Chasing in the dark

CHAPTER 9

I am standing in front of the piano and wondering how it survived the fire. There is no scratch on it. Nothing!

It's strange. Almost like Mister Han knew Dae-Seong would need it.

Wait, did I just call him by his name?

Dae-Seong... has a nice ring to it. I shake the smile from my face and continue tying the rope around the piano.

How am I going to move this without anyone noticing?

I mean, it can't be that heavy, right?

I wrap the remaining rope around my hands and pull. No movement.

Okay, maybe I just have to put a little more muscle into it. So, I try it again.

Again, no movement. Shit! I back up a little and start weighing my options.

I can get my boys to help me with this, but then I'll have to answer questions about it.

Or... I look around and there it is, a broken skateboard. Okay, I guess that'll have to do.

I decided to use the wheels on the skateboard and put it underneath the makeshift slay I made with the left over debris from the diner.

Not bad, I pat myself on the back. Okay, let's see if this works.

I pull... nothing. Really?!

I pull again and finally before I want to give up, the slay moves.

Yes, victory!

I slowly push the piano down the dark and empty alleway.

Out of breath, I make my way up the hill towards my apartment. I take a quick break. My gaze travels towards the house on the corner.

"We're not friends" his words pop up in my head again. I scoff, lean against the piano and look up into the sky.

The night sky is busy transitioning to dawn. I like to look at the sky sometimes. The different shade of colours would create a masterpiece in the sky, with a few stars adding that extra sparkle to it.

I finally decide to start moving again. If he doesn't want to be my friend, so be it, I also don't want to be his friend.

For some reason I am very disappointed in myself. Why do I care what this guy thinks of me, huh?

I get to my door, open it and push the piano inside. Great, the piano is as big as my entire apartment.

I switch on the light to fully inspect the damage to the instrument. Okay, it's not so bad. Just a few burn marks, a few scrapes here and there. Maybe a new paint job, replace a few keys... I run my fingers over the body of the piano.

"Thanks for surviving"

===

Was I to hard on him? Maybe I should apologize?

No, why should I apologize to him. It's not like I didn't say anything that wasn't true.

He's a gangster. He beats people up and probably sells drugs as well. So why would I apologize to a person like that.

But then on the other hand, he was falsely accused of a crime he didn't commit, just because of his "career choice".

Argh! This is so frustrating. Just forget about this guy Dae-Seong. You have 2 weeks until the recital and you have no piece to perform.

A snap of a finger brings me back to reality. I completely forgot that I was having lunch with So-hee and a few people from our class.

"Sorry, what did you say?" I try to sound interested but my mind is definitely not here right now.