Requiem - Michaeng [ENG]

Rediscovering

We spent a good part of the semester in an atmosphere of dispute, but on a day when I was extremely shaken with things at home, she waved the white flag and surprised me with advice and affection. Since then, classes have become the stage for our games, friendly disputes and the expectation of the emergence of a great friendship. I came to see her as a true aunt.

- I missed you last year, but I heard about your vacation and I hope you are better now. - Her eyes were fixed and serious on mine, her words laced with concern as her hands stroked my shoulders.

- I already am and I think that soon I will be able to be your student again. - She smiled from ear to ear. - I came here to settle this actually.

- Miss Myoui? - the secretary interrupted us. - You can come in now.

I nodded and turned to the woman in front of me, the smile still fixed on her lips.

- Well, whatever the news is, come to my office when it's over. I'm with a freshman class and I'm going to take the voice tests. - She winked at me making me laugh. Good to know she wasn't the only one remembering our great beginning.

- I will, I need to make sure you don't find someone like me.

- Not in a thousand years, my daughter.

She kissed my cheek, leaving with a huge smile. I took a deep breath to compose myself and entered the principal's office.

- Mina Myoui!

Oh no, holy shit. I looked up and came face to face with the blonde and white woman who was staring at me sitting on her throne with a sarcastic smile. The same one she had given me a year ago when she declared me expelled from here.

- Hello, Taeyeon - I returned the smile sitting in front of him at the table.

- It's Mrs. Kim for you. I thought that since your last incident you did not intend to return to that institution. In fact, the word is not intending but daring.

I rolled my eyes adjusting myself in the chair, apparently I would have to appeal to finish this as soon as possible.

- And here I am, exchanging words with you. I didn't come to discuss the past, I came to know about the future. I believe you got the memos, I just came to pick up my class schedule.

Her gaze filled with hate. She huffed hard through her nostrils and leaned forward, hands clasped together on the table.

- I don't know what you did to get permission to re-enroll or what you intend returning to this institution. - each word came out slowly through her lips in an unsuccessful attempt at affront. - But know that I'll keep my eyes wide open on you, Myoui. Don't think it will happen again.

We remained for a moment in that intense exchange of glances, the two dark tones mixing and struggling in a battle for power. That was my specialty, did she not remember? Her hand then snuck under the table and came back with some papers.

- Your schedules. I hope you can keep up as the semester is almost half over.

- Do not worry. I know very well what I'm doing. - I got up from the chair, grabbed the sheets on the table and made my way to the door.

- No, you don't know.

I heard her voice in a whisper and withdrew thanking God for having done that as soon as possible. I stopped, exhaling the excess air in my lungs, and quickly scanned my new railing. It's weird, but I was happy to officially be back. It seems like it was the only thing missing to get my life back.

I threw the papers in my pants pocket ready to leave when I remembered Miss Young's invitation. It wouldn't hurt to attend a class today, even in a relaxed way. I made my way to the auditorium remembering that this was her preferred place to expose the students when it came to this damn vocal test. Poor them.

I barely opened the door and could already hear someone singing inside, a beautiful voice, in a way I had never heard it before. I recognized the song upon entering, it was 'Off My Face'. I hummed to the back of the auditorium and felt the weight of my presence already affecting the place. Whispers on one side, curious looks on the other, how long did they intend to do this?

I sat in a chair in the last row and allowed myself to look at the stage. Chaeyoung was there, those white spots so familiar to me on her face. I squinted my eyes and only then realized that the echoing voice belonged to her.

My mouth remained open until the end of the presentation. She was sitting on one of those high benches, her arms timidly placed in her lap, sometimes risking moving following the intensity of her voice. And what a voice. The hoarseness that surfaced momentarily in normal conversation now characterizes her singing and makes the music even more beautiful. It's not possible that everything about that girl was perfect.

I brought my hand to my chest in an abrupt reflex and felt what I feared most. I had all the symptoms, reproduced the same reactions. In my mind a whole movie playing until today. I had felt like this before, only once and after that I forbade myself. I closed myself. I built a thousand walls and strengthened them every day for years. It's not possible that Chaeyoung dropped them so stealthily, maybe she found a secret passage that even I didn't know about. All it took was one song, one damn song for me to realize I was falling head over heels in love with Son.