Chapter 5

“Hi guys-” 

Minjeong did not even have the time to finish her sentence when she felt hands shoving on her shoulders, shaking them violently in the process.

“Minjeong! You have some serious explaining to do!” almost hurled Yizhuo in her ears. The girl was visibly fuming.

However, Minjeong couldn’t help but to whine from the pain. “Ugh tone it down please..”

“Tone it down?!” scoffed Yizhuo. “I would if I didn’t just learn that my best friend of literal YEARS is actually a guitar genius??”

To top off this mess, Aeri decided to join in. “You should have told us from the beginning that you played guitar as well!”

Things were way too messy already, and Jimin helplessly tried to appease the situation. “Guys I think we-” But abruptly got cut by Minjeong who bowed ninety degrees in front of Yizhuo and Aeri. 

“I’m so sorry for keeping this from you two. I swear I will explain but please just give me some time.” Minjeong was practically begging at this point. 

When she accepted Jimin’s offer, she did not think about the consequences at all. Call it the intensity of the moment, or just her deepest desires finally allowing themselves to be let out, but the usually rational Minjeong had probably taken the most impulsive decision of her life, and didn’t think further. 

When she asked Jimin if she could join her band, she had not thought of her mother’s harsh gaze for a second. But she also hadn’t thought about Yizhuo’s reactions to the whole ordeal. 

And as expected, she was completely shocked. Minjeong knows a discussion between them is way  overdue, but she doesn’t want to involve Jimin and Aeri in this mess. 

So that’s why she selfishly asked for some time. 

And gladly Yizhuo, who deep down knows her friend from the back of her hand, probably understood what Minjeong was trying to avoid, and decided to drop it. For the moment.

“Alright but we’ll have a talk at home.” Minjeong could only weakly nod in response, and hope that the two others won’t attempt to ask more about it. 

Sensing the palpable tension in the air, Aeri suddenly clapped her hands in an attempt to distract the others.

“Now that we’re a full functioning band, I have a request!” And this successfully caught everyone’s attention, because they all turned towards Aeri, sending her a curious look. 

“The university is holding a cultural festival in about a month. Do you guys want to play there?”

Playing at a festival right away? This definitely sounded like a tough challenge, but a very interesting one. Minjeong thinks that it would be the perfect occasion to display their sound, and the practices prior to it will be very good opportunities to match their melodies. 

At first, she was scared to play with other people. But Jimin showed her how fun it actually is. Although she still doesn’t know if Jimin’s sound and hers really perfectly matched, or if it’s just how playing with someone else feels in general. 

And there was also the problem with her stage fright.

In fact, playing in front of people was still totally frightening for Minjeong. She really did not lie to Jimin the first time she asked her to join the band! But she has a feeling that with those girls, she’ll be okay. 

“Of course!” both shouted Yizhuo and Jimin, while Minjeong merely nodded. 

Aeri seemed to remember something though. “Oh, but don’t you have stage fright Minjeong?”

The sudden attention startled Minjeong a bit. She could feel Yizhuo’s hard gaze on her, while Jimin just looked at her with her usual worried eyes. 

“Well…” sheepishly started the young woman. “I feel like I’ll be okay with you guys. I wanna play too.”