invisible string | park wonbin

10

Yuljin's POV

I walked through the guitar shop, "Wow." I exclaimed I saw the different types of guitars of different colours.

I randomly took a guitar off the shelf, and I begin to strum. "Damn, the muscle memory trick is clearly not working." I murmured.

"It might be easier if you sit down." The staff pushed a stool towards me and I sat down. I looked around and saw a picture of someone playing the guitar, so I mimicked him.

I placed my hand on the chord, and I strummed. "Did you see a girl wi-" I turned around and saw Sungchan.

He walked over, "Why are you here?" I asked.

"I wanted to find guitar." He said, as his voice trailed off. "But you can't even play." I said.

"You can't either but you're here." I frowned, "I used to be able to play, I just lost touch with my musical roots." I said.

Sungchan nodded, "She can't play, can she?" He turned towards the salesperson who just shot him a smile.

"I can play!" I strummed again, "Being able to strum, and being able to play the guitar is a different thing." I rolled my eyes.

"I was going to help you but I guess you don't need my help." I said, as I placed the guitar back to where it was.

Sungchan placed an arm around my shoulders, "I got it covered, don't worry." He dragged me out of the store and we went out on to the streets.

I looked around the streets seeing the different carts selling different items. Just then, I heard a loud shriek, it was as loud as, a car accident.

"We are never, ever, ever getting back together! We! Are never, ever, ever getting back together!" We sang as Jiyeon drove.

I laid my head on Bora's shoulder, "Lover girl is sad because her boyfriend couldn't come today." She chuckled as she patted my head.

"Why can't he come?" Dohyun asked, "He has a guitar competition." He nodded as I continued laying on Bora.

I looked over at Hyunjung who was fast asleep next to the driver seat. "Change the song, change the song!" Bora said, "It's a fun day so we need a fun song!"

Jiyeon looked over at Hyunjung, "I'll change it myself." She murmured, as she stretched her arm to adjust the radio when we saw a bright light coming towards us.

My eyes widened as I was panting heavily. I grabbed onto my chest, as tears welled up in my eyes and I couldn't breathe properly. "Yuljin!" I could hear Sungchan's scream but it sounded as though I was underwater.

"Breathe in, breathe out." Sungchan kept repeating, and I tried doing what he said. Took me a while, but I finally got my breathing back to normal.

Sungchan pulled me into a hug, and I burst into tears. He dragged me to a convenience store, and made me sit down. "Wait here." He came back a few seconds later with a bottled water.

"Drink some." I listened, and did what he told me.

I sniffed, as tears were still welled up in my eyes. "What happened just now?" Sungchan asked me, and I looked up at him.

"I think I saw the accident." Tears began to well up in my eyes again, and he pulled me into a hug. He patted the back of my head, "It's okay, it's okay. You don't have to tell me now."

I cried even harder, "I saw my friends." He tightened his grip around me.

"I don't like it. I don't like it at all." He pulled away from me as he bend down slightly to meet my height.

Sungchan's eyes were slightly red, "Yuljin, listen to me. We can do this together. You're not alone." I wiped my tears away with my sleeves.

"W-Where are they?" I asked, as my voice trembled, "My friends."

A part of me had a gut feeling of where they are, but I asked anyways.

Sungchan pursed his lips, as he hesitated. "They are gone, aren't they?" Tears rolled down my cheeks, as Sungchan wiped my tears with his finger.

"Most of them are." I furrowed my brows, "Who else is alive?" Sungchan took a deep breath.

"Who?" I asked again.

Sungchan looked down, and then back up at me. "Jiyeon. She's the only other one." I stood up, as I grabbed Sungchan's hand. "Let's go find her."

He shook his head as he remained rooted to the ground. "She wouldn't speak or see anyone. Since she was the driver, she had been blaming herself for whatever that happened."

"So w-where is s-she?" My voice trembled.

"In an asylum."

Wonbin's POV

My phone buzzed and I looked down to see a message from Sungchan.

'She remembered the accident.'

I furrowed my brows, and I continued asking Sungchan on the updates of Yuljin.

I still remembered the day of the accident as if it just happened. I blamed myself for it, because I couldn't be there with them.

I'd always remember my promise to Yuljin, which was to always protect her but that one time that I couldn't be there, this had to happen.

"And the winner is, " Everyone was anticipating the winner, and I was too. To distract myself from the nervousness, I was playing with my fingers, "Park Wonbin!"

I looked up with a wide smile on my face as I went up to collect my prize. "Congratulations." I took the trophy over and smiled into the camera.

After I got off the stage, I was excited to show it to my mom when she looked visibly upset. "Wonbin," her eyes were teary as she held my hands. "Your friends, and Yuljin, they got into an accident."

My face went pale, "Where? Where are they now? How are they?" my mom held my hand, dragging me through the crowd.

When we arrived at the hospital, I rushed up to counter and they brought us to the hallway where I saw Yuljin's family.

I ran over to Sungchan, "How is she?" Tears rolled down his face as he shook his head, "We don't know yet."

I looked around frantically, "Where's the rest? Are they okay?" Yuljin's mom stood up, pulling me into a hug while I cried. "The rest of them are in separate emergency rooms on the other level."

"I should've been there with them. I should've been." I cried even harder, as Yuljin's mom tightened the grip around me. "It's not your fault Wonbin. No one wanted this to happen."

She pulled away from the hug, "Did you win the competition?" She forced a smile.

I didn't reply for a while, and she raised her brows waiting for me to reply. I nodded and she grinned.

"I'm so glad you won." She wiped my tears away.

Just then, the emergency light turned off. We rushed over to the doctor, "The surgery went well but she's still in a coma, but I have to let you guys know that there is a chance that she may lose her memory or her cognitive ability."

Sungchan frowned, "You mean she could be in a vegetative state?" He nodded.

I felt my body went cold, as my legs gave way and I fell to the ground.

That's when I told myself.

Never again.

I'll never touch the guitar again.

6 December 2023

Honestly this chapter was a little hard to write, and I honestly felt sad writing this :(