"Hyuka-ya."

He jumps, someone pats on his back, rubbing soft circles. The air is sharp and cold, damp. It's dark and the floor is hard. Beomgyu's soft voice engulfs him before he even wakes up. The shadow of a loomed face in the dark looks back at him with down casted eyes and a tight smile.

"Let's go home, Kai. You can't be sleeping here." His tone is light but saddened at the same time. "Let's not sleep out here... "

He hears crickets chirp nearby; the moon is almost at its fullness. The air tastes damp and if the uncomfortable coolness under him is anything to testify he'd say it was condensed sweat. The sky is blackish blue in the way it's close to a sunrise and he blinks twice to rid himself of the ache in his heavy eyes.

Beomgyu runs his fingers over Kai's tangled hair. He watches as Kai flutters his eyes open, as if he doesn't recognize his environment yet. The belated realization of where he fell asleep dawns on him, and he looks at Beomgyu like a lost child.

It has been a while since Beomgyu saw that look on Kai's face. He's conflicted on how it makes him feel.

"You had me worried sick." Kai straightens up. Beomgyu offers him a hand to take, and he hopes that is the end of it, hopes that they can leave the grave soon because just the mere sight of it makes his hair stand and heart pick up.

He never liked Finn; in the same way he could never truly like Kai. In the way there is something sinister that connects the son and father duo.

Beomgyu loves Kai, because they grew up together. He loves Kai because he is the only one he has left that he can still call family. But he does not like him, in fact he hates Kai, because as long as he's in his life there will always be the presence of something sinister and dark looming in the corner.

Waiting to unravel.

Kai requests a few seconds alone before he has to walk with Beomgyu to the car. The older nods and leaves, turning the heat in the car in the meantime.

He places a kiss on the grave. "Goodbye, Father." He lingers a bit longer, crouching to the level on the gravestone, he whispers. "I'll clear our name, soon. I promise."

...................

The drive is filled with uncertain silence and unspoken words. This is always the hardest day of the year for the two brothers who lost the same thing but in such a different way. Beomgyu holds the wheel firmly, thinking of all the ways to scold Kai into understanding the severity of his father's actions.

His grave should be abandoned, should be ruined and smashed to pieces until his remnants no longer exist in the world.

But it's Kai's father, and as he reminds himself that each year, the anger dissipates and there is only pity in his heart for the boy sitting in the passenger's seat.

If Beomgyu is being honest, he liked not having Kai around the day of the year. So much so that he waited until the earliest hours of the night to finally look for his brother. He doesn't do so or purpose, more of a habit. Or a hidden want that he naturally follows.

It's hard because, he should thank Kai on this very day because if it weren't for him perhaps, He would die in the fire along with his mom and Finn Huening. If Finn never had Kai, perhaps there wouldn't be anyone to rush into the burning house and pull him from under the scorching ruins.

He can't help but wonder, even so. What if his life never got tangled with the Huenings, would he have his mother back? Perhaps there wouldn't have been a fire to save him from.

The truth is, Kai is right. Beomgyu knows he is. Because no matter how much he loves Kai as his brother he will always resent him as the son of Finn, he has the face of his father and there is no changing that.

"Have you eaten today at all?"

Kai shakes his head. "Have you?" It sounds like it's hard for him to talk to Beomgyu, as if he needs to push the words out so that they make a sound, even if a faint one.

"I made dinner. Eat when we get home."

"Alright." Kai breathes sharply, leaning on the glass window. "Thank you."

"No problem."

.......................

Taehyun throws himself into his college work, for more than one reason. He keeps thinking about the night Kai got stabbed, he was utterly helpless and frozen, he never wants to feel that way again. He wants to be able to help rather than be the one to ask for it.

From Soobin or anyone.

In more than one way that night ignited something in Taehyun, something eager to learn everything necessary to keep someone alive. He never cared for his major until then, and suddenly he's doing extensive research beyond college hours, asking his professors for more articles to read and more book recommendations.

Between his distance from Soobin to seeing less and less of Kai he spends every available second in the library, studying. From time to time, he sees Yeonjun or Beomgyu but never in the library.

