~| Me? New Member? |~

 

“Alright. That’s all for today. See you again next week.”

 

With that speech, the composing class had ended. Just like the other students on the class, I closed my book and put it back into my bag along with my pen. After zipping my bag, I slung the strap to my shoulder as I stood up. When I bowed to get my violin case, I noticed that someone had stopped in front of my desk. I looked up and saw Yong Junhyung standing in front of me. He smiled and said, “Hy, Dan. Are you free after this?”

 

“A-ah, no.”

 

My reply was a little bit awkward to be honest. It wasn’t because I didn’t know him. I did know him; we discussed about composing and talked a lot outside classes several times before. But I really didn’t know who to react when someone that I admired so much suddenly approached me out of nowhere like this and asked whether I was free or not.

 

“Well, I have a class later and a practice session for the school orchestra in the evening. There will be a performance soon. So the orchestra members will have intense training.” I added my reply a little after I could compose myself.

 

“Aahh…” was the only thing that came out from his mouth after my reply. But I had a gut that he might have something important to talk about with me.

 

“What’s the matter? Is there something I can help?”

 

He looked around then back at me. He heaved a sigh before started to talk. “Well, actually, I need your help. There’s a song that I’m composing right now and I think I can use your help on it.”

 

Quickly thinking, I guessed that it was for one of his classes’ assignment. “For ideas?”

 

One of his eyes squinted. “Not really. But more or less, it’s like that.”

 

I only looked at him, wondering what he had actually wanted me for.

 

“Well, it’s hard to explain. It’ll be quicker if you come and see it by yourself. It won’t take long. We’ll be finished before your next class started.”

 

Well, as long as I didn’t miss the next class, it was fine for me. “Fine.”

 

“Come on,” he said as he grabbed my arm and pulled me closer. He slung his arm across my shoulders and pulled me out from the class.

 

As we walked, I noticed that we were heading toward the part of our campus where the music studios were at. It made me thinking that Junhyung might use the school’s music studio for his work. Then, I noticed that we were just passing by and eventually headed to the part of our campus where our concert auditorium was located. It made me wondering if we would come to the auditorium. But my guess was right since I saw Junhyung stopped at the auditorium door.

 

“Why are we here?” I asked as Junhyung placed his hand on the door knob. He turned and smirked at me in secretive. “You’ll see. Just get in first.” He then opened the door.

 

I took a deep breath and entered the room.

 

When I stepped into the room, I thought the room was empty. But I noticed that instruments were set on the center stage in circle arrangement with two empty chairs. I also saw a camera stand outside the stage. Furthermore, I saw the Crescendo House members were there as well. Lay was sitting on the chair with an acoustic guitar on his hand while talking with Sayaka who sat behind the electronic keyboard beside him. They seemed to discuss about something over a piece of paper. Minhyuk was standing in the between, listening to their discussion and eventually jumped into the discussion. I saw a simple drum set and a tambourine stand near him. IU was standing near the front chair line, outside the stage. With Junhyung there, the only missing member was Seoyul.

 

“Oi, he’s here.”

 

Junhyung’s voice broke through my mind. It seemed that he was notifying the other members about my presence. I saw the other members turning their gaze to me.

 

And remember that I thought if Seoyul was absence earlier, right?

 

Well, suddenly, I saw a head popping up from the front chair. It was Seoyul with her signature ponytail hair. I really didn’t know why she never styled her hair on other way. I always saw her tying her hair in ponytail or just partly tied. A wide smile bloomed as she saw me. She stood up and turned at me.

 

“Hi. Welcome.” She greeted me cheerfully.

 

I stopped immediately to see her then turned my gaze to Junhyung. “Wait. Why are the Crescendo House members here? I thought you need my help for composition idea.”

 

“Yes,” he replied. “Composition idea for our next cover.”

 

What?!

 

Suddenly, I felt nervous. But then, I saw Seoyul smiling.

