical pencil flies backwards as I'm twiddling with it in between my two fingers.

And then I hit a person in the head.

"I'm so sorry!" I say. The short-haired girl turns around and gawks at me with those huge eyes.

It's Chaeyoung.

I forgot that Chaeyoung's mother was a librarian.

The small percussionist was assisting her mother in organizing books when my pencil strikes the back of her head. I realize that Chaeyoung has no idea what I'm saying so my eyes wander around her figure, searching for the sketchpad that she uses to communicate. She doesn't have it.

Just before Chaeyoung attempts to run away, I grab her arm and pull her behind one of the bookshelves, away from the sight of my friends. Her arm flounders around as she tries to release from my grasp. I take out my phone from my coat pocket, tap on the Notepad application with my thumb, and text one-handedly in an attempt to communicate with her.

Hey, I'm sorry.

Chaeyoung's head to the right. I let go of her arm so that I could type with both thumbs.

I didn't mean to laugh at your audition. I was laughing at Reina, not you.

Chaeyoung grabs my phone so that she could type something.

I forgive you, for now.

For now? What does she mean by that?

Chaeyoung hands back my phone and walks away from me, returning to her duties. But now I'm even more flustered than before. Does she still have a grudge on me from before? I need to talk to Sana and find out what the big deal is with Chaeyoung and why she still may not believe me.

The Twenty-Fourth Measure

Monday: September 28, 2020

Time to see how these idiots function.

At 10 p.m., I head over to the Alice Tully Hall because Jeongyeon had managed to book a rehearsal space for the Pops Orchestra there. I can't believe that it took the Pops Orchestra three weeks to hold their first official meeting. But I'm not upset because I had more time to brush up Jolivet's concerto for the Juilliard Orchestra's opening night, which is taking place in four days. I open the double doors to the auditorium and realize that I was the last person to show up. Everyone had already set up their instruments and started to mingle with others between sections. Before I could locate my seat, Jihyo summons me to the center of the stage.

"AYYYYYEEE!" Momo squealed, running up to give me a tight hug. I could barely breathe as she proceeded to constrict my torso.

"Welcome to the club! Welcome to the club! Welcome Mina! Welcome Mina! Welcome Mina! Welcome Mina! Welcome Mina!" Jihyo sings behind the tall, golden-haired Japanese violinist, "You're probably seething of joy because you're here!"

"Shut your damn piehole", I bickered, "I did not now, nor did I ever, wanted to become a member of your stupid club!"

"You won't be saying that after being with us for a while!" Momo commended, "Just give it a chance!"

"Everyone, listen up! I need everybody's attention!" Jeongyeon laps her hands in a rapid motion, her loud voice resounding over the loud chatter, "It is I, Jeongyeon — a Juilliard senior and the president of the Pops Orchestra. I'm here to gladly announce that we have a new addition to our family. Everybody, please welcome Mina Myoui a.k.a. bassoon-chan — our new principal bassoon. She's the same age as most of you, I reckon. Mina shows a great sense of leadership and authority due to her past contributions with many ensembles, but for some reason, she can seem too occupied and engaged in her work that she can be irritable at times. So don't be surprised if she snaps at you, she doesn't mean it."

I slapped Jeongyeon's hand so that she'd shut up, "Stop that, Jeongyeon! You're overselling me." 

"Just call me Madame President", Jeongyeon flattered herself.

I raised an eyebrow, "Have you been assigned those titles by your conductor or did you guys just make it up?"

"The Pops Orchestra isn't a school club", she clarified, "The other members just made up those names for me, Momo, Jihyo, Dahyun, and Tzuyu."

"Oh..."

The Pops Orchestra members — about ninety or so — leaped up from their chairs and hooted at me. I didn't know what kind of first impression I wanted to portray so I just shyed my face away from the members and waved, perhaps rather tiredly, at them. For some odd reason, a cluster of girls start screaming like a flock of banshees, holding up fansigns that have my name on it. Oh, god.

