Chapter Text
“And what would this one be?”
“Ah, you have a great eye Ms. Minatozaki. That would be the House of Sillage, Limited Edition Passion de L'Amour, passion of love,” the perfumer said.
Sana observed the object in her hand, admiring the jewels that adorned the gleaming gold bottle.
“Its essence is infused with a sweet yet woody scent. Fruity notes of raspberry and orange balance out the otherwise over sweet vanilla, and the blend results in a delicious, floral…”
Sana sprayed some of the bottle out in front of her, listening intently to the perfumer. She took a blotter, waved it around where she had sprayed, and brought it up to her nose. This would go perfectly with the new Balmain cardigan she bought.
“This scent is perfect for high class ladies such as yourself Ms. Minatozaki, it suits your elegant and refined beauty. Surely, no one, man nor woman, would be able to resist you with this,” the perfumer declared.
Sana giggled, “I hope that even without perfumes, no one would be able to resist me.”
The perfumer paled, her smile dropping. “Of course ma’am, I didn’t mean to imply anything by that comment, of course you—”
“Relax, I’m just joking around.”
The woman behind the counter let out a great sigh of relief. She really hadn’t wanted to lose her job today. Not after all the stories she’d heard about what happened when the Minatozaki heiress got angry.
“How much?”
“The Sillage would be ₩1,600,100. Shall I add it to your other picks Ms. Minatozaki?” the perfumer asked, gesturing towards the counter, where Sana’s earlier choices of perfumes and mists stood occupying much of the space.
“Yes. And after that I think I’ll be done for today.”
“Right away Ms. Minatozaki, I’ll get them ready for you.”
Sana handed the bottle over to the woman, who scurried away to pack up her purchases.
“Say Sattang, what do you think of this one for me? I think it’d be nice for the Bahama trip.”
Sana looked over her shoulder to the girl walking towards her.
“Hmm… lemme see,” Sana said.
“Here,” the ravennette handed the perfume to her friend. “Mina’s waiting outside already. I think she wants to look at jewelry next.”
Sana repeated the action she’d been carrying out for almost an hour now, spritz, wave, sniff, and handed the bottle back to the girl. “It’s nice! You should buy it. And sure, we can do that next. Actually, I’ve been meaning to go visit this one jeweler, you know, the one I mentioned the other day. He just got back from traveling. Apparently, he got his hands on a European queen’s personal collection. I’ve been dying to visit.”
Momo hummed in agreement.
“Excuse me, Ms. Minatozaki?” the perfumer said timidly.
“Ah, how much again?” Sana asked, prying open her Prada handbag in search of her wallet.
“₩33,660,675.00.”
“Geez Sana, didn’t your dad tell you to stop spending so much?” Momo commented as she looked at Sana swiping her black card and taking the bag the perfumer offered her.
Sana shrugged and smiled, taking Momo’s arm and leading her out of the lavish establishment.
〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️
The trio had just come back from the jeweler as well as a boutique where they had been welcomed very eagerly by the staff.
Well really, what kind of place wouldn’t be thrilled at the prospect of having three of Japan’s biggest conglomerate’s daughters pay them a visit. Consistently ranking high on Forbes’ Richest Families, the three had the power to pay any business’s overhead expenses and years worth of rent with just one visit.
They were now seated around a table overlooking the city in one of its most exclusive steakhouses, per Momo’s request. From their perch, they had a full view of the streets and buildings, as if they were looking down at a 3D map. Other patrons were occasionally glancing at the them, in complete awe of the group of beauties seated so closely to them.
“So Sana, what happened with your dad the other day? ” Momo asked between mouthfuls of steak. “I didn’t get to hear the call that well, but he sounded seriously pissed.”
“Oh, just the usual stuff,” Sana answered. “He got mad because of the vacation houses I bought.”
“The Greece one?”
