01: BLEEDING PIECES

"I am sinner. I have tainted my soul which is half of yours. For that, I am sorry, sorry for tainting your beautiful soul."

 - Ha Eun-byeol pov

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

01: BLEEDING PIECES

Eun-bi pov:

Currently wiping my sister's neck with lukewarm water, I think back to how I found her near the grave of someone I don't know.

I sighed deeply.

"What happened while I was away?"

"What happened to you, Byeol-ah?"

I caress her hair, wiping the stuck wet strands of hair on her face while looking at her worriedly.

Seeing her in the cemetery made me realize what my sister is going through alone.

'I should have never left her!'

'I bet those two didn't even know she was going through a sh*t like this!'

My blood boils at the thought of their negligence, caused by their greed to become more wealthy and powerful.

Just as I was thinking about them, the door bursts open, and there they are, breathing deeply, as if they ran here.

"Hello, mother."

"Father."

I greeted them coldly.

My eyes locked with my mother, who looked like she was just at a party before coming here, while dad looked like he came from a battlefield. Messy hair, crumpled clothes.

'Whose dog did you become this time?'

"The doctors told me that she's fatigued and overworked."

"You're here, Eun-bi."

I wanted to smirk at my father's reaction.

"When did you arrive?"

'Home sweet home.'

'Change may be the only thing constant in the world, but that doesn't apply to these people who only know how to fill their greed.'

"You don't look too happy to see me, mother!"

"I thought you said you won't return till Eun-byeol's graduation."

"Plans changed."

"Welcome home, Eun-bi."

My dad smiled at me, trying to lessen the ominous mood of the room, and hugged me before turning to Eun-byeol, checking on her situation.

"I'll go check her charts. Wait here."

'Yes, dad. Leave like you always do and let us fight over what is right and wrong.'

I followed his leaving form with an empty gaze and then turned back to my mother, who didn't look happy seeing her eldest twin daughter.

"You didn't have to come back. Everything is under control."

"Is it?"

"IT IS!"

We exchanged glares toward each other, burning holes inside our brains.

"Eun. . ."

My ears perked up when I heard my sister's voice. I turned around, seeing my sister force a smile on her tired face.

"Hey there. . . ."

"You're here. . . ."

My heart clenched from how she said it.

Her eyes, her gaze, the tremble in her voice.

My sister is tired and in pain.

"Sleep. . . . I'll be here when you wake up."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

I caressed her cheeks, assuring her that I would still be here later.

. . . . .

Eun Byeol:

I woke up from the scent of sunflowers and daisies.

My sister's sleeping form while leaning her head on my bed made me feel so much better.

My sister and I chatted on the days I was resting. We talked about the things we've done while staying apart.

I'm pleased she's back. Eun-bi said she doesn't have to leave again because she already won the trophy, and her other classes are online-based, too, so she has time to be with me.

The two of us don't have to be apart anymore.

That makes me somewhat happy.

I keep smiling these days. My happiest days are always with my sister.

"Byeol-ah. . . I've been quiet these days because I want you to initiate it, and I will remain quiet if you don't want to talk about it, but I am hoping you would talk about everything to me. . . you'll tell me one day, right?"

I slightly backed away.

I knew this would happen.

My sister told me everything she did abroad: all the guys who tried to court and date her, the tyrant instructors she had and the tyranny she endured, and even the bullies who mocked her talent. She kept talking, letting me hear everything without forcing me to say anything about myself.

'I don't want you to know. . .'

"I'm scared, unnie. . . ."

"Of what?"

"Of you hating me. . . ."

"I'm scared you'll hate me for what I did!"

"I don't want you to hate me, unnie!!!"

"Eun-byeol-ah. . ."

"You're the only one who really loves me!!"

"I don't want you to hate me, unnie!!!"

"Byeol-ah. . . ."

She cupped my cheeks, making me face her, and smiled at me.

"There is nothing you do, bad or good, that will make me hate you."

"NOTHING!"

"Even if you killed someone, I would never hate you."

"Instead, I would share your guilt and your punishment. I'll help you find a solution. I will help with anything you need!"

"We're twins, Byeol-ah. . . . Nothing can ever make me hate you, EVER!"

"I don't want to share it with you. . . my guilt, my sin. . ."

"Then I will look for answers on my own, and I will carry all of those on my own if you don't tell me anything. . . I will never let you carry any of those on your own."

"But I will wait. . . till you see that I will never leave you again. . ."

. . . . .