"Oh, don't mind them", Jihyo chuckled, "They're members of your fanclub."

I have a fanclub?

"Anyways!" Jeongyeon digressed, pointing at a skinny, light-haired man who is sitting at the far-right end of the second aisle of woodwinds, "You'll find yourself close to the Chinese-American contrabassoon player over there."

"I'm Taiwanese!" Mark corrected, irratatingly.

"Same thing!"

"No it's not!" Mark was boiling up, "What if I called you a North Korean?"

"Anyways, bassoon-chan. Go sit over there", Jeongyeon ignores Mark and directs me to my seat. 

I follow Jihyo's instructions and navigate to my principal seat. Where I sit in the Pops Orchestra does not differ greatly from where I sit with the Juilliard Orchestra. In fact, it's the exact same seat. The only difference is that Minggyu, Vernon, Joshua, and Jun are not there. Instead, I have Yerin in the second chair, Junior in the third chair, SinB in the fourth chair (Remember that girl I rejected at Juilliard Orchestra auditions? I don't even know her real name yet), and Mark in the fifth chair which a contrabassoon nestled in his hands. I know Mark, Junior, and Yerin because I had defeated them in past competitions and I had classes with them in my freshman year of college. However, I'm not familiar with SinB at all.

And I can't stand even one minute with these morons.

As I'm picking my way through the seats, the four bassoonists are chatting loudly about frivolous topics that I don't want to go into detail about (For starters, SinB is joking about Mark and Junior making messy cork wax in back of the storage room). I chose to ignore them and silently assemble my bassoon, but I didn't get far enough to soak my reed when my second chair, Yerin, slaps my and gives me that puppy-dog face.

"Hey", she says, "Can I borrow a reed?"

I roll my eyes. Are you kidding me?

Nonetheless, I take out my reed case from my bag and hand it over to her, "Here, take one."

Yerin winks at me and then pulls out a few reeds like a kid at a candy store.

"I SAID ONE, NOT FIVE!" I yell at her. Jesus Christ, those are all of my regular reeds too — the ones I use when I'm in rehearsals or if I decide to lock myself in a practice room for several hours. And now she has her greasy fingerprints on the tips where I place my lips. Bleh.

"Ahem", Jeongyeon clears to get our attention, "Now, Dahyun will present us with our program for the Pops Orchestra's opening night."

"Aye aye, captain! I gotcha gurrllll", Kim Dahyun, the small secretary of the Pops Orchestra, leans her humorously gigantic double bass on her stool and skips her way to the center stage. She pulls out a piece of folded wide-ruled paper from her jacket pocket — a piece of paper that Jihyo must've scribbled on during our 20th Century Music History class (Yes, I have a class with Jihyo and that girl loves to zone out). 

Oh my god. What the hell is wrong with this girl? Why is she talking like that?

"Good evening, folks!" Dahyun begins with this eerie, toothy smile of hers, "So as some of you may know, we're going to add one more piece to our opening night program alongside Dukas's The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Can you guys guess what piece that'll be?"

"What? Justin Bieber? Miley Cyrus?" I inwardly scoffed.

Dahyun snorted, "No, smartass. My Neighbor Totoro."

.

I love that movie.

From my right ear, I could hear Sana snickering at me as Dahyun goes into detail about our announced piece.

When I was in elementary school and when Sana used to live in New York, I used to leave my house and claim to my parents that I was going to school to practice. In reality, I just needed an excuse to sneak out of the house and hang out with her. Her two-bedroom house in Hell's Kitchen had a secret basement that could only be accessed via her bedroom. Like in Japan, Sana's room had tatami mats that could be rolled over and folded back again, but little did my parents know that you could lift one of the floorboards to access that secret basement. Once we were deemed undisclosed, Sana's mother would set up this high-quality film projector, in which we watched many films while eating her homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Among those movies that we watched was My Neighbor Totoro, and it was the only movie that got me hooked up on other Studio Ghibli films. If you know me, I'm extremely picky when it comes to movies, especially those of the 'fantasy' genre. But My Neighbor Totoro had a sense of realism invested into the characters while staying true to its fantastical nature. Miyazaki films are my weak spot; they reveal my touchy-feely side.

