Rules || J.JK

9. Never

"No, no!"

"How could you get it wrong again?!"

Her mentor shouted at her.

10 year-old Nari held her violin with trembling
hands

"I-I'm sorry..."

She said facing down, not wanting to look up at both her parents, sitting among the chairs in the audience, looking at her with stern looks

Her mentor then composed herself, fixing her pantsuit and her hair, then looking at her parents with a fake smile, covering her frustration with the child

"Mr. and Mrs. Kim, I'm afraid today's session would have to be dismissed early..."

She said, then looking at the girl with annoyance before continuing

"Ms. Nari dosen't seem she would want to continue any further"

Then after briefly bowing she left, the tapping her shoes were the only sounds that could be heard aside from Nari's heavy breathing

With the little courage Nari had left, she looked up

Both her parents were already up from their
seats, with a frustrated sigh and cold eyes fixed on herc, her father looked away then headed for the exit of the auditorium

Nari looked down again, trying to cover her face with her hair as much as possible, not wanting to feel like a failure again, she tried her best to keep in the ocean of tears threatening to fall any second

She was so young, too young to already feel so much pressure, too young to already be forced to pursue a career she didn't want

Then she heard footsteps coming toward her, she guessed it was her mother, since they were the only ones left inside

Hearing the loud thumping of her mother's heels, she could tell she went up the stairs to the stage

As the footsteps neared, she held her breath, awaiting the contact of her mother's hand on her face once again

Her mother was never a person to express her emotions through words, she always showed them physically, especially when she was mad, but it wasn't like she was never mad at her

So when her mother spoke to her, Nari was surprised

"It's okay my child, it's alright to make mistakes..."

Nari was so shocked to what her mother said, looking up at her right after those words came out of her mouth

But things took a turn when her mother brought her hand under her chin, her thumb and index finger pressing it tightly

"Because no matter what you do..."

She then leaned to whisper at her daughter's ear menacingly

"You will never be enough."

Emphasizing the word "never", loud and clear for Nari to bury it deep into her head permanently, she then retracted her hand from her daughter's face harshly, gazing down at Nari with nothing but disappointment and pure hatred before she turned back and walked away, following to where her husband went, leaving her child

Nari was just there, with her violin still in her hands, looking ahead to nothing but an empty space

Having no more strength in her legs she knelt down on the floor, facing down, she noticed water dripping from her face to the ground

She was crying

But she didn't want to

She never should've put her hopes up, she never should have kept on trying

She should've known

That she was nothing but a disappointment

a failure