Fan Fiction |
by chinay
"KangTa?"
HaNeul repeated his name but he didn't turn back. She stared blankly at the direction he
walked away. What was with his superciliousness? Just a few days ago he had kissed her
on her eyes. She had remained highly elated ever since, but now she reached the rock
bottom once again. She could stand any crap from WooHyuk, but it saddened her deeply
when KangTa ignored her.
"Keuk keuk keuk!!"
She heard a sudden mordant laughter from behind. She turned around to see her tall
brother standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
"KangTa's ignoring you, isn't he?"
JaeWon smirked. All she could do was usual, to just walk away. But her attention was
caught by JaeWon's next utterance.
"If you think he will ever like you, that is very unfortunate indeed. The sole reason he
befriends you is because he pities you."
Does JaeWon share an identical mind with WooHyuk? She thought wistfully.
"But too bad, people like us are usually sold into arranged marriage before we are even
born; I know I'm part of it, HeeJun's part of it, and same thing with KangTa."
JaeWon stated explicitly, still retaining his sarcasm. HaNeul stood still, contemplating on
whether she should continue to stand there like an idiot or walk away.
"In fact, that's why Tony went to the States, to meet his future in-laws. Those girls are all
fine and well-educated girls, unlike you half-breed."
"I'm not a half breed," HaNeul snapped, "I'm 3/4 Korean and 1/4 white. Apparently you
haven't been learning math correctly."
"That still doesn't make you one of us," JaeWon's lips formed into a smile at her retort.
"Especially after I inherit the corporations," he continued, "I will have the power to send
you back to wherever you belong..... ah, that would be a dumpster, wouldn't it?"
**~**
HaNeul went to an optometry later in the afternoon to reorder her lenses. The
optometrist complimented on how exotic her eyes were, and inquired why she needed
brown lenses to cover them up.
~'One thing I loved the most about your mother was her eyes.'
Her dad always told her. He once scolded her greatly after seeing her dull, brown eyes.
~'Are you demeaning your heritage? Just because everyone else does?'
'No, father! If you only knew.... if you only stayed here all the time with me, instead of
going away on business trips several months a year, I wouldn't have to be like this. Do
you even understand how JaeWon and his mom treat me at home? Or the children of your
family friends, WooHyuk and HeeJun?'
As the infuriating thought of WooHyuk came across her, she looked at her bandaged left
hand.
She strolled along the road in a pensive mood, until she suddenly decided to stop by the
school music hall.
Violin... that always gave her hope. It was her "holy grail," her thirstquencher, her source
of breath.
But it wouldn't have much meaning to it if KangTa was angry with her, for he was the one
who taught her this eyeopening material, to produce the gracefully ringing sounds.
She stopped when she heard someone's play echoing in the hallway.
"KangTa?"
It must have been him. She dashed to the music room to see if it truly was him.
And it sure was. Just by the way he played, she could tell without seeing who it was.
"Oh....."
She was illusioning a third grader in retrospect. Same beautiful resonance....
He was playing Tchikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major, Opus. 35. The masterpiece of
the nationalism era.....
But moments later, what was once a graceful sound soon turned boisterous and wild, as if
some devil possessed him.
'Wait! Slow down, you're going too fast!'
She panicked when she saw KangTa rushing like crazy to a point where his fingers were
blurred.
It was until he finally stopped and dropped his violin onto the ground roughly, arousing
commotion in the empty music room.
"KangTa!"
HaNeul yelled as she entered the room.
"Are you okay?"
She gasped when he turned around to face her, with tear stained face of his. He then
walked over to one of the shelves and grabbed a pair of plyer. His purpose was seen all
too clearly. What was he to do with a pair of plyer, except to pluck the strings of his
violin?
"NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
HaNeul shrilled and ran over to his side, but he had already destroyed the E string.
"STOP IT! YOU'RE CRAZY!!"
She pulled his arm with all her might, but in no way she could emulate his strength. He
shoved her off to the ground and kept going at it.
The only feeble attempt she could make to stop him was..... to slap his face.
"Get a grip of yourself! What in the world are you doing? You're ruining your violin!"
she yelled on top of her lungs.
There was an awkward silence in the room. Every second appeared to be elongated than
the usual.
His weary eyes gazed back at her, intermixed with disdainfulness and hurt.
"I..."
HaNeul extended her hand and touched his face she had just whipped.
"I'm sorry.... I didn't mean to...."
"Get away from me!"
