title: adagio cantabile

characters: hwang eunbi, kim yewon (+mentions of kim sojung, jung yerin and choi yuna)

context: in which eunbi is an aspiring professional clarinettist and yewon is a piano teacher. same world as your presence which is the previous (12th) chapter in the collection

length: 2276 words

a/n: might make this into a full story, like your presence, but nothing is confirmed whether both will be in one story or in two separate stories. lots of musical jargon so i'll be putting a glossary at the end!

 “Oh, you’re here? Eunbi ssi,” Yewon’s brother, Bogeun warmly greets her when she arrives at the courtyard of their home.

“Ah, annyeonghaseyo, where’s Yewonnie?” Eunbi reciprocates the bow with a salutation, stepping into the house and giving it a good glance around.

“She’s in her room, looking for something,” Bogeun casually replies, “Go on in, don’t mind me,” he then chuckles. “Our parents are out for the day anyway.”

Eunbi, too, lightly laughs, and says, “Thank you.”

“Wah, I haven’t been here in a very long time,” she mutters after a long gasp as her eyes examine every corner of the house, and a gush of nostalgia gushes into her heart.

“Yewon ah! I’m here!” Eunbi delightfully exclaims as she enters Yewon’s bedroom.

Yewon, standing above a chair and her hands gripped onto the overhead shelves, turns over and breaks into a smile.

“Eunbi!” she calls out, and her heart swells at the sight of her friend after two years since their graduation from the conservatory. Yewon carefully makes her way down, and the two rush to share a hug that has been long missed.

“Yewon ah~” Eunbi cries, “I’ve missed you so much. How have you been?”

“Me too,” Yewon smiles. “I’m good! You?”

“I’m great!” Eunbi replies with a beam.

“Well, you sure look good. Met your soulmate yet?” Yewon cannot help but tease.

“Yahh!” Eunbi gives Yewon a light smack on her arm. “Why does everything got to do with love? Also, it’s not like I have the time to keep meeting new people,” she laments.

“Right, how’s your new housemate?” Yewon incidentally asks. She spots a slight flush on Eunbi’s cheeks, and immediately gets her answer. “So it’s her lighting up your life now?” she chuckles, and adds a sigh, “Good for you!”

“Yahh,” Eunbi is protesting yet again. “Well, I guess she’s nice, we’re quite comfortable since she arrived two months ago,” Eunbi plainly answers, nodding her head as she speaks.

“But anyway, that’s nice for you,” Yewon says, before turning around to look at her desk again, and closing the cupboards with dejection written all over her face.

Noticing this, Eunbi asks, “What were you looking for?”

Yewon releases another sigh. “My theory notes,” Yewon answers rather gloomily, “I thought I’ve left them in my drawer that I keep my old but important notebooks, but they aren’t there anymore and I don’t remember where I’ve relocated them to,” she says while scratching the back of her head.

Eunbi looks at her friend with a frown on her lips, feeling helpless.

“Anyway, enough about my notes, I’m sorry I had to call you over because I was busy searching! We should get going with our plans since you’re to be back at Seoul by nightfall,” Yewon looks at Eunbi apologetically.

“Nah, don’t worry about that!” Eunbi gives Yewon a comforting pat. “Oh, since we’re here, should we give our four hands a try? For old times’ sake?” she excitedly suggests when the idea appears in her mind.

Yewon’s face, too, lights up. “Yeah, why not?”

When they make their way down to the living room, Eunbi notices a book of Beethoven sonatas lying on the piano bench. She walks towards it and picks it up, flipping through to give it a good look.

“Could you,” Eunbi eyes Yewon from the corners of her eyes, “perhaps have been playing this?” she asks and opens the book and holds it out before Yewon. Eunbi knows it’s a groundless conjecture, but she cannot help but wonder.

Yewon feels her heart swell. How could she have guessed? With slight hotness in her cheeks, she admits, “Yeah.”

Eunbi gasps, having not expected the answer. “What’s up again though?” Eunbi prompts, concern laced in her voice.

“It’s nothing, a student wanted to learn the piece so I was just practising to teach,” Yewon explains and gives Eunbi a nonchalant wave and proceeds to set the piano up.

“A student wanted to learn? Or you suggested they play it?” Eunbi asks with a slight tease.

“She wanted to learn it! It’s gonna take up twenty minutes of her repertoire anyway,” Yewon answers indifferently.

“Can I hear you play it?” Eunbi hands the book over with hopeful, excited eyes.

Yewon narrows her eyes at Eunbi, before taking it from her and flipping it.

“No,” Eunbi stops her, “Play the second movement. Adagio cantabile,” she instructs, emphasising on the Italian terms.

Yewon takes a deep breath and sighs at her friend’s antics, shaking her head, but complies anyway.

When Yewon finishes playing, both girls are on the verge of tears. All is still, except for the light swaying of curtains in the wind and their dancing shadows.

Eunbi breaks the silence by exhaling, releasing the breath that she has been keeping. The best friends feel the swell in their hearts, the ache tugging at their chests as emotions run through them all over. Different memories and different concerns run in their minds. Yewon closes the book and with a soft sigh, allows her hands to lifelessly slide down.

The tranquil and solemn moment is interrupted by the rumbling of Eunbi’s stomach, which breaks the girls into warm peals of laughter. The tears are almost squeezed out from their eyes as they clutch their abdomens chuckling, and Eunbi who is standing places a hand on the piano for support.

“Well, you really must be hungry,