11 — A SENSE OF FAMILIARITY

sometimes i prefer sugarcoated lies over the bitter truth.

—

"hyung, did you forget that i have an enhanced sense of hearing?"

yohan curses under his breath. of course, why didn't i think of this?! he turns to dohyon, hoping that his shocked expression isn't obvious enough for the other boys to notice. he gapes. "how long have you been eavesdropping?"

"i wasn't eavesdropping, i was just simply keeping my ears open wide." he answers dolefully. "and to answer your question, i've been listening since the moment you left the room— in other words, i heard everything."

yohan could only stare at him, words aren't able to express how carelessly stupid the situation is. as someone who's hiding the truth from his nephews, daniel sure isn't doing a great job at it.

dohyon smirks. "seungyoun-hyung might have the ability to know everything, but mine's not far different from his. whatever you say, as long as it's still in a probable distance, i could hear it crystal clear. so don't you ever try to fool me one bit—"

"are you okay?"

dohyon pauses, his eyes widen. ".. what?"

"the situation must've been hard for you to digest. discovering that your closest relatives were the one involved in your mother's death.." yohan mumbles. "dohyon-ah, you must've felt shaken up by now."

"stop trying to change the topic."

"i am not changing the topic, because what truly matters in this whole mess we're on about here is you." he points out. "daniel's coping with the guilt that have already swallowed him whole. hangyul has no idea about this. everything's up to you and you alone. the truth matters, but what matters the most is your mental health, so tell me, dohyon-ah, hiding your grief underneath gruesome anger will never be the best option."

dohyon could only stare at him blankly without answering.

"because daniel-ssi?" yohan breathes heavily, "he's not worth your disappointment. god knows how much secrets an outsider like him has held against us."

a little gasp. dohyon stares at him. ".. w-what?" before yohan could continue on, suddenly they were interrupted by someone who previously wasn't in the conversation.

"hey, the situation seems to be all frozen up right here," wooseok's voice appear softly, shocking them like a gust of wind. "is there anything wrong?"

dohyon raises his head. "mind your own business, frostie."

"hey toddler, careful with your words. i could drown your lungs in your own interstitial fluid without moving an inch."

"and i could levitate the hell out of your organs until there's nothing left."

"jesus christ, this is why kids are absolute devils." wooseok pats yohan's back. "you look.."

yohan tilts his head. "gorgeous?"

"like a piece of shit." wooseok mutters. "what's gotten into you? you look like you got a lot in mind."

"wait, kim wooseok's acting genuinely concerned for me?" yohan laughs. "i think i should be the one asking what's gotten into you."

"yohan-ah, you never just casually talk to me and then call it a day. at least you'd be eager to add a snarky remark to annoy me here and there."

"the day's not over yet."

"and yet i have a feeling that you won't do anything at all." wooseok sighs. "as much as i enjoy not being disturbed by you, the silence feels somehow.. distressing." he looks up to the ceiling. "if you got anything to talk about, don't hesitate to spill it all out to me. i'll be happy to listen. same goes for you, kiddo." he says, referring to dohyon.

"too bad hyung," yohan mutters, purposely glancing at dohyon. "i don't think i'm in the position to spill anything."

dohyon could tell that he wasn't the only one holding a grudge.

—

"what was that?! why did you expose it to him just like that?"

seungyoun really hated the heated atmosphere. he somehow forgot that if he made up his mind to finally trust daniel, that means that he's ought to trust everything daniel had signaled him before, and that includes the hidden truth of kwon jia's death. because daniel has been nothing but extremely silent about everything, seungyoun thought that the agenda was to dismiss all those dark memories and just to get over it. turns out daniel had other plans.

"he asked." daniel says.

"and i didn't expect you to answer!" seungyoun scowls. "you should've seen what he's thinking throughout the whole thing, daniel. he's developing a dislike towards you. do you know how worse it'll get now you just exposed such truth?"

"seungyoun, he's starting to dislike me because he's starting to lose trust. i understand his situation." daniel says calmly. "if i cover it all up, probably i won't ever get a chance to gain any of your trust at all. this is my chance to become transparent to everyone."

