𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫 | M.YG

오

chapter five / o
Her Best Music Lesson
(005)

Sowon took one last look in the vanity mirror. She ran her fingers through her loosely curled hair. Her father had felt devastated when he saw how beautiful and grown she looked, barely wanting her to leave the house.

"Only because tonight is special," he consented.

Sowon smoothed out the nonexistent wrinkles in her white, flowing dress. Small flowers embellished the fabric. Sowon wasn't vain, but neither was she self conscious. As she looked in the mirror she thought she looked angelic. Of course, getting through the night without messing up what she had worked so relentlessly to practice was her first priority, but looking her best didn't hurt either.

"Baek Sowon," a tall man in a sharp blazer called while knocking on her dressing room door, "you're up next."

Sowon took a deep breath and grabbed her violin. She was excited and nervous. Her dad was sitting in the audience waiting for her to perform. She hoped that she could make him proud, she hoped all her hard work would make him happy. She didn't care about impressing her new classmates. What she wanted the most was to impress her dad. After that, she hoped to impress her teachers. Grabbing the attention of someone who could help her get into a reputable college might make her parents happy.

Everything Sowon did, everything she worked for was with the hope that it would please her parents. Maybe it could fix her family.

The clicking of her heals against the hard floor resonated in her ears. The closer she walked to the stage, the more she could hear the familiar sound of classical music. She wasn't sure if at this moment it was a sound that was soothing or if it was making her nerves worse.

The piano piece her classmate was playing seemed to go on for an eternity. She tried her best to focus on the notes, the keys, to let the melody flow through her body, as if the sound was air and she was breathing it in.

Before she knew it, she had lost herself in the world of music. Sowon closed her eyes and swayed to the soft ringing of the piano. It was beautiful, it was calming, it was therapeutic, it was-

It was over.

The small feeling of peace she had found quickly left her grasp as the last note played into the stale air of the theatre. Sowon watched as the boy who had been playing the music piece stood from his stool, turning to the audience, and bowing as the crowd cheered and applauded for him.

Sowon wiped her sweaty palms on the fabric of her dress as the boy began to walk off the stage towards her. "Good luck," he wished her casually, swiping his long, blond bangs out of his soft eyes. Sowon didn't recognize the boy from school. She had been there for a little over a week now, so she knew of most of the people that went there. Maybe he was an even newer student than she was.

Sowon cracked a small smile at the boy and nodded her head. Her muscles felt like they would liquify at any moment as she walked on stage, but as she saw her father smiling at her encouragingly from the large crowd, she somehow managed to keep moving, finding enough courage to continue.

Swaying slightly from being light headed, Sowon stood on a piece of blue tape on the floor, marked to indicate where she was supposed to stand. She tried not to focus on all of the eyes watching her every move, or the bright spotlight shining directly on her, making her perspire even more. Instead, she focused on her own thoughts of encouragement. She's practiced for this moment until her fingers were raw and her arms would cramp. If any one could play this piece better than the one who wrote it, it was Sowon.

Sowon took in a deep breath, smiling and fixing her posture as her lungs expanded. The familiar feeling of her beloved violin fitting perfectly on her shoulder and under her chin brought her back to the many hours she spent alone in her music room. She closed her eyes, making it easier to feel like she was in her practice room instead of on stage. She thought of the way the sun streams through the upstairs room, the golden light acting like it's own spotlight for her and the dust in the room. She could almost smell the sheet music paper and the rich mahogany in the room.