Unbreakable Bond [우리 깨지지 않은 사이]

8. 이번생은 널 놓아 안할게

이번생은 널 놓아 안할게
I Won't Let You Go This Time

"Seok-kyung ah, I heard you got IV infusion? Are you alright now?", It was Minhyuk who asked. He hovered near Seok-kyung's seat as soon as she and Seokhoon were back to the classroom. Apparently, the PE class had over and everyone had changed back to their classroom uniform.

"I'm just tired. Nothing serious."

Seok-kyung answered in a dismissive tone. Obviously, she did not want this kind of attention. It was annoying for her. Especially because it reminded her of the infusion. She glared at Seokhoon when she was reminded about that. It was all because of Seokhoon.

"And thanks to someone I got better after getting IV infusion", Seok-kyung smiled sweetly, covering up her annoyance to her twin. Seokhoon did not react and he passed her to get to his seat. But secretly he let a small suppressed laughter out. Seok-kyung glared at him with her annoyed gaze. Then Seok-kyung herself sat down on her seat, in front of Seok-hoon's.

***

After school, Seok-kyung had her usual private vocal lesson, but this week she was also preparing herself to perform a solo at the acceptance ceremony, and Seok-hoon had to go through the session with her since he was the one who will play the piano for her on stage later on. From his piano seat, Seok-hoon observed his younger twin who was listening with an extremely serious expression on her pretty face. It has been two weeks since he started feeling that Seok-kyung changes. He could not put his finger on it, but there was something initial that shifted in her. She was still the tempramental, sharp tongue, and arrogant Seok-kyung. However, Seok-hoon noticed how often he caught her being stuck in her own mind while staring blankly, with a kind of plaintive gaze, or how often he felt her anxiety that did not feel neutral to Seok-hoon. Something definitely happened to her.

"Stupid solo performance...", Seok-kyung grumbled as she sat down beside her twin, causing him to be pushed slightly to give her space on the piano seat. It made Seok-hoon's thoughts evaporate in an instant and all his attention was on her. The vocal tutor had left the music room of their house since the lesson had ended.

"I don't realize you hate it that much", Seok-hoon said and he reached out his hand to push aside her long silky hair when she sat with her back toward him.

"What's so great about singing solo in front of those rich parents? they are all so obsessed with this silly thing", Seok-kyung looking down slightly while holding her music partiture.

"Why are you so upset about this solo thing? I know it's not just because you hate singing", Seok-hoon finally asked. Seok-kyung kept grumbling about the performance she had to do by the end of this month, so he knew there was something real that was troubling her. His voice was tender while he brushed her hair strands and put them behind her ear to get a better look of her face, even just from the side.

Seok-kyung did not answer for a while, she just kept looking down silently. That's it. Her silence told Seok-hoon that something was wrong, that his twin sister was not alright. So, he put her hand on her narrow shoulder gently, trying to comfort her before he spoke again.

"Talk to me Seok-kyung. You can talk to me about what's troubling you, you know it".

It took the girl another second to reply to her twin.

"I'm scared-"

Her voice trembled more than Seok-kyung herself expected. Seok-hoon's question made her scrutinize her own emotions, her reason for being this upset. She was angry, vexed, furious, frustrated, but then the one big chunk of emotion behind them was fear. She felt restless because of the foreshadowing past that she remembered so vividly. It may had been a far away past, but Seok-kyung can still recall the dread she felt when their father beat up Seok-hoon right in front of her because she lost the Solo position due to Cheon Seo-jin's threat about taking disciplinary action for her cheating on exams.