They both thought the same of each other.

Da Eun walked home late that night. She spent the day playing with the piano and eating whatever she found in the fridge. Knowing the food would soon run out saddened Da Eun. It meant she had to go to the grocery store to buy more food for herself. If there was any place she didn’t want to be, it was in malls and stores—aside from her home of course.

She knew her parents would be home that night so she dragged herself back. When they asked where she went that day, she told them she was out with friends. They didn’t reply and went back to their work.

“Da Eun, do you have any friends who would be interested in purchasing purses?” Mrs. Lee asked.

“No,” Da Eun said straightforwardly.

“But you have so many friends. I’m sure they would like to purchase one or two,” Mr. Lee joined in.

Da Eun held her dirty remarks in and walked upstairs without saying a word. She figured it would be easier just to ignore her parents than to talk to them. They knew she hated it when they tried to include her friends into their business. Because if there was anything in the world she hated the most, it was her parent’s business.

She walked into her bedroom and took out her art supplies. She grabbed a large bag from under her bag and packed everything up. She decided to make art her new companion in the practise room.

○●○●○

“You still don’t have enough money, you know,” Myungsoo pointed out as he looked through the endless paperwork he and Sunggyu were looking through.

“I know,” Sunggyu sighed.

“Hyung, this isn’t going to work out,” Myungsoo shook his head as he stood up and walked out of the apartment.

Sunggyu raised his eyebrows before following Myungsoo out. He tried to catch up to his brother, but Myungsoo had already gone too far for him. So Sunggyu just shoved his hands in his pockets and walked around at his pace.

“Let’s get on that bus and pick a random stop,” A young boy said.

Sunggyu watched him drag a girl with him onto the bus. He wondered why the boy would suggest such a thing. Why would he want to randomly go somewhere with no purpose? But all these thoughts led him to doing was waiting for the next bus and choosing a random stop.

Sunggyu boarded the next bus without looking at its number and chose to get off at stop number seven. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the window. Sunggyu could feel people sit down next to him and get off when their stop came. It was as if he was completely still in this moving world.

When the seventh stop came, Sunggyu got off and stared at the building he arrived at. He could feel his heart race and his palms sweat. He was certain he would never go back there again. But fate played with him and there he was.

Sunggyu was back at the hospital. He was at the hospital he spent many painful nights in. Something inside of him clicked and Sunggyu could feel the feeling of panic arise within him. He felt like something was choking him. He was nearing a panic attack and he wasn’t ready.

“No,” Sunggyu whispered.

Sunggyu ran. He ran down the familiar streets and through the park he spent dark nights in. Sunggyu was trying to run away from what triggered painful memories but for some reason, everything he saw reminded him of what he didn’t want to remember.

Sunggyu screamed. He screamed in the middle of the empty soccer field. He kicked the grass and pulled on his shirt. Even within that large soccer field, he was suffocating.

“Breathe, Sunggyu,” A soft voice spoke. “Listen to your heartbeat. Close your eyes and just listen.”

And that was what Sunggyu did. He closed his eyes and listened to his heartbeat. He listened for the steady rhythm that reminded him he was stil