He stands outside of the dance practice room, chit-chatting with Beomgyu while they wait for Yeonjun to be done. Soobin jogs towards them a few minutes later, joining the conversation.

Yeonjun comes out then, ridden Taehyun of the possibility of talking to Soobin. He's grateful for the Older's sense of timing. "How was your trip?" the older asks beomgyu after planting a kiss on top of his head. Beomgyu seems to be caught off guard.

"My trip?"

Yeonjun tilts his head. "With your family... "he rekindles Beomgyu's memory. Only he does not know Beomgyu has no memory of said trip because he lied.

"Oh!" Beomgyu's eyes widen, he looks down at the floor, then looks up again. "It was nice." He gives a short answer.

They start walking outside, Yeonjun slings a towel over his sweaty neck and dabs his forehead with the back of his hand, wiping the dampness on his oversized shirt. "Yeah? Where did you go?"

Beomgyu bites his lip. "Just, to the beach."

Taehyun listens to the two talking, he plays with the string of his back bag, dragging behind the couple mindlessly. They're supposed to go to lunch in the dining corridor. He's never been, which is absurd considering it's almost halfway into the semester and he's been living on coffee and instant ramen. Soobin nudges him on the shoulder as he contemplates on what to get for his meal, beef or chicken?

"Hey... "He whispers and Taehyun looks up at him. "Can we talk later?"

Taehyun nods, it's time for them to clear things up and if he were honest, he missed his best friend, not that douche bag he talked to after the amusement park. He missed Soobin, kind, affectionate Soobin. It could not be delayed further, and Taehyun didn't want that to either.

He can't possibly survive the year without Soobin, and they are roommates which means they have to get along anyway. They'll be just fine, it's not like they haven't fought before but normally they'd apologize on the spot, maybe a few hours or even a day later but all of their arguments resolved pretty quickly.

Not this one, though. Taehyun is unsure of what makes this one different, but he desperately wants his Soobin Hyung back, so he doesn't dwell on it either.

"I'm asking you to give him the benefit of the doubt, that is all." Taehyun lays on the grass next to Soobin, sprawling his body on the soft, greener-than-green ground. He puts his arm under his head like a pillow, allowing his body to relax under the windy sky.

He feels Soobin's movement beside him. He leans on the tree stem, pushing his knees to his chest. "Do you really trust him?" he asks carefully. "We don't even know who hurt him, maybe it wasn't an attack."

Taehyun opens one eye. "Then what could it have been, he was stabbed and left for dead."

The wording makes Soobin's skin crawl, and he hugs his arms around his legs. He shrugs the feeling off. "Self-defense... Maybe."

"Pfft... "Taehyun scoffs. "Sounds like you're reaching."

"Either way-"

"Either way, what? Listen, bin... I know what people have been spreading around. I've heard it all, but he just doesn't seem all that bad, he's even- he exhales sharply from his nose and closes his eyes once again. "he's even a bit nice."

"Nice in a homicidal kind of way? Oww-" he rubs his leg from the sting of Taehyun's pinch. "Why are you so defensive of him?"

"Why are you not?" Taehyun replies. "He's done nothing wrong, yeah maybe he's a bit rude or cold-looking sometimes but be frank, have you ever seen him do anything outside of the law?"

Soobin sighs, then shakes his head. "No." he says when he realizes Taehyun can't see him from the spot he's lying on.

"Then that's that." Taehyun concludes. "I'm not going to shun him; I assume he has it rough enough."

They sink into a thoughtful silence and all Taehyun hears is Soobin's breathing, a group of students playing catch on the other side of the grass and the wheel in Soobin's mind turning endlessly.

"Taehyun." Soobin calls.

Taehyun hums. "What?"

"Just-" Soobin swallows. "Be careful." He taps his fingers on his knees, the wood feels suddenly hard against the back of his head. "You're like my baby brother, you know that. I'd hate it if something happened to you, especially if I could have prevented it."

"Soobin... Soobin... "Taehyun smiles softly. "You worry too damn much." he teases. Feeling Soobin's glare from behind him, he quickly agrees. "I'll be careful."

"Are we good now?"

Taehyun opens his eyes and arches his neck down, so he has a view of Soobin. "We're good, Hyung."