“Well… there was also Paris, Aspen, and Honolulu. He really blew up at me on that call. He even called me lazy and spoiled, can you believe that?” Sana exclaimed, outraged. “I mean sure, I’ll be the first to admit I’m a little spoiled but like… lazy? I put a lot of effort into my appearance, don’t discredit my hard work! I don’t get why he always gets so mad about me buying things, it’s not as if we can’t afford it, so why shouldn’t I be able to have stuff I want?”
Mina sighed, accustomed to Sana’s constant bickering with her dad about her unhealthy shopping habits. “Look Sana, it’s okay to buy maybe one or two, but how many is that, four? All at once? And knowing you, they probably weren’t little cabins… that’s a little outrageous even for you.”
“Yeah, Sana, you need to go to SA,” Momo agreed.
“SA?”
“Shopaholics Anonymous.”
Sana glared at the laughing girl, leaning over swiftly and biting the piece of steak that was on her fork. Momo looked at Sana blankly before resuming her eating.
A waiter suddenly approached their table and placed a dish in front of them, prompting confusion from the three as they hadn’t ordered anything other than the medium rare steak and garlic bread that was sitting on their table.
“Wrong table mister. Pay attention, you’re disturbing your guests,” Sana scolded, rolling her eyes at the man. Mina shot her frequently seen Sana-don’t-be-rude look at the girl.
“Please excuse me ladies, courtesy of those gentlemen over there,” said the waiter, trembling under Sana’s icy gaze. He quickly pointed them to a pair of handsome guys seated a few tables away. Caught staring, the men quickly averted their eyes out the window.
The waiter lifted away the cloche and revealed a chocolate cake.
“Ah, thank you!” Momo said graciously, smiling toward the other table. After the waiter hastily bowed and strode off with the dome, the girl wasted no time and began cutting herself a slice.
“That may not be a bad idea though Sana. Laying off spending for a bit I mean, really taking some time to reflect on yourself and your values… You can even join my knitting club!” Mina suggested excitedly.
“As stimulating as that sounds, I’ll have to pass. He won’t do anything about it anyways, he never does, I’m not scared.”
Sana suddenly felt her pocket vibrate.
“Bet you 100,000 won it’s your dad!” Momo exclaimed.
Sana gulped and looked at the caller ID. She let out a sigh of relief. Phew!
“It’s just Yaejoon,” Sana announced, clicking the decline button.
“Did you talk to him after the party?” Mina asked, sipping her water.
“He keeps asking to hang out, it’s annoying. He’s being so persistent too, thinks he has a chance just because of the kiss. He should know I don’t get into relationships, I’m too good for everyone!”
“Always so full of yourself.”
“Oh shut up, it’s confidence. Plus I prefer it this way, I’m not tied down to anyone so I can do whatever I want with whoever I want, no commitments,” Sana said with a smile.
Mina frowned. “You really never want to settle down? There’s nothing wrong with being in a committed relationship, personally I think it’s better than playing around with lots of people.”
“Eh, I can't see myself liking anyone enough to date them, much less settle down with,” Sana brushed off.
Sana’s been asked this question a countless number of times, but every time, she always dismisses the notion of dating someone for real. She can’t imagine liking one person enough to want to be with them for more than a week, let alone the rest of her life.
“Oh, and Momo, since it wasn’t my dad, you can pay for lunch!”
“Ugh, fine.”
Sana grinned and dug into her steak, when her phone suddenly started buzzing again. “God! There he goes calling me all the damn time! I’m blocking him, he’s so irritating,” she complained, mouth full of food. Mina grimaced at her table manners.
Momo stared blankly at the still ringing phone, face painted in nervousness.
“Momo, just decline the call, I’m not in the mood,” Sana grumbled. An idea suddenly came to mind, and she giggled. “I should call my bodyguards on him at school tomorrow. That’d stop him for sure!”
Mina leaned over to look at the screen.
“It’s your dad…”
Sana’s smile faded, she hastily climbed over Momo and accepted the call.
“MINATOZAKI SANA!”
Said girl quickly turned down the phone’s volume, not really wanting her father’s voice to be heard by everyone in the immediate vicinity.
The three girls all looked at each other anxiously.
