CHAPTER 6

     The sun was already shining brightly when Jieun awakened from her deep slumber. Then, she lazily picked up her cell phone to check the time.

     To her surprise, 10 missed calls and 14 messages were sent to her while she was still past asleep.

     She suddenly felt nervous while reading all the text messages one by one.

 “Mianhae Jieunnie, I suddenly got sick and needed to be

confined for 3 days here at Seoul Medical hospital. I can’t accompany you tomorrow.”

“Jieun-ah, have you received my messages earlier? I’m sorry, please don’t

get angry with me. I didn’t intend to ruin your preparations.”

“Jieun, why are you not answering my calls? Do you want me to find a

substitute pianist in my place? I hope it’s not yet too late.”

“Jieun, I know you can do it! Good luck for tomorrow! Fighting!

I’ll apologize when I return to school next week.”

     Upon reading the messages, Jieun realized how miserable her situation is. But instead of getting angry with her pianist, she decided to visit her in the hospital.

     “Please get well soon. Don’t worry about me Eun Sil, I know I can find someone to substitute you in the competition. Everything will be alright! Just worry about how you will recover. Fighting!”

      Jieun made a huge, forced and fake laugh. Deep inside, she’s trembling with fear. Hopelessly thinking who can manage to replace Eun Sil as her pianist.

     At school, she tried to ask her schoolmates if they can offer her help in the competition. But they are all not sure about the hasty idea.

     On her way to their classroom, she noticed the announcement posted on the bulletin board about the list of participants and their respective order of performances:

10. Lee Jieun

     “Thanks God, I’m the last to perform! I hope I can find a pianist before my performance later.”   

      Eunjung noticed her best friend’s frustrated face and so she approached Jieun and asked her if she’s ready for the competition, “Are you ok? Why do you look so pale?”.

     “Well, aside from the fact that it’s normal for me to look pale…I actually have a really BIG problem, as in BIG!” she muttered.

     Eunjung’s brows furrowed then she asked, “Why? What happened?”

     “Eun Sil, my pianist, cannot make it today. She’s sick and was confined in the hospital last night.”, Jieun pouted as she stare blankly on the wall.

     “Really? Oh my goodness…I can feel your pain, I hope I can do something for you. If only I could play the piano and accompany you onstage.” Eunjung hugged her best friend and tried to calm her.

     “It’s alright. I know I can find a great pianist better than my previous one. If God wills that I win in this competition, nobody can ever pull me down! I will find my pianist on time before the contest starts.” Jieun tried to think positively and smiled.

      Jieun went around the school campus to find any available pianist to accompany her.

      Then someone popped out from her mind. “Omo! Why didn’t I think of asking help from Kim Myungsoo? After all, this is his song. He’ll be so perfect for the role.”

     Without second thoughts, she rushed to the stairs and went to the library, but upon reaching the entrance door, she suddenly lost all her confidence and decided to leave.

     “He’s done too much for me”, she instantly refuted her decision.

     The hopeless girl hit her head and told herself, “It’s not possible for him to agree with this. That guy will get pissed off with me if I continue disturbing him.”

     “WHAT ON EARTH SHOULD I DO?” she sighed deeply and tried to hold her tears.

     One hour to go before the competition, Jieun went outside the school grounds to breathe for fresh air and tried to relax herself.

     After staring blankly at the sky, she tilted her head down and saw her reflection on a tinted car window. 

     “Aissshhh, Look at my haggard looking face. I feel so stressed, how can I perform like this?”    

     She thought of preparing her makeup and used the tinted glass as her mirror. She gently spread powder all over her face, brushed some blush on, and placed lip gloss unto her lips.

     Without her knowing, the car owner, Sungyeol was inside. He can’t help but laugh while observing Jieun’s hilarious actions in front of his car.

    “What does this lady think of my car, her bathroom mirror? Hahaha!” he chuckled.

    Jieun looked for her comb in her bag and she didn’t notice Sungyeol opened the window glass. When she was about to turn back to the window glass, she was surprised to see him staring at her.

     “What do you are you doing?”, Sungyeol yelled at her.

     “OMO! I’m so sorry! I didn’t know that there’s somebody inside” Jieun packed all her things and bowed at him several times.

     Sungyeol burst out laughing. “YAHHH! I’m just kidding! It’s alright. You can use that as your mirror anytime you want.”

     Jieun blushed from humiliation and said, “Y-You see…I’m really, really sorry. It’s pretty embarrassing that you’ve seen me doing those ridiculous stuffs, I don’t know how to- I just can’t- Well, please just forgive me Sir, I need to get ready for the contest later.”

     “You’re joining the Song Writing contest?” he looked at her from head to toe.

     “Believe it or not, but YES!” she replied confidently. “Why, are you also a participant?”

     He scratched his head and said, “No, I’ll just watch the competition.”

     “Thanks! Bye!”

     Sungyeol pat her shoulders, ”By the way, Good luck!” He then left the car and went inside the school portals.

     Jieun felt her heart beat fast. She fell in love at first sight with the stranger. “He’s tall, handsome, rich…my prince charming!”

     And before she totally immersed herself with daydreaming, she remembered the contest and rushed into the venue.

     Finally, it’s Jieun’s turn to perform.

     Her heart beats fast. “What should I do?”

     She walked slowly into the center stage and swallowed hard.

     “Contestant No. 10, you have no pianist? How can we know the tune of the entire song? You are disqualified.” a judge seems disappointed.

     Jieun didn’t know what to say…she didn’t know what to do. All she knew is that she wanted to burst into tears; she worked so hard for the song.

     “Will I not be able to sing?” She thought.

     Then out of the blue, from the crowd…a guy’s voice was heard.

     He shouted, “I volunteer to be her pianist!”

--Hi guys! As much as I wanted to write the next chapter before the year ends, I will be going out of town for several weeks. So maybe, the next chapter will be posted next year. WHO'S THE VOLUNTARY PIANIST? Find out next year...MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE and HAPPY NEW YEAR *throws hearts*