.....................

3 beeps. 3 beeps and then a chippy voice goes "Hello?"

"Yes, I'm looking for Miss. Mila." Kai fidgets with the piece of paper in his hand, it holds the phone number he dialed just a few seconds ago. He waits for an answer but on the other line there is just silence and the static noise of someone breathing. He clears his throat. "Is Miss. Mila there?" he repeats, scrunching his eyebrows, unsettled.

Maybe he got his hands on the wrong number by mistake, but that can't be possible.

One more, then he will have to hang up. "Am I going through?" he asks, maybe the reception is off. There is no answer, and this time he clutches his hand around the phone and dejectedly lowers it down.

"... F-Finn?" the lady asks in a quiet, doubtful tone. Kai's heart drops. "Finn, is that you?"

Kai gulps and his breathing turns shaggy. "No." he breathes out. "It's his son, Kai. Are you Yui Mila?"

A gasp and then a sigh of relief is heard. "Oh lord! You almost gave me a fright young man; I thought I got a call from the dead..." she trails off. "You sound just like him, you know?"

"Yes, Ma'am. I-"

"Wait." She stops him. "You're... that Kai. You are... oh, this is unbelievable. You must be..." she starts counting.

"21, Ma'am."

"Oh, darling." she sighs sadly. "I'm... so terribly sorry about your mom. You know, I was there with her throughout her pregnancy."

"You were?"

"As were Finn. Your parents, they were truly something special. I'm just so sorry for how everything turned out. I thought I'd never hear from another Huening again, then you called and... you really do sound like your father." Unlike what Kai had expected when he first called, there was fondness in her voice, as if she was truly sorry. As if she truly believed it was unfortunate. "it's like walking down in memory lane... "

You really do sound like your father but unlike before it sounds vacant of malice, and intention to hurt him. Just an affectionate observation of the uncanny resemblance between a son and his father.

The lady's voice is warm, reminiscent of the way his mother used to talk to him. He wonders if the two friends got that from each other.

"Kai, sweetheart."

Sweetheart. But he's anything but sweet. Sweetheart but it sounds like he's directed at someone else because Kai is Kai.

Sometimes he's Hyuka, when Beomgyu feels nice. He's not sweetheart.

"Are you alright? Did you call for a reason, darling?"

"Yes." Kai snaps out of it. "You've known my mother, then?"

"All throughout college, sweety." She sounds relieved to hear him answer. "Your father too, they were like two peas in a pod." she laughs.

"prior to my father, was my mother... involved with anyone else?"

Once again, a long silence. This time Kai hopes it's the reception. Perhaps he should've stuck with the casual conversation, so as not to draw suspicion. Each second that passes without an answer is another doubt planting itself in Kai's head.

It feels like a giant knot he can't untie because there's hands pushing him away from the strings. The past, his parents' past feels like a dream he keeps awakening from before reaching the end of it.

Please don't hang up, please don't hang up.

It's the first number he dialed that didn't slam the phone in his face as soon as he mentioned his family name, his identity.

Please, give me something. Anything.

"... why do you wish to know that?" his tone cools slightly, it's enough of a difference to make Kai gnaw at the skin of his lips, disheartened. "Listen, darling-"

"Please, I need an answer." His voice is sharp, as if he made a decision and he's not backing away, never. She seems to hear the resolution in his tone too maybe that if why she doesn't begin changing his mind, attempting to.

"She was, yes."

"With whom?"

"Your mom... she held a lot of secrets in her, some things she wouldn't even tell me. I was lucky enough to be the closest to her alongside Finn but even then, the two hid a lot of their lives from me. I do not think they were bad people, but I think they drew in trouble. A lot of it."

Kai had no doubt about that.

"Whatever you're looking for, it will uncover a lot of evil. Just be careful... Kai. Or you might end up getting poisoned."

"I have nothing to lose."

Miss. Mila tells him she'll be in town in a week or so if he wants to meet up in person and talk to her, to which he instantly replies with an eager yes. He'd do it in person if she lived nearby but he settled for a phone call.

He never thought he'd get to meet anyone who knew his parents in such a scenery, she gave him more than he asked, and Kai was grateful for that.