The Forgotten Sonata

1

####

"Are you really leaving?" Taeil calmly asked their leader.

"I have to find myself, hyung." He answered.

"Why can't you find yourself with us?" Jungwoo, their youngest, added with tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

"Let him be." Jaehyun commented as he walked out of the scene.

"I hate you!" Jungwoo said as he followed Jaehyun.

"I'll talk to them." Yuta added.

"Winwin?" Taeyong called out, hoping he'd understand his case.

"I... I don't know." It was all Winwin replied and left with Yuta.

"Hyung, I'm sorry." Taeyong said to the only member left in the room.

"You can't blame them, Tae. You know well that we are here because you told us to believe in you. We believed in you and formed Sigma." Taeil began. "Jungwoo gave up his studies. Jaehyun had to give up being a company CEO. Winwin and Yuta came here even at their parents disagreement. But you, especially you, Lee Taeyong, you gave up your entire life for this."

"I can't do this anymore. The air is so suffocating up here, hyung. I can't breathe anymore." He replied.

"We have decided to disband the moment you leave."

"No. We all worked hard for this. You can't disband Sigma. I can't let you do that."

"Then give us a reason to hold on, Lee Taeyong."

####

#Taeyong

They announced my official hiatus today. The public was surprised at the sudden announcement that my phone hasn't stopped ringing since this morning.

"Geez, I have to change my phone number." I murmured to myself.

"Looks like you're really leaving." Yuta said as he entered my room.

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." He replied. "You've always told me to follow my heart. Follow what your heart tells you. We'll be here waiting for you to come back."

"Will you all be okay?"

"Taeil hyung will do a good job, for sure. But go talk to Jungwoo. That boy has been crying all night."

"Thanks, Yuta."

###

When Taeil hyung asked me for something they could hold unto, I told him I'm coming back. I'll be back as a better artist. I'll be back with the same vision as trainee Lee Taeyong. I'll be back as a better leader for Sigma.

"I'm not talking to you." Jungwoo said before I can even say a word.

"You already are." I replied and I saw his eyes widen in realization. "I'm coming back, Woo. I promise."

"Don't leave." He said with his usual puppy eyes and pout. "Pretty please?"

"I have to, Woo. But I'll be back so you have to do your best and wait patiently for me."

"Noona told me she'd be back. It's been years hyung. She hasn't comeback. I'm not falling for the same promise again." That shut me up. Jungwoo's sister was lost at sea when they were on vacation. She hasn't been found since. "Do you really have to go?"

"Yes." I answered.

"But you'll come back for me, right?" He asked and tears fell down from his eyes.

"Of course." I answered. "Then would you do a mission for me while I'm away?"

He looked up as if he was deliberating on it.

"Okay."

"Take care of Taeil hyung for me. He will be taking over as Sigma's leader. It will not be easy so look after him, okay?"

"Will you be sad if something happens to him?"

"Yes, I will be." I answered. "Then is it a promise?"

"Promise."

###

I left the dorms that day and headed to where I began.

I am Lee Taeyong. I spent most of my life in Seoul but my family had this vacation house in Jeju where I spent most of my summers.

Since my family died in an accident, I haven't stepped on this vacation house until today. This place had too much happy memories that I was scared I would miss my family more if I kept on coming back but today, I'm ready to face all the pain, the longing, the regrets.

I was expecting to see the house in its worst state. It's been 8 years after all. But to my surprise, the house was perfectly maintained. The roses that my mother once planted are in full bloom. The house was newly repainted.

I entered the house using the password I last remember. Thankfully, it was the same one, my birthday.

When I thought the surprises were done, I heard a shriek coming from the kitchen.

"Clumsy." I heard a girl's voice. I stayed hidden from her sight. "I'm hungry."

Who the hell is this girl and why is she here in my house?

"Who are you?" I finally said. She let go of the pot she was holding, spilling whatever she was cooking.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" She asked back. I was annoyed. Hell, who would ask the owner why he's in his own house?

"This is my house." I replied. The girl looked right about my age. She is beautiful but something tells me she's more than just a pretty face.

"You're Lee Taeyong." She said in realization and gave me a smile. "Welcome back."

###

"Who are you?" I asked as I pulled the girl out of the kitchen and onto the sofa. She sat there calmly, never taking her eyes off me. "How did you know my name?"

"I'm Kim Jisoo." She answered with a smile. "My grandmother was the caretaker of this house."

"Was." I repeated and she nodded.

"She died 5 years ago."

"You're Mrs. Kim's granddaughter." I said as I remembered Mrs. Kim. She took care of me whenever I spend the summers here.

"She waited for you to come back that summer after your family died and all summers after that."

I felt my heart being crumpled. I didn't know. I was too scared to face anything and anyone that will remind me of my parents back then. If only I knew she was waiting for me, I would have come back. I felt regret washed over me.

"Then why are you here?" I asked the girl.

"My grandmother told me to take care of this house and wait for you to come back." She replied happily.

"Why would you do that? You could have waited in vain."

"But I didn't. You're here and that's what's important." She stated. "Oh, I better go to the market. I learned grandma's spaghetti recipe. She told me to cook it for you."

"You don't have to." I said as I grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"I cook really well. It will really be…"

"I said you don't have to!" I shouted and she was frozen on the spot. "Why are you trying so hard to do what your grandmother told you? She's dead. You don't have to do everything she says."

"Everything my grandmother asked me to do for you…" She began as tears poured from her eyes. "…are the only reasons that kept me alive for years."