By Zephyria Twelve-year-old Sung Se-han, small and fragile, wearing a Hankyul Elementary School uniform, was surrounded by men in black suits.
He was even having the back of his hand stepped on by a burly man.
‘Damn it! Let go of this…!’
Even though he glared and gritted his teeth, it was no threat to the giant men.
“Tae-kyung, wait a moment!”
Sung Se-han, who had made me lean against the wall, ran to the master room. Only then did I let out the groan I had been holding back.
“Agh…! Hng!”
The pain of having my hand stepped on was being transmitted directly. I couldn’t believe that young Sung Se-han was suffering such violence. Why did Sung Se-han have to go through something like this? What is going on!
‘Boy.’
I gasped, chilled by the rough voice. It was the emotion Sung Se-han was feeling, not me.
‘I don’t know what you’re thinking, even considering going to the competition.’
Step, step. Black shoes moved in front of Sung Se-han.
‘Now, stop playing the piano and live quietly. Do you understand?’
The man, who looked to be in his sixties, was of a slight build, but he exuded an undeniable, dangerous aura. Sung Se-han looked up at the man and gritted his teeth.
‘Damn it…! Screw you!’
The man frowned and muttered in a low voice.
‘Tsk, tsk… This is why those without roots…’
‘Agh…!’
“Aagh!”
As soon as the man’s words ended, extreme pain shot through the back of my hand. I curled up, trying to endure the pain that felt like my bones were breaking.
“Agh…! Damn it!”
The pain wasn’t the problem. The fact that I couldn’t get young Sung Se-han out of there right now was driving me crazy.
‘Boy, if you don’t promise quickly, you won’t be able to use your right hand anymore.’
No matter how hard I tried to get up, my knees kept buckling. It wasn’t because of the hand being stepped on.
‘See? Grandmother was wrong. I can’t live freely after all.’
It was because the helplessness that washed over my entire body was eroding my will and hope.
Young Sung Se-han’s and my fists trembled simultaneously.
I wanted to kill the man with the rough voice right now. Is this also Sung Se-han’s emotion? No, this was purely my anger.
‘I’ll quit the piano.’
Sung Se-han looked up at the man, grinding his teeth. Several strands of hair, soaked with sweat, clung to his pretty forehead. My heart felt like it was collapsing at the sight, and I banged my head against the wall.
‘You should have said so sooner.’
The man who had been stepping on his hand stepped back. The slight man put his hands behind his back and nodded, seemingly satisfied.
‘You’re a guy who should have died a long time ago, don’t forget that you’re still alive thanks to Doctor’s mercy.’
Crunch. Blood burst as I bit the inside of my mouth. My clenched fist was trembling.
‘If you want to live, live quietly as if you’re dead. Do you understand?’
I stared intently at the men retreating with bloodshot eyes. Those bastards who threatened a child and used violence…
Sung Se-han, staggering to his feet, took something out of his pocket.
“……!”
No! Before I could even scream, Sung Se-han lunged at the man who had been stepping on his hand.
Thwack. A chilling sensation of sharp metal piercing his thigh was transmitted through my hands.
I was trembling with my hands open.
“Se-han…!”
“Tae-kyung!”
Someone grabbed my shoulders, which had been out of it. Wide arms embraced me tightly as I was startled.
“Tae-kyung, it’s okay. You’re just stressed today.”
It was the grown-up Sung Se-han who was holding me and patting my back. I hadn’t been able to save the young Sung Se-han…
Kang Robin’s worried face came into my blurry vision.
“Se-han, Joong-seop will be here soon, so let’s go down to the parking lot for now.”
“I’ll carry Tae-kyung on my back.”
Kang Robin helped Sung Se-han carry me on his back. I closed my eyes tightly and lay limp as if I were dead. Otherwise, I felt like I would lash out at the two of them like crazy.
Tell me why Sung Se-han had to go through such a thing.
What was Kang Robin doing without protecting his son back then? I felt like I would grab him by the collar.
I gritted my teeth and held back the words that were bursting out, but I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing from my tightly closed eyes.
*
“Tae-kyung, are you awake?”
Because my breathing was uneven, Sung Se-han must have noticed that I wasn’t asleep a long time ago.
No. Even after arriving at the bustling emergency room, and when the stinging IV needle was inserted into the back of my hand. He must have known that I was perfectly conscious.
