The door to the piano room is left open, allowing Yifan and Soohyuk to fill the house with the gentle melodies of Chopin’s Nocturnes.

Chaerin chops vegetables in the kitchen while Seunghyun helps her. He carefully stirs ingredients into the pot while wearing the flower print apron Hayi let him borrow. She puts more vegetables into the pot and he peers over at what still needs to be prepared.   

“Do you need any help chopping up the ingredients?” He asks, wanting to help as much as possible to repay her kindness toward him.

“I’m fine,” She answers, conscious of how closely he’s moved toward her. “I don’t want you to hurt your fingers.”

“I wish you had more faith in my cooking abilities.” He sulks, making her laugh loudly before covering with her arm.

Chaerin gives him a knife and he takes it happily as he prepares a work space for himself. She can’t help but stare as he carefully cuts the zucchini, watching the way his long slender fingers move with the knife. He chops quickly and efficiently, his slender wrist flicking slightly with each movement. She looks at the way the tendons in his hands move like piano hammers. His fingers are so beautiful and long. He has the hands of a pianist but he’s been at the house nearly a month and has yet to play.

His hands still and she looks up to see him watching her curiously. Chae turns away shyly when she sees his amused expression, her face burning red at getting caught staring.  

“Miss Lee,” He calls out to her sweetly a few moments later as she aggressively chops bell peppers. “Could I have a guest over for dinner?”

The chopping stops.  

She wonders if by a guest he means a woman. He’s been leaving the house more often but there aren’t very many girls in the village.

“I don’t mind, there’s always plenty of food.” She tells him and then laughs. “You’re probably the first to ever ask permission before bringing a guest.”

“Thank you.” He smiles at her as she adds the remaining ingredients to the stew. Seunghyun takes off his apron, messing up his hair. She instinctually wants to reach over and fix it but knows that she shouldn’t. “I’ll go call my friend, then.”

Chaerin laughs bitterly to herself as she cleans up in the kitchen. She gets more and more like a mother each day.

At dinner Chaerin sets the stew pot onto the table surrounded by people, smiling in approval at Mino seated between Seungyoon and Hayi. Youngbae and Seungri sit opposite of Yifan and Soohyuk, while Chaerin chooses to sit in the middle of the table.

“Where’s that ahjussi?” Seungri asks between slurps of broth.

“He said he was having a guest over for dinner.” She mentions as she slowly eats her rice.

Seungri gapes in surprise, food falling from his open mouth. Chaerin slaps him on the arm as Hayi and Youngbae groan in disgust. When Seunghyun walks through the front door he hears the usual sounds of a loud family dinner. There’s laughter and yelling and glasses and plates clinking.

“Ah, right through here,” He guides his guest into where everyone else is eating and the room immediately goes silent upon noticing his arrival. It’s the first time he’s ever seen the house this quiet. “Hello, everyone, I’m back. This is my friend Kwon Jiyong.”

The family members start to eat awkwardly as Chaerin gives him a large fake smile. He’s never seen a non-genuine expression on her face and it unsettles him more than the quiet dinner. He and Jiyong fill in the empty spots by Chaerin and as soon as they sit down she gets up to get more beers.

“Good evening, Jiyong. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen each other.” Lee Soohyuk greets the newcomer politely but his expression is cold.

“Yes, it’s good to see you again.” Jiyong replies and the tall pianist nods without saying anything more while Seunghyun looks on in confusion.

“How do you two know each other?” He asks curiously and the tension at the table visibly rises.

“Kwon Jiyong used to be a student here when my father ran the music school.” Chaerin says as she walks back into the room and sits down.

“Until Lee seonsang kicked him out,” Hayi adds quietly and Chaerin glares at her.

“That’s true, a lot certainly happened.” Jiyong laughs but no one else seems to share his amusement. “I hope that there isn’t bad blood between us even now, I don’t hold any kind of grudge.”

The other eat quietly without answering and Seunghyun squirms in his seat.

“How is medical school going?” He asks his friend as if to subtly open up conversation.

“You’ve been studying to be a doctor?” Yifan asks, the only person in the room other than Seunghyun who appears to be interested. Jiyong nods in his direction.

