Guilty As Sin ► Y.JH

10

The rehearsal studio felt different today. The familiar hum of guitars, the scattered drumsticks, the faint echo of voices-it all seemed somehow muted. The band sat in a silence that was more uncomfortable than the usual noise, as if they were all holding their breath, waiting for something to shift. For something to happen.

Minho sat at the drum kit, his sticks tapping out an absent rhythm that never quite seemed to fit. Across from him, Joshua was quietly strumming his guitar, his eyes far away, lost in thought. Seungkwan, ever the optimist, was flipping through his phone, though his usually bright demeanor was nowhere to be found. The absence of Jeonghan was palpable, a presence in the room despite the empty space where he should have been.

It had been weeks since Jeonghan had left-weeks of uncertainty, of adjusting to the new dynamics of the band, of trying to fill the silence he had left behind. The band had tried to carry on without him, but something was broken, something fragile that they didn't know how to fix.

Suddenly, the door creaked open, and all heads turned toward the sound. Jeonghan stood in the doorway, a figure they hadn't seen in weeks. He looked tired, worn, his eyes darkened by the weight of time away, but there was an undeniable sense of resolve in his posture. His eyes scanned the room, lingering on Minho for a moment before shifting toward Soleil.

Soleil's heart stuttered in her chest, her breath catching as she watched him walk into the room. It had been so long since she had seen him, and the sight of him stirred up emotions she had worked so hard to bury. Seeing him again was like reopening an old wound, one that had never really healed.

Jeonghan's gaze briefly met hers, but he quickly looked away, his expression tight and unreadable. Soleil's eyes burned as she forced herself to look elsewhere, focusing on the floor, the wall, anything but him.

Minho was the first to break the silence, his voice cutting through the thick tension. "You're back," he said, his tone neutral but edged with something darker. "I didn't think you'd return so soon."

Jeonghan shifted on his feet, his gaze moving between Minho and the rest of the band. "I've had time to think," he said quietly. "I didn't want to be gone for this long, but I needed the space. I needed time to figure things out."

Minho's expression didn't change, but the tension between them was palpable. Jeonghan could feel it-feel the chasm that had widened during his absence. He knew he couldn't just come back and pick up where they had left off. Too much had happened. Too much had changed.

"Let's get to work," Wonwoo said, his voice louder than necessary. He gave a forced smile, trying to mask the awkwardness that lingered in the air. He motioned for Jeonghan to take his usual seat, but there was no warmth in his gesture. Only a sense of duty, of trying to maintain the semblance of normality.

Jeonghan nodded and moved toward his guitar, but the distance between them was palpable. There was no natural ease to their interaction, no comfortable chatter that they had shared before. The music was supposed to bring them together, but today, it felt like an obstacle-a wall they couldn't breach.

Soleil watched from the corner of the room, her heart in knots. She had tried so hard to stay distant, to bury the feelings that she had harbored for Jeonghan. But seeing him again, hearing his voice-it was impossible to ignore. She could feel the pull between them, the connection that had never truly faded, and it made her angry. Angry that she still wanted him, angry that nothing between them had changed, even after all this time.

But she couldn't let herself fall back into that old pattern, into the spiral of hope that had left her heartbroken before. She had to stay strong. She had to.

The band started to play, but the usual harmony was absent. The rhythm was off. The chords were clashing, and the words felt empty. The dissonance in their music mirrored the tension between them, a reflection of everything that had gone wrong in the weeks since Jeonghan had left. There were no smiles, no glances exchanged. It was as if the joy had been drained from the room.

Jeonghan's fingers moved over the strings of his guitar, but his mind wasn't fully in the music. It was on Soleil-on the way she was avoiding his gaze, the way she flinched when their eyes met. He couldn't blame her. He had hurt her. He had left her without an explanation, without the closure she deserved.

But it wasn't just Soleil. It was all of them. He had walked away, thinking it would give them time to heal, time to figure things out. But now, as he sat in the same room with his bandmates, it was clear that nothing had been fixed. Everything had been broken. And no amount of time away could undo the damage.

Minho, who had been staring at his drum kit, finally spoke again. "We need to talk," he said, his voice low and controlled. "Not just about the music. About everything."

Jeonghan hesitated for a moment before setting his guitar down. He knew this conversation was coming, but hearing the words made his stomach twist with a new wave of anxiety.

"I know I haven't made things easy," Jeonghan admitted, his voice quiet. "But I came back because I want to fix things. I want to make things right."

Minho's eyes narrowed slightly. "You think coming back is going to fix everything?"

Jeonghan swallowed, looking around the room at the faces of the band members-his friends, his brothers. He could see the uncertainty in their eyes, the distrust that lingered beneath the surface. And it hurt, more than he cared to admit.

"I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "But I have to try. I can't just run away from this."

There was a long silence, broken only by the sound of Joshua shifting in his seat, his fingers still lightly strumming his guitar. He was the first to speak, his voice soft but firm.

"We've been through a lot," Joshua said. "And it's not just about you, Jeonghan. It's about all of us. We're a team. And if we can't find a way to fix this... I don't know how we'll move forward."

Jeonghan nodded, his gaze falling to the floor. "I get it. I know I'm the reason things are so messed up right now. I just... I didn't know how to handle everything that was going on. And I still don't."

Mingyu finally put his phone down and met Jeonghan's eyes, his expression serious. "We all need time, Jeonghan. To figure out what we're doing, where we're going. It's not just about you and Soleil or you and Minho. It's about us-about the band. We need to get back to where we were. And I'm not sure if that's even possible right now."

Jeonghan's heart sank at the words, the truth of them biting harder than he expected. He had come back, hoping for reconciliation, for the chance to make things right. But it seemed like the more he tried, the more distant everyone became.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice thick with regret. "I never meant to hurt anyone. I just... I need to find a way to fix this."

Soleil, who had been standing in the corner, feeling like an observer rather than a part of the group, finally looked up. She met Jeonghan's gaze, her heart pounding in her chest. There was so much she wanted to say, so much that was left unsaid. But the words felt stuck, trapped behind the walls she had built around herself.

And as the silence stretched between them, she felt the familiar ache in her chest, the one she had been trying so hard to ignore. Jeonghan was back. And despite everything, despite how much it hurt, she couldn't help but feel like nothing had changed. He was still the person she loved, the person who had left her broken. And now, here he was-trying to fix things, trying to make amends.

But was it too late? Could they ever go back to the way things were?

The tension in the room grew heavier with each passing second. It was as if every unspoken word, every broken bond, was hanging in the air, waiting for someone to make the first move.

And as the band fell into silence once again, it was clear that while Jeonghan's return had brought him back to the group, it hadn't brought back the harmony they had once shared. The road ahead was uncertain, and the fractures that had formed between them seemed too deep to repair.

But Jeonghan had made a choice. He had come back. And now, he had to find a way to fix the damage-if there was even a way to fix it at all.