CHAPTER 1 _ FADING NOTES

The rehearsal hall echoed with the sound of a grand piano.

Each note drifted through the room like falling snow-soft, beautiful, and familiar.

Park Jimin sat before the piano with his eyes closed, letting his fingers move instinctively across the keys. Music had always been his language. It was where he felt the most alive.

When the final note faded, the room erupted into applause from the staff preparing for the upcoming national concert.

||"As expected of Park Jimin."||

||"He's definitely going to steal the show."||

Jimin smiled politely and bowed.

But the smile disappeared the moment he was alone.

He looked back at the piano.

The applause...

Had sounded strangely distant.

He rubbed his ears, convincing himself it was only because he was tired.

The following morning, rehearsals resumed.

The orchestra began playing, and Jimin joined them.

Halfway through the piece...

His fingers stopped.

One note.

He couldn't hear it.

He frowned and played it again.

Nothing.

He could see the hammer inside the piano strike the string, but the sound barely reached him.

His heartbeat quickened.

"Maybe... I just imagined it."

Taking a deep breath, he continued playing.

No one seemed to notice.

At least...

That's what he thought.

Min Yoongi stood at the back of the rehearsal hall with a notebook in his hand.

As one of the concert's music producers, he had attended countless rehearsals.

Jimin never made mistakes.

Never.

Yet today...

He had hesitated.

Only for a second.

But Yoongi noticed.

After rehearsal ended, he caught up to Jimin outside.

"Coffee?"

Jimin blinked before smiling.

"You're buying?"

"Don't push your luck."

Jimin laughed.

"Then sure."

The café near the concert hall was unusually quiet.

Yoongi stirred his coffee while watching Jimin poke at his slice of cheesecake without taking a bite.

"You're distracted."

"Am I?"

"You played a wrong note today."

Jimin's hand froze.

Then he chuckled.

"Even professionals make mistakes."

Yoongi raised an eyebrow.

"You don't."

For a brief moment, silence settled between them.

Jimin looked out the window.

"...I guess I was just tired."

Yoongi didn't believe him.

But he didn't press further.

That evening, Jimin returned to his apartment.

The silence felt heavier than usual.

He sat in front of the small keyboard in his living room and pressed a key.

A soft note rang out.

Then another.

Then another.

Some notes sounded clear.

Others...

Barely reached him.

His hands slowly stopped moving.

He covered his ears, hoping they would suddenly clear.

Nothing changed.

His breathing became uneven.

"Please..." he whispered.

"Not music."

"Take anything else... but not music."

The next day, Jimin found himself sitting in a hospital waiting room.

His fingers gripped the appointment slip so tightly that it crumpled.

When the nurse called his name, his legs felt heavy as he walked into the doctor's office.

After several hearing tests, the doctor removed the headphones and sighed gently.

"Mr. Park... I'd like to schedule a few more tests before we discuss the results."

Jimin forced a smile.

It's nothing serious... right?"

The doctor didn't answer immediately.

That silence was enough.

Outside the hospital, rain had begun to fall.

Jimin stood beneath the grey sky without opening his umbrella.

Cars passed by.

People hurried home.

The city was alive.

Yet everything around him felt strangely...

Quiet.

Far away, Yoongi happened to drive past the hospital after finishing work.

At a red light, he glanced toward the sidewalk.

His eyes landed on a familiar figure standing alone in the rain.

Jimin.

Before Yoongi could call out, the traffic light turned green, and the cars behind him began to honk.

By the time he found a place to turn around...

Jimin was gone.

Only the rain remained.

.

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