Henry (1/1)

Eun Hye POVYawning as I drank my coffee, my lethargic condition was confusing my state of mind. While bonding with Kibum hadn’t been particularly stressful, per se, it had been quite consuming of brainpower. Rolling my shoulders, I began to wonder what that kid had in store for me.As soon as I opened the door, I was greeted with the sight of Henry, harassing a tired-looking Zhou Mi about a jacket or something.“Ge ge, please! I have to look cool! Besides, you have like, a million more!” Henry whined.“No, Henry, I like that one especially…” It seemed Zhou Mi had been dealing with this for a while. Though I was surprised that he hadn’t given in already. You have to applaud this guy for his perseverance. So, I might as well give him a break.“Henry-ah, ready to go?” I smiled as I walked towards the arguing pair.“Jie jie…”He pouted. “Make Zhou Mi Ge give me his jacket! I wanna look cool!” I glanced at Zhou Mi to see him looking relieved that Henry wasn’t bothering him anymore.“Henry, don’t worry, you already do look cool!” I gave him a reassuring smile. “Now, kaja!”“Wait, noona, you need your violin!” He grinned at me.“What do I need my violin for?” I raised my eyebrows.“You’ll see! Let’s go! Bye Zhou Mi Ge!” Henry turned around and hugged a surprised Zhou Mi, grinned, then grabbed me by the wrist and yanked me toward the door. I turned to Zhou Mi and shot him a terrified glance, but he just grinned at me and mouthed “good luck”.In any event, I made Henry wait outside my door as I got my violin. Somehow, I had the feeling that if I let him inside, he would leave the apartment in a state of destruction.He yanked me down to his car. Now, usually I would just let the members drive, but with Henry…“Henry, give me the car keys.” I commanded.“Ah, jie jie, wae?” He pouted.“Because I don’t know how Canadians drive. Now give.” I held out my hand in expectance. Slowly, he put the keys in my hand, and then walked to the passenger side like a lost puppy.The car ride was…entertaining. It involved Henry bouncing up and down in his seat, him spinning to random radio stations and trying to sing along with the songs in his wonderfully broken Korean, and doing his best to make me feel bad about not letting him drive.“YAH!” I shouted.“AHHHHHH!” He looked pretty startled.“We’re here, Henry-ah.” I said, chuckling. He then looked around with wide eyes, like an owl, then said:“Oh yeah! We are!” He grinned and hopped out of the car. I got both of our violins out the backseat, then followed Henry to the receptionist lady.“Ah, are you here for the International Violinists competition?” She smiled nicely at us.Wait…competition?Not again…this is Eunhyuk all over again, except with violins.Well, at least I’m reasonably good at violin.“Yes, there are…”He looked like he was struggling with his limited Korean. “Uh…” He looked at me desperately.“Two of us.” I gave Henry a patronizing look as I took the passes from the receptionist.“You really don’t know how to say the number two?” I gave Henry a look of incredulity as we walked to the warm up area.“Well…I’m not that good in Korean…” He muttered as he looked down at the floor in shame.“You could have just said it in Chinese, I would have translated for you…”I raised an eyebrow at him.“Jie jie, you speak Chinese?” He said disbelievingly.“Yah, why don’t you think I say anything when you call me jie jie and everyone ge ge and all that?” I smirked at him. “I’m surprised you didn’t notice.”

“OHO!” His mouth made a perfect ‘o’, and he looked like he just had a revelation. I couldn’t help but laugh at his face.When we walked into the warm-up room, I was assaulted by the smell of rosin, wood, and desperation. Obviously, this competition was filled with kids whose parents had pressured them into ‘winning’, and the amount of stress in the room was measureable. As we reached our little space to unpack, I gasped in amazement as I saw Henry take out one of the most beautiful (and expensive!) violins I had ever seen. I guess being an idol really does pay. It shamed me when I took out my violin, which I had had since I was a little child.“Jie jie, your violin is so old!” Henry exclaimed in amazement.I threw him a dirty glance and said “Yah, don’t hate. I’ve had this since I was born.”

