It was the day after their papers ended, that Mrs. Do visited Seungwan. The past several days had been tedious and annoying to say the least. She had still not made up with Taeyeon, and it was starting to get to her more now that the papers were over and she did not have much else to occupy her mind with. Her anger had subsided since the day she’d talked to – yelled at – Taeyeon after her return from Thailand and was starting to get replaced by guilt.

Taeyeon had tried a few times afterwards to talk to her, to try and explain to her what had actually happened but Seungwan had refused and then ever since the exams started, Taeyeon had gotten busy or maybe lost hope, and stopped trying entirely. Her thawing had come at a wrong time.

So when Taeyeon appeared at the door of her room (she had taken to spending the days in Soojung and Yerim’s room because of the rift between them and only returned to sleep at night) that afternoon, she had lit up, ready to put it all behind her and talk. But she had deflated as Taeyeon had told her about the arrival of Mrs. Do and left without another word.

She wondered what the older women wanted with her considering Mrs. Son wasn’t home, and the thought of something being wrong made her gut curdle. Kyungsoo had been fine the last time she’d seen him during the year end exams. He had looked tired, but that was to be expected considering exam season.

She hastily made her way downstairs and found Yerim serving Mrs. Do in the living room. The older woman stood up as she spotted Seungwan and the latter tried to smile convincingly.

“Is everything ok?”, She asked soon as they were done with the formal greetings.

“Yeah. I just wanted to talk to you. Can you spare me some time?”

“Sure”

“I wanted to talk to you about…”, Mrs. Do hesitated. “About you and Kyungsoo”

Seungwan fiddled with her hands. How was she supposed to respond to this? Mrs. Do was already well-aware of what had become of their relationship after the whole thing with Nayeon. The whole world probably was. “I don’t – “

“I know what you’re thinking dear”, She said softly. “I know everything. I’m just here to tell you what you don’t know”

Seungwan looked on, beaconing her to continue.

“He was being blackmailed, my Kyungsoo. Kim Minjun threatened him, suggesting he would something…bad to us if Kyungsoo didn’t comply and marry Nayeon. He had no choice”

Seungwan stopped breathing for a minute, allowing the information to sink in. “What?”

“Yes! That’s what they’ve all been trying to tell you but I think you didn’t listen. That’s why they asked me to come and talk to you”

“No but – h..how? Why?”, It didn’t make sense. Why would Kyungsoo be blackmailed into marrying someone? What did he have to do with it all?

“Nayeon had her eyes set on him ever since high school. But she realized it was wrong, thankfully, even if it came too late”, Mrs. Do recalled.

Oh God, what have I done?

The truth was heavy and Seungwan felt like somebody had slapped her hard across the face. As the dots connected in her mind, it all started to make sense. “Why didn’t he tell me…?”, Her voice was a whisper and she didn’t know whether she was questioning herself or Mrs. Do.

“He didn’t want to put you in danger, they had eyes and ears on him all the time”, Mrs. Do consoled. “Lot of good that did though, considering they still kidnapped you. Kyungsoo was furious”

How had she been such a fool? How could she not have seen it? And she had claimed she loved him. Was that the extent of it? That she’d accepted his betrayal so easily, without a shadow of doubt?

“I’m sorry….” Her head was bent, as her eyes blurred with tears.

“Don’t say that! I didn’t come here to tell you all this so that you could start blaming yourself. It’s not your fault that you believed it. My son can be pretty convincing when he wants to be”, She said in a consoling tone.

Seungwan didn’t know how to respond. The reality was weighing down on her. What should she do? She wished she could see him right now, but the sinking feeling in her heart even made that fantasy seem bitter. What would she say to him? That she understood? That they should get back together?

It was too selfish. She had left him completely during such a hard time, she wouldn’t blame him if he’d moved on. And maybe he had, judging by how he hadn’t tried to talk or explain anything to her during their stay in Thailand. And she had just started moving on too. Barely. And now that the thread of betrayal on which she’d been hanging was broken, she didn’t know where she stood anymore. She couldn’t even decide what to feel, except misery all over again.

“I hope you’ll make the right decision”, Mrs. Do left with those words, leaving her with guilt and a profound sadness that stemmed with the core of her being.

She went upstairs and instead of going into her own room, she went to the other, and straight into Taeyeon’s open arms, crying all the tears she’d hidden for a long time now.

_

She called him that night.

“Hello?”, Kyungsoo picked up the call immediately as he saw the caller’s ID, his heart thumping.

