Part 3: Finale

Seulgi and Seungwan don’t pry when she gets back, but they do get a bit more talkative. Soyoung apologizes for ignoring them, promises that she’s alright (and for once, it isn’t a lie), and they decide on watching a movie. All three of them end up falling asleep on the couch halfway through.

The next morning is moving day. It’s busy, and Seungwan is the busiest because she has to go first. Seulgi prepares breakfast this time, and it’s fancier than normal and they all sit around the table and chat.

Seungwan leaves at around ten fifteen. She gives both of them large hugs, saying that they’ll meet up again during the school year, and then it’s just her and Seulgi again.

For the remainder of the morning, Soyoung packs her belongings that she hasn’t yet packed. Baekhyun says he’ll pick both her and Seulgi up (it’s his last use of Chanyeol’s car, apparently) at two thirty.

She’s dragging all her bags to the doorway when Seulgi comes up holding her violin and her music folder. “You forgot this,” she says as she hands it over, and Soyoung finds herself freezing for a long moment.

She still hasn’t tried to play it. Maybe there’s still that fear lingering that doesn’t go away even after yesterday, a fear of failure not because she can’t physically but because there’s something mentally telling her she can’t. Soyoung stares hard at the violin for a while more before she accepts it from Seulgi.

By the time one o’clock rolls around, everything’s fully loaded and they’re just waiting for Baekhyun. Seulgi’s scrolling through her phone on the couch and Soyoung’s tired, almost drifting off, and then the other girl sits up straighter and turns to her. “What happened?” she finally asks.

Soyoung snaps awake. “Pardon?”

“I take it you’re feeling better,” Seulgi says. “I don’t want to push you if you don’t want to talk about it, but that’s what friends are for and it doesn’t matter what, I’ll try to support you through it best I can.”

She says it fast, like she has no idea what to say and is trying to get it over with, but it’s kind of endearing. Soyoung even manages to laugh. “Thanks,” she says, and she really does mean it. “I’m sorry for the past couple of days. I didn’t know what else to do apart from lock myself up, and I didn’t even realize fully that I worried all of you too.”

Seulgi blinks rapidly. “It’s okay,” she says. “But you idiot, don’t do that again. It’ll be better if you tell us instead of suffering like that alone and…” Her eyes look like they’re watering. “I’m sorry you had to go through all of that and none of us could support you.”

Now she really looks like she’s going to cry. Hastily, Soyoung opens her arms awkwardly for a hug and Seulgi immediately takes it. She buries her head into her shoulder and Soyoung’s pretty sure she’s wiping her tears off with her hoodie, though she doesn’t mind the least bit.

***

She ends up telling Seulgi too. It’s more condensed compared to the conversation with Baekhyun, but Seulgi looks like she’s going to be on another bout of tears if she says more. The doorbell rings before either of them can do much, but Seulgi gives her another quick, reassuring hug and for the second time in the past twenty four hours, she feels the same, staggering relief. There’s no judgement from her, only assurance and support.

Baekhyun’s all eye smiles and jokes when he carries their stuff downstairs. It takes three runs to get everything, and the trunk doesn’t fit it all and they stack three suitcases in the backseat.

The drive to the university is lighthearted. There’s no lingering awkwardness between neither Seulgi nor Baekhyun—in fact, there’s almost a newfound connection, and unsaid ease that’s everywhere when they chat. He drops them off at the dorm, and it takes another twenty minutes for them to carry it up all the stairs and then Baekhyun’s gone again to his own dorm. The rest of the afternoon is spent unpacking.

The dorm is much bigger than the one they had in the first year, and there’s a kitchen area. It’s nowhere as large as the apartment they’d been in for the whole summer, but it’s possible to make do with the kitchen and cook their own food instead of going to the cafeteria every single day, which Soyoung likes. Once Seulgi’s arranged her bed and the area around it, she proposes going out for dinner just that one day, which she agrees too.

It’s strange, being back on campus with the same buildings and people she recognizes, but Soyoung feels so different that it’s like she’s never been in the place before. It’s a nice change, though, and the rest of the year only seems to look up.

***

She meets up with Baekhyun again on the day after to practice. Soyoung’s still a bit hesitant when she takes out her violin from the case, and Baekhyun patiently tunes the violin with her. Her hands start shaking when she’s setting up her music again, because it’s been at least a week since she’s played properly and the last try ended in tears (quite literally). Her fingers don’t exactly hurt anymore, but they are a bit stiff and Soyoung’s nervous when she raises the chinrest. Baekhyun glances towards her for confirmation, and she nods hesitantly.

It comes nicely the moment she starts playing, and that part is a relief. The slower parts are no problem, and while she fumbles a bit in the beginning of the second section, Baekhyun continues on as if nothing’s wrong and Soyoung catches the rhythm and the music melds together again. Faster than she she even realizes it, they’ve finished and she’s breathing a sigh of relief that she actually got through it.

Baekhyun raises an eyebrow at her. “Who said you couldn’t do it?”

She manages to laugh slightly. “I—didn’t think I… could.”

