2.
Love Is You.
As every Wednesday, armed with a music sheets folder under her arm, Kim Yongsun made her way into her aunt's music school. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and it was moving back and forth at the rhythm of her steps, tight black jeans tailored to her legs while a red button-down shirt covered the upper part of her body.
In her face, a smile that could lit more than the sun any room which she passed throught, her eyes narrowed in a half moon to greet everyone who was on the way with a big and bright smile.
"Good afternoon, Seungyeon unnie." Yongsun said, bowing her head slightly as a greeting.
"Oh, Yongsunie, good afternoon. Are you going to play the piano again today?" Seungyeon said from her table. Yongsun nodded.
"As every Wednesday evening, I have to ace this song if I want to start with a new one." Yongsun shrugged her shoulders slightly. "Is my aunt here?" Seungyeon shook her head.
"She still has not arrived."
"I see... Well, unnie, I gotta go to practice, see you later."
"Good luck, Yongsunie." And after saying goodbye to the secretary of the music school, Yongsun re-started her way to her favorite classroom.
She opened the door and the intense sunshine of the late afternoon blinded her for a moment. When her eyes adjusted to the huge amount of light coming through the windows, just covered by a simple curtain, her gaze turned to the huge grand piano that reigned inside the room.
At the moment, her brow furrowed.
There was something weird in the room.
Yongsun, curiously, approached the piano and, after leaving her folder with music sheets on the piano bench, she stared intently at a paper that was on the top of the big instrument, under a bright red rose.
Carefully, almost hesitant, Yongsun took the rose and brought it to her nose to inhale its aroma. Inadvertently, a small smile appeared on her lips. After leaving the rose in its place, Yongsun took the sheet of paper that was under the flower and, after opening it, she read the few words that were written there.
Love is you, Kim Yongsun.
---
Byulyi air into her lungs when Yongsun took note of paper that was on the piano, her eyes fixed on the eyes of the older girl. A flash of confusion soared in Yongsun's brown eyes, quickly replaced by the glow of a smile that did not take long to reach her lips.
Yongsun looked around and Byulyi followed every move with her eyes, as Yongsun's right hand, with long and slender fingers put behind her ear some strands of hair in a nervous gesture or how her upper teeth caught her lower lip.
Then Yongsun walked quickly toward the door of the room and Byulyi felt the temperature leaving any trace of itself from her face to see how Yongsun was closer and closer to her, who watched her, crouched on the other side of one of the windows that were facing the hallway. Quickly, Byulyi ran with fast and silent strides the distance that separated her from the open door of the class that was just in front and hid inside, watching through a window how Yongsun looked at both sides once she reached the door.
Byulyi watched as the confused look on the pianist's face slowly relaxed into a smile when she re-read the words written on the note and how her ponytail swung over her shoulders as she turned to go again inside the class.
Not much later, the piano notes caressed again Byulyi's ears, the melodious voice of Yongsun warming her heart hopelessly.
Love is you.
---
The weeks passed calmly and Yongsun had become familiar to read a note every Wednesday when she reached her music class, which always was accompanied by a red rose.
Poems derived from the lyrics of the song that she had spent months rehearsing took shape before her eyes and her heart was starting to beat louder and louder and her cheeks glow red from blushing.
That Wednesday, due to impatience, Yongsun arrived half an hour earlier than she was used to reach the music school. She didn't even stopped to talk with Seungyeon, as usual, in fact it was after a brief greeting that she addressed hastily into the room of the huge grand black piano.
With a smile, Yongsun opened the door, her eyes automatically turning to the piano, hoping to see a rose and a note. But her eyes opened wide to see nothing on the piano. Nervous and worried, Yongsun left her music sheets on the piano and, in desperation, she began to looking around the room. Could it be possible that after waiting all week, her admirer would stop his weekly love notes? Did he got tired of her?
Byulyi, meanwhile, walked quietly down the corridor, heading for the piano room, a red rose and a note in her hand. She was about to enter the room when her eyes fell on the slender figure of Yongsun, who was crouched under the piano, looking for something. Her eyes widened more than necessary and both, the note and the rose, slipped from her fingers when she started to run away in a reflex action.
Yongsun, hearing the noise, looked up quickly, so much that she hit the back of her head with the piano.
"Oghf..." Yongsun growled and, rubbing the back of her head, she rushed out from under the piano, quickly approaching that note and the rose, standing by the door. After picking them up and following an impulse, Yongsun ran down the hallway following the path were the sound of hurried footsteps were heard. I know you're here... I want to see you...
But around the corner, all Yongsun saw was a big pile of boxes against which she crashed headlong, causing both of her and the person who carried them in her arms to fall to the ground.