“Hi dad! What’s up!”
“Explain to me right now why I just received a bank notification from your account that you spent ₩6,879,071,723.78 on clothing, perfume, jewelry, an amusement park, and a cruise ship?”
“Ah that? The clothes, well, I just had to update my wardrobe, trends change often you know. I can't be caught dead wearing last season’s styles! Then, I had to buy new perfumes to accentuate all my new outfits. And then I had to buy jewelry to match all my outfits and new perfumes. The amusement park, well, you know how much I hate lines… and then the cruise ship I thought would be cool for our Bahamas trip! That way Momo, Mina, and I can take it out on the water and jump from it!” Sana explained brightly.
“…”
Sana held her breath as she waited for a response.
“Sana, just because we have money, does not mean you get to spend it on whatever you want willy nilly! Your mother and I realize we have coddled you far too much in the past, that you’ve now grown into a spoiled brat who thinks she can do whatever she wants! I have given you countless warnings regarding the extent of your spending, as well as your dreadful behavior, yet you never seem to listen! I’ve had it to the end of my rope with you!”
The girls sat very still listening to the man’s tirade.
“The disciplinary measures we take, nothing your mother and I do ever seems to work! You always seem to find a way to worm out of all our punishments!”
Well, even Sana can't deny that one. Her parents have seriously dished out a number of punishments to her throughout the years.
She recounts the first time they froze her cards, thinking it would surely humble her and put a stop to her spending sprees. That one was probably the least effective. In the end, they were too weak to Sana’s pout and teary expression and caved in to their precious daughter’s pleas for her punishment to be lifted, even buying her a new jet as an apology.
She remembers another time they shipped her to a military boot camp/behavioral correction facility. Sana was made to wear sweatpants, do thirty pushups every morning (which she carried out with her knees anchored to the floor), and learn all about setting intentions rather than tasks and whatnot. Sana ended up bribing a counselor into letting her out early.
There was also that time they sent her to live on a farm in Norway. She shudders just thinking about it. For two whole days, she had been left to live on a springy mattress, eat nothing but oatmeal for breakfast, and feed all the repulsive creatures residing there. After the second night she’d had enough of the excruciating lifestyle, quickly utilizing her charms on the local farm boy and convincing him to let her leave early, much like with the counselor. That one had been by far the worst.
She’d even seen an oniomania specialist at some point, although that didn’t last long even with the generous payment her parents had offered. Sana remembers the woman just straight up walking out of the room, fed up with Sana’s uncooperative attitude and rude remarks about her outfits and life decisions.
Sana’s sure she’s about to receive another punishment, probably being shipped off to live on an island or something. Whatever it is, she thinks she could take it.
“Your mother and I have previously taken drastic measures with you, but after seeing how your stubborn attitude spurns our every attempt, we don’t know what to do with you anymore! That’s why we decided to seek out a parenting coach, who, after hearing about our situation, advised us to try an alternative approach and steer you towards a productive hobby.”
“Oh?”
“That is why we’ve enrolled you in piano tutoring.”
Sana heard Momo muffle a snort beside her and mutter something about Sana’s coordination. “Piano? I don’t get it.”
It all felt quite underwhelming to Sana. Going from living on a farm to taking instrument lessons one time a week? There must be some sort of secret catch.
“The parenting coach said that a good and useful pastime not involving shopping will be good for you, to keep you away from lazing around, so bored that all you can think of is shopping. Seeing as nothing else works, we’re willing to try anything at this point. You will have lessons once a week, and you will practice at least one hour everyday. I want you to record a video of your practices so I’ll know you’re not trying to weasel your way out. I’ll send you the details of the arrangement and that will be that. Goodbye now.”
Sana heard a beep as the other line went silent. She slowly lowered the phone from her ear.
“Well that was intense,” Mina remarked, letting her breathing return to normal as the tension slowly evaporated.
“I don’t know how Sana’s gonna be able to play piano when she can’t even walk without tripping every thirty seconds,” Momo quipped.
