Chapter 77 - Her Soothing Voice

"Do you believe in ghosts?"

That was Kim Jun Yeon's question on the phone. Ye Rim bit her fingertip, as she always did when she was distressed or uncertain about how to answer something. His sudden call had none of the teasing or friendly tone of the previous ones. Just by the tone of his voice, Ye Rim could tell that the question was quite serious. Instead of answering the truth, she preferred to try to figure out the reason for the call.

"What happened? Let's say it's a pretty weird question."

She was on the terrace of a small mall in the city's 'fashionista' area, sipping coffee in the food court. Eun Ha had come to try to negotiate leasing of her clothing collection with a store located in that mall, and Ye Rim accompanied her.

Right now, Ye Rim was looking through the window at the gloomy rainy weather that day, and her intention was to use the time to quietly resume her reading from the night before, while her unnie was doing business. Jun Hyeon's call had totally surprised her. Wasn't it late night in Europe? Wasn't he going to Zurich by train? These were the questions she asked next.

"Yes," his voice sounded tired in response."I just got to the hotel. It's 4 am here."

"Shouldn't you be trying to sleep?"

"I should. But I can't. I…" his voice cracked for a moment, and Ye Rim made sure that Kim Jun Hyeon wasn't well.

"Oppa, tell me what happened."

He took a deep breath on the other end of the call, and laughed strangely_ without a shred of humor, "Your voice calms me down. It is. I think I saw a ghost. I think I had a bad dream. I don't know."

"You don't look like the type to be easily impressed," Ye Rim ignored Jun Hyeon's sincere compliment, rather keeping the conversation on the main subject. She didn't believe he would have called in with that kind of act, so she was sure she should take the call seriously. "Ghost or dream, this is not giving you peace, is it? Glad you called, oppa. Tell me how it went."

…

In a luxury hotel in Europe, Jun Hyeon was staring at the hotel ceiling and listening to Ye Rim's melodious voice, and as he imagined, the comfortable feel of her voice soothed him.

He recounted what had happened on the train_ which was actually very little_ and was not sure he could convey the horrible feeling of realizing that his noona's voice was exactly as he remembered it. That the sensation of having her by his side was the same.

It was so short, and his heart was so full of longing and pain.

And horror.

It looked like it was going to explode if he didn't talk to anyone.

"I'm going crazy, aren't I?" at the end of his short narrative he laughed at himself bitterly. Should he tell that this choking feeling happened every time he left the country? It had been a while since he had been traveling abroad, so his talk was so awaited at the congress. But he wasn't expecting this kind of crisis.

Had it really been a crisis?

He wasn't really sleeping, was he? Was it a panic episode? Should he consult with a psychiatrist when he returned his country?

"Oppa… You miss your twin sister so much. Were you very close friends? Although twins, she was a girl, I mean."

"Ah, well… Yes, always. She was my noona; and my best friend, until she died. I was devastated, of course," his voice was heavy, and charged with the emotions stuck in his throat. Most of people can't understand the link twins share. In spite of being a girl and a boy they shared this link. When she died he thought he was about to die, too. He even felt, thousands of kilometers away, a sudden seizure and got ill. When the news arrived, he knew it was the moment of her death.

"Do you know? Did you find out about my past funny facts, as you wished?"

"Yes... You were adored back then as the Tap Dancing Little Prince and Princess. I even remember seeing you on TV," she confessed in a cheerful voice on the other end of the line. This created a new tight lump in the middle of Jun Hyeon's heart.

"So. It is true. My mother no longer knew what to do with the terrible, energetic twins she had at home, and put us in the dance school around the corner. We were four years old at the time. Apparently it worked very well."

"Did you like it? To dance?"

"Yes. Tap dancing. But noona loved it all_ the pampering and whatever little fame we had. She was the real artist of the house. She has always been very musical. She majored in music, actually."

"Oppa…" Ye Rim sounded cautious," I heard that unnie Ji Hyeon had a sad death."

He took a deep breath, his eyes stopping tears,"Yes, Ye Rim. She had a very sad death."

"I'm so sorry, oppa. Really."

He wiped his eyes, suddenly annoyed at not controlling his feelings after so long,"The fact is..."

He broke off, considering for the first time that he'd simply called Ye Rim as if she were his therapist or something. Were they this intimate for him to be opening this way, talking about ghosts and noona Ji Hyeon?

"Ye Rim, sorry, I…"

"Oppa, this friend of yours is here to listen. Don't hang up the phone with some silly excuse. You have a heavy heart. Your noona suffered a lot and today you remembered that for some reason," was her response to his attempt to start a excuse to hang up.

He sat on the bed because his body asked for it. Her soothing voice and the things she said were... Absolute truth. That little rush of energy made his heart lighten a little. Heavens know why she had this power.

"Thank you ye Rim. Thank you very much. For being there, on the other side listening to this foolish man."

"You're not foolish for trusting a friend when you need to talk."

"Still…"

"It will be worse when it's my turn. Oppa is sparing in words."

He quietly chuckled. "But you're lavish, chingu*!"

"That's right. It's no hard job listening to you. I feel like you should tell me more about yourself and your sister."

He pondered her words. How long had he avoided thinking and talking about Ji Hyeon? Although he lived surrounded by her presence every day, and his life was dedicated to somehow repair his sequence of mistakes?

Again the lump in his throat formed.

"I don't know if I'll make it, but I think I want to, Ye Rim."

A silence followed for a while, until her voice asked softly,

"Oppa, who was Kim Ji Hyeon, who only Kim Jun Hyeon oppa knew?"