For Hye-won, the rest of the concert passed in a daze. She couldn't honestly have said if there had been brass, wind, string, or percussion players on stage or even if there had been more pianists. It was just colour and sound with no meaning. Her mind was away in a space of its own making - hearing again the frightening, technical mastery of the West Wind and the sincere sensuality of the Intermezzo, seeing Seon-jae's elegantly-clad body, as he moved with smooth confidence, from instrument, to front of stage, and back again. She heard his voice in her head - Hye-wona, this is for you - and saw his stunning smiles for the audience. It was as though she knew him but she didn't know him, as though his performance persona was everything she knew of him but with a mysterious something added - charisma, charm, confidence - all quintessentially the same characteristic - the magical genius that was so often spoken of but rarely seen.
When the final performer concluded, all of the performers - first and second halves - returned on stage and were presented with a parchment - commemorating their participation in the Gala Performance Event - and a single, long-stemmed, red rose. The MC extolled the virtues of all the players and the obvious excellence of the training that they received from the university, then she thanked all who had witnessed such an event and wished everyone a pleasant evening.
The audience began to move towards the exits but Hye-won didn't dare move, unsure that her legs would bear her weight, just yet. She became aware that Ciara was speaking to her and turned - for the first time since Seon-jae had played - to see her friend looking at her, with an expression of concern.
'Hye-won, are you ok? You look very pale - almost as though you were going to faint.'
In-seo also looked worried, as he touched Hye-won's arm and asked her if she felt unwell. She answered them both with a shaky smile and told them she was just over-heated. She did suggest that they let the audience thin out a little before standing to move and they could clearly see that she felt that this would give her time to recover and happily agreed.
As they sat, it was impossible not to mention the performance. Ciara enthused that she had never heard playing like it: 'when he played it for us on the upright, I knew that it was special but tonight, there was a primal power that gripped me from first note to last.'
In-seo agreed: 'that piece is terrifying - even just to read off the page, it is so difficult - but Seon-jae was so technically perfect, I couldn't believe my ears. Dieter kept saying while the standing ovation was going on - oh my God, oh my God - and I know what he meant. He couldn't believe the evidence of his own ears.'
Ciara added: 'and the Intermezzo - a massive tear-jerker right there for his love. I really felt like bawling my eyes out, so I don't know how you stood it so calmly.'
'Was I calm? I hardly remember. And afterwards, Richter himself could have come back to life and taken to the stage and I would hardly have noticed.'
The other 2 laughed, though In-seo muttered: 'I think he already did,' and Hye-won knew what he meant.
A few minutes later took them from their seats to the foyer and Hye-won felt revived from the change of scene and the fresher air. Various members of the audience were coming to speak to Professor Jo and there was quite a lot of noise and activity around them. As the performers began to emerge from back-stage - some having changed out of their performance clothes and some not - there were smatterings of applause from family members and teachers and small groups of well-wishers, hugging and congratulating the young musicians. Suddenly, a strident call of bravo rang out loudly, followed by another and another and a burst of clapping began to take hold of the assembled group in the foyer. Curiosity as to the cause was quickly satisfied, as Hye-won saw a large group of members of the audience gathering in one area and realised that the centre of the group was actually Seon-jae being asked to consent to selfies and give autographs. Audience members wanted to tell him how much they had enjoyed his performance and shake his hand.
Hye-won immediately turned to In-seo: 'In-seo, you have to rescue him,' and she didn't need to ask twice. Taking Dieter and the professor with him, the 3 walked a determined path towards Seon-jae and none too politely, shepherded him, with the accosting group following, towards the door of the venue, In-seo looking back once over his shoulder. Ciara turned to Hye-won: 'I told In-seo that I have organised a little after-concert surprise and where it is going to be so I'm sure that's where they are going now.'
Hye-won looked amused: 'anything to do with the whispers between you and Jonas as we left the bar earlier?'
'You really don't miss much, do you?'
They laughed, as they also moved towards the exit.
---
Jonas had set up a table in a side room for the group with bottles of champagne on ice and platters of canapes and finger food on the side. By the time Ciara and Hye-won arrived, the bar, which earlier had been relatively peaceful, was packed to capacity and buzzing with Saturday night revelry. Jonas was delighted to see them: 'I thought you'd never get here - the guest of honour arrived at least 10 minutes ago. Come this way.'
He led them through the noisy bar towards the side-room. He called loudly from the door: 'ahem - beautiful ladies present,' and gave an over-the-top bow to usher Ciara and Hye-won into the room, then proceeded to pop a bottle of champagne and fill glasses for everyone. He called for a toast, 'to all those who live to entertain,' and then swept out of the room with an effusive: 'enjoy yourselves.'
Hye-won had hardly had time to draw breath since leaving the venue, arriving at the bar and entering the room. Now she stood for a moment to steady herself and in the sparkling lights of the room, her eyes searched out Seon-jae. When she found him, she saw that he was studying her with an intensity in his eyes that cancelled the space between them and made the noise and chatter around them fall away. She stood and gazed at him and in that gaze, she told him how magnificently he had played, how happy she had been to see how the audience responded, how touched by the encore. He took all that she told him and understood it and then he allowed his eyes to very slowly trace all over her, from her pinned-hair, down along her slim shoulders, the bias-cut dress hugging her figure, the bare calves and sexy heels, then just as slowly, back upwards to rest on her face.
