- his sister

it was one such saturday when jeongguk was smothering his half burnt toast with butter, when his mother informed of his sister's return.

being a member of a dark, hippie band was all that incurred off from her lost dreams. 

jeon sooyeon was once a regular student, just like jeongguk. with her high grades and not-so-big friend circle. except immediately after their father's sudden death at her piano recital, she had changed.

drowning in drugs and nightclubs. there were nights when she never returned home and then one fine day, she was gone. 

leaving behind her sixteen year-old brother and a sick mother with the excuse of her  new band tours. 

jeongguk never tried to listen to their songs. those ghastly lyrics about death and orgies, the shrill of the guitar and the constant screaming made his head throb. nevertheless, he still remembered sooyeon's soothing voice lulling him to sleep when their father used to come home drunk and the sound of hurling furniture made him flinch, tears pooling in his adolescent eyes. 

"she's bringing her bandmates too."  his mother said, ruffling jeongguk's hair, as she stood beside him.

jeongguk rolled his eyes. seriously? 

"she can bring whoever she wants, maa. but my room is out of bounds. let her know that." he grumbled, making his mother laugh, a tinge of youth in them.

jeongguk didn't remember the last time they were happy. his father, a building and construction trader, used to return home completely sozzled. and all that he could recollect of those times were the violent, house-shaking screams and fresh new bruises on his mother's face in the breakfast table the next day. 

days were indeed grim. with their financial condition worsening, thousands of debts left unsaid. quite pitiful. 

looking at the smiling face of his mother, a weight lifted off his shoulders, those dark times melting in a puddle behind the beautiful memories created now. and jeongguk swore that he would do anything to not relive those nightmares again. 

it was in the middle of the night, when jeongguk woke up to a loud banging in the front door.

his mother had taken her regular dose of sleeping pills and hence had zero chances of waking up.

still in his white tee and silk pyjama pants, he trudged downstairs, cursing under his breathe. 

a slight outline of a hand was pressed against the glass door was continuously rapping on it.

grinding his teeth in annoyance, he yanked the door open, a scowl on his face.

what he expected was the disgusting face of his sister but what he saw was something far from that.  

a man. 

older than jeongguk. tall. tanned skin. heavy black ink scattered on his forearms. large slim hands clasped around the metal door-handle. as jeongguk's gaze wandered up, his throat dried. 

is he even real? 

jeongguk knew he looked like a complete idiot, gawking at a complete stranger. somehow, it wasn't even his fault when the person before him looked like adonis in plain sight. perfectly sculptured face, chiseled features, hair like honey-brown waves and those eyes. god, those eyes. jeongguk felt his knees buckle under its intensity. 

"who-" he croaked, barely a whisper. 

"ya, gguk. get your arse out of the way! there are people standing here for god's sake." the all-too-familiar voice broke into his heavenly thoughts. the scowl reappearing on his face along with a heavy blush on his cheeks as he moved away from the front door, making way. 

jeongguk exhaled heavily, mentally face-palming himself for his utter stupidity, when abruptly he felt a presence beside him. 

the hair on the nape of his neck stood up, shiver running down his spine. 

the man leaned down, reaching his height and jeongguk dare not glance to his left. 

"hmm? what was that again?" 

fuck fuck fuck holy mother of god-

his voice. 

jeongguk shook his head, not able to form coherent words as the man chuckled softly, straightening up. 

"kim taehyung. and you must be jeongguk." 

the younger mumbled a weak yes, still not looking up as he scrambled away towards the kitchen where his sister was aggressively calling out to him. 

kim taehyung. 

he sure will chant his name like a mantra tonight (not that he was getting any sleep anyways.) 

...

[a/n]

my school has still not reopened lmao and we still don't know whether our finals will be offline or online (i fervently wish it to be online).

sorry for the late update i was so busy with projects and stuff. 

do vote and comment.

lots of love.

cassandra <3