⇁ in which seungmo's bland commute gets interrupted by a pretty girl who teaches music! xx
warnings ⇁ slight angst, i didn't want to keep writing so two small kisses with negative description (ᵕ•_•)
aqua's whisper ⇁ for the @berrybittynetwork event postcards from summer! (fell asleep the entire day and my friend commissioned me to work on another story so i’m a bit late, yes)
never using that stupid queue feature again because this has gotten posted two times and the second time i accidentally posted it with no way to salvage it. to users nichozzystuffs, emislove, and unknown; you never saw this, plus it's revised anyway (especially that ending that may or may not have been stolen from something akin to a hallmark movie). thank you and please enjoy!
@nichozzystuffs @emislove
Seungmo's head is thrown back against the walls of the train, leg bouncing up and down as the train slows to a stop. I hate this train and every single person on it. But he quickly takes it back when someone sits next to him. A pretty girl, one he hasn't seen before. Out of all the seats that were suddenly available, he's surprised you decided to sit next to him (but thank god). Several accessories adorned on your arms, headphones worn on one ear, scribbling in your notebook. What is she writing? She looks around my age, is she on my stop?
He not-so-subtly looks at the notebook to see you writing music notes on a lined sheet. You slightly tilt it towards him. You don't turn to him when he looks at your face, but you smile a bit. He doesn't know what to say, just turning back to the sheet music. You both hum a bit of the song, the same part. When you get off of the train, two stops later, it wasn't fully intentional, but a business card slides out of your bag and flops down on the grimy floor beside his feet. He quickly snatches it from off the floor, seeing your name and number. Maybe I'll send a text. Or multiple.
You stare at the texts. He's the guy on the train you saw. Honestly, you were planning on sitting on the closest seat, but you saw him and decided to walk over. Thankfully, everything worked out! The next day, you see him again. Same seat, legs crossed and arms behind his head. You sit next to him and he straightens out a tiny bit, arms moving to his legs. He turns to you. "You teach music?" You nod. "Nice." "You wanna learn?" "Nah." "Right. Tell me if you want to, but spots are limited." Spots are very limited. You have to teach piano again at some point in time.
For the next few weeks, the schedule is the same. You stay in some random hotel, teach your students, and on Wednesdays, teach Seungmo guitar. But it doesn't last for long. His face becomes brighter with every lesson, but the end of your summer lessons just creep closer and closer as the season ends. You text and talk as if it's fine, but you must seem painfully obvious. Seungmo notices a few times but pretends not to, and it's only when you text him that he tries to bring it up. He also has his own news, after all. The past few weeks, he's grown more in love with you as time passes by. You dedication to music, your teaching abilities, your personality, the way you look..
He dashes over to the train station, breathing shakily with each stride. He sharply turns around to the staircase, where he already sees you walking up. "(reader)!" "Seungmo. I thought you weren't going to show up." "I'm so sorry for being late, ugh." "What did you want to tell me? I need to go quick, my flight is soon." "You're already leaving?" "The season is ending after all." You've already inserted yourself into his life, even if it wasn't on purpose. He can't lose you now, all the way across the country. "Can you still teach me? Online, something.. anything." "I'm free on Sundays. I can teach you then?" He nods, maybe a bit too excitedly, but he really couldn't care. "Yes, that would be great."
You nod, then stand there for a few seconds more, looking down at the railing separating you two. "Is that all..?" He hesitates. "Yeah. Have a safe flight. Text me when you land?" "I will. Have a good rest of your summer, Seungmo." You both wave at each other. He can't tell you anymore. Anything he wanted to tell you leaves his head as he watches you walk up the rest of the steps out into the city, turning the corner. Maybe you two had to stay friends, maybe being in a relationship wasn't a good idea. You both waved at each other. Such a friendly gesture. Stupidly, infuriatingly.. friendly. God.
And as the time passes - two whole years - he still can't accept it. Texts are still frequent, you guys always call for a lesson before it turns into a few hours of just talking and laughing with each other, just like it was in person. He can't accept it. You didn't fully leave, yet it feels so far away. You're still here, but you're not close enough to feel like it's a real presence. As if he's watching a recording of a memory. You can rewatch it as many times as you want, but it'll never be relived in the exact same way. Maybe it's the first time you've played a game or watched a movie. It changes slightly each time you remember it, getting slightly more distant with each recollection.
But one day, when it almost felt too distant, it comes back. It's not the same memory - in fact, it's completely different. But it's back.
