a/n: for a better experience I recommend listening to this song while you read. It's also the song that Dahyun plays at his audition. 

I love you by Riopy  https://youtu.be/S7Bo4-NCEDk

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First love.

There are things that Dahyun can no longer remember or that her subconscious simply decided it was better to forget throughout her twenty-eight years. However there is one thing that she remembers for as long as she can remember and she knows that she will keep that moment present in her memory until her last day. 

If you ask Dahyun what the happiest day of her life was, she will probably say it was when she was three years old and her dad took her for the first time to the music store in the shopping mall in the city where they used to live before moving to Seoul.

The music store was like a new world in Dahyun's eyes. Of course she was still too young to understand everything there and how everything worked, but Dahyun quickly felt that the place was special. In that very music store Kim Dahyun met her first love, the one she would be in love with for the rest of her life, of that she was sure. 

At three and a half years old Dahyun was still slowly learning everything the world had to offer and she was a curious child, so while her father bought something, he let Dahyun explore the place by herself. 

Dahyun had never seen anything like this before, it was totally new to her and her curiosity grew along with the need to touch and try the object for herself. Cautiously she climbed onto the bench and supported both knees so that she could be high enough, then there it was in front of her; that big dark brown object, it had a long row of black and white buttons that Dahyun felt attracted to try. 

Evidently the sound emitted by that giant device after pressing one of the white buttons scared Dahyun, but far from wanting to cry and run in search of her dad, the excitement of hearing a new sound made the little girl try it again, pressing another white key that this time sounded different than the first one. Dahyun let out a giggle, that was fun and the sound was pleasant to her ears which caused the little girl to continue testing the black and white keys.

A piano. That was what her father said. Little Dahyun was instantly fascinated, and such was her fascination with the musical instrument that her parents gave her a small battery-operated musical piano for Christmas. The sound was not the same as that huge piano in the store but it was enough for Dahyun's entertainment and for her to learn the musical scales and the sound of each note. 

Then for Dahyun's 4th birthday she got his first real piano as a gift from his parents, a Yamaha classical keyboard along with an illustrated book on music. It was a big change from his toy piano to that one, it had many more keys and on the top were a variety of buttons with which Dahyun could experiment with different tones and sounds. 

What her parents thought would be a phase was not a phase at all. By the age of six the little girl had mastered the keyboard impressively and could almost recognize musical notes without looking, and could even play complete songs. A year later, when Dahyun was seven, she composed her first piece, having been inspired by great masters such as Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky. It was a piece of only five chords and its duration was two and a half minutes that any professional musician could easily play, but for Dahyun it felt like his greatest achievement at such a young age. 

That was just the beginning, Dahyun continued to compose small pieces of music and continued to learn how to improve her technique and would spend her evenings with the instrument after her classes at school. As time went by, as she continued to grow up the pastor of the church she and her family attended allowed her to play the organ on some Sundays during masses. She was proud of herself and enjoyed receiving compliments from others. 

Dahyun's love for the piano only continued to grow, however as she got much deeper into her teens and young adulthood, the piano ceased to be her number one priority as her parents began to insist that Dahyun should focus all her attention on her studies just like her older brother who at the time had entered Seoul University with great fees. 

She did what her parents wanted, reminding her that it was the best thing for her and her future. They wanted their daughter to have a dignified and prestigious life, and the last thing they wanted was for Dahyun to end up playing the piano in bars or seedy places for a couple of bucks. And despite everything they could say, that was still Dahyun's dream, she wanted to keep playing and become as good as her favorite classical artists were.

Dahyun kept going, now in her mid-teens and about to enter college, she barely played her piano occasionally or when she wanted a moment to herself and those moments were reduced to one or two every now and then. 

College, part-time work and her father's demands forced her to have to abandon all hope of continuing to play the piano professionally or as a simple hobby. No, there was no time for that anymore and Dahyun had to painfully accept it, beginning to see her drift yet another step further away from her main dream. 

Then came Jiro. It was a refreshing and exciting feeling. Dahyun had never been interested in any boy before and Jiro had the opportunity to be the first time of many things in Dahyun's life.

In the blink of an eye adult life hit without warning for Dahyun. She was now in a stable relationship with a boy she liked very much, they lived together and worked in the same place. When the relationship became more stable and they had spent enough time together came the marriage proposal, and then.... And then everything in Dahyun's life fell off a cliff. Everything she was and everything she had built together with him up to that point completely fell apart when she learned that her fiancé was cheating on her with another woman. 

In the past, when she was still a child, Dahyun would have run to her room and started playing any tune that could distract her and take her away from the environment around her, however, at twenty-five years old her reality was totally different and sad, she no longer had her adored piano, she no longer had a stable relationship with the person she thought she loved and she had completely lost her way in life. Dahyun had lost herself along the way and that was the most regrettable thing. 

Regaining control of her life was a process of personal rediscovery. It took her a while to understand that she had to start living for herself, without waiting for her parents' approval or even trying to match her brother. Dahyun had not been happy living up to those expectations and somehow she always knew it.

But then, when she finally thought she had settled down, we came to the final chapter of her life and this is where we find ourselves now; with a wish list and the illusion of living free until the last day.

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It would be quite an understatement to say that she wasn't nervous. She was not a good liar and anyone could tell that she really was nervous and perhaps a little anxious; her leg twitching up and down was clear proof of what Dahyun was trying to hide. 

The cafe she was in was very nice and happened to be across the street from the theater. The place was fairly empty and Dahyun was quick to occupy a table near the window overlooking the street. With the soft jazz melody playing low over the speakers, a pleasant aroma of coffee and the drizzle falling that afternoon, Dahyun was easily lost in her thoughts, trying to understand how in just days her life had changed so radically.

She doesn't hear the bell ringing at the door when someone arrives at the premises, nor does she notice the presence of a certain person occupying a place across from Dahyun at the same table. 

Mina clears slightly to get Dahyun's attention and fortunately succeeds. Dahyun is noticeably surprised when she distinguishes Mina sitting in front of her, even if she tries to calm down, his heart races with just a glance offered by the japanese woman. It's amazing the disasters a pair of brown eyes can cause with the right person and Mina doesn't seem to notice the effect it has on Dahyun.

"Oh, sorry I didn't see you coming" she offers that silly apology to start the conversation. If she thinks about it, now she's not so sure why she agreed to this meeting with Mina. 

What exactly were they supposed to say?

Well, Dahyun does know one important thing she has to say, but she thinks it might not be the best thing to say. Not at this time.

Before starting, Mina orders for the two of them and orders apple tea and cinnamon buns. Dahyun smiles shyly, Mina still remembering her tastes. 

"I must admit I was surprised to see you again, Dahyun" Mina starts. Dahyun looks at her carefully. "When Sana told me she wanted to introduce me to her new friend I never expected it could be you."

"Believe me you're not the only one surprised here" she takes a sip of tea and sets the cup down on the saucer, ready to throw out a question that has