Seoul, South Korea

Three years earlier

 

“So,” Hyeri straightened her stance while facing her roommate, “I guess it’s time to say goodbye?”

Sojin gave her a knowing look and curtly nodded. Separation was something she had grown accustomed to. She was so used to the intangible pain that comes with it, it did not hurt her anymore.

Hyeri took a step closer and stretched her arms. Sojin could tell the younger of the two was holding back her feelings from her glassy eyes. And eventhough she was never good at expressing warm gestures herself, she managed to awkwardly return Hyeri’s hug.

“Promise me you’ll take a good care of yourself and be happy, yes?” Hyeri carefully whispered.

Sojin scoffed, “Don’t be silly.”

And just like that she walked away to the check-in counter without looking back, dragging along her cabin-sized suitcase and all the feelings that remained unsaid.

...

 

Paris, France

Present days

 

Rain was pouring outside heavily, and as she glanced up, she was greeted with dark gloomy clouds. Sitting by the window frame, she sighed and pulled her knees closer to her chest. Sojin hated the rain and the sadness they carry within each drop. But if there was anything she despised more than the rain, it would be the news she had just found buzzing on the internet.

‘Last 14th and 15th, Park Hyoshin’s 15th Anniversary Live Tour Encore Concert was held at Olympic Park Gymnastics Gymnasium, Seoul. It was a following concert after last year’s concert tour, both of the concert were sold out immediately, even to the limited view seating.

Many singers show tears and express their gratitude at concerts, but Park Hyoshin’s tears have sincerity. He cried when he sang ‘Wild Flower’ at last year’s concert, he did this time too. He said, “I prayed so hard so I don’t cry during the song, but still I cried again. I want to sing ‘Wild Flower’ warmly but it always becomes desperate.”

He couldn’t sing a few bars because he was crying but no one was upset and everyone just admired his tears and his true heart. Even fans who cried at his tears weren’t just a few. They gave him enough time to cry and calm himself down. Big applause filled the silent hall and Park showed his gratitude bowing.’

Sojin threw her smart phone to the bed as if by getting rid of it, she could get rid of the familiar prick inside her stomach that slowly nauseated her. Just when she thought she had lost her ability to feel pain after three goddamn years and half a globe away, she was proven to be wrong.

...

 

Paris, France

One year before

 

Her phone pinged as a text came in. It was from her best friend, Minah.

Hyoshin’s latest single has been released.

Along with the text, Minah sent an audio file.

And when Sojin did not even bother to reply, another text from Minah came in.

It was about you.

She stared hard at her phone screen for a good ten minutes before curiousity won over her conscience and she clicked the play button.

 

 

Opening with an orchestra that introduced the song, she knew to be prepared for an expressive ballad. Those strings were quickly replaced with just a piano, and Hyoshin’s deep voice took the center stage. While starting subtle and slow, the syllables per line increased slightly to lead into the chorus.

A white ice flower that bloomed

Puts its face out in the welcoming wind

It sheds tears over the wordless and nameless past

Hiding in the cold wind

Melting down under the single ray of sunlight

That’s how you came to me once more

Only good memories, only a longing heart

On the path where you left me

I’m standing alone

Only until I can forget you, until I will be alright

I’ll swallow my tears and at the end of my wait

I will bloom once again

Sojin gasped as she felt chills ran through her spine. His voice was ever so breathtaking, just the way she remembered how it used to be. But what had caused her to shiver wasn’t merely his extravagant vocal technique. It was the emotion he conveyed in each words. He poured his heart and soul into ‘Wild Flower’ as if it was his life personified.

Well, matter-of-factly, it was. The song was a metaphor of his struggle during the harsh period of his life and the time when she decided to left him for good. She understood it more than anyone in this world.

Her phone pinged again. This time it was from Hongbin.

Have you listened to Hyoshin’s Wild Flower?

Seconds later he sent her an image file, to which when she tapped open, showed an image of Hyoshin’s thanks-to part on his CD cover. She scanned through his words and the names he mentioned, and felt a much expected pang of disappointment when she did not find her name in between those lines. Who was she to deserve his gratitude anyway?

But her heart skipped a beat when she caught those three words scripted at the very end of the paragraphs. She almost missed it, but hadn’t it written in French, she wouldn’t think of its significance.

PS: Tu me manques.

The message, she couldn’t be wrong, was directed to her and her only. To most people, PS stood for Post-Script, while Sojin knew better it was actually her initials: Park Sojin.

Tu me manques.

Sojin could not decide whether she should feel flattered or otherwise. French doesn’t have direct translation for ‘I miss you’, and she had been told by her French-speaking friends that tu me manques is the French way of saying I miss you, having literally translated as being something akin to ‘You are missing from me’.

He clearly tried to tell her that she was missing from him.

Sojin dropped her knees on the carpeted floor of her apartment room, unintentionally bit her lower lips a little too hard to prevent tears from slipping out. The pain and the sheer taste of tangy iron reminded her that both his song and his secret confession were real, and she wasn’t hallucinating.

It had been two years after she left Seoul, two