Minji brought out the toolbox as Zeno inspected the keyboard piano.
“Do you need any help?” she asked. “I could wake Doha up—”
“No need,” Zeno muttered, taking it apart to see which parts were defective.
Minji sat next to him on the floor.
“Screwdriver,” Zeno said, holding out his hand. Minji gave it to him. They made a good team, rallying the tools back and forth.
“How long have you had this for?” he asked as he continued to repair the keyboard.
Minji hummed, suddenly reminiscing about the old days. “Sometimes, I forget that your memory isn’t completely intact.”
“I’ve had this since we were in high school,” she continued. “I was a pretty neat pianist back then, you know? I was even part of the choir, and I sang a solo every year.”
Zeno listened intently. He glanced at Minji for a moment and saw the fond look in her eyes.
“I even took it here in hopes of studying music,” she continued, the smile slowly leaving her lips.
“But you know, some things never go according to plan,” she sighed. “Being here was already too much of a financial burden. I couldn’t ask for money from my mom since she had already spent so much on my ticket and deposits.”
“In the end, I decided to work,” she said.
Zeno finally joined some loose wires together. Then, he placed the cover back on before turning it over. He gave the cord to Minji and asked her to plug it in.
She nodded and reached out toward the socket.
After that, Zeno turned the keyboard piano on and pressed on the keys. As expected, it was fixed. Of course, Zeno knew a thing or two about repairing.
Minji’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “You actually fixed it!”
Zeno nodded and turned the keyboard piano toward her.
“W—what is this?” she stammered. “Why are you turning it toward me?”
Zeno sighed and looked her in the eyes. She bit her lip, unable to look away from his deep gaze.
“So, you’ve stopped playing?” he asked. “Completely?”
Minji pursed her lips as she stared down at the yellowing keys. It had truly been a while since she played. However, her hands gravitated toward it and began playing before she knew it.
She played a familiar tune. It was clumsily played, but her skills were still there.
“Mozart’s Sonata K 310?” he asked.
Minji stopped playing and turned to him with wide eyes. “How do you know?” she asked.
Zeno clicked his tongue. He even met that man, seeing him play for people who didn’t truly appreciate him. He only started getting recognized after he died. It was funny how people only appreciated things when they were already gone.
Zeno scooted closer to Minji and started playing the exact same piece. Like Minji, it had been a while since he was able to play. However, he played even better than Minji. He played it perfectly without any mistakes.
“It’s a pretty difficult piece, don’t you think?” he asked.
Meanwhile, Minji stared at him with a wide and agape mouth, unable to form any words.
“So, you’re not actually going to use it, right? I’m going to give it to someone.”
Minji was still unable to say anything after that statement. That piece was one of the most difficult ones she had to learn! She remembered crying because she couldn’t get it right—and she was someone who had played piano since she was in elementary school!
How could Zeno, the man who had never touched a piano before, have this kind of ability? Did he live a separate life during his military years?
“You… can play?” she asked.
Zeno shrugged. “A bit,” he muttered. “It’s something I learned along the way.”
“You… just learned Sonata K 310… casually?” she slowly asked, still in disbelief.
Zeno nonchalantly nodded. “Mozart made it difficult, huh?”
Minji let out a singular laugh. “Yeah, yeah,” she muttered.
“Answer my question,” he suddenly said, snapping her out of her thoughts. “Can I have this keyboard piano?”
“Sure, sure,” Minji said without any hesitation. From how he played it, he definitely deserved the keyboard piano more.
“Thanks,” Zeno said, taking out the cord and wrapping it around. “I’m going to give it to someone.”
Minji’s eyes widened. Could it be—
Did Zeno meet a celebrity woman, and he was going to give it to her?
“Wait!” Minji exclaimed, reaching out to the keyboard. However, at that moment, she tripped on some clutter, causing her to lose her balance and fall on top of Zeno.
Their eyes widened as the keyboard was set to the side. Zeno held Minji’s waist as she fell, and he stretched his neck at an almost anatomically impossible angle just so their faces weren’t too close.
Minji looked at Zeno with wide eyes. It was the first time she had seen his face this close in their whole lives. Even then, when Zeno was considered ‘average’ at most, she felt that Zeno was still pretty handsome.
However, he appeared out of this world at that very moment. His skin was shining, his eyes appeared like stars, and he appeared like a perfectly made mochi!
“Can you move?” Zeno asked.
All he could feel in that situation was how her bones were sharply digging into his sides.
“Oh, sorry,” Minji said, about to move away.
However, like perfect timing, the door opened, revealing Eli, Doha, and Maxie.
“I’m hungry—” Eli started off but didn’t get to finish when he saw the sight before him.
His eyes widened while Minji frantically shook her head.
Minji quickly moved away from Zeno, her cheeks nearly as red as boiled crabs.
Zeno, on the other hand, just grabbed the keyboard piano from the floor before going to Doha and carrying Maxie with his free arm.
“Thanks for the meal, Minji,” Zeno said, walking past the two shocked men.
Minji bit her lip. Why wasn’t Zeno worried at all that they might misunderstand?
“I’m full, so enjoy your dinner.”
With that, he shut the door with his foot and looked down at the keyboard piano.
He didn’t buy it with his own money.
Minji was just about to throw it out.
That was the only reason why he was going to give it to that smart kid.
Yeah.
