Yongsun had found her, knees deep in the ground, the rain soaking every inch of her, after the news broke. Her sister had looked as hopeless as she felt. The staccato of the raindrops seemed to grow harder each passing second, Hyejin could care less. They were supposed to go visit their parents the next day, as their father called them at midnight today that their mother’s condition wasn’t getting any better. 

“My daughters,” He called them, voice laced with worry and old age. “I hope you two will come visit us soon, I know we’ve seen each other last week but—” Yongsun had cut off their father then. “We will, soon as tomorrow!” And then there was silence. And a sigh. Hyejin did not understand the silence. 

“What about school for the both of you?”  

That question caught Yongsun off guard. And it was Hyejin’s turn to take the phone from her older sister. 

“We will catch up with requirements—” Their father cleared his throat from the other side of the line, attempting to reason out better days to visit them in spite of his request.”—and it’s not like we’d skip every day to see our parents.” That earned them a few bouts of laughter. Their father’s happiness rarely revealed itself ever since their mother had gotten sick.  

It didn’t fall short to realization they might not see it anymore. 

Hyejin felt sick to her stomach. Hands tried to lift her off the ground but her body had gone catatonic. The tears seemed to have stopped yet she could still hear sobbing. Moments passed with the pair of hands rocking Hyejin’s body into wakefulness, the coldness of the rain never getting to either of them. 

Was the world so cruel to force them to grow up so fast? Hyejin didn’t have an answer to that yet. She’d only started junior high school. Yet her body seemed to understand, gathering itself into waking up. Her mind was in a state of shock she had been convinced her world has ended from this point. 

“Hyejinnie, please…get up, you’re going to get sick…in this rain—” Yongsun managed, in between sobs and realization they’d just lost their parents. She desperately tried to reach out to Hyejin. Then their eyes meet.  

Yongsun hadn’t been certain since then if the one who got up from the puddle had been her sister.  

— 

“Hyejinnie,”  Yongsun’s  voice made her stomach feel uncanny. She usually feels comforted whenever her sister calls her—not this time. “—please come back home immediately. You know why.”  

Her surroundings seemed to have been distorted. But she stood up, gathered her things—an eraser spilling out of her case—it didn’t matter; she shoved her belongings inside her backpack and let her short limbs trudge her out of the library as fast as they could.   

She ran fast to where she had parked her bicycle in its rusty-looking glory. All sorts of thoughts rushed into her head, growing stronger each second, she pedaled her way back home with heavy breaths. Home was 5 minutes away.  

Thud.  

She had been five minutes and a province away too late. One of the stay-at-home caretakers had made it their prerogative to visit them at their place. Hyejin knew before she had even entered the living room. She took her shoes off in a rush, only to hear an old woman’s voice echoing from the living room, effectively stopping her pace.  
 
“It was going to be too cruel to disclose this to you both through a phone call so I went uptown to deliver the news… that your parents had passed away. Your mother’s heart had given out—and as for your father—" 

“He was healthy.” Hyejin said, making sure her voice didn’t tremble. “Did he go with her?”  

The caretaker nodded. Her chest ached. Somehow inside of her she knew that this would happen. That’s what the stories her mother told her and her sister had always said. And she’d believed in them with her whole heart. Yongsun seemed to know the conclusion she got to and reached her arms out to her. Hyejin took a step back, hoping if she’d closed her eyes she would wake up from this nightmare.  

If love bound two people like this and hurt the ones they leave behind—it wasn’t worth it for Hyejin.   

The rain had just been setting in when she’d gone inside their house. Her staggering footsteps echoed through the floorboards as she stomps out of the apartment—in blinded rage and grief—and the human incapability to face loss.  

Love deceives and is commandeered by the face of the devil that takes the important people away from her.  

  — 

The soft pitter-patter of the chords echoed through the room, almost in sync with the harmonious chirping of the birds by the windowsill. Her slender hands pressed keys in accordance of the sheet that was in front of her. Her heart always felt still—in peace—whenever she’d played the piano. The ever-growing storm inside her resting into a calm that made the keys stagger. The once tranquil piece played at piano recitals, t