Swiss Stakes

Dong-il and Sol-mi

For a triumphant evening, the piano prodigy Han Sol-mi was sulking. Nothing her guardian says would make her stop kicking the table underneath. The cello player, Tae Dong-il was finishing his third shot glass of swiss chocolate mousse. For someone as skinny as him he had an appetite of a bull.

"Sol-mi, Dong-il," The voice of the former company commander had both children, sitting up in attention. "Come over here. There's someone I'd like you to meet." At Dong-il, Jeong-hyeok gestured at his face which Dong-il took to mean as wiping his lips streaked with chocolate with the table napkin. Sol-mi was accompanied by her guardian.

Here, Jeong-hyeok placed a hand on Se-ri's back. Put to the spotlight, Se-ri gave her best impressionable smile.

"This is Yoon Se-ri dong ji, she is one of the people who created the scholarship. She's a good friend of mine." Jeong-hyeok then faced Se-ri, "This young man is Tae Dong-il, he plays the cello."

The boy had to collect his jaw and made a bow almost to his waist level.

"And this is Han Sol-mi, you saw her play the piano."

Sol-mi on the other hand just gave a blank stare.

"Annyeong, it's nice to meet you two," Se-ri nodded her head and made a small wave, her knees bending slightly for Sol-mi's benefit. Due to familiarity, she addressed Sol-mi first, "I've seen you perform and you played so wonderfully."

Sol-mi squinted her eyes at her that Se-ri had to wonder if there was something on her face. The girl then turned up to Jeong-hyeok, "Seonsaengnim, was she the one who called during my piano practice?"

Jeong-hyeok was caught off-guard but answered, truthfully as he was wont to, "Yes."

The girl sounded so accusing that Se-ri was compelled to deny it but she remembered the piano playing in the background when she called Jeong-hyeok that morning, "Ah...I had to call your teacher about something."

Wait, why was she apologizing??

Sol-mi continued to study Se-ri like she was some kind of organism under a microscope that it started to feel invasive. As though sensing the tension, Dong-il gulped and went in for the save, "I'm...I'm performing next Tuesday."

"Oh yes," Se-ri veered towards the boy and brightened up, "The violin and cello concerto. I'm watching that one, of course."

Dong-il grinned with pride, finding his confidence, "I am playing Brahms."

"I'll look forward to it," Se-ri gradually shifted back to Sol-mi, who apparently kept her eye on her, "And...you'll play again this Thursday for the piano concerto."

"Yes, and it's a difficult piece." Sol-mi emphasized with a stern demeanor, "I must be able to practice it in complete silence."

This girl. Was she insinuating that she will interrupt again? Se-ri was dumbstruck.

Jeong-hyeok crouched to meet Sol-mi's eye and Dong-il's, "Se-ri dong ji will be watching both of your rehearsals and supporting you. I hope you can befriend her."

"I will look forward to it, hyungnim!" Dong-il made another bow. "I will be honored to play for you as my first audience, Se-ri dong ji."

"No, the honor is mine." Se-ri smiled. She immediately liked Dong-il, he reminded her of someone she knew.

Sol-mi didn't look too happy to hear the news, her frown deepening, "But..."

Jeong-hyeok placed a hand on Sol-mi's shoulder, "Sol-mi..."

"Seonsaengnim..." But before she could explain her misgivings, Sol-mi resolved. "I'm tired and I'd like to rest."

"It's okay," Se-ri nudged at Jeong-hyeok, "They should rest. Let them go back to their hotel. Are they taking a taxi?"

Jeong-hyeok nodded and stood up, "I'll call a taxi for them."

"No, I can drive them." Se-ri decided, turning to Dong-il and Sol-mi's quiet guardian, "Is everyone ready?"

Dong-il could not conceal his astonishment as the silver Mercedes drove in front of the hotel entrance with Se-ri taking the keys from the valet. It was flashier than any car in Pyongyang he had seen. Jeong-hyeok opened the door for the children with Sol-mi's guardian helping the girl up, then fastened their seat belts before joining Se-ri at the front.

"Everyone good?" Se-ri asked the back of the car and met an enthusiastic yes from Dong-il. She knew better than to expect a response from Sol-mi, "Let's go then."

For that short drive, Dong-il stared out at the window, enumerating the things he was seeing, the 18th-century houses, the pubs with outdoor patios, the lamp posts...Sol-mi too looked out but had her arms tightly crossed, visibly upset about something. A peculiar feeling rushed into Se-ri, vaguely nostalgic. Her mother was on the wheel and she was sitting at the back humming some nursery rhyme. The ending of that memory was sad, Se-ri stopped her habit of humming at some point and took a stance similar to Sol-mi: quiet, thinking, brewing, plotting, listening to her own head voice and no one else...

"Turn over there," Jeong-hyeok pointed at a curve.

The hotel was a white building, one of the newer city hotels but with comfortable accommodations. Jeong-hyeok opened the door for the children, instructing them to say goodbye to Se-ri. Only Dong-il did, Sol-mi had pointed another dagger stare and said nothing.

"What's wrong with her?" Se-ri mumbled to herself, as she waved at the children from the side window. She waited for Jeong-hyeok to get back until a memory struck her.

"Wait!" Se-ri rolled down the window, "Sol-mi has a doll, right?"

Jeong-hyeok did not understand at first then remembered the box that Se-ri's sister-in-law handed over earlier that evening. He asked Sol-mi's guardian who looked sheepish and apologetic when she explained. Then Jeong-hyeok appeared to ask the girl about it but Sol-mi only stood, fuming.

Se-ri knew something was wrong when Jeong-hyeok took the girl aside to speak with her in private. They stayed like that until the girl appeared to nod a little and was released back to the guardian and Jeong-hyeok headed back to the car.

"What happened?" Se-ri asked, turning off the hazard lights and driving back to the road.

Jeong-hyeok clipped his seat belt with a sigh, "She threw it away."

"What?" Se-ri couldn't believe her ears.

"That's what Chun-ja dong mu said, her guardian. The girl went to the restroom and tossed it in the wastebasket."

"But..." Se-ri was trying to understand, "Does she hate dolls?"

"Chun-ja dong mu said that Sol-mi threw a fit of how she was not a child that needed to be coddled with toys."

"So she's trying to play grown-up." Se-ri pondered, remembering how thick the girl's make-up was while reaching to adjust the air-conditioning of the car to warm up, "She doesn't like me very much, too."

"She doesn't warm up to people easily." Jeong-hyeok said apologetically.

"She seems to warm up to you though." Se-ri drove them back to the path of the Victoria hotel, which was closer to their apartment, "I saw her hugging you after her performance earlier, and she listens to you."

"I'm her teacher, it's a given." Jeong-hyeok looked out of the window, as restaurants and pubs came to view. "Are we eating somewhere by the way?"

"No, let's just take out food." Se-ri slowed down her driving to read the signs that were mostly foreign until one stood out, "McDonald's. Let's have chicken!"