“Oh, shut up,” Sana replied, dropping her head onto her arms on the table. Honestly, she’d rather have been sent to some stinky farm than forced to learn piano. As opposed to all her prior punishments, this one had an indefinite time period. And how’s she supposed to escape with her dad breathing down her neck and monitoring her participation? She really detests whatever stupid know-it-all parenting coach put in her parent’s head that this was a good idea.
“Relax Sattang, it could’ve been a lot worse. If I were them I’d ship you off to boot camp again,” Momo comforted, patting the sulking girl’s head.
Mina hummed in agreement. “Really Sana, it’s not that bad.”
The girl just groaned into the table.
The phone next to her head suddenly buzzed, a notification lighting up the screen. Sana reluctantly picked herself up from beside her steak and unlocked her phone.
(2:38) Dad 💆: Lessons will be held 5:30 every Thursday at ***. Here’s their number to should any scheduling issues arise: ***
The three girls huddled around the phone to read. “I guess it’s official then!” Mina said. “You should still join my knitting club though. It’s fun too.”
Sana grumbled. “I really don’t think this will be fun Minari…”
She was already dreading the Thursday to come. She’d taken piano lessons as a child, and listening to some old guy drone on and on, yelling at her about her lack of rhythm didn’t seem like a very appealing prospect.
“Oh come on Sana, learning an instrument can be an exciting and rewarding pastime! I’ve always wanted to try piano but between ballet and preparing to take over the family business I’m too busy. I do still enjoy going to the occasional concert though!”
“Yeah, but Sana’s not really a fine arts fan like you Mina,” Momo commented.
“That’s true. Plus, I don’t even have a piano.”
“What are you talking about? You have that big one in your living room standing right there. Plus that other one in your dining room that the phone company guy gave you,” Momo looked at Sana incredulously.
“Oh yeah,” Sana could never really keep track of all her stuff. Especially if it wasn’t something she could wear.
“I think this is a good opportunity for you Sana, you might have fun!” Mina said cheerfully.
“I don’t really have a choice,” she sighed, clearly grumpy over the whole thing. “It’s whatever. Let’s just head home now, I’m stuffed.”
Momo and Mina exchanged glances with each other. “How about we have a sleepover at my place tonight?” Mina suggested.
Sana’s face lit up at the suggestion, smiling brightly. “That’d be fun! Can we binge watch Harry Potter?”
The other two agreed, and Sana happily returned to eating her steak.
〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️
“Ughhh, I don’t wanna go later,” Sana grumbled for the nth time that day, lamenting the fact that Thursday had come so quickly.
Mina sighed, getting fed up with her friend’s nonstop complaints ever since the steakhouse incident. The two were sitting outside the business department building of their university, Sana poking at some sushi prepared for her by her kitchen brigade, and Mina knitting some socks for Momo’s dogs.
“Save your whining for Momo, I’m tired of it,” Mina chided. Sana groaned, stabbing a sushi roll with her chopsticks. She had been protesting her upcoming piano lesson all week, leaving her long suffering best friends to listen to all of it.
“I did, but then she threw her sweaty rag at me!”
Mina chuckled at this. “Maybe don’t agitate her right after dance practice when she’s all sweaty then.”
Sana huffed at this and furiously began wolfing down her lunch. Mina raised her eyebrows at the action. “You’re this mad about playing a little bit of piano? I really think you’re overreacting about all this.”
“I just don’t wanna be wasting my precious time on something so useless,” Sana said. “What if I just skip later, do you think my dad would know?”
Mina rolled her eyes, exasperated. “Geez, you’re making this such a big thing. Of course. Whoever’s teaching you would probably tell him. Also, you’d still have to send him proof that you’re practicing an hour a day, so…”
“I’m a busy girl Mina, I can’t waste any of my valuable seconds pressing some stupid buttons,” Sana exhaled dramatically, taking a sip of water.
“Oh really.”
“Yes.”
“What are you busy with then?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she smirked.
Mina stared at her a few seconds before her expression changed to one of disgust. “Oh my god, gross!”
