(KEY'S POV)

They should have warned me beforehand. I would have been prepared and closed my eyes. Or I could have been back in the restaurant before they did it.

Dammit! Why did I have to see it?!

Dammit! Why am I even blabbering these nonsense thoughts?!

Dammit! Why do I keep on cursing?!

Damn! Why am I affected like this??

"Where have the three of you been?" Taemin asked the moment I was near them.

"Jewel and I were outside." I heard Minho's voice from behind.

The sight of them hugging returned to my very eyes again. Aish! Remembering it makes me want to tear Minho apart! Wait! That's not right. Why do I want to tear Minho apart?? Aish! What's happening to me?!

"How about you, hyung? Where have you been?" Minho asked me when all three of us had reached the table.

"None of your business!" I glared at him.

Why am I so pissed off?! Why do I want to curse at Minho's face? Why do I want to hit him hard until he can't move? Why? Why? Dammit!

"Oppa! Where are you going?" I heard Jihyun's voice as I darted out of the restaurant.

"I need fresh air." I blurted the first words that came to my mind. Yeah. It's true. I...can't.... breathe! I find it hard to breathe! My chest feels like it's burning! My rage is eating me up! I really do need some air right now!

I sit noisily at the opposite bench where Minho and ugly-Aish! There it is again! I remember it again!

"Are you alright?" Is there something bothering you?" a female voice asked. Who? Obviously, it can't be ugly coz she's busy with Minho. Duh.

"It's none of your business." I snapped.

"If it has something to do with my sister, then it's my business." she answered cheerfully.

"W-what?" was all I could say.

How did she know I was thinking about her sister? Well! It's not like I'm really just thinking about her! I'm not--Aish! I'm not, okay?!

"I like you for my sister." she suddenly said out of the blue.

"HUWHAAAAAAAAAT????" I asked louder than expected.

"I said-"

"Yah! I heard you the first time.!"

She just beamed at me.

"What made you say that?" I asked that out of curiosity, okay?

"What?" she asked innocently.

"Tss! Never mind!" I was about to stand up when her grip on my arm stopped me.

"Wait. My sister isn't as strong as she may look." she suddenly said.

She removed her hand from my arm. "Would you mind listening?"

Without realizing it, I started sitting back beside her.

"My unnie isn't as hesitant in trusting other people as she is now. She was a jolly, enthusiastic little girl. That's why she has lots and lots of friends back then. But everything began to change, and so did she, when people in our lives suddenly started to leave one by one."

"We were no different from the happy family around the city. Our dad would fetch us from school. When we arrive home, food is served at the table, and Mom waits for us in the sala. The three of us would be welcomed by Mom's warm hug and kisses. Our family was the perfect family one would dream of having. But something perfect just won't remain forever. Wouldn't it?

"We slowly noticed something was wrong when Dad no longer fetched us at school. He always arrives home late. But mom would cover up by saying dad's busy at work. Mom was still the same. She was still taking good care of us until one day, we arrived home, saw Dad's car in front of the house, and heard loud voices inside the house. When we went in, we saw Mom and Dad arguing, shouting at each other. That was the first time I saw them fight. It was such a frantic sight that I couldn't help but cry. They already saw us, but they didn't mind stopping. To end it up, my dad went out, slamming the door with him. It was always like that since then. And the worst? My dad seldom went home, and my mom always stuck herself in her room. Sometimes, she'll leave and arrive home late and drunk. The issue about our parents always arguing scattered around the village. Some of unnie's friends stopped talking to her, but some remained and said everything would be alright. We thought it would be alright soon. And soon enough, we found out we were wrong."

"I was still in my childish dream one rainy morning when I was awakened by a tight hug from unnie. She had 2 pieces of paper with her. I didn't know what happened until I realized those papers were my parents' farewell letters. How good of them, right? Leaving without a word. Ah! Silly me! They didn't just leave without a word! They left a piece of paper to say goodbye! Hah!" pained sarcasm in her voice as she said those words.

Then, the issue about our parents' separation and leaving us scattered around the neighborhood. Those friends of unnie who stayed before were all gone. We didn't understand their sudden change of heart till we heard rumors about Dad having an affair with her boss. They say that was the reason behind our parent's separation. And that's why unnie's friends were ordered by their parents to create distance from us since we were part of a broken, sinful family. Since then, we were already alone. We'll head to school, just the two of us. We no longer have friends walking together with us like before. After unnie dropped me in my room, she'll be totally alone, except for the judging eyes following her everywhere. She'll eat alone. She'll spend the rest of the day alone. We'll just be together again after class ends. Once we arrive home, unnie will do all the chores. I never heard a single word of complaint from unnie, but I know it was hard for her. 

