Strings - Minsung

01

the thought of getting home was now abandoned. a new goal, clear as glass, laid in front of him. his direction has now changed, perpendicular to his previous destination. he began to push his way towards the center of the people doughnut, professionally ignoring the complaints of people he disturbed. although he didn't receive half as many, majority were just as mesmerized as he was.

woah.

he wasn't first row, but through a small opening of people he could clearly make out a boy on a chair. from that close of a distance he could hear the faint acoustics of the guitar in his hands. a standing mike in front of him barely catching the soft tunes over the melodic rap.

minho could only watch with his mouth hung comedically open, somewhat resembling a bunny.

"thank you everyone for listening. once again, that was half moon by dean." everyone applauded loudly as the young boy smiled. "before finishing, i want to play another song. please consider sending me a small donation. i am a college student who plays music instead of studying after all." the crown laughs. it's one of those airy laughs that come out because you're in too good of a mood to actually care. you're happy just because you're too happy to be sad, and no apparent reason to be upset is on visible surface. minho also laughed, taking his phone out and searching up the paypal account written on a small chalkboard in front of the boy. he also took a picture of it for future reference, since it does have his socials on there too.

"before i begin, are there any song requests?" the boy asked hopefully. big, shining eyes scanning the crowd as countless no-name hands went up. some of the people he recognized, but he took a while to pick.

"you." he pointed to a male in the front rows. "never seen you before. would you to do the honor?"

minhos heart pulsed through his ribcage. he could hear it in his ears as the brunette boy continued looking his direction. his eyes dark like the night, shining with city lights. a wide tired smile pumping up his rosy cheeks. they resembled apples.

it was a second, but minho thought their eyes met. however a second was enough, he could feel his head spinning.

"still with you!"

a voice next to minho screamed. the boy the singer was initially talking to, the one who won the choice of a song. minho was never the jealous type, but right now he so wished he could be that person.

they met eyes again when minho looked up. one has caught the other staring.

"a wonderful choice, truly! however i already sang it like three times today" he gave an awkward laugh, the crowd mirroring him again. "any other ideas?"

call him crazy, but minho swore he saw the singer look at him again. he doesnt know where his sudden confidence came from, but he voiced out loudly: "who by jimin!"

People around him turned to look at him, ponder at his rudeness since, who was he again? Ah! A random guy who just a minute ago was selfishly pushing everyone and creating havoc. The crowd was displeased, however the boy with the guitar jumped in his seat.

"I love Jimins songs!" He took out his phone and started typing something out. "Normally, I don't appreciate it when people interrupt conversations. Seriously, have some manners! But you're in luck tonight, because I'm in a devilishly good mood." The boy was a natural speaker, he with ease relieved the crowd of the tension previously created by no other than Minho, but now everyone was smiling again. the world peace was restored. "Who by Jimin. Please encourage me with your applause!"

And the people did as he asked, clapping and screaming. This guy made a random street his own stage. United a fan crowd of underpaid workers, overworked adults, tired students, and —is that someone's grandma???

"We never met but she's all I think at night." Minho was surprised when the aggressive chords of the song started playing. It was like red and blue compared to the previous r&b song that could lull one to sleep. The crowd responded similarly, however soon everyone was captivated by the addictive sound of the singers voice. It was powerful. His voice was deeper than Jimins, giving the song a different feeling, one that Minho was addicted to and dare he say preferred more. He was lost in the performance, the singers eyes closed as he was giving it his all to the song. A vein on his neck prominent as he hit a high note, the audience audibly impressed. This guys was a serious deal, considering he just made the residents of South Korea give a fuck about his low budget endeavors.

The tunes started growing slower, a bit quieter, less powerful, indicating an end of the song. "Who is my heart waiting for~" he extended the last note, a slight change to the original masterpiece of a song. Minho caught a few of those, and he has loved it. The singer turned a foreign song into his own, proving that acoustic guitars, created over 500 years ago, waited all these years for this boy to be born. Minho needed his cover of every song available on Spotify right now. He was obsessed.

"Who by Jimin everyone!" The audience cheered, roared even, for the young boy in the circle. He got up, bowing 90 degrees in each direction of the crowd, the biggest smile on his face. "I wish I could play more, you guys are amazing. The energy is seriously something, I'm so happy!" Minho awed at him, everyone else seemed to have similar feelings as his. He was pleased when he looked around the crowd and saw people entering something on their phones, sounds of money donations going around. "We love music, but the government doesn't. If I don't get a move on, I'm afraid the next concert will be to pay for my bail."

He thanked everyone for listening, and started packing his things, the usual street artist routine. The crowd slowly dissembling, but some came up to him to have a small chat. Minho wished he could be one of those people, close enough to come up to the boy and at least exchange some smiles, a few sentimental sentences. But god forbid he actually manned up.

Stealing another glance at the boy, who seemed to be with his friends as they had hands around his shoulder and playfully hitting each other, and resumed his way back to his apartment. His phone in his hands, searching for the boys socials.