Birthday Serenade
Jieun waits patiently. Her fingers hovering above the keys, sitting in pitch black darkness with a stripe of tape covering the red light that tells her the keyboard is indeed turned on. It’s past midnight when finally the lights turn, which Jieun has precisely calculated. Knowing Minsoo she was aware he wouldn’t come home before his actual birthday began, leaving her to be not only the first to congratulate him but also the first to give him his present.
A cake was the first thing to greet him, then he’d look up further to find JIeun sit behind the electric piano, wearing a silk bathing robe with her long hair cascading down her shoulders without restriction. Her fingers press into the keys the moment she knows she has his attention, not even a greeting given to him when she lets her fingertips glide along ebony and ivory, playing an intro from a very old jazzy piano song that she had stumbled upon when browsing through youtube. When she’s done playing the first 33 seconds of said tune, her fingers hover over the keys for the split of a second. Instead of playing further she lets her voice echo in the silence when light accords and skipping notes accompany her sweet singing voice.
주말이 저무는 밤 잠들기 싫은 일요일 Oh 바쁘고 힘겨워 쉴 새 없이 보낸 월요일도
길을 걷다 널 너무나 닮은 사람 한참을 따라갔던 내 모습 어이없던 화요일도
It’s a song in the making still, barely any instrumental set for the song and only text and melody carrying the whole performance that she created solely for him alone. She’d glance towards him and smile only to scrunch her nose in that cute manner she knew he adored before letting her gaze lower back to the keys.
하루 종일 니가 생각나 I wanna luv, I wanna luv, Baby 하루 종일 난 너만 떠올라 I wanna luv, I wanna luv, Baby 머릿속에 회로가 다 너로 엉켜버렸나 봐 I wanna love, I wanna love Oh, I wanna fall in love with U Love with U, Love with U, Love with U, Love
When she’s done, adding a last outro of improvised notes on the piano, the female exhales a soft chuckle, raising her head for a reaction. “Happy Birthday, Soo-yah!” She says cheerfully only to slowly rise from her spot and walk towards her boyfriend. Only another week and they’d celebrate their 300 days anniversary; all of it seemed still almost surreal to her. Only when her hands slowly ran up his arms until she let them curl around his neck did the soft smile turn into a smitten smirk. “I think you know though that there’s still more to my present, right?”
His calloused hand ran through his dark locks, before placing his snapback on its rightful place; Minsoo desperately needed a hair cut. Utterly exhausted from work, choosing to stay back some extra hours to continue working on a couple of tracks, he contemplated taking medication so that he’ll be able to get some sleep that evening. He’ll probably have to message one of the girls to make sure he wakes up for practice tomorrow.
Shaking his head, his mind jump from thought to thought, this time reverting back to the news about the buyouts of the top five entertainment agencies in the country. The rapper kept his thoughts to himself, with the exception of sharing a knowing look with Elly from across the room, when the announcement was made. He sighed as he figured, that regardless of what his thoughts are on the matter, it’ll be like a spec in space; completely unnoticed in the vast void.
The first notes of his keyboard startling him from his contemplations, tired hazel orbs quickly snapping towards the silk clad figure gracefully playing music. A smirk fell upon his features and just as he was about to make playful comment, she started to sing.
Minsoo stood stupidly grinning from his spot at the hallway entrance; completely flabbergasted by the scene before him. She was the perfect portrayal of a serenading angel — no, more like he is blessed by the goddess of music herself. Her adorable expression, left a breathless laugh from his lips. Listening to the words emanating sweetly from her, had him practically melting on the inside; not that he’ll ever admit it aloud.
As she slowly glided her way to him, the underground rapper bit his lower lip, preventing himself from further smiling like a maniac. Automatically wrapping his arms loosely around her small waist, for the second time that evening his eyes grew wide. “Birthday…?”
Laughing aloud as it finally dawned to him, why his girlfriend surprised him with such a thoughtful and brilliant ‘welcome-home’ greeting. Leaning down, his smirked matched Jieun’s, but in a more devious manner. Tugging on her silk robes, his lips grazed hers as he spoke, “Well now, I reckon it’s time to unwrap my second gift then."
