The shepherds will have nowhere to flee, the leaders of the flock no place to escape. Hear the cry of the shepherds, the wailing of the leaders of the flock, for the Lord is destroying their pasture. The peaceful meadows will be laid waste because of the fierce anger of the Lord. Like a lion he will leave his lair, and their land will become desolate because of the sword of the oppressor and because of the Lord’s fierce anger.

Jeremiah 25:35-38

Minho could no longer hear 'For Elise'. The piano piece drilled into his brain like a screw vise, note by note.

He had barely touched his food. In front of him stood his still seductively bouncing vanilla pudding, beautifully decorated with the red strawberry sauce and the fruit on the side. He had not noticed how the delicacy had been placed in front of him. His thoughts wavered between his lover and a cathartic cigarette. Silently he sat there, hearing only the sombre notes of the music.

"Minho?" The man addressed said nothing, but slowly turned his gaze in the direction from which he had heard his name.

His blank expression met his wife's. Sooyoung looked stunning as always. Her hair was done up in beautiful waves. Her blue costume, which consisted of a tight skirt that went down her legs and a sleek blazer, had been her latest acquisition from a posh boutique.

"My concert?" she said, slightly annoyed as if she had repeated it.

Minho couldn't follow her and took a deep breath.

"You're coming, aren't you? Have you taken the weekend off yet?" she wanted to know.

Sooyoung had shown a great talent for music since she was a child, her parents recognised this too and had always encouraged it. To call her a child prodigy would perhaps not be appropriate. Because she was already able to play many pieces by great musicians as a child, and her abilities developed and perfected over time.

She had begun to compose herself and soon became famous throughout the country for her elegant compositions. When they were children and teenagers, Minho had always enjoyed listening to her. Her music was cheerful and sounded bright. Sometimes he heard his wife practising on the big grand piano in their living room. But she had exchanged the cheerfulness in the music for more gloomy sounds.

When her husband did not answer, she slumped her shoulders.

"Have you forgotten?"

"There, there." Minho's mother put her hand on Sooyoung's placatingly.

"You know men. Only work on their minds." But that did not reassure Sooyoung. It had been years since the last concert Minho had attended.

"We'll all be there." Minho's father said after finishing his dessert.

"Jungnam and I have a lot to talk about." Sooyoung smiled fondly at her father-in-law.

"Oh no!" Beside Minho, his little daughter cried out.

Terrified, she looked first at her mother and then at the pudding stain on her new dress. Hastily, she picked up the napkin on the table, tipping over her glass of juice in the process.

"Naeun!" Her mother sighed loudly.

Sooyoung jumped up and took her napkin to Naeun. But Minho was already wiping the stain. He gave his daughter a loving smile as she tried to hold back her tears.

"You can't be serious!" Sooyoung stood by the two of them and looked angrily at her daughter's green dress and the spilled juice.

"I just bought this dress brand new." She shook her head.

"It's just a dress." Bluntly, without looking at his wife, Minho said this.

"But Naeun is not a baby anymore. She should pay more attention!"

Maybe it was the vise in his head, maybe it was Sooyoung's endless nagging, but Minho took a small spoonful of his pudding and let it drizzle onto Sooyoung's blazer. Naeun had to laugh, but immediately covered when she heard her grandfather scream.

"Minho!" shouted Yunkyeom angrily, but Minho paid him no mind.

"And why are you laughing?" he turned to Naeun and smudged another spot on her dress.

Naeun could no longer hold back her laughter. Father and daughter laughed out loud together. Naeun took a piece of the yellow mass in her fingers and wiped it on Minho's trouser leg.

"Naeun!" awakened from her moment of rigidity, Sooyoung now cried out hysterically too, but Naeun too paid no attention to her mother.

"Just you wait!" said Minho to the giggling Naeun.

"This means war!" he announced.

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