The Ninth Picture

                Youngbae’s stomach was doing backflips as he walked across the stage towards the grand piano. A round of polite applause greeted him. He remembered to bow to the audience before finishing the walk to the piano bench. He sat down and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his nerves.

                This was his first big performance. He really didn’t want to mess this up.

                Another deep breath. He ghosted his fingers over the keys before the first notes began to fill the silent room.

                Chohee was watching. So was his mother. Jiyong had even managed to show up with Seunghyun trailing behind. Neither of them had been excited but it still helped that they would be there in a crowd of over one hundred and fifty.

                His head bobbed as his foot pressed against the pedal occasionally to carry out certain sections of the piece.

                Somehow he was halfway through it.

                Someone in the crowd cleared their throat to the annoyance of their neighbors. Youngbae didn’t hear t over the music. He was completely lost in the melody which was obvious to everyone looking on.

                The last few notes were held in the air before he set his hands back down on his lap. He nodded towards the piano as if he were bowing to the instrument before he got up and offered the audience another ninety degree bow.

                The crowd erupted into a resounding applause. He could hear Jiyong shout praises from the back, causing him to smile before walking back across the stage. Youngbae was grinning from ear to ear, laughing to himself. Now that the nerves had worn off, he was left with the leftover adrenaline.

                He had to wait until the whole showcase had finished before reuniting with everyone who had shown up for him. His mother was the one who greeted him first. She wrapped her arms around him and offered him an approving look.

                “You did well,” was the praise she offered, “but I noticed that mistake you made. You need to practice more if you’re going to be doing this from now on.”

                “Yes, Omma,” he laughed softly before she let go of him. She had moved on from business and econ to music pretty well over the last few weeks. It would take him another year to graduate since he was now going to major in music with a minor in business. However, now that she had agreed to his life decisions, she was now making sure he was the top of his class in music.

                “You did good, bro, Jiyong said, distracting both Youngbae and his mother. His best friend had actually bought him flowers. Sure, they were the cheap kind that he had bought last minute, but they were still nice.

                “Best one out there,” Seunghyun added with a nod. Youngbae thanked them both before turning his attention to Chohee who was standing a little ways back from everyone else with her parents in tow. She had dressed up for the occasion; her hair was without a beanie and there was no sweater in sight. It was a little weird actually.

                “What did you think?” he asked her, suddenly feeling nervous again.

                “It was beautiful- like always,” she replied with a small smile. The others made random excuses about why they had to suddenly leave. Youngbae’s mother hovered for a moment but Chohee’s mom wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her away while chattering about wanting to get to know the soon-to-be in-laws.

                “You really think so?” he asked, rubbing the back of his neck. She nodded and that was when he noticed that rather large book that was clutched in her hands in the place of the usual camera. “What’s that?”

                “I did this instead of flowers,” she mumbled. She seemed very self-conscious about the book. He gave her a reassuring smile before reaching out to take one of her hands. He led her back outside and they found a bench to sit on before Chohee set the book down on her lap.

                It was a plain black book used for scrapbooking. She opened it to the first page and Youngbae was greeting with a picture of an IV drip and a nurse smiling at the camera with tired eyes and smudged make up. The next page was a bald Chohee, sitting in a wheelchair of a hospital room, opening presents for Christmas. The present she had opened in the picture was one of her Polaroid camera.

                Pages continued to document her journey through the chemo and treatments. There were lots of pictures of things in the hospital but also lots of pictures of Chohee and her brother smiling dreamily at the camera. She aged in the photos, her hair began to grow back, and her style shifted into the sweaters and beanies Youngbae had come to love.

               Nearing the end of the book, Youngbae turned a page to be meeting with himself. It was the day they had first met. His smiled widened as he began to recognize pictures from his own memory. Some of them were new but most were sights he recognized. The final page was blank except for a sharpie scribbled note saying “to be continued”.

                He wanted to say something but he wasn’t sure what to say. After a few minutes in silence, he reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. He really couldn’t do anything more than that in public.

                “It’s beautiful,” he finally said. He now knew more about her world than he had before, all of it said without a single word. It was amazing and he was grateful.

                “You’re beautiful,” she stated with a grin. He laughed and the sound resounded throughout the courtyard they were sitting in. The book would soon rest on his bookshelf, separate from his many textbooks. It would be occasionally opened during arguments or when he missed her. It would move with him to new apartments and along with them on adventures. This book would be the first of many and, in a way, it would be cherished more than any to come.

                Oh what a joy to be young and in love. 

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So this is the end. Thank you so much for reading this the whole way through! I hope you enjoyed the story :)