admirer • jongho

sixty-five

it was the next day after the fight. the three siblings were alone at home. their mother was at the hospital watching over her sick brother while their father had to attend meetings.

the tension was thick in the house.

very thick.

hyunjin tried his best to get all three of them to do something together but yeji insisted to just lock herself inside her room. hyejin on the other hand became unusually quiet.

hyunjin sighed as he rubbed his temples. he had informed their dad about the fight. the man, of course, wanted to talk to them about it, especially yeji, but hyunjin begged his dad to let him do the work. hyunjin wanted to be the big brother he was. he wanted to solve the misunderstanding between the two sisters on his own.

and so his dad agreed.

mr. hwang stayed silent about their fight. however, he had asked hyunjin to tell him immediately if things get out of hand.

that night, hyunjin was getting bored. he was with hyejin in the living room, the younger was quietly watching cartoons.

hyunjin couldn't stand the boredom so he pulled out his phone and clicked open piano tiles and just nonchalantly played some levels.

hyejin got interested as she silently watched her brother playing the game. at some point, his finger slipped causing him to fail. the boy let out a groan, tossing away his phone.

hyejin picked it up and resume the game. hyunjin glanced at her. he blinked.

'she loves piano too much..' he thought. he smiled.

after a while, a voice spoke up from behind.

"still desperate for your stupid dream huh" yeji spit out.

she plopped herself onto a couch near them. hyunjin frowned.

"yeji, mom and dad didn't raise a bitch"

the said girl rolled her eyes at his words. hyejin balled her fists, swallowing her anger.

"just don't touch the piano, then i'll consider-"

"hwang yeji!" hyejin bursted. the twins looked at her in shock. hyejin stood up in frustration.

"what happened to you?? you're not the yeji unnie i know!"

yeji stood up facing her. "you don't know me. that weak yeji is gone"

"why would you think i'm threatening your career?! you know i would never-"

"no i don't know! just like how you don't know me, i would never know you, hyejin! who knows? you might want to ruin everything i have!" yeji screamed out. hyunjin stood up, trying to stop them but yeji simply pushed him away.

"i'm not, okay?! i'm not planning on stealing your career or whatsoever! why would you think that??!" hyejin asked, desperation can be seen in her eyes.

hyunjin panicked. he then immediately made his way towards the kitchen. clicking on the call button, he waited for his dad to answer.

"because! first, you stole dad away from me! he spent his time teaching you when he should've been by my side!"

"what are you-"

"next! you stole my spotlight! the famous mr. lang himself offered to teach you when i, myself had to go through so much just to even meet him! do you think that's fair?!"

"but i never agreed-"

"and lastly!" yeji paused. tears were already streaming down her face. hyejin mirroring her.

hyunjin bit his lip nervously. his head kept chanting 'hurry up' while waiting for his dad to pick up the phone.

"hello? hyunjin? what's the ma-"

"dad! hurry up! they're fighting again. i-i.. i can't do anything. please come back home!" hyunjin plead. he was close to crying.

the sisters showed no sign of stopping. they were arguing back and forth and hyunjin had no idea what to do.

"i'm on my way! make sure they don't harm each other physically, okay?"

hyunjin nodded silently. his dad hung up. unknowingly, tears slid down his face.

hyunjin blinked.

"i should stop them.."

the boy quickly made his way back towards the two sisters.

"yeji, hyejin, please stop!"

"no, hyunjin. back off! i need to let hyejin know her place!" yeji pushed him hard, causing him to stumble back.

"so what if i play the piano?! you're just scared that i'd be better than you!" hyejin retorted. she was mad. she was angry. she didn't understand what so big of a deal was this to her sister.

"i fucking hate you, hyejin!!"

hyejin blinked.

she was taken aback. hate's such a strong word. tears slowly filled her eyes again. yeji scoffed.

"right. cry! that's the only thing you're good at. go on! keep crying like the baby you are!"

hyunjin was about to step in again when he felt his phone vibrated aggressively. he took out his phone shakily, and saw it was his dad.

he accepted the call. "hello? dad?"

he listened to the other line carefully. he froze.

he couldn't form out words. hyunjin fell to the ground causing a loud thud. his eyes wide, too shocked to react otherwise.

the sisters looked at him instantly. the boy placed a hand on his mouth, trying his best to control his breathing.

after a while, his arm fell. his shoulders slumped and his gaze slowly met the sisters'. a tear slipped down his cheek.

"dad's.. involved in an accident"