It’s amazing how fast things change. How something that was perfect merely five seconds ago gets ruined with a blink of an eye.  Like the time when Lay went overboard with soccer practice for the season finals and ended up with a waist injury, hence not being able to participate, resulting in destruction of his efforts. Like Baekhyun’s History assignment, finely written on crisp white paper fell into a puddle last Monday, resulting in destruction of his hard work. Maybe even how Kyungsoo burnt the dish he had spent hours on at the last stage of its completion, destroying his work. Or how Hana witnessed the sight of a white truck colliding with white Hyundai, causing the smaller car to skid and smash into a tree and explode with the biggest bang she had ever heard, destroying her life.

The white car, with leather seats and a mini fridge installed especially for their precious daughter so she could stash her chocolates, gone. A music teacher, mid forties with the most charming smile Hana had ever seen, sitting on the driver seat while the seat on his other side was occupied by a woman in later 30’s with short black hair that resembled much of Hana’s, gone. And the back seat, whose sole occupant was a 16 year old girl whose life couldn’t have been better.

It could’ve been the best day of her life. She had made into the top 3 of a national competition and all she had to do was travel to Jeju and flaunt her gift. She won second place but was content, competing with the best piano players in the country was no joke, and to think she made it into the top 3 gave her enough reason to beam with delight. Her parents were proud, and to award their child on her accomplishment they prepared a surprise which in order to prepare, Hana had to be left with Junmi, who had come along to support her favorite niece.

A 16 year old Hana whirled around at the sound of their car’s horn. Smiling eye to eye, she could see the vague outline of a life size teddy bear on the otherwise vacant seat at the back. Her parents had a surprise for her, and she got one, just not the kind she expected.  It was like a sick trick of fate or just cruel irony. Her parents didn’t see the fast approaching truck. They couldn’t see the vehicle and after a blink of the eye, she couldn’t see them. She only heard. Junmi’s scream, the sirens, and the most prominent sound of the entire ordeal, the explosion.  The life she had lived for 16 years changed direction in less than 6 seconds.

Lay still remembered the words uttered by his father,

‘One can never be too sure of what the future has in store. Always expect the unexpected and prepare yourself for the worst.’

Those sentences rang in his ears like a fire alarm. He couldn’t see Hana’s face but the mere image of her body looking lifeless on the piano made him freeze. Fear coursed through his veins as his father’s philosophy and Kyungsoo’s voice echoed in his ears.

He walked towards the body with quick steps but didn’t have the heart to touch her. Instead he sat on the empty space on the piano bench. Tentatively, he brushed her dark strands away from her face and whispered her name. His lungs gripped, he called again louder, she still didn’t respond. And then he suddenly remembered his father’s first aid tips, feeling the pulse. The immense wave of emotion that washed over him after feeling her blood thump through her jugular vein was enough to knock him off his seat.

‘Lay: found her

Kyungsoo: REALLY? WHERE?!

Baekhyun: WHERE WHERE WHERE?!?!?!’

Lay hesitated, did he want his friends to know of this place? His reluctance was confusing as well but before he could think any further, his ringtone destroyed the silence with its obnoxious volume. He hurriedly accepted the call, thinking the sound may have disturbed the girl but she was still motionless, in the same position he saw her.

“WHERE THE HECK DID YOU FIND HER?!”

“ I- hold up, im getting another call.”

“DON’T YOU PUT ME ON HOLD ZHANG-“

The other caller was Do Kyungsoo, figuring they called for the same reason, he created a conference.

“Dude is she alright?”

“Yeah, she seems fine. Not cuts, no empty bottles, nothing fishy anywhere.”

“How’s her condition? Like…is she crying?”

“Don’t worry Baek she’s fine. She’s….asleep. I guess…”

“You guess?”

“Yes I guess my father is a doctor for crying out loud I think I know what I’m saying.”

“Alright Baekhyun I think if Lay says she’s sleeping then she is. What are we supposed to tell her aunt? It’s almost 4…”

“Make something up. Stall her until I wake Hana up and get her in proper condition to see Principal Kim.”

They hung up and Lay heaved a sigh of relief. He felt her pulse once more, just to be sure and when the pads of his fingers touched her smooth skin, something tingled. He didn’t know what it was, but the feeling spread when his eyes wandered around her features and his memory took him back a few months, when Hana tripped over Baekhyun and landed on him.

He poked her cheek, and when she still didn’t budge he called her out. Another bout of unanswered calls and Lay decided to shake her awake, but before that he folded her arms over her lap because the sight of them dangling was just disturbing to him. Hana finally moved, but only to shift her position and fall back to sleep. Lay chuckled since he found it adorable. Her movement had revealed a piece of worn out paper that was concealed under her face. He took the sheet and found notes written on it, notes of music. Some were smudged, like drops of liquid had been accidentally dropped on it but it didn’t take long for him to figure out that they were probably tears.

He glanced back at Hana and although he knew that playing someone’s piece without their permission was unethical, he couldn’t bring himself to stop. He had a doubt, and he wanted to make sure if this is what he had been looking for. The first few of his fingers confirmed his speculation. It was the same melody he heard Hana play that day.

