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I am not a liar. Nor am I a traitor. Nevertheless, the sun will set and the moon will rise. And Miyoung Ryu will never look at me again. She will never braid my hair, correct my dancing, and laugh with Seohyun with me.
The camera flash blinds us. I look to my right, Seohyun is dressed in all black. Hair covering her face and tissue in hand. She keeps her head low. Her hand reaches towards mine underneath the table. The reporters are all wearing dark suits, the only thing differentiating them is the colors on their lanyards and the shape of the microphone they’re holding. All I hear are bits and pieces about Miyoung. Her death, the accident, and the cause. They want to know what happened so they can dramatize the story to sell for millions to the public. I know what they’re hoping for and I won’t let them win. “Thank you all for coming today,” I said into the microphone. I’m sitting in the middle of the conference table with Seohyun to my right and our manager to my left. Our manager’s presence was not needed but Auntie told me he needed to fill the empty space.
I tell them she was in a car accident during our weekend getaway in Jeju Island. She left our hotel room in the middle of the night to get a snack in the convenience store and was hit on the way back. There was CCTV footage and the driver was drunk. I followed her a few hours later and discovered her body. Clean, simple, and oh so convenient. The CCTV footage was lost and no bystanders were there to watch the madness unfold. Auntine told me this was the easiest way. A quick death is better than the truth. And the truth can never be revealed or our lives will unravel.
The funeral was held days later. Dohee’s father stood closest to her grave, her mother beside him, and I next to her. Celebrities, politicans, and businessmen came to give their condolences. Everyone was a friend of her mother. The matriach of the Ryu family. The very reason, SD Entertainment stands at the pinnacle of the entertainment landscape. The Ryu family has wealth that goes back for generations, before the Joseon dynasty, the start of it all. Money is power, they say. Auntie sure believes so that’s why the only people attending her daughter’s funeral are the leeches that use each others’ resources to gain more power.
“Auntie, I’m going to use the restroom”, she waves me off, too concerned about hearing the latest rumor from Korea’s elite from a family friend.
I walk into a guest room located outside the venue, a rounded path from the backside of the reception area. When I open the door, Seohyun is sitting in a rocking chair with Rumi in her arms. We’re taking turns taking care of her tonight. The press will create outrageous narratives if a Sunlight sister is absent today, and we can’t allow that to happen.