Chapter 27. Disclosure

“You were the one that I wanted to feel the earth rotate with.”

— Shinji Moon

The phone kept ringing and it was starting to annoy her. Yuri paced in the kitchen, cleaning then preparing lunch and dinner for Joohyun to reheat later. She groaned when her sister’s phone rang again so she yelled, “Ya! Can you lower the volume of that TV? Your phone has been ringing.” Joohyun got the remote but she ignored her phone, “Ya, aren’t you going to answer that?”

“It’s probably someone from school,” Joohyun replied, her attention still glued on the TV screen.

“So? You should answer. It might be important. Besides, you’re going back to school in three months.”

Joohyun suddenly turned the TV off and looked at her sister, “Unnie, I think I’ll skip school this year.”

“What?” Yuri dropped the knife and wiped her hands, “Joohyuna, what are you saying right now?”

She stood. Joohyun was expecting an objection so she took her phone, “I-I think… I’m not ready yet.” Her Unnie stared at her obviously astounded by what she was saying. Joohyun has been thinking about it, she needed to rest—to regroup and it would probably a bad idea to go back to school since she doesn’t know if she could even concentrate.

“Joohyuna—“

Her phone rang again. She was thankful for it this time around so she gave her sister a half smile, “I must get this.” With that, she went back to her room and closed the door. She doesn’t really plan on answering it but her eyes widened when she saw who was calling so she took it rather hastily before it stopped ringing, “Oppa?”

“Joohyuna…”

“Oppa! Where are you?”

“I’m still stuck somewhere.”

“For how long? Can’t you just come back earlier?” Joohyun bit her lips, she wasn’t supposed to say that last question out loud. Then, she heard him chuckle.

“I see you miss me…”

“I don’t,” she countered hoping he won’t notice in her voice the smile she was actually wearing. The smiled widened when he laughed

“Stop lying Joohyun-ssi, it’s obvious…”

“Fine…” Joohyun groaned but her voice softened, “I want to see you…”

“Then, look at my brother’s picture. It’s just the same.”

Her smile faded, “It’s not funny.”

“I’m not trying to be funny, Joohyun. I look exactly like him.”

“I don’t see you when I look at his pictures, I see him.” The sudden silence made her sigh.

“Alright… I'm back but I need to fix some things before I can go and visit you. I have to hang up now… good bye, Joohyun-ssi.”

