Giving her guitar strings a soft pat to stop their gentle rhythm, Cecilia let out a silent sigh and began to examine her guitar. It was a beautiful instrument, a gift given to her from her mother. It was the first instrument that she had ever touched, and she cherished it very much. The girl shook her head and ran her fingers along the smooth wood. She loved composing songs with this instrument. If she were to play any random tune, the sound would always be beautiful.

However, even as she played it now, the tune didn't sound the same. It didn't sound as beautiful as it did before. Cecilia frowned for a moment before letting out a heavy breath. It wasn't the same. Maybe she had to tune the guitar again. Frustrated, she set the instrument back in its case and set it to the side before she glanced around the room.

Cecilia was currently in her favorite room in her apartment - her music room. Well, it used to be her favorite room. The place where she had spent hours hunched over her desk writing and composing new songs suddenly didn't seem so bright anymore. Her heart was beating with pain and agony, and the girl had to close her eyes for a moment to fight back the tears that had wanted to drip out of her eyes.

After she had calmed down, the girl hesitantly walked over to her desk. Her eyes scanned over each paper that was scattered on her desk, and she brought a hand up to her chest to clutch the fabric of her shirt since the pain in her heart was too intense. Her eyes landed on a particular pile of papers, and with shaky hands, she carefully picked them up to examine them. Her heart sunk to her stomach when she realized that it was one of her newest songs. She had never been able to finish it because she had gotten sick at the time and was unable to sing due to her sore throat.

Unknowningly, one tear after another rolled down the girl's cheeks, but she didn't make a sound. Her fingers clutched the papers tightly as she took in heavy breaths. The pain pooling in her heart was too much. How would she be able to write songs now? How would she be able to live her one and only purpose in life?

Why did fate have to take away the only thing I cherished more than anything?

Cecilia scanned over the lyrics and nearly cringed in disgust. She had written a song that explained how the world was supposedly unicorns and rainbows. Oh, the world was far from it, and it sickened the girl. It sickened her so much that she ended up ripping the papers into millions of tiny pieces. Before the reality of her actions dawned on her, she ended tossing all of the papers and books onto the floor in anger. She ripped up some of her empty music sheets and kicked her desk before she crumbled to the floor.

More tears flowed down her face, but the girl remained quiet. She pulled her legs up towards her trembling chest and hugged them tightly. She might never be able to sing again. It was gone. Everything was gone. Everything died along with her voice, and she may never get it back.

And it was all her fault, for thinking that this world would always be unicorns and rainbows.

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"What's this?"

Cecilia didn't bother answering his question as she silently slid her resignation letter towards him. Surprise was clearly evident on his face, since he wasn't expecting this from her at all. He shook his head and didn't bother looking at the paper. He reached for one of the girl's hands and frowned at her.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Yongguk knew Cecilia more than anyone. He knew of her deep passion for music and singing, which was why he had willingly offered her a job at his bar. She was responsible for live entertainment, and everyone always looked forward to hearing her beautiful voice. Cecilia loved singing more than anything, so he was very confused by her sudden actions.

Cecilia lowered her head and bit down onto her lip as she felt more tears surface to her eyes. She didn't want to explain herself to Yongguk, because she felt that she might go crazy any moment now. What she had done back at her apartment was just the start of it.

Yongguk tossed the letter into a trash bin and squeezed the girl's hands. "What's wrong? You're scaring me right now." Although Yongguk had never seen her like this, it was a pitiful sight. She was too silent for his liking and she looked so fragile that she might fall apart at any moment.

Yongguk was stunned to find the girl's tears slide down her cheeks to drip onto the counter. He didn't know what to do or how to possibly make the girl feel better, so he just held onto her hands and traced patterns on them with his thumbs. He felt so helpless in situations like this. He would wait until she was ready to explain herself.

Yongguk excused himself to serve a few customers who had approached the bar. A few of them recognized Cecilia and greeted her, but the girl only replied with a curt nod and small smile. Her smile was fake. They didn't seem to mind though, but Yongguk felt bothered. He slid a glass of water in front of her and leaned against the counter.

"Please talk to me. I hate seeing you like this."

Yongguk waited for her response, but he was surprised when the girl just shoved her phone in his face instead.

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I lost it. 

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At first, Yongguk was confused and didn't know what she meant, but when Cecilia pointed to , his eyes widened in realization. It all made sense now. The letter, her tears, her pain - everything was clear now. The older male was stunned and didn't know how to respond. Cecilia just shook her head and typed something else in her phone.

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I have laryngitis and vocal nodules. I will have to go through surgery to remove them.

There may also be a possibility that I will permanently lose my voice.

