A sleek black car rolled into the driveway. The reflection of the beautiful day shined off the hood of the car as it pulled up.
A man in a black suit stepped out. He carefully opened the door of the passenger seat. Stepping into view, a girl with dark brown hair and dull eyes stepped into view.

The day was perfect.

Trees swayed in the calming breeze and birds flew overhead.
None of this caught the girl's attention as she briskly walked towards the front door of the brick house.
She was greeted by a man who bowed to her as she passed.
He received no acknowledgment that he was even there as she pushed forward.


Xiumin was already a mess. There was no way he could concentrate on the piano in front of him when more concerning things were already on his mind.
When the girl passed the window of the piano room, he lost it.
His eyes trailed her path as she walked closer and closer to the door leading into the house.

The teacher noticed his student's thought was trailing and slapped a ruler down on the piano cover. He smiled in success as his student was brought back to his senses.

Xiumin couldn't help but steal another glance at this girl as she took a seat outside of the classroom, right by the big window wall.
A goddess. Her beauty was stunning and completely ruining his piano-playing abilities. 
He sped up, eager to finish the song and see the girl face to face.
Slipping a pill into his mouth as he stood up from the piano bench, he walked past the girl. Xiumin's head turned as they passed each other.
The suited man standing in the hallway saw what was happening and quickly shoved him away. 
Out of luck, Xiumin retreated to the car that waited for him in the driveway, it's sleek silver color burning his eyes as he got closer.

If only he could've said hi. 

If only he waved.

If only she noticed him.


The next day he came to his piano lessons with a new enthusiasm. With a happy bounce in his step, he walked up to the brick house. 
The girl was already seated in front of the piano. Even though Xiumin couldn't hear the song she was playing, he could see that the teacher didn't find it satisfactory. 
Every wrong note she played, he whacked her with his ruler.
Xiumin winced as he watched-
Because she sure had a lot of mistakes to earn that many smacks on the back.

Being the naturally clumsy person she was, she knocked the small candies on the tiny dish sitting on the piano ledge to the floor.
The plate shattered, which she heard very clearly, but she bent down anyway to try and search for the fallen candies.
Xiumin's eyes widened as he watched her blindly run her fingers across the floor, hoping to brush against the candies.

She wasn't just clumsy.
She was blind.

Looking around quickly to make sure that the teacher had left, he scurried inside to help.
He quickly helped her up before she hurt herself from the broken pieces of glass. Xiumin made sure she was seated comfortably on the piano bench before sweeping the broken shards of glass into the trash along with the candy.
After everything was cleaned up, he joined her at the bench. Gently reaching over her arms, he began to play a sweet melody that flooded her ears with pure joy.

The teacher walked in, swearing he heard someone play the piano.
It couldn't have been the blind girl. Her piano skills were terrible, and were clearly a waste of money.
But...
There was no one else sitting at the bench.
Puzzled, he circled the room once before leaving again.

Xiumin smiled and jumped back up from behind the piano and took a seat at the bench.
He was about to play her another song before a pain struck him in the chest.
Grimacing in pain, he quickly took out his pills, slipping another one into his mouth.

_________________________________

Another day led to a new adventure. 
Xiumin peeked out from one side of the brick house, leading the girl around and finally setting down on a bench.
He smiled to himself, holding her hands in his own.
Suddenly she reached up, her smooth skin reaching his face.
She gently cupped his face, as if seeing him clearly with her sense of touch.
Xiumin led her hand down, tracing it down to his heart.
He winced in clear pain as his heart beat unevenly. The girl's smile faded once she felt him grimace and pull back, reaching out for his pill bottle.

The piano teacher didn't like what he saw. He was looking out the window when he saw two of his students interacting with each other.
He didn't like it at all. 
Quickly, he dialed up the boys guards to come and get him.

Xiumin was about to say something when he was roughly pulled away by two of his guards.
He hollered and screamed in protest as he was dragged away from the startled girl.

She reached out, hoping-praying, to feel his warm presence there in front of her.
Her hopes were crushed with the empty and cold air where he once sat a few minutes ago.

Days, weeks, passed by. The only memory of him that now lingered with her was his pill bottle. The one he dropped the day he was pulled away was now fumbling around in the girl's hands.


Xiumin shuffled towards the piano. His normal happy energy all out of him. He hadn't seen her for weeks... or had it been months?
His hands ran down the keys, playing the happy melody that he played her the first time they met. 
Faster and faster, his hands flew across the keys, striking them with all the feeling that had been built up inside of him.
He felt his heart tremble as he reached the ending of the song.
But he couldn't make it.
He felt his chest squeeze, his hand hitting one last key before his head came down, slamming onto the keyboard.
He tried to sit back up, at least finish the song he wanted to play for her.
Just one last time - that's all he wanted.
With one last shuddering breath, his thoughts escaped him and the world around him grew dark.

Seeing the world in the light that the girl had.



After hearing a loud bang from the piano, the teacher quickly ran to see what had happened.
Shocked, he quickly ran up to his best student, face down on the piano key board.
The teacher shook his head, trying not to let the tears fall. It was already too late.


The happiest people don't have the best of everything,
they just make the best of everything they have.