mellifluous

15 / mellifluous

"Love is the harmony of two souls singing together."
- Gregory J. P. Fidel

Dedication

[ Radicallama ] because you are very supportive

• • • •

After an hour of waiting, the emcee spoke again, "The judges have made their decision. Now it's time for prize giving!"

The room was quiet when the emcee said, "Second runner up goes to..."

"... Samantha Tan!" The auditorium was filled with cheers.

Andrew took in a deep breath. It wasn't her. It wasn't her. Samantha came up on stage to collect her prize. She was smiling from ear to ear even though she was only third place.

"First runner up goes to..."

He crossed my fingers and shut my eyes.

"Mark Lee!"

It wasn't her. It wasn't her.

After Mark collected his prize, the emcee said in his most mysterious voice, "And first place goes to..."

"Tiana Grace. Tiana Grace. Tiana Grace. Tiana Grace." Andrew muttered under my breath. She sang so beautifully. How could she not win first place?

"Gloria Alvord!"

The auditorium was filled with cheers. Tiana should have won that one. Tiana should have won. Or maybe he was just being bias.

• • • •

"Tiana?"

Andrew saw her on the way out, standing near one of the windows. She had her arms around her stomach. She was crying.

He walked towards her. "괜찮아?"

She sniffed and looked at him for a while, drinking in the fact that she was staring at the guy who she'd been talking to for two weeks. "Pardon?"

"괜찮아?"

Tiana frowned, and Andrew smiled slightly. Her eyebrows furrowed in the cutest way. "Andrew? Is that... Korean? And... are you Asian?"

To anybody who would've asked that question, Andrew would've answered with sarcasm, 'I have squinty eyes, for goodness sake, of course I'm Asian!'

But, instead of a mean snarl, Andrew replied, "Yeah, I'm Asian. Are you surprised?"

"No." Tiana shook her head. "I've never wondered about what you would look like."

Andrew gave her a warm smile.

"What were you saying just now?"

"I was asking if you were okay."

"I'm fine." She lied.

"아니." Andrew moved closer. "That's 'no' in Korean."

She stayed quiet for a while. "아니. I mean, no. No, I'm not okay. I feel terrible, actually."

"I understand."

They stayed silent for a while, awkwardly staring at their feet until Andrew spoke up.

"I heard you sing."

"You did?" She looked away from him. Andrew could see tears forming in her eyes. "I lost. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Your voice was- how do you say it - mellifluous."

At those words, Tiana started crying, which made his heart hurt more than it already did. He hesitated before putting his arm around her shoulder. Her body was warm against his. He held her for a while, feeling her shoulders shake as she sobbed. They stood there for a while, until Tiana quietened down.

"Do you mean it?" she finally asked.

"Yup. You tried your best."

"My best wasn't good enough. I still lost." She sniffed.

"Hey, you only had two weeks of training."

"So was it my fault or my trainer's?"

"Hey!"

Tiana gave him a weak smile, and Andrew knew everything was going to be okay.

"Well, I guess your popularity is gonna go downhill from here on out." He smiled.

"Idiot," Tiana whacked his arm.

"Ow," Andrew pouted, faking hurt.

"Wimp." She walked past him and walked out the door. "By the way, you look nothing like Andrew Garfield."

Andrew ran after her, a crazy grin plastered on his face. "You know you love me."

"Whatever!" Tiana waved him off.

Mellifluous, he whispered under his breath. That was the perfect word to describe his star pupil's voice. He was glad he had met her. Even though she didn't win, she was still his 자기야.

Mellifluous... he whispered again. Then he laughed and went off to find Tiana.

• • • •

괜찮아 (gwaenchanh-a) - Are you okay?
아니 (ani) - No.