A K-pop Idol 79.3

Suicide cases involving young people were a very serious in South Korea. One of the reasons that could explain it was the country's educational system. It was one of the best in the world, but was also extremely demanding, with the students always under a lot of pressure. 

In addition, in many cases there was the obligation to be "successful", and any failure in this sense could be seen as a huge dishonor not only for the student but for the whole family. That was exactly what happened to Park Heechul. After his consecutive failures in the CSAT, he felt like a disgrace to his parents and saw no alternative but to take his own life. 

After that event, Park Hara was in shock for many and many days. The girl didn't say anything, and when someone asked her something, she just started crying compulsively. Her parents were also very depressed, of course, and they decided that it might be the best for the family to start over somewhere else. So, a few weeks after Heechul's funeral, they moved to Seoul. 

It was very difficult at first. The family didn’t know anyone there, and it took them a few weeks to get new jobs. In addition, Park Hara was still in a deplorable state. After some research, her mother could find a therapist willing to help her daughter, even though the family couldn't pay much for his services. 

After many sessions, the girl wasn't better yet. But then, someday, something simply changed. The girl started to talk and smile again. She seemed to have returned to normal except for a subtle difference… She never talked about her deceased brother again. If her parents made any mention of him, she simply walked away, looking indifferent.

The therapist was happy to hear about the girl's improvement, but said it didn't exactly mean she had overcome the trauma. In truth, her sudden change of mood and the fact that she was refusing to talk about her brother could be a sign of a serious psychological problem. 

Her parents didn't listen to him, though. They were too happy for having their little girl back, and they didn't want to ruin it in no way. Park Hara stopped seeing the therapist, and the family began to act as if Heechul had never existed. Park Hara's mother hid all the photos of the boy, and she and her husband stopped talking about him, hoping this could be good for their daughter. 

But unfortunately the therapist was right. Park Hara wasn’t really better, despite appearances. She kept thinking about Heechul day and night, and little by little she acquired his old obsession. She wanted… no, she needed to be successful. Sometimes she thought it would be a way to honor her brother. Other times, she felt like she hated him for what he had done, and she just wanted to prove that she was better than him. 

She didn't know the real reason for that need, nor what her real feelings toward her brother were, but the truth was that this eagerness for success was her only motivation to live…