She stared out of the window when he ended the call without even waiting for her reply. Did she make him feel upset? She could only pray that she didn’t. The thought of seeing him again overwhelmed her and she wondered why.

~~~

Yonghwa turned off his phone after sending her the address of the bar. He smiled when his eyes caught sight of the bouquet of flowers hidden on one of the chairs on the table he reserved for them. Nayon-ssi, the owner of the flower shop, incessantly that she is just waiting for him to tell her the date of his wedding so she could start planning the arrangements for that special event.

She laughed out loud when he gave her nothing but a loud sigh then pointed out, “Hey, give this lonely lady a break.” Yonghwa could only wish that the older woman would find her own happily-ever-after so she would stop weaving other people’s romance.

The woman has become a random friend probably because he shared this secret with her. Although, Nayon-ssi still doesn’t know everything, she proclaimed herself as the instigator for him to win his ‘love.’ Yonghwa shook his head with the thought; she doesn’t know any better but it was cute of her.

He was on his last set when he sent that message because he doesn’t want Joohyun to wait for him that long. The melancholy started to wash over him when he started strumming his guitar— it was his last song, his last performance on that stage. There were quite a few diners and drinkers that night but it felt empty, maybe it was because he was missing it already.

His eyes closed the moment the words flowed through his tongue. For some reason, he loved singing that song. It was a sad song about letting someone go but still missing that person so much. It painted a picture in his mind about that day in the park, seeing this girl and falling in love with her. It would have been a beautiful love story but sometimes fate has a different version of that story in people’s mind. There was nothing more for him to do but accept and let go.

The moment Yonghwa opened his eyes, the sight of the girl standing by the entrance almost made him forget the lyrics. He smiled at her but Joohyun only gave him a tightlipped one. After a few seconds, a waiter led her to an empty table and she sat there with her attention solely focused on him. The idea of her listening while he was singing that song tugged his heart strings. What to do with that feeling? He smiled at his own train of thoughts.

After all, she still has that effect on him whether he acknowledge it or not.

For the past months that he had played in that bar, he would always close the night with that song so it was the most appropriate conclusion for his short-lived stint. When Yonghwa ended the song, he bid his audience his final goodbye and, after talking to the manager, he joined Joohyun in her quiet corner.

“Hey, you… it’s been a while…”

“Oppa,” Joohyun smiled. It felt really nice seeing him again although she noticed that it took him exactly three days to meet her after his last call. She didn’t really feel bad about it and it was even a relief that he has more important things to do than to hang around with her. Then, Joohyun was brought back to that night they were together, when she found out the dangerous effect of ‘traveling’ to him. She could not forget the way he looked as he tried with all his might to reach out for her before passing out.

After that, it became clear to her why Yonghwa would suddenly disappear for a day or so after she ‘went back’ in the past. She could not even begin to think how much more repeated pain she caused him for wanting to see Shinwoo again. Guilt washed over her; she was selfish without knowing it. “How are you? Are you really better?”

“You can’t tell?” Yonghwa flexed his right arm animatedly but she just snorted. He missed that sight. “I am… no need to worry about me, Joohyun-ssi.”

She sighed before shifting the conversation, “How long have you been playing here?”

“When he was in the hospital. I was just covering for him because of his contract.”

“Oh…”

“Why? Did he take you here?”

“He never wanted me to go to where he played. But, I think, one time… I saw Shinwoo playing here, singing that same song.”

It caught him off-guard.  Yonghwa stared at her for the longest time until he decided that it won’t mean anything. He was sure that it was him whom she saw because Shinwoo never sang sad songs. Besides, he did cover for him on that gig for several occasions prior to the accident. There was no point in telling her that so he just took the bouquet and gave it to her. Her eyes glimmered in surprise as she took the familiar looking arrangement, “The nuna in the flower shop insisted in making it big this time… I’m sorry…”

“Why are you saying sorry for the wrong reasons, Oppa?” She chuckled as she stared at the white lily then she looked back at him, “Thank you… please thank your nuna for me too. This is lovely and it’s not even my birthday, what are the flowers for?”

“Hmmm… consider it as a ‘nice to see you again’ gift.”

“But then I don’t have anything for you…”

“My fault, I came on a very short notice. Get me something next time, okay?”

“Eung!”

During dinner, they barely talked but seemingly enjoyed each other’s silence and since it was almost midnight, Yonghwa decided to take her home. However, she asked him to drop her off the park so he just decided to hang around for awhile. It seemed that they earned themselves a usual spot on that place— the lone bench in front of the convenience store, a few blocks away from her home.

