Breaking Thin Ice

The Writer’s Explanation

Author's Note: This is basically like a short book report of my own story. You don't have to read it. XD (BTW, there's an explanation of the epilogue here too.)

Chapter 1

            People are fragile beings. One minute they are there and before your eye blinks, they vanish. Your heart breaks when you lose someone you love, or when things never work out the way they should have. None of us control these things, and we live our lives storing up treasures for ourselves in this earth when we, ourselves, could disappear any moment and leave behind our broken pieces for everyone to cry for. Taeyeon suddenly lost her parents. There was no warning; there was no signal. It just happened. When things like this—life changing devastations—happen, our five senses are opened to the pain and suffering that engulfs this world, because we now experience it firsthand. As we are taught to toughen up and to stop crying as we grow up in this cold world, deep down in that little lonely corner of our heart where no one can hear us, we are all still the little child who cries when pain cruelly punishes us. But shh! Don’t cry! Don’t let them see your tears! Don’t show any type of weakness! When the world sees you in your bare state, everyone will accuse you, curse you, call you weak, and make fun of you like the bullies that they are. And because of this, you are left even more broken and fragile than what you already were in the first place.

            Sooyeon was also a broken and fragile thing that has lived the longer life of pain. Seeing anyone being hurt was something she would rather not witness. Sometimes, the heroes, the ones who appear to save the day, are the most broken ones, because they themselves have broken hearts and would rather not have anyone else feel the same way.

Chapter 2

            Usually, when someone is not considered “normal”, nobody would rather approach that person. We live in a society where everyone has to be a certain way to be accepted. Everyone tries to fit in; everyone tries to be a part of the crowd. If you’re not part of the crowd, then what are you? An outcast? Nobody wants to go down that dark and lonely road. And once you’re part of the outcasts, nobody wants you in their doors.

            Sooyeon, also an outcast, decided to invite Taeyeon into her own room, because she didn’t want her to feel the pain of being unaccepted like she was. Since then Taeyeon felt like Sooyeon was trying to be friendly, and so she wanted to get to know her more also. Sometimes, the ones who goes out of their way to be friendly and to make people feel accepted are the loneliest ones. However, when one is accustomed to loneliness and pain like Sooyeon, it is difficult to open up to people because of previous let downs. Trust takes time to build especially when there is no one to trust. It’s difficult to understand what a friend is when you’ve never had one.

Chapter 3-5

            When life wants us to be a certain way or go down a certain path that we don’t want, our instinct is to rebel. We rebel for the sake of happiness—for the sake of getting our own way. For once we’d like to call our own shots and decide our own fate for ourselves. It doesn’t matter if it’s reckless; it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t end well. All that matters is we get what we want, even though it might not be for the best. And when our happiness is threatened, we run away. If it’s not what we want, we run away—even just for the sake of catching that last glimpse of happiness.

However, there are certain things that we cannot run away from. And although we ignore certain qualities about ourselves to make us feel better, at the end of the day, we remain who we really are deep inside. What’s meant to be is meant to be, and there’s nothing we can do to change it. Taeyeon and Sooyeon may have tried to run away, but in the end, they both ended up where they should be—Taeyeon at her grand aunt’s house, and Sooyeon at the hospital. That takes us back to my point in Chapter 1. Certain things just can’t be helped.

Chapter 5

One day she asked her grand-aunt, “Can we please go back to Seoul just to visit my friend? I really want to know what happened to her. And I want to say sorry for the trouble I put her through. Besides, I never got to say goodbye. Can’t I just see her one last time before you ruin my life for good?”

“Ruin your life?!” The grand-aunt was now in outrage. “I adopted you to save you from the rottenness that you would have turned into if you would stay in that orphanage! But I see that you are already a nasty little child who doesn’t even appreciate the kindness that I offer!”

Those who are rejected and unloved will always find it difficult to believe that someone cares for them once that someone comes into their lives. When they do finally learn to trust and learn how love feels, they cherish even more than others would, because it is precious. A truly good friend is not easy to find. Letting go would be difficult, and anything would be done just to keep it. Sooyeon represents the love and friendship that Taeyeon wanted to cherish, no matter what the cost.

But then, Taeyeon was adopted so that she may not have to live her life in an orphanage, and it cost her friendship with Sooyeon. No, her grandaunt wouldn’t understand. In this world where success is measured in money, connections, and fame, no one would understand why anyone would rather be friends with a lowly outcast. As we grow up, our society brainwashes us to think with prejudice, when the real question should be, “Why shouldn’t we be friends with the outcasts?” An innocent child would not think of abandoning a friend because of the petty things like origin, wealth, or skin color. To them, a friend is a friend, whether they are poor or rich, whether they are sick or well. Taeyeon’s grandaunt may think that she is doing the right thing by keeping Taeyeon away from such a “lowly” friend, because she does not understand what is truly important. If we all just get rid of our prejudice that blinds us, maybe the world would be a better place…just maybe.

Chapter 6-7

            If you truly loved someone, you would never want to cause them pain, but pain is ever present and just cannot be avoided. Still, Sooyeon tried her best to keep Taeyeon from getting hurt, even though Taeyeon was basically stepping on the breaking thin ice. And when Taeyeon found out about Sooyeon’s condition, she also still gave her all to make Sooyeon happy because she loved her friend so much. Both are helpless, both are weak, both are just children with nothing. Yet, they still gave all that they have to each other until the very end. In the last scene, Taeyeon cared for Sooyeon so much that she was willing to keep her friend warm at the cost of her own warmth. Both loved each other more than they loved themselves. Even Sooyeon showed her selflessness by wishing for Taeyeon’s wish to come true instead of making up a wish of her own.

Not everyone can be brave enough to stand up for others and make them happy, because sometimes, it can be easier to stay selfish and not get involved with the hurting and the oppressed. As humans, we tend to just think of ourselves and our comforts, and let go of our friends when situations get rough. Let’s not be that way. Just like what the wise Maknae Seohyun (my bias) said: “When you love someone, you think of what you can do for that person, not what you want that person to do for you.”

EPILOGUE

Also in the epilogue, I would assume that all nine members are listening to Sunny’s radio show. The two children’s death news served as a way for Sunny to secretly code out a message for Jessica and the rest of the members. “True friends never let go,” was said not in a negative way that calls out Jessica’s wrongs for leaving, but in a positive way that tells her “even though you’re not here with us anymore, we still love you.” Assuming that the “oldest member” was also listening to the radio, she must have felt moved to riskily send Jessica a message even though she wasn’t allowed to.

"Why not love with all our hearts, with reckless abandon, and let all that could cause us fear give us joy?" -Matt Scannell (Vertical Horizon)

CAST

Kim Taeyeon

Jessica Jung as Sooyeon

Choi Minho (SHINee) as the policeman

Tiffany Hwang as the lock saleslady in Namsan Tower

Kim Heechul (Super Junior)

Yesung (Super Junior) as Kim Jongwoon

Kim Jaejoong (TVXQ/JYJ)

Kim Junsu (TVXQ/JYJ)

Kim Ryeowook (Super Junior)

Kangin (Super Junior) as Kim Youngwoon

Kim Hyoyeon as the passerby woman

Kwon Yuri as the nurse

Kim Jonghyun (SHINee) as the railway officer

Yoona as the fashion-model-looking lady

Sooyoung as the dietician

Seohyun as the doctor

Sunny as the radio DJ

Story based on:

"Divine" by 소녀시대 (Girls' Generation)

/"There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for his friends."