Beautiful [Story ver.] || Ongniel

Part 1

Ong Seongwoo

The sun was already setting, despite it being only the afternoon.

Winter was definitely on its way.

Mother and son were sitting in the dimly lit kitchen, both a bowl with soup on their laps.

It was silent but no one cared to say a word.

Seongwoo stared at the wall with blank eyes. His thoughts far away from the room.

Everything would be different,

everything would be better,

if he was still with them.

The noise of his mothers empty bowl against the wooden table snapped Seongwoo out of his thoughts. It seemed to harmonize with the constant melody echoing in his head. A faint song of his memories.

A piano.

Seongwoo followed his mothers movements as she got up and out of his sight, both still not saying anything.

Ever since Seongwoo's brother was taken away from them by a stupid accident, she wasn't the same. Hell, Seongwoo wasn't the same. Nothing was the same.

Seongwoo didn't remember what exactly happened, he just knew that he was shouting his name as they drove away with the truck. He had tried to get the ball that had dropped, a fuckin ball.

The little boy was always so cheerful, not knowing what his life would turn out to be yet. He had gotten lost, forgotten by his own family. That's how Seongwoo would think if he was in his position.

Seongwoo had loved his little brother dearly. Growing up with him like twins. They were always together, if you called one the other would follow.

One day, Seongwoo had just turned seven, his brother was taken away from him and he never saw him again.

Now, after fifteen years, Seongwoo still didn't understand how it could've happened. He still missed him dearly and he still searched for him even if he hadn't found any signs of him even being in Korea anymore.

Seongwoo got up. His bowl only missing a few spoons.

He dragged himself into his room, the lights off. His head hung low, his eyes not focusing on anything, too occupied with his thoughts.

Seongwoo didn't even remember his brothers face anymore. Only his smile and his laugh. Once it was something that brought him a happiness nothing else could compare with.

Now, when he tried to think about it, only the faint and sad piano melody came into his mind. He remembered the music box, Seongwoo had gotten it for him on christmas once. He remembered the bright smile it had brought onto his face.

Seongwoo wished he could at least hear that melody once more, even if the laugh connected to it seemed lost.

It was dark now, a slight rain making the street lights shine on the wet pavement.

He knew he wouldn't sleep again tonight.

Grabbing a coat and the flyers he had made, Seongwoo walked out of the house like he had done for years.

Despite the rain, the boy walked slowly, the papers pressed against his chest to guard them from getting wet. The hood of his sweater up.

He could walk without looking. Seongwoo had done this too many times.

His first stop was the bus station, its wooden walls already covered with a variety of colored papers. Restaurants, concerts and festivals with photos of smiling people.

Seongwoo found his old flyer from a few nights ago in a second, its black, red and yellow layout making it stand out from the others. He fiddled with the tape of a chinese take away restaurant that covered half of his brothers face.

It was the only picture Seongwoo was able to rescue from his mothers temper. On a particular bad day, she had thrown all pictures of him away, burning them in their small garden. Thinking all hope was lost.

It was a bad picture, the boy looking nothing of the happy and bright kid he had been. The picture was taken at their middle school, the boy smiling forcefully.

Sometimes Seongwoo wondered if anyone ever looked at his flyers.

He took the old one down, crumbling the wet and dirty paper to a ball and replacing it with a new one. The dark eyes of the boy haunting him, looking at him as if he wondered when Seongwoo would finally give up searching for him.

The bright letters looked angry with their red ink, the words "Where are you?" standing out from all the others on the wall. Or maybe it was only Seongwoo who thought so. Maybe nobody would notice it. People would just walk by, not giving it a glance.

Seongwoo smiled sadly, looking at it for a second longer before turning away, walking to the police station.

His lips were shaking from the cold, his voice making little white clouds.

"Daniel, I'm going to find you"

-

He had continued until the streets got empty and the noises of cars and talking people seemed to die out.

The next morning was a hurry. Seongwoo overslept, running down the street to get the train. If his Professor caught him being late again he'd probably be kicked out of the class and on top of that they wouldn't let him enter his police examen.

Despite his running Seongwoo managed to write a quick text to his friend Hwang Minhyun, who'd probably be at the campus early as usual.

The boy only answered with a "Pabo", making Seongwoo fear that he finally came to an end with Minhyun's patience.

But as soon as he dashed through the hallway and slowly opened the door to his class, he saw Minhyun looking at him and holding a finger to his lips as a sign that their Professor wasn't paying attention to the students.

It was a common scenery for the two, Minhyun being Seongwoo's only friend for years.

Minhyun always thought that Seongwoo was both admirable and pitiable. His whole life seemed to play around his lost brother, only letting him rest if he ever found him.

Seongwoo had a good heart. Sometimes Minhyun thought he was too good for anyone. When would he start to care about himself? He wondered whether the day would ever come.