Voiceless Cries

Chapter 6 : Duet

The tensed silence that covered the room was oppressive. Once in a while, it was broken by the clinks of utensils against the ceramic plates. Myungsoo had no appetite to eat, but wanting to escape his father’s stern gaze and his mother’s fake smiles, he gulped down all the food with much difficulty. It was rare that they had any dinner like this together and whenever they did, he hated it. It was just not natural. He would have to sit with a straight back and eat with exceptional table manners. It was not that he had bad table manners but it was frustrating to have his parents watching his every move.

When dinner was over, the family rose from their chairs and went out of the dining room, leaving their half-finished food on the table. Myungsoo prepared to leave his parents and strode towards the stairs. But his father’s voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Myungsoo,” his father called. He mentally groaned and turned around. “You haven’t practiced for days.”

“Come on dear, play something for us. I would prefer Chopin,” his mother voiced her thoughts, clasping her two hands together and putting on one of her despicable fake smile. When Myungsoo paused in reluctance, his parents paused as well, waiting patiently.

When he decided that they were not going to let him do otherwise, he slowly traced his steps towards the piano. His mother let out a satisfied smile, knowing she had won the silent war.

Myungsoo opened the fall board carefully and sat stiffly on the stool. Knowing the piece by heart, he hit the notes perfectly, no miss, no unclear notes, no mistakes. There was only one word to describe his playing: perfect. His parents had always described him as a prodigy. True, he was more accomplished than most of others: he had been playing before he could even talk upon his parents’ wishes. But he played monotonously, in other words, insincere. There were thousands of other pianists who could play just as well. But a prodigy embeds feelings into their playing and makes them come to life.

He never knew the meaning of music but perhaps he would someday. Once again, he slept that night, not knowing what he had missed.

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Myungsoo stared at the pile of crumpled tissue papers on Sunggyu’s desk. With nose, red and watery eyes, Sunggyu was clearly not paying attention in class. He was usually the most supportive one especially in math class: spouting out answers even though he did not know them. Now, with his sneezing fits and runny nose to take care of, he neglected the class on whole.

Without Sunggyu’s enthusiastic replies and participation in class, the lesson turned into a dry one. The teacher, having no one to support her speech, directed all her attention on getting back on Myungsoo. She had something –well, everything – against him ever since the incident the previous day.  And so, she was determined to make him suffer.

As she walked around the class, giving her endless speech about the nearing exams, her eyes landed upon Jiyeon. She let out a sly smile. She had an idea. She did not execute her plan until the class was over.

“Park Jiyeon, you were absent yesterday. Am I right?” She did not wait for Jiyeon to respond before continuing, “Kim Myungsoo. Please teach Jiyeon on the lesson she missed yesterday. I will test her at the end of the day to see if you taught her properly or not.”

Feigning the sweetest smile, she looked both at Jiyeon and Myungsoo. Poor Jiyeon, she had been dragged into her devious scheme.  The teacher picked up her things before dismissing the class for their break.

Even in his sickly condition, Sunggyu managed an impish smile and picked up his tissue papers to discard them.

“If you have not realised it yet, the teacher hates you. Well,” He slapped his friend’s stiff back “Good luck.”