Crap, I can't let my guard down. These nitwits cannot know that they've won by penetrating my hard skin.

"Dahyun and Tzuyu are still working on acquiring the orchestral score to My Neighbor Totoro", Jeongyeon adds, "But for now, we'll just rehearse The Sorcerer's Apprentice once maestro arrives. Jihyo, can you be in charge of tuning the orchestra while I pitch my timpani?"

"Sure thing, No-Jam Hyung!" Jihyo quips and Jeongyeon looks like she's about to strangle her,

Just before Jihyo was about to cue oboist Choi Youngjae to give the A, Chaeyoung abruptly runs into the auditorium with her sketchpad under her arm. Everyone sets down their instruments to acknowledge the second-year percussionist, who flips open a page of her sketchpad.

Sorry for being late, everyone. I had to make up a sight-singing test for my aural skills class.

Sana suddenly sprouts up from her seat and gestures Chaeyoung. The younger girl returns the favor by using hand signs. Wait, Sana knows how to use sign language? That's a skill I've never heard of before. I feel defeated knowing that Sana is not only a freakishingly talented musician, but she's also capable of using American sign language. It makes me wish that my parents spoke Japanese at home more often, rather than just sending me to Japanese school on the weekends while I was younger. Even Sana can speak Japanese better than I do. Trust me, I've been to her household many times and she'd always use rapid-fire Japanese when communicating with her parents. 

I never thought that I'd hate losing so much.

"Chaeyoung says that she will make up any lost time that she has caused to this ensemble", Sana translates to Jihyo.

Jihyo shakes her head and smiles at the percussionist, "Tell Chaeyoung that she doesn't need to make up time and that we understand her situation."

Sana turns back to Chaeyoung and gives her Jihyo's regard. Chaeyoung bows to Jihyo as a way of saying 'Thank you' and then she heads to the back of the stage, where the percussion section resides. If there is one thing that I've noticed in contrast to the Juilliard Orchestra, it is that everyone in the percussion section welcomes Chaeyoung with wide grins. Eric Nam, principal percussionist of the Pops Orchestra, gives the girl a warm hug. Bambam, another percussionist in the orchestra who is in charge of the drums, fist-bumps Chaeyoung and ruffles her brown head as if they're close friends. From this display, I begin to understand how much the Pops Orchestra loves Chaeyoung and why they'll go through great lengths to protect her.

I think that's what Nayeon was trying to do when Reina got mad at me.

As if on cue, Nayeon enters the auditorium with sweat dripping from her forehead. It seemed like she ran here from another building. I don't see her bass clarinet within sight, so I assumed that she did give up on it for good. I don't know why though.

"I'm sorry for being late, babe", Nayeon walks up to Jihyo and plants a kiss on her cheek.

Wait, did Nayeon just call Jihyo 'babe'? Did she break up with JB?

"Were you getting high again, hun?" Jihyo jests, wiping off the mark on her cheek left from Nayeon's lip gloss.

Nayeon smokes too? Is that why she doesn't play the bass clarinet anymore?

"Not today", Nayeon chews on her lip, "I had to make up a test that I failed." 

Oh my god. What happened to this girl? Not only did she start smoking, but she's retaking her failed tests as well? I'm starting to believe that it was all my fault that Nayeon has gotten to this point. I'm trying to erase my dreadful thoughts when I intuitively glance at the person sitting on my right — the principal clarinetist of the Pops Orchestra. And then I realize:

It's Nayeon.

Nayeon sits next to me.