She felt his look like a smouldering fire moving inside her and when, with glass in hand, he stepped out from behind the table and, eyes still on hers, began to walk towards her, she felt the fire grow. When he stopped just in front of her, she could see close-up how devastatingly handsome he was, how well the suit fit him and how much the colour black suited his skin tone but more than that, she could see that he was entranced by her appearance and struggling to keep his emotions in check. It was this more than anything that freed her from the spell and she moved towards him and clinked her glass to his: 'what a performance - bravo Seon-jaea.'
He clinked in return and they both took a sip, then he took both her glass and his and placed them on the table behind them. She smiled, unsure what he planned, then he turned to her and slowly, enclosed her in his arms and held her there, in complete seclusion from the world or anyone else in it.
---
For the rest of the party, the couple sat hand-in-hand as the conversation ranged around them. Ciara had fun recounting how the audience had erupted after the West Wind and the antics of the MC but made the most of the collective sigh, when Seon-jae had dedicated his encore to his love.
'Did you know that you would have to play an encore like that?'
'Of course not, there weren't supposed to be any encores.'
'So how on earth...?'
Seon-jae and Hye-won met each other's eyes in a meaningful look that made everyone realise that this was something of significance between them, though not something they were willing to share.
In-seo told the tale of the rescue, how some of the audience had followed them outdoors - still asking for photographs and autographs - so they had to hop in a taxi to get away.
'That was how you all arrived here so quickly. Hye-won and I were in heels, so it took us longer.'
Seon-jae looked to Hye-won's feet, as though the thought had never occurred to him and he met her eyes with concern. Her expression was - I'm fine, my feet are fine - and he caressed her hand with his thumb, as he leaned to her ear: 'and those feet look so sexy tonight - I'll kiss it all better later - promise,' Hye-won's head not turning towards him but her expression, as she clamped her lips together, betraying the effects of his provocative whispers.
Dieter wanted to know about the bar and the idea for the after-party and Ciara told again of her long relationship with Jonas from music circles: 'believe it or not, he is a marvellous violin player who left to join the circus - you could say - and opened this bar with a friend.'
She explained how she and Hye-won had come by earlier and been treated like royalty, admitting that part of the reason for that was so the surprise after-party would be - in her own words - less a shock and more a surprise - which brought a titter from Hye-won. The whisper to Jonas when they left was that she would text him when the concert was over: 'though of course, I hadn't planned on Mr. Superstar over here picking up a roomful of troublesome fans in the meantime, which sort of telescoped the ending a bit but never mind, we are all here now - prost - cheers!'
---
All raised their glasses again and the chat continued around the table. It gave Seon-jae and Hye-won a private moment and they were soon lost in their own world. Seon-jae ran his eye over Hye-won again: 'love, you knocked my eyes out of my head when you walked in here. Seriously,' he indicated the hair, the ear-rings, the shoulders, the dress, 'stunning, really, so beautiful.'
'Thank you darling. I'm so happy you like it,' she paused to give a quick glance around but everyone was engaged in listening to Ciara telling a story and oblivious to the pair: 'there might be a hidden secret...it's all my gift to you for your special night.'
She felt abashed when she spoke the words - like a pure thought became a cliche when spoken - but he raised her chin with his finger and looked hungrily into her eyes: 'and there has never been a more beautiful gift.'
He touched his lips to hers in the briefest of kisses - a promise for later - that made her heart sing.
'And may I say, you look beyond handsome, hardly human tonight? Maybe you played really badly and the audience were just clapping because you look so good - did you ever think of that?'
He laughed with her but dropped his mouth closer to her ear: 'be careful, my dear, or that gift may get unwrapped, sooner than you think.'
She gasped at his audacity but he met her expression with raised eye-brows and a saucy grin that made her believe him.
'Lee Seon-jae, you have a filthy mind.'
'And don't you forget it, my darling,' he responded with a steely tone, that pushed her pulse up and drew a bloom in her cheeks.
---
As the night drew on, the conversation around the table centred more and more on music - the music of the concert they had just attended and the music that they would perform in their own concerts.
Dieter told the group that while the highlight of everyone's evening was obviously the bombastic brilliance of Seon-jae's playing of West Wind : 'with respect, Seon-jae, it was the contrast of the madness of the West Wind with the beauty of the Intermezzo that was the stand-out moment for me - to have a player show such diversity and range was extraordinary and honestly, unforgettable.'
In-seo agreed: 'all through the night, I was thinking something similar. It was the mix of instruments, styles, interpretations that made the concert so special.'
They continued to talk over ways that they could harness the talents and interests within their group to their advantage and over discussions of this kind, the night got late and all got tired. They thanked Jonas for a wonderful night and moved to the street. When Hye-won tried to talk to Ciara about sharing the cost of the party, the Irish girl just laughed at her: 'babe, it's not happening, so stop. Anyway, Jonas owes me a few favours, so he won't be hard on me.'
Hye-won thanked her again: 'for everything, coming to the flat, the apéritifs, the afters, everything. I felt like Cinderella - in a good way.'
Ciara laughed and kissed her cheek, 'time to get your Prince home, Cinders,' and telling her she would call her later in the week to set up a practice, hopped in a taxi, waving as she left. In-seo and Dieter had decided to walk towards In-seo's hotel and as they said their goodbyes, In-seo shook Seon-jae's hand, solemnly: 'I don't know why but I felt so proud of you tonight - it's not like I had anything to do with how well you played. But you really did play magnificently - well done, Seon-jae.'
As the 2 made their way down the street, Hye-won watched them leave: 'he's right, Seon-jae. You were magnificent - I'm sure your mother was very proud.'
Seon-jae looked very touched but as the taxi stopped just then, only had time to whisper: 'thank you, love,' before they were moving towards home.