He was just waiting for me slowly, trying not to stress me out.
“Sleep more if you don’t want to get up.”
I couldn’t resist the touch of his hand tucking in the blanket any longer and opened my eyes.
“Where is this…”
I only moved my eyes to look around the hospital room.
“This is the hospital room where Se-han was hospitalized.”
Sung Se-han, sitting in a chair next to the bed, looked at me without saying a word. His brown eyes were more calmly submerged than usual, so I couldn’t guess what he was thinking.
“Tae-kyung.”
Sung Se-han carefully took my left hand, where the IV needle was inserted.
The pain of having my hand stepped on was revived in an instant, and I gasped, trembling. He frowned and examined my face.
“I won’t let you go through that again.”
That? Ah, the incident of being called by Director Park Jin-seok.
I chuckled.
“Hey, Sung Se-han. I really forgot about that a hundred years ago.”
As I got up, Sung Se-han propped up the pillow so I could sit comfortably.
“What you did to me earlier was so intense that everything else is gone. If you have a conscience, you’ll have a guilty conscience, right? Right?”
I glared at him with my eyes raised, but Sung Se-han didn’t relax his expression.
“Don’t act like a guardian. It’s annoying.”
When I grumbled in an deliberately exaggerated tone, the corners of Sung Se-han’s lips lifted slightly.
“I’m angry. I didn’t leave you at Global to go through something like that.”
“……”
Sung Se-han was still wearing his Black Shirt because he hadn’t changed his clothes yet. He was the same, but why did Sung Se-han suddenly seem unfamiliar?
“Se-han, be honest now.”
Maybe it was because I had seen another side of Sung Se-han’s life that I had never imagined before.
“You had no choice but to leave our team. You didn’t want to leave me, did you? Right?”
The hand holding my hand tightened.
“Lee Tae-kyung.”
I watched without missing the way Sung Se-han’s eyes were gradually changing.
“There’s no such thing as something you can’t help. It’s my choice in the end.”
His eyes, so terrifyingly transparent as if they would illuminate everything in the world, were filled only with conviction about himself.
“If I had been by your side, you wouldn’t have been able to debut as an idol. I left you because I didn’t want to frustrate your dreams and be resented. Does that answer your question?”
A firm and certain voice. The young Sung Se-han, who was frustrated by fear, was nowhere to be found. The moment I confirmed that, my throat became sore and I was barely able to calm down.
“Not enough… but I understand.”
Perhaps if I hadn’t seen ‘Sung Se-han’s Photo Album’ as a penalty, I wouldn’t have understood what Sung Se-han was saying and would have argued with him.
But now, I could vaguely picture the situation Sung Se-han was in.
“I never dreamed of being an idol anyway, and I joined the company to be with you, Tae-kyung. I was just going to make music from behind and give it to you.”
I focused all my attention so as not to miss a single word of Sung Se-han’s inner thoughts, which I was hearing for the first time.
“I was okay, but Auntie must not have been okay.”
The moment he mentioned Auntie, Sung Se-han’s eyes curved softly.
“She acted like she would hide it until she died, but she ended up introducing my father and me.”
“Then… was that when you first met Kang Robin?”
I couldn’t help but ask the question hastily.
Yeah. Sung Se-han nodded.
“I knew my father existed, but Robin Hyung lived without knowing he had a son at all.”
“Then, then why…”
I must have been leaning my upper body more and more towards Sung Se-han without realizing it. Sung Se-han chuckled and laid me back down on the bed.
“Tae-kyung, rest today. We can talk slowly.”
“I’m really okay.”
“Okay. I know.”
After tucking the blanket up to my neck, Sung Se-han sat back down in the chair.
“I’ll be by your side, so sleep peacefully.”
“I can’t sleep comfortably if you’re like that. Go home and sleep for a few hours and change into comfortable clothes.”
When I looked at Sung Se-han with a frown, he got up from his seat.
“Then stay asleep. I’ll go home for a bit.”
“Okay.”
I closed my eyes tightly without watching Sung Se-han leave the hospital room. I listened to the quiet footsteps and heard the door closing softly.
Only then did I sit up straight and stare at the air.
“Hey, Status Window?”
The hospital room, already dimly lit, was bleak and desolate as soon as Sung Se-han disappeared.
“Is the penalty over? I have some questions?”