Chapter 20: And murder is a potion of love

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🥀YOONGI🥀

I sat on the piano stool, carefully lifting the fallboard. I'd cleaned, and tuned the instrument the day before. The black and white keys felt cold when I ran my fingers over them.

I brushed one hand over my hair, and rubbed my eyes with the other. I had no idea how I was managing to keep my eyes open.

Last night I asked Yun to leave the lights on before she went back to her room, thankfully it had kept the nightmares at bay. Yes, I slept, but didn't exactly rest. My back was still sore, and my eyelids felt heavy.

I experimentally pressed one of the keys, and the note hung in the air, the sound lingering in the silence of the room. When was the last time I got to play? Two days before I got kidnapped, maybe. Back then, I was working on the song I heard five years ago while I was standing on the edge of that building, ready to jump.

For the longest time I kept the melody in my head, but I couldn't remember all of it. It was like most of it had been wiped from my memory. Then one day I finally got to it, thinking of it as a lullaby in memory of my father - a reminder that he might not be here but he would still be a part of me.

The floorboards creaked behind me, bringing me back to the present. I looked over my shoulder to see Yun, eyes half-closed, looking exhausted but more sober than she was when we arrived. Her cheeks were still flushed.

She dragged her feet lazily in my direction and I scooched to the side to give her space on the stool. Her dainty fingers floated over the keys, until she decided to play two random notes.

"You tuned it?"

Yun looked at me, blinking slowly, but her voice was filled with surprise, even though she looked about to fall asleep.

"Yes. I didn't have anything to do yesterday, so..." I trailed off, watching as she smiled slowly. Her wet hair left darker spots where it touched her sweatshirt.

She looked so...normal. The way she was casually sitting there, freshly bathed, smelling like soap and lemon shampoo, looking exhausted and sleepy. The whole scene made me feel strangely warm inside. I could feel myself beginning to smile.

He told me to tell you to not get too close to her. Hobi's voice echoed in my head. Just like that my smile melted away. I could almost taste the bitterness inside my mouth.

Yun's arm brushed against mine. She was looking at the piano, breathing in slowly. My own fingers still rested on the white keys.

"Did you always want to be a pianist?"

I kept my gaze on her face as she stared at the piano, the fallboard, my hands.

I laughed through my nose, "No," I cleared my throat, "I was going to be a businessman, like my mom wanted."

She turned her face in my direction, her eyes closed and her eyebrows raised.

Yun was basically sleep-talking now.

"No waaaay," she elongated the word, making me chuckle.

"Yes way," thinking about it now, the idea sounded crazy. I hated paperwork and sitting behind a desk, "I went with it because I didn't want to upset her. I studied for business school and went to the café to play when I felt overwhelmed."

She sighed and smiled sleepily. "You felt overwhelmed every day."

"I guess you can say that," I shrugged, "But one day, I went to my dad crying and told him I made a mistake and that I didn't want him or my mom to be mad at me. He thought I had gotten someone pregnant."

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