Piano Keys | Kim Taehyung | ✓

‖ Obbligato ‖

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Obbligato : (Italian- means 'obligatory') An instrumental part which is essential in a piece of music.

They were both an  obbligato in each others' lives. They were each others' other halves; they were soulmates.

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THE PAST, DAEGU

She once told me about the Greek myth about soulmates. We had kissed and all, but our relationship was more than mere lovers, she had said. 

Christmas was only a fortnight away, so our school was closed. But the fact that vacations were going on and the festive season was round the corner meant that Iseul had back-to-back piano practice during the daytime.

That day, we had decided to go to the nearby public library as per Iseul's wish as she was getting a little sick of her piano lessons and complained that she couldn't and I quote, "stand another minute holed up inside her house".

A library certainly wasn't the place in my mind when she had asked me to take her out on a fine December day, but if it meant being with her, I wasn't the one to complain. Tough as she looked and tried to act, I knew Park Iseul was a sucker for those romance novels she loved to read and I wasn't the one to refuse her.

"TaeTae have you ever read about or heard of "The Symposium"? Plato's theory of soulmates?" 

She abruptly closed the book she was reading and half turned to me. The library was pretty much empty as vacations were going on and we were sitting near the large glass windows. The old librarian had been playing what I guessed was Solitaire on his computer when we had entered and he was totally engrossed with the small glowing screen in front of him, so much so that he didn't even notice us entering.

She was sitting close, having dragged her chair closer to mine when we sat down. I had a book on photography in front of me, but I would be lying if I claimed that I was reading it-no, my eyes had been on her the whole time:

The way she leaned her cheek on her left palm as she read, they way her eyes were sparkling as she read the novel, a small smile tugging the corners of her pink lips up in a crooked half-grin...

"Um, yes I think I've heard about it...Isn't it something related to Greek mythology and that god...Zeus?"

I scratched my nose in thought, racking my brain to remember but she grinned and nodded enthusiastically, beating me to it,

"Yes! According to the Greek mythology, us humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Apparently, humans were a threat to the gods this way as we were too 'strong'.   Zeus split us into two separate parts for 'balance' and 'harmony', condemning humans to spend their lives forever longing and searching for their other halves."

She sighed dreamily, a giddy grin on her lips and I chuckled at her.

"They would yearn for their soul's other half be complete, their soulmate. And according to the myth, when these two halves find each other, they will feel joined once again. They would feel complete."

She smiled at me and I beamed right back, brushing my hand across hers. She clasped my hand, warming it with her soft hand's warmth as always.

"So, you believe in the Greek story then?"

I asked her, a smirk playing on my lips and she nodded. I didn't know where the newfound sudden confidence came from and even though I knew my heart was beating like crazy, I had this feeling that hers was too.

"So I'm your soulmate then, is that what you mean?"

I drew her chair closer, our knees bumping at the impact. Leaning closer, I brushed my nose across hers and she blushed a little, her eyes worriedly flitting across the room to where the librarian was now dozing off in his chair.

I touched her cheek, making her look back at me. 

"Um, y-yes of course you are Tae ."

Park Iseul never did stutter. Except that day-it seemed as if our roles had been reversed ; that day she was as red as a cherry and it looked adorable, so much so that I was just seconds away from kissing her. I wanted to lean in and kiss her again like I had in the park a few days ago.

So I did.

I did just that- I kissed her again.

 This time though, it was a bit different than our first kiss. This time, I didn't just brush my lips across hers, I wrapped my arms around her and she snaked hers around my neck as we kissed deeply, more passionately than before. 

By the time we broke apart for air, I pointed out that she was almost sitting on my lap, not the chair and she giggled a girly giddy giggle, which was so unlike the girl I had grown up with.

Soon the books we had been reading were long forgotten on the wooden table in front of us. 

The first time I had ever had a make out session with someone was in a library of all places and I loved each and every second of it.

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"Taehyungie, you know what an 'obbligato' is right?"

She asked me as she flopped down on the sofa in her living room beside me and laid her head on my shoulder after stretching her arms above her head and cracking her knuckles; something she always did after her piano practice was over for the day. 

I could see a few dark circles under her eyes and I knew she was tired. She had been practicing hard for the Christmas performance she had as it was just  a couple of days away.

"Yeah you told me. Isn't it the instrumental part which is important in a music piece?"

"Yes it is. You are the obbligato in my life Kim Taehyung."

She said softly as her eyes fluttered close due to the day's exhaustion, and I rubbed circles on the back of her hand which was tightly clasped in mine, knowing that she loved it when I did that.

You were my obbligato too, Park Iseul.

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