Paganini's Puppet | Ryeji

Manhattan Arts High School

"Wow, she is incredible!"

"Shhhhh!"

"Oh my, her posture is perfect."

"Her facial expression is on point."

"Her bow technique is immaculate! Look at the fluidity of her arm!"

"Holy! She nailed the cadenza!"

"SHHH!!"

"The final run is coming up..."

"PERFECT!"

"Bravo!!!"

*CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP*

Ryujin POV
Wow.

She nailed the performance.

A standing ovation from the crowd.

Surely, the judges will give her 1st prize. The other contestants this year are far from her level.

I leaned in to take a closer look at her face.

Her cat eyes.

They're gorgeous.

We made eye contact for a second before she swiftly broke it off.

Who are you?

——————————————————————

"OH MY GOD!!!! MOM! I GOT INTO JULLIARD PRE-COLLEGE!!!!!" I screamed as I opened my acceptance letter.

"That's great sweetheart!!"

"I can't believe it! Mom! Do you know what this means?! I may actually be able to pursue a professional career in solo performance!"

"That's wonderful dear. But...how much is the tuition going to cost? We...we still haven't paid this month's rent."

"Mom. It's okay!! We can apply for financial aid. Oh, got to go! The first day of school is starting and I don't plan on being late. Bye mom, love you!"

"Oh, have a good day in school Ryujinnie!"

————————————————————————

I paced down the stairs of our run-down apartment. It was just my mom and I living here. My shit-face of a father left us to marry a rich CEO of an investment banking firm.

While he was enjoying his life in the upper east side of Manhattan, we were struggling to pay the rent of our apartment in downtown Bronx.

I started learning the cello when I was five years old, back when my father was still around. I begged him to sign me up for lessons after listening to Jacqueline du Pre's masterful interpretation of Elgar's cello concerto in E minor. He rented me a cello and paid for my weekly lessons, which weren't too expensive considering I was just starting out.

Turns out, I had a natural gift for the instrument. I found out I had perfect pitch after a year of practicing. My teacher was amazed at the rate of my progress as after only two years, I took on my first ever solo concerto. Three years later, I was entering into concerto competitions against much older students. I joined my local youth orchestra and tried to learn as much as I could through online videos and masterclasses in my free time.