 

“Ah, sorry.” She suddenly apologized. “Actually, it was my idea to have a violin on our next cover. But none of us can play the instrument well enough. So we need someone who can play well and you were picked.”

 

Feeling a little bit reluctant to suddenly expose my skill in front of people that I didn’t know well, I silently heaved. Besides, I wondered why they picked me while I knew that there were many better violinists at the school. “But why me?”

 

“Well… I happened to see you.”

 

Eh?

 

But she didn’t explain further about the meaning of her words; she just left me wondering where or when she happened to see me, more specifically to see me playing violin. A thought of her watching one of my violin covers on my online video channel crossed my mind in a moment. But I thought it was kinda impossible for her seeing my videos. I couldn’t believe that a girl on her level might want to see them; I was seriously thinking that they weren’t as good as Crescendo House’s covers. Still, I thought that it was the only possibility.

 

“Bring your violin and come with me.” She turned and walked to the stage.

 

Reluctantly, I followed her instruction; she was my senior after all. I placed my belongings on the front chair and took my violin to the stage. Seoyul sat on one of the chairs and looked at me as I came closer. I could see Minhyuk, Lay and Sayaka’s eyes gazing at me. They seemed expecting something; I wondered what it was. I ignored them as I saw Seoyul pointing at the chair in front of her. “Have a seat.”

 

And I sat there, facing her.

 

“Now…” She seemed to recollect herself for a moment before looking back at me. “Do you know Lea Michelle’s version of Celine Dion’s To Love You More?”

 

I just nodded.

 

“Can you play the companion part for me?”

 

Huh? Somehow, I felt burdened. “But don’t we need a full orchestra for it?”

 

To add my burden, she shook her head. “Can we try it only with your violin, please?”

 

For a moment, I felt unconfident yet I couldn’t refuse because she had said the magic word. When I looked into her eyes, I could see some faith and encouragement in there. It made me couldn’t refuse more although I was wondering why she seemed to believe that I could be able to do it despite of never practicing the song with her beforehand.

 

Well, it wasn’t like I had never tried the song; I had been tried to make an instrumental cover with violin before. Honestly, becoming a music companion of a song was different from playing solo. There were many things that needed to be arranged and aligned before we could actually play together. I used to have some rehearsal sessions whenever I wanted to play along with my friends. So I really didn’t know how we could manage to make a good song together spontaneously like this.

 

But to see the determinate look in her eyes, it made me wanting to give it a try.

 

So I took a deep breath and placed my violin under my chin, earning a slight smile from her. I tuned up my violin, seeing whether there were strings that out of note. I actually hadn’t tuned up my violin strings for a while. As I tuned up, I looked up to the ceiling.

 

Our concert auditorium was a grand hall with round shape and rounded ceiling. It was made without corners because the designer believed that the sound would have no place to stop in a rounded room. Therefore, it would resonate and flow better. Honestly, I had never used this place before. But now, I realized that it might be right because my violin’s sound was resonating well when I tuned it.

 

After feeling satisfied with the sound of all my strings, I looked back at Seoyul and prepared myself. I took another deep breath then played the intro. I paused a while to take a quick glance at her and saw her nodding in agreement. So I played some more and I saw her giving signal at me to keep on going. Then I could hear her singing…

 

Take me back into the arms I love
Need me like you did before

Touch me once again
And remember when
There was no one that you wanted more

 

Don't go, you know you'll break my heart
She won't love you like I will
I'm the one who'll stay
When she walks away
And you know I'll be standing here still

 

 

As she sang the first part, I just added a little accent for the music with my violin because I thought that the part didn’t need a lot of companion music. Her voice alone had made the song beautiful. She brilliantly sang the song in soft voice instead of powerful. If I played a lot, I was sure that I would be ruining the song.

 

And for the second verse, I played more according to my instinct. I knew how the song would be so I just played whatever I wanted. But as I had expected from the diva of Crescendo House, she could play along with me well.

