From Past To Present, I Still Love You

A young girl stood inside a room. In front of her was the sheet music and the window was open for her to showcase her talents to the outside world. That young girl was Moon Jihee.

After she finished her song, the sound of claps echoed through the air. The music teacher stood up, tears of joy in her eyes.

"Beautiful," she said while walking towards Jihee. "I"ve never seen such a prodigy like you. I"m very impressed."

Jihee bowed, holding her white dress with her two fingers. "Thank you very much. I"m grateful to have such a good teacher."

A chuckle escaped from the teacher"s lips. "So polite as well." Then she turned to Moon Jihee"s mother. "You are blessed to have such a daughter."

The mother laughed. "Yes. She takes after me. What a wonderful child."

A bright smile radiated from the young girl"s face. The compliments only made her blush. She was glad that her hard work paid off.

"Now then," the teacher said. Her eyes moved onto the other young girl in the room. "Shall we begin the lessons with the second one."

Jaeun was sitting quietly on her chair. Her violin was gently placed on her lap, her hands protecting it from falling. When she heard the teacher"s voice, she looked up with a nervous expression before nodding.

She grabbed the violin handle and made her way to the spotlight, trading spots with her sister.

"Good luck!" Jihee whispered.

"Thanks."

The teacher watched her with an intense gaze. Then her hands reached for Jihee"s, observing the red marks on her palms. "I see that they haven"t healed yet," she cooed. "Let"s hope today that we don"t create anymore okay?"

Jaeun squirmed in her spot but nodded. Her hands hurt. Burned. Last time they had a violin lesson she made a mistake and played E sharp instead of F. She prayed not to make the same mistake again.

Unfortunately, for the other twin, there was no such thing as praises.

The sound of the thin wooden stick hitting against her skin, echoed through the air. No more violin sounds were to be heard.

Jaeun closed her eyes. The pain radiating through her palms.

The mother watched, her favorite daughter in her arms. There was no emotions radiating in her eyes as this was a normal scene in this room. No matter what the young girl did, Jaeun always messed up.

"Mother. Don"t you think this is too harsh?" Jihee whispered. She watched as her sister drowned in pain. Her heart hurt.

"This is her punishment. The world only likes winners like you. Understand sweetie."

There was a pause. "But I don"t think-"

"Understand?"

The firm voice scared her. "Yes mother."

Every day was a repeated of the last. Not only was it the violin that the girls were forced to learn. Piano. Swimming. Academics. Dance. To become appealing to their future husbands, they must prepare at this moment. And everyday Jaeun fell in contrast to her perfect sister.

Even the maids would look down on her.

"It"s like the twins were originally one child but split into two. One taking all the good traits and the other the bad."

"Isn"t Jaeun a waste of the family? She"s nothing compared to her sister."

"Jihee is the child anyone would want to have. What a beauty. Her smile makes my day."

The walls of the household were thin. Jaeun knew what people thought of her. Everyday she would cry in her sleep, trying to remove all terrible thoughts in her mind. Why was she so imperfect? Why did she make so many mistakes? Sometimes she would wake up in the middle of the night. Her hands burning. They hurt too much.

Everyone loved Jihee.

One time, she was left alone in the house with Jaemin because her twin was at the finals of a violin compet.i.tion. This was the first time in weeks since she last saw him up close, therefore, the atmosphere was awkward.

"You know..." Jaemin began. "You"re boring to be with. The reason to why I hang out with her on my own time is because she"s fun. You"re nothing like her."

He walked away, playing on his phone, while Jaeun was left in the kitchen. Maybe to him, his words meant nothing, but to her, they were like knifes.

Out of all of the male family members, Jaemin had been the only one that didn"t compare the twins, but to think that he thought that way too. She was his sister too for Christ-sake.

After that day, she"d sit in her room, looking out the window, watching her other two siblings play on the field. Laughter filled the air as they ran around. She looked down at her bloodied palms.

Another knife to stab her, every single day. Stab. Stab. Stab.

While Jaeun drowned in misery, Jihee continued to strive for perfection. The girl won many violin compet.i.tions and had a flawless academic record. She was so talented that she caught the eye of the head, who rarely gave the girls any attention. Soon, rumors of her potential spot as the head of the Moon group arose. This had never happened before. Would a girl finally rise?

Jaeun would hear the gossip among the maids about Jihee"s meetings with the head. She"d never talked to her grandpa before. She would sit in the corner of the room, shadowed with darkness. Her palms continued to hurt.

But then one day. Everything changed.

She heard knocking on her door.

"Who is it?"

There was a pause. "It"s me Jaemin."

She was surprised to hear his voice. Didn"t he say she was boring?

"Come in."

The second she said those words, the door swung open. Jaemin. There was something different about him. Although there was a smile on his face, his eyes were dark. Blood thirst. She"d never seen anything like it. Jaeun took a step back. And then another. Until she tripped and fell on her bed.

"are you okay?"

He didn"t bother to answer. "Jaeun."

"Yes?"

There was a pause. He closed his eyes. "I just realized something..."

She bit her lip. "What did you realize?"

He opened his eyes to reveal a warm expression on his face. All the menace disappeared only to show the brother that she knew. Her heart slowed down. "That you"re my favorite sister. Sorry for my harsh words earlier. I didn"t realize how great you were."

What did he say? Favorite sister? Perhaps to someone else, these words may mean nothing, but to her, they were everything. For once, she had won over her sister in someone"s heart. These words brought her hope. Happiness rang in her body.

"T-t-thank you," she said. A blush flushing on her cheeks.

A sigh escaped his lips. "But isn"t it a pity?"

She c.o.c.ked her head. "What do you mean."

He walked closer, until he was staring down at her. "That i"m the only one that see"s how great you are."

Jaeun didn"t speak for a moment, before she nodded her head. "Yeah," she whispered. "It sucks."

"If only Jihee didn"t exist, you would shine so much brighter," he commented. Then he widened his eyes and shook his hands. "Not saying that she should die or anything. But if she just didn"t exist. Then wouldn"t you get all the love?"

She never thought about that. All this time, she thought that she was the one that failed. But from Jaemin"s words, she wasn"t doing bad. It just looked like she was lacking because she was compared to someone like Jihee.

"I guess."

"If she didn"t exist... Then my spot as the number one candidate for heir wouldn"t falter either," he said with a chuckle.

He turned towards her. "How about we make a pact."

"A pact?"

"Yeah a pact," he sat beside of her. Then he grabbed her hands, stared at the red lines across her palms, before squeezing her hands lovingly. "That we will do anything we can to shine better than her."

At the time, Jaeun didn"t know what those words meant. She just thought that the two should try harder.

She happily nodded. "Sure!"

Little did she know, with those words, she had sealed the promise.

A promise with the death.