Someone who surpasses the Piano

“What, what…? You just said you hadn’t even started dating!”
“It’s true we haven’t started dating.”
“…Don’t tell me you’re following my advice to see if you’re physically compatible first, or something like that?”
“It’s not like that.”
Evelyn looked like she was about to die of frustration.
“Then what is it!”
“Theron Cox was just an observation subject.”
“An observation subject…?”
Evelyn’s eyebrows rose as if she were looking at something bizarre.
“You were talking about experiencing love through observation at the launching ceremony… so you were meeting Mr. Cox for that strange reason?”
“Yes.”
“But if you kissed, you weren’t just observing.”
“Seeing you and Mr. Rupert pecking at each other made me think I should experience it too.”
Despite Selene’s emotionless tone, Evelyn fanned herself.
“Why bring that up again… Anyway, so you kissed, and what? Did something happen? Did you fall in love or something?”
‘Love? All I felt was anger.’
“Theron Cox fondled my breast without permission during the kiss.”
As Selene’s brow furrowed as if recalling something very unpleasant, Evelyn’s mouth dropped open in surprise.
“Touching someone’s body without permission is wrong, I admit. So you slapped him or something?”
“Something like that. I kicked him in the shin right away.”
“Wow, that must have hurt…”
Evelyn’s eyes crinkled as if imagining it.
“It’s not just that I’m upset because Theron Cox touched my breast without permission. I have a feeling Theron is lying to me about something.”
“Uh-oh, that’s a bigger problem.”
“He said it was his first time meeting a woman, but both the kiss and the way he naturally groped my body don’t seem like the actions of an inexperienced man.”
Selene’s expression had become serious at some point.
“Is it important to you that Theron Cox is a virgin?”
At Evelyn’s question, Selene, who had been staring into space, turned her head.
“No. But lying is not okay. Especially if he’s a womanizer pretending not to be.”
“A womanizer?”
“There were suspicions like that in Velora.”
“Wait, wait!”
Evelyn raised her hand as if confused, stopping Selene from speaking.
“So, the reason you’re upset about him touching your breast is because you’re worried Mr. Cox might be a womanizer.”
“Exactly.”
“What if he’s not a womanizer, but just an experienced man? Do you dislike that too?”
Selene had to think about it.
If Theron Cox was just an experienced man who had slept with many women, he would be guilty of lying to her, but it wouldn’t be enough to despise and abandon him.
After all, he was a valuable observation subject to her.
But at the same time, if he had gone around making this woman and that woman cry, the charge of ‘trash’ would be added, and he would have to be thrown away.
“If he’s not a womanizer, I’m willing to forgive him.”
“Oh… that’s not like you, Selene. You don’t like people who play around with their lower bodies.”
“Theron Cox is an important observation subject. It would be a waste to just throw him away like that.”
“Well. You say that, but you seemed angry, Selene.”
“Because it felt like he lied to me.”
“Is that all?”
Selene couldn’t immediately refute it.
Perhaps because she herself was already aware of it.
To find out if he was a womanizer or just an experienced man, she had to talk to the person himself, but Selene had been putting it off continuously.
Selene couldn’t find a rational reason for dragging her feet like this, even though it was affecting her piano practice.
That meant there was another emotion mixed in with her anger over this matter, one that she herself hadn’t noticed.
After much thought, Selene came to a rough conclusion.
‘It’s because I’m bothered by the way Theron Cox looks when he plays the piano.’
The image of him, like a small child with lingering affection for the piano but forcibly suppressing it, was quite deeply engraved in Selene’s memory.
Just then, Evelyn, who had been observing the silent Selene, glanced at her and advised, “Just meet him and talk. That’s how you’ll find out the truth.”
Selene, who had been staring at something, replied coldly, “He might lie again.”
“Then you have to cut him off without any lingering feelings.”
‘Right, if I see any signs of that again.’
“But what are you going to do after that?”
Evelyn asked suddenly.
Selene erased the coldness from her eyes and looked at Evelyn.
