You were taken aback by his words. Did he just… Threaten me?

Glancing back you noticed that he was already gone from sight. Furrowing your eyebrows you ran towards the cabin area to see if you could find Sarah. Things had just suddenly changed to your perception. Why is he so mad at me… Even when he dated Sarah I barely even talked to him.

Things were not making sense. Even when Youngjae had told you about his hatred towards you, the fact that he saw you as a competition wasn’t any reason for him to treat you so badly or talk to you that way.

Another thing was now worrying you. Now that you had heard part of their conversation, you felt that there was a part of Sarah’s life you were just a stranger to. And you didn’t want to get to your own conclusions. She was the only one who could clear things up.

You stopped to catch your breath since you were still a little weak, and spotted your cabin quickly. With the little strength and the desire to find out if Sarah was alright you rushed to it.

Your shoulders fell when you saw Sarah sitting on her bed with the guitar on her lap. You could see her shoulders go up and down as she caught her breath and kept her eyes down. Approaching her you were face to face with a scene you’ve barely seen, or never seen before. Just in queue a tear fell on the broken instrument.

Biting your lip you approached her slowly, and she fixed her gaze up as she dried her tears.

“This is just embarrassing.” –She bitterly spoke up.

You tilted your head and walked to stand next to her.

“Sarah… There’s nothing to be embarrassed of.” –You sat next to her and embraced her. –“Crying is nothing to be ashamed for… You can’t keep your feelings bottled up.”

Sure enough she was always your shoulder to cry on, but it was time for your roles to change for a while.

“I’m sorry ____-ah.” –She sniffled and dried her eyes. –“I don’t like it when people see me like this… I don’t want to worry anyone.”

It was so rare to see this side of her. It was like the strong Sarah, the independent Sarah was falling apart right before your eyes. You hushed her and embraced her tighter. You couldn’t help but to remember the time when she had closed herself years ago. You couldn’t quite get why she became like that until you found out about her family situation. At that time Doo Joon had also entered the picture, and slowly you managed to get her trust back just in time, because she was hurt when the breakup happened. And at that time, after her little brother died, you were the only person she had by her side.

You couldn’t let Sarah close herself like that. Now even more so, when you suspected that there was something about her relationship with Doo Joon you didn’t know about.

“Don’t let him get to you Sarah.”

She sighed deeply and she began to touch the small sticker on the guitar.

“It was the last thing I had that reminded me of him ___-ah. I don’t even know if this is what I want for me…” –She sat straight and sighed, you knew well she wasn't talking about Doo Joon at the moment. –“While I was performing tonight, I felt empty. I thought I loved to do this ____-ah, I just don’t know if I do anymore.”

You were confused; since you’ve met her she’s always loved singing and performing.

“Then why do you keep doing it?”

She let out a bitter chuckle. “I made a promise to my brother that I’d keep performing to make others happy. I said I’d do it even after he was gone, but… Is not the same when he’s not here, is not the same feeling. I never thought it’d be so hard to keep that promise.”

--

Flashback

Along with the strumming of the guitar and Sarah’s voice, the sound of the rhythmic claps of the children that were enjoying a small moment of oasis in their hardest moments filled the happy environment of the usual cold lobby of the hospital. She looked down at the audience as she finished the song and took a glance at her biggest fan that with a big smile looked up at his noona proudly.

Once she finished she took a bow, and concluded giving the children and everyone who was watching some encouraging words.

She walked down the small platform set up in the