(Narrator's POV)

“You need an invitation?”, Sungjae asked.

“No, I will play the music for every performance there, remember?”, you said.

“Right….so, basically you will come right?”, he asked again.

“Of course oppa, I will”, you smiled.

“I have something to give you”, he said.

“What is that?”, you said as you shoved a spoonful of rice to your mouth.

“Open it when you get home”, he gave you a bag.

“Can’t I open it here?”, you raised your eyebrows as you peeked to the bag.

“I’m afraid it will get dirty”, he shrugged.

“Pshh fine”, you said.

“You always have me with you”, Sungjae said. “Also Hyukjin, Eunmi, and Ahyoung”.

“I know”, you smiled.

You don’t know about Minwoo anymore. He always get dragged by Tia and he never refuse. So you just let it be. You’ve ran far enough to reach him but you never get him. You thought it’s time to stop and just let it be. You just want to live peacefully. You chose to concern to your parents instead.

“How’s your parents?”, Sungjae asked.

You kept silent and Sungjae understood.

***

You put the bag on the bed. You laid your body for a while then you reach out you hand and took the bag. You opened it and the gift was a dress and a pair of an ankle boots.

You smiled and furrowed your eyebrows. There was a piece of paper there and there was a handwritten, it said :

You know It’s awkward for me to write a message on cards…so just call me to hear my explanation.

You rolled your eyes and you took your phone from the desk. On the other hand, Sungjae was waiting for your call, he knew that you don’t like it when someone give you a present especially expensive things. As soon as his phone rang he picked it up.

“Wow, fast”, you said.

“Okay so, wear that dress on the graduation day”, he said and you kept silent.

“You know, girls usually think of something to wear in every occasions so, wait, I know you’re different from the girls but I just want to help you and give you present okay?”, he said.

“Okay……and the shoes?”, you asked.

“Uh…….It was in one package”, he said.

“Huh?”, you said.

“The shoes….and the dress is in one package”, he said.

You facepalmed yourself. “Oppa……please don’t lie. You sounded like an idiot”.

“Fine…”, he said. “The point is…I just want to give you present, don’t protest”, he said.

“Thank you”, you smiled.

“You’re welcome, and don’t forget to wear that on the graduation day”, he said.

“I get it, bye”, you said and hung up the phone.

***

“Where are you?”, Sungjae asked on the phone.

“God, I’m in the backstage. I told you I’ll come”, you said.

“Hehehe just want to make sure”, Sungjae said. “Minwoo’s here”.

“With Tia?”, I asked.

“Mmhm”, Sungjae said. “Hey you have to be okay”.

“Of course I am. I’m getting used to it by the way”, you said.

“Oh the graduation is going to start, see you”, he said and he hung up.

Today is the graduation day and throughout the event, you kept on the stage or in the backstage so you didn’t get to meet Minwoo or Sungjae. You just smiled at them from the distance when they happened to see you. Finally the graduation is over and you walked to Sungjae to congratulate him but Minwoo showed up.

“Hey”, he said.

“Hi Minwoo”, you smiled.

“You look beautiful”, he said “And your performance is great as usual”.

“Thank you”, you smiled again.

“I want to aske you s-“, Minwoo got cut out by Sungjae.

“I am talented”, Sungjae said as he crossed his arms and looked at you from head to toe.

“Well I have to admit it”, you said.

“Minwoo, don’t you think she look beautiful?”, Sungjae asked.

“Of course, she always is”, Minwoo smiled and you were a bit shocked by his answer.

“See, I told you to wear it today”, Sungjae said.

“Thank you oppa, once again”, you grinned. “But still…..I think it’s too much”.

“Shut up”, he said. “I said don’t protest for this present”.

“Those are from you, hyung?”, Minwoo asked.

“Yes, of course! Don’t you see how talented I am?”, he said. “Oh! Come and take a photograph with me!”, Sungjae pulled you.

After taking photos, you suddenly got a call from your mom.

“Hello?”, you answered.

“Honey, can you come home before dinner?”, your mom asked.

“Sure, I can come home now if you want”, you said.

“Great, me and your dad have something important to tell you”, she said.

“What is it..?”, you asked.

“You better come home first”, she said. “See you at home”.

You felt something wrong and you were scared. You whispered to Sungjae that you have to go because of your parents have something to tell you. His face turned serious and asked if you need a ride home but you refused. As soon as he said ‘be careful’ you ran to get your purse and ran to the bus station.

Minwoo watched your interaction with Sungjae so he came to Sungjae.

“What happened hyung?”, Minwoo asked.

“I don’t know, she just said that she have to come home soon”, Sungjae lied.

***

“Mom, Dad! I’m home”, you said.

“Nami, you better change your clothes and cleaned up first”, Darae said as she saw you.

“But I want to know as soon as possible”, you said.

“I know…but It will be more comfortable if you have cleaned up”, Darae said.

“Fine…”, you finally said.

“I’ll help you”, Darae said as the two of you headed upstairs.

As soon as you finish cleaned yourself up, you walked downstairs with a trembling hand. You were afraid.

“Oh honey come here”, your mom greeted you from the living room.

“Sit here”, your dad said as he patted the chair next to him.

“Honey before we get to the main problem….you should now that….marriage life is really though and things always gets in the way”, your mom said.

Oh no…..you thought inside your head.

“Some things we can handle but there are things that…we couldn’t afford to handle anymore”, your dad said.

“Honey, listen, your dad and I, we still love each other and of course we love you so much”, your mom said.

“But we…we..”, your mom said.

“We can’t afford one big thing honey, so we decided that we will have to divorce”, your dad said.

You kept your head down and you didn’t say anything. You understand them but part of you just so selfish and don’t want to understand.

“We will be sending the letter to the court tomorrow morning”, your mom said.

“Nami…”, your father called you.

You looked up to them with a teary eyes but you smiled. “I don’t understand what marriage life like…and I know, I believe that both mom and dad know the best for me”.

“Thank you honey…”, your mom said with a shaken voice.

“So….have you decided will you come with mom or dad?”, your dad asked.

“I have”, you smiled. “I’ll come with mom, I have think about it. It doesn’t mean that I don’t love you but…”.

“I know honey, I understand”, your dad patted your back. “I will be happy if you choose to come with me but I know that you’ll be happy if you stay with mom”.

“Mom, dad, If you excuse me…”, you said. “Can I go to my room now?”.

“Of course honey, thank you”, your mom and dad said.

You closed your bedroom door and you walked to your bed. You hug your legs and let the tears flow down. You let out all of the emotions that you’ve been holding a while ago. You cried all night long hoping it was just a dream, but it was too real.

***