"YOU SHOULD JOIN THE festival, too!" Seok Min exclaimed one afternoon, as they sat together eating oatmeal cookies in the piano room. It was around five-thirty, which was personally Eun Ha's favorite time of the day. The hallways were peaceful and quiet, and outside, the birds chirped cheerfully in chorus with a small group of students' lively chatter. At 5:30pm the world seemed to slow down a bit to her pace, and it was refreshing, really.
Even more so since Seok Min was there with her, but of course she wouldn't admit it.
She turned to address the boy. "I would if I could," she confessed, keeping her answer purposefully clipped. She dropped her gaze to her shoes and took a bite from her cookie.
"So why don't you? There's a pianist division, right? And a songwriting one, too!"
"I don't have the money," she said simply.
"But it's only – "
"Yeah, I know. But I don't have the money to spare."
He furrowed his brow, confused. "Why?"
"I'm saving up for college."
This time, he hesitated a bit before asking, "Didn't your father leave you some extra savings for college?"
"Of course not," she said, laughing bitterly. "My father? No. He left me nothing. So now, all I have is about three hundred thousand won from my piano savings."
It tore her apart, though.
She'd really wanted a piano.
"But if you enter, and win, then – "
"My chances are slim." She sighed. "Very slim. I'm not taking the risk."
A sad silence spilled between them, thick but lacking the sweetness of honey. She stared silently at her simple white shoes and he stared at her, wondering if there was anything he could possibly do to help this girl.
And then he had an idea.
Just as he was about to raise it, her head snapped up with sudden vigor and she clapped her hands together urgently. "Well, what are we doing here, moping around for? Practice!"
YOU ARE READING
Stardust || Dokyeom ✔
Fanfiction[ highest ranking: #371 short story ] in which a girl helps a boy live out the dreams she can never reach.
