Chapter Text
The alarm went off at 6:15 a.m.
Alejandro reached out without opening his eyes and turned it off with an automatic gesture. For a few seconds, he lay motionless, his face buried in his pillow, trying to put off the inevitable.
Med school.
Classes.
Dissections.
Exams.
Waiting.
Always waiting.
He finally sat up, ran a hand through his tousled hair, and got out of bed. The apartment was silent, as it was almost every morning. Too big for four people, too empty for a family.
As he walked past the living room, he noticed the lights on in the kitchen.
Kenneth.
His little brother was already sitting at the counter, a bowl of cereal in front of him and headphones in his ears. Eighteen years old, a senior in high school, his eyes still half-closed.
“Did you fall asleep at your desk again?”
Alejandro asked as he opened the refrigerator.
Kenneth pulled one earbud out.
“How’d you know?”
“Because you’ve got a notebook mark on your cheek.”
The younger brother immediately raised his hand to his face.
“Seriously?”
Alejandro burst out laughing.
“No.”
Kenneth threw a plastic spoon at him, which landed on the floor.
“One day, I’m really going to hit you.”
Alejandro feigned outrage, dramatically placing a hand over his heart.
“How dare you say that to your big brother?”
There was something reassuring about their banter. It was probably the closest thing they had to a normal life.
Their parents were away most of the time. Between business trips, meetings, dinners with investors, and social events, they spent more time in hotels than at home.
Money, on the other hand, was never in short supply.
A car was waiting for Alejandro.
College tuition was paid.
Credit cards were loaded every month.
But no amount of money could replace their presence.
Just the day before, their mother had sent a message to the family chat group.
“We might be back on Thursday. Don’t wait for us for dinner.”
Maybe. As always.
Alejandro gently closed the refrigerator door.
“Do you want me to drop you off at school?”
“I have soccer practice before class.”
“Oh, right.”
A silence fell.
Then Kenneth looked at him with an expression he knew well.
“You played last night.”
It wasn’t a question.
Alejandro looked down at his coffee cup.
His guitar had stayed in his room, but his fingers were still a little sore.
“A little.”
“You should tell them.”
He smiled without joy.
“Tell them what?”
“That you want to sing.”
This time, he laughed heartily.
“Kenneth…”
“I’m serious.”
Alejandro set down his cup.
“Dad wants me to become a surgeon.”
“And Mom wants you to take over the division… I know.”
“Exactly.”
“But what about you?”
He took a while to answer, even though the answer was obvious.
“It doesn’t matter; it never has…”
Every time he closed his eyes, he didn’t see himself in an operating room.
He saw himself on a stage. A guitar against his chest. Spotlights. A crowd.
And that indescribable feeling of finally being able to breathe.
But dreams weren’t part of the family plan. At least not that kind of dream. The ones that are useless and don’t make money, according to his father. But of course, those are the words of a man who never knew how to dream.
His phone vibrated.
Karol
A smile instantly spread across his face.
“Good luck today, my future doctor. I love you. ❤️”
He quickly typed a reply.
“I love you too. See you tonight?”
She replied almost immediately.
“Yes. I miss you.”
Kenneth looked at his brother.
“Karol?”
Alejandro nodded.
“You’re smiling like an idiot.”
“Thanks.”
“I prefer it when you smile like an idiot to when you put on that depressed-doctor face.”
Alejandro rolled his eyes.
“You’re unbearable.”
“And you, you’re in love.”
He picked up his bag, walked past his bedroom one last time, hesitated for a second, then opened the door.
The guitar was resting by the window. He walked over to it, his fingers gently brushing the strings.
A simple melody. A few notes.
The ones he’d been composing in secret for months.
No one knew them—not his parents, not even his girlfriend. Only his little brother—because they know each other inside and out, and they’re each other’s other half.
It was his secret garden…their secret garden when Kenneth asked his brother for a song. When the absence of a real home became too painful and he needed to hear his brother’s comforting voice.
Alejandro carefully set the guitar down and closed the door behind him, unaware that outside, the world was slowly preparing to shatter everything he thought was certain.