You take a peek into the teacher’s room. Your class was dismissed early, so there’s just one teacher in the room at the moment. The teacher sees you and wave.

“You’re looking for Himchan, I suppose,” says Yongguk, “He has some business to do somewhere else, unfortunately.”

“Too bad,” you reply, heading to Himchan’s desk. There’s a set of keys on it, with a note saying “That one girl. Don’t forget to lock before you leave.” You smile and tell Yongguk, “I’ll just take this, then.”

You hurry off to the music room with your backpack, determined to try a piece you just printed the night before. But your legs stop moving as soon as you see the door of the music room. Someone is standing in front of it, and that person looks up when he hears your footsteps.

“Jung Hyunae!”

It’s Jongup. You wonder why he’s here, of all places. You quickly approach him, unable to supress the smile that’s forming on your lips.

“Sunbae! What are you doing here?”

“I went to your class, but your classmates say you’re probably here,” he opens his slingbag and takes out your lunch box, “I came to give this back to you.”

“Oh. You really shouldn’t bother...”

“Nah, I’d feel bad,” he pushes the door to the music room, “Are you going to come here?”

“Ah, yes!” you follow him into the room.

You take your usual post on the piano seat, while Jongup walks around the room. He looks like he’s looking for something, and when he finally finds a spot he pulls out something from his pocket and puts it there.

You watch his every move in fascination “Umm sunbae, what’s that?”

“This?” Jongup points at the black little box, “It’s a voice recorder. Do you know that every afternoon, someone plays the piano here?”

Your heart skips a beat. “Yes. And?”

“Aaand... I like to listen to that person’s music, but basketball has taken a lot of my time, so I always put this little thing here and take it the next morning,” he explains, looking at you like he’s sharing some kind of a secret, “Don’t worry, it records for an hour, which is enough to hear everything. After that, it switches off automatically.”

Now your heart is beating like crazy. Does that mean Jongup has been listening to you all this time? Does that mean Jongup enjoys your piano? Does that mean--

“How about you, Hyunae? What are you doing here?” he asks, smiling with not only his lips, but his eyes too.

A part of you doesn't want to talk about it. You've had enough friends leaving you alone for having a higher goal than most kids your age. If you tell Jongup about it, who knows if Jongup'll leave you too. And you've just started being friends.

But this guy’s smile really... You can’t handle it anymore.

How are you going to answer Jongup’s question?

[14] “A teacher asked me to clean this room”

[...] “Sunbae, actually.. I’m the one who always plays the piano here.”