After the rehearsal, Jiyoo met with Yuri. As they were packing up, they started chatting.
Jiyoo: “Hey Yuri. How is it today? Do you have any special feelings about it?”
Yuri: “Not bad. I am sitting next to the Trombone sectional leader. Her name is Saebyeok. The sitting for our section is one year 2 student and one year 1 student as a pair. How's it for you? Do you like it?”
Jiyoo: “It is good. Um, actually, I am not very sure. I guess it is okay for me. I am in the second row, next to a girl, but I don't know her name yet. Maybe I'll ask her next time.”
Yuri: “That’s nice. The band sounds so amazing, and it is very different from middle school. Even the warm-up routine shows the high quality of musicianship. Mr Kon is so chill, which I thought would be more serious!”
As they talked, they walked to the crosswalk where they usually said “see you next day”. They talked for a bit longer, then walked in different directions to go home.
The sky gradually turned dark, the evening had arrived. When Jiyoo arrived home, she immediately checked her online classroom platform, just to find out her busy rehearsal schedule: Tuesday morning 7-8am, Friday afternoon 3-5pm. The next rehearsal shall be on Tuesday. Jiyoo wondered how it would be to have a rehearsal in the early morning, she never had a morning rehearsal in middle school.
During the weekend, Jiyoo practiced the 2 pieces that were introduced in the rehearsal. She wanted to impress Mr. Kon and Sunhyun. She practiced so hard that her jaws were so sore and her right thumb was reddish red. After practicing, Jiyoo cleaned her clarinet thoroughly and the cleaning cloth was completely soaked. Jiyoo was exhausted, but she believed that her hard work would be worth it.
On Tuesday morning, Jiyoo was one of the earliest people in the room, with Sunhyun, Yuri, the girl who sat next to her, and a couple more people. They helped with setting the chairs and music stands, assembled their own instruments, and peacefully warmed up on their own. The clock was ticking, many people rushed in around 3 minutes before the rehearsal started. Obviously, those individuals were educated by Mr Kon.
As everyone settled down, the band warmed up and tuned collectively. Everyone in the room was just so professional, and they knew what they were expected to do. As they started learning their first repertoire, Mr Kon asked the clarinets to take out a pencil and write something on the page. The 2 rows of clarinet players acted differently. The 4 year 2 clarinet players in the 1st row, were listening attentively, and acting like they're trained to do what they are asked to do. However, in the 2nd row, only Jiyoo was listening and writing notes, while the other 3 year 1 clarinet players were all using their phones.
Just when Jiyoo finished writing, the girl who sat next to her started talking to Jiyoo.
Girl: “Sumimasen, may I borrow your pencil please?”
Jiyoo lent the girl a pencil and continued catching up with Mr Kon's instructions.
At the end of the rehearsal, the girl returned the pencil to Jiyoo and started talking. Both of them were packing up.
Girl: “Arigato gozaimashita. Watashi wa Neko desu. Hajimemashite.” (Girl: "Thank you. My name is Neko. Nice to meet you)
Jiyoo was confused, she thought the accent was Japanese, but she didn't know what the girl was talking about. Jiyoo politely asked.
Jiyoo: “Sorry, I don't understand what you just said. What language is it?”
Girl: “Oh! I am so sorry about that. I just want to thank you for your pencil! Um, my name is Neko, and I am from Japan. Nice to meet you.”
Jiyoo: “Hello. I am Jiyoo. Let's have a good year together.”
Neko: “I have to go now. See you at the next rehearsal.”
As Neko walked away, Jiyoo took her folder from the music stand and gently put it in her bag. As she helped tidy up the music room with a few other people, she thought: high school isn't actually that terrifying as I think. I think this year will be very memorable!
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and then Add to home screen.