She doesn't make eye-contact with me at all when she assembles her clarinet. I felt like a fish in the cool shallows rather than a hawk who hunts above; I don't bother trying to change the quiet environment lingering in between me and Nayeon. I'm just leaving things alone until suddenly, Nayeon jerks her head around to face me, pursing her lips.

"Hey, can you scoot over a little? Your bassoon is hitting my leg."

I can't believe that Nayeon would tell me to move away from her. Maybe I'm being too sensitive but that's what my mind is telling me right now.

"Please?" Nayeon begs.

"Oh, I'm sorry", my mouth is almost too dry to speak as I shift over opposite to Nayeon, nearly jabbing Yerin with the bell of my bassoon. 

"Okay, then", once Nayeon settles in her seat, Jihyo returns to center stage and commences the tunning, "Youngjae. Please give us an A." 

Youngjae brought out his oboe and tuned to 441 hz (Unlike most orchestras that tune to 440 hz, all Juilliard ensembles tune to 441 hz). I pull my bassoon closer to me and procceeded to correct pitch. I feel a little dizzy once I start to expell air out of my lungs. And then the same ringing sensation commences in my ears. Gosh, why does that keep happening? It's so aggrevating how this symptom just pops up out of nowhere without warning. There's no set time or date for the ringing to happen; it just happens.

*SQUEAK*

What the?

"Mina, was that you?" Jihyo asks after my mishap. All the other orchestra members follow suit in Jihyo's laughter, especially Sana.

Especially Sana.

"I-I-I..." I'm so embarrassed right now. I could feel my cheeks redden and my body temperature increasing. "I'll just change my reed."

"Alright! We'll try that again", Jihyo is still giggling as she tries to get her together, "Youngjae, please."

Youngjae takes in a deep breath and plays the A again.

But frankly, I'm surprised that nobody in this ensemble was upset even though I had to put everybody into the trouble of tuning their instruments again. Instead, the Pops Orchestra members took it as a joke and proceeded to tune again without any further trouble. If I had creaked in the middle of Juilliard Orchestra rehearsals, I would've had narrow, rigid, cold eyes glaring at me from all directions. Maestro Gilbert would've probably dismissed me and my friends would've been enraged for wasting too much time. I know that squeaking incident happened to Shuuka before and the other orchestra members had to audacity to lash out on her after rehearsals.

"Violas, watch your pitch!" Jihyo turns to her secton. Everyone responds as needed.

Wow. Jihyo has a really good ear.

"Horns, you're a bit off. By a sixth", Jihyo instructs sweetly. Everyone in Sana's section also responds. 

I'm amazed at how each section is quick to react to Jihyo's directions, and they do it without snapping too. Even Chaeyoung's section is being patient with her. Eric Nam is holding Chaeyoung's hand, using it as a guide as she's tuning the marimba. Raising her fingers would indicate sharpness, while lowering her fingers would indicate flatness. I'm thoroughly intrigued. Nobody in the Juilliard Orchestra would ever assist her like this. Maybe the members of the Pops Orchestra are not as idiotic as I thought. 

"Good job everyone!" Jihyo praises, "Maestro will be here any minute now. Please sit back and be patient."

After that, Jihyo returns to her principal seat to pitch her own viola. She doesn't even use a tuner for assistance. I bet this girl has perfect pitch.

I wonder why she's not in the Juilliard Orchestra.

All of a sudden, I feel much more calmer than a few minutes ago, and it was all because of Jihyo's soothing voice and the tuning process. The ringing sensation in my ear is held to a halt and I could hear the surrounding sounds a little more clearly. Normally, the violist has a voice that could fill up an entire auditorium. Sometimes, I even feel jealous of Jihyo's emphatic voice because she gets to sound as loud or as quiet as she wants, whereas I have to deal with my soft, thin voice. That's why people believe that I'm shy when I'm actually not.

That set aside, I wonder who their maestro is. 

