“Why do you hate red?” Sunshine asked one night, when it was late and when the world seemed to be under a spell of a deep slumber.

Myungsoo looked up at his empty ceiling, only to imagine blood dripping from it. He closed his eyes and suppressed the gagging sound which could possibly escape from his throat. Suddenly, he found it difficult to breathe.

He hated red because it reminded him of blood.

He hated red because it reminded him of the fear he felt.

He hated red because that was the color of the stain on his hands the day his mother died.

“Because,” he began. “It reminds me of a memory I'd rather forget.”

Silence followed, but nonetheless she broke it by saying, “I see.”

“Will you not ask me what that memory is?”

He heard her smirk. “If I do you'd only end up remembering it.”

Myungsoo rested his head on his pillow, and out of the blue, he started humming. He waited for Sunshine to disrupt him, but she didn't. He hummed to the very last note. Once again, there was this lingering pause which became second nature to them.

“It's nice,” Sunshine remarked.

He smiled, and put the phone on loud speaker. He gently placed his handset on his drawer, took his guitar from a corner and finally, he started strumming.

<:>

Suzy could only smile at the soothing melody coming from the other end of the line. His hums and words complemented the music well, and it made her heart race. Each chord struck her heartstrings in one way or another, and having nothing to say anymore, she decided to enjoy the moment. It wasn't everyday that a guy would play his guitar over the phone, anyway.

There was one time, however, when she saw Sunggyu in front of his piano. His voice blended well with the tune he made, and she realized he was singing to Sunye, who was on the phone.

So this is how it feels like, she thought.

The song ended, much to Suzy's dismay. She slowly opened her eyes, and said, “You have a nice voice.”

“Do you sing?” he asked.

“I write,” she answered.

“I'd love to hear your words one day,” he admitted.

“One day,” she repeated, smiling. “One day.”

“I might sing again to you next time.”

“I'll be waiting.”

“Good night, Sunshine.”

“Good night, Summer.”

Beep.

<:>

Myungsoo felt something warm trickle down his face. He wiped the liquid away, but it only kept on coming. He opened his eyes out of irritation, but he regretted it the moment he saw his ceiling.

Blood was dripping out of it.

It smelled rusty—metallic.

He sat up straight, and realized he was floating on a pool of blood. With unsteady eyes he looked at his hands, and gagged upon seeing the familiar crimson liquid staining it.

A pale white hand crept up to the edge of his bed, and he retreated, his back leaning hard against the headboard. Soon, a figure of a woman appeared, her dark, bloodstained hair covering her face. She was wearing a familiar black dress, and she croaked, “My child.”

Myungsoo wanted to run away, and so he grabbed a penknife he kept hidden beneath his pillow every night and stabbed his heart with it.

And then he woke up.

He was panting hard, and his shirt, together with his sheets, were soaked with sweat. He looked around him, and despite the darkness he could see that both of his apartment floor and ceiling were dry. He stared at his hands, which were trembling badly.

“It's back,” he choked out, as he covered his ears. “The damned dream's back.”

<:>

Hello, this is Mrs. Kim. I can't answer the phone right now. Please leave a message after the beep.

Beep.

“Mom, it's Myungsoo. You were in my dream again. It's the scary one. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, I swear. So please, mom...” he let out a suppressed sob. “Let me go.”

<:>

“Let me go!” Suzy cried, as she tried to push Sang Moon away by thrashing around.

“Not until you give my protractor back!” he shot back.

“I told you I don't have it!”

The both of them were on Suzy's bed, with Sang Moon putting his dead weight on his sister by resting his legs on her stomach.

“You were the last one who borrowed it, noona!”

“I said I don't have it!”

The squabble was cut off the moment Sunggyu entered her room.

“I'm going to Busan now,” he said. His trusty duffel bag was slung over his left shoulder “Our parents won't be home until supper, but I've prepared food in advance. You can just heat it up.”

“Yes,” the siblings chorused.

