Heartstrings || Joshua Hong

Chapter 3

Rina POV:

The first week of school passed by in a breeze. I attended classes, getting to know a few classmates here and there while mainly still hanging out with Sera. Fortunately, Joshua and I didn't have any other classes with each other besides homeroom, making it easy for me to avoid him.

It was finally Friday afternoon and I headed to my last class of the day, String Ensemble. I walked into the orchestra practice room, violin case slung over my shoulder and sat waiting for Dr. Brentford to start class.

"Alright, class, we've done a lot of sight reading this week, so you can just have a free block today. I'll have the seating results out by Monday, so be ready to start rehearsal right away! Other than that, have a great weekend, everyone!", he said with a smile and a chorus of "thank you"s and "see you next week"s followed as everyone filed out of the room. Most people would be heading home, but I walked in the direction of the practice room hallway since I had a really important audition coming up for a youth orchestra in the area.

As I approached the practice rooms, I heard soft guitar playing and singing coming out of one of the rooms. Curiosity got the best of me and I sneaked a glance through the small window, but immediately retracted back out of sight when I saw who it was. I mentally cursed at myself when the door opened revealing none other than Joshua Hong, guitar in hand. Seeing him up close like this, I could see why his fangirls would be obsessed. His clean appearance really did have an air of gentlemanliness around it. The singing I heard earlier sounded like it came from an angel. Heck, even his speaking voice sounded like music to the ears. Too bad his outer appearance and real personality didn't match.

Joshua opened his mouth probably to insult me or something, but I quickly said, "My bad, I was just looking for an empty room. You can get back to your thing 'cause you sounded like—"

"Like a gentleman? Yeah, I get that a lot, thanks.", he said, cutting me off like my presence bothered him.

"Um, what? No, I was gonna say 'cause you sounded like you were really focused on practicing. Jeez, how can you be so full of yourself," I replied, genuinely appalled at how arrogant he could be. To my surprise, he started laughing, almost like he was relieved, which made me even more confused.

"Oh, good," he got out between laughs, "at least you didn't get sucked in to those fangirls' mindset."

"Err, yeah, not really", I said starting to laugh along with him, "I mean, you sounded good but I don't know about 'like a gentleman', you know?"

He nodded and pointed to my case on my back. "Do you play the violin or something? Oh, string ensemble happens right now, huh?", he asked.

"Nooo, for your information, this is a flute case and I'm first chair in wind ensemble", I joked sarcastically.

"Okay, well, I don't need your sass, Rina Song" he said sticking out his tongue, but both of us ended up laughing again at how immature we sounded. Joshua asked me more about my musical background, and I told him that I'd basically played violin my whole life with a little piano training on the side. Youth Orchestra Los Angeles auditions were coming up soon so I needed as much practice time as I could get. He listened intently and then shared about his love for singing and playing the guitar that he had since childhood.

"Yeah, I have last period free this semester so I just come in to jam whenever", he finished. I nodded, intrigued that my first impression of Joshua was actually quite off. He was just someone who had a passion for music, like me.

After a pause, Joshua said, "Well, I'll let you get to your practice, Ms. Violin Virtuoso. Good luck on that audition."

"Haha, thanks Josh. Have fun with your jam sesh", I replied, smiling before entering the room across from his.

Sera POV (at the same time)

Yessss, having last period free is actually the best thing ever, I thought happily as I headed to the instrumental department. Having last period free meant I could just leave school early if I wanted, but I decided to wait for Rina to walk home together. It was still her first week here after all.

I plopped down on the couches outside the orchestral room and took out my laptop to pass time, when I heard laughter coming from the practice room hall.

That's weird, no one really uses the practice rooms at all. Wait, why does that laughter sound like Rina? Who the heck is she with?

I swiftly got up and quietly made my way over to the hall, carefully peering around the corner to investigate. I saw Rina alright, talking and laughing comfortably with the one and only Joshua Hong. A sting of jealousy and sense of betrayal washed over me. What the hell was that girl, her best friend, the one who said she wasn't even interested in Joshua, doing right now?

"Okay, I see how it is, Rina", I angrily muttered under my breath. I packed up my bag and left school grounds, not bothering to text her about leaving early.

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A/N Yep, best friend's jealous but I won't make her a crazy bitch hah