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                               4'33", a piece that transcends the boundary of sound, a materpiece to bring peace and harmony in the quietest manner possible

4’33” is a three-movement composition by American experimental composer John Cage and was composed in 1952, for any instrument or combination of instruments, and the score instructs the performer(s) not to play their instrument(s) during the entire duration of the piece throughout the three movements. The piece purports to consist of the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed, although it is commonly perceived as "four minutes thirty-three seconds of silence". The title of the piece refers to the total length in minutes and seconds of a given performance, 4′33″ being the total length of the first public performance.

The male closed the window on his cell phone and looked at Sunggyu. “So do you believe that silence is a form of music?”

The male customer had walked into the shop as soon as the shop opened, taking the seat closest to the window. He kept to himself most of the time, until he suddenly marched up to the counter, showing Sunggyu the information he found on the phone. The male was a good-looking one, with well-defined features and perfect dark brown hair -- which looked really tempting to touch. But that was aside the point, considering the fact that he seemed to have something urgent to ask for.

Sunggyu was a little taken aback by his question, but tried to answer it nonetheless. “I guess so… Or else rests would be redundant in a piece of music.” Sunggyu might have had close to zero background in terms of music performance, but he had seen a music sheet, thus was able to give a hesitant answer to the customer in front of him.

The male nodded at his reply. “My name is Kim Myungsoo, and I require some help.” There was a hint of determination in his voice, despite the cold and aloof expression plastered on his face. “I heard that you guys helped a pianist play again, but I want to stop hearing, and stop playing. I bet you guys can do that too, right?”

He sounded hopeful, despite the hope not coming clearly across to his audience.

Hyerim spun around at the request. “What? Stop hearing? Stop playing? Why?” Her reaction was a rather expected one, and Myungsoo understood where she was coming from. Most people would want to learn playing an instrument, and listen to music all day long, if they could afford it. But he was doing the exact opposite, for some reason or another.

“Is it a must to know the reason?” He looked uncomfortable, as he shifted slightly on his toes. “If you do, I guess it’s fine, I can...”

He was about to walk away, only to be stopped by Sunggyu’s voice, his own voice getting cut off in the process. “It’s fine if you can’t tell us the reason, but I’ll try my best to help.”

Myungsoo and Sunggyu took at seat at the window, not before stopping by the guitar section and picking out one of the classical guitars on display.

“You play the guitar?” Sunggyu asked, the question sounding more like a statement stating the obvious, to which Myungsoo nodded his head to. “It’s not like you’re playing the instrument all day every day, so why do you still need our help?”

Myungsoo looked at Sunggyu, but look his time replying. “I want to stop listening, stop hearing the notes in my head. That’s my main aim of approaching you guys.”

“Oh.”

The conversation ended at that, as Myungsoo’s fingers started plucking at the strings of the instrument. Sunggyu noticed that the male in front him was someone not really fond of talking, as if he had something to hide, or there was something he was hiding from.

It was obvious that he wanted to bury something into the depths of his mind. Sunggyu could tell that Myungsoo wanted to continue playing, wanted to continue doing something that he really liked and believed in, therefore he knew that he needed to know the reason in order to lend a helping hand to the helpless customer sitting in front of him.

“If you want to stop playing, this is not the ideal place for you to come to. You’re in a music shop, for goodness sake.”

Both Sunggyu and Myungsoo looked up, only to see Woohyun staring them up and down, wearing a disgusted expression.

“Woohyun!” Sunggyu started, shooting up into a standing position, the warning tone in his voice too obvious for anyone to miss it. “Go help the other customers and leave us alone, can you?”

“You do not run away from your problems and your fears, you face them. Only when you have faced your problems, will you be able to find peace. The peace would then give you the ing silence that you are craving for.” Woohyun was cut off harshly by Sunggyu, who raised a fist in the most intimidating manner he could muster. “I’ve said my piece, I’m going to clean the pianos.” The last sentence was directed at Sunggyu, as Woohyun stalked off, slight annoyance evident in his steps.

Sunggyu immediately flew into damage-control mode. “I’m sorry, I’m sure he didn’t...”

“It’s fine.” But Myungsoo was clearly affected by his words, as tears had already started pooling at the edge of his eyes. “He’s right, but I can’t bring myself to.”

Sunggyu remained silent, as if he was prompting Myungsoo to continue without pressurising him. To his dismay, Myungsoo did not elaborate but instead continued plucking at the guitar. Sunggyu simply watched, moving into a more comfortable position instead.

“Aren’t you going to stop me?” The music came to an abrupt stop as Myungsoo muted the strings with his right hand after a while of plucking and strumming. Sunggyu did not recognise the piece, but it sounded nice, at least to his ears, and he was a little disappointed with the fact that Myungsoo did not finish playing the piece.

Sunggyu shook his head. “Why should I? The music is something that I can never think of playing in a million years.” He was being honest with Myungsoo, and saw no point in hiding his thoughts. Myungsoo was clearly capable of accepting the fact, but Sunggyu had to solve the problem of having Myungsoo to face his fear, the fears that he was trying to escape from, by keeping himself away from the music and sounds he clearly loved with all his heart and soul.

Music was a source of comfort for most people, and Sunggyu was sure that Myungsoo felt the same way too. But it seemed as if Myungsoo was running away from the comfort, as if he was the perpetrator of an accident, at the same time believing that he was the victim. The turmoil in his heart was causing something that he loved dearly to become a sharp dagger piercing into his head every single time he met with it. It was clearly something quite painful, at least in Sunggyu’s opinion.

“You agree with Woohyun.” Myungsoo observed, to which Sunggyu nodded. “You want me to face my fear and insecurities.” Sunggyu nodded again. “As long as I can face them, I can continue listening and playing music, at the same time enjoy the silence.” It was meant as a question, but Myungsoo made it sound more like a statement.

Bullseye, full marks, new highscore.

Sunggyu nodded, opting for the choice of not saying anything.

“Then I’ll change my final aim. I want to face my problems, and I want you to help. I’ll give everything you want -- my money, my life, everything is yours.”

“Is it worth that much?”

Myungsoo hesitated, before a soft ‘yes’ escaped his lips. “It is.”

“Why?”

“Because giving everything up in exchange for less pain in the heart is worth it.” Myungsoo averted his gaze from Sunggyu, focusing on his fingers instead. “More worth it than anything else. I might not be rich, but you will just have to make do with what I can offer.” He chuckled shortly, before letting out an awkward cough.

Sunggyu went quiet, and Myungsoo stopped providing information due to the lack of prompting.

They sat in the solemn atmosphere for another fifteen minutes or so, before Myungsoo shot up into a standing position. “I think I should go, thanks for today.”

Sunggyu did not have a chance to give any reply before the male bolted out of the shop, the guitar left on the table.

~~

According to both Hyerim and Woohyun, a new ghost visited the music shop that night. The ghost was a kind old lady, who bore a strange resemblance to Myungsoo. She never identified herself however, but kept asking Hyerim to take good care of Myungsoo.

It was obvious that the female ghost was Myungsoo’s mother, or close relative of some sorts, and could have been the main source of pain for Myungsoo. She was a very talented singer -- someone whom even Woohyun approved of, and played the guitar, like Myungsoo.

They agreed that the incident would only be kept between Sunggyu, Hyerim and Woohyun. Myungsoo did not have to know the fa