Eunbi cannot be any more thankful that they have reconciled before the audition. 

Normally, she wouldn’t have wanted any company in times like these; she remembers flicking her mother off during her practical exams since turning into a middle-schooler, shutting Yewon out for all her recitals in the conservatory, even coming down to Seoul alone as a high-schooler when she had auditions for the conservatory (not without a huge argument with her family, of course, which she had feared might affect her performance). Despite that, Eunbi found herself unable to turn Yuna down when the latter had offered to- or stated, rather, that she would be with her for her audition. Seated with Yuna beside her, Eunbi hides her quivering fingers while her eyes dart around, once in a while resting on the closed door of the practice studio. Eunbi, despite the jitters, finds her heart full to have Yuna with her.

“Eunbi,” Yuna calls, noticing the lack of focus in Eunbi’s eyes.

“Y-Yeah?” much to Eunbi’s surprise, she stutters.

Yuna almost frowns, but remembers that she should not. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Eunbi gives a terse response.

“Hwang Eunbi?” the door opens and they hear a voice. They stand up at once from their seats. 

“You'll do great,” Yuna tries to smile.

Eunbi does so too. “Thank you,” her speech comes out as a whisper.

When the door opens and they see a woman slightly older than both of them are leaving the room with an instrument case in hand, they stand up abruptly. Yuna gives Eunbi a comforting rub on her back. No words are exchanged.

“Hwang Eunbi?” a voice softly asks when someone emerges from the door. Eunbi nods. “You can come in now.”

Yuna watches as Eunbi disappears into the room without turning back. Both hold in them a desperate yet hopeful heart; they know they share the same heart.

Yuna seats herself down again, her hand clasped together in a prayer.

The door opens again. Silently, Eunbi stands motionless and lets the door close behind her. She sees Yuna on her phone, with a familiar keychain and strap dangling at the corner of the mobile phone. The tension in her chest dissipates; she almost smiles, heartened by Yuna’s use of her gift, and forgets about everything that has just happened.

Yuna stands up in hastily when she realises Eunbi’s presence. They stand still, eyes looking into each other's. 

Yuna tries to push the corners of her lips into a smile. 

The effort touches Eunbi. “It's over,” she heaves a sigh.

“It is,” Yuna nods. They take slow steps towards each other.

“We should go for lunch,” Yuna speaks Eunbi's mind.

“We should,” Eunbi nods her head, delighted (but not surprised) that Yuna knows her intent.

Walking side by side as they left the studios, the girls are still tensed in the anxiety that has not yet worn away.

“How was it?” Yuna asks when she feels like she should (or can).

Eunbi smiles, but shrugs her shoulders, as random points in her memory of herself on her clarinet with four people sitting before her and watching her intensely flashing in her mind. She remembers vaguely the sound of her clarinet during the audition, and (she hopes) she has confidence that she had sounded fairly musical, proficient maybe, after her experience and with her skills (she knows she owns). “I don't know,” she mumbles. before releasing a gentle chuckle. Crucial times like this, Eunbi finds, she'd usually forget most of it right after it’s over, as if it never happened or if it were just a short dream caught before waking up from a slumber.

Yuna laughs as well. Giving Eunbi light pats on her back, she says, “Let’s go eat, we're both hungry.”

Eunbi seats herself on the sofa an evening after she comes out from the shower and Yuna is practising on the piano. Resting herself after a day of work, a calm waltz tender on Eunbi’s ears from the keys of the piano refreshes her like rain on a dry plain. Eunbi’s gaze lands on Yuna’s unmoving back, while her fingers carefully touch the keys and her eyes trace the notes on the music score swiftly as her talent allows them to.

Eunbi’s eyes water as her heart aches. She remains still in the serenity of the situation that reminds Eunbi how beautiful Yuna is. Eunbi cannot help but be fascinated by the magic of the piano, by how the sight of a precious love producing such delightful music on the instrument can touch her heart. I love Yuna unnie, she says internally, with much conviction, I really do.

Eunbi blinks and rubs her eyes with the towel in her hands when the piece comes to an end. She is startled when Yuna turns around.

“I’m sorry-”

“Don’t worry, I knew you were there,” Yuna smiles.

Eunbi finds dry. She swallows and tries to reciprocate the smile.

“I still can’t believe how good you are with the piano, on top of being a cellist,” Eunbi absent-mindedly lets the comment slip in an attempt to free herself of the tension of her own emotions. “How…” Eunbi stops herself upon realising that her question could be sensitive. 

Seeing that, Yuna lets her lips spread into a smile. “How did I choose the cello over the piano, right?” she chuckles. 

Eunbi blinks. She shifts in her seat, sheepishly, chewing on her lower lip. “I know that’s not a very nice question for you to answer, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay,” Yuna shakes her head. "Funny how we both had to give the piano up," she chuckles.

"Right," Eunbi laughs along. "I used to be so mad about it because I didn't have much of a choice. But it's been a long time already, and I do know now that I love being a clarinettist."

“Well, I did have a preference, and I did see the possibility of me doing better with the cello than with the piano, it’s not like I gave my future up,” Yuna shrugs her shoulders. Her lips remain in a smile, one that puts Eunbi at ease. 

“You didn’t. Look where you are right now,” Eunbi responds with words of encouragement.

“Under a roof in Seoul with a noisy girl named Hwang Eunbi? Definitely where I want to be right now,” Yuna throws a humorous reply that takes Eunbi aback.

