"You run really fast," Shae Harris mocked Wei Zhi as she caught up.
"That's why I can survive a zombie longer than you," Wei Zhi retorted.
"You can't even let yourself get close to one," Shae Harris rolled her eyes.
"It's called being a survivor," Ming Jun said from the side.
"I doubt you would even be able to walk faster than a zombie," Shae Harris said, pinching the fat at his sides.
"I have enough fat to use as a shield and you have nothing," Ming Jun slandered her back.
"Dare you to say that again," Shae Harris narrowed her eyes and glared at him.
"Don't dare to," Ming Jun raised both hands in surrender.
"But I do. You're just bones and no flesh," Wei Zhi said ruthlessly, smirking at her.
Shae Harris chuckled at them.
Ming Jun and Wei Zhi felt a bad premonition.
"Alright, why don't I show you greatness," Shae Harris said, holding a hand to the edge of her shirt.
She raised it up a bit until a considerable amount of skin was showing.
Ming Jun reacted the fastest, blushing red all over.
He hurried over to hold her hands down, but Shae Harris refused to budge.
Wei Zhi finally stopped panicking and went over to help him, but she was still struggling.
The three of them were in a stalemate as Shae Harris just continued to laugh crazily while tugging her shirt.
"Sister, don't mind them," Mori Aoi came over anxiously and hugged Shae Harris.
Shae Harris paused and looked at her.
"Actually, sister is prettier than me by a hundred times," Mori Aoi said earnestly.
After all, Mori Aoi always regarded herself as a monster due to her condition.
So everyone else was prettier than her no matter how ugly they looked or thought they were.
"Don't say that. To me, you are the best," Shae Harris stopped struggling and held Mori Aoi.
Ming Jun and Wei Zhi were pushed aside in the process, feeling speechless.
"Sigh, let's just go in," Ming Jun said.
"Where's the youngest?" Shae Harris turned to ask.
The sound of a violin playing was soon heard as if to answer the question.
Noi Karn had slipped away immediately after entering the room.
So he wasn't present when they started to argue.
Instead, he was walking around, brushing his fingers over the keys.
He looked at each one carefully and chose to play the violin first.
He took it out of the display case and stepped into the open.
He held the violin according to the vague memory he had of watching it online.
The others arrived at this point and stood in front of him, watching eagerly.
Noi Karn felt something tap the side of the violin and realized he still had his headphones on.
He used it to search for a simple song that had a violin in it.
Then he searched for the videos he saved on how to play the violin.
After mentally preparing himself, Noi Karn began to play.
He was rusty in the beginning, which was to be expected.
But he gradually shed the disordered sound and found the tail of the melody.
He chased it relentlessly until he could play the full song.
The jumbled sounds smoothed out until all that was left was the sound of the violin.
Noi Karn could feel his blood rushing and his muscles contracting as he produced a sound he had only heard from his headphones.
Then, with the last note made, the song ended.
Noi Karn was breathing heavily in a daze.
He seemed to have grasped something very special and important to him, but he didn't understand it yet.
The entire process of playing the violin was an expression of something deep inside.
It was the feel of his mother's hand combing through his hair.
It was her swaying figure as she rocked him to sleep.
It was the smile on his face as a baby just because he saw his mother.
Not knowing what it was, but instinctively feeling that this was not enough to satisfy his appetite.
Not yet.
So, amidst the applause from the others, he stumbled over to the guitar.
He plucked the strings one by one.
Sometimes harshly, sometimes softly.
The jarring noise entered their ears, but the others did not speak.
They could see that their youngest was having fun, so that alone was enough.
They just sat on the ground as a willing audience.
Soon the strings of the guitar were plucked in harmony and a soft melody came out.
Noi Karn felt that same feeling again.
It was an expression.
An expression of the fantasy being stripped away.
His mother's distracted look as she sang him to sleep.
The sound of her sobbing in the quiet of the night.
The little hands that covered his ears just to force himself to sleep at night.
Once again, the melody came to an end amidst applause.
Noi Karn went over to the trumpet.
He let out some blaring sounds again before picking the tail.
He blew it with force, pushing the air in his lungs into the trumpet.
This time it was a form of complaint.
Why did you have to leave?
Why have you never met me again?
Why don't you want to see me?
Are you dead?
Why did you leave me alone without saying anything?
Why did the principal have to choose me?
Why did I survive in that hell alone?
Why did I have to suffer injustice repeatedly?
Why did the world show me only malice?
The melody ended loudly and Noi Karn threw it on the floor, stomping over to the next.
This time, he took the drumsticks to slam on the drum purposefully.
He wasn't getting used to it but willingly venting out his frustration.
Then that venting formed an angry rhythm that was let out.
Angry at my foolish self for believing in the orphanage.
Angry at my mother for abandoning me no matter the reason.
Angry at the principal for doing this to children without remorse.
Angry at the children for leaving me to survive alone.
Angry at the people in the orphanage who silently let this go on.
Angry at their hypocrisy.
Angry at the other children for ignoring me.
Angry at those who bullied me for being blind.
Angry at the world for only showing me malice.
The rhythm came to an end.
Noi Karn stood up with no expression on his face.
He walked over to the piano and sat down.
The glass surrounding it was gone and the piano was out in the open.
He sat there motionless with his hands resting softly on the keys.
Suddenly, his lack of thought was interrupted by a key being pressed on the piano.
He turned blankly to Shae Harris, who guiltily took her hand away.
"Well, it just looked fun," she said, rubbing the back of her neck.
Ming Jun also came over after seeing that Noi Karn did not argue.
He pressed another key.
Mori Aoi also came forward to tap a key.
Wei Zhi pressed the one beside her.
"Hey, I think that sounded quite good," Shae Harris said in surprise, pressing that key again.
"The keys were in harmony," Ming Jun said, pressing another.
"Why not a little heavier, like this," Wei Zhi said, pressing another.
"Then this would be soft," Mori Aoi said, pressing a key.
Shae Harris was amazed and pressed her key.
The others followed immediately after.
"But there's something missing," Shae Harris frowned.
"The speed," Noi Karn said quietly.
Then he replicated their keys but at different speeds.
And he also added a few more.
"That's it," Shae Harris clapped.
"I'll handle the new ones while you guys follow my lead," Noi Karn spoke.
Then he began to play after they nodded.
This time the melody made him fall into memories and emotions.
The shock of waking up on the roof.
The happiness of being able to see to a certain degree.
The caution after meeting four other people on the roof.
The dot of anticipation after joining a team.
The indifference to being bullied at the base.
The comfort from watching the four people feel distressed for him.
The joy of companionship while following them around the base.
The distress of having his body stolen.
The relief of being alive after fighting the director.
The fulfillment of watching a movie.
The laughter after watching the dance video.
And with that, the melody ended.
Then came the applause he heard.
Shae Harris even whistled.
Noi Karn felt that the elusive inspiration was almost there.
He just had to do one more thing to be sure.
But first, he took a bow in front of them.
"Thank you, truly," Noi Karn said hoarsely.
Thank you for showing me all these colorful emotions.
Thank you for taking care of me.
Thank you for showing me kindness in my dark life.
Feeling distressed, they went over to raise him up.
"Come on, we still have a place to go," Shae Harris rubbed his face and led Noi Karn out.
Mori Aoi was on his other side and held his hand.
Ming Jun and Wei Zhi patted his head and followed behind.
Noi Karn didn't want to cry anymore and forced back the tears.
Now he was smiling brightly at them.
"Okay," he said excitedly.
They took him over to the painter's gallery.