swipe 4 orchestra layout above ^
"Chenle! Is it that hard to just get it and go?!" Renjun shouts. His first period had end 3 minutes ago and his next period starts... in 1 minute.
On a normal day, Renjun would never be experiencing time issues like these. No, at this time, he would be sitting in his seat—first to the left of the conductor, aka the seat of the concertmaster—making small talk with Ms. Bae while setting up his notes and do singing his bow.
Ms. Bae would've approached him first. Probably ask him about the drive to school and the typical musician small talk. They talk comfortably as peers, and Renjun internally deems superiority over the rest of orchestra because Ms. Bae would never ask any of them about the weather.
Unfortunately, due to unexpected delay, getting to second period on time has not proven to be the simple task it usually presents itself as—and Renjun will not make it to tea time with Ms. Bae.
The backing of Renjun's schedule can be attributed to multiple different factors:
1. Orchestra is on floor 4—two floors above Renjun's first period.
2. According to the morning announcements, the elevator is out of order. Why? A group of students spammed the 'open doors' and 'close doors' buttons until the doors got jammed.
3. Renjun isn't even on the 2nd floor right now. He is on the 0th because Chenle—his best friend, not by choice just forced together at a young age and it was too late to back out now—was late that morning so he had to leave his clarinet in his car because he wasn't early enough to put it in the music room but also didn't want to carry it around.
4. Chenle can't find the damn clarinet.
Renjun storms his way to Chenle's car, demanding an explanation for the hold up. He finds Chenle crawling around his car like a rat scouring for food scraps.
"Ge, I can't find it," Chenle announces, pulling Renjun out of his train of thoughts (read as: unnecessary exposition).
"How do you lose a whole clarinet in your car!" Renjun snaps. He pushes Chenle out of the car and begins to search for the instrument himself.
"Oh my god... Chenle are you literally dumb it was right here," Renjun pulls the large case out from under the backseat. Chenle scratches the back of his head sheepishly, laughing as a poor attempt to alleviate the situation.
Renjun doesn't find it funny. Not one bit.
Actually, he wants to rip his hair out because that's the punishment he deserves for being so stupid. For ever thinking it was a good idea to accompany Chenle to the car in the first place.
But he bites his tongue and stays silent becaue killing Chenle will only further set back his schedule.
Two minutes have already passed since the start of second period and there is no way that they would be able to make it up four flights of stairs before they pass the threshold of unacceptably late, so Renjun saves everyone in orchestra the uncomfortable experience of hearing his sweaty panting and walks at a reasonable pace.
It was an unspoken rule that as concertmaster, he needed to be within the first three players to arrive, to prove he was responsible and devoted or whatever.
The first year he took up the esteemed position, he always stressed a perfect arrival every day. He was a sophomore back then.
Two years have passed and Renjun has come to accept the fact that that some students just have a closer first period than him. Still, he makes an effort to arrive within the first half of players.
But of course Chenle wouldn't know anything about that. People like him—clarinet players—sit at the back of the windwood section.
If Renjun sat in the back, this wouldn't even be a problem. Ms. Bae wouldn't even notice the empty seat so really, all this can be blamed on Renjun's immense musical talent.
Exactly. Chenle cannot be blamed for the suffocatingly high expectations placed on Renjun.
Deep breaths in and out. They walk in silence. Renjun doesn't dare to speak because once he lets the first words slip, a siphoning effect occurs and he won't be able to stop himself from expressing his anger.
Chenle whines about the steep climb. Renjun wants to scream at him to shut up, but he but silently feels the burn in his glutes.
Alas, Renjun sees the glint of the metal auditorium doors up in the distance. His booty cheeks are twitching asf, but he begins to speedwalk in attempt to save any minute he can.
Renjun hears Chenle make a comment about how he's walking gay but he doesn't care. He can't afford to anger Ms. Bae.
The sound of roaring instruments can be heard through the closed steel doors and prays that Ms. Bae won't hear his entrance.
Since Renjun is a child blessed by God, the doors don't cooperate with him because of course they don't. He uses his whole body weight to push them open but they don't relent... until they do. The doors slam open with a resounding pop of unoiled joints, and Renjun almost falls over.
The music slows to a halt as Renjun rushes to first chair. He hears Chenle's footsteps a few rows behind him and wishes he wasn't such a child prodigy.
Ms. Bae stays silent while Renjun fumbles out his bow and hurriedly turns the screw to tighten the hairs. He practices for hours everyday so obviously his bow isn't rosined enough and neither is his instrument tuned. He adjusts the chin rest into place and swiftly brushes through his strings, fine tuning them by his perfect pitch.
"Stay after class," is all Ms. Bae says when he finally assumes starting position with the rest of his symphony. Then she prompts them to play.
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
Ms. Bae raises her arms. Baton in her right hand, she makes a sudden striking motion prompting everyone to play a short, sharp note, before she waves her hands in a fluid pattern, woodwinds mimicking texture of her movements. Different instruments depicted the many voices of the symphony, telling a story through its composition.
Another strike of the baton unites all the string instrumenta under one commom pitch, and first violin begin to assist the woodwinds in a dainty tune of staccato.
Renjun can't sense the flow of the passing time. He feels the music guide him through the movements, but he can't tell if he sat down just a few moments ago or half an hour ago.
His arms ache from the endless strokes lol and he's dying for the next break, but he focuses on the hum of the music in his jaw where he's clenching down on the violin.
The different sections come and go in a rippling effect until they reach the climax. Renjun feels as though he's been carried into another dimension. The full force of the symphony lifts him up into a state of higher being, while the low vibrations of the bass ground him in reality.
The entire piece was forty minutes long, and they play with no interruption. Orchestra has been practicing this symphony for many weeks already, and they were in the stage of polishing the piece for their concert that was just a few days away.
Renjun takes his time packing up, waiting for Ms. Bae to get through all student questions. He stands up and bows to her when she finally looks to him.
"10 minutes late today Renjun-ssi." She says.
"I uhm, so you see, Chenle-" Renjun fumbles to explain himself.
"I don't need an explanation. This is the first time this has happened in the three years you've been in orchestra. As concertmaster, I trust that you are a responsible student," Ms. Bae says.
Renjun lets out a sigh of relief.
"...But with the concert so close, I can't let this slide. Tell Chenle he'll be joining you after school in detention for the rest of the week."
She smiles and tells him to have a good say before turning around to attend to more students. Renjun makes his way to the clarinet section to meet Chenle.
"Lele," he tiredly says. "You got us both detention for the whole fucking week!" he grips the younger by the shoulders and vigorously shakes poor Chenle.
"How did she even see me," Chenle complains.
"Your fat ass knocked all the rows around" Renjun sneered.
"Thanks queen 😗"