Sana giggled at her reaction. Caught up in her little laugh-fest, she didn’t notice the figure moving to sit down next to her.
“Hey Sana-ya.”
Sana turned to her side and was met with a tall guy grinning widely at her.
“Oh, hi Hangyeol we were just talking about you! What a nice surprise,” Sana beamed.
“It’s Sangcheol…”
“Right, right,” she replied, smile still intact.
“It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” the boy said, grinning from ear to ear at the girl just talking to him. I wasn’t. “Are we still on for later?”
Sana’s face fell at this, cursing her stupid piano lesson for detaining her from going out. “Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ll be able to make it…”
Mina, whose interest was lost, returned to her knitting, hearing the boy’s sweet words of reassurance about how he’s not angry and how they’ll reschedule soon. After he’d left, Mina looked at Sana disapprovingly.
“What?”
“Nothing. Just think you should really quit it with the playgirl antics.”
Sana rolled her eyes. “Like I said the other day, I’m not gonna date any one person, it’s not worth it being tied down. That’s why I have my bachelorette pad in Fiji, I’m a free bird.”
“Fine, I’m not gonna argue with you about this. But I’ll have you know being in a nice, loving relationship isn’t the worst thing.”
“Oh yeah? How would you know?”
Mina just huffed under her breath and continued to focus on her knitting. “Have you texted your teacher at all?”
Sana raised her eyebrow at the sudden subject change. Interesting... “No, and I don’t plan on ever doing that,” Sana announced stubbornly.
“Hmph. Alright, well have fun later, I’m gonna take off. I have to attend a status update meeting at the company,” Mina said, packing up her schoolwork and knitting supplies.
“See you,” Sana sulked at being abandoned. She looked down at her phone. 5:04. Shoot, she had to get going if the thing was at 5:30. She quickly called her driver to come get her and moped to herself as she waited, dreading the hour to come.
〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️
Sana was currently standing outside an apartment complex, checking her phone one last time to make sure she got the right address. Yup, this was it, she reluctantly confirmed. She began to dejectedly make her way towards the entrance, dreading the hour to come.
As she finally entered the building, she was greeted by the receptionist donning a bored look on her face. Upon noticing the soignée visitor though, her expression changed to one of surprise. Sana smirked to herself, a place such as this probably wasn’t used to encountering many girls of her status and opulence. Adjusting her pink Chanel tweed jacket, she approached the front desk.
“I’m looking for room 204,” she said with an air of superciliousness.
The receptionist stared, awestruck at the beauty before her. “Ah yes, right up the elevator here to floor two, you’ll find it easily.”
“Thank you,” Sana headed towards the elevator, leaving a sweet, florally aroma in her wake. The receptionist watched as she sauntered away, wondering who in the building was lucky enough to be receiving a visit from such a person.
Sana entered the elevator and hit the ‘2’ button, not before swabbing it with a wipe. In a place like this, who knows who could’ve been touching that thing?
She watched as the numbers increased on the elevator display, from a G, 1, 2, and— ding!
That was fast. Sana wished this teacher lived on a higher floor so she could have postponed the meeting for as long as possible.
Stepping out of the elevator, she observed her surroundings. She silently took in the chipped paint of the walls as she made her way through the hallway. She shivered. How could anyone live like this? Just a few seconds of the overly fluorescent lights had Sana feeling agitated. After steeling her courage and bravely moving forward, she found herself standing outside a door with the numbers 204 affixed to it. Letting out the last of her sighs and grumbles, she knocked.
It was a full ten seconds she was left waiting outside in the hallway. Sana impatiently tapped her foot, already displeased with the person. They should’ve been standing right at the door at least twenty minutes in advance, primed and ready to open it the moment she made her arrival. Whoever this person was had a very stern talking to coming their way.
Huffing under her breath, she finally heard some faint shuffling on the other side, presumably her insolent piano teacher finally coming to let her in. She heard the clank of metal as the person unlocked the door and pulled it open, revealing the object of Sana’s nightmares and complaints for the past week. “Hi there—”
What the! Sana’s eyes bulged out of their sockets as she absorbed the sight in front of her.