Eun-bi pov:

"But I will wait. . . till you see that I will never leave you again. . ."

My sister started sobbing. I can feel it in my heart. The pain I always feel in here all those years I was in Russia, the ones I thought were a mini-heart attack series, wasn't because of any medical condition but was because of this.

All these years, my heart was crying in pain, feeling the pain of my sister's cries and agony. Why did I not realize it? Why did I dismiss it as stress? Why didn't I rush home? Why?

"I killed someone. . ."

"I'm a murderer, unnie. . ."

My heart stopped at her answer.

She started crying, over and over again, sobbing continuously.

"What. . ."

"I. . . ."

My tears kept on flowing as my sister confessed to everything. From the friends she made, the things she did with them, and even how she attacked the girl who died.

Everything.

My sister became something none of us ever thought she'd become.

I wiped her face, looking at her firmly.

"Eun-byeol, listen!"

"She definitely didn't die after you hit her. If she had, she wouldn't have been found in her building. That girl lived. She survived."

"But. . ."

"Listen! I will definitely find out what happened! You trust me, right?"

She nodded her head, still letting her tears fall.

"For now, get treated. I'll book a therapy with someone I know. I trust him. He will help you recover and heal, but you must be honest with him."

She just kept nodding as I smiled with tears in her eyes.

"You don't have to worry about mom, and I'll do something about her."

"Bi-ah."

"Byeol-ah, I'm here now, and I will never let you shoulder anything on your own again."

I hugged her tight, so she felt secure in my promise, and reminded myself to never leave my sister again in the hands of that devious mother of ours.

'I'm the only one who can protect my sister!'

'Especially since both of you refuse to do it!'

. . .

Hera palace:

Boxes after boxes, paintings after paintings, is what the ground looks like. The kids of Hera kept 

waiting for the new tenant.

They think the girl they saw before was one of them.

"Be careful with that! If anything from that box breaks, not even your entire life wage can pay for it!!"

"Yes, miss. We've already paid for the floor."

"Yes, we'll make sure to take everything."

"Yes, you can count on us."

"The designer is already here as well."

"We'll finish it in 50 hours as promised."

"Yes. . ."

The woman is bowing while talking on her phone. That must be the new tenant.

"Our new neighbor must be high maintenance."

Min-hyuk watched the bowing woman as he popped a lollipop on his lips.

"Do you think they have children? We should be-friend her!"

While Jenny seems excited about the prospect of a new friend.

"Are you sure it is a her?"

Seok-Kyung is somehow cautious about it.

"Well, we should still be-friend her if she's a he."

Jenny answered back happily.

However, Seok-hoon kept thinking about the girl.

She seemed familiar but unfamiliar. Like a scent, he had already smelled before but only for a second before it disappeared with the one using it.

"I keep thinking about that woman we saw. I still think I saw her somewhere before."

Seok-hoon perked up from what min-hyuk said. He keeps murmuring about that girl these days. 

He, too, keeps thinking about her.

'Who are you?'

'Why do I keep thinking about you?'

. . . .

Eun-bi pov:

"What do you mean you'll live on a different floor?"

I stopped all the paperwork I was filling out for the ownership of the floor.

"I've already bought a floor in Hera palace. I keep telling my sister to move out of that building, but she wants to live near you, so I told her I've bought us a different place in Hera palace for her sake."

"Who said you can take my daughter?"

If looks can kill, I'm already dead by now.

I stopped what I was doing and smirked at her.

"I wouldn't do this if I were you."

I played the recorder on my phone, revealing all my sister's confessions yesterday. I didn't mean to record it, but I forgot about the pen recorder on my cardigan yesterday. I have a habit of keeping an audio journal because of all the threats I receive from the other ballerinas abroad and their families, so I keep one to get them off my back.

"YOU!!!"

"I am keeping this a secret for my sister's sake, but you know better than I can convince her to confess this to the police, right?"

"Do you want to ruin your sister's life!!!??"

"Do you mean yourself, who is already ruining her life!!"

"A few years ago, before leaving, my sister's dream was to be a doctor, but now what? She wants to be an opera singer?"

"I don't know what shit you did to make her sing, but I will never let you control my sister anymore."

"If you continue to make her miserable, this recording will not only go to the police but to the media as well. Along with every skeleton in your closet!! Especially!!! That disgusting Cheong-ah trophy of yours!!"

I stood up confidently and bravely.

"NEVER TOUCH MY SISTER AGAIN, CHEON SEO-JIN SHII."

. . . .

TO BE CONTINUED . . .