He yelps, loud enough for his roommates to come rushing in. "Are you okay?" "She's back, she's coming back! Life isn't over!" "You're insane." His friends are going to be exchange students, going to a international school in Europe. He was sad to see them go, but he doesn't care too much now that you're coming back.
You've grown accustomed to living with him now, even slowly growing feelings. It's clear he feels the same way, he really isn't hiding it. But you're still paranoid, so you keep quiet. Honestly, he's probably noticed by now. He has a few loud moments, but he's usually quiet and observant. Especially when looking at you; almost staring. One time, he genuinely didn't blink for around 30 minutes before he finally looked away. Almost creepy, kind of endearing. And you're right, Seungmo has in fact noticed and just doesn't admit it either. But one day, when he finally has the courage to tell you, you open the front door, eyes puffy and arms shaking. All you need is comfort, and he shies away again, not that it matters this time.
"What's wrong?" He caresses your arm as you sit next to him, trying not to cry again as you harshly sniffle between words. "Some- parent of one of my students said that they would dock my pay because apparently I abused their child when I didn't even do anything! I told the child to leave the room because they were trying to break my guitar! Do you know how expensive those are?" "It's clear you had no bad intentions. Unfortunately, it wasn't clear to said parent. You're a great teacher. They just don't value you," he mumbles the last part, "Not like I do." You stop sniffling for a second. "Oh?" "Hm? Nothing." "Don't act like you didn't say anything. Finish your thought." You start smiling at the red tint on his face, even though there's still a tear trickling down your cheek, which he gently wipes away.
"I like you. As if that wasn't obvious, but really, I do. Could I take you out on a date? Maybe tomorrow, or just.. sometime this week?" "Yes. I'd like that." "That's great." He softly chuckles, scratching the back of his head. You take the chance to softly peck him on the lips. "We can go tomorrow. I'm tired, so I'm going to go to bed, alright?" "Yeah. Have a good night." He stutters. "You too." You walk around the couch, but Seungmo grabs your hand. “Um.. One more kiss?” One of your hands tilts his head up slightly before you lean down to kiss him once again. “You’re gonna stay up.” “Not super tired right now. See you later, (reader).
He picks you up at the last family’s house. "So, Definition Park?" You ask as you put your seatbelt on. "The event wasn't happening today, but they still have instruments set up in that one building in the park if you want to check it out anyway." "Yeah, that would be cool! We can do the duet for the song I've been teaching you!" "There was a duet for that?" "Yeah, one part is piano and the other is guitar!" He nods. A few minutes later, the car is parked and you're walking along the damp grass from the community installed sprinklers. Walking into the building in the middle of the park, dimly lit hanging lamps to illuminate the area enough, you sit down on the piano bench as he puts the guitar on. "Can I record it? If it sounds good, I'll keep it." You start to pull out your phone once he agrees, propping it up so the both of you fit in the frame. "What if it doesn't?" You think. "I'll still keep it."
The both of you listen over the recording, laughing at a few parts where he either misses the strings or you play the complete wrong chord. "So, was that good?" "It could be better. I’ll keep it." He looks at your wrist. You wear two white and brown bracelets, almost identical. "Are white and brown your favorite colors?" "No. Emily just didn’t use those colors often." "Who's that?" "She’s a student of mine. She loves music, maybe even more than I do. She’s my favorite student, as well as the one I’ve taught the longest. She.. unfortunately suffered a car crash. Her parents weren't in the financial state to pay the fee they received once she got treatments. Even though I insisted otherwise, they still paid me for the last few months we had in person, before I moved here. The last lesson we had in person, it was mostly just us talking. I ended up telling her about you. She said I should give one of these to you." You take off one of your bracelets, fastening it on his wrist.
"It's pretty." "It is. She’s very artistic. She’s one of the only students who really wanted to keep playing for her own satisfaction." "Would you like to go for a walk?" "Yeah." The both of you walk side by side around the park. Only a few minutes later of walking in silence do you hold hands. "It's nice." He nods, moving slightly closer to you. The both of you walk out the park, about to get in the car but hearing some music from the train station. Intrigued, you both quickly cross the street and walk down to see several people dancing and conversing. "You think you got the location wrong for the event?" "Or they moved." "Hey, they're here now." Someone walks over to the two of you. "Hi! We're selling some instruments we don't want, do you two wanna check it out?" You look at him, looking around the corner at something. You tilt slightly, following his line of sight to an electric purple guitar. "Let's take a look!" "Great!" She leads you two over to the well organized section of instruments, almost looking like it's own music store.
