Yes there was no food, but there was way too many pictures in here. There was one of the Kim family around Taeyeon clutching her violin. Yonghwa grinned at that because it had been one of the few times he had been allowed near one of the precious cameras.

            There was also a photo of a certificate as well as a restaurant to one of the famous barbecue restaurants in Jeonju. *Not fair it’s a restaurant…which means food…aish jinja*

            That had been a really fun day. He had gotten to hear Taeyeon play and get a free meal.

            Yonghwa fidgeted in his suit. His program was already twisted into an elaborate origami flower, Gameboy out of battery, and he was about to fall asleep when his mom nudged him. “Yonghwa-ya, Taeyeon’s playing now.”

            He sprang up with a grin. “Jinja!?” he straightened up and looked to see a small girl in a yellow dress on stage holding her violin.

            Taeyeon was pretty good for a ten year old. She was playing some concerto that was a happy tune, not something people usually saw at a winter concert where everything was complicated, slow, or melancholy.

            Not surprisingly, she was in second place, behind an insanely talented 12 year old who played a solo rendition of Vivaldi’s Winter. The top three beamed as their picture was taken for the Jeonju Paper and scurried off stage into the arms of their proud parents.

            “Unnie you were so good!” Seohyun squealed and hugged her sister.

            “Good job Taeyon-a, we’re so proud of you, where do you want to go for a celebratory dinner?” her dad asked as he rescued the violin from falling out of his excited daughter’s arms.

            “I don’t know, somewhere yummy?”

            “We’ll take you to a nice bakery afterwards for some ice cream!” Mrs. Jung exclaimed. The Kims were like extended family by now…especially since there weren’t too many families with young children in the neighborhood.

            “Umma, ice cream? It’s January…” Yonghwa muttered, questioning his mother’s sanity.

            “Yah, ice cream is good for any season. Did we not raise you right Yonghwa?” his dad messed up his hair. “Well we better get a picture of the Kims all dressed up.”

            “Here Yonghwa, do you know how to work the camera?” Taeyeon handed over one of her favorite polaroid cameras to him.

            His eyes widened in shock. He was holding a camera… “What?”

            Rolling her eyes, Taeyeon moved the camera into a perfect position. “Well you see, there’s a button here that you press. If you press it when all of us are in that little window thing, then the picture will come out with us. There’s a flash, but don’t worry. It’s not scary at all.”

            “I know how to work a camera Tae, it’s just that you’ve never even let me near these things.”

            She grinned. “Well we’re ten now, so I think you can handle it.”

            “Okay, say kimchi!” he called out and pressed the button to capture the perfect picture.

            Taeyeon took a picture of her certificate and sighed. “I could’ve gotten first.”

            “Mwoh? I mean you’re amazing and stuff, but that other girl was kind of perfect…” Seohyun muttered.

            “No but she was older. If I was her age, I could have probably beaten her.”

            Their dad looked over disapprovingly. “Taeyeon, don’t say things like that, you never know.”

            “I know appa, but still.”

           "Younger kids can be just as good as the older ones." Seohyun stated matter-a-factly. Her unnie sent her a glare that cause her to step back a little.

            Yonghwa smiled and hugged the violinist. “You probably could have.”

            Afterwards, he stuffed himself with Korean kalbi (very good btw) and ate 3 scoops of chocolate ice cream. Taeyeon had strawberry while Seohyun had green tea, insisting that it was delicious (and it is).

            Yonghwa smiled at the picture, remember how little everyone had been back then. But another memory came to mind, one where Taeyeon wasn’t really involved. He heard the piano from next door, the exact same song he had heard 6 years ago.

            “Yonghwa, get the mail with you? I’m trying to bake a pie to congratulate Taeyeon.”

            “But umma, we already got her ice cream last week…”

            His mother shot a disapproving glance at him. “I haven’t had time to bake… And you have to congratulate a friend with acts of kindness like a home-made pie. Not with ice cream you buy.”

