Special Training

Face to face, Song Ya didn't want to hide his inner admiration, but he tried his best to control it so his gaze wouldn't appear too lecherous.

After Mira met his eyes, she froze for a moment, then leaned back to put some distance between them. She cleared her throat and began playing the intro. For the keys blocked by Song Ya, she simply skipped those notes, "Look inside..."

After finishing the first measure, she crossed her arms and cast her gaze toward the ceiling, still maintaining that haughty demeanor.

"If you won't sing, then don't sing, if you won't sing, then don't sing..." Song Ya deliberately mimicked the tone she had used when she walked out of the audition that day, "Hahaha..." He even gave her shoulder a cheeky nudge and burst into loud laughter.

"You... hmph!"

That beautiful profile instantly flushed red. She turned her head away in embarrassment, throwing another little tantrum.

The tips of her long hair brushed against Song Ya's face.

Smells so good!

"Mr. Song."

Mrs. Jovovich entered from the doorway, looking at the two of them with a helpless expression, "Stop teasing her, she still has the temperament of a child..."

"He started it!" Mira's voice rose, and she was on the verge of letting out that signature shriek of hers.

"Mira..." Mrs. Jovovich looked at her sternly.

"I've said it before, just call me APLUS, Mrs. Jovovich. Alright, no more jokes." Song Ya stood up and yielded the piano bench to Mira, "The second measure, continue."

Mira clearly had a solid foundation; her piano playing was standard and competent, and her singing had improved since the day of the audition. It seemed she had been practicing quite diligently lately.

"The third measure."

As Song Ya listened, he paced slowly. The classroom was small and the decor was quite old. There was no podium, only a small blackboard and six desks. It seemed the piano education business here wasn't doing well. On the desk in the back row sat a large travel bag with its mouth open, appearing to contain women's clothing. Beside it were a box of Lipton tea bags, two glass cups, and a small cassette recorder.

"Keep going, don't stop, the fourth measure."

Once the song finished, "Emmmm..." Song Ya rubbed his cheek and pondered.

Feeling the mother and daughter's gazes fixed on him, he said, "No good, it's still far from enough." He spoke the truth; this was a very important song to him. Picking up girls was a side gig, and everything had to be done with the premise of ensuring the quality of this track.

Mira's eyes flickered, and her eyelids drooped.

"Song... APLUS, you have to help us." Mrs. Jovovich's posture was so low it was almost a plea.

"Of course, my coming here shows that I truly want to help you. I like Mira..." Song Ya observed Mrs. Jovovich's reaction out of the corner of his eye and felt her expression turn somewhat unpleasant, "And this is also Daniel's request." He immediately smoothed things over.

"How about this, Eric..."

He said to Eric, who had just walked in, "Play the cassette we brought."

Mrs. Jovovich brought the recorder over and placed it on the piano. After Eric performed a few operations, the recording of the singer Song Ya was most satisfied with from the first round began to play.

"Do you hear the gap? By my standards, Mira would definitely not have passed the first round." He gestured toward the recorder, piling on the pressure.

Mrs. Jovovich sat down dejectedly, and Mira lowered her head, silently fiddling with the lace on her skirt.

"Hey... don't get discouraged, you two. I'm here now, aren't I! Everything has only just begun!"

It seemed he had been a bit too heavy-handed, so Song Ya quickly tried to cheer them up, "First, let's solve the issue of the vocal timbre, Mira." He began a serious, intensive training session.

"No, no, you have to pinch your throat and change the point of articulation..."

"No, make it thinner."

"No..."

"Still not it..."

The clock on the wall slowly ticked toward twelve.

Song Ya sensed that Mira was starting to lose patience, "Let's take a break. Eric, can you go buy some coffee?"

"I'll go." Mrs. Jovovich headed toward the door, "There shouldn't be any shops open nearby, only the building manager provides it."

"I'll help you, Mrs. Jovovich." Eric followed her out, acting on Song Ya's subtle signal.

With them out of the way, Song Ya leaned into Mira's ear, "..." He blew softly.

Mira was startled and turned her head to stare at him vigilantly, saying word by word, "If you harass me again, I'll call the police. I've been in the modeling industry since I was eleven; don't think I haven't seen people like you!"

Song Ya looked at her ears, which were gradually turning red, and smiled, "What do you think I'm doing? Pronunciation, pronunciation! Do you remember how you cursed at me that day?"

"FXXXYOU!" Mira shouted loudly at him, mostly to vent her anger.

"Wrong, that's not how you cursed. Think back carefully."

"FXXXYOU! I curse like that all the time, I can't remember."

"Still wrong. Pinch your throat, remember to pinch your throat, just like I taught you before..."

"Hua Q!"

"That's it! That's the right feeling!" Song Ya finally got the line he had heard in his epiphany. Satisfying.

Mira got into the groove.

"Don't use so much force, add a little trailing note~"

"Make the pronunciation lighter."

"Still not quite there, it needs that indifferent, playful feeling."

"..."

"Continue~"

"Flower..."

"Mira!" Mrs. Jovovich returned, looking at the two of them with an awkward expression.

"Mrs. Jovovich, it's fine, we're just practicing the lyrics; this word carries a lot of weight in the entire song," Song Ya explained to her.

Mira burst into a giggle.

"Sigh, you know? If it weren't for this opportunity, I would never let Mira touch this kind of song..."

Mrs. Jovovich took the tray Eric was holding and complained while dropping sugar cubes into four cups.

"Is that so? I heard Mira is joining a production in the second half of the year, filming those kinds of revealing movies," Song Ya jabbed at her.

The sugar cube in Mrs. Jovovich's hand fell outside the cup. "No... you misunderstood. Return to the Blue Lagoon is a remake of a classic, the main scenes just happen to be on the beach."

"She also filmed Return to Two Moon Junction starring Sherilyn Fenn, a movie many people call erotica..."

"I... I didn't pay attention when I signed the contract, and those scenes had nothing to do with Mira. Besides, that's an art film. It's normal for art films to have those kinds of shots. In European art films..."

"Alright, Mrs. Jovovich, let's not discuss this topic anymore, okay? Sorry, I was a bit angry because of how you commented on my song earlier. I wrote this song for de Klerk in South Africa to protest the apartheid still going on there." The pressure was just right. Song Ya watched Mrs. Jovovich, who was explaining herself in a flustered state, delivered a righteous rebuttal, and then took the initiative to withdraw from the battlefield. "Mira, let's have something to drink and continue."

Mira made a face at him.

"Wrong!"

"The feeling is wrong, do it again!"

"Forget the meaning of the lyrics, just try singing it like an ordinary girl's love song."

"That's an improvement, but it's still not enough."

"Again!"

The tedious practice continued until the clock struck three in the morning.

"I want to rest." Mira twisted her legs, her voice a bit hoarse.

"Fine."

Mira got up and walked out. Song Ya glanced at Mrs. Jovovich, who was dozing off on the desk, then lightened his footsteps and followed her out.

Outside the restroom, Song Ya waited in the darkness. He heard the sound of flushing, and then Mira's tall figure appeared in the doorway.

"Snap," he pinned her against the wall, blocking her path.

"I'll call the police." Mira tilted her head, pushing hard against his arm.

"Are you scared?" After spending so much time together, Song Ya had already figured out the personality of the rebellious girl before him.

As expected, Mira raised her head to meet his gaze, her eyes full of stubbornness.

Every time she furrowed her brows, she possessed a unique, moving androgynous beauty. Song Ya looked into those bright eyes in the darkness and leaned in, inch by inch.