“After that?”
“Are you just going to keep kissing even after the conversation goes well?”
“…”
“Since you’re not saying it’s unpleasant, the kiss must have been pretty good. Then wouldn’t you naturally end up sleeping together?”
As the topic suddenly jumped from A to F, Selene had to furrow her brow.
“That’s not in my plan yet.”
“Really? Your body will naturally heat up when you kiss.”
“Evelyn.”
“Alright, alright. I’m just worried. It’s your first time.”
Evelyn, who seemed to have finished her dessert, took out a cigarette from her bag, put it in her mouth, and lit it.
Hooo.
White smoke billowed from her red lips.
“Honestly, unless you’re hoping your partner is a virgin, Mr. Cox is not a bad partner for your first time. There’s nothing that pleases a woman more than a skilled man. Ah, of course, Mr. Cox has a great body too.”
Selene couldn’t immediately brush off this uncomfortable topic.
As Evelyn said, if Theron Cox was not a womanizer but simply an experienced man, he would lead the lovemaking as well as the kissing.
That might give her new inspiration.
Besides, Selene had only recently realized that the heat that gathered in her lower abdomen and the tingling between her thighs whenever she kissed him was due to sexual desire.
Since she too naturally groped his body when she kissed Theron, it meant that, as Evelyn had said, they couldn’t just keep kissing forever.
‘Hmm…’
In that sense, Theron was certainly not a bad partner for her first time.
If he was experienced, he would be skilled, as Evelyn had said, and since he had enjoyed many women so far, she wouldn’t have the burden of having to take responsibility for this relationship.
“And most importantly, I think that person genuinely likes you.”
Just then, unexpected words came out of Evelyn’s mouth.
Selene, who had been assessing how suitable Theron Cox was as a partner for lovemaking, looked up.
Evelyn had a rather serious look on her face.
“Even if Mr. Cox lied to you to look good, that feeling of liking you is definitely not a lie.”
“Why do you think so?”
“You can tell by looking at the eyes of a man in love. You can trust me on this part.”
Evelyn’s gaze was also endlessly serious.
In fact, that was something Selene also vaguely felt.
Seeing him get genuinely angry and excited for her sake.
She had let her guard down because of those sights.
Selene, her mind becoming complicated, looked at the clock.
A lot of time had passed.
“Don’t kick me out. I was about to leave anyway.”
Evelyn quickly stood up.
“You don’t have to see me out. I’ve already taken up enough of your time.”
Selene thought it was for the best that she didn’t have to leave the piano room.
Selene, standing as if the piano room door were some kind of boundary, said goodbye.
“Goodbye, Evelyn.”
But Evelyn didn’t say goodbye to Selene and just stared at her.
Then, she suddenly hugged Selene.
“If you have any worries, tell me anytime, Selene.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Alright. And have I ever told you? That I hope you play the piano for the rest of your life.”
She had never said that.
Evelyn used to talk about the piano as if it were a pretty accessory.
“Because it looks pretty?”
At Selene’s question, Evelyn gave a small smile.
“No, because you look happy. That thought just popped into my head today for no reason.”
Evelyn slowly released Selene.
“But I hope that someday, someone will appear who surpasses the piano for you.”
Evelyn, who met her eyes, was still smiling.
“The piano can’t smile at you like this.”
Evelyn’s words, which she had mostly considered to be frivolous, touched Selene’s heart quite deeply.
Was it because Gwendolyn and her grandmother had recently said similar things to her?
‘Indeed, the piano, which is still, can make a sound for me, but it can’t smile at me.’
“I’m going, Selene. See you again.”
With a farewell, Evelyn left, and Selene slowly looked at the piano stool.
In the silent space where no sound could be heard, it seemed as if a small laugh was suddenly heard.
Along with that hallucinatory sound, the image of herself sitting there side by side with Theron Cox, smiling and tapping the keyboard, was faintly drawn.
“…”
But when she closed and opened her eyes, only an empty space remained, as if nothing had ever happened.