admirer • jongho

thirty-five

hyejin had finished her food so while waiting for the others, she played with her phone, occasionally playing games or scrolling through twitter.

suddenly, a melody started playing. she froze.

slowly looking up from her phone, she saw a few staff on the small stage playing instruments, accompanying the customers' day with a calming music.

however, her eyes were drawn to a certain instrument.

the piano.

as the music continued, hyejin didn't realise that her breathing had picked up, making it hard for her to breathe. her hands were trembling and sweat started to form on her forehead. tears were slowly filling her eyes,threatening to fall anytime soon.

"hyejin?"

she shut her eyes close, trying her hardest to block the sound and voices around her.

an all too familiar image flashed in front of her closed eyes.

"come, princess. let appa teach you"

the voice then turned to a scream of a woman.

"this is all your fault!"

she pressed both hands on her ears, attempting to block all those voices. tears were falling and she didn't care one bit.

"why are you even my sister?!"

at this point, she was shaking uncontrollably. her friends were panicking. "hyejin! hyejin, can you hear me?!"

jongho was gripping her shoulders, trying to stop her from her panic attack. almost everyone around them had noticed the situation. seungmin had instantly requested the staff to stop playing the instruments and had to quickly explained to them what was happening.

"make it stop.." hyejin plead, not moving an inch from her position. hyunjin softly pushed jongho away, and seated himself in front of his sister. he placed his hands on top of hers, slowly trying to pull them away from her ears. hyejin was a crying mess.

"hyejin. listen to me. it's not your fault. not hers, nor dad's fault" he firmly said in a soft tone.

"look at me, sis"

hyejin slowly lifted her eyes, making contact with the elder. her body still trembling, eyes puffy as she blinked away the tears that had been falling.

"you're strong. i know you can go through this, okay? it's all in the past. don't let it get to you, hmm?" the brother asked, calming her down, which was slowly working.

her breathing had slowly become normal. she blinked away the remaining tears while wiping her wet cheeks. hyunjin then pulled her into a hug, holding her firmly in his arms.

"i'm sorry i triggered it. i shouldn't have said that to you" he whispered to her ears. she nodded, saying it was okay.

"it's fine. i'll be okay"

:((