Chapter 21: Two roads diverged in a wood- Robert Frost

A week already passed. An evening full of glimmer, full of sparkle, full of melody---a night Yesung was going to remember indeed. The hosts of the night were a bunch of senior piano majors; he himself couldn’t believe that he was invited to this kind of social gathering. In his tuxedo by the corner, Yesung quickly swallowed the pudding he was eating the moment he saw the gorgeous girl walk in. Her long hair was tied loosely, as she carried herself around the party. Choonhee’s eyes were bedazzled by light make-up that matched her silver cocktail dress. Her high-heeled shoes were unimaginable, he thought. How could women walk in those?

“Hyung, should we go up stage?” Kyuhyun asked, sitting impatiently on his wheelchair.

Yesung nodded, agreeing. “Are you ready, kid?”

He smirked. “When have I failed you, hyung? I can do this. You just have to trust me.”

“When I trusted you with my turtle,” Yesung began, remembering the incident not too long before. “It got sick.”

“Yes, yes, I get the idea,” Kyuhyun rolled his eyes. “Now come on. I want to go home and beat Sungmin-hyung. He’s been asking about what secret plan.”

The program was already starting and most of the students were eating when Yesung and Kyu got up on stage to where the piano was. Yesung helped the maknae up to his feet, transferring him to the piano. Kyuhyun settled himself there, anxiously getting nervous for himself and excited for his hyung. He had never seen anyone confess in front of a live audience before.

Yesung adjusted the tonality of the pitch of the instrument he held, his guitar feeling excited as well. He strummed it once or twice to check that it was ready. It was a shame that Ryeowook didn’t agree to sing this with him. The song was so beautiful.

“Hey, it’s Yesung the oddball,” one of the men below shouted.

Yesung smiled at them, waving at those people as he approached the center microphone. He glanced at his pianist, already bored and annoyed. Kyuhyun made sure that his microphone was fixed to where he would be singing. He gave him a nod to know that they should start.

In the crowd, he tried spotting Choonhee, as everyone in the crowd gazed up at the two men ready to perform. With their aura of professionalism, Yesung could not help be intimidated by their insecure looks. To his right he saw her, talking to Henry-sshi as the freshmen bowed his head in greeting. They were a bit far from the stage, so it was hard to tell what they were smiling and laughing about. Oftentimes he would see them together, but that kind of kinship would lead to nowhere, he happily thought. He knew Choonhee would not fall in love with any of her students; she was strict when it came to teaching the violin.

He knew Choonhee would not let her feelings go beyond that of a teacher to his student. He knew it would be unlikely of her to like him. But he knew he could change that.

“Good evening,” he greeted them, his face still blank. Waving and smiling, Choonhee glanced up at him.

“Get off the stage, Yesung!” shouted one of the cello majors in his year.

“Hey, leave him alone!” Choonhee remarked from the back, telling off his antis.

The others looked at Choonhee with disparagement, dismayed by the thought that someone was actually defending him, Kim Jongwoon, a peculiar kind of whiz kid. But Choonhee smiled with confidence, knowing there was nothing wrong with what she said.

“Eh, Choonhee,” approached a girl with her violin. “You can’t possibly be siding---”

She giggled, now noticing all eyes were on here. She gulped, making sure that her voice was clear enough to overthrow the silence.

“Yes, I am siding with Yesung-sshi,” she told them, Henry grinning beside her.

“Yeah, me too,” Henry added. “Yesung-hyung should be heard.”

“You guys shouldn’t be even in the party!” antagonized another classmate.

“Get the off the stage, Yesung!” chorused most of the students, throwing random stuff at Yesung. Kyuhyun, already fed up and bothered with all these cranky music students, pulled his microphone, clearing his throat for better quality.

“Hey, hey, hey!” he shouted, calming the audience’s volume down. After quite some time, they were not familiar with his face, understanding that he wasn’t one of them. Choonhee managed to eye Yesung from her point of view, cheerfully awaiting the performance he was going to do. She had never seen him play the guitar, but she knew he was capable of it. Kyuhyun finally sat back and prepared his fingers on the keys, waiting until everyone else was settled.

