“Best friends?” you asked in confusion, “You both knew each other?”

“He actually enrolled late within the semester but he became popular really fast because of his amazing voice. We didn’t really get off to a good start. The guys and I would try to bully him since he was the new kid and I thought he was trying to steal my spotlight,” Kyuhyun chuckled, “No matter how much we ganged up on him, he never seemed to back down. I admired that part of him. Soon after, we were often grouped together for singing evaluations and after hanging out with him for a bit, I realized that he wasn’t much of jackass after all.”

You glared at him. Kyuhyun realized his mistake and cleared his throat. “Sorry, but we used to call each other stupid names all the time. I guess I never got over the habit.”

“So what happened after?”

Kyuhyun sighed and sat on the corner of his bed. He covered his face with the palm of his hands and breathed slowly. An incident which he had hoped could fade within his memories was brought out into the light once again. It was as if no matter how hard he tried to run away from it, it always appeared in his life one way or another.

“You both were in a fight, right?” you asked with your lips quivering in terror.

Kyuhyun scoffed. “A fight? The only time we would ever ‘fight’ is when he made fun of my dance skills. It always ended up in a draw anyway.”

“Then I don’t understand. Why was there a court order against you?”

“It was never a fight. It was an accident,” Kyuhyun stated and walked over to the window, “A car accident.” He tightly clenched his fists, struggling to continue his next words. From the look in his eyes, you could almost decipher the amount of despair and misery within his heart. “It was with me, your brother, and his girlfriend, Luna.”

This caught your attention. Girlfriend? He never once mentioned having a girlfriend to you. He was the type who usually told you everything, until he left to Seoul Music Academy.

“Who was she? A student?”

“Yes,” he replied indifferently, “I introduced them. She was also in the singing division of the program so they saw each other quite often and gradually became closer.” You took a seat on a wooden chair beside the bed and continued listening intently to his story.

“It happened late night around 1:00 A.M. The three of us were about to go home after a birthday party for one of our friends. We were all bit intoxicated but Changmin’s tolerance level was higher than any of us so he offered to drive us back. I don’t remember what got to me that day. The two of them were too busy with one another and I grew so impatient so I just went to the driver’s seat and put the key in ignition. I know I shouldn’t have done that, but it just being the third wheel. After the two of them got into the back seat, I began speeding down the highway. The only thing I heard during those moments was Luna’s laughter and Changmin urging me to slow down, but I didn’t listen. It all happened so fast. Within seconds, I heard a horn blaring and saw a bright white light in front of me. Then the car started to tumble and we rolled down a large hill. Once we stopped, I couldn’t move. My legs were trapped within the seat and I could feel the broken glass shards piercing my arms, chest, and face. I tried calling out for them but they didn’t reply.”

You leaned back on your chair and took a deep breath. You felt tears building up within your eyes. This was too much for you to handle. You were certain that if anything this severe ever happened to your brother, he would definitely call you or your father. It seemed so odd that he wouldn’t do that.

“We came to the hospital after a few hours. Changmin and I were fine but Luna – “

He bit his lips, unable to continue his next words. Tears threatened to spill onto his cheeks but he held it in. It was so heartbreaking to witness since he never showed this side of himself to you before. You couldn’t imagine the amount of guilt and pain he must have held within his heart. Underneath his cool, suave exterior he actually held a story filled with agony and remorse.

“S-she was gone. I-I d-didn’t mean to,” he stammered with his fingers trembling, “I wish I could go back to that moment to undo what I did. You don’t know how many times I have been hoping for that. It’s all my fault. Because of me, she’s gone. It kills me every time when I think of her. I think of the duets we sang together and the songs we composed. Every time I sang, those memories flooded my mind again, I began to hate myself for what I did. Then naturally, I started hating music as well. That was when I stopped singing.”

Your eyes narrowed and you leaned closer towards him. He stopped singing because of her, not because of the fight with your brother. If he had dropped something that like that because of losing Luna, then that must mean . . .

“You were in love with her too, weren’t you?”

Kyuhyun smiled. “Is it really that obvious?”

“Well, it only seems to make sense. I mean . . . with you acting out that day to giving up singing. I can’t imagin