The Gimbap Project

Chapter 31 Piano

The soothing melody of the piano echoed softly through Hanil's music room as Hae-in let her fingers glide gracefully across the keys. Each note seemed to carry away her tension, leaving behind a faint semblance of peace she desperately needed.

She rarely played anymore – certainly not when her mother was home – but right now, it felt like the only way to quiet her thoughts.

While she immersed herself in the music, a certain star athlete strolled down the corridor of the co-curricular activity wing, lined with tacky notice boards and alive with a chaotic symphony of overlapping sounds.

With his bag slung across his chest, Baek Hyun Woo passed the various rooms, his gaze flickering through the windows in his attempt to spot Hae-in. As he passed, he exchanged a few absentminded greetings with his peers, for his mind was elsewhere.

Pil-sook said Hae-in might be in the music room.

He could only hope he would find her there.

He had to see her.

When he reached the doorway of the music room, the faint tinkling of piano keys met his ears. Pausing in his steps, Hyun Woo peered through the small glass pane and relaxed when he spotted her silhouette hunched slightly over the piano.

Hyun Woo's breath hitched.

She looked...ethereal.

Quietly, he cracked the door open just enough to slip inside, staying by the doorway. Not wanting to interrupt her, he leaned against the wall, simply watching and waiting.

He recognised the song.

It was Pietro Mascagni.

More specifically, Cavalleria rusticana: Intermezzo.

Hae-in once told him that Pietro Mascagni wrote the song to convey the sentimental feelings of love, melancholy, romance, and tenderness when he saw the song on her MP3.

Transfixed, his eyes grazed over her as her slender fingers danced over the keys, drawing out the notes with precision and emotion. Completely absorbed in her music, there was a certain vulnerability in her posture, a rawness that wasn't usually visible in the confident, poised Hong Hae-in.

Hyun Woo found himself mesmerised, his admiration for her deepening with each passing second.

Then, as the last note faded into the air, she stopped.

For a moment, the world seemed to hold its breath with her. Her hands hovered over the keys before she slowly lifted them and let them rest in her lap.

Hyun Woo took that as his cue and stepped fully into the room, closing the door softly behind him.

The gentle click startled Hae-in out of her trance, her head snapping up to see who had entered. Her shoulders relaxed slightly when she saw it was him, though the subtle tension in her posture remained.

Neither knew what they should say or do.

Hae-in shifted on the bench, her gaze dropping momentarily. She knew this awkwardness was her doing.

Truthfully, her mind had been a jumbled mess after talking to Mr Jin and it had left her too frazzled to face Hyun Woo properly, not with the knowledge of her mother's bothersome meddling. Out of habit, she'd pulled away, even though he wasn't the source of her frustration.

She simply needed space.

But now that he was here, she knew it was time to talk.

"Hey," Hyun Woo greeted awkwardly, stopping a respectful distance from her.