“School is going well, I’ve been very busy and always have a lot of work to do.” Jiyong says proudly but Chaerin scoffs to his side.

“You shouldn’t come here every weekend if you’re so busy with school.” Chaerin says coldly before drinking her beer, another thing that Seunghyun finds strange. She normally drinks tea.

“You’re right,” Jiyong laughs nervously at her words before smiling in her direction. “I’ll work harder from now on, Chaerin-ah.”

The awkward silence continues and Seunghyun feels uncomfortable but it’s different than how he felt when he first arrived. When he first came to the house he was uneasy about being around the others but they all seemed to begrudgingly welcome him. But tonight they all acted so poorly towards Jiyong and he can’t understand what would make them behave this way.

“I think I’ve made a mistake in coming here tonight.” Jiyong says as he sets down his utensils. “Chaerin-ah, I’m sorry that I…”

She gets up from the table and goes to the kitchen, ignoring Jiyong and leaving him to awkwardly clear his throat.

“Hyung, I apologize that this evening didn’t go as planned. I still want to thank you for thinking of me so fondly as to bring me here.” Jiyong says to the man next to him as he gets up from where he’s seated.

“I’ll follow you out,” Seunghyun offers.

“There’s no need.” Jiyong says as he quickly goes to leave, shutting the door behind him.

The room remains uncomfortably quiet, with only the sounds of coughing and utensils against bowls making any sound. In awe, Seunghyun gets up and goes to the kitchen to see Chaerin. She’s standing with her back facing him, her hands gripping onto the counter so tightly her knuckles are white. He walks toward her behind the dividing wall so that they’re unseen by the others.

“Why did you bring Kwon Jiyong to our home?” She asks him quietly as she turns around and he’s surprised by how angry she looks.

“I didn’t know,” He stammers out nervously before gaining back his confidence. “Why did everyone treat my guest so poorly?”

Chaerin shakes her head without answering.

“What kind of relationship do you have with Kwon Jiyong?”

“We’ve become good friends.” He laughs incredulously at the way she’s acting toward him. “I don’t understand why you all behaved like that toward him. What has he done to piss everyone off so much?”

She looks taken aback by his harsh language but stares at him stubbornly.

“Kwon Jiyong is a spoiled rich brat without any manners. He’s rude and selfish and has insulted every single person in that room at least once.”

Seunghyun laughs again, knowing how rude everyone can be to one another. Being rude doesn’t seem like enough reason to ostracize someone. Watching Chaerin more closely she doesn’t only seem angry. She stands with her arms wrapped around her body as if to protect herself. There has to be more to the story for a normally warm family to act so coldly and cruelly.

“I’m sorry for creating an awkward situation,” Seunghyun apologizes, bowing his head to her. “Jiyong seems like a great man from what I know of him, I see that there must be some sort of misunderstanding in the past.”

“A misunderstanding?” Chaerin scoffs. “No, I understand Kwon Jiyong perfectly.”

With that, she turns on her heel and leaves the kitchen.

Seunghyun sweeps the living room on a quiet morning, the sun shining brightly through the open windows. His sweeping motions are rigid and he’s too distracted to do very much cleaning. He looks over at Chaerin as she sits on a chair silently facing away from him. The bright sunlight illuminates particles of dust around her head. He smiles at her halo of floating dust as he absently moves the broom back and forth. She gasps in pain suddenly and he drops the broom to run to her quickly.

“What happened? Are you hurt?” He asks in alarm as she pops her thumb into .

“I’m fine, I just pricked myself.” She sets the sewing needle and thread down as she fixes a button on Youngbae’s shirt. As if summoned, a topless Youngbae steps down from the stairs and heads toward them.

“Are you done fixing the shirt yet?”  

“I just finished.” She tells him as she cuts the thread with her teeth. Youngbae takes the shirt from her lap and puts his arms through, buttoning it up haphazardly. He looks up and finally notices Seunghyun standing next to him.

“Me and Seungri are gonna go fishing.” He tells the older man as Chaerin tries to fix where he buttoned his shirt up incorrectly. “Do you want to join us and give Chae some alone time?”

“You don’t need to worry about me.” She protests as she tugs at the bottom of Youngbae’s shirt, noticing that she should probably get him a larger size next time they go to the market.