They sat there without saying anything. Joohyun likes it about him, sometimes he just sit there and ‘be’ with her. Likewise, Yonghwa likes it that way for the mere fact that Joohyun is there and she’s aware of his own presence. He smiled without looking at her recalling the last time they were there; it must have terrified her a lot. Yonghwa tilted his head to look at her, “Did she scare you?”

She finally turned to him, “Who?”

“Halmeoni,” he said but Joohyun just answered him with an unsure expression drawn on her face, “Don’t mind her. That's how she attacks; she'll scare the hell out of you until she gets what she wants from you. Just stand firm and ignore her then she'd know she can't boss you around.”

She nodded, it must be the assuring smile he was wearing but she found herself believing his words. “Is that how you deal with her?”

 “I don’t know, maybe? With me, she's gentle... like to her other grandchildren. But don't be too scared of her, once you get her soft spot then she's okay.”

 “It’s like I have to win her over.”

“It's a friendly advice, Joohyun-ssi... don’t take it personally,” Yonghwa nudged her playfully when she grinned. But, her expression softened.  

“But she told me about... the side effects...”

Yonghwa fell quiet for a moment as his gaze transferred towards the sky. He continued with a gentle smile, “I couldn't tell you that before right? But, it's nothing... I get sick and she thinks it will kill me but I don’t think it will.”

“What if it does?” She asked softly.

“You sound like my grandmother,” he gave her his toothy grin but she maintained her serious expression.

“I am not kidding,” she quipped looking squarely at him.

Yonghwa finally gave her the same serious look, “I'm not kidding either.”

“Then, never do it again.” Joohyun snapped, “Not for me… or for anybody—“

“Not for anybody? Will you get jealous if I do it for somebody?”

That made her sigh. It was like talking to Shinwoo again. He is so much like his brother so she rolled her eyes to express her dismay, “Stop doing it... even if it's for yourself.

“Ne, arasseoyo…” he bowed lightheartedly.

 “I'm serious, Oppa, this is not a laughing matter…”

“Hey… come on, I’m just trying to wipe that worry off your face.”

Joohyun just shook her head and decided to let his mischief pass. The more she thinks about the serious things, the more it gets complicated. Her thoughts slipped out of her lips, “I still can’t believe it’s possible... to go back.”

He cocked his head towards her watching the way she was idly looking at nothing in particular. Then, he snickered, “What makes me wonder most is ‘why me?’” Yonghwa grinned when she gave him a small smile and he continued with a more wistful tone, “Can we really be in the past? Can we really see the past? I don’t know if this makes sense but harabeoji once told me something.”

Joohyun watched the small smile in his lips as he looked up.

“Look at the night sky.  Although light travels fast, it doesn’t reach the Earth significantly quick. So right now, the light we are seeing on that single star up there…” he said while pointing at a lone start right above them, “…is what it was a few minutes ago… or who knows that it’s even a few million years ago depending on how far it is from us. Somehow, knowing that, seeing them... it's plausible, to see the past… to be literary on the stars’ past.”

“That makes sense,” Joohyun nodded contemplating his words. The sky was almost hazy and that fact made the visible stars shine even more vivid. She hugged herself thinking of Shinwoo— thinking of her past.

“But it hurts your brain, huh?” he chuckled, “It’s like stabbing a nose artery and you’d get your nose bleeding in no time.”

Joohyun giggled. He just stole her away from the unexpected melancholy and it was something she had to be thankful for. Clearing , she mused, “Your grandfather sounded like an intelligent man.”

“He is… he was,” he smiled pensively remembering his old man then elbowed her lightly, “I bet you’d like him…”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he liked intelligent conversations. He liked being challenged. Just like you…”

“I’m like that?” Joohyun returned his smile.

“Yeah, I saw you a couple of times at debate and…” Yonghwa stopped mid-way when he realized what he just said but it was too late.

“What? You mean…” she remembered their mother’s story where the twins would sometimes take each other’s places. The thought did not sit well on her. “You attended some of Shinwoo’s classes as him?”

Yonghwa found himself swallowing hard but there was no way to evade the question, “He didn’t want to incur absences—”

“You knew it was wrong…. you both, most especially you…”

“Yes, but… it had become a habit…” Yonghwa could feel his veins pounding heavily, “Look, we didn’t mean harm…”

For a moment, her eyes widened when a realization swept all over her but she concealed it soon by standing up, “You don’t need to explain. Anyway, it’s getting cold. I must get back.”

It left him speechless and it was better for him to let her go alone.

Sooyoung was right; there was no escaping that fact.

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another treat since im happy ㅋㅋㅋ

erm perhaps you know why ㅋㅋㅋ

thanks for the comments and upvotes~!

새해 복 많이 받으세요~!!!

Have a blessed Lunar New Year, dear all!

~Lyra^^