#advheeyeon

@advheeyeon

Hani was stunningly beautiful on her graduation day; as she’d always been. Perhaps it was an unnie’s bias, but she shone brighter than another other student as she received her valedictorian award. Beside Shinhye, her mother blew tearfully into a tissue, incoherent babbles of ‘her baby’ assuaged only by Shinhye’s awkward pats.

Beaming, the exuberant older sister rose to applaud her younger half. A wide smile was plastered upon her face as she waved and jumped to show just how proud she was – much to the annoyance of the audience.

Compared to that moment, the current atmosphere inside the car was absolutely chilly in comparison. Shinhye could hardly hold back her sigh as the car filled with awkward silence, punctuated only by the stubborn clearing of her parent’s throats, as if they longed to say something – anything – but could no longer find the words nor the method to do so. Shinhye knew that they respected but did not understand Heeyeon’s decision to not accept her architecture offers from a variety of top universities – indeed, they were all so immeasurably proud of Heeyeon, her sweet little Hani, no matter how she choses to live her life – but no parent could ever refrain from fretting about their children’s future; it was almost imprinted upon their genes.

As the car pulled up to their driveway, their mother waited until Hani left the car before nailing Shinhye with a puffy-eyed pleading stare. “I was already going to, mother. Don’t worry.” Shinhye replied softly, before patting their mother’s hand once, twice, before departing for Hani’s bedroom upstairs. She knocked a few times before entering on the bequest of the muffled invitation from within. Shinhye plopped herself onto Hani’s bed without hesitation; a habit borne of many late night visits.

“Aigoo!” Shinhye laughed, the sound a little hollow in its nonchalance. “Our little Hani grew up so fast! I still remember you when you were this tall – “ here, she gestured to a mere head above Hani’s bed, eliciting an image of a doe eyed Hani, clutching onto the back of Shinhye’s skirts. “Oh! Do you still remember how ‘Hani’ came about?” Shinhye laughed. “You’ve always been as sweet as honey, but it was so hard for you to pronounce –“ here, a tide of emotion caused Shinhye’s throat to clamp shut. Oh, words could not describe how proud Shinhye was of Hani, but even the easy-going older sister could not help but worry about Hani’s murky future. Just what is going on in that head of hers? Shinhye could simply not set her heart at ease, no matter how much she berated herself for it.

By now, Shinhye has no doubts that Hani already knew the reason behind her seemingly casual visit. They say logical, straightforward approaches are best, and Shinhye knew that was probably more her style.

“I- We. We all respect your decision, Hani. You know we do.” Shinhye murmured, giving up all pretense. “But even so, we’re still worried – and we can’t help it, darling.”