“Really?! I couldn’t imagine having a violin that long…” He trailed off as his brows furrowed in confusion. “Why did you keep it?”“Well…” I hesitated. “I couldn’t really afford to buy a new one, and besides, I’m never going to sell this…it’s too special to me.”“Why?” Did this kid ever stop asking questions?“Because it was my mother’s, and it’s the only thing I have left of her except for this necklace…” I turned away as my hand instinctively went to my gold heart necklace.I can’t let him see me like this…I bit my lip nervously, flooded with memories from the past.-Flashback-“Umma!” I shouted, waving furiously in her direction.“Oh, you shouldn’t be out. It’s too cold!” Umma smiled at me, then pulled me inside the house with her. “Now, go get your violin, it’s time for your lesson!” I pouted, not wanting to play, but I grudgingly went to go get it. When I returned, my mother was already sitting by the piano with new sheet music.“Umma, when can I have you necklace?” I asked, eyeing the shiny piece of gold hanging around her neck.“Now, if you want.” She smiled as she took the necklace off and put it around my neck. I felt the cold metal resting against my collarbone.“Just remember, only take it off to shower and sleep, and put some nice pictures inside. You know, it’s a locket.”“Okay, umma, I promise!” I grinned at her in excitement before she started berating me for not practicing enough during the week.-Flashback End-Henry POVShe shifted uncomfortably as she took her violin out of its case, still turned away from me. Her parents were dead? Maybe I shouldn’t have kept asking…“Jie jie…I-I-I’m sorry…” My voice faltered as she turned back to face me with a rueful smile on her face, now holding her violin.“It’s fine, I don’t worry about it anymore. It’s in the past now. Now, Henry-ah, shouldn’t you get out your violin?” She turned away again to tune and put rosin her bow.I wonder what happened…I suppose when she trusts us enough, she’ll tell us.Eun Hye POVI rolled my shoulders as I got back into the competition mindset. It had been a long time since I had been to a competition like this. I could blame Henry for dragging me here, but to be honest, I was excited if only to see the look on the parents’ face when I won.“Ready to go, Henry-ah?” I turned around only to find Henry in a serious battle with his shoulder rest. I sighed as I took it from him and put it on properly. “Now, ready to go?” I lifted an eyebrow.“Yes, jie jie.” He looked down at the floor guiltily. “But do you already know what you’re going to play?”“Nope, I’ll just think of something when I get up on stage.” I gave him my trademark smirk as he looked at me in surprise, then I hauled him over to the waiting line. There were four more people before Henry, and I was the last. How fitting.Most of the people here were young adults, in their 20’s. Some were older, like 40. Actually, it looked like Henry was one of the youngest performers, but it amused me how he was probably better than most of the older players.“Jie jie, it’s my turn! Wish me luck!” Henry threw me a grin as he ran out on stage. I guess it’s time to see how he really sounds apart from his beloved electric violin.I shut my eyes as I leaned against the wall behind me, letting myself be absorbed into the music. His melodies flowed around me even as he started playing. After a few seconds, my eyes snapped open in surprise to hear Elgar’s Salut D’Amour. I smiled, relaxing again against the wall, letting one of my favorite pieces take over me. His high notes were laying perfectly over the piano accompaniment, and his vibrato was rich and full. The sound quality was pristine and perfect, and his bow distribution was spot-on. I guess this kid actually does have skill. As he hit the high ending note, the audience burst into enthusiastic applause, and Henry bowed quickly before he ran to where I was waiting in the wings.“Henry-ah, that was great!” I grinned at him, feeling marginally fantastic after hearing him play.“Thanks, jie jie!” He gave me a smile full of teeth, and then hugged me. This one was a hugger too, go figure.“It’s actually one of my favorite songs. I’m glad you did it justice.” I gave him a genuine smile, which he returned.“So, jie jie, are you ready?” Changing the subject much…but come to think of it, I still haven’t decided on a piece.“Do we have to play classical?” I inquired.“No…but what do you have in mind?” He looked at me, startled. He obviously thought I was going to play classical…while I could; I have something better in mind.“Ever seen the movie Howl’s Moving Castle?” I smiled mischievously at him, while he looked utterly perplexed.Henry looked at me as the performance before mine ended. Now, it was my turn. I gave him a smirk as he whispered ‘good luck’ and pasted a confident smile on my face as I walked out to the brightly light stage.“Got the sheet music for The Merry-Go-Round of Life from Howl’s Moving Castle?” I asked my accompanist. She nodded in assent, and we got ready to play. I guess this is what they call ‘thinking outside the box’.I couldn’t help but smile as she began the song. This song was one of the most beautiful I had heard, and it brought back many good memories of watching the movie with my friend, and practicing the music for hours to get it just right. It wasn’t a surprise that I hadn’t forgotten the notes even though it had been almost ten years since I had played this song. Thinking about it, I haven’t even practiced in a while, except for my duet with Heechuls little sister…All thoughts flew out of my head as I began to play after the piano intro. The notes poured out of my fingers as the melody that had embedded itself in my head so long ago was brought to life again. I swayed with the beat, staying still at the height of the note, bending slightly at the lower registers. My mind stayed blank as my fingers beat their well-worn path up and down my fingerboard, only to stop to vibrato on long notes. My bow glided on the strings, adding more pressure when needed, but only then. I grinned as I came to the end of the song, feeling absolutely satisfied. I bowed, then calmly walked off stage in the midst of the chaos of a thundering applause and talking from the audience. As I reached him, Henry’s face was pale as he looked at me in absolute shock.“Jie jie…” He whispered in a deathly tone. “That was insane…”“I told you not to worry.” I smirked at him. “Did you like it?” I asked, honestly curious. He responded with a bear hug, breaking down and sobbing in my shoulder.“Was it that terrible?” I asked, horrified. I mean, I knew I hadn’t played in a while, but I didn’t think it was that bad…“Jie jie…THAT WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING I’VE EVER HEARD!” His face turned up to mine and shined with happiness. Yay, I just made a child happy. I couldn’t help but grin back at my little charge.“Well, they announce winners in an hour. Wanna go get food?” He asked me hopefully. I guess he was hungrier then he let on.“Sure, but no ice cream.” I smiled at him good-naturedly as we descended the steps in front of the building to street, looking around for food shops. Henry quickly spotted a coffee shop, so we went there. We ordered, and sat and ate in silence. Well, it wouldn’t have been silent if Henry hadn’t been eating a whole freaking meal. I mean, I knew he was hungry, but this was going a little too far…after all, I was just drinking a little coffee, and he was eating a bunch of food and he had a drink. No wonder he was so chubby…but not as much as Shindong.After about 30 minutes of eating, I had to take Henry back to the venue; after all, they were announcing results soon. We got our violins from the warm-up room, and then sat in the section of seats labeled ‘participants’. I looked over Henry’s shoulder as he surfed the web on his phone for five minutes, then just got out my own phone and started listening to music. And can you guess what came on first?That’s right!Super Junior-M!            I smiled as I relaxed into my all-time Super Junior-M favorite, Super Girl. Seriously, I had been listening to this song since it came out. I had learned the lyrics a long time ago.      I turned the music off after cycling through most of my Super Junior songs and the MC came up on stage to announce the winners.      “Third place goes to…Kim Jung Su!” The audience clapped as cute young man ran up on stage, bowing multiple times for the audience.      “Second place goes to…Lau Henry!” I cheered along with the rest as Henry ran up to the stage to claim his prize. What was with that kid and running everywhere?      “First place goes to…”The MC paused for dramatic effect. It really wasn’t that dramatic, though. “Kim Eun Hye! Congratulations!” The crowd clapped hard enough, but I had a sneaking sensation more than one person was bitter as I walked up to the stage to claim my prize. Bowing politely, I waited until the moment where I could just go home. Even though it was just the fifth day of bonding, these boys were already running me down.I took the car keys that Henry had somehow taken from me, then shoved them in and quickly started the car.