Right there in the doorway stood a pale, cheery looking girl wearing a white shirt that seemed one or five sizes too big for her, a pair of red plaid pajama pants, and had sharp, mono lidded eyes that turned into upside down crescents as she gave Sana the cutest eye smile she swears she’d ever seen in her life— oh, and an adorably small hand extended out towards Sana expectantly.
She snapped out of her little daydream and vigorously shook the shorter’s hand, evoking another big smile from the girl.
Sana swears she could feel an arrow going straight through her heart in that moment, and it was giving her palpitations.
“I’m Kim Dahyun, the piano teacher, it’s nice to meet you!”
“Minatozaki Sana,” she replied, basking in the feeling of the girl’s soft hands. Kim Dahyun, Kim Dahyun. Sana thinks that she wouldn’t really mind holding this Kim Dahyun’s hands forever.
“Here, come inside, there’s no heater out there,” Dahyun said, pulling away to gesture for Sana to move into the room.
“Right!” Sana blurted, hastily scurrying her way through the threshold and into the pretty girl’s apartment.
“Great! I guess we should start now since we’re already running a few minutes behind. This is my first time ever teaching someone piano so I’m super excited,” Dahyun exclaimed, leading her past the living room and through a hallway. With her back turned towards her, Sana had the chance to admire the girl’s long, jet black hair cascading down her back. She sighed dreamily, and upon realizing so panicked, quickly attempting to cover it up with a cough.
Dahyun stopped at one of the doors, opening it, “The piano’s just here in my room, I hope that’s okay.”
“No, no problem at all!” Sana stepped into the room, heart rate picking up again as the girl’s delicate features came back into view.
Sana shifted her gaze around the room to calm herself down. It had a cozy feel, she noted, as she observed a few Pokémon plushies lying on the fluffy looking bed. Cute. An upright piano stood in the corner, where she saw Dahyun lifting the fallboard as she sat down on its bench.
Sana walked over to the other girl, her usual confidence wavering slightly as she reached the bench. Dahyun seemed to notice her uncertainty because she immediately patted the part of the bench next to her, scooting over to give the older girl room. Sana timidly thanked her as she sat down, keeping a few inches between the two, thinking she may actually faint if any closer to the girl.
“Okay! So. Sana,” Dahyun clapped her hands together abruptly, turning her head to Sana, the latter suddenly very aware of the shiny lip gloss coating plump and soft looking lips less than inches away from her own… she’s so damn close.
“Why are you interested in learning the piano? You look a little older than the usual starting age.”
Had it been anyone else, Sana would’ve been furious with the comment and ordered her security detail beat up the offender, but she somehow couldn’t find it in herself to get mad at Dahyun.
“I guess that’s true, I’m a senior in uni. And well… It's kind of a long story. My parents forced me to, I don’t really like instruments, I actually think that kind of stuff is boring.”
“Oh,” Dahyun’s smile faltered at this. Sana immediately backtracked, guilt washing over her as the girl’s expression changed to that of a wounded puppy’s.
“Wait no! I mean uh, I watched a video of someone playing piano and got suddenly inspired! Yeah, that’s what happened.”
The girl’s smile returned in the blink of an eye. Sana decided that from this moment on, she’d do everything in her power to keep it there.
“Really? Do you remember what piece it was?” Dahyun asked enthusiastically.
“Uhm…” Sana racked her brain for any piano songs she knew, but all that came to mind was a commercial of some little kid playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on a toy keyboard for his mom. What was that one they played at weddings? Cannon something…Shoot, she probably looked like a total weirdo just sitting and not saying anything. “…Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?”
“Oh! The Mozart variations?”
Sana stared at the girl blankly. Since when was Twinkle Twinkle Little Star affiliated with Mozart? And since when were there multiple versions of it?