“No fighting.”

“Yes.”

“The plates should still be complete by the time I return.”

“Yes.”

“Remember to unplug everything before going to sleep.”

“Yes.”

“Eat on time.”

“Yes.”

“Do your chores.”

“Yes.”

“Wake up early for school.”

“Yes.”

“Sang Moon,” Sunggyu snapped.

“Yes, hyung?” he replied.

“Don't make things difficult for your sister.”

He sighed. “Of course.”

“And Suzy,” Sunggyu said again.

“Yes?”

“Don't make things difficult for your brother.”

“Sure.”

He smiled, gave his siblings one last hug, and headed out of their house. They sat in silence and after a short while they heard their brother's car zoom away.

Sang Moon looked at his sister, and noticed the sudden change in her expression.

“Noona,” he began. “Is something bothering you?”

Suzy stood up to open the drawer of her study table. She took out Sang Moon's protractor and handed it out to him.

“I guess I really did forget to return it to you,” she said. “Sorry.”

“Noona...”

“You can go now,” Suzy muttered. “I need to do some things.”

Sang Moon sighed, and proceeded to hug his older sister tightly. “We might always fight,” he whispered. “But noona, I know that you like hyung more than you should have.”

Suzy's eyes widened.

“We might always fight,” he said again. “But I can be a strong man for my own sister, too. I'm younger than you, but I can always listen if you want to.”

“Sang Moon...”

He hugged her tighter. “Just don't let those emotions get the better of you,” he warned. “It wouldn't do our family any good.”

“I know,” she whispered.

“You're going to be all right in due time,” he said.

“I know,” she repeated. “Just not now.”

“I know,” the younger one echoed.

<:>

“Why don't you have a woman yet?” one of the beggars asked, when Myungsoo decided to go to the subway station again with the bags of goods his father kept on giving him, like a ration of some sort. “You have a well-defined face, it's strange to see someone like you roam around alone.”

“I'm not interested at the moment,” he honestly replied.

“Are you gay?” the other fired, while opening the can of tuna Myungsoo just handed out to him with his pocket knife.

The student could only scoff at the elder’s assumption. He disliked those closed-minded thoughts.

“I'm not gay,” he answered calmly. “I'm just not interested.”

“Ah, so you're one of them guys who aren't easily swayed.”

“You can say that,” Myungsoo replied.

“You're a prune,” the beggar remarked.

Seeing that the conversation was leading to nowhere, Myungsoo excused himself only to approach the other homeless people, who were in need of someone to talk to, like him.

“You're really kind,” a young girl with tattered clothes remarked.

Myungsoo smirked, and tousled her wiry hair. “I'm far from kind.”

“But you keep on giving us food to eat,” she pointed out.

“Who knows?” he returned. “Maybe I just want you to think that I'm good.”

The girl beamed at him. “You don't have to do that; you can always be honest.”

With those words, she walked away, and this left Myungsoo hanging.

<:>

“Hello, Suzy?” Sunggyu's gentle voice said.

“Oppa, you called.”

He snickered. “But of course. I'm in Busan now. How's it going?”

“Sang Moon and I aren't killing each other yet,” she replied, smiling.

“That's good to hear,” he commented. “Mom and dad will be home in a few hours. Make sure that the house is clean.”

“I will, don't worry.”

“Take care now. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Beep.

A long pause, and finally she whispered, “I love you.”

As if that wasn't enough, she repeated those three syllables over and over again. She repeated it until tears formed in her eyes. She repeated it until she started to sob out of shame and guilt. She repeated it until Sang Moon found her crying.

She stopped when her brother grabbed the phone away from her, only to give her one of those rare and comforting hugs she would receive from him.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."
- Ephesians 2:8-9

I'm alone in the house so I was able to update! Thank you for commenting still, you guys.
I can't believe It's almost two weeks already. I hope you have a blessed day!
The two will meet each other soon. I'm just giving them time ^^;