A minute later, a short, lanky girl enters the auditorium with a baton case under her left arm and a music binder under her right arm. She looks way too young to be a part of the Juilliard faculty, but I guess that's the magic of being a small Asian girl with youthful genetics. People still believe that I'm in high school but when I tell them my actual age, they get baffled because I don't look like a college student.

"Hey guys", she introduces with a huge smile, laying her items on the podium, "My name is Anna Ishii and I am a first year in Juilliard's Graduate Program. I skipped a few grades in elementary school so I'm the same age as the third-years. I didn't go to Juilliard as an undergraduate; I attended the Manhattan School of Music. I also play the trumpet and I'm on a trial year with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Originally, I was a student teacher with your former adviser, Maestro Leblanc but he will be on parental leave to support his pregnant wife. So in accordance to his wish, I will be taking over as adviser. I hope that we'll all get to know each other better!"

Oh wow. Her aura is completely different compared to Maestro Gilbert. She seems so amiable; so composed.

"Hey! I know you!" Sana leaps from her chair, "You were a member of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra many years ago!"

"You're right!" Jihyo's mouth gapes open in regonition, "You used to hang out with Yuri, Sunny, and Yoona."

Maestro Ishii laughs, "Ha ha ha! I recognize some of you from that orchestra. Sana, Jihyo, and Chaeyoung. Nice to see you guys again!"

She knows who Yuri is?

"I'm even more excited to work with you guys now that I see some familiar faces", Maestro Ishii takes out an orchestral score from her folder, "So, The Sorcerer's Apprentice and My Neighbor Totoro, right? Does everybody have their sheet music?"

"We're still waiting on Totoro", Dahyun answers.

Maestro Ishii nods, "Very well then. We'll start off with The Sorcerer's Apprentice."

She lifts her baton upwards and everyone's instruments are at stance. Soon, the instrumentalists were deep into the music, their eyes closed and their bodies swaying in motion with the music. I don't think that anyone in the Juilliard Orchestra plays this way. And then the bassoon part comes. 

Oh my god. 

Why is my section the only one that ?

I gave Yerin my reed and she stills sounds like crap. Sana should be calling her the "dying duck", not me. Mark and Junior can't play up to the marked tempo on their sheet music and SinB looks like she's out of breath. Perhaps that's why Momo was desperate to recruit me.

The Twenty-Fifth Measure

Jihyo is the one who brings everybody together.

Rehearsals ended early today so Jihyo insisted that she'd take me, the new kid; Sana and Chaeyoung, her friends from the Youth Orchestra; Nayeon, her girlfriend; Momo, her co-vice president; Jeongyeon, the president; Dahyun, the secretary; and Tzuyu, the treasurer; to this burger joint called In-N-Out, which just recently opened in Times' Square next to Gordon Ramsay's restaurant. Much to my surprise, the line for In-N-Out is exponentially longer than the one at Ramsay's restaurant, and I've eaten at all of his restaurants before (Gordon Ramsay doesn't disappoint). 

Jihyo claims that In-N-Out is a Californian gem that revolutionized the meaning of "fast food" and "customer service". Sana and Chaeyoung admit to that ideology as well, having lived in San Francisco before. While Jeongyeon finds a place to place her ten-person van in the parking garage, the eight of us wait in the long line, standing outside in the frigid, New-York-City-at-night type of cold. I wasn't fazed at this at all, but Jihyo, Sana, and Chaeyoung were having trouble making sense of this type of weather, given that they came from California.

Me, Sana, Chaeyoung, and Nayeon kept to ourselves, whereas the other five girls begged to differ. They rambled on for hours, not paying attention to how slow the line was moving. I felt like kneeling down on the floor because my legs were starting to fall sleep. Maybe it was because I was literally sitting down all day — in the practice room, in class, in the library, in Juilliard Orchestra rehearsals, and in Juilliard Pops Orchestra rehearsals.

