To Byul (Omegaverse)-Chapter 86: Yes, I totally support you

After lunch, Yun-Tae sat in the backyard. It was a bit warm even though it was already winter. The sun was up but wasn't all that bright since the winter clouds were present.

He stared at the sky, breathing softly.

"Don't you feel cold?" Chin-hwa asked, approaching him with a brown scarf in his hands. "Mom said to make sure you're comfortable." He said, helping Yun-Tae wrap the brown scarf around his neck. "I don't think it'll be as comfortable as my bed but I think it'll work."

"Oh, stop it already." Yun-tae blushed again. "I believe you've teased me enough."

"Oh gosh, no way. This has been nailed into the minds of my family. They will forever remember how much you love my bed." Chin-hwa said as he sat next to him, giggling. "They like you."

"Well, I'm glad for that fact." Yun-tae said, his eyes on the ground as the swing slowly rocked. "Hey, Chin-hwa," he raised his head, planning to ask Chin-hwa about what he heard earlier but the innocence in Chin-hwa's face as he looked at him, patiently waiting to hear what he had to say, stopped him. "Everyone loves you." He suddenly said, which was a bit awkward because that was an obvious thing.

"Yeah, they do." Chin-hwa said. "They love me so very much."

And yet... This obvious thing seemed to make Chin-hwa fall sad for some reason.

"Are you... Okay?" Yun-tae asked him. "If you have something on your mind that you'd like to talk about. I'm all ears."

"Well, I do have something weighing on my mind." Chin-hwa said.

Yun-Tae's hopes rose that maybe he was going to say something relevant to the information he found out, but it couldn't exactly be that easy. What Chin-hwa said was something completely unrelated.

"My family has this tradition where the one with the best voice sings on Christmas Eve, when the clock strikes 12." He said. "My dad always did it since he's got the best voice in our family, but at some point, I took over. They noticed how great my voice was when I sang on Kang-woo's birthday. I do it every year but when I hit puberty, my voice became so much better that I started singing on Christmas Eve."

"Wow, that's so nice." Yun-tae said. "Your singing must be top-notch since they let you sing instead of Ahjussi."

Chin-hwa nodded.

"So, what's the problem? You don't suddenly have a toad's crook, do you?" Yun-tae asked, looking horrified and worried for his sake, but Chin-hwa shook his head.

"No, nothing like that." He said. "It's just... Four years ago, I shut myself in and stopped singing during Christmas Eve because I..." He paused and shook his head, unable to disclose the reason.

Yun-Tae's eyes were a bit unsteady until he blinked and looked away. That was Kang-woo's incident, right? So, it affected him that much?

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"It's a long story," Chin-hwa said over a nervous laugh. "Anyway, I want to sing this year."

"Yes, I totally support you!" Yun-Tae said, giving him two thumbs up enthusiastically and Chin-hwa laughed.

"You're so funny, Yun-Tae." Chin-hwa said, taking his eyes off him and towards his twiddling fingers. "In any case, I haven't sung in three years, so I'm worried if I'll be able to do it well this time."

Yun-tae rolled his eyes away in defeat. That was certainly a problem.

"Wait, don't you sing in the music club?" He asked but Chin-hwa shook his head.

"The only time I sang was on my first day there and I didn't even put in much effort because I was uncomfortable with the audience. After that day, I haven't sung a thing." He explained, bowing his head.

Yun-tae thought deeply about it. This was definitely a problem.

It wasn't like one would lose their voice if they didn't sing for a couple of months or two to three years, but it was the thought that counted.

He heard singing had to come from the heart to sound and feel beautiful. One can have a beautiful voice but without emotions, their voice could never create a melody that would reach the heart.

So, the reason Chin-hwa was never able to sing after Kang-woo left was because his heart, his emotions, had been cut off. Since he was in pain, he knew his voice would show it, so he would rather not sing at all.

But now Kang-woo was here. Wait, he hadn't patched things up with Kang-woo yet.

He looked up at Chin-hwa. Could it be he was scared he wouldn't sing well on Christmas Eve because of the unresolved feelings in his heart?

So... What if he made things up with Kang-woo before then?

At the thought of that, his heart thumped. The thought of Chin-hwa being with Kang-woo did not scare him. Surprisingly, letting go of his feelings for Kang-woo did not seem like a big deal.

But... It was the fact that Chin-hwa was involved that worried him.

When he thought of Chin-hwa laughing and being happy without him, he felt so sad that his heart hurt. If he got together with Kang-woo, they would both start hanging out together, excluding him and he did not like that.

'Wait, what am I thinking?' he asked himself as he shook his head. 'What I have to think of is how to help Chin-hwa get over his worry.' he thought and sighed. "What about the school festival coming up?" He asked and Chin-hwa looked up at him. "The school festival is in two months. You can participate in your club's talent presentation, sing, and then prepare your voice for Christmas Eve."

"It's... Not that simple." Chin-hwa said.

"I understand." Yun-tae said, turning his head away. He couldn't think of any way to convince Chin-hwa, so he had to think of another solution.

"For the school festival," Chin-hwa continued, getting Yun-Tae's attention. "I was already given a score to practice with, so participating is inevitable." He said. 'Though I acted like a jerk toward Kang-woo, who was just trying to help me.' he bit his lip, feeling guilty.

Yun-tae watched his guilty expression and shook his head. He did not know what it was about but that expression did not suit Chin-hwa.

He held him close, placing his head on his shoulder and patting his back.

"There, there. It's going to be okay." He said, in an attempt to comfort Chin-hwa, and then Chin-hwa laughed. "You feel better now, right?" Chin-hwa nodded. "If you want, I could help you. When you practice, I'll be by your side."

"Thank you, Yun-Tae." Chin-hwa said, smiling brightly. He felt so much better now, and Yun-Tae smiled back until Chin-Hwa completed his words, "... but I have a partner for the presentation, so I'll be practicing with him."

"Oh, uh... Who is it?" Yun-tae asked. "Do I know him?" Chin-hwa nodded and said quite softly.

"It's Kang-woo"

This news somehow found a way to break Yun-tae's heart. Why did it have to be Kang-woo?