Part 14- Lost but now was found

The Bus Stop

 

She ran outside the living room, before the other two noticed the trail of tears on her cheeks. She bolted into her bedroom, shut the door and leaned against it, lest Jiwoong had followed her, like he often did when he sensed her vulnerability. In that sense, he was much like a vulture, spying her sister’s sadness from a mile away. Part of her enjoyed the attention, as Jessica loved to point out, the other part hated her brother seeing her in this state.

It was shameful. It was reminder of their respective positions. He, the dashing young rising officer. She, the misunderstood child, the family’s black sheep. She didn’t want that. She never did. She wished she could sit her family down and explain to them that she knew what she was doing, most of the time. She was aware of how pathetic her life was, most of the time. She did try changing it, most of the time. But most of the time, nothing ever goes her way. And she wished they would stop reminding her. Because she was well aware, well aware, of what she had gotten into, of what her life looked like on the outside. Every time she tried explaining it to them- Jiwoong, her parents, even her little sister had begun to question her- her brain would freeze, her tongue would weigh heavily and even if she had written what she wanted to say on a piece of paper, she would always get stuck, stutter and stop at the word ‘artist’. Like at the police station.

She wiped her tears with the sleeve of her cardigan and peered at the music sheet again.

There they were. The notes. They flowed beautifully, from bar to bar, like a mountain spring. They were gentle in their pace but firm in their sound. It was not the clunky melody of some nights ago. The one she had shown the others back at the rehearsal room. The one she spent hours trying to remember.

Similar, oh so similar. But not the same. Because this song told a story. The other song, she realized now, the other song was merely a word- sadness. The others- Jessica, Hyo and Yuri, hadn’t been able to see that, they had blindly praised, relieved to be working on something that sounded nice. She had known all along that there was something missing, something that would bring depth to the melody so that when someone heard it, they would not clap politely, stand up and comment approvingly ‘this is a sad song’. No, they would stand up wearily and state ‘this is my life’ before slumping back on the chair again as they reminisced the happier times, where life seemed so simple, even if it wasn’t.

But how?

How did Tiffany know the song?

Was it luck?

Had she just randomly sketched the music, writing what she could see clearly and inventing what she couldn’t?

A monkey.

The thought made her giggle.

A monkey typing Shakespeare. One that somehow studied medicine at Yonsei, but a monkey nonetheless.

It was luck. It must have been.

Not Tiffany’s luck but her. Her good luck. Her deserved luck after five  years of waiting at the same bus stop for her chance, her opportunity to come. And after five years, forget about a crowded, dirty bus coming her way. Oh no. She pressed the sheets into her chest. This was a shiny new space ship ready to fly her wherever she wanted to go.

But luck didn’t exist.

Did it?

One thing was luck.

This was something else.

At that time, the song had played in her head, as she watched the wind pulling on the broken swing-chains. She hadn’t written it down though, much like the composer that waved a song away while driving, she ignored it, too wallowed up in her own sadness at the time. She wouldn’t have been able to anyway, she had later told herself. By the time she had managed to scrounge around for pen and paper, the song was gone. Vanished. The echoing chords that rung in her mind were not enough to bring it back.

Who is to say the song merely vanished? Who is to say it disappeared completely, hid under a rock, drowned in the sea for eternity? Who is to say this strange Tiffany girl, who she knew wanted something but had no idea what, who is to say that she couldn’t have heard the song too somehow?

But for that to happened, Taeyeon reasoned, for that to happen she would have had to experience the same thing.

Pain.

A lot of it.

To get the exact notes, she would have experienced the world she knew crushing around her. The end of the safe-haven that childhood and the playground had been.

She was just a medicine student at Yonsei. What sadness could she have seen?

She pushed the thought away and dug into her pocket for her phone.

“Hey Jessica! Yeah, I’m okay- shut up. I have something to tell you. No-yes, Tiffany is involved, just let me speak!”

Jessica kept rambling.

“I FOUND THE SONG!” she yelled into the mouthpiece, hoping to shut her up

“- what YOU FOUND IT?” Jessica’s voice crackled through the phone.

“Yeah, all of it, the complete song-“

“Complete?”

“Pretty much”

“Bass? Drums?”

“Not needed”

“Wait…you found it? Taeng did you plagia-“

“Of course not” she replied agitated “I’ll tell you later”

“No bass or drums? But Yuri and Hyo…”

“It’s just for the OST. We need a violin player to record.”

“Hyoyeon plays the violin”

“What?” Taeyeon was sceptical “Hyo? Really?”

“Her parents made her. She doesn’t speak about it though, something about a ‘dark time in her life’”

“That’s…”

“A really weird and creepy coincidence” her friend interrupted

“..great” Taeyeon finished.

“Deus ex-machina” said Jessica knowingly “if it’s not too complicated, she should be okay, she got to grade 7. And I think she still plays at family reunions. I don’t even want to imagine what they’re like. And Yuri?”

“From violin to drums…wow”

“TAEYEON!!!”

She nearly dropped her phone.

“Erm, yeah, yeah. Yuri can do second guitar.”

“Tomorrow then, when your shift ends?”

“Yeah, tomorrow”

She hung up and took a deep breath. She wanted to relax, be happy and enjoy her new-to-be-found life. But still, the thought of Tiffany clung to the back of her mind. 

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Comments

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Yuu21kyu #1
Chapter 18: arghh.. agaiin

nice story..but uncomplete..
loveaddict
#2
Chapter 18: caught up! i wonder if this story is still .. running?
SooNaTaeNy #3
Chapter 18: I really enjoyed reading this!!!. I just hope you didn't abandon the story, author-nim. Fighting!
Nayeon-ah #4
Really good fic but I still have no clue if Tiffany likes Taeyeon I can't stand seeing her with her brother >< please author update I need to know what happens next :)
kotenshi #5
Nice story... but it keeps bugging me that this is more like an OT9 fic (?)
I kinda identify with many of the characters experinces :') and it's so well written >.<
Nintaengoo
#6
Chapter 18: hi new reader here :D

I've finished reading the 18 chapters, it's getting interesting and i want to read more of it! it's been a while since i read a decent taeny fanfic here in AFF so please try to update this as possible as you can.

and thumbs up for this well written fic :D
kimcoti #7
Chapter 18: at last you update!!! :) but it's ok please try to not take too long!!!
sumaco #8
Chapter 17: I Really like your story so far. It went in a totally different direction than I had initially expected, but it's still a really interesting plot! It seems Tiffany is more interested in Taeyeon than Jiwoong haha. I'm really curious at how they will progress from here on. Keep up the good work!
Irboxy
#9
Chapter 17: This story is so sweet and just beautiful man. Im sure a lot of readers can relate the way you wrote jessica's story and the was everyone wants to be happy even if everything's crumbling under their feet. Really touching and realistic, I love the way you write the characters out so beautifully. Good luck in continuing the story! :D
kimcoti #10
Chapter 17: ahhhhhh this is getting better please update soon!!! i really can't wait update please!!!