Monday morning, 7.15. Beams of radiating sunlight emanated from the 
long double glazed window in the room of Kim Taeyeon. The blonde 
stirred and under the warm rays, heralding the new day, and a 
brand new start to the week. Taeyeon tiredly sat upright as she yawned, 
softly rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, adjusting them to the 
mirror. By the standards of her calculating brain, she looked 
terrible. The blonde looked again, and confirmed it. Her eyes 
were a pale red, her body seemed withered and drawn out, and she was 
constantly yawning. Taeyeon then exhaled exhaustedly as she remembered 
why she looked and felt so poorly. She had been up all night on the 
piano, practicing for the recital on Thursday. When was much younger, 
she loved to play the piano, it was something she was really talented 
at, aside from school, so it was very important to her. She played for 
the school at one point, in a huge concert to raise money for an 
extended wing, and everyone was taken by her skill on the piano. On 
that day though, she meet a very famous pianist from Vienna, and he 
told her that her talent was exceptional, and she should never give up 
hope of taking her skills to the next level. Of course she thought she 
would not go anywhere as a musician, but she found that many people 
thought the same thing, including her mom. But then, when she was 
around nine, her father left. No good explanation, no caring, he just 
said he was tired of putting up with Taeyeon and her mom, and walked 
out on the pair of them. After that, Taeyeon stopped playing. The pain 
of her dad leaving her simply hurt her too much. Every time she sat on 
her stool, and placed slender fingers to black and white keys, the 
memory of her dad returned. But after a talk with her mom about it, 
she realized that running away from this would only emulate the 
cowardice of her father, and she didn’t want that. Taeyeon wanted to 
know that she was strong enough to look her demons in the eye, and 
stare them down. Taeyeon then poured all of her efforts into the piano, 
regarding nearly everything else as second place. Up until now, she 
hadn’t really gotten a chance to extend her wings and play nationally, 
or even regional, but a few weeks ago, in her music class at school, 
Taeyeon and the class were told that a musician from Germany, was 
coming to a recital in May, and would be selecting an apprentice to 
spend a month in Germany with him. Taeyeon became extremely excited 
about this, and from then, had forsaken most of her social life, and 
concentrated all of her energies into practicing. And as much as 
Taeyeon hated to admit it, it was absorbing all of her strength. She 
could see that from her condition, she was well overdue for a 
luxurious, un-winding, carefree break from it all. The blonde 
yawned again, covering while doing so, and tiredly stepped 
out of her plush, warm, ever-so-inviting bed. The blonde 
gazed a thin gaze at the clock on her nightstand, beside half empty 
glass of orange juice, a musician’s monthly magazine and a jewellery 
box. 
 
“7.16.” 
 
The blonde mumbled to herself, and padded over to the door and into 
the hallway, in the direction of the bathroom. After about fifty 
minutes in the bathroom, taking a particularly relaxing soak in the 
bath, allowing her to undo knots and loosen up muscles, Taeyeon walked 
outside in her bath robe, feeling like a million bucks. She may of 
looked and felt like a wreck this morning, but now she was back to 
life, and was prepared for a long day at school. The Musician walked 
into her room, and grabbed her freshly ironed school uniform from the 
hangers over her bed. After drying her hair and quickly put them on, 
Taeyeon jetted down the stairs as then sweet scent of her Mom’s early 
morning cooking aded her nostrils. Taeyeon walked into the kitchen 
and sat down on a chair next to the dining table, staring at the 
mountain of food that lay before her.
 
“Morning Mom.” She said, snagging a piece of toast from one of the 
plates on the dining table.
 
Ms Kim smiled at her daughter. “Morning Sweetie.”
 
The older woman sat down at the table, and got comfortable as she took 
a sip of coffee, as she began to read a newspaper.
 
“You know, Taeyeon...I’ve been thinking.”
 
Taeyeon stopped eating when she heard her mom speak. Her voice seemed 
too suddenly become concerned and worried.
 
“What’s up Mom?”
 
Ms Kim put down the newspaper and stared at her daughter, her 
eyes mirroring the worry in her voice.
 
“You’ve been practicing a lot lately. Are you okay?”
 
Taeyeon looked confused. 
 
“Sure Mom...why ask?” With a sudden curiosity ringing in her voice to 
confirm as to why her mother asked her such a question.
 
“I just think you need to relax a bit sweetie. Why don’t you go out 
and have some fun with your friends?”
 
The blonde blinked at her equally blonde mother and frowned.
 
“I need to practice Mom. This means a lot to me, and so does the 
apprenticeship in Germany. I thought you knew that.”
 
Ms Kim’s face crossed at her daughter, taken aback by her mild 
iciness.
 
“I’m only concerned Taeyeon. You seem so tired lately. This constant 
practice and preparation regime you’ve got on is taking its toll on 
you.”  
 
The coldness in Taeyeon’s disposition faded now, as she understood her 
mom was only interested in her well-being. 
 
“I’m sorry Mom. I’ll try and relax a bit, yeah?”
 
Ms Kim nodded. 
 
“Okay. As long as you’re going to take it easy.”
 
Just as the tension vanished from the room, the two heard the 
doorbell. Taeyeon smiled to herself and quickly stood up off of her 
seat, and sipped the cup of tea next to her before she set it down.
 
“That’s probably Siwon Mom, so I better get going to school.”
 
Ms Kim smiled at her daughter. She was surprised that Taeyeon 
actually seemed to enjoy school, whereas most people her age could not 
stand school and the maniac who came up with the idea. 
 
“I’ll see you later then, Taeyeon.” 
 
Taeyeon nodded. “Bye Mom!”
 
The blonde quickly picked up her folder from beside the pine table, 
walked out into the hallway and towards the door, opening it for her 
friend. The two smiled at each other, and walked out into the front.
 
“Morning Siwon!”  Said Taeyeon.