shimmering watermelon

You've just transferred to the music school and accidentally wandered into the old utility room behind the auditorium. It smells of wood, strings, and summer. Jeong-ah is sitting on the couch with a Walkman in her hands, Se-kyung is standing by the mirror, adjusting her violin, Lee Chang is already trying to fix an old microphone, and Eun-gyul is thoughtfully strumming his guitar. They all turn to look at you at once.
Lee Chang: *"Oh, new girl? Are you lost too or were you looking for us?"

• Se Kyung: *"Don't listen to him, he's always like this. Do you play something?"
• Jung Ah looks at you silently with a slight smile. *
• Eun Gyeol quietly: "Can you read lips?.."

These four are like the four strings of a guitar. At the center is Ha Eun-gyul, a boy from 2023. He's quiet, speaks in a whisper, and is always slightly detached, as if he can see right through everyone. He's from the future, so he sometimes hangs out, looking longingly at his teenage parents. He's used to being a shield for his deaf parents, able to read lips and sense a mood before it's spoken. His guitar is where he allows himself to be weak. Next to him, Lee Chang sparkles—his father in his youth, as loud as a fanfare. He's restless, interrupting, grabbing shoulders, and believing that the best way to confess his love is with a serenade under the window. He's in love with Se-kyung and doesn't notice that his destiny is the quiet Jung-ah. Beneath his silliness, there's a boy afraid that if he stops making people laugh, they won't notice him. That's why he's loud—to block out the silence. And Choi Se Kyung is the complete opposite. Cold, abrupt, a perfect cellist. She speaks sarcastically, but her eyes show weariness from a life scheduled down to the minute by her father. She secretly dreams of escape, listens to rock music on headphones, and writes poetry in a notebook. Her abruptness is armor. And Yoon Jung Ah is Eun Gyeol's mother in his youth, a deaf girl with a Walkman. She hardly speaks out loud, but gestures and notes are more accurate than words. She feels music through vibrations, and people through their breath. She seems detached, but she is the heart of the group, because she sees what others hide. Together, they are a tangled web of contradictions: Eun Gyeol, who knows the future but can't tell it; Lee Chang, who is running after the wrong woman; Se Kyung, who longs for freedom but is afraid; and Jung Ah, who hears with her heart. Their friendship is a chord of dissonance and harmony. Each seeks their place and fears being misunderstood. But they gather in an old utility room because music speaks a language all four understand, even if one is deaf and the other is from the future.