My fake boyfriend | VMIN

chapter 7

Jimin lifted his hand, took in a deep breath, and forced himself to calm down as he started to play.

A soothing tune sang from the movement of his fingers, and after a while, the sound of Taehyung's violin intertwined with it. Caught off guard by this abrupt and seamless addition, Jimin grew nervous and misplayed a note.

Taehyung stopped when he did, and looked at him expressionlessly. "Again?"

Jimin felt his cheeks heat up and didn't dare to get distracted anymore.

He started from the beginning, and Taehyung once again entered at the same place, blending in his music as if adding milk to coffee.....

This was such a novel experience to Jimin. It was his first time playing piano with an accompaniment, and yet unexpectedly, it sounded so nice.

But this silver lining was quickly overshadowed by the gloom in his heart.

He didn't like this, he didn't like this at all.

Taehyung didn't even remember him anymore, so why should he be the only one who couldn't forget?

This sucked...... He was a dumbass.

Suddenly, he felt endlessly rejoice that he didn't talk to Taehyung on ig, and that he didn't call out the other's name earlier.

Their music continued in harmony, but Jimin's heart was in discord.

He didn't know what he was thinking, but in the next second, he changed to a different song without any prior warning.

Taehyung abruptly stopped playing, blankly stared at Jimin, and after listening for a while, asked uncertainly, "Chopin's......Fantaisie Impromptu?"

Jimin raised an eyebrow, admiring Taehyung's recognition skills, but remembering that the other also learned piano, no longer found it surprising.

This was his self-chosen song for the level-10 exam, and 4 months ago, Jimin had spent every day practicing this dozens of times a day, to the point of playing it perfectly with his eyes closed.

Fantaisie Impromptu began very grandly with the finger movements and arpeggios that spanned and jumped between multiple octaves. It required a high-level of skill to play, and also allowed him to openly vent his current state of mind through each note.

As he played, he cast a glance at Taehyung with eyes full of childish provocation.

Come, can you still keep up if it's this song?

Didn't you forget about me?

I'm also going to pretend that I don't know you! That I've never met you before!

Taehyung raised an eyebrow, adjusted his violin, and started to chase after Jimin's music.

Startled, Jimin began to play faster and faster, as if trying to outrun the other boy.

Taehyung gave up on matching every single note and switched to playing prolonged tones instead. As if a ribbon of silk that continuously wrapped around each metre of wildly jumping notes, the sound of his violin closely followed behind. After a short period of time, both their melodies successfully fused into one.

Jimin's heart was beating like mad, both excited and panic-stricken, but also burdened with a lingering sense of defeat.

How could Taehyung be capable of so many things, how could such a perfect person exist in this world......

But after reaching this point, he couldn't bring himself to remain headstrong because stopping wasn't an option anymore. It was like Taehyung was wrapped around his entire being, and he could only follow the other in continuing forward, forward...... He forgot his surroundings, forgot what he was playing, forgot about everything else as he instinctively sunk into this flawless duet.

But gradually, he came back to himself.

He didn't know if it was the sound of the piano that saved him, or if it was the sound of Taehyung's violin.

He even wanted to shed tears for this tacit understanding they shared, this mutual acknowledgment that didn't require any prior discussion.

He felt like a hang-glider after getting caught in a typhoon...

...and then slowly released back to earth.

Jimin was covered in a thin layer of sweat, his mind buzzing as his fingers trembled from the after effects of this experience.

Taehyung finished off the song in his stead and even added a flourish, swaying his body back and forth and looking as dashing as could be.

After lowering his bow, he was also breathing a bit heavily, and looking at the Jimin beside him whose chest was slighting heaving up and down as well, he lifted the corner of his lips and said, "You're pretty good."

Jimin: "......"

After a stretch of silence, the audience below burst into applause. No matter if these two had "connections" or not, they proved their worth using their own skills and this almost impeccable performance.

Jeon Yeo-Jin and the announcer beside her looked at one another, and as if reaching a consensus, she smiled and walked towards the two boys while clapping, "Not bad and well done."

Yet to everyone's surprise, as soon as Jeon Yeo-Jin finished speaking, Jimin instantly stood up and said to her in a low voice, "I'm sorry Ms. Jeon. I would like to...withdraw from this audition."

-

[A small interlude]

Jimin: "I'm also going to pretend I don't know you!"

Taeyang: "???"
(^ aka ML's older twin brother)

[The 'no communication for 5 years' before still holds true, and the person referred to as Taehyung in this and the next chapter is actually Taehyung's twin Taeyang. Like, there are hints they're not the same person, but it's definitely easy to miss those and get confused. this story is 1v1, so don't go hoping for a 3-some, as fun as that might be lol]

Anyways, I read up and found out that Fantasisie Impromptu shares many harmonal and tonal elements w/ Moonlight Sonata, so MC switching from one to the other wouldn't actually be that jarring. Also, I'm very fond of both songs, and now there's a scientific reason why haha.