SCENE ONE

Most people came to the beach at the evening for sunset, trying to portray how beautiful a shade of orange and sometimes grey, or clear blue, or even red sky that hung magnificently above the rushing waves. It would give you such a sweet, romantic feeling and sometimes nostalgic that sentimentally had you smiling bitterly out of the fleeting flashbacks.

Park Gyuri had different case today. She simply wanted to run away. Here in front of the evening beach in Jeju with its loud waves crashing the tip sands was always better than away back in Seoul hearing the mourning sobs or murmuring some sympathy.

 Why does death have to be exhausting?

Her question was answered by a soft wind caressed her beautiful locks with a hiss. Gyuri narrowed her eyes, trying to get a more clear sight of an orange dot in the horizon, like how in fact she tried to study more about her feeling.

She closed her eyes and let the wind and the waves and the salty air filled her surrounding, before her mind replying the most recent memory she wished wouldn’t happen.

It was a critical accident. His van was speeding, a monster truck with braking problem came from the opposite way, and a hard collision was unavoidable. Witnesses who happened to be at that place said they were like hearing a loud thunder.

Park Gyuri was in her filming spot, hearing murmurs and reading shocked expression from people around and then found it by herself when opening her phone. Messages, calls; her phone wouldn’t stop vibrating.

Wang Jackson was dead on the spot. And maybe half of her heartbeats too.

She came to the hospital, after much shoving and blurry vision, she could finally find Heo Youngji, her half-sister, Jackson’s fiancée. She was standing still like a statue, tears silently streaming down her cheeks.

Heo Youngji was never loud anyway.

They hugged each other, and Gyuri could practically feel multiple blitz blinding her eyes. At that very moment, she knew this death was not a mere death. There would be more than that, like spilling some secrets; how the rocketing actress Park Gyuri had half-sister, and what the true relationship between her and the talented rookie actor Wang Jackson.

Media created the rumor about him and her in romantic relationship because his frequent visit to a certain café with Gyuri always with him, when in fact he was in love with the barista in Coffee Terior. They didn’t do anything about that, because media would be more insane when knowing how the dongsaeng she cherished so much was in relationship with a muted girl.

They needed to protect her sister. Sister that only five months ago Gyuri knew her existence.

“It will be okay.” Jackson said once, and Gyuri always curious how easily he faced such situation.

“But-“

“Trust me nuna,” Jackson smiled, reassuringly, and Gyuri couldn’t do anything but to trust the younger guy.

I trusted you. She whispered to the darkened evening. And what now?

When Gyuri opened her eyes, she just realized how wet they were. She bit her lower lip, threw her sight into the horizon again, although there’s nothing she could see beside a still darkness, and muttered lowly.

“I can’t be responsible of her.”

She was Park Gyuri. The rising star with her goddess-gifted face and impeccable acting, the most desired actress of the year. But there’s also another implementation that made her popular; her mysterious family tree and closeness to the handsome youngster, Wang Jackson.

Everything had been perfectly planned. Her father, the biggest chairman of Korean Export Trade Company, didn’t agree with her chosen path of acting in television at first. He said she would give a bad impact to his business, where he personally preferred his only child to continue his empire someday. But they both are stubborn, until a contract was made for her to be able to pursue her dream; she was engaged with Yoon Doojoon, the first son of Yoon family and the most likely-heir of Cube Technology who held position as second vice president at that time. Also Park Gyuri was forbidden to associate her acting career with his father or the company, so that no one really knew the truth about her being a chaebol.

Or the fact that she came from a broken family.

Gyuri met Jackson in the mid of her frustration having a thought that her dream was like wasn’t hers anymore. They got a chance to act together in one drama special and Jackson said it’s an honor for him to work with her. Jackson Wang was loud, obnoxious and taught her how to enjoy life again.

She treasured him so much, like a dongsaeng (she insisted, although sometimes she had the tingling sensation of them being a perfect couple when going dinner together in full disguise and laughing freely as the stars twinkling prettily above them).

“Who is she?”

It’s the first question that Jackson asked the first time Gyuri got a surprised phone call from someone. Someone who confessed to be her mother, although it had been years her mother left her with her father only.

Gyuri’s family was never good to begin with, beside her struggle to keep her dream, each family members also fought to protect their own dream. Her father and his aggressive desire about an empire while her mother who chose to stay low-profile and simplicity above all.

Her mother left right after she had said she would do anything to support Gyuri’s acting career.

And when she called her again, after much much years, she only had to deliver news about please visit your step-sister once, she really adore you.

My name is Heo Youngji.

That was the first thing Youngji did when she met Gyuri (and Jackson). She did some signal language, because apparently she was a muted.

Gyuri’s father wouldn’t like that, of course, because that was a flaw for his perfect life. On the other hand, Wang Jackson was liking too much their first meeting; how Youngji was such a beauty with strong silent figure.

They were official after a week, and got engaged after a month.

Park Gyuri got a new dongsaeng, and lost another one, she thought.

But Heo Youngji was some kind of girl that you couldn’t help but to fall in love and protect her at all cost, because her innocence and purity, her bright eyes at seeing the world even she couldn’t really express it through the words from her own mouth. And beside, she made the best coffee in town.

Father was infuriated, and even threatened Gyuri to hold Doojoon and hers wedding sooner (and once she’s married, she would be forced to leave the acting subject and behave like a madam in chaebol family).

“It will be okay.” Jackson said once, mostly because youngster in love couldn’t see clearly what’s actually happening.

“But-“

“Trust me nuna,” Jackson smiled, reassuringly, and Gyuri couldn’t do anything but to trust him.

Yoon Doojoon eventually knew about her half-sister too. And about Youngji and Jackson’s engagement too.

“You know if this is out to public the one who suffers most is Youngji, right?” He coldly asked her, eyes bore at hers in a plain coldness. “Your father wasn’t wrong when he didn’t want you to be society’s doll.”

That was Yoon Doojoon and he was like that since birth. Cold, blunt, rude and mostly alive to side with her father and together tortured her life. Gyuri thought.

“And what are you gonna do with the engagement? It’s not like you wholeheartedly support that kid with your newly-found sister.”

And sometimes, Doojoon was too sharp and never missed his point about fact Gyuri tried to hide.

“I’m gonna do anything to support them and that’s not even your business!” She spat at her fiancé at that time, voice more determined to show him her sincerity (was she sincere?) and Doojoon gave her his trademark smile; challenging her.

Gyuri sighed, opened her eyes. It’s dark now and the wind got chillier, but she didn’t want to be back to the hotel yet. Hoping somehow the darkness could swallow her whole and making her disappear from the world.

She is your responsibility now. Her mind reminded her tirelessly, and nothing she could do for it to stop voicing out her fear.

Wang Jackson was loved by all people. His funeral was big, with a lot of visitors coming and going giving sympathy or bouquet of flowers. But that didn’t change the fact about mostly came to know more about this pretty girl whom he dated before the accident happened. And the owner of the news outlet would be happier with the following fact, that this pretty girl whom he dated was a muted. And it would be even bigger chaos if they finally found that this pretty girl whom he dated was her half-sister.

The hungry reporters would never stop, her family background would be unveiled and everything that had perfectly planned would fall apart.

Gyuri couldn’t trust herself to be able to protect Youngji. No, she never could.

“You don’t have a plan to follow his death, do you?”

credit; summergics & erikawolves {tumblr}