A chance to shine, Yuna thinks. The situation from their breakfast the previous week had been etched on her mind, and Yuna cannot wait to get home and present Eunbi with the opportunity. She takes a deep breath and opens the door once she is done with keying in the passcode.

“Oh, you’re home?” Eunbi looks up from the smartphone in her hands and turns to the entrance where Yuna stands.

“Yeah, I’m home,” Yuna plainly replies as she removes her shoes before walking over to beside the piano where puts her cello down and positions it nicely.

“Have you eaten dinner?” Eunbi asks, unaware of the debate going on in Yuna’s head.

“What?” Yuna is shaken from her thoughts, “No,” she shakes her head.

“Good, I was thinking of eating with you, there’s a good set deal in the samgyeopsal place in the next neighbourhood,” Eunbi is nodding her head and muttering, although intending for her words to be heard.

Yuna doesn’t reply. As she puts down her other belongings, Yuna mulls over how to break the news to her housemate.

"You know, I told you this right? My ensemble’s chief conductor has a mother of a clarinettist," Yuna vaguely begins, her voice unfocused.

"Yeah, and?" Eunbi casually perks her ears.

"She's turning eighty next year and to celebrate that, they're wondering if we could have a special performance of the Clarinet Concerto next spring-"

"Mozart's Clarinet Concerto?" Eunbi's eyes are as sharp as daggers when she swiftly turns her head while blurting the words.

"No, Mendelssohn," Yuna decides to tease the younger one, having predicted to receive a rather aggressive reaction from the younger.

Eunbi squints in confusion. "Mendelssohn only had concert pieces for the clarinet, basset horn and orchestra," Eunbi answers in disbelief.

Yuna chuckles, "You know your stuff well."

"Unnie!" Eunbi groans.

"Mozart's Clarinet Concerto," Yuna nods. "Because it’s to honour her we’re not inviting guest players but instead they're holding auditions and interviews next month-"

"The month ends in five days," Eunbi interrupts Yuna again.

"You could-"

"HOLD UP," Eunbi hollers and seats herself straight up in the couch.

"You straight up went against my words, joined a strings ensemble instead of accepting my- okay, rather informal and non-credited- invitation to SSO,” Eunbi animatedly exclaims, flailing her arms in the air, without turning to Yuna, “and now you’re asking me to play for your ensemble?”

When Eunbi finally turns to face Yuna, both see the furious faces each other is wearing.

“I thought we were done with this,” Yuna hisses, hurt written all over her face.

Me too, Eunbi wants to say but prevents herself from doing so. Eunbi knows it's unreasonable too, to feel the anger within her when the issue is supposed to be resolved and when there is nothing she should be blaming Yuna for in the first place. In fact, she ought to be grateful for Yuna’s invitation this time. It’s the Clarinet Concerto. 

“Why are you so worked up on this?” Yuna reddens in anger.

“You’re worked up!” Eunbi throws an indignant index finger at Yuna, which provokes the latter even more.

“I’m worked up because you are!”

Eunbi releases a loud huff and stands herself up with a thud, before strutting into her bedroom with large strides.

“Rude!” Yuna yells when Eunbi slams the door behind her.

Alone in the living room, Yuna sits on the couch, frustrated over her efforts and her own excitement of Eunbi possibly landing herself in the spotlight she’s been wishing for. Yuna gets outraged every other moment recalling how Eunbi had reacted, not with the same excitement as Yuna, but with a tantrum.

Yuna decides not to waste her time (and energy) and puts it at the back of her mind. Well, it’s not my fault, she tells herself, and proceeds to practise her pieces on the piano for the ballet classes the next afternoon. Nonetheless, her mind wanders and frustrates her by reminding her of Eunbi.

This girl, Yuna huffs internally as she furiously exhales through her nostrils, what an ungrateful girl. She sweats even more when she suddenly remembers how Eunbi has been been in high spirits since meeting with the man her mother has been trying to set her up with yesterday. Yuna is perplexed to let that be another reason to her fury but lets it be, too frustrated to reason with herself anymore.

After an hour or so, Yuna knows she’s been hearing her stomach growl but continues her practice anyway. Yuna wants to stomp out of the house in indignation and have the meal she very much needs and has done nothing wrong to be deprived of, but as much as the angel she is she cannot find it in her the heart to do so- the girl was initially waiting to have the set deal with her and Yuna still feels that it’s better to have that meal together although it was undoubtedly wrong of her to throw her tantrum. Yuna knows that that girl doesn't have the most patience amongst everyone she knows.

On the other hand, Eunbi sits still on her bed, hugging her knees as she ponders over Yuna’s offer. Her heart aches in remorse for taking it out on her older housemate. She knows Yuna always means well. Releasing another sigh, Eunbi wonders how she should make up for her mistake. Right, she was fuming mad when Yuna had told her about it when just two months ago Yuna had rejected her idea of joining her in SSO, but screaming at her and slamming the door does not seem right either.

“Ah, I don’t know,” Eunbi ruffles her fingers in her hair and releases a huff. First, she knows she needs to give Yuna an apology and break down this boulder between them. The chance of performing the sacred Clarinet Concerto shall be considered later. The sound of the piano gives her a boost of courage to get off her bed and out of her room.

