“Jung Wheein?” A voice behind her called out

She turned around and found a familiar looking girl standing behind her.

“Yes?” she answered carefully. She watched as the girl moved awkwardly towards her, taking the chair beside her.

The girl stared at the computer screen, “are you working on a paper?"

Wheein gave her a side-glance, very confused. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

“Ah, I’m Hyejin. Ahn Hyejin. I’m one of JaeEun’s friends. I was there last night,” she replied

Wheein went back to looking at her screen, “Oh, ok then”

“Look, about JaeEun..” Hyejin started

“It’s ok, I’m not really interested in joining anymore,” Wheein interrupted

Hyejin had a shocked expression on her face, “really? but everyone wants to be part of the group.”

Wheein shrugged.

“I’m not implying that we're all that or anything! That's not what I meant at all!,” Hyejin clarified. “Anyways, what I wanted to get across is that I’m sorry. I promise not all of us are like that”

Wheein opened to say something when she was interrupted.

“Hyejin-ah! Come on, JaeEun’s waiting for us.”

Wheein and Hyejin looked over at a girl Wheein recognized from last night.

Hyejin turned back to Wheein, “I'll talk to you later Wheein" 

Wheein waved back as she watched her leave the library.

“What were you doing talking to her? JaeEun didn't give us the green light to interact with her yet”

Hyejin rolled her eyes,” are we not allowed to think for ourselves? Does JaeEun control everything we do?”

The girl frowned but didn't say anything as they approached their group of friends.

X

Wheein scrolled down, squinting at the screen in shock. It turns out that Son YeonAh was quite famous in the classical music world. She clicked on a news article with a picture of YeonAh holding her violin with a stoic expression.

World Renowned violinist YeonAh Son wins the International Tchaikovsky Competition.

16-year-old YeonAh Son gracefully accepted the award for last night’s competition with excellent scores from all 6 judges on the panel. The musical prodigy left the audience in awe as she performed Ernst’s Variations on “The Last Rose of Summer”, this piece is one of the most difficult solo pieces for violin owing to it’s almost impossible, with the finger harmonics and left-hand pizzicato on top of tricky arpeggios. No wonder only a small handful of violinists would touch this piece.

To no one’s surprise, Son’s rival Eunsil Cho came trailing behind in second place with only 2 points behind after performing Locatelli’s Caprice in D major Op. 3 No. 23 ‘Il labirinto armonico’. Without a doubt one of the most difficult violin pieces to perform and the most difficult display passages of all Baroque literature, the 16-year-old finished the piece with elegance.

The rest of the classical music industry looks forward to the performances of these extraordinary musicians.

Wheein leaned back in her chair “So she was a musical prodigy.” She thought to herself.

She put her hand on her chin and continued to look at YeonAh’s expressionless face, “what happened to you?” she asked herself.

She clicked on another link that caught her eye just as the warning bell rang.

She looked at the clock on the wall and hit the print button, wanting to read the story on the way to class.

X

Wheein looked down, reading the multiple articles she printed out at the library. She read the title of one of the news articles in her hand.

Music industry mourns the death of young musical prodigy

“Ooomph,” Wheein grunted as she fell down, the stack of papers flying around her.

“Walk much?” a voice above her snorted.

Wheein looked up who bumped into her, seeing JaeEun with a pretentious smirk on her face.

Wheein pursed her lips as she picked up the papers and her books, “doesn't she have anything better to do?” she murmured to herself.

Another pair of hands handed her a small stack of papers.

“Thank you,” she whispered, looking up to see Hyejin.

Hyejin passed her the last couple sheets on the floor, “Are you a fan of classical music?" she glanced at the sheet of papers in her hand.  

Wheein put the papers in her bag, “yeah, you could say something like that”

“What are you—“ Hyejin started

“Hyejin-ah! Let’s go!” JaeEun ordered

Wheein watched as Hyejin bit her lower lip.

“You should go,” she advised standing up, “you don't want to keep ‘your Highness’ waiting”

Hyejin stood up as well, “see you around Wheein,” she waved as she ran to catch up to her friends.

Wheein watched as Hyejin smiled awkwardly as JaeEun scolded her, thinking about what she said in the library.

She turned to leave and walked home alone.

X

Wheein rounded the