“It was the moment I realized what music can do to people, how it can make you hurt and feel so good all at once.” ― Nina LaCour, Hold Still

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Sooyoung was walking alone in the alley when suddenly she felt someone’s presence beside her. She looked to her right and spotted Luhan. He grinned, “You’re going to Miss Kim’s office, right?”

Sooyoung replied him with a small smile and nodded, “You too, right?”

Luhan coughed and awkwardly adjusted his bag, “Y-yeah.”

They walked together in silence when Sooyoung started, “So, what do you think about this duet?”

Luhan looked at her and she looked back at him with a questioning look on her face. He shrugged, “I don’t know… I think it would be fun.”

Sooyoung sighed, “Why Miss Kim picked me and why the whole class agreed on it?”

“Why?” Luhan asked curiously, “Don’t you like it? Performing in front of all of the students in the university? Not to mention all the lecturers too?”

Sooyoung frowned, “No, it’s not like that… It’s just… My parents will be watching and when they’re around, I just can’t do well…”

Without realizing, they were finally arrived in front of Miss Kim’s office. Luhan, seeing Sooyoung was so upset, decided to knock the door. In a split second, Miss Kim opened the door and smiled seeing both of them.

“Come on in! Hongki is here already.” Her eyes fell to Sooyoung’s sulking face, “What’s wrong, Sooyoung? Did Luhan bother you again?”

Luhan’s eyes went wide and Sooyoung was snapped back from her trance hearing that. “Huh?” She said, bewildered.

Miss Kim laughed, “Nothing. Just come in.”

Sooyoung entered Miss Kim’s office and Luhan followed right behind her. They saw Hongki who was already sitting in front of Miss Kim’s desk, “Hey guys,” he greeted.

Sooyoung replied with a smile while Luhan nodded, “Hey.”

Miss Kim sat behind on a chair behind her desk and gestured both Sooyoung and Luhan to have their seats. Sooyoung sat between Hongki and Luhan and nervously put her hand on Miss Kim’s desk. She always felt nervous inside a lecturer’s office.

“So, um… thanks for coming,” Miss Kim smiled, “I just want to discuss about the pieces that we are going to perform for the performance.”

Sooyoung nodded when Hongki asked, “We are going to do two performances, right, Miss? One is the whole class performance and the other one is the piano and viola duet?”

“Yes.” Miss Kim nodded excitedly, “I’ve prepared a few scores. You guys can check these out.” She handed them a few sheets of musical scores.

While they were looking at the scores, Miss Kim explained, “For orchestral performance, I’ve got a few pieces to recommend. One is Beethoven’s Symphony Number 7, Opus 92. The second one is Haydn’s Symphony Number 104 in D major. And the third one is, Concert Ouverture Opus 45 of August Klughardt. All of those pieces require full orchestra instrument, it wouldn’t be any problem since our class has all sorts of instruments,” she chuckled.

Hongki furrowed his eyebrows while looking at the scores, “All of us should be familiar with these pieces, since we’ve heard them in classes before… Some of us might have played these before…” He lifted his head to face Miss Kim and asked her, “Should I discuss this with the class first, Miss?”

Miss Kim nodded, “Sure. Give me the answer within this week so next week you guys can start practicing, ‘kay? Those pieces are not easy. And the performance is just two months away.” She sighed.

When Hongki nodded, Miss Kim diverted her attention to Sooyoung and Luhan. She grinned, “Well, well, for the piano and viola duet…” She reached another sheets of scores and handed those scores to Luhan and Sooyoung, both juxtaposed their heads to see the scores together, “I managed to come up with some, it’s kinda difficult searching for piano and viola duet, when usually piano duets with violin.” She cleared .

“I have Chaconne for Viola and Piano Opus 38 by Bernhard Sekles. This piece, I shall say, a very energetic piece,” she laughed and continued, “I also have Brahms’ Sonata for Viola and Piano in E-flat, Opus 120, this one is so romantic, as expected from Brahms,” she wriggled her eyebrows while grinning ear to ear and Sooyoung, for the sake of her life, didn’t know why Miss Kim did that, “and… Last but not least,” Miss Kim continued, “Andante e Rondoletto by Emanuele Muzio, a very beautiful piece.”

Sooyoung’s mouth was wide open, “I don’t know all of these, Miss!” She turned her head to face Luhan, “You do?”

Luhan nodded his head, “I know the Brahms and Sekles ones, but for Muzio…” He furrowed his eyebrows.

“I have the recordings of the performances, Sooyoung, no worries,” Miss Kim said, “You can borrow this from me. Just make sure that you won’t do any harm to my CDs,” she laughed again.

Luhan noticed the change of Sooyoung’s facial expression, she looked worried. “Can we decide the piece later, Miss? Can we discuss this one first?” Luhan asked Miss Kim.

She nodded, “Okay, same deadline with Hongki. Tell me this week.”

Luhan smiled, “Thank you, Miss.”

Sooyoung was still at a loss for words when finally Miss Kim said, “I… guess that’s it, guys. Any questions?”

Both Hongki and Luhan shook their heads, while Sooyoung was still busy looking at the sheets. Luhan nudged her elbow.

“Oh? What?” She raised her head and saw Miss Kim was looking at her, “Um… No, um… Miss.”

Miss Kim smiled, “We’re done then. And, these are the CDs for your consideration in picking the piece.” She handed them the CDs, which Sooyoung took and put inside her bag.

Hongki immediately stood up, followed by Luhan and Sooyoung, and they thanked Miss Kim and excused themselves. When they got out from Miss Kim’s office, they started to head to their next class and Sooyoung let out an audible sigh. Luhan looked at her with a questioning look on his face, “What’s wrong?”

“How am I supposed to… Master a totally brand new piece in two-month duration? Not to mention that finals are near and…” She groaned.

Luhan raised his eyebrow, “You’re able to master Etudes within a month.”

“It’s… different. I-I…”

“How come it’s different? I see that you’re good in viola and I bet you’d master the piece in no time.” Luhan continued.

Sooyoung raised her head and pouted, “You do?”

Luhan chuckled, “Yeah. As Miss Kim said before, you’re a great violist.”

Sooyoung looked at him with a suspicious expression on her face, “But you haven’t heard me play the viola! How’d you know I’m good?”

Luhan coughed at the sudden attack, “I have!” he defended, “I heard you play in the orchestra class, you know… Miss Park’s.”

Sooyoung rolled her eyes, “But there are lots of violas there, how can you tell which voice is which?”

“You did a solo before for Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto; you imitate