𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 ˢᵛᵗ

thirty two ♬

The month of May arrived silently, bringing the strange phase between the end of spring and the beginning of summer. The flowers were still in full bloom, yet the days were getting longer and hotter as the weeks passed.

I had begun my piano lessons with Jihoon, and it was safe to say that things were not going swimmingly. At first, I picked up on the chords quickly and could play simple tunes with ease. But as the lessons progressed and got harder, my ability to process the new information failed me.

"Ahh!" I slammed my hands down on the keys, frustrated from continuously messing up. "Nothing's working! I'll never be able to play this damn thing!"

"Taking your aggression out on an inanimate object isn't going to help you either," Jihoon calmly said, getting up from his seat and walking around to stand behind me. "May I?"

I nodded and he leaned forwards, gently placing is hands on top of mine. He guided my hands and together, we successfully played the first page of the sheet music.

"You make it seem so easy," I complained, as Jihoon returned back to his seat. "How do you do it?"

"Well," A pensive look appeared on his face. "Other than years of practice, there was one good piece of advice that my teacher used to tell me that changed my views on learning how to play instruments."

"What was that?" I perked my head up, his comment piquing my interest.

"Most people believe that in order to play music well, you must have full control. But in the fruitless endeavour of trying to dominate the instrument, it ends up overpowering you instead - which is why many learners don't get far. My teacher told me to treat the instrument as my equal; to work with it rather than against it."

"That's easier said than done," I sighed, closing my eyes in dissatisfaction.

"Let's call it a day, okay?" Jihoon comfortingly patted my shoulder, leading me out of the studio. "We'll go over this song next time - and I promise it'll go smoother. Don't beat yourself up over it."

I waved goodbye and headed out. My phone was pinging with notifications so I stopped to check what was going on.

the lunchables 🥪

kwan
Riii when are you getting here???
im starvinggg
need to eat
sent 11:56

sleepyhead
dude chill out
I'm sure she is on her way
sent 11:56

kwan
there's no time to chill Choi Hansol
there's delicious jjajjangmyeon on the line
sent 11:57

seokminnie
Seungkwan I will kill you if you eat anything before she comes
sent 11:58

kwan
oml we get it
you're in love with her
just leave my noodles out of it
sent 11:58

me
woah woah woah
I'm here dw
we can eat now
sent 12:00

I walked through the canteen doors and was immediately grabbed by a hungry Seungkwan.

"You always take forever!" He whined, dragging me to our usual table. "Sometimes I question why I accepted you to eat lunch with us."

"Seungkwan!" Vernon wore a shocked expression, eyes widening as he looked up from his seat at him. "You can't say things like that!"

"Yeah that's not very nice!" Seokmin added.

"Can and will," Seungkwan retorted.