“Jie jie, are you happy that you won? You look kind of pissed off…”

“I’m not mad, I’m just tired. And besides, it’s just a competition. I wouldn’t have cared if I won or lost.” I said offhandedly as I immediately got on the road for home. “Good job, Henry-ah.”“Thanks, jie jie!” At least he seemed happy.Raindrops began pouring down just as we pulled in front of the dorm. We ran quickly inside so as to not get wet, and pressed the button in the elevator for the eleventh floor. Dashing into the dorm once the elevator stopped, we were greeted with the sight of all the guys lying over the floor, the couch, and everywhere else. They were all breathing hard and looked like they were going to die.“Omo, what happened to you guys?” I walked to the center of the room, concern creasing my forehead.“Todays…bonding…was…running…and….training…” Kyuhyun didn’t even look up as he gasped those words. I felt a pang of pit for them…but not enough to make me stay and help them. After all, I need to prepare to bond with ‘Cinderella’ tomorrow…well that’s going to be fun.“Henry-ah, make them dinner. Have a good night, you guys!” I cheerfully waved and then sped out the door while hearing choruses of “Noona…” I guess I could have helped…but I didn’t want to. I walked into my apartment, feeling better than I had in a while. I guess I just don’t get out enough.Laying down in the soft fluffy sheets, I emptied my mind of all worries, and forgot about the hell I was sure to face tomorrow.Big mistake.