Minjeong had always loved music. From as soon as her consciousness allowed her to remember, she has always been surrounded by music. And growing up, music became her safe space. Something she could retire to whenever things would get too heavy, and the world would be too much to bear for her.
In short, music blessed her life.
But music has also been her biggest curse. And Minjeong learnt this unfortunate and inescapable fact at a very young age.
For her eighth birthday, her grandfather had gifted her her very first guitar. It was a shiny red and white Harley Benton ST-20 CA. To Minjeong, the sequence of complex words had made no sense at the time. But just seeing how happy her grandpa looked giving her this guitar, made her immediately fall into a giddy smile.
Minjeong loves her grandpa. He used to be the guitarist of a famous rock band in Korea. Wherever you went, you would always hear the name of Kim Minsuk, the “guitar genius”.
But guitar had also taken so much away from him. Managing stardom is a different process for everyone. And for him, it had taken the shape of giving up everything to follow his love for music. Everything including love, and family.
Maybe this is why Minjeong’s mother hates music so much. And maybe why the first thing she did when she saw Minjeong’s birthday gift was to take it away from her, ignoring her pleas of despair.
But Minjeong had not given up, and every night, she would sneak into the attic to retrieve the guitar her mother had hidden away from her, to practice until dawn.
Sometimes, when she would visit her grandpa (against her parents’ wishes), he would lend her some of his old guitars so she could scratch a cord or two. She would spend hours fiddling with the tunings, pulling the strings and making music hers.
And when her grandpa had secretly gifted her her very first flatpick, Minjeong had been over the moon. It was a white pick, with a golden flake engraved on it. So simple yet meaningful to the young girl.
The artifact became her most prized possession, until her mother found out about it and took it away from her. Minjeong had once again been hit by music’s curse.
Everytime she would try to touch an instrument, everytime her gaze would linger for a bit too long on a music shop’s display, her mother would bring her back to reality, and keep her away from it.
It didn’t stop her from going over to her grandpa’s to practice though. And during those fleeting moments, Minjeong finally felt like herself. Surrounded by nothing but music, and the satisfying painful feeling of the thin cords pressing against her fingers.
Her dream was to become a famous guitarist, just like her grandfather. But alas, life had other plans for her, and she had no choice but to comply with her parents’ wishes.
So this is why instead, after graduating highschool, she enrolled in a law major.
Law clearly lacked the excitement music brought to her. It was nothing but an entanglement of big words, never ending articles and nonsensical cases. Law was dull, strict and suffocating.
However, music was like a breath of fresh air to her. It was everything she needed to function.
When Minjeong turned twenty, her grandfather gifted her another guitar. One she promised to make hers and keep away from her parents’ wrath. It was a Jackson Pro Series Signature Jeff Loomis Kelly Ash. A long name to describe a pure jewel. The instrument had been Minjeong’s dream guitar since the first time her eyes laid upon it on a music magazine, and she finally had it between her palms.
However, as rejoiced as she was, she immediately remembered how music became a secret for her. She simply doesn’t have a choice but to solely enjoy it by herself.
Music felt so free, yet so restricting. Something made to share with other people, but that she had to keep to herself.
Even her best friend Yizhuo knew nothing about it. And Minjeong would love to keep this as it is. The less people know about this, the less chances her parents have to discover her secret activity.
***
That morning had been quite the eventful one.
It all started when Minjeong got woken up by an overly excited Yizhuo who, quite literally, jumped on her bed, making Minjeong shriek and wake up in surprise.
“Minjeong!!”
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