            “But it’s cold outside…”

            “Just go Yonghwa.”

            He sighed and trudged outside into the frosty air. The snow had already come and gone, leaving patches of ice perfectly frozen that you wouldn’t know it was dangerous until you stepped on it. Slipping onto his by the mailbox, Yonghwa reached up from the ground to retrieve the few junk mail they got.

            But today was different. There were the regular bills and flyers, but there was also a huge package that the mailman had managed to squeeze in. It was heavy and he almost dropped it. The label was smudged so he tore open the brown packaging to reveal a gold trophy with a letter.

            Dear Kim Seohyun,

We are proud to honor this first place award for the Jeonju Youth Piano Competition from a few weeks ago. We are sorry it has taken so long, but there had been no reply to the letter that was sent to confirm the address, so we decided to mail this to the same address anyways. If you are not Kim Seohyun, please mail this back to the JYPC office and we are sorry for any inconveniences.

Sincerely,

The JYPC Committee

            Yonghwa’s jaw slacked open as he stared at the glittering trophy against the bleak and gray day. *Seohyun won this award a while ago…How did I not hear about her even entering the competition? That competition is pretty famous…*

            He cradled the precious prize in his arms and walked next door. After ringing the doorbell, he found himself face to face with Taeyeon.

            “Oh hey Yonghwa, what’s up?” She grinned at him, bits of colored paper sticking to her hands.

            “Um, why do you have glue and paper all over you?”

            “Oh, I was just working on a scrapbook.”

            He raised an eyebrow and shook his head. Even if most girls were weird, he was pretty sure most of them didn’t spend their time shut up in their room with glossy photos and cutting up origami paper.

            “Is Seohyun here?”

            “Yeah, SEOHYUN-A COME DOWN HERE!” she yelled, her voice causing the house to shudder and snow to fall off of the roof. Smirking at his reaction, Taeyeon looked at what was in his arms. “It’s a little too early for Valentine’s Day, and my sister is too young for you…”

            “No, it’s not that. Did Seohyun enter a pia—“

            “AHHH YONG OPPA! LET’S GO OUTISDE!!!” Seohyun came running down the stairs and pushed him out the door, slamming it shut behind her.

            He groaned and glared at the equally angry girl in front of him. “Yah! I could have died!” pointing at a garden gnome’s pointy head, inches away from the dent his head had made with the lawn.

            Rolling her eyes, Seohyun just shook her head. “Well it’s your own fault. You shouldn’t bring that thing in here.” She took the trophy from his embrace and stuck it in a flower pot.

            “Wait a second, that’s like the most prestigious award you can get around here and you’re sticking it in a daisy pot?!?”

            “Actually, it’s for petunias, but yeah…”

            “Why?”

            She bit her lip and looked up at him with an uneasy expression. “Because unnie got second.”

            “So, you guys were both amazing!”

            “Well, I took violin for a week, quit, and started piano like a year ago.”

            Yonghwa grinned and pulled his knees up to his chest. “That makes it even more amazing that you got first against a bunch of teenagers.”

            Shaking her head, she copied his movements. “Do you remember when I played violin? Didn’t you hear what happened at our house?”

            “No, I think I was at my cousin’s house…Why, what happened?”

            “Umma and appa wanted me to start violin too so they took me to Taeyeon’s teacher for a 30 minute lesson. Then I caught up to Taeyeon in a couple days and the teacher even said I was better than her.”

            Yonghwa thought about Taeyeon’s strive to be perfect and her need to be in control and winced. “Oh…” He looked at the 8 year old in front of him and understood.

            “You don’t have an siblings oppa so it might be hard to understand, but sibling rivalry is pretty big in our house. Taeyeon has more friends and the violin while I have the grades and piano.”

            Frowning at her resignation, he stood up and took the trophy from the flower pot. “So you switched just so she wouldn’t go crazy and start screaming?”