“Sure, that sounds great.” Seunghyun agrees reluctantly, knowing that Chaerin could use some time to herself without having to think about others. The men grab their coats and Seungri brings out the fishing tackle. As the door shuts Chaerin hears Seunghyun asks how they fish with a frozen lake.

She sighs and gets up to watch them from the window as they leave. Once the men disappear from sight she closes the heavy curtains and glances at the baby grand behind her. She slowly walks toward the piano and takes off the sheet covering it.

“Have you been lonely?” She asks the piano in a whisper as she at the bench, her fingers ghosting over the keys.

Her posture straightens and she begins to play.

The sound of music fills the house as she plays sadly. Her eyes are distant and transport her far away from where she sits now.

Outside the wind rattles at the windows as Seunghyun walks back up to the house. He underestimated the amount of clothing needed to wait in the cold for fish and came for more layers. As he gets closer he can hear the familiar sound of a piano playing and he wonders if Yifan or Soohyuk had come to the house. The sound is too loud to be coming from the piano room, though, even with the door opened. He notices curiously that the two larger windows have had the curtains closed and goes to peek through the small open window on the side of the house.

Peering through the glass he sees Chaerin sitting at the baby grand. He watches as her arms and whole body seem to be possessed by the music. The piece is a waltz of love but her body seems full of grief, adding a deep sense of despair to her interpretation.

“Ahjussi!” Youngbae calls out to him in a hushed voice but Seunghyun doesn’t turn around. “I have an extra coat I can give you so you don’t need to go in the house.”

“I never knew Chaerin-ssi played the piano,” He tells the younger man, unable to look away from the window. Her style of playing is unorthodox but mesmerizing. “Do you know the name of the piece that she’s playing?”

Youngbae shakes his head, paranoid that Chaerin will notice them.

“Who cares what she’s playing?” He asks gruffly. “We need to leave right now.”

“She’s playing Je Te Veux by Erik Satie.” Seunghyun informs him, still not looking away. “It’s a lovely waltz. Her version isn’t perfect, it lacks the characteristic dynamics of Parisian compositions of that time but there’s a certain charm to her style.”

Youngbae yanks him by his collar and forcibly removes him from the side of the house.

“I’m sorry, hyung, it’s time to go now.”

As the two men walk back to the lake, Seunghyun stops in his tracks.

“What’s going on, Youngbae?” He asks and the younger man sighs.

“Chaerin only plays when she thinks that she’s alone. We know that she loves to play so sometimes we all make sure to give her the house to herself.” Youngbae runs his hands through his hair as he looks down at the snow covered ground.

“But she’s a pretty good musician, with a good grasp on the work.” Seunghyun says in confusion, not understanding how someone so young could be afraid to showcase her obvious talents.

“That’s not the problem,” Youngbae says as he gets quiet. “That piano belonged to her mother. She was an internationally known pianist until she died in a car accident abroad on her way to a concert.”

Seunghyun remembers her story about her mother and a piano, realizing that the piano had been the one in the house. He can only guess how much love and pain she must associate that piano with. His heart hurts thinking about it.

“That’s why Chaerin has a hard time playing now, she told everyone she gave up after her mother died.” Youngbae tells him, his eyes glistening with held back tears. “She loves to play and perform but she feels guilty, she’s just punishing herself by playing alone. That’s also why Lee seonsang left for Paris and hasn’t come back, he’s too ashamed to go home.”

Seunghyun is silent for a long time and the young men start to walk back to the lake again.

“Do you know what ‘je te veux’ means in French?” He asks suddenly, looking at Youngbae.

“No,” Youngbae shakes his head and laughs. “I’m Korean, why the hell would I know any French?”

“It’s a song of longing,” Seunghyun says as he looks up at the clouds in the sky. “The piece was composed with accompanying lyrics about a woman willing to give everything up for her love. ‘Je te veux’ in French means I want you.”

- - -

Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who has subscribed to this story! I hope you enjoy this chapter and look forward to the next one. Tabi's learning more about the family and finding out that they're not as happy and perfect as he thought. And he also found out Chae has a whole other side to her! I love reading comments they really keep me motivated, so please leave a comment letting me know how you felt about this chapter and how the story is going. Also, has anyone figured out the little secret about this story?