 

When we almost reached the refrain part, I noticed that Seoyul took a glance to her friends who sat on the instruments’ chair and nodded. For an instant, the thought of some instruments would play along hit my mind. And I was proven right when I heard Lay starting to strum his guitar and Minhyuk tapping the tambourine melodically when Seoyul started to sing the refrain part:

 

I'll be waiting for you
Here inside my heart
I'm the one who wants to love you more
You will see I can give you
Everything you need
Let me be the one to love you more

 

And with two addition of the music, Seoyul put a little more power onto her voice. Amazingly, her voice could still be heard between my violin, Lay’s guitar and Minhyuk’s tambourine.

 

On the next verse, Minhyuk switched from tambourine to drum and Sayaka joined with her piano. By that, I switched from being a companion to a second vocalist. I created a harmony between Seoyul’s voice and my violin; also filled in the void in the music.

 

See me as if you never knew
Hold me so you can't let go
Just believe in me
I will make you see
All the things that your heart needs to know

 

When I switched, I took a look at Seoyul, seeing how she reacted. She was indeed frowning when she heard me seconding her vocal. But the frown quickly turned into a smile. For me, that smile was an approval for what I did. So I kept on going.

 

I'll be waiting for you
Here inside my heart
I'm the one who wants to love you more
You will see I can give you
Everything you need
Let me be the one to love you more

 

As we reached the refrain, I switched again to be a companion because I think it would be better that way. I could see that she started to enjoy the song. I saw her signature hand-waving movement that I had seen often when she was singing with Crescendo House members. She also added more power to her voice. On that moment, I thought that she would reach the of the song. I couldn’t wait to see how she would sing that part.

 

And some way all the love that we had can be saved
Whatever it takes we'll find a way

 

It made me smile to hear how her voice started to climb up, to the higher note and also to the next power level. I was thinking no wonder she got the position as the group’s main vocalist and diva. Her vocal was amazing. Whenever I thought that the pitch was too high for her, she was still able to do it and reached the high note without much effort. Her falsetto was clear and she knew how to maintain her vocal power during the song, knowing which point when she needed to put more power and when she needed to be softer. It was brilliant and I adored her for it.

 

The next part, she sang it in soft staccato, following what I played on my violin. But with her eyes that fixed on me and her bright expression, I couldn’t help but to think that the verse…

 

Believe in me, I will make you see
All the things that your heart needs to know

 

…was actually meant for me.

 

I also noticed that she raised her hand when she sang the second line of the verse. And suddenly, she closed her hand into a fist after the last word on the second line. As a part of an Orchestra for long, I recognized it as a symbol of a pause or stop moment that the orchestra conductor often used. So I stopped playing and…

 

I'll be waiting
Here inside my heart
I'm the one who wants to love you more
You will see I can give you
Everything you need
Let me be the one to love you more

 

Holy . She was reaching the on the first line. I suddenly felt shiver all over me as I heard her screaming out. It made me holding my breath for a second on that moment. It was powerful yet beautiful. I swore if I didn’t play my violin, I would drop my jaw in awe. Instead, I just tucked up a corner of my lips.

 

Seoyul herself pointed her index finger up and leaned back as she screamed out, as if she was wanted to reach something. I noted that it was her signature gesture when she reached a high note or screaming out. I also started to play again in the middle of her scream. I also noticed that she unclasped her hand and the music started by it. It made me thinking whether she was conducting the others by it or not. But surely, Lay, Minhyuk and Hyemi knew perfectly when they needed to play and when to stop.

 

Seoyul’s eyes were fixed back at me as she started the second line of the verse. I could see that enjoyment was all over her face. She was smiling and looking satisfied. You know that I supposed to feel as if I was given a test right now in the middle of high level musician like them. But now I just felt that doing music along with Crescendo House members was fun. I also got an impression that Seoyul was praising my skill through her expression. At least, I thought I had met her expectation. Somehow I felt proud about it.

