Reminiscence. —Present

The man stood up, bowing as the audience cheered. Some had tears, some bore bright smiles but overall, they seemed satisfied with the performance. If they were, then he was too.

He remained on stage with his violin, as the crowd quickly cleared the concert hall. They were crying. Their eyes were red. Despite feeling just a little guilty, he felt no urge to apologize. He watched with those dark brown eyes as a boy pulled his arm out of a woman’s grasp and ran to the front of the stage, his grin so wide it showed his teeth. That simple expression reminded him so much of a particular female that it hurt. At the same time, his hands itched to simply take the boy up and place him in his pocket.

 “Hyung! Is the violin hard? Can you teach it to me?”

“Is it difficult? It looks pretty hard to me. Can you teach me how to play?”

He smiled, bending down to pat the boy’s head. His hair was smooth, much like hers and he laughed as heartily as he could.

“It’s hard, but it’s fun. Do you want to learn?” He waved the instrument in his hand a little and the boy opened his mouth wide, his innocence like sparkles, practically blinding the man.

            The girl spun around, her dress fluttering about before stumbling and falling smack on her face. She pouted, but got up again and sat back down on the piano chair.

 “I want to be like hyung! I want to play the piano, then the violin, and then back to piano! It’s so cool!” The boy raised his chubby fists, his cheeks so soft, and his teeth so white. The man nodded his head, putting a thumb up.

 “Then learn it, and be cooler than hyung. You can do it.”

            “It’s your first wide-scale performance, am I right? Trust me, you’ll do well. You can do it.”

The man put his violin back in its casing, his face as empty as ever. His hair was now a simple brown, the same shade and he sighed. It had been such a long time since he’d last seen her. Sure, he had pictures of her but those obviously were not enough.

He watched with folded arms as the staff members pushed the grand piano back to the corner of the stage, where it would be transported back to where it came from.

            “I don’t really like those. They’re too… tacky.” She frowned before bursting into laughter, possibly due to how she knew she sounded absurd. “I like my simple piano.”

He placed his hand over the soft, silky covering of the piano. It felt too much like duvet to him, and he frowned. They’d changed the covering again. Grabbing the edge, he raised his arm to place the cloth at the top.

            No words were exchanged, as the two played their individual instruments. She was smiling, and he felt the kind of warmth that could only surround her when she had music accompanying her. In his eyes, she was painstakingly beautiful.

The man let out a wistful smile, as his fingers easily brought him to complete many different scales. He hummed softly, playing the first few notes of a song they used to play together.

            “One day, we’ll write a song together! A song for a violin and a piano.” Her childlike innocence was infective, as the man found a grin plastered on his face. The girl played a few simple notes, and that was it. He found his fingers dancing across the neck of the violin and she smiled, her eyes brightening even more, her curved lips ever so pink. She laughed, the sound of her voice much more like a melody than the music they both loved.

“How do I finish it, now that I’m missing a pianist?”

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I lied. C'mon, don't be too surprised. :P