Hana heard a faint melody in her sleep. With every second, the melody grew louder, more audible until Hana realized what it was. The same piece she and her father had just started working on, exactly a week before the accident. It took Hana two years to complete the song and yet still she had doubts about certain keys. However, she had never heard it being played by someone else as she simply wouldn’t allow it. She kept this particular piece only to herself, but now that it was being played and it most certainly wasn’t her, she grew alarmed.

Hana peeked open her eyes with much struggle. The hours she spent crying had drained her mentally and her swollen eyes were troublesome to open but she managed nonetheless. In front of her was the boy she didn’t expect to see. Not that she expected to see anyone for that matter. This room wasn’t known to many, and to think that he managed to find her here was a bit surprising. She watched him play and waited for the pang of fury that should have engulfed her because her beloved and most cherished piece was being played by someone that wasn’t herself or her father. But the fury never came. All that came was the sound of a piano, a calming melody and a lot of memories.

Lay could feel eyes on him but he didn’t stop. A small smile showed on his face as he ended the song and dropped his hands so they were resting on his knees. He had expected to see a pair of hazel eyes, but the dark and glassy bloodshot eyes that stared back at him made him feel insecure and moreover, worried. The warm tears that threatened to escape her eyes didn’t make it any easier.

He re-positioned himself on his seat so that he was now directly facing the girl and furrowed his eyebrows. For a while none of them moved. He stared at her with eyes that screamed concern while she returned the stare with wet, broken eyes. Lay raised his hand to place it on her left cheek, the only exposed side of her face, but stopped mid-way. Instead he redirected it and rested it on her head, to show her that he was here, that she wasn’t alone and spoke in the gentlest voice.

“We were worried for you….”

Hana continued to stare, so did he but unlike Hana, he had things to say, things she should know.

“I’m sorry for your loss but…. Don’t do this again…”

The girl nodded but he had more to say.

“ You know how worried I was? When you didn’t show up I knew something was wrong. And then your aunt told us……what day it was…..and what you had tried doing before….”

Lay’s heart dropped at the mere mention of the horrid things the girl had done to herself. He could not even comprehend her misery, her loneliness that pushed to the brink where she tried to end her own life. He had never thought someone could be so hopeless about their life, how someone could even considering ending their time on earth while some would do anything to survive for even a few hours.

“Hana I’m begging you. Please don’t ever try doing those…..things to yourself again. Don’t let your past take control of your present and affect your future. Your parents wouldn’t want you to throw it away.”

By now Hana’s tears were streaming down her face. The mention of her parents made her heart swell and she realized that what he said was right, her parents wouldn’t want to see their daughter wreck herself like this, especially not because of them. The hug came unexpectedly for both, the girl didn’t know why she did what she did but all she knew was that she needed someone to be there right now, and Lay was there right in front of her to fill in that vacancy. She cried on his shoulder, and Lay, after recovering from the shock, wrapped his arms around her frame and patted her back.

“Don’t disappear like that again okay? It’s scary. Promise me you won’t do it again….promise?”

He felt her nod and comforted her until she calmed down enough to stop sobbing. Hana realized their current position and felt a blush creep up her cheeks. Embarrassed she pulled back from the hug and wiped her wet cheeks with the back of her hands. Lay gave her a soft smile and ruffled her hair.

“You wrote this?” he asked as he held up the music sheet and Hana nodded.

“It’s really good. Beautiful actually. Want me to play it for you?”

He had already played it once; Hana saw no harm in letting him do it again. With a nod from her, the song played and Hana felt at peace. The song made her miss her father dearly and brought back the old memories but now that it was being played by Lay, it felt different.  They were interrupted by Lay’s phone, now on silent, vibrating on the table due to a message.

‘Kyungsoo: hurry up and get Hana back because I swear to God I will kill Baekhyun.’

Lay chuckled and showed Hana his screen. She broke a small smile; they never failed to make her feel better. They exited the room with Lay saying something every now and then but the thing he said outside her house door, although unintentionally, was what made Hana ponder.

“We’re here for you always so if you have any problem, just talk to us…. Or me. Whatever you’re  comfortable with.” The slight awkwardness in his voice at the end wasn’t noticed by Hana as she was busy replaying one, although trivial, part in her head over and over.

‘Just talk to us’

Hana shoved in her key and opened the door to find a defeated Kyungsoo sitting on the couch, holding his head in his hands with a loud Baekhyun spurred a bunch of words to her very confused aunt.

“-and then that lady gave me a whole bunch of creams for my hands-“

“YOU GUYS ARE BACK!” Kyungsoo beamed, not bothering that he cut his friend and walked towards the two new arrivals. Baekhyun too, held back his snarky comment and ran towards Hana, enveloping her in a tight hug.

“Oh thank God I was so worried. I thought you might’ve tried bungee jumping with the rope around your neck.”

Hana smiled at his concern and patted him on the back.

“You’ll suffocate her idiot.” Lay said as he peeled his friend off the girl.

“Good to know you’re alright Hana.” Kyungsoo said patting her shoulder and giving her a heart shaped smile. Hana smiled back and glanced towards her aunt at the back who was also beaming at her niece.  Lay as well was smiling down at her and for the first time in two years, Hana thought about taking a step away from her past, for her parents, for the people in the room and for herself.

~

well this is....longer? lol :P