" You're still sick. You're not performing."

Teacher Youngsun was very stringent on Sowon since her condition was still unstable. The glee club was still at danger for termination. Sowon knew that the club was struggling to get the money they needed. She coughed while tears poured down her eyes. "I want to work hard to keep the club." Eunha held Sowon's hand tightly. She knew that the weight of stress Sowon was having was not helping her sickness. Shockingly, the sickness wasn't contagious. Everyday, Eunha would take care of Sowon after school. And everyday, Sowon would get sicker. 

"Someone call my mom."

"Your mother?" Teacher Youngsun huffed. "She's still busy, isn't she?"

"But she knows how to cure me." Sowon looked at Eunha. "I need you at glee club meetings."

"Why? I'm taking care of you."

"Don't make your life about me, Eunbi. I need you to sing. You have potential." That was when Sowon began to cough hard. Teacher Youngsun held Sowon's shoulders. "Teacher, please her out. My mother is just a few hours away."

Teacher Youngsun furrowed her brow and walked out with Eunha. "You take care. I'll call her."

---------

Sowon's mother and a doctor inspected charts and test results closely. Sowon looked very nervous. There was a very hard pain in . She placed her hand there. "It's nodules." The doctor looked at Sowon. "And  pneumonia." 

Sowon felt like the world was falling apart already. "Can I get surgery?"

"We can't afford it right now," Sowon's mother replied sharply. "With the wedding expenses and your college tuition-"

"I'm not getting married to him, mother." 

"Excuse me?" 

"It's too early for me to marry him...." She contemplated her words carefully. "I'm...not sure if it's right for my career."

"With your condition? Dear, you have a lot of-"

"I can be cured. If I can't sing again, there is more for me to do in life."

"But we want you to marry as soon as possible. We caught you quite the catch-"

"And I can't do that either. I don't like men, mom."

Those words baffled Mrs. Kim. She had to take a seat at her daughter's desk. There was a brief silence and a long burning stare that remained within the two. After a few beats, Mrs. Kim breathed in and said: "I think you just don't like our choice."

"No. I really don't like men."

"We all say that, sweetie-"

"I really like women, mother. I have a girlfriend. Her name is Eunha and we love each other very much."

Mrs. Kim, once again, has this very shocked and very scared look on her face. She began shaking and swallowing. "Child...What..."

"I. Have. A. Girlfriend. And. I. Don't. Like. Men."

"I heard you." Mrs. Kim shook her head. She placed her hands on her head, thinking hard about what to say next.

Sowon felt the fear in her chest and her heart go away. She finally said it. She finally got someone to notice that she wasn't into men and she doesn't want to marry so early in life. However, she got even more scared when her mother went to her  closet and started ripping the clothes from their hangers onto the floor. Then, she threw her shoes out the window and some underwear out the window. Sowon got up and almost fell due to feeling slightly drowsy due to her medication. "What are you doing?"

"You can't stay here!" Mrs.Kim exclaimed angrily. "No daughter of mine will be homoual. If you really want a place in this family, then you will cut off all contact with that girl now. And accept Youjin or any man .... as your husband!"

As much as those words stung, Sowon held her ground. She picked up the fallen clothes calmly. "Then I guess I'm not staying here." She walked out the house super calm. This was insane, Sowon thought to herself. I'm actually walking out instead of putting up a fight. I'm actually being my own person. This must come with age. Age, indeed.

The option was to go to teacher Moon and teacher Sun's home. That would be ideal. They could help support her until it was time for her to purchase her own place. They could take care of her because they had told her before that this was her second home. Sowon knocked on their door, bags hurting her weak arms. Moonbyul answered with the baby in her arms. "Sojung, what are you doing here...?"

"My mother kicked me out." Sowon scratched her head. "Can I stay?"

"Of course, but...what about..."

Youngsun was already there helping Sowon with her bags. "Moonbyul, we have to hurry or else she'll start sneezing and we don't want little Dae Ri getting sick do we?"

Moonbyul nodded. "Of course. "

Sowon had Youngsun's cooking for the first time. She apparently cooked feasts like that on a constant basis because Moonbyul's appetite was insane since her pregnancy. The food tasted like home. There were no questions asked. It was a normal evening. Youngsun made sure of that. Once Moonbyul put the little infant to bed, the couple tended to Sowon. For once, Sowon didn't feel like she was struggling for air. After taking some medicine, she woke up the next morning to see Youngsun adjusting Moonbyul's tie as the latter held the baby's carseat. 

"Ah. Morning." Youngsun gave Sowon a sheet of paper and a giant package of schoolwork. "That's just the chores. It's not much and it isn't too insane. Also, there is some breakfast in the fridge. The doctor's office is much closer here than at your house. Just down the street."

"Thank you." Sowon smiled.

"You're welcome. Just know you are loved no matter who you love, here."

-------------

Eunha was practicing lines for glee club to a song called "My Heart Is Open" by Maroon 5. The song required a lot of emotion and longing in her voice. Youngsun walked behind her and placed her hand on the younger one's shoulder. "Sowon is cheering for you at my house."

"Why is she there?"

"She didn't call you?"

"No...."

Eunha listened to Youngsun tell the story about how Sowon got kicked out, has nodules, and now is living with her and Teacher Moonbyul. She wrapped her arms around Youngsun tightly. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Yes. Of course. I hope so."

-------

Shaking, Sowon was at the doctor's office as they administered more tests.  They looked at her more and actually noticed something worst than nodules. The doctors sighed and looked very worried. That made Sowon sweat bullets. 

"I'm sorry, miss. You seem to have...throat cancer."

"Throat cancer? How am I going to sing ever again?!" Sowon held tightly as she yelled this.

"You can't sing anymore. This is glottic cancer. It starts in the vocal chords..." The doctor tsked. He went over the synopsis of what throat cancer entells. Her heart was breaking slowly as he did. She was going to never sing again. "We could try and save your vocal box, however..."

"How much for it?"

"It's quite cost-efficient shockingly. But...we recommend that you start radiation therapy now and..." 

Sowon couldn't hear the rest of what they're saying because the sound of her heart shattering to the floor was much louder. 

Life without music was nothing. 

Life without doing what she lived to do was nothing.