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Cecilia remembered the doctor's words clearly. She remembered when she went back for another check-up, and the man had confirmed that she did have little polyps in , and that her vocal chords were very strained. He also said that because they were damaged severly, there may be a possibility that she may not recover her voice. The thought of going under the knife and losing everything made the girl want to break apart. She had worked throughout her life for this one purpose... and it just vanished.

Yongguk didn't say anything and just embraced the broken girl. There was nothing to say. Cecilia nearly burst into tears again as she held onto Yongguk tightly. He was whispering comforting words in her ear, and although they helped her feel better a little bit, the pain still remained. It could never go away.

"Just remember that I'm always here for you. I'm your friend, so please tell me whatever is troubling your heart." Yongguk said, but then his face flushed slightly. Cecilia cast him a small smile and nodded at him.

Even in the darkest areas of the world, sometimes the smallest things are always the brightest.

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Cecilia frowned as she felt the first few raindrops hit her head. It was going to rain soon and she still wasn't home yet. She wasn't going to risk getting sick again since it might worsen her condition. For a moment, she pondered on whether or not she should just walk back to the bar and ask Yongguk for a ride, but she didn't want to burden him, so she just kept walking at a fast pace.

It started drizzling slightly, so Cecilia had no other choice than to step into a nearby shop and wait until the rain stopped. However, what she didn't realize was that she had just stepped into a music shop, which was filled with dozens of shelves that held many albums. Her eyes widened and she clenched the fabric of her shirt tightly. There were so many albums packed onto the shelves that it made tears prick at the girl's eyes.

Cecilia had always dreamed of pursuing a singing career in the future. She had dreamed of releasing her first album. She had dreamed of being on stage singing to many fans who loved hearing her sing. That was all flushed down the drain now. Looking at these albums now, reality hit her even harder than before and she nearly burst into tears.

She had wanted to linger by the door to wait for the rain to stop, but her feet just magically took her to one of the nearby shelves. She grimaced when she noticed an album in particular. It was colorful and was very pretty, so she could tell that the album was mostly filled with good, happy songs. It made her sick. It scared her. Cecilia loved any kind of music. Now, it seemed that her views were changing, since she cringed at any song that described how false the world was and masked how cruel fate could be.

A man dressed in a black flannel shirt had come to scan the shelves near her. He was throwing Cecilia glances which made the girl uncomfortable, so she just decided to walk away. Luckily, he didn't follow her, but his eyes still followed. She just shook her head and returned her attention to the albums. It wasn't long until her cheeks were stained with renewed tears, her nails scratching her skin through the fabric of her shirt since she was holding onto it so tightly. Broken dreams, broken hearts... The pain was too much to bear, so she just decided to stand by the door once more.

After the rain had cleared up and she was on her way, she was hearing footsteps behind her. They were heavy and sounded very close to her, so Cecilia quickened her pace. Then somebody grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her into a nearby alley. dropped open but no sound came out. She tried to fight back, but the man had slammed her against the wall and held her tightly. She couldn't believe how unlucky she was.

It had been the man from the store, who had been throwing her uncomfortable glances. He had a disgusting smirk on his face and his grip on Cecilia's hair tightened. She wanted to scream and yelp in pain, but she no longer had the ability to do so. All she could do was struggle weakly, but to no avail. How was she supposed to call for help?

And then just as quickly as it happened, everything ended. The man was suddenly pulled away from her, and he was pushed to the ground in one swift movement. Cecilia was too disoriented to realize, but when someone had crounched down in front of her, she flinched. A boy had come to save her, and despite having just attacked someone to save her, he looked like the happiest person in the world.

The boy smiled at her and held his hand towards her. Cecilia was hesitant and ended up staring at his hand. Cecilia was lost for a moment, and she nearly flinched again when the boy suddenly held his phone in front of her, the edges of his eyes crinkling at his smile widened.

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Take my hand, Cecilia.

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Author's Notes

Hello my lovelies! First of all, I'd like to apologize if this chapter is like, all over the place ( and boring ). I tried to make it emotional and take it to different scenes where you would be able to understand how Cecilia feels about music now that she can't sing anymore. I was originally going to update on Daehyun's birthday, but I had another idea for my Daehyun fic and I just ended up rushing this one. I apologize :(

I really hate writing the beginnings to my stories ( and A/N notes ) because that's where I struggle the most. Everything is planned out, but actually writing it is so difficult. I'm never satified with it :/

So, did you guys understand the end of the chapter? I'm sure that I made it pretty obvious who it was that saved Cecilia, but did you understand? He knew HER NAME. Weird right? No, Cecilia doesn't know who saved her, but apparently he knows HER. Yes, I did this for a reason, which you will find out soon enough. Until then, I'll leave it up to you guys :D Hehehe~

Sorry for the long A/N note. In the meantime, if you guys want more Jongup feels, then you can check out my other Jongup story ----> Please Stay 

Hugs and kisses for all! <3

~BAPisPerfect~