“This one right?” Dahyun suddenly placed her hands on the piano and began playing. Sana watched, mesmerized as her fingers flitted effortlessly across the ivory keys, drawing out the familiar tune in her carefully placed notes. The soothing melody washed over Sana, and she found herself spellbound as she watched the girl’s hands dance along the piano. This version definitely did sound more complex than the nursery tune she was used to hearing, that’s for sure. However, even with all the embellishments and ornamentation, Dahyun still managed to make the familiar theme shine through.
Sana felt a sense of comforting nostalgia as the song went on. She snuck a glance at Dahyun, and was struck again by her beauty. She had the prettiest side profile Sana’s sure she had ever seen. Sana had to bite back a smile at the girl’s happy expression as she played.
The music slowly faded away as Dahyun brought her hands off the keys.
“You have a good ear,” she said, turning to a dazed Sana. “Mozart’s great, that’s a fun piece. His work does require a certain touch and understanding to get right though.”
“Yeah, totally,” Sana agreed, bobbing her head robotically.
Dahyun giggled, eye smile on full blast now. Her cheeks looked really soft… almost like a piece of tofu. Sana resisted the urge to reach over and pinch them.
“So, how’s your experience with piano? Do you have any?”
“Well… I guess I took some lessons as a kid.”
She was five years old at the time and her parents had forced her to attend lessons with some supposedly professional concert pianist. It had been three sessions of Sana getting yelled at for not being able to keep a steady beat until she finally convinced her parents to let her quit but hey, that counted as experience right?
“Oh cool! Do you remember anything?” Dahyun asked.
Sana flushed. “Uh… I— I don’t think so…”
What the. Was that a stutter? A stutter out of Minatozaki Sana? Geez, this girl was really making her go crazy huh?
“Well, let’s see. Do you remember where middle c is?”
Sana stared at what seemed like a hundred keys in front of her, panic overtaking her body. Middle c, middle c, middle c. Well, that should be somewhere in the middle right? Sana could feel a bead of sweat starting to run down her temple. Middle, middle, middle. Sana stuck out her index finger and waved it around the center of the piano, suddenly dropping it down at random.
She winced at the loud sound it made, hurriedly retracting her hand from the keys.
“Hm… well that’s okay! Do you remember the letters of the alphabet used for the different notes?” Dahyun asked patiently.
Alphabet, alphabet. Sana could remember this, she could do this. Digging through her memories, she tried her best to come up with any remembrances of her past piano lessons, but drew a complete blank.
“Uh…x,” Sana started, deciding to just randomly guess and hope she got at least a few. “…a, c, right because middle c…b, k, and uh, let’s try i?” Sana looked at the girl who had her hand in front of her mouth, stifling a laugh.
Great! She should’ve listened to Mina and Momo and watched some YouTube videos before coming here. Now she looks like some huge idiot in front of her future wife!
Noticing the taller girl’s disheartened expression, Dahyun quickly put down her hand. “It’s okay! We’ll just have to start from the beginning with you, no need for the pout,” she said, giving her a comforting pat on the shoulder. Sana’s cheeks reddened at the warm feeling the small touch evoked in her, as well as the whiff of baby power she caught when the girl drew closer.
“I guess the first thing would be finger numbers, so put out both your hands in front of you,” instructed the girl, doing the same. Sana followed suit, left staring at the palms of her hands.
“So in piano, we have numbers for all the fingers,” Sana nodded eagerly, paying close attention so as not to further make a fool of herself. “Your thumb is finger one, index, finger two, and so on until the pinky, that’s finger five. It’s the same for both hands.”
Sana looked down at her hands, focused on memorizing everything the girl was teaching her. Thumb is one, index is two— this was easy enough.
“So, with that in mind, what number would the ring finger be?”
Sana squinted her eyes a little as she stared down at her fingers, silently counting them in her head. Ring finger, ring finger. Dahyun’s ring finger is looking a little bare, Sana observes. She’s suddenly reminded of the beautiful wedding rings her jeweler had shown her the other day which she dismissed with indifference… maybe she’d have to return soon.
“Four.”
