- piano recital :-)
Hwang Eunji POV
Woozi drives me to the venue.
"Are you ready?" He asks, looking at me through the rear-view mirror. He notices me fidgeting with my music and gently places his right hand on my forearm. I hide my surprise at his sudden touch.
"I'm just nervous." I say sheepishly.
He smiles softly. "You'll do great, Jin. And even if you mess up, no one will notice." We hit a red light and he fully faces me. "Okay, I'm going to ask you something. Do you think anyone in the audience is thinking 'Damn, I hope Eunji fails!' or 'I hope she sounds terrible!'" I can't help but laugh. Woozi smiles, his eyes crinkling. "Do you think that?"
I shake my head. "Probably not."
Woozi nods as the light turns green, and he turns back to the road. "Exactly. Keep that in mind when you perform."
I look at my hands. "Thank you, Jihoon."
He doesn't respond for a moment. "Of course, Jinnie."
I frown for a moment. "How come people call me Jinnie and Jin, when my name is Eunji? Is it because of HeeJinic or Hyunjin?"
"It might be because of HeeJinic. Everyone's really used to like... HeeJin at this point, so we all just call you Jin or Jinnie." He glances over at me quickly. "Do you want it changed?"
"Nah, it's good." I smile brightly. "I actually like it."
A current pianist is playing, and I'm shaking.
Another pianist, Kim Dahyun holds my hands gently.
"You always crush the other pianist, Eunji." She says with a smile. I sigh and shake my head. Dahyun rolls her eyes. "Don't lie. You're amazing."
"Thanks, Dahyun-unnie." I exhale, looking down at my hands. Dahyun's pale fingers are only holding my fingertips.
The pianist ahead finishes and a wave of applause sounds.
Dahyun smiles and stands up from her crouching position. "My turn. Wish me luck!"
The current pianist, Min Yoongi walks off of stage with a bright smile. He and Dahyun high five before she walks on stage. He makes his way over to me.
"You're after Dahyun, correct?" He asks before sitting down next to me. I nod. "Well, I'm excited to hear what you're gonna play!"
I smile. "I haven't told anyone."
Yoongi laughs. "A surprise?"
I grin. "Yeah. It's a piece that means a lot to me, and I want it to be special."
"That's sweet." Yoongi says. He looks down at my hands. They started shaking when Dahyun left. "Your fingers. Can I hold them?"
I exhale shakily and nod. Yoongi gently touches my nails, causing me to flinch.
"I'm sorry!" Yoongi says quickly. I smile and shake my head.
We sit in silence as we listen Dahyun play- a self composed piece called Feel Special.
I then groan out of nowhere. "I'm the last pianist to play!"
"Then you get the honor of ending the whole thing." Yoongi says. "Stop sweating it, Eunji-ah." He pats my head softly.
Out of all the pianists Mrs. Kwon teaches, I am the youngest at 16. She teaches advanced pianist.
"How's school?" Yoongi asks. I shrug.
"It's been better." I look up at him slightly. "Did you hear about the JYP High Stalker Scandal?"
Yoongi nods. "Two kids were getting stalked by a girl who was obsessed with them, right? Then one of them almost died because she tried to murder them?"
I stop myself from cringing and shaking even more from the trauma. "Yeah." I smile. "That happened to my boyfriend and I."
Yoongi's jaw drops. "Are you okay? Is Heeseung okay?"
I sigh. "We are. But Heeseung lost all his fucking memory of me."
"He doesn't remember you? But he remembers everyone else?" His eyebrows furrow when I nod. He's quiet for a moment before asking: "Can I hug you?"
I nod and he gently hugs me.
Dahyun finishes, and a loud applause follows. She comes backstage with a wide smile. Yoongi and I break the hug and I stand up, clutching my piano music.
"You go, Eunji-ah!" She whispers, then wraps me in a tight hug. I nod a little stiff, before stepping out on stage.
It's bright out. I can't see anyone in the audience, simply outlines.
"Now, we'll have Ms. Hwang Eunji, playing Debussy's Arabesque No. 1." Mrs. Kwon announces.
I bow and sit at the piano, placing my sheet music on the stand.
I find my first note, then begin playing.
This piece means the world to me.
When Heeseung and I met, he played this for me. I've been wanting to play this ever since.
Pouring in all my emotion into it, I suddenly am brought to tears.
It's like in the movies, where the main character's doing something crazy and they have a memory hit of everything they did with their lover.
That's what's happening to me.
I chew on my bottom lip to stop myself from crying.
After weeks of denying my tears and thoughts, it wants to come out now.
I finish off strong, letting my hands sit on the keys for a few seconds before standing up and bowing.
A huge wave of applause nearly causes me to fall over.
The other pianists come and join me, Dahyun and Yoongi at my side. We bow together before I walk off stage.
"You played beautifully!" Dahyun exclaims. "I almost cried!"
"She did cry." Yoongi corrects. I smile.
"Thanks, guys." I bow and walk out from backstage.
Changbin tackles me. "Eunji-ah!" He yells, and Minho slaps him to shut him up.
"Guys!" I laugh, embracing the hug. "I haven't seen you in forever!"
Seungmin smiles. "You were always either asleep or just... not really feeling well."
I smile lamely. "Sorry."
Chan shakes his head. "We're sorry for not doing anything."
Hyunjin pats Changbin's back. "We're heading to lunch. You coming?"
I roll my eyes. "Duh. I'm starving."
I get quick congratulations from SEVENTEEN and ENHYPEN, before they quickly follow Stray Kids.
Heeseung slinks behind them.
"What did you think?" I ask him.
"You're an amazing piano player." He states. I nod in thanks.
"Oh shit, I forgot my music up on the piano." I turn around quickly. "Want to come with me?"
"Sure," Heeseung says with a smile. We walk backstage and back onto stage.
It's completely empty.
I walk over to the stand to grab my music, before Heeseung grabs my hand.
I flinch.
"Oh- I'm sorry." Heeseung stutters as I turn to face him.
I smile. "It's fine. Is everything okay?"
Hee nods slowly. "You played Debussy's Arabesque No. 1."
"Yeah!" I smile and shuffle closer to him a little. "Did you like it?"
"It's the piece that I played for you when we met." He says.
I freeze.
"Excuse me?" I ask. It comes out nearly a whisper. I inhale, looking at the 6 foot tall boy. "You remember when we met?"
Heeseung shakes his head, and my heart drops.
"No, Eunji-ah." He says, moving his hands to my waist.
What?
"I remember everything." He whispers, searching my eyes.
"What?" I repeat out loud. I feel my lips tug into a smile. "You... remember me?"
Heeseung pulls me closer. "I'm so sorry, my Eunji."
"You're not joking, right?" I whisper.
He smiles. "I'm not."
He stares into my eyes.
Tears crowd. "I missed you, Heeseung," I choke.
"I missed you too, Eunnie." He responds, tears falling from his eyes as he smiles.
He pulls me into a kiss.
Again, I'm pulled into another memory loop.
We had our first kiss at the piano.
Again, we have our 'first' kiss at the piano.
When we pull away, he smiles. "I love you, Eunnie." He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. "You're my piano girl."
fin.
____________