Yeon Yi-joo
D-2
"It's B major, right?" Saebum confirms after listening to me play the background track of love poem.
"Yes, do you want me to play it again?"
"Ani, it's recorded here", he points his head and warms up his hands to play it by himself.
"Are you sure?" I still asked him because there's no way he'd get that in one go unless he's a genius.
"Yup, let's practice it"
"With metronome? For the first few tries?" I questioned.
"Cool with me. Let me set it up. It's around 125 bpm something, right?"
"It's 124 bpm"
And we started with our first practice for love poem. It went smoother than I had expected. And I was surprised seeing Saebum hitting every single note perfectly without even listening to the song for more than one time.
We practiced a few more times and took a small ramyeon break. It was past midnight and Majoo was sleeping soundly on the sofa while listening to us practice. It was only the three of us who were present in the practice room.
"What's the inspiration for this song?" Saebum gazed at me, curiously.
"I lived a delighted life. But, the people I cared weren't really happy and there was nothing I could do for them. So I wrote this one, hoping that it would console them even a little," I explained him.
My mother never made me feel the emptiness of not having a father. She worked so hard all the time. She never showed me that she was tired. Even when she was exhausted with work, she would make sure to spend time with me. At first, I definitely couldn't notice it. But as time passed by, I started to realize how hard she works just to give me a better life. I pounded all my feelings into this song, even though I knew she won't like it. Because I was sure that one day she'd support my dream. And now, I was getting a chance to play the same song in front of seventeen years old mom who supported me wholeheartedly.
"Are you guys done?"
"Kang Hyunyul!"
"What are you doing here? This late?" I questioned after Saebum as Hyunyul entered the practice room.
"I came to drop you home"
"But Majoo was going to drop me off", I pointed out the sofa where he was still sleeping. Saebum woke him up.
I and Saebum did a one last practice in front of the two guys and got some feedback before packing up for the day. Hyunyul dropped me off at the guesthouse on Hyunjae oppa's motorbike.
"Thanks for the ride"
"Anything for you", Hyunyul flashed a charming smile, melting my heart for the thousandth time.
Lately, he's been so open about his feelings and always tried to sway my heart with his actions or words. And trust me, it worked every single time.
"Go now!!" I pushed him away, flustered by his words.
"Wait- wait, I wanted to ask you about something Yi-joo"
"What's it?"
"Earlier today, what happened to Eungyeol?"
"Ah- family emergency. It's fine now".
I lied.
Nothing was fine. Eungyeol tried to talk to Yi-chan, but that didn't work out. Yi-chan would never miss the rehearsal just because Eungyeol said so, and the fact that Sekyung was going to select one of them didn't help. Yi-chan wanted to be his best on the day of festival.
So Eungyeol decided to pull Sekyung into the mess. And luckily, she agreed to help us. And now I just needed to take care of the mess which was going to happen during the rehearsal.
And that was the least I could do to prevent Yi-chan's accident.
"I'll go now-"
"Wait!" I held Hyunyul's hand.
He was looking anxious. Something was definitely bothering him. I did notice it earlier, but I was too occupied with the thoughts of Yi-chan's possible accident tomorrow.
"Is everything alright, hm?" I raised my head, gazing his eyes, concerned.
"It is. I gotta go now", he avoided my gaze and walked towards the bike, removing my grasp around his wrist.
"Hyunyul", I called him out, blocking his route, "I would rather not be nosy, but you can talk to me about anything"
"You won't hate me?" He finally looked into my eyes.
"I would never," I answered almost immediately, "Do you want to talk about it?"
He nodded at my words.
I guided him inside the guesthouse as we took a seat in the veranda, where we eat our dinner.
"You remember Jindo Dogs?"
"That gang who hurt Yi-chan?" I questioned him back.
"Actually, I used to be the right hand of the gang's leader, Jung Dojin. But one day some incident happened and police ended up arresting him. He thinks that I called them. I cut my ties with the gang after that. Everything was fine, but now he is released and-"
"He's coming after you?"
"Most probably", he sighed.
"Then go and tell him that you didn't call police that day"
"He knows, but he needs someone to vent his anger out so-"
"So you be his punching bag?"
He sighed again, after listening to my words.
"This won't do, let's go to the police station", I stood up.
"There's no need to go that far"
"So you're going to be anxious? All the time?"
"I am not weak either, Yi-joo. I'm good at fighting too. It's just that I feel bad about everything", his voice sounded so sour.
Sighing yet again, He low-spiritedly whimpered, "I let your expectations down, didn't I? That's why I couldn't te-"
"Ani, I'm proud of you", I cut off his words before he could say anything stupid. "I don't know what made you join them, but I do know that once you get into these things it's challenging to get back and lead a normal life. So yes, I am so freaking proud of you for getting out of it", I caressed his hand and looking into his eyes, "Gosaenghaess-eo, it must have been tough"
(Great job)
Hyunyul shut his eyes tightly, fighting back his tears, but a tear escaped his eye, betraying him. Without giving any thought, I wrapped my arms around his shoulder as he hugged me back, hiding his face from me.
His almost inaudible sobs made my heart ache. I wanted to do something for him. I wanted to beat the shit out of that Dojin to make Hyunyul cry like this.
After a few minutes, he pulled away and gazed at me with his dark brown orbs, "Thank you for listening"
"Are you sure about not going to the police station?"
"I got this from here, don't worry", he gave me a small smile.
I nodded at his words and walked him out, "Be careful"
"I will", he started his motorcycle.
But before leaving he spoke,
"Yijoo-ya, about your answer. Don't have any burden. No matter what you are going to say, I am going to accept it. But still, I just wanted to say that I never loved someone like I love you. Just tell me how you feel. Honestly".
And he drove away.
Honestly?
I wanted to be with him 24/7. I wanted him to be happy. I hated when he's with other women. I wanted him all by myself. I almost lost my sanity seeing him cry earlier.
That was the moment I realized,
I was in love with Kang Hyunyul and there was no going back.
A/N:
I know you people might be conflicted that Hyunyul is the same age as her dad but as I promised, at the end everything will make sense so trust me for this one.
And I might be inactive for a week as my exams are starting tomorrow.
Do vote and comment if you liked today's update.
Luv y'all ❤️