After Saven’s activities came to an end.
Harang continued appearing on the variety shows she’d been doing since her Saven days.
Hana was still running her personal YouTube channel.
And Yeeun had become the new MC of MBS’s music program, Melody Bank.
But aside from them, the remaining four members—Seoyun, Dohee, Chaerin, and Sera—had practically no media exposure at all.
Of course, it was by choice.
If they still wanted to appear on broadcasts, there were plenty of stations that would invite the Saven members.
But with Saven having disbanded not long ago, the members were coordinating their schedules with the company according to their individual circumstances.
So the only way the public could see them was through each person’s SNS and the new commercials they had filmed.
[What’s Dohee doing these days?]
I wonder if my wife misses me
ㅡNot at all
ㅡBut she’s my baby?
Naturally, the fans wanted new updates.
And there was one student who benefited immensely from this situation.
[Oh holy shit guys look at this]
It’s a Hanseong Arts High vlog
(YouTube link)
Looks like she’s in the same class as Dohee, Dohee shows up here and there
ㅡHuff huff going to feast right now
ㅡWait for me, baby!
It was Hyuna, who had been filming a “Hanseong Arts High Piano Department Vlog.”
[Hanseong Arts High Entrance Vlog | My Celebrity Friends Are So Pretty]
ㅡ380K views, 2 months ago
[Hanseong Arts High Piano Department Curriculum Vlog | OMG Guys, This Is Crazy, My New Seatmate Is Saven’s Lee Dohee? (Got Permission to Film!)]
ㅡ770K views, 3 weeks ago
Whenever Dohee appeared even briefly, Hyuna’s view count exploded, and the corners of her mouth rose high.
Of course, she wasn’t intentionally filming Dohee because of the views.
The camera just happened to turn that way on its own. What could she do?
...It was willful negligence!
‘I don’t care! I got permission anyway!’
In any case, the title of the Hyuna-log she’d be filming today was:
[Hanseong Arts High Vlog | What Does the Piano Department Learn? Piano Major Class]
Starting her vlog from the school entrance, Hyuna leisurely walked toward the classroom while filming the scenery.
“Today is Friday, major class day. There’s no one around, right? Yes, I’m a tiny bit late. Anyway, today is our major evaluation, so I’ll be playing a prelude and an etude. Oh, and we also have an accompaniment test today. There are way too many performance assessments... But apparently that’s just how it is, so what can I do? It’s my fate. I have to do it.”
And before long, she arrived at the piano department classroom.
“Anyway, I’ll be showing you all of today’s major class! Hyuna-log start~!”
Hyuna finished her closing line and put her phone away.
“Wow, fuck, she’s seriously so damn pretty... I understand the fans who follow her around now.”
“Can someone go ask her for an autograph? I want one. Or a photo.”
“Don’t talk bullshit. That’s seriously rude as hell. She’s doing something right now.”
Because it felt a little awkward to film this.
Just like always, outside the piano department classroom was crowded with students from other departments who had come to look at Dohee.
And this was after the crowd had shrunk with time.
“Hey! Aren’t you all going back to your own classrooms!?”
At first, it had been so bad that several teachers had to come out to control it.
Because of that, Dohee had spent a while feeling troubled, saying she was causing a nuisance.
She had even gone around apologizing to her classmates and teachers while handing out gifts she had bought herself.
“Sigh... Being too famous must be hard too.”
It wasn’t simply that life was difficult when you had no privacy wherever you went.
When Hyuna entered the classroom, she saw the three girls gossiping again today.
“Hey, she’s doing that again.”
“Fuck, she acts so smart, it’s insane.”
“If she’s going to be like that, why did she even come to an arts high school?”
‘What was it they said yesterday? When she was a little low-energy, they said her fake act had finally cracked or something.’
Like that, Dohee had to be interpreted over every tiny speck that wouldn’t be a problem at all, and hated for no reason.
‘This is probably how rumors start.’
Of course, the majority of students still wanted to become friends with Dohee.
And naturally, Hyuna was one of the latter.
She had even become friends with her. Though it was still a little awkward.
“Dohee!”
Hyuna glared at the girls, then ran over in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Oh, you’re here? You’re late.”
Dohee took out her earphones and greeted her.
“Ah, I overslept because I was editing yesterday’s vlog.”
In a way, Dohee and I are kind of in a win-win relationship.
I prevent rumors from spreading through my vlogs.
And Dohee increases my views!? Heheh.
“What is it? Why are you smiling like that?”
“Huh? Oh, no, no. More importantly, did you prepare for today’s test?”
“Yeah, I did. I worked on it until dawn after PT yesterday... Ha, I thought I was going to die.”
She was just a kid who worked hard at everything, so why were they badmouthing her?
“That must’ve been rough~ But what were you solving just now?”
“Oh, this?”
Dohee showed her the first page.
“The practical mock exam from yesterday.”
“Again...?”
Of course, she was a bit on a different track from ordinary people, to the point that it felt somewhat alien...
“But Dohee, are you going to take the CSAT...?”
“Hmm... maybe? But more than that, I’m just doing it for now. It’s kind of a routine I’ve had since I was really little, so I get anxious if I don’t do it.”
