Piano Keys | Kim Taehyung | ✓

‖ Capriccio ‖

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Capriccio: it is a lively piece of music, one that is short and free in form.

[She was just like a Capriccio-lively and free as the wind and fiercely independent. There was never a dull moment with her around]

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THE PAST, DAEGU

Park Iseul was like a warm ray of sunshine, like a fresh breath of air after being underwater for so long.

She brought life and liveliness to my boring life, just like the Capriccio pieces she played whenever she was in a good mood- Her favorite one was  Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien  and mine was anything as long as she was the one playing it.

As passionate she was about the instrument (a passion I respected, for I too knew and could understand her; for I too had an instrument I was passionate about - the Saxophone), she was passionate in her daily life too. All or nothing- that was her motto in life.

Cheeky and cheerful most of the time, highly stubborn, fiercely independent and very much opinionated; Iseul used to get into quite a few fights in our school days, mostly due to her hero-complex and penchant for getting bullies busted. 

While I did protect her and even tried to talk some sense into her however I could, once she had made up her mind she was unstoppable. Add her short temper and a no-brain-to-mouth-filter-whatsoever to the mix, she was the complete opposite of the elegant girl she transformed into once she sat down on her piano stool and it was one of the reasons I fell for her, I guess.

When we were in our first year of middle school, she once got into a fight with a senior bully, a really scary-looking girl. Aside from getting a few hair roots pulled, the other party (a.k.a the bully) bore the brunt of the damage- a nosebleed and a strong kick to the stomach.

But even so, Iseul was this innocent yet vivacious, cute and funny yet sometimes really scary (when she got angry) girl who was just so lovable once you got to know her. I used to tease her that she looked like a puppy- with her big doe eyes and her button nose which had a spattering of adorable freckles on it, adding to her natural beauty. 

Iseul was intitially tomboyish but she somehow changed when she was around eleven years old- she started keeping her hair long and by middle school it reached past her hips. Her chestnut colored hair was always in a loose bun or a messy ponytail but once I asked her albeit a bit shyly to keep it open and that she looked better and prettier when her curls fell over in waves all around her face, she just laughed it off saying,

"Why should I? It's more comfortable like that."

But even though no one could change her mind once she decided on something, she turned up next day to school with her hair flowing down her back like waterfall and since then she often came to school like that, with her hair in a pretty hairband.

When I smirked and smugly asked her, she simply shrugged,

"I gave it a thought and seems as if you were right, it's better this way."

We both broke into chuckles when I arched an eyebrow at her and nudged her with a 'Oh really' expression.

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Iseul loved to go on amusement rides and I once took her with me to an amusement park for one whole day for her birthday. 

When I told her, she couldn't help but scream happily and pull me into a hug tightly. Then she started jumping up and down like a small child on Christmas Day and I chuckled at her giggly enthusiasm. We were almost teenagers back then and I found it funny as she had only told me off a few days ago for being too childish when I creeped up on her and teased her about her reaction for an entire week.

(She had spat out the coffee she was drinking and it had come out of her nose, so I couldn't help but laugh at it.)

We enjoyed a lot of rides that day. It was a day with a lot of memories for us both. I tried to win her a plushie from the shooting game but couldn't and even though she declared she would get it in only one try, she failed even after trying almost a dozen times. We at last settled for a conciliatory small star key ring which the shop owner gave to us out of pity as it was her birthday.

The epic part of the whole day was her storming off angrily and cursing the amusement park authorities for not letting her ride a ride she really wanted to as she was too short.  I found her cute petulant pout hilarious and discreetly clicked pictures of her annoyed face as she licked her ice cream cone. I teased her about her height for a long time after that.

"Yah, don't forget you are short too!"

She used to snap at me but after we entered high school I grew several inches taller than her due to a sudden growth spurt.

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PRESENT DAY, SEOUL

Remembering that day always brings a smile to my face, and even if some memories are painful and heart wrenching because it reminds me what we could have been, that memory is one which is full of youthful innocence and fun.

I still have the photos I took that day. and I scramble to search for them. They are preserved in an old plastic box which I've hidden in the back of my bedside table drawer. It's a drawer I haven't opened for years but here I am today, with the box in my hand as I turn over my favorite photo (actually my other favorite is the one in which she has an annoyed pout on her face while eating an ice cream cone; due to being not allowed to go on the ride she wanted to) of Park Iseul from her birthday at the amusement park all those years ago.

In the picture, her head is thrown back and her lips pulled up as she laughs out loud, her doe eyes scrunched adorably and her curly windblown locks framing her heart shaped face. 

I trace my hand over her face once, over the free spirited fire in her brown eyes, over her cute button nose, over her beaming face.

Iseul, you once told  me what a Capricco was and if I have to define your personality with one single word, it'd be that. 

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