“Give the man a chance. He’s going to confess. Let him be. Stop stopping him.”

“Kyuhyun-sshi,” Yesung looked at him with gratitude, but at the same time, in shame. “Begin.”

The singer looked at the crowd, eyeing them one by one and completely halting when he stared into Choonhee’s. She was enthusiastic to hear, he knew. So he must not look like a fool here.

“The title is someone like me,” Yesung told the boys. “Please bear with me. It’s a song I want someone to hear.”

Starting with the intro, Kyuhyun’s hands were trembling while playing. Yesung was keeping up by strumming the guitar, expecting for his turn now. He started singing the first part of the lyrics.

‘I want to escape from my old insignificant self,’ Kyuhyun related the lyrics to how his life was going, even when the connection was a bit off. ‘It seems that someone like me can’t give you anything at all.’

‘Just once, I thought you weren’t far away. That’s why I reached for you but you didn’t turn your back...’

In the chorus, Yesung began a few lines on his own, followed by the maknae.

‘Do you remember? Do you remember what I said? I want to call you but you can’t hear me...Don’t you believe that there’s only one person for you...do you remember now?’

The second chorus turned out to be rather epic for everyone else’s ears, as both power and might was released by the soulful melody the two expressed. Mainly the emotions they released were about abandonment and sadness...something Yesung thought he could never accept---a reason why he had written the song.

‘Do you remember? Do you remember what I said? I want to call you but you can’t hear me.’

‘Don’t you believe that there’s only one person for you...’

‘It’s only me...’Yesung inhaled air before he blew the continuous high note of the next line.

Kyuhyun’s bridge was imposing, striking the audience with the strain he possessed in controlling his voice.

‘I’ll be lost forever without you, wandering in a dream... do you remember now?’

At the end, Yesung wiped the dripping sweat from his forehead, helping Kyuhyun out of his seat and back to the wheelchair. A loud noise filled the area, surprising Yesung by the popularity he was earning. They cheered him, most were all praises, saying that he and Kyuhyun had the most amazing voices in Korea---no doubt about it.

The two of them went down, still receiving handshakes and words of congratulations for reaching those notes that practically were unapproachable. He found a way out of them, while a distracted Kyuhyun was requested to join choirs and orchestra groups of the school because of his amazing presentation. The youngest held Yesung’s sleeve, telling him not to leave him.

“I’m going to Choonhee now,” Yesung whispered.

Pouting, Kyuhyun gave his hyung a huge sigh. “Fine. Come back for me here. I’ll go get a drink. You better come back for me. You’re my ride home. So don’t do any filthy stuff, okay hyung?”

Yesung laughed, leaving him there with the rest of the newfound fans he got. As he was walking away, waving to the protesting maknae, he accidentally bumped into someone he should have bumped into earlier.

“Choonhee, finally,” Yesung said, stunned both at the fact that he was just looking for her and that she was looking lovelier every time she walked under the moonlight.

She smiled, holding her wine gracefully. “That was a very pretty song. Mind teaching it?” She took his guitar and raised her leg by the nearest chair, Yesung chuckling at her not-so-womanly-grace.

He nodded. “If you’re interested.”

“Noona,” Henry emerged from the corner behind the two, approaching Choonhee with hesitation. He bowed his head to both sunbae, proceeding to have that talk with his mentor. Yesung’s eyebrows creased at the sight of the boy, he didn’t know why exactly. Henry seemed to always have some kind of perfect timing. This was his night; Henry had to stop messing around with him when he was with Choonhee.

“Noona, I need a ride home,” Henry stated desperately, looking at Yesung’s disoriented expression. “Can you drive me home, please? I will do better in the next session, I promise. I will do better with accompanying the piano. I will try...I just need a ride home, Choonhee-noona, please?”

“Why is he here?” whispered Yesung.