Right. Honestly, it’s not like there was any grand reason behind the gossip.
It was simple jealousy and envy.
And that was something that couldn’t be helped.
Especially in this classroom.
Because, after all.
The piano that Hyuna majored in was, unexpectedly, a long game.
It was an art major, but talent and sense alone weren’t what mattered.
Rather, it was even harder and more important to keep your butt glued to a chair and continue playing steadily.
The romantic part that people imagined only existed when you were performing.
For that one performance, you practiced the same movement and the same melody over and over again, so both the piece and the progress quickly became tedious.
That was why getting into the piano department of an arts high school meant this:
They were students who had gone through that process, who had essentially devoted most of their seventeen years of life to the piano, who would continue majoring in piano, and who had, to some extent, been acknowledged in that long game.
In other words, most of the students in this class were serious about piano, and they took pride in it.
So piano was their pride.
Amid all that, when it came to Dohee, who was doing popular music.
When it came to Dohee, who was sweeping up public popularity, it was only natural in a sense that they would feel resistance rather than curiosity.
They didn’t like the very fact that Dohee had entered the piano department in the first place.
‘Well, I mean... honestly, at first I did think it was a little strange that a celebrity was coming here.’
Even so, no one dared to openly gossip about Dohee to her face.
It wasn’t simply because they were afraid of the backlash.
It was because Dohee had not only swept the overall grand prizes at the most major of major competitions.
She was also overwhelming in most of the major classes.
“Now, everyone! Take out your sheet music!”
Just then, the bell for first period rang, and the teacher entered the classroom.
To film the video, Hyuna quickly set her phone up on her desk.
The first major class of the day was sight-singing.
ㅡFa sol la si do, la sol fa mi, re do re mi do♪
It was a class where they sang only the notes written on a vocal score using solfege.
A class that repeatedly trained them in pitch, the placement of each note, and a sense of rhythm.
“Sol la la♪”
At the sound of the soft voice, Hyuna subtly turned her head.
Dohee’s nose bridge, jawline, and eyes—features no one could help but be captivated by—came into view all at once.
Am I going to end up becoming a lesbian at this rate?
“Sol fa mi re do♫.”
Of course, hearing her voice made Hyuna think anew that she really was a singer.
“Sol fa mi...”
‘Mi... she’s seriously insane.’
Then, in the end, she found herself bewitched again because Dohee’s face was so pretty.
And when Dohee, who had been sight-singing, looked over with her face slightly flushed in embarrassment—
“Why...?”
Even as a girl, Hyuna thought she was fucking cute.
‘Shit, you really were born to be a celebrity...! I seriously love you.’
She felt like she understood why female fans existed.
Should I try becoming one of those fansite masters or whatever too?
If I edit this scene in, the views will be crazy, right? Hehehe.
Like that, first-period sight-singing class ended.
“You’re solving another mock exam...?”
“...Honestly, if I don’t do this, I have nothing else to do.”
Then came second period, ear training.
Ear training was a class where they listened to the melody and rhythm the teacher played on the piano up front, then wrote it down on staff paper.
It was a class that sharpened the ear.
And again, helped them learn pitch and rhythm.
♫♩♪
But it was a class far more difficult than sight-singing.
“Teacher! For the first measure, are we supposed to write four notes or three?”
“There are five notes in the first measure?”
“...Huh.”
“Hyuna, that’s sol, fa, re, do, la.”
“What, it goes all the way to la? I’m losing my mind.”
It was difficult enough that even students majoring in piano got it wrong.
The teacher played it in a deliberately confusing way.
“Now, everyone, this is ran-ddan-ddan~ This rhythm. You know what it is, right? Accented offbeat~ Syncopation~? Make sure you pay attention when you write it down, okay?”
“Ah, shit, I’m not writing the rhythm.”
Because taking rhythm into account on top of everything else was too hard.
Even so, when Hyuna looked at Dohee’s staff paper, all of it was correct.
So this is why she’s called someone with absolute pitch...
“Dohee, I’m curious. What does absolute pitch feel like?”
“Um... I’m not sure? Kind of like English words?”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s like I just remember and know the notes themselves?”
“I know notes too, though?”
“It’s a little different. When a native speaker hears English, they take the words as they are, they don’t translate the meanings like we do. It’s kind of like that. Since I heard them over and over from when I was little, they’re interpreted directly. That’s about what it feels like.”
“Ah...”
Hyuna, who had relative pitch, felt the difference in talent for no reason.
Of course, even while knowing that piano was won by the person who kept at it steadily, and even while thinking Dohee must have worked that hard to become like that.
‘She must have been born with talent in the first place too...’
Dohee didn’t seem like someone who should simply be an idol.
Hyuna couldn’t help feeling depressed.
‘But this is going to get good views... Ha, what should I buy with the revenue... Maybe a bag...’
Thinking about the vlog made her feel better again.
‘Ah, this complicated heart of mine...!’
“Hyuna, more importantly, you’re going to go practice two-piano with me, right?”
But when she looked at Dohee’s face after all—
“Okay! Okay!”
Her mood leaned toward feeling good.
I guess I’m a face fan...
Pretty things are the best.