“Well, you’re wrong,” he says, tone so no-nonsense that she laughs again, louder.

They spend the rest of the afternoon going through the duet a couple more times, and it erases the last of the worries.

***

It’s on the first day of school that Soyoung remembers the lawsuit again. She’s ignored her mother’s calls for the past five days and at some point, her mother had stopped trying to call her repeatedly, but it’s only a temporary escape. She knows she’ll have to face it sometime, like it or not, but there’s soon and there’s not soon and pushing things back to deal with has always been something she’s done, and it’s turned into a bad habit.

That’s not the main problem, though, because the class is abuzz when she walks into it. They immediately fall silent when they see her, and Soyoung’s beginning to wonder if something went wrong until one girl shouts from the back (voice extremely loud and jarring in the silence), “Are you really dating Baekhyun?”

The rest of the day is louder than anything Soyoung’s ever experienced. Some people are shocked, others are happy for her, some are mad, but apparently it’s the biggest gossip on campus. She tries to run away from it, but it’s not nearly that possible when she’s the center of it, and it only gets worse when Baekhyun comes to find her after her last class.

She inwardly groans when she sees the chestnut brown mop of hair leaning against the wall, head down, because as much as she wants to see him, she’s been plagued by other people for the whole day and him being there is just going to make it worse. It’s only when Soyoung gets closer when she realizes that he’s apparently dozed off leaning against the wall, standing up of all positions. The sight is so funny and cute at the same time that she contemplates taking out her phone and taking a picture, but at that moment, the rest of the class files out behind her, talking loudly, and Baekhyun snaps up.

His expression brightens when he sees her. “Soyoung!” he calls, and she wants to hide because everyone’s looking.

Not here, she mouths at him, but he either doesn’t understand or doesn’t care. The moment he reaches where she’s standing, the crowd behind them explodes.

“You’re actually dating,” someone behind them states in disbelief, and then someone else yells, “Why her?”

“Why not?” Baekhyun shoots back, and then grabs one of her hands. “Let’s go.”

He all but bolts. She can barely process anything but what would my classmates think of this before they’re out the building and Baekhyun is turning the corner and wiping sweaty bangs from his forehead. “I had to run here,” he exclaims. “Today was just… yikes.”

Soyoung eyes him. “Why does everyone know? No one would even know if we’re dating if none of us said anything.”

Baekhyun ruffles his hair one more time. He looks a bit sheepish.

“You did?” Soyoung demands. “What the heck? Didn’t you know this would happen? I swear you have a fan club in my year or something. They’re going to end me.”

“You should join that.”

She hits him on the arm. “Why did you tell?”

His expression turns even more sheepish, which she didn’t think was possible. “Am I not allowed to show off my violin prodigy girlfriend?”

“But Baekhyun—”

“Just kidding.” He winces. “I told Kyungsoo and he told Jongdae and then someone apparently caught word of it.”

“I’ve never had so many people talk to me in my life.”

“Sorry.” He winces, then his expression brightens. “On the bright side of things, at least you managed to escape from that crowd, right? We can go practice again. There’s only a month left until the concert.”

***

And so things more or less fall back into more routines. Baekhyun proposes that they practice five times a week, but both of them have more or less got the whole thing down flat and so half the time in the music room is spent doing work or simply just chatting or even fooling around.

Another week passes. Everyone more or less dies down about the news of her and Baekhyun dating, which Soyoung is thankful for. To her relief, no one particularly bothers her about it either (there was one instance in which someone took the step to write a threat on the desk they thought she sat at, but they also ended up getting the wrong desk which was the one next to hers, and the professor spent the beginning of the class lecturing them about inappropriate behavior).

It’s only halfway through the second week back at school that Soyoung finally brings the courage to phone her mother again. It takes a lot of convincing from both Baekhyun and Seulgi for her to actually do it, and then the establishing that everything’s routinely and fine when she finally manages to dial back. Even as the ringtone drones on, she’s jittery and nervous, unsure of what she’s supposed to say if her mother answers. At the second tone, Soyoung’s almost hoping she won’t answer out of fear, though it’s the third one that she does pick up and she has no choice.

“Hi,” she says in a small voice.

“Soyoung.” Her voice trembles a bit. “God, I thought I’d never be able to reach you, I though—” She trails off. “Are you alright, honey? I don’t know details, but I heard he tried to find you but I haven’t talked to your stepfather properly in two weeks and I have no idea.”

Soyoung feels a tiny bit better actually hearing her talk. “I’m fine,” she replies, and it’s so nice to say those two simple words and mean it. Maybe her mother can sense it too, that she means it. “Are you… is he…”

“I’m staying at a friend’s house,” she says quickly. “He found out about the lawsuit right before he left for Seoul, but he couldn’t do much about it and I’ve left the house for the time being. I think he knows that he can’t do much and he’s already texted me a couple of times apologizing and… a couple of threats.”

Soyoung nods slowly. “Then are you going to…?”

“Maybe. I’m still discussing it, but right now, I think… maybe.”

“I’m willing to testify,” Soyoung blurts before she can lose all her courage. “If you need me to, that is, I can.”

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