Wondering how long this cold war will last, Yuna releases a sigh and goes through her pieces again knowing that she hasn’t been concentrating well. Just as she is starting on the second phrase, she hears the bedroom door swing open, accompanied by shy, draggy footsteps from Eunbi’s slippers. Yuna keeps playing, anticipating action from the younger housemate.

Yuna stops at the end of her third page when she realises that Eunbi is not doing anything but simply sitting behind her at the dining table. She turns around, annoyance in her knitted brow, and gives a slight glare to Eunbi, who has a cup held close to her lips and wide, startled eyes glancing back at her.

At a loss for words, Yuna turns back around and decides to work on a bar within the same page that has been troubling her with its tricky . However, before her fingers press into the keys, she hears a bashful voice from behind.

“Unnie,” Eunbi softly calls out, “aren’t you hungry?”

Yuna doesn’t turn around while retracting her fingers, but says, “You’re hungry, right?”

Eunbi sheepishly looks down, her lips while considering her own efforts to patch up. With a deep breath through her nostrils, she starts again, “When is the audition going to be?”

“From the 14th onwards. You’ll have to sign up early and get a sample score of a few pages to present at the audition though,” Yuna replies in detail, deciding to give in as she sees the efforts of the younger.

“Okay,” Eunbi gives a rather obedient response, one that comes with a submissive nod of the head. “I’ll think about it,” she mumbles rather unclearly.

A small smile spread on Yuna’s lips as she looks down to hide the expression on her face with the long locks at the sides of her head.

“You know, Brahms was actually one of my favourites for piano music,” Eunbi refers to the pieces Yuna has been practising, the music that has once again calmed her heart and allowed her to face Yuna after the second time of discord and enmity.

“Really? Well, I don’t find it surprising,” Yuna enjoys the conversation despite their initial dispute, grateful for their progress in recovering from the argument.

“Unnie. I’ll tell you this now,” Eunbi her lips and starts, “I was ten and was already done with about Grade 8? For the piano,” she squints as she tries to recall, “but my shoulder was getting really terrible and the doctor- I bet he didn’t know what he was saying- said staying away from the piano would be the best advice. I mean, I’m sure the tension- though I know we’re not supposed to be tense while playing but I mean we can’t help it sometimes- and the posture does put a strain my shoulder but giving it up entirely-” Eunbi pauses, her sentences are quick despite their length.

“Your shoulder?” Yuna responses with worry.

“Habitual dislocation. But it’s okay, the clarinet doesn’t give me a lot of trouble. So yes, I was crying so badly; I was ten but I knew that music was what I really wanted to do. Surgery was also advised but I wouldn’t be able to practise for months post-surgery which kinda just meant I’d lose a lot of the skills in time. As a kid I was also really scared of surgery, so I gave up and picked up the clarinet instead. I actually played it in the school band before so that wasn’t difficult. And my shoulder hasn’t been giving me much trouble since,” she finishes with her rambling. “I still play the piano once in a while though, here and there, especially duets sometimes with my best friend,” Eunbi adds plainly.

Yuna doesn’t know what she should say, as she silently slouches on the piano and frowns at the younger girl. Eunbi looks like she hasn't really mentioned this to anyone before, and the idea causes Yuna's heart to flutter.

“Don’t give me that face,” Eunbi scowls, “look how things have turned out, I’m doing great. I probably wouldn’t have met you either if I didn’t take up the clarinet and made it my life,” she ends with a small smile.

“That’s somewhat true,” Yuna’s frown is flipped upside down and Eunbi feels like the house has just gotten brighter.

Feeling her stomach churn yet again, Yuna stands up and tidies up her scores, saying, “Oh, and, we need also flutes, bassoons and horns so if you have friends up for it you can ask them along.”

“Okay,” Eunbi chirps, “Two each right? I know this,” she adds with a giggle, holding up a hand with her fingers showing the number.

“So full of yourself,” Yuna mutters while closing the piano. “So, this arrogant girl, are you still up for samgyeopsal?”

“Yes!” Eunbi jumps from her seat, “Of course, is that even a question?”

Yuna chuckles at how Eunbi does not even try to hide the excitement on her face.

a/n: here's the update as promised! another terribly long chapter because i kept adding and adding details LOL anw i think i’m rather satisfied with this chapter after revising it for so many months, surprisingly i’m not tired of reading it yet lolol yes we've reached the core of the story, the main thing this whole story is built on! fyi, i was listening to this concerto as my studying music LOL for my national exams last year. and i fell in love w it while i recalled a clarinettist hwangbi idea lying around since years ago so i developed this whole idea of a fic, wrote this main part out (just the part they were yelling at each other tho HAHA) and tried thinking about it until i really only started working on it… i can't rmb when LOL anyway yes so this chapter existed for a long time now it’s so old and ripe lmaoo but i hope you like it! as usual do leave a few comments hehe thank you ♡♡ also there's a poll below right above the comments section (will take down after a while!) do cast your votes thank you :)