Thy Art | Park Seonghwa

6.6

( 🎵 Pamungkas - I Love You but I'm Letting Go, Pamungkas - Sorry )

Yunhee knew this day would come. She knew a perfectly happy ending for her and Seonghwa would never happen, that she would one day have to piece her heart back together. And right now, like paint on old dry wall, she could feel the pieces chipping away. But she couldn't have let the tears flow down there.

She could see Seonghwa's eyes, which were now filled with nothing but shock, searching for hers and for a second she felt relieved. At least, he didn't know this was going to happen and that his parents failed to asked him before deciding to announce this in front the hundreds of employees he had.

Seonghwa could feel his heart squeeze, especially when he saw the girl he loves, biting down hard on her lower lip as an attempt to stop herself from crying. Occasionally she'll close her eyes and he knew that was her trying to contain all her feelings inside the bottle.

Everyone cheered, their glasses brought up high as Mr. Son proposed a toast. And as the glasses collided with each other, producing a series of clinks, Yunhee took this chance to scurry herself out the door without anyone noticing.

The hallways were too long for her liking right then. It felt like she had to take a thousand steps to finally be able to get out of the lobby and call herself a cab. And all throughout the journey home, Yunhee still had her teeth clenched tight inside her mouth. She was clenching it so tightly, she could feel it sore inside her mouth but she knew if she let go, it'll all be loose. The bottle will lose its cap and everything will spill over.

It had only been over an hour since she left the house and by the time she twisted her keys to open the door, the first thing that welcomed her was Jiwon, with a spoonful of ice cream on her grip. As soon as she lay her eyes on the younger, even with her bottom lip still stuck in between her teeth, Yunhee could feel it shaking.

Jiwon rushed over to her side, the spoon of ice cream left on the coffee table just like that. And immediately, she wrapped her arms around the older, bringing her down slightly over the difference in height but Yunhee could care less. The dam broke and the tears didn't wait a second longer to spill.

The two stayed like that for a while; right in front of the entrance. Jiwon had forgotten when was the last time she's seen her sister cried so profusely. Even when Kai had passed, the latter had tried her best to cry only when she was alone. But it must've been too much then. Too much had built up inside her heart and mind that she couldn't contain it all anymore.

Only had she pulled away from the hug when the sobs began to subside. Yunhee looked like a mess and she felt like one too. Her hair was everywhere on her face, the tears acting as a glue. Jiwon helped her brush away all of them to frame her face and finally dared herself to ask what was wrong.

"It's nothing, I just..," she trailed, wiping away some of the tears that was sitting by the edge. "Is Aunt Minju asleep? And Eunbyul too?"

Jiwon nodded hesitantly while still looking at the older with a questioning look. "Yeah, I think she fell asleep after dinner and I just put Eunbyul to sleep."

"I'm sorry I kept you from eating your ice-cream, it's all melted now," her eyes travelled towards the coffee table by the living room. The ice cream had indeed melted onto the table, and it looked sticky even from afar.

"No, no, it's okay," the younger rushed.

"I'll clean them up, okay? Go grab another spoonful," Jiwon wanted to say something back but Yunhee had rushed pass her. This was what she hated, how her sister always chose to let things out but never all. And she's once again left there standing, feeling useless after all those times where she relied on the older.

Yunhee threw her bag onto the couch before going to the kitchen to grab a wet cloth. Wiping down the sticky remains of chocolate puddle that was oozing off the spoon. After she was done, she went back into the kitchen to rinse the utensils clean, all the while Jiwon could only stand behind and watch.

She didn't say a word after and only walked back inside her room, leaving the younger with even more questions inside her head. But to keep pushing wouldn't be the greatest idea so she decided to allow her to rest.

The room was dark when she got in. The light by the side of the bed being the only thing that illuminated the space. She pulled off her blazer, setting it neatly on the hanger and then proceed to walking closer to the crib where her daughter was asleep on. Gently she caressed her daughter's cheek with her index finger. "Mommy got heart-broken, today," she said though it came out more like a whisper. "And she's really sad right now but seeing you just made her feel a thousand times better."

Eunbyul stirred slightly, making the lass pull her hand away in fear of waking the little girl up. But as soon as she stops, Yunhee was able to smile slightly. "Sleep well, baby. I love you," she uttered and finally went to clean herself up.

The bathroom was a lot quieter compare to outside. It was a square box of white tiles and Yunhee could hear Mr. Son's voice announcing to everyone. She could hear the fork hitting the glass and it kept ringing in her ears all throughout her bath that she couldn't have stayed there any longer than 10 minutes. It was the quickest shower she ever took after going outside with her hair remain unwashed.

Yunhee laid herself onto the bed that once became the place where she spilled her love to Seonghwa through the touch of lips. The pain was still there. It was still chaffing against her heart and scraping off pieces of it. The tears were still sitting on the edge and it spilled as soon as her head met the pillow.

The lass didn't know for how long did she cry before falling asleep with the hopes that she could wake up tomorrow, realizing everything said and happened that day had been a dream. But the stinging pain told her it couldn't be anything else other than reality.

But that night, Yunhee had dreamt of something. Something that is also equally as full of hope as she was, that everything didn't happen. Something that felt so real she thought it couldn't be anything but a dream.

She dreamt of Seonghwa. Coming inside her room slowly, carefully only to see her curled up on the side of the bed, face still damp and hair sticking everywhere. His hands had worked its way to remove all the strands away just so he could take a good look at her face.

Nothing happened for a second but on the next, she could feel him gently grabbing ahold of her hand, giving the back of her palm a soft kiss. One of his hand remained to hold onto hers as the other worked its way back to her hair, caressing it gently.

"Yunhee...," for some strange reason, she could hear him, clearly but she refused to open her eyes in fear of this being a dream and that she'll wake up from it, "I'm sorry...," there was a pause before he once again repeated. "Yunhee, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

It was quiet again after that as she felt his hand stopped moving on her hair and was then both holding on hers. "I'm sorry for not being aware that my parents and hers have planned this ever since the start of the bidding. I'm sorry for making you shed your tears till you fall asleep."

"Life was hard without you," he began, "life was so hard without you. I didn't know how I'd wake up in the morning knowing your texts wouldn't be the first thing I tend to and that for the rest of the day, I'd have to push through without your presence. I didn't know how to sleep at night knowing the next day would be the same."

Seonghwa once again brought her hand up to his lips, this time letting it linger for a little while. "I don't know how my life would be like without you in it."

"I know how final everything seemed. How the decision seemed like one that was unchanged-able. But I promised you, didn't I?" she could almost imagine it that he would have had his signature reassuring smile by this point, "I promised you that I'll give us a happy ending. And I'm going to keep my word so sleep well tonight, yeah?"

He stood up, bending down slightly to place a kiss by the side of her head. And that was the last thing Yunhee felt before she heard the door closed and she finally drifted off to sleep. As she thought the dream came to an end, it was unbeknownst to her how he had rushed to her place after receiving a call from her sister.