"Oh, Mina. You're here!" Tzuyu noticed, her eyes looking down on me, "What a surprise!"

"I've been here", I muttered.

Then the tall cellist rested her arm on my head, "How's the weather down there?"

"Ha ha. Very funny", I said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Don't mind her", Dahyun giggled, "Bae treats me like that too."

I raised an eyebrow, "Bae?"

"I'm talking about Chewy!" She exclaimed, slapping Tzuyu's .

First it was Momo and Jeongyeon, then Mark and Junior, then Nayeon and Jihyo, and now Dahyun and Tzuyu? How many couples are there within this ensemble? I don't recall the Juilliard Orchestra having this many relationships other than Reina and Shori, Shuuka and Yuta Nakamoto.

Dahyun lifted me up from the ground with her strong arm as the line advanced further indoors. I observed Dahyun, who decided to compare my height with Tzuyu's, taking a great interest in Tzuyu's body. The cellist's incredible stature, coupled with her four-inch heels, towered over the Dahyun miniature, tiny body. And to add to that, Dahyun decided to wear flats rather than heels. Tzuyu literally had to look down at the pint-sized double bassist to make eye contact with her. 

"How's the weather up there?" Dahyun cheerily asked the tall cellist.

"It's beautiful!" she answered in a lively tone, "Despite the chilly weather, of course."

"Dubu. You need to grow taller", Jeongyeon joins in after finding a parking space. The other seven members joined in on the teasing bandwagon as Dahyun throws a pout at their resident driver. I had the urge to smile too, but I didn't want to show them my weakness.

Jovial, lighthearted laughters? Weird nicknames? I don't remember my friends doing any of that.

"Mina, since you're our new kid, I'm going to pay for your meal!" Jihyo declared, wrapping her arm around my frame and pinching my cheek.

"You really don't have to", I contended.

Jihyo was being extremely insistent, "No no no no! It's a Pops Orchestra tradition to treat our new members!"

Jihyo offering to pay for my meal? My friends didn't even treat me out for my birthday. I had to pay for my own meal. 

"So Mina. You like hamburgers, right?" Momo asked.

"I've never had hamburger before", I said.

"WHAT THE—" the eight of them horrendously stare at me as if I kicked a puppy into the curve. I don't get the big deal. So what if I've never eaten a hamburger before? There are so many other meals out there that trump just some hamburger.

"And you call yourself an 'American'!" Dahyun gasps, crossing her arms.

Unexpectedly, Jeongyeon climbs on top of an outdoor table and shouts something to the bustling crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen and dogs and cats! My good Japanese-American friend, Mina Myoui a.k.a. bassoon-chan, is about to try her very first hamburger today!"

"GET THE DOWN FROM THERE!" I shouted, abashed.

"I've been wanting to do that for a long time!" Jeongyeon blurted out.

"Do that again and I'm going to shove my bassoon up your ", I threaten, not really meaning it.

But the jolly president could care less, "Oh, Mina Mina Mina. I've had a lot of things shoved up my before."

"What the f—"

"Hey! Let's go inside!" Jeongyeon dodged, pushing all of us indoors.

While Jeongyeon, Jihyo, Tzuyu, Nayeon, and Momo help Chaeyoung order food and Dahyun is taking a huge in the back of the facilities, I'm stuck with Sana as we're saving our spot and guarding our instrument cases. Sana is chewing on her nails while I'm staring off into space. I've realized that I also haven't talked to Sana much ever since I've been assigned my solo, and we're roommates.  

Maybe I should talk to her about Chaeyoung before things get awkward.

"You're still not mad at me, right?" I ask her, "I apologized to Chaeyoung."

Sana puts her fingers down, "You did?"

"Yeah", but now I'm playing with my fingers, "But she said, well more precisely wrote to me that she hasn't totally forgiven me yet."