How could they leave that responsibility to a 10-year-old kid?! She was forced to play the role of being my mother and father. We thought we'd be living every day like that. But then, one day, one of our relatives called. Our aunt. She said she'll be accompanying us. We were so happy. Finally! Someone will save us from this messed up life."

"The first months with aunt was fine. And during those times, I could see unnie's bright smile returning to her face. She wasn't always home, but it's okay. As long as I see that smile on her face that I haven't seen for a long time, it's fine, even if she seldom stays home. But then again, everything soon starts to change. My aunt's true color was slowly revealing itself. The aunt-nephew relationship suddenly changed into a boss-housemaid relationship. Unnie doesn't seem to be bothered by this. Whatever that's keeping her busy made her totally positive. She wouldn't mind my aunt's constant yelling and proceeded happily to her room. She mentioned something about meeting a new friend. She said I should meet him because he was such a great friend to her. But then I didn't get a chance to meet my unnie's new friend."

"One rainy day, unnie went home drenched in the rain. She wasn't looking good. Her eyes seemed like they just cried. I wanted so much to comfort her, but she just went straight to her room again. The next day, she left again without eating. She wasn't in her usual self. She was lifeless. I let her be like that for some time coz I thought that would be the best thing to do. But she was getting worse every day. One day, I decided to follow her and saw her crying on the doorstep of someone's house. I can't help but cry looking at her. She was a total mess. I approached her to convince her to eat since she was no longer eating. I'm glad she decided to come home with me. I don't know why, but since then, I never saw her leave the house again, and she never mentioned anything about him again. I just heard her calling out to him, asking him to not leave every night in her dreams. I was silently crying and feeling her pain, hoping it would help ease her pain. Then, one day, my aunt said we'd leave Korea and stay in London to start anew. And yeah! We really did start anew!"

"Aunt was no longer the aunt I first saw. She wasn't just yelling anymore. She had already begun hitting us. And unnie finally had a smile on her face again, but I hated that smile. I knew it was fake. I knew she was covering up all her bitterness with that smile. As days passed by, she was successfully able to hide her true feelings. She met new people in London, but she never had friends. She created a barrier. Maybe she no longer wants to experience the same things she experienced before. It was traumatizing for me, what more for her. I was able to move on because I have her. But she, she has no one."

"Unnie was my shield on everything. She takes all the pain before it can even reach me. She would do all means to protect me. One day, unnie saw Aunt hitting me harshly because I failed to wash her clothes. Unnie hurriedly stood between me and Aunt before another hit would touch me. She was holding a knife with her. Their conversation was so clear to me."

"If you kill me, you'll rot in jail, and your sister's already ruined life will be much worse than it is now." Aunt threatened.

"I don't mind. As long as I'm sure you're already nowhere in this world, I could sleep peacefully in jail. I'm warning you! Touch even a single strand of Jihyun's hair. I swear you'll wake up in hell!"

"Since then, unnie's hits were doubled. She was taking all the hits that were supposed to be mine. But even if aunt would hit her, slap her, and kick her, she would just endure it. Her face was blank. She was emotionless. I would run to her crying after all the hitting, but she'll just calm me down with a smile and assure me it's nothing."

"Secretly, we worked to earn money to escape from aunt. As you see, we did escape her. Unnie doesn't want to return here because of the bad memories, but we have nowhere else to go. And that's how you meet us."

I was speechless upon hearing everything. My mind seems to shut down.

"Why are you telling me all this?" was all I could say.

"Because I like you for my sister! ^_^ ... And I know you would understand her. Take care of my sister, will you?"

"Hah?"

"YA!!! What did you do to my sister??!" someone's voice snapped me back from my thoughts.

I turned and saw ugly looking at us with both hands on her hips. Looking at her now makes it hard to believe what I heard earlier. She's just one annoying ugly bitch! But as I stared deeply into her eyes, I saw the glint of every hurt her past experiences brought her.

"Jihyun, are you alright? Did he do something to you?" ugly has already snatched Jihyun, who was sitting beside me just a while ago.

"Tss. Don't worry. I just suck her soul out." then I darted off.

"Hahahahaah!! Oppa! You're so funny!" Jihyun laughed as he patted my shoulder.

"OPPA???!!!!" ugly exclaimed.

I shook my head, rolled my eyes, and started walking again.

"Wait! Oppa!" Jihyun grabbed my arm and held it while she was holding onto ugly on the other side, who was still murmuring about how she disapproved of Jihyun being with me.

We walked together like that as we entered the restaurant. 

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