“Henry-sshi,” Choonhee again wanted to make Yesung’s suspicion grow. “It’s all right. I understand. I will drive you home.”

“Noona, I’m sorry for causing trouble,” he told her. Choonhee pulled him closer and kissed his forehead, rubbing his hair. She glanced up at Yesung, maturing the jealousy he had inside of him. Henry was shocked---Choonhee, as his teacher, was stern and never took things lightly. But that was what he thought.

Shyly, Henry moved away, blushing, looking at his Yesung-hyung with timidity.

“Do you still want to learn the song, Choonhee?” he asked, wondering hopefully that she was.

She shook her head with intent. “Maybe next time. I have to take care of Henry-sshi. Thank you, Yesung-sshi. I think we must go home now.”

“You’re not his mom you know,” Yesung suddenly said when the two walked away. “If he was planning on entering college, he should have known better to bring first aid kits or health tips or something in order for him to be prepared if anything happens. That’s what my Mom is doing for me. Don’t be his mother, he has his own.”

“But now he doesn’t Yesung-sshi,” retorted Choonhee angrily. “That’s why I have to take care of him. It’s a good thing he has high respect for you or you’ll be hurting his feelings.”

Henry smiled and bowed his head, going on ahead. “Maybe I should wait in the car, then, Noona.”

“His feelings? What about how I feel? Being ignored like this?” Yesung suddenly felt sorrow; something that he thought never existed within him. Angry, he placed his guitar by his shoulder. He looked at her modestly, thinking of something else aside from getting hurt. But somehow, the atmosphere was far too intense to be left behind.

“Yesung-sshi, you’re not---”

“Please stop telling me I can’t feel anything,” Yesung finally voiced out his intention. He placed his palm on his chest, tracing the beat of his heart. “Because I can. If...if...if my heart is telling me the truth right now, then I’d rather want to hear it lie. Because...because...if...if you really were the person I...I fell in love with...you wouldn’t shun anyone away, gifted or not, brilliant or dumb, with or without emotions. You told me when...when you were teaching me the violin. You said that anyone could play as long as he loves music. How is that any different in my case? I maybe blank on the outside but in the inside, I’m different. You not only taught me of how to play, but also how to feel. I’m tired of being told of that. I wrote that ing song for you. Damn it, I’m in love with you.”

The stillness scared them both, so Choonhee bravely looked at his eyes, focusing very much, on how they reacted.

“Do you mean that, Yesung?” she asked, also as fretful now as he was.

“Yes, I do,” he said. “How come you don’t believe me every time I try explaining something? How can I not be in love? Before I go to bed, I think of you. When I wake up, you’re the first thing that comes into mind. I can’t hear hyung-nim telling me to go throw the trash out. I don’t listen in my class because I keep ing doodling your name on the paper and on the desk...and I can’t stop hearing this...songs inside my head that are all for you and---”

She smirked, running towards him merrily. She hugged him tightly, her arms wrapped around his neck. Choonhee looked at him, his startled composure, his bright eyes, his trembling lips...She felt his heart, heard its pumping on his solid chest.

“Thank you, Yesung-sshi,” she said. “Finally. You’ve admitted it what I wanted to hear.”

“What do I do next?” he asked her, unable to face this reality anymore.

She smiled. “I’ll show you.”

Choonhee neared her lips towards his, as much been dying to do so in ages. As they were about to share this special moment, his phone vibrantly rang, their lips barely centimeters apart. Yesung halted, moving a bit away, taking out his phone and answering it at once.

“Umma, good evening,” he said lazily, rolling his eyes.

“What was it you were going to tell me last night?” his mother asked, disturbed.

He cleared his throat, looking at Choonhee. “Mom, I can’t come to the phone right now. I’m going to kiss someone. Can you call back later, please?”

“You’re going to kiss someone? Jongwoon, why didn’t---”

He turned off his phone, snapping the back cover as he took out its battery and kept it in his pocket.

“How could you do that? It was your mother,” Choonhee reprimanded him.

He shrugged. “Kyuhyun does it every tim