He shouted and slapped her hand away from his face violently.
"Wha..."
She froze, paralyzed with absolute shock at his demeanor. Why is he acting like this?
What did she ever do to incur his wrath?
"Why are you so mean to me all of a sudden? Tell me what I did and I'll apologize."
She said as she remained unruffled on the outside. But inside, she was crying like a mad
woman.
However, the only response she received from him was his cold eyes.
It took another few minutes to melt down the icy silence in the room.
"Is it because of the audition results? Because I took your spot?"
She asked carefully, not to incur his wrath any further.
"Why does it have to be 'you'?"
He finally opened his mouth, ready to spit out more hateful words.
"For God's sake, you can't even read the darn music! You started 4 years after I began
learning, yet..."
"I was just lucky," she quickly interrupted, only to be shut out by his rage.
"It was not just a 'luck!' And you know that too! You're taking away my dream, my
future! Do I look like I'm just a jealous fool because I can't stand to see you being ahead
of me? No, not when 'I' was the one who taught you."
"Oh, KangTa.....no one can be better than you. Not one soul in this planet can pattern
how you play, the sound you create..."
She choked as she strived to hold her tears, which she found unusually arduous at the
moment.
"No, you're WRONG. How do you justify WooHyuk then? WooHyuk's better than me.
I've reached my limits. I practice twice as much as he does, yet he always manages to be
ahead of me. And he started 4 years after me too! I can't go any farther than where I'm at
right now. I give up."
KangTa blurted out the simple yet uncomprehending words: 'giving up.'
"No! WooHyuk's just WooHyuk!" HaNeul could feel her emotions losing control.
"He has a natural talent, but he doesn't care one bit about playing. But KangTa, you do.
And as long as you care, you'll always be better than him. I never become touched by his
ability to play, but I always feel moved whenever you play. So please... don't say so
easily that you are going to give up. Words hurt me more than anything else, you know
that."
"But it's too late," he said dryly, "if I can't go to the festival, I can't get into the academy."
"I'm sure there is a way; all the alternatives are better than giving up," she replied, trying
to sound as confident as possible.
"So please... don't be mean to me."
She pleaded as the horrifying thought of KangTa being unkind to her pervaded her senses.
"KangTa, you are the only nice person I've known my entire life, and because of you, I
was able to stay alive this far. I could care less about JaeWon, HeeJun, or especially
JangWooHyuk, because I knew I had you. But if... if..."
She was unable to finish her sentence, for she felt a sharp pain in her heart as a tear
trickled down her face, slowly yet with full agony.
"If... you, too, are mean to me, then..."
KangTa's cold gaze softened up when he saw her eyes sparkling with tears, something he
had never witnessed. Even when they were little, he had never seen her shed tears.....
And now, this was her first time. And it was all because of him. He had taken away
something she always had as an armor, her ability to endure anything.
**~**
The next danger lurking around was WooHyuk, as he realized that he forgot to bring
home a copy of his sheet music for the festival. He went down the empty hallway, making
his way to the music room.
"Hmm... someone must be here at this hour... crazy person."
He chuckled lightly when he saw that the door was open, and the light was on.
But he stopped when he heard KangTa's whispering voice.
"HaNeul, I'm sorry..."
KangTa was pulling HaNeul closer to him. WooHyuk frowned at the scene. What is he
doing with 'her' at this time?
WooHyuk then saw KangTa reaching over to her face to wipe away something from her
burning red cheek. He narrowed his eyes to get a closer look at what they were doing.
"Don't ever do this to me again... please."
HaNeul spoke in a soft voice and another tear streamed out of her eyes.
WooHyuk felt his muscles jolting with tension as he clenched his fists tightly. She's
crying..... why? She has never cried before. Even when he threatened to crush her hand,
which he succeeded to some extent, she didn't blink her eyes twice.
And now she was weeping....why? Is it because of 'KangTa?' Is he the one who's seeing
the unknown side of her?
"I'm sorry...."
KangTa whispered once more in repentance as he leaned forward and kissed her eyes,
wiping away her tears gently with his lips.
By this time, WooHyuk's fists were clenched so tightly that the blood vessels began
popping. He could literally feel the steam rising from his head, as the colossal lump of
anger overpowered him. He could barely contain himself, but he managed to stay away
from doing any harm immediately.... but he knew he would later on.
He had never felt so humiliated before. To see her teardrops for someone else....how dare
she.... cry...
For KangTa, and not 'him'.........