Walking up the steps and stopping in front of the mahogany entrance of the large estate, I was about to reach out ring the doorbell when I heard the double doors open, allowing me to enter. I walked into the house, and was not surprised when a maid who looked to be in her early twenties approached me with a smile.

“Annyeong haseyo. Sooyeon had me greet you when you got here and bring you to her. I am Hana, by the way. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She greeted politely and bowed.

I was lead through the hallways of the house, noticing that it had changed in the 4 years that I drifted away from Jaehee. We stopped in front of a dark brown door. Hana spun around.

“This is Sooyeon’s room. She is expecting to see you, so there is no need to knock.” She scurried away afterwards.

I opened the door and walked in, only turning around to close it behind me. “Annyeong, Mark!” a happy voice called my name.

I spun back around, seeing the 30 or so year old woman. I smiled back at her. “It’s been a long time, Sooyeon.”

“Neh. Come, sit down. I prepared tea for you.” She gestured to the cup of tinted water on the coffee table.

I sat down, taking the cup in my hands and sniffing it. Green Tea with Mint and Rose. It used to be my favourite drink when I would come over. Jaehee would prepare it for me. I would have it, while she would go for the classic English Breakfast. I took a sip. It burned my tongue, bit I ignored it and set the cup down instead.

“So, Jaehee stopped bringing you over. Did anything bad happen? Whatever it was, I think you got over it, since you called her phone.”

“Nothing bad happened. I’m just helping Jaehee out with something. We had plans tomorrow, but I needed to cancel on them, because something came up.” I said.

“Arasseo. How are your grades, Mark? Your Korean has improved drastically since I last saw you.”

“Uhm, I’ve seen better marks for some, but as for the others, I’m doing fine.”

“Ahh. Oka—”

She was cut off when an alarm on her phone started ringing. She set it off, and stood up.

“I need to go and remind Jaehee and the piano teacher that the time is up. They always seem to forget.” She turned to me, “You should come along, so you can tell Jaehee whatever it is you wanted to say to her.”

I downed the rest of my tea, despite the scalding feeling in my throat and mouth, not wanting it to go to waste. I went out and followed Sooyeon. She had a smile on her face.

“You didn’t need to force yourself to drink it, dear. It was still hot.” She said, clearly trying to hold back a laugh.

“No.” I blushed slightly, “I didn’t want it to go to waste.”

“If you say so.” She shrugged, and left it at that.

We continued walking, and I could tell we were getting closer, since the sound of music was getting louder and louder.

We stopped in front of a large door. I was close enough to identify the piece now. It was from her favourite movie, Secret, starring Jay Chou. I think it was from the piano battle part. Yeah. She told me about how much she wanted to learn it when she was older. I guess she finally did it. What was it called again? It started with a B… Black something. I couldn’t remember.

“Do you remember this piece, Mark?” Sooyeon questioned.

I nodded, “but I don’t know the name of it anymore.” I continued.

“Chopin’s Etude Opus 10, Number 5. Black Keys.” She reminded me.

“Ah. Neh. I remember now.”

“Shall we go in?” she inquired.

I nodded, and she turned the door knob. We entered the room, and I was shocked to see that Jaehee had the same piano teacher that she had back when we were friends. I never really knew his name, though.

“Agasshi, your lesson time is over. It’s time for Jungkook-nim to leave.” Sooyeon interrupted her playing.

The music stopped abruptly, and both Jaehee and her teacher looked up, still unaware of my presence.

I still wasn’t used to her new look. I guess that I grew too accustomed to the wavy, black, shoulder length locks that she used to sport. She was wearing a muscle tee that had the words “I never liked you, anyway” printed in all caps, over what looked to be a black tank top, and a pair of shorts that reached the middle of her thighs.

“Omona!” her teacher said, and stood up, “I didn’t even notice the time go by. Well, Jaehee, I’m glad that you practiced a lot this week. You played it almost perfectly with the piece in front of you. You just need to do some minor cleaning and try memorizing the piece, so you have an easier time at your recital. Neh?”

“Arasseo, seonsaeng-nim!” Jaehee replied cheerfully.

Sooyeon lead the piano teacher out, but before leaving, she informed Jaehee of my presence.

It was only then that Jaehee noticed me.

“What are you doing here, Mark?” she asked me, curiously.

“Nothing much, really. I just came to talk” I replied. I don’t think she would be happy if I just told her straight out that I didn’t want her to come over tomorrow. I know her well, and you need to beat around the bush first to warm her up.

“Okay then. What do you want to talk about?” She questioned.

“Uhh. You still have the same piano teacher from years ago.” I said, bringing up a random topic.

“Oh. Jungkook seonsaeng-nim? Yeah. He’s a really good teacher.”

“I also noticed that you played that piece you wanted to learn back then. Black Key Etude by Chopin, right?” I lied, pretending I remembered when Sooyeon just told me a few moments ago.

“You remembered.” That brought a smile to her face, “Do you want me to play it for you?”

“Sure.” I’m sure killing some more time wouldn’t hurt.

“Here, sit down.” She patted the space that her teacher took up a few minutes earlier. I did as she said.

She started playing. She was really good, actually. She used to hate taking these lessons, because she said they were really boring, but when we were 10, she found her inspiration and started practicing diligently. Soon enough, the piece was over.

“How was it? Did I make any obvious mistakes? It probably .” She blabbered on.

“It was really good. No, it was great.” I said, honestly.

“Jeongmal?” She looked at me.

I nodded in response.

“Now, Mark, why don’t you stop beating around the bush and tell me why you’re really here.”

“How did you know?” I asked, surprised.

“I know you too well, Mark. You wouldn’t come here out of boredom. The old you would have, but you’re friends with different people now, so it’s not as convincing. Good try, though.” She patted me on the shoulder.

“Okay, fine. You caught me. I was going to tell you that something suddenly came up, so you can’t come over tomorrow.”

I was waiting for a whack on the head or a scolding, but got nothing.

“Okay.” She said. She took it so calmly.

“You came all the way here to say that?” she continued, “That was just stupid. You can go ahead and cancel. It was me who asked for your help, anyway.”

I ended up going home a few minutes later, since she lead me to the door and told me to go back home since it was late.

I laid in my bed that night just thinking. I was so sure that she would get mad, or pout, or glare. Other people can change too, idiot. I heard a voice in my head say. I guess so. Soon enough, I was fast asleep.

A/N: Hey guys! It's up, obviously. So, I wasn't supposed to join the 15& ASC Hangout bc I replied late, so I thought it was over, but I was shocked to receive an email this morning. I still wasn't able to go on though, bc they had other people take my spot when I couldn't enter the hangout due to technical problems, so when I got on, I couldn't talk to them anymore. BUT, in consolation, they're sending me a SIGNED 15& CD!!!! So even if I didn't get to talk to them, I was still satisfied.

Okay, NEWS FOR UPDATING SPEED: I will continue to post chapters everyday/night of the week, EXCLUDING SUNDAYS. I'm always out on Sundays, usually with family, so I don't really have the time to post/write. I hope you guys understand. Thank you!!!~~~