            “Unnie already did for 2 hours and 38 minutes…”

            He laughed, thinking of the scene that must’ve happened. “So after getting punished, you switched to piano and still got first place after only a few months of lessons...” He looked at the trophy nameplate and frowned. “Wait this isn’t even for the younger kids division, you got the overall grand prize? Wow hyun, you really are something.”

            Seohyun let a small proud smile grace her face before it vanished. “But unnie got second so I didn’t say anything.”

            “Because then she might mad that you placed higher than her at music,” he guessed correctly. A thought in mind, Yonghwa grabbed her hand, dragging her up.

            “What are you doing?” She grabbed the trophy from it’s precarious perch on his arms.

            He smirked. *So she does care about it..* Looking around to make sure Taeyeon wasn’t around, he led her to a side door he had used many times before.

It led to the music room in the house as Mr. Kim played the cello in the symphony orchestra.

            The walls were sound proof, a bookshelf dedicated to sheet music, a piano, Taeyeon’s violin, and his guitar were all in various places around the room. “Oh here’s my guitar, I was wondering what had happened to it…”

            Seohyun looked at him and hid her prize in between Mozart and Schubert. “Wait why is your guitar here?”

            “I was…um…practicing last night?”

            “Oh real—Wait, DID YOU BREAK INTO OUR HOUSE?!? Aigoo, I’m friends with a burglar.”

            Yonghwa shrugged sheepishly and grabbed it. “Well you guys weren’t using the room last night and my mom got mad at me for being too loud so I came down here yesterday…Sorry about that.”

            Seohyun sat on the piano bench and grinned. “It’s okay oppa. The key is under the mat if you ever need to use it again.”

            “I know, I used it last night.”

            Blinking at him a little, she muttered “You’re impossible oppa.”

            He sat next to her and played a few notes before looking expectantly at her. “Go ahead. I want to hear the song that got that grand prize at Jeonju’s famous piano competition.”

            “I don’t want to…”

            “If you don’t, I’m telling Taeyeon, your family, and the entire neighborhood about you winning then.”

            Seohyun gulped and got started. It was some complicated piece that Yonghwa vaguely remembered hearing for the past few months. Her tiny fingers danced over the keys delicately, almost as if they were picking the notes of their own accord. Hands coaxing a pretty tune from the ivory and black rectangles. It wasn’t long, but it definitely would have made a lasting impression on the judges.

            At the end, he clapped and looked at his guitar. “Hey, when I get good enough at guitar, maybe we can do a duet.”

            She grinned and nodded. “I think you’re good enough oppa.”

            Yonghwa laughed and disagreed. “Nope, I’m nowhere near as good as you.” He carefully packed it into his case and grabbed her hand again.

            “Now what?”

            “I’m taking you to my house so I can bake you a pie. Are you okay with cherry? Umma already has ingredients…”

            Tilting her head, she frowned. “Why?”

            “Because it’s your reward! If no one else knows about this, at least you’ll get a treat out of it.”

            “You don’t have to bake me a pie oppa! You can always just buy me one of those 50 cent ice creams at the store.”

            “But you have to congratulate a friend with acts of kindness like a home-made pie.”

            She snorted. “Your umma said that right?”

            “…Maybe…”

            Seohyun grabbed her coat and followed him next door. “I guess I’ll eat it, after all Mrs. Jung is good at cooking.”

            Yonghwa gulped…”You’ve never had my mom’s desserts, have you?”

            “Ani, why? Her soups are pretty good, so her desserts have to be good, right?”

            “I guess you’ll find out soon enough.”

I typed this up instead of studying for physics...Kind of regretting entering the contest, but I guess I should finish it ;) I have like 6 chapters (yay it's almost over!) I have to write in 7 days...hmmm...Okay it can be done...right?

Haha I guess I'll try! What'd you guys think? Comments make me happy and thanks everyone for subbing! already 40 subbies! that's kind of amazing!!!

- chocolate-notes :)