“That’s right!” Dahyun beamed at her. “Now we can look at the keyboard. Notes on the left are lower in pitch, and notes on the right higher.”
She pressed a few keys on each of the sides to show the difference. Sana nodded, finding herself enthralled by the sound of the girl’s voice. It was light and airy. Sana thought she should consider making an ASMR channel, she’s sure it’d garner millions of fans… and love rivals. Actually, on second thought, maybe not.
“Now things get a little trickier. The piano has twelve tones, each represented by a different letter in the alphabet.”
Sana gave her a quizzical look, “But there’s way more than twelve keys here?”
“Well that’s true, but there’s only twelve total tones. We’ll ignore the black keys for now and focus on the white ones. This is middle c,” she pressed down on a key. And from there is d, e, f, g, a, and b. Piano just uses the first seven letters of the alphabet, it stops after g.”
She proceeded to press the corresponding keys, Sana watching with rapt attention.
“So that means that even if I had this note here,” she reached over Sana to hit a key on the left side of the piano, brushing the taller girl’s shoulder in the process, much to her delight. “…it would still be a c. Same with all the others, this would be another g but higher in pitch.”
Dahyun turned to her. “Do you get it?”
“Yes!”
“Then can you play an e for me?”
Oh I’d do anything for you, Sana thought as she reached out to the piano and pressed what she thought was an e.
“Hmm not quite,” Dahyun said, placing her hand on Sana’s to move it slightly farther up the piano. “Right… here!”
Sana felt the girl press down on her finger from above, and she had to fight back the squeals building up in her throat at the action. It was over as soon as it started though, Dahyun pulling back her hand to give her another question.
“What’s this then?” Dahyun asked, pressing down a note.
Sana looked at the key Dahyun was holding.
She intently examined the keys surrounding it, summoning all her brainpower to find out what it was. If that’s a c and it goes in alphabetical order up to g, then that would be…
“F?”
“That’s right! Good job Sana unnie, you’re learning so fast!” Dahyun praised, beaming at the girl. Her face dropped quickly though, seeing how Sana proceeded to fall off the bench and onto the floor behind her.
“Oh my god are you okay?”
〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️
The hour was up, and Sana was all smiles as she stood in Dahyun’s living room. They had been talking for the last ten minutes, Sana discovering that Dahyun was a piano major and sophomore at a university nearby that happened to not be hers, much to the older’s dismay. She also learned that her dad had found Dahyun through one of his friends, who’d known her from the classical music world; apparently, Dahyun was pretty known in the piano scene, having participated in many competitions and concerts before. He’d approached her with the offer and thankfully, she agreed.
Sana was truly on cloud nine as they saved each other’s contact information, cheeks sore from smiling so much. As soon as she exited the room she whipped out her phone, opening her messages.
(6:41) Me: Arrange for Lotte to start manufacturing a new waffle chocopie. Have a box in my hand before next Thursday or I’ll have you fired and blacklisted from the job market.
(6:45) Nayeonnie 🐰🍡: wrong number bimbo. sounds good tho, make sure to gimme some when u get it!!
(6:46) Me: no 💜
++
(6:47) Me: Arrange for Lotte to start manufacturing a new waffle chocopie. Have a box in my hand before next Thursday or I’ll have you fired and blacklisted from the job market.
(6:47) Butt💨ler: Right away Ms. Minatozaki.
(6:48) Me: Also, sell the bachelorette pad in Fiji while you’re at it.
Spotting a familiar Rolls-Royce waiting for her in the parking lot, she cheerfully hopped in. Her longtime chauffeur gave her an odd look, not used to seeing her so jovial. He was admittedly a little spooked.
She glared at him and rolled up the dividing window, “Get moving.”
There was the Minatozaki Sana he knew. He turned around and started steering their way out of the parking lot.
With her newfound privacy, Sana opened her phone again and clicked the ‘call’ button. It rang for a few seconds until someone picked up.
“Yes, Sattang? If this is more complaining about the lesson I’m hangin—”
“I’m getting married!”