Kill Our Way to Heaven (Jikook) ✔

Chapter 17

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 17
"ꜱᴏ ᴡᴇ ᴍᴇᴇᴛ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ"

Notes and melodies filled up the room. All different instruments showed their sounds to the world, morphing together in a beautiful symphony. Some songs were sad and slow, almost dragging their emotion towards the listener's ear with great effect, other tones were hopeful and upbeat hitting the public almost bouncing, resonating within them for a long time. The song played by the man behind the piano was definitely not the latter. 

The stranger let his fingers slide across the keys, nodding softly to the beat it produced. As he neared the end of his explored territory, he played a couple more notes, still not satisfied with the way they sounded. He tried again and again, every time with a bigger variety in the melody until he found the right one, that one note that fitted like the puzzle piece he was looking for. He quickly jotted it down in a messy manner on the notepad lying next to him. 

Some of the notes written down were hardly legible. They had been altered, erased and then written again slightly different so many times that all stripes and dots morphed together in one blurry cloud. The letters penned down on the side weren't much better. All characters seemed distorted when he tried to write fast, at least he could still read it, but maybe only he could. The lyrics were finished anyway. All he needed to do now was perfect the beat.

Normally composing the beat was easier for him than thinking of lyrics, due to his extremely bad grammar and him just regularly not being good with words. Still, he always managed to create a song in the end. This song seemed to be slightly different. Taehyung knew what he wanted to say, he knew what he wanted to get across, he just didn't know how to convey the emotion. It seemed too wild to be caught by mere notes.

He wanted a raw feeling but at the same time, something defined with high notes and low notes, perfectly fitting his voice. He wanted a song that managed to take people's breath away and catch their attention, something with quick twists yet with a ballad-like feel, but not too calm so that the listener would drift away completely. He wanted a song that would frame the lyrics flawlessly, drawing the attention towards them and showing them off in all their glory.

He had written the poem way before he thought to make it into a song. It was more something he used to vent when he was in a bad place. Now that he looked back on it he could see it much clearer, almost so that he could analyse it. He turned his grief, hatred and doubt into notes and lyrics, into something tangible. That was the realisation that hit him once he wrote down the last note with a satisfied smile. He couldn't help but hum the tune, going over the lyrics in his head as he did so. What he had created was as close to perfection as he had ever managed and he couldn't help but let pride overrun him, playing the song one more time to listen to it in completion.

As the clock struck twelve many people left the practice room. Some would have lecture and others would benefit from the almost empty cafeteria and get an early lunch, not him, however. He rather benefitted from all the people leaving and practised his song without having people listening in on him. Even though he wasn't the person to hide his music, the pressure to hit good notes was too high. He was surrounded by music students after all. They were studying what he was doing as a mere hobby. Their judging gazes stopped him from getting completely engulfed in his emotions and tones, which is why he made music in the first place. Not to sound good, but to feel good. 

The piano resonated in the now empty classroom. The only sounds breaking the song were muffled snippets of the conversations held just outside the room. Taehyung managed to tune out the people walking past and focus only on the sounds the piano emitted. His world consisted solely of D, C and G minor chords, his words adding colour to it and creating the littles of details in it. He didn't even hear the voices getting louder outside of the world he created for just a second before they quieted down again, signalling the door had opened and closed again. 

Jungkook just looked at the man in awe as soon as he heard the incredible low and high notes erupt from his lips. With closed eyes, Taehyung gently nodded to the rhythm. His fingers moved over the keys with almost superhuman flexibility and speed, it sounded unbelievably well. All notes seemed to resonate somewhere deep within the younger, the lyrics imprinting in his mind without him even realising. Hardly ever had he heard such raw talent, especially from someone who he knew didn't follow a study with music. His classmates were extremely good, but none came near the coarse emotion Taehyung was able to evoke with just a few tones of piano and a whisper falling from his lips. It sent shivers down his spine. 

Jungkook closed his eyes, letting himself get taken away by the melody. It was like looking right into Taehyung's mind. He could feel his emotions and hear his thoughts resonate through the room. Music was the closest thing to the pure emotion of a human soul, it had always been like that for Jungkook. He found comfort and understanding in it, both for himself and for others. He couldn't help but let himself drift away by habit.

Suddenly, it all stopped. The silence was almost loaded, it was too quiet. Jungkook was shaken out of his trance when he saw the elder staring at him from over his shoulder. "Jungkook?" Taehyung said, neither in shock nor in anger, he made it sound like a friendly welcome instead. 

"I-I'm sorry, I thought the practice room would be empty, because it usually is, but then I heard someone practising and then I saw it was you so I figured it was okay?" Jungkook replied, slightly stuttering and unsure. Taehyung just smiled at him.

"No matter how cute your rambling is, there's no need to panic. I'm not mad," he said in a kind voice. Jungkook couldn't help the shy smile from tugging at his lips nor the blush appearing on his cheeks. He was pretty sure he heard the elder call him cute under his breath, but it might as well have been his imagination. A weird mixture of flattery and nervousness bubbled in his guts, making him jittery and warm.

Taehyung scooted over, patting the empty spot beside him on the piano seat. "Come on, sit down. I believe you still owe me a song," he stated. The elder could see how Jungkook seemed to curl in on himself, almost as a form of protection from the oncoming embarrassment. "It's only fair since you heard me sing," he added with a slight giggle. 

Jungkook smiled at that, leaving his apprehension behind him. It was only Taehyung he was with. He had sung for more people before and he felt safe with the elder. Any failure would just make Taehyung laugh which meant Jungkook could hear that beautiful sound again. There was nothing at that moment to be afraid of, the younger was sure of it.

He walked towards Taehyung, sitting down next to him on the small piano chair. The sides of their legs were touching on the cramped seat but neither of them seemed to care. It only brought them closer together, letting warmth spread over Jungkook's body as he looked at the keys in front of him in anticipation. The angel in the corner of the room just watched them with a hawk's eye.

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Sleep? I don't know her.