[ 외로운 소리 ] when a mysterious pianist moves to a tiny city by the ocean side to play with a former violinist.
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After the tragic death of her accompanist, Kim Yeseo, Cha Eun byul vows to never play the violin ever again. However, that all changes aft...
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The night sky was clear and oddly, Eun byul could see the stars twinkle even in the city. She stood at the edge of a large building, looking below, and saw cars honk and race past each other. A sudden overwhelming force pushed her off the building and the force of gravity sent Eun byul down. She closed her eyes as tears leaked down her cheeks and disappeared into the air. But before she hit the ground a swarm of cherry blossom petals caught her like a trapeze net. Death did not await her.
**
The sun peered through the window as Eun byul stretched her arms and rubbed her teary eyes after encountering her strange dream. She found herself on a bed with clean white sheets and fluffy pillows.
"Where am I?" She yawned.
A sharp pain struck her head and she rubbed it furiously, realizing she had drank countless cans of beer and smoked cigarettes till the early morning. However, her current location was still a mystery. Climbing out of the bed, she walked to the bathroom and stared at her reflection.
Her face was sickly pale and her dark circles made her look like she was a corpse. No color on her cheeks or lips. She quickly washed up and found her phone on a nightstand next to the bed. As the device's light went on, an array of hundreds of messages flooded her phone screen, her most recent message from Jongseong.
Jongseong: Hey, you probably don't remember much from last night, but I found you drunk and alone last night. I took you back to the hotel the swim team is staying at right now. You slept in my room and I went with the other guys. Don't worry.
Jongseong: Also, I'm at swim practice right now, preparing for the nationalsemifinals. The race is tomorrow at the Seoul Olympic Swimming Pool. Anyways, I left some money which should be enough for a taxi cab. Let me know if you need anything.
"Shit," Eun byul muttered, biting her lip and combing through her disheveled hair with stress, "I fucked up again."
She sped-dialed Jongseong which resulted in an immediate voice message. She hung up the phone, grabbed the money, and left the hotel room.
**
Eun byul had the right amount of money to get her a ride back to the apartment complex she was supposed to be staying at. Jongseong was gracious enough and gave her 60,000 won (approx. $60 USD) for the taxi ride. She felt like an absolutely horrible person for troubling both Heeseung and Jongseong.
"God, why am I like this?" she murmured as she made her way to the front door of Heeseung's cousin's apartment. She took a deep breath and pressed the buzzer. The door immediately swung open as she faced Heeseung.
"Heeseung, I'm really sorry I left you like that. I shouldn't have scared you and disappeared. We really should've been practicing for the competition and I should not have let my emotions get to me like that. I understand that you're trying to help me and take big steps into the future. I'm sorry."
Expecting a response, Eun byul did not get one. Instead, she found herself engulfed in a hug. Heeseung stroked her hair gently as they rocked back and forth at the entryway of the apartment.
"Everything is going to be just fine. Now that you've returned we can slowly ease our way into our practice, okay? I'm just happy you made it back safely."
Heeseung led her back into the apartment and to the kitchen. A pot of water was boiling and cups of barely tea rested on the kitchen countertop. Heeseung handed Eun byul the cup of tea and she took the cup.
"You probably didn't eat anything right?" he asked her.
She nodded.
"I'm making some ramen. We'll have to go shopping later since my cousin doesn't have any groceries right now. This girl literally lives off of ramen," he deadpanned, "Anyways, you can go wash up, Eun byul and we'll eat together."
She nodded and left for the bathroom. She turned the shower on and steam began to spread in the room. She let the hot water soak from her head to her toes. Despite the hot water relaxing her body and making her somewhat sleepy, she felt refreshed and cured from her hangover. She washed up quickly and put on a pair of loose grey shorts and an oversized navy blue t-shirt.
Eun byul met Heeseung face to face again as he set a bowl of the steaming, savory, instant noodles in front of her.
"Eat up," he smiled.
"Heeseung, can we talk, please?" Eun byul asked softly, "It's time we had a full conversation about where we're going to go with this competition if we keep hiding things from each other."
