Love Maze | J.J.K

삼- Chapter 3

Graduation is just around the corner, less than a month away. My life that I know is about to end, and I'll be preparing for a new one. Somewhere else. Away from this small town. Away from everyone I grew up around, away from my family.

I know many people want to leave their families immediately after they graduate, but I wish I could take my dad and grandma and leave this town. I just want to shrink them down in size and keep them with me forever. I wish the world worked like that. But it doesn't, and I know that it doesn't. As I finally refocused on what was in my hands, I had two envelopes addressed to me. It felt like they were both shouting at me.

Open me! Open me now! Face your rejection!

I sigh and tap my fingers against the table. The potential invitations to my two dream colleges were staring at me, and I couldn't seem to open them. How am I supposed to when they could hold bad news? I aced both auditions, but they don't just look at one audition. They look at your entire music career. Although mine glittered with medals, trophies, and concerts, my grades weren't the best. They were just average. B's and a few A's littered my transcript since I started high school.

"Maybe I should call Bun," I thought. "He'd know what to do."

I pull out my phone and check the time. It's 5 p.m here. So it's 7 a.m over there. Not too bad if he was an average guy. But I, for a fact, knew how he just went to sleep at 4 a.m. Should I still call him? Fuck it. I click his contact and hear it ring multiple times.

I'll only call once. If he doesn't pick up, then I'll just wait to open these.

"Hello?" His gravelly voice is quiet. I could barely hear it as it got caught in his throat. He clears his throat and tries again, "Hello? Kitten? Is everything okay?"

"Hey, Bun. I'm sorry... but I am so nervous and scared."

"What? Why? Are you okay? You don't have your concert today, that's next week. What's going on?"

"No, no. Nothing like that. But.. I have two envelopes in front of me—one from Juilliard and one from K Arts. I don't know what to do. I'm scared. I can't open them by myself."

"Okay, Kitten. Open them. I'll be right here. You got accepted to at least one. I know you did."

I picked up Juilliard's first. The thick envelope is smooth in my hands. I take a deep breath, rip it open slowly, pull out the lone paper in the envelope, and read aloud, "Ms. McKay, We regret to inform you that your application has been denied."

I don't bother to read the rest of the letter as I crumple it in a ball and drop it on the table as a single tear falls down my cheek.

"Melody, there's still one more letter in front of you. Do not lose hope, okay? Let's open the second one."

I nod, and I know he can't see me, but I can't say anything. I got rejected. Of course, I did. I should have never thought I could get into a school like that.

"Melody. Open the other letter."

I grab it and tear it open with less care. Why should I take care of rejection letters? Who cares? I take a deep breath and pull out the bundle of papers in the envelope, "McKay Melody, we are happy... we are happy to inform you that you have been accepted to South Korea National University of Arts! OH MY GOD JEON I GOT IN!"

"Melody, I am so proud of you! I knew you got into at least one!"

"Oh my god. Holy shit. I'm shaking. Jeon, I'm shaking. I can't breathe. Oh my god."

"Take a deep breath! It would be a shame if you died this young," he said laughing at his joke.

"What do I do? How do I even do this? How do I go about this? Oh my god. I'm going to South Korea," I said, shocked that I just got into one of my dream schools.

"You are indeed. You can finally put all your terrible Korean to more use."

"It's only terrible because you taught it to me."

"I grew up in Korea. My Korean is perfect. But seriously. I am so proud of you. You have worked so hard for this moment, Melody. I can't wait for you to not be halfway around the world."

"Me too... Could we actually meet? When I go there?"

"Yeah, eventually. I won't be around your first couple of months, though."

"What? Why not?"

"My work. But we can talk about that another time. Go find your dad and grandma, and tell them the good news. I'm seriously so proud. I can't stop smiling for you. I'm so happy. I'll talk to you later, okay? I need to try to go back to sleep."

"Thank you. Thank you so much. You're seriously my best friend, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Goodnight, Jeon."

He mumbled a goodnight before hanging up, and I took off running to the barn, ready to read the entire letter to the other two people who were my light in my life.

-

I ran into the band room the next day a little past 7:30 a.m. Most of my ensemble was already setting up and warming up for our practice. When I gathered all of them together a few weeks ago and told them about my worries and fears, they were understanding and agreed to meet twice a week until the concert. I'm glad I took Bun's advice and didn't stay angry at them. I feel like they responded to my confession better since I wasn't livid.

"WHERE IS MRS. WHITE?" I yell while frantically looking around the room.

"She went to get coffee in the faculty lounge about 10 minutes ago. She should be back any minute," said Taylor, my second chair and rival since we started high school.

"I hope she hurries. I have great news."

"What? Did you get accepted into Juilliard?" she asked, putting her long blonde hair in a ponytail.

"Actually, no. I didn't."

"Oh my god. Then you got into K Arts?"

I nod so fast I felt like my head was going to fall off. She gasps and stands up quickly and gives me a huge hug, "Melody, that is amazing! I am so proud of you!"

"Thank you! Thanks to all of you. You all have helped me become a better musician in one way or another."

"Now, you can go to a BTS fan meeting when you move to Seoul!"

"Come on, guys. If you don't think that's the only reason I applied, then you're wrong." I said, laughing and hugging my small group.

"Why is everyone so energized this morning?" Mrs. White asked, walking in from the school. I ran over to her and handed her the envelope. My entire body vibrating with excitement as she read the front of the envelope before looking at me with wide eyes. I nod quickly and bite my lip as she pulls out the letter and reads quickly, "Oh my god, Melody. You even got a scholarship," She wraps her arms around me, and I hear her sniffle. "I am so proud of you. This is amazing. Congratulations!"

We both pull away and have tears daring to fall. This is what I've been working for since I started playing piano when I was 6, and clarinet when I was 8. This feeling of actually being able to further my music education and hopefully perform on stage for the rest of my life was exhilarating. Being able to attend a college halfway around the world will let me travel and experience a new culture. I'll be able to learn a new language that I've been studying for years. I'll get to play music for new people and on new stages. Half of my bucket list became crossed off by getting accepted into this college. I was ecstatic and ready for the opportunity. But what I didn't know was that my first challenge would happen so soon with my body starting to betray me once again.

Word Count: 1,409