your rhythm - MarkHyuck

- eight

"You're late," an old guy standing beside the door to the backstage said. Irene let out a huff, trying to hold in her anger. "We are but the show hasn't even started just let us in!"

"I'm sorry but you have to come on time, it's the rules. You're late by a minute, you're out!" He fixed his glasses. He was shifting here and there, looking nervous. I stood behind Irene just watching the commotion going on between them.

"What's going on here?" A male came interrupting the argument. The man was wearing a tuxedo and he had his hair slicked back with the strong scent of cologne crawling into my nostrils. "This woman came late,"

I'm guessing he's the boss or some sort.

"Just let her in," he said and I smiled. "Thank you sir," I bowed down to him. "You're welcome Donghyuck,"

The old guy let us in with a dissatisfied look on his face. "What a good way to start the day. Wait here, I'll go check your turn for a moment,"

I sat on a vacant seat and just stare at the people in front of me. There were people around my age getting ready, their fingers were dancing as if they were playing the piano, jumping from one key to another. It wasn't normal for me to stay calm a few hours before my turn but today somewhat felt calm.

As I was looking around, I spot a guy staring at me around 8ft away. He looked oddly familiar, with his mouth and eyebrow pierced. His hair was certainly dark, a very beautiful black I would say. He smiled at me, making all the butterflies swarm into my tummy.

"Got it, you're number 8, right after Vietnam," Irene ran to me and sat down on a chair. "We can sit with the audience while you wait for your turn. We have specialized seats for us at the front row, sounds fun right?" She did little jumps from her seat, feeling a tad bit excited.

"We'll watch every player and come back here when Vietnam is starting," she added.

"Of course, should we go now then?" I got up from my seat and waited for her to do the same thing. I turned around for a quick look only to see that the guy was gone.

____

"They are doing so well," I whispered to Irene. Currently, it was the fifth participant from China, a girl, younger than me by the name of Yuja Wang. "Do you think I can beat her? She's super impressive," I let out a slow huff, playing with the hem of my blazer.

"It's up to the judges, just relax and enjoy, you'll do good," she pats my back and focused on the performance once again.

After a few minutes had passed by, she stood up from the chair and bowed down, indicating that her performance was over. The audience gave her a big clap and when it died down, she went backstage.

A man around his early 30s came out from where Yuja Wang had exited with a microphone in one of his hand. "What a beautiful performance from Ms Yuja Wang. Next, we have a participant from Canada! I present to you, Mark Lee,"

Just by the last two words, I could hear the beating of my heart thumping ever so loudly. It was banging on my bones, screaming it's way to jump out of my body. I was suddenly pulled into a room with soundproof walls. Everything was silent yet so deafening. Why is he here? Didn't he disappear for good? Are the chances for me to win this competition lowering? This can't be happening, right?

Soon a male around my height walked up the stage. He fixed the end of his sleeves as he ambled towards the piano, smiling viciously to the ground. Mark stopped at the middle of the stage and turned towards the audience, giving them a bow. As soon as his body straightened up, his eyes locked with mine and there he is, grinning at me.

He was looking down on me.

The oddly familiar guy from backstage, with eyebrow and mouth piercing, standing on stage to present his country, Canada.

Calming myself down was the only way to keep my mind at peace. It's hard to see him in front of me, showing his perfect skill to everyone from all around the world. The camera man brought the camera closer to Mark and that was when he started playing. It was the same piano piece from a few years ago, raining me with the horrible memories of when I was left all alone on the empty road.

"He's better than Yuja don't you think?" Irene came in closer to me and whispered her question. I tried to get some words out but my mouth keeping myself silent. "But honestly, to compare with your recent practices, I feel like yours is better,"

Is it true or is this one of her ways to make me feel better? Because it wasn't.

"Hey I think we should head to the back," I suggested. I didn't wait for her and made my way towards the entrance to the backstage. "Donghyuck are you okay?" She caught up to me and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah I just need to calm down. I'm getting nervous," I sat down as soon as I was inside the room. There were less people in here compared to the main area. I can still hear the sounds of the piano from where I was, it was sickening to say the least.

This is why I hate being competitive, it gets on my nerve.

Irene sat somewhere else to, I believe, give me some space. I closed my eyes and thought about things that could calm me down. Maybe make up scenarios that I wished to be in even if it was impossible to do so.

Just as I was about to fall asleep, Irene shook me. I opened my eyes and there she is, kneeling on the floor with my hand in her hand. Her grip tightens as she looked up at me. "Donghyuck, you must do your best for later. Everyone out there is cheering for you alright. You did stunning these last few days, and I'm impressed by the improvements you made despite being so indisciplined," she grinned.

Why is she suddenly telling me all this?

"T-thank you," the two words came out of my mouth but it was rather unaware and it sounded confused. "No I just thought this is something I should do as your teacher. Is it weird?" She asked me and I nodded. "Oh okay then," she stood up and brushed her knees.

"Lee Donghyuck!" My name got called out, guess it's my turn now.

Dear god, let me be the champion and win 50 million won today.

"Good luck!" her hands were in a fist as she puts it up to show support to me. I waved my hands and sauntered towards the caller. He was standing next to a door which led towards the stage. "Make sure to bow down before you sit," he reminded me. "Oh and you can go in when the lights right there turns green," he added and left.

I stood there like a mannequin for a quick second and shook my arms and legs to get the nervousness off of me.

"Scared?"

I turned around and saw Mark Lee. "What are you doing here?" Anger started to fill me up, it was the only emotion I could feel and it was unsettling. "Oh just to greet my dear friend," he walked closer and pat my head gently.

"I'll deal with your shit later," I pushed him off and went in through the door when the lights turned green.

I walked on the stage, getting slightly irritated by the silence in the room. The 'X' tape on the stage was where I should stand. I bowed down and went straight to the piano.

I relaxed myself and rested my hand on the keys. Each finger for a key, it will change from time to time but lets focus on the first few notes before we go to the other ones. I took a deep breath and started the performance.

I dived into the symphony, feeling the rhythm of the song and danced along to it. My finger jumped from one key to another key, forming a flow of melody that sounds natural. Every touch I express vary wide range of notes.

It was absolutely divine to play this piano piece. Today was the day I had awaited for as long as I could remember. Forgetting all the thoughts of being brought down by other competitors, I used this chance to show the world my skill and who I really am.