 

On the final part, she brought her hands near as if she was hugging something. I noted that it might be a movement of a singer for collecting strength to their voice. Finally she clasped her hand into another fist and the music came to an end. On that moment, I felt somehow accomplished.

 

I then heard applause from the side. So I turned my gaze and saw Junhyung clapping on the side; satisfied smirk was on his face. IU was smiling and clapping as well; agreement look was all over her face. Then I heard Seoyul clicking her tongue and said, “Nice,” in full satisfaction. I turned back at her and saw her giggling. She raised her gaze to me and heaved in relief with smile plastering on her face.

 

“Thank you very much.” She bowed at me. “You really are a great violinist.” She praised me wholeheartedly so I couldn’t say anything other than, “Thank you.”

 

“Perhaps we can do it again another time,” she said.

 

I just smiled and replied, “Perhaps.”

 

But talking about time, the thought of missing my next class rushed into my mind. I looked at my watch and gasped. “Oh, . I almost forget my class.” I jumped from my chair and came down from the stage. I packed my violin to the case but I noticed Junhyung approaching me.

 

“I’m so sorry for keeping you from your class,” he said as I zipped close my violin case. I took my bag and slung it on my shoulder. “It’s fine. Honestly it’s fun.”

 

One corner of his lips tucked up as he heard my words. “Really?”

 

I nodded. “Yes,” I replied. But I couldn’t stay any longer or I was going to be late. “But I really need to go now.”

 

“Okay. Do you need me to accompany you out?”

 

“No.” I took a quick glance to the other members. “You might want to continue practicing with your group, right? I can go on my own.”

 

I noticed that he took a very quick glance elsewhere before back at me and nodded. “Okay then. Thank you very much for your time.”

 

I waved at him in return and turned to the other members. I bowed at them to excuse myself then quickly ran to the exit.

 

As I came out from the room, I felt like I was back to reality. I knew that I just had a jamming session with Crescendo House a while ago. For a moment in there, I felt like I was part of them. It was very nice and fun but it felt like it was just a dream. There was no way they would accept an ordinary violin player like me into their amazing group.

 

“Hey, Daniel Jang.”

 

The call stopped me. I turned and saw Seoyul peeking out from an open auditorium door. She leaned her shoulder on the door to hold it so it didn’t close on her. “Yes?”

 

“You are jjang – great,” she said as she raised her two thumbs up at me. “I hope you’re not late for your class. And welcome to Crescendo House. See ya.” She waved at me then came back inside, whipping her ponytail along as she turned.

 

As the door closed behind her, I frowned. Did she just make a pun with my name?

 

If she did, I didn’t know whether I had to think of it as funny or not. Honestly, I didn’t felt offended by her; it was actually kinda cute. I could felt her friendly and playful nature by it. She was the first girl who did that at me. But then again, how did she know my name?

 

I shook my head, getting rid all the possible thoughts, and turned back to walk, thinking that Junhyung might have told her about me.

 

Welcome to Crescendo House, her next words were repeated on my mind.

 

I stopped and gasped as I realized something.

 

Welcome to Crescendo House? I questioned the words on my mind and realized that it might mean one thing. I turned myself around to look at the concert auditorium door; eyes goggled in surprise as I didn’t expect about it.

 

Wait.

 

Did it mean that I just became a new member of Crescendo House?

 

 

~ooOOOoo~

 

Author(s) Note:

Thank you for reading this and I really hope you enjoy the story until the very last. I'm very sorry for any grammar mistakes.
I will try to update as frequent as possible but I'll give you my best. ;)
Any suggestion and questions are very welcomed. Feel free to ask me from the comment box or via my Twitter @AFFalize_sakura ! :3
And for the song, seriously, I couldn't find any video of it to attach here. I'm terribly sorry for it.