Beyond The Age | kim.th

Chapter 6

[Min Ha Neul's POV]

I walked out of the library then closed the door behind me. The school was quite empty since it was already an hour past after school time. Most students went home already.

As of me, I never directly went home. The house where I lived for almost sixteen years now doesn't feel like home anymore. I don't even have anyone waiting for me to come home anyway.

My mother had passed away due to a car accident on the way home after she finished her show that will be her last ever. I was in my last year of middle school back then. My mother was an opera singer.

Meanwhile my father, he was a pretty well-known pianist. That is where I learned how to play the piano. My dad taught me since I was about six years old.

My parents were probably in the peak of their career when I almost graduated from primary school. They were busy attended concert here and there.

Being so busy made them barely came home. They even had to go abroad for a few months leaving me alone and asked their assistant to look out for me. I barely talked to them ever since.

There was a time when I only met them twice a year. They were barely called to ask how I was doing. They never came home on my birthday and asked the assistant to give me some money so I could bought myself my own presents instead.

While their assistant was kind enough to wish me a happy birthday and surprise me with a birthday cake voluntarily each year.

I turned left at the end of the hallway as I took a deep breath. I remembered the time when my father taught me to play the piano patiently since I could barely kept up with the lessons.

My mother would casually laugh whenever I pressed the wrong key and made a weird sound came out of the piano. My father followed by pinching the bridge of my nose as my punishment, causing me laughed with the both of them.

That was one of the most cherished memories that I've kept in my heart for the past few years. I smiled bitterly at the thought of never having such a happy moment for the rest of my life ever again.

Ever since the accident that took my mother's life away happened, my father's behavior changed entirely. He locked himself from the outside world and quit being a pianist. He also threw the grand piano away, the one that usually adorn our living room elegantly. Since then, he never touched or listened to a piano ever again.

As of me, I'm still in love with the sounds of piano but I just never played it anymore. I wasn't entirely sure what happened to my father since he wouldn't bother to talk to me even when he stayed in the house all day long and pretended that I wasn't there.

The assistant couldn't even explain a word to me but he was always there to comfort me whenever I needed him and I'm thankful for that.

I already considered him as my own family since he was the only person who still cared about me when anybody else didn't. We became quite close as the time passing by. He also considered me as his own niece and treated me well sincerely.

I clutched on the strap of my backpack as I fastened my footstep when I walked past the music room. I was only a few steps away from the door when I heard the sound of a piano hitting my eardrums softly.

I paused for a moment and then took a step back as I carefully listened to the song. It sounded so beautiful and relaxing that I couldn't resist myself to ignore it.

I opened the door carefully and then tip toed my way through the music room after I closed the door, trying not to make any noise.

Inside, I saw a guy who sat in front of the piano as he played it peacefully. I tucked my hair behind my ear as I slowly carried away by the rhythm.