"Me neither, and so does Nayeon", Sana says in an excited tone, yet I don't believe that she's excited at all. Great, now three people hate me?

“I tried not to. I was horrible at controlling my temper back then, but emotional therapy has really helped.”

"I forgive you, for now."

"Can you scoot over a little?"

I'm thirsty for an answer, "Eh? Why?"

"It's because you hang out with them."

I'm so confused, "Who the hell is them?"

Sana's eyes read of disbelief, "You know? Reina Washio, Yuzuna Takebe, Shuuka and Karen Fujii. Mina, those girls are poison. Aren't you aware of how much harm they've done to Nayeon since she left them and to Chaeyoung since she joined the Juilliard Orchestra?"

"What, no?" I said, dumbfoundedly, "I haven't been hanging out with them since I was assigned that concerto."

"Chaekyung told me that Chaeyoung gets humilated in Juilliard Orchestra rehearsals every. single. day", Sana enunciates the last three words as to cause a dramatic effect, "I heard that she's missing her hearing aide because their principal clarinetist and his friends threw it in a lake."

Holy crap. Does she mean Reina's boyfriend, Shori Satou? 

"Oh, and don't even get me started on Nayeon", she warns me, "Your so-called 'friends' magically acquired Nayeon's Snapchat nudes from her ex-boyfriend, JB, and spread them all over social media land and now her parents disowned her. That's why Nayeon is failing at school, because she has to work three ing jobs to feed herself because she doesn't even have a family to support her anymore. She even sold her bass clarinet."

Oh no.

What have they done?

Is it my fault that Chaeyoung is being bullied?

Is it my fault that Nayeon has gotten to this state?
 
I try to put on a smile to mask my inwards emotions as Jeongyeon and the others return to our table. I don't know whose idea it was to squeeze all nine of us in a six-seater dining booth, but I'm already dreading being squeezed in between two bodies. To make things even more awkward, I'm squeezed in between Nayeon AND Chaeyoung. I'm not even in the mood to eat my hamburger right now.

"Speak of the devil and she will come", Tzuyu mutters from the corner of .

I glance at the cellist's direction and see Reina, Yuzuna, Shuuka, Karen, Somi, Shori, and Yuta wandering around the restaurant searching for seats. What are they going to do if they see me with the Pops Orchestra members? I can't just leave them after Jihyo offered to buy my food as well as after what Sana told me. But at the same time, I can't leave the "Spectacular Six" and declare myself a part of the Pops Orchestra because Reina and the others are going to give me the same fate as Nayeon and Chaeyoung. 

BONUS (Meanwhile as Jihyo and the others wait for Mina that night)

"So, who are you guys waiting for?" asks Sowon, the president of Mina's fanclub. She is standing with Umji and Yuju, two loyal fans of Mina.

Momo answered, "Mina Myoui."

"You're going to ask Mina to hang out with you guys?", Yuju squealed with a glint in her eye, "You mean MYOUI Mina, right?"

"Not Kwon Mina? Bang Minah? Kang Minah?" Umji questions in doubt.

"Yes, we mean MYOUI Mina", Dahyun corrects, "The bassoon queen."

"Woah, you must be REALLY cool to talk to Mina Myoui", Sowon focused her tremendous gaze at Dahyun with her big eyes, "Do you know how many guys asked Mina Myoui to The Juilliard Ball last year? Forty-five".

"Forty-five?" Tzuyu chokes on her cigarette, "That's even more than me!"

"And do you know how many of those guys got rejected by Mina Myoui?" Sowon continued, "Forty-five."

Momo gasped, "That's all of them".

Jeongyeon rolled her eyes at the three girl's revelation, "But we're not guys. Besides, it's Mina's choice whether or not she wants to date them in the first place".

"YOU NEVER KNOW", Umji and Yuju's gaze widened in fear.

"Oh hey! Mina is here!" Jihyo points out, and the three fangirls run away due to shyness.

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