Eunbi gapes. “Heol, am I supposed to take that as a compliment or an insult?” Her voice is amplified, and higher in pitch.

Yuna throws her head back as she breaks into a hearty chuckle, her words confirmed by Eunbi’s behaviour. 

Definitely where I want to be right now, Yuna sighs, something tells her that warms her heart.

Friday evening comes and for the first time since the mid-autumn festival, the girls are doing their laundry together. Folding their clothes in the quiet living room, the autumn breeze through the window refreshes them after a wearing day of work.

[So, how was the audition?]

Eunbi grimaces at the message from her brother. [Don’t ask me about it. Tch]

[Rude. By the way, I found something at home] 

Eunbi does not reply but leaves the screen on with the chat open, her phone on the couch, between Yuna and herself. While her brother takes his time sending the next message over, Eunbi leaves the couch to the kitchen for some water.

Eunbi almost chokes on the water when she hears a loud sound from the living room, somewhat between a squeal and a gasp. “Eunbi yah!” Eunbi rushes to put the cup down to run to the commotion.

She sees a wide smile plastered on Yuna’s face, while the cellist now has Eunbi’s phone in her hands. “This is so cute?” Yuna squeals rather delightedly.

Eunbi grabs the phone over and takes a look. She deadpans when she sees, in a chat with her brother, an image of a photograph of her and her brother at a playground almost twenty years ago.

“Hwang Jungwoo,” Eunbi grits her teeth, putting the phone away without replying her brother. 

“You were such a tiny precious child,” Yuna continues cooing.

Eunbi cannot tell if it’s a tease or a compliment. “Unnie, please,” her voice reveals a plead.

Yuna watches as Eunbi returns to folding her garments. “Well, you're still a tiny precious child,” she adds with a smile.

What? Eunbi finds her lips sealed. She turns to watch Yuna, who beams at her and gives her head a few gentle pats.

Eunbi freezes. Her heartbeats are deafening. Putting her head down, she does not reply Yuna. 

Much to Yuna’s astonishment, Eunbi throws her crumpled laundry that has yet to be folded into the laundry basket and wordlessly carries it into her room, where she remains for the rest of the night, driving Yuna into irritation and confusion. 

Eunbi tosses and turns in her sheets. This isn't right, she says inwardly and sulks, not when she has another morning practice to wake up for.

Surely, Yuna calling her a “tiny precious child” had caught her off guard. The questions in her head do not go away; what did she mean by precious? And why am I still a child?

She runs her fingers through her hair in frustration. Lying on her back, she brings her arms up above her head. When she opens her eyes, she watches as the light from the streets seeping through the curtains lifelessly sway. In the darkness she sees what she perceives as the lump of laundry that has yet to be tidied at the corner of her room, which irks her further.

The scene of the evening together replays in her mind like a broken cassette player. Eunbi glowers. What if Yuna unnie only sees me as a child that she has to take care of while living together? 

Eunbi stirs. She thinks of their time together, how Yuna dotes on her, how her kind gestures warm Eunbi's heart. What if she only sees me as a little sister, since I've been calling unnie all the time?

Eunbi huffs as she stirs in her bed again. Well, it's not like I expected my feelings to be mutual, at such an early stage even, but it does feel bad to think that they aren't. Her heart sinks as she lets out a sigh.

When Yuna wakes up, she finds the house empty. She recalls Eunbi mentioning that she has got an early practice this Saturday. 

What exactly was with her last night? Yuna cannot stop wondering, since the incident, for the whole night such that it has robbed her of her sleep. Hwang Eunbi, she sighs. The thought of the name makes her want to scream it out. Argh! Yuna grunts internally with a scowl on her face. She doesn’t understand the extent of her exasperation, which further irritates her.

She whips her head, as her thoughts are interrupted when she hears the electronic lock unlock through the silent apartment.

“Unnie!” Eunbi calls out, shouting through the door. “Unnie, Unnie! I’ve got roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes for us!”

Yuna gets off her bed, her initial frustration and temper dissipating almost immediately. 

If Eunbi has gotten food, nothing shall matter anymore. Food is important. Yuna shuffles in her slippers towards the door and opens it. Immediately, the whiff sweet potatoes and chestnuts nicely roasted greet her nose as a harbinger of the autumn. 

“Yahh, if you’re having them at this time, how are you gonna have your lunch?” Yuna’s voice is dull, even as it reverberates through the hallway as she walks into the living room.

“Tch, don’t eat if you don’t want to,” Eunbi nonchalantly begins peeling the sweet potatoes. “We can just have a light meal. Or an early dinner later on.”

We? Yuna almost asks. Shaking the irritation away, she seats herself on the dining table opposite of Eunbi and begins helping herself to the food.

When Yuna takes a bite of the sweet potato, while Eunbi pops a chestnut into , she cannot resist a smile curling upon her lips.

“They’re good, right?” Eunbi grins.

“Well, I guess.”

Eunbi laughs, and Yuna’s smile grows, the exasperation from the previous night slipping away from her mind. 

a/n: a longer chapter since you guys have been waiting a long time. wow, it is a pretty long time. the world was still a normal place the last time i updated this. i rmb i was still staying on campus when i updated this, and a few times i made updates in my floor lounge. i miss it now :"( anyway i hope you guys have been doing fine!! i'm also writing another ongoing sinju fic and it was nice seeing familiar usernames when i started uploading that. i hope everyone's safe, the world is in a huge mess rn and there's so much ongoing chaos. well, i hope this update finds you guys well :)