There was no reply. He waited with bated breath. He could hear her breathing at the other end which was the only thing that told him she was still there, but she said nothing else for another two or three minutes. He knew they had a lot to talk about, his mother had told him about her visit to Seungwan’s only afterwards. He had been displeased, thinking what Seungwan must be thinking about him using his mother to clear up a misunderstanding that wasn’t the only problem in the first place.

“Seung – “

“Don’t”, She interjected, and then added. “Sing for me”

Kyungsoo was taken aback. “What?”

“Sing for me”

Of all the things he’d expected her to say, of all the accusations and resentments and bitter remarks, she’d caught him off guard with her strange request. But he wasn’t going to complain. God help him, if he did. She had called. She was willing to talk to him. What more could he ask for?

“What do you want to hear?”

“Whatever you want to sing”, It was like a prayer, an answered one, her honey voice.

“Ok”, He cleared his throat and started.

“Deep in the night when even the stars fall asleep
The lonely moon rises
It softly comes down to the windowsill and shines on you
And lets you dream while you sleep

In it, you wear a slipper made of glass
You come to me shyly and  into my arms and laugh

She’s dreaming She’s dreaming
The night is deeply soaked in moonlight
This is the only time we have to ourselves

She’s dreaming

She’s dreaming
I give in and smile at you sleeping inside of me
All I do is look at you”

Her evened breathing at the other end told him she’d fallen asleep. He smiled despite himself, a deep peace spreading through him as a weight he had been carrying for so long got lifted off his shoulders.

_

Taeyeon got informed about her father’s condition only after a day had already passed since he called.

Mrs. Son was very careful with her words, at first only telling her in a casual tone that she’d heard from her father and then moving on to tell her that he wasn’t feeling very well, had had some abdominal condition.

Taeyeon had been hit with concern, but the next second she had convinced herself that she didn’t care. It only lasted for so long though. That night, as she’d lain in her bed, she hadn’t been able to sleep with the thoughts swirling in her mind. Surely he would’ve called her if something was serious? Why was he so bent on never contacting her?

“Maybe you should call him instead”, Seungwan had spoken blearily from the other bed, and Taeyeon had realized she’d spoken out her concerns.

And this great revelation had dawned on her very simply. She had never called him either, had she? She had been so filled with resentment towards her father, that she’d never tried to take the first step. Had always expected him to be first because it was his duty. Maybe it was her concern for him talking, but she felt guilty all of a sudden. She wasn’t a child anymore, she couldn’t keep blaming it all on him. She had to make some effort too.

So the next morning, she’d called the number she had, trying to tame the fluttering of her heart. It had been picked up by her half-brother, Taehyung, and her heart had warmed thinking of a thirteen-year-old she’d never met. She’d introduced herself, and asked to speak to his mother and had gotten straight to the point after making sure the woman knew who she was. He’d had a liver disease for some years now, that had gotten acutely exacerbated . She’d confirmed the addresses, and had informed that she would be coming, a decision she couldn’t believe she’d taken this long to make.

After booking her flight, she’d gone to both Joohyun and Junmyeon to personally give them their gifts and apologize for not being able to attend the wedding, and given in her resignation at the library. She’d already been thinking about it, since she’d already gotten a job offer and was due to start a few months later after they got their diplomas.  

“You sure, you’ll be alright?”, Seungwan had asked her as she’d packed.

“Yes”, She’d said, and then added as an afterthought. “I hope so….”

“I’ll miss you. Will you be back soon?”

“I don’t know”, She’d shrugged. Because she truly didn’t. There was something new waiting for her, she knew and it would take time to catch up with it.

“We’ll always be here for you, you know that right?”, Mrs. Son had said with motherly affection. They were all acting like she was leaving forever, and she wanted to laugh it off and tell them to stop being such emotional goofs, but she didn’t. Because they knew, as she did, that the journey she was embarking on was a difficult one, and one she couldn’t be sure she would return from the same as she was now.

“I love you, noona”, Sehun had let his manly façade go for a bit and just hugged her like a baby. Yerim and Soojung had followed.

“I love you all so much too”, She’d said. “You people will always be my family, no matter what”

And with that she’d left for the airport and flown off to a new future waiting for her. Or maybe a past that she needed to rewrite.

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A/N: God, its been forever! I am so sorry for not updating for years, got realllyyyyy busy with college. Final Year of medicine is tremendously taxing :(

Hope you guys like where this is going. Ending soon.

Thankyou for reading!