Voiceless Cries

Chapter 13 : Betrayal

Sunggyu’s intense stare was fixed on the white paper in his hands. His frown deepened as seconds ticked by. The number that was written sloppily in red ink on the top right corner did not seem to satisfy him.

“Stop staring at the paper. You’ll burn a hole through it.” Sunggyu turned and scowled at Woohyun.

“But the marks… Urgh.” Sunggyu ran his hand into his hair. “It’s so annoying.”

“You’ve been staring at it since yesterday. Are you trying to show off your marks or something?”

Sunggyu snorted. “Why would I want show off my marks?”

Woohyun leaned over to look at Sunggyu’s marks. 24 out of 50.

“I don’t know. Maybe the fact that you nearly passed get into your tiny head.” Woohyun shrugged before adding, “You never really cared about your marks before.”

Sunggyu released a heavy sigh. Woohyun smiled at his friend’s depressed face.

“Look buddy, it’s a brand new day so get over it and start anew.” Woohyun tapped his friend’s shoulder comfortingly.

“But seriously, I don’t get how that guy got good marks.”

“What guy?”

“Who else would I be talking about?” Sunggyu said. His line of vision strayed past Woohyun’s shoulder to reveal a bored figure sitting at the back of the class.

“Who?” Woohyun turned to where the guy next to him was looking and nodded in comprehension, “Myungsoo?”

Sunggyu gave him a weak nod.

“Sunggyu, he’s a genius,” he started off seriously, “so stop wrecking your brain and making your life difficult by comparing yourself to him.”

Sunggyu turned to face Woohyun. But there was not even a slight mockery that traced the lines of his face. And he realised that Woohyun was just trying to help.

Sunggyu shrugged and left Woohyun for his seat. He could not deny the fact his ears really did sting when Woohyun voiced out that his intellectual level was nowhere near Myungsoo’s. It was a blow to his pride. It was true that he was viciously competitive and would not let Myungsoo be the better one among them. And suddenly, he was swept with the determination to improve.

 “Yo, morning.” Sunggyu greeted as he approached Myungsoo’s desk.

“Hey.” Myungsoo muttered dully.

“Hey can I borrow your history test paper?”

Myungsoo hit the pause button on his phone and looked at Sunggyu with raised brows. Okay, so this was strangely unusual. Since when had Sunggyu ever cared about these things? Was he hearing correctly? He peered at his friend’s determined eyes. Well, he definitely did not look like he was joking.

Myungsoo nodded and concentrated on his game again. “Yeah, it’s in my bag.”

Sunggyu picked up the bag gingerly and positioned it on his lap. He unzipped it and scanned through the contents. After identifying the paper, he recklessly drew it out from the stack but in the process he had accidently pulled some other papers along with it. What Sunggyu saw had intrigued him and upon reflexes, he had reached out for it.

The paper was imprinted with complex lines and dots that in an instant knew that it they were musical notes and it was a music sheet he was looking at. His eyes skimmed the words at the top of the page.

Voiceless Cries

Composed by Kim Myungsoo and Park Jiyeon

He froze. Myungsoo and Jiyeon? Jiyeon? Numbness spread throughout his body. He looked at Myungsoo in disbelief. Was this true? He reread the words again. This was true. He had seen it with his own eyes. Quickly, he pushed the file back into the bag. Sunggyu stood up and left before his friend could notice his stiffening presence. His mind was all tangled up in intricate knots. He no longer knew how he should be feeling right then.