"Omo!" Exclaimed Yongsun, hissing between her teeth, the note and the rose still gripped between her fingers.
"A-aigoo..." Byulyi said, her eyes closed and her hands rubbing her aching back.
"Omo, Moonbyul-sshi..." Yongsun said, realizing who she had run to. "I'm sorry, I was running and I didn't see you..." Yongsun said, standing up and stretching her free hand to help Byulyi to get up.
Byulyi looked up to Yongsun, a slight blush warming her cheeks, which she hoped to go unnoticed due to the fall they had suffered. She reached out and grabbed Yongsun's hand, standing up from the ground in this way.
"It's okay, Yongsun-sshi, just a silly accident. Did you get hurt?" Asked Byulyi, looking Yongsun up and down, her eyes looking at the rose and the note in her hand. Hawking a little, she could not avoid that a question escaped her lips. "Where are you going in such a hurry?"
Hearing that second question, blush stained Yongsun's cheeks, putting the hand that held the note and the rose behind her back in a vain attempt to hide them from the sight of the younger girl.
"Nowhere in particular... By the way, Moonbyul-sshi, have you seen someone around here? Someone who was running?" Asked Yongsun, a desperate gleam in her eyes as she stared at Byulyi, waiting for a response. Byulyi swallowed hard, slowly shaking her head as her eyes hopelessly hooked to the warm and gentle eyes of the older girl.
"Ani... Looking for someone..?"
"Yes... But do not worry, I'll find him... Or her." Yongsun said and she picked up a couple of the packages that Byulyi was carrying, giving them back to her with a small smile. "Here, this is yours. I'm sorry you fell because of me, Moonbyul-sshi."
"It's okay..." Byulyi said softly, grabbing the packages from Yongsun's hands, the tips of her fingers briefly caressing the fingers of the pianist.
"See you another day, okay? I have to go back to practice." And with one last smile, Yongsun said goodbye to the mail girl and turned around to go back to the piano room.
When Yongsun turned the corner and disappeared from her view, Byulyi let out a loud sigh of relief, dropping to the ground, her back against the wall, boxes scattered around and her heart pounding loudly in her ears.
"She is looking for me..." Byulyi said quietly, and without realizing it herself, a wide and bright smile was drawn out on her lips.
---
the way your fingers caress the piano keys
and if it is not too much, I want to know
if someday I could entangle them with mine,
and recite in your ear that I have the answer.
That love is you and that is the most certain truth.
"I see that someone has an admired..." Jiyoung teased, giving her niece a smile. Yongsun nodded, slowly running a hand through her hair in a nervous gesture. "You don't know who he is?"
"Aw, Yongsunie I have never imagined seeing you like this... The truth is that-" The words were cut in Jiyoung's throat when, throught the office's window, at Yongsun's back, she saw Byulyi walking down the aisle, heading to the piano room.
"Go to the piano room. There you will find what you want." Jiyoung said to her niece, with a small, bright smile playing on her lips. You better thank me for this, Moon Byulyi...
The surprise soon gave way to a pleasant warmth that started in her chest and slowly spreaded to every corner of her body. The way Byulyi's fingers were caressing the piano keys, as if it was something fragile and she was afraid to break it; the way her eyes were closed and the immense peace that reflected her lovely features; how the song came from her lips so pleasing to the ear that looked like she had been rehearsing it as much as herself.
Yongsun watched her for a moment before diverting her gaze to the piano keys and, closing her eyes, she began to sing too.
Her voice and Byulyi's roamed the room's space in a harmony that surprised both of them. The way in which their voices, sweet and powerful; and husky and soft, mingled to form a single voice made the tiny hairs on Jiyoung's arms to stood up when she listened them from her office.
"Ah, Moon Byulyi, I have to treat you to dinner as a reward." Jiyoung said with a small laugh and she leaned back in her chair and placed her hands behind her head to enjoy the more than familiar song.
Until the last of the notes didn't die on the piano keys, both girls did not open their eyes. Cheeks flushed and hearts beating in their chests as if they were a drum, a strange feeling emanated from them until it wrapped them up completely.
Byulyi turned her face to look at Yongsun, somewhat embarrassed to be able to observe her so close rather than from the other side of the window. Yongsun, in turn, looked up at Byulyi, her eyes wandering around the pretty yet handsome face of the mail deliverer as if she was seeing her for the first time, her gaze lingering longer than necessary on her lips. Byulyi cleared softly.
But the words died in as Yongsun's lips closed over her own.
A small smile appeared on Byulyi's face, who rested her cheek on the top of Yongsun's head, quietly closing her eyes while her hands were walking in soft caresses the older girl's back.
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