"you don't have to beg for their trust—"

"and i should just depend on you? i don't mean to offend you seungyoun, but i think yohan's slowly losing his trust on you too." daniel points out. "those kids need time to trust me, seungyoun, because they lack of context. they only know me as a stranger in the background who frequently saves their lives, but that's it. the only person i had an actual connection with is you and my nephews, and because of that you have no trouble trusting me."

seungyoun didn't want to admit that he's right. the other boys didn't have the ability to set up a background check on daniel, not like him. trusting a whole stranger might not be the best scenario.

seungyoun sighs. "yohan doesn't have a clue of how much of a help you have been."

daniel laughs. "you had the exact same reaction  more or less a week ago."

from the other end of the hallway, callous banter between two women could be heard clearly. one of them with a distinct squeaky voice groans in dislike. "mom! i don't want to visit him today."

"he's your brother for a reason, eunhee. you're supposed to spoil him with affection."

"have it ever occurred to you that he's the most spoilt boy in this whole planet?" the girl rolls her eyes.

"say that again and i cut off all your tutoring expenses—"

"oh no please don't forgive me, your majesty for i have sinned." the girl blurts those words out as fast as she could. "but please, i request to return as soon as possible because i don't wanna miss my extra biology classes."

the older woman sighs. "wait until you see your brother's friends.."

"eunsang's friends?" eunhee scoffs. "must be a bunch of nerds."

"that taekwondo kid in your class that you always talk about?"

"wait— EUNSANG'S FRIENDS WITH KIM YOHAN?!?" her voice is truly loud enough to wake up the whole hospital. the girl squeals. "the kim yohan?! kim yerim's bestfriend?! that cute idiot who's secretly a genius?!"

"wow, stop torturing my earbuds." her mother shoves her away. "and yes, he's a part of eunsang's circle of friends. i briefly saw him at the funeral a while ago—"

the woman stops walking, and that was because she was close enough to catch the sight of daniel and seungyoun in front of her son's hospital room, two of the last people she wanted to meet. daniel and seungyoun stare at the both of them uncomfortably, unable to refrain from the impulsive awkwardness.

"what—" eunhee, noticing the abrupt pause, glances up to see what made her mother so shocked, and in her defense, who was standing just a few feet from her isn't a figure she expects to encounter after countless of years being strangers to each other. her eyes flutter wide open.

"s-s-seungyoun!"

seungyoun looks at her, appalled. jolts of nostalgia coherently embraces the girl, shuddered by thousands of questions left unanswered. the girl did not only recognize him, but she knew him, knew him like none other. and that's when the truth hits him.

the girl is eunsang's sister,

and she did not have her memories erased like her brother.

"mom, it's seungyoun!" eunhee grabs her mother's hand quite violently, dragging her over. the girl seems like she had the immediate response to cry. "it's uri seungyoun, the boy from the sidewalk, my friend—"

eunsang's mother doesn't look that appealed, and seungyoun certainly knows for sure why. the woman still did not have her trust on him, especially when his family was the one who technically sabotaged their family. eunhee however was euphoric, as she runs towards the tall figure and unexpectedly hugs him from the side, embracing him like an old friend. seungyoun was definitely startled by the skinship from one who appears as a stranger to him, but he did not back away.

kaleidoscope of memories, strong wave of emotions. i must've had been really close to her.

daniel looks at the two in confusion, but he did not raise his voice. eunsang's mother did not look like she enjoyed seeing the warm reunion. she pulls her daughter away from seungyoun, getting rid of his scent as soon as possible.

"mom!"

"don't pretend you're all friendly with him, you haven't seen him in a decade."

"mom, are you out of your mind?! this is seungyoun!" eunhee yells back at her.

"yes, it's the guy who made your father lose his job, are you really fond of that?"

"it's not his fault!"

"move." her mother drags her away without hesitation.

eunhee tries her best to hold unto seungyoun, but her mother's angry force was too strong she wasn't able to maintain her grip. seungyoun stood there paralyzed, but he didn't try to interfere. he didn't want to mess around with eunsang's mother, especially when she's this mad and there's also daniel in front of her.

"seungyoun-ah!" eunhee calls out his name once more, but her attempt was practically useless. before she was completely dragged back into the hospital room, her last action manages to surprise the hell out of seungyoun.

her voice, clear as crystal, appears into his head. meet me somewhere. anywhere. we need to talk.

"come on!" her mother slides the door to eunsang's room, and then shuts it off abruptly in front daniel and seungyoun.

daniel slowly turns to seungyoun. "are you okay right there? are the memories starting to kick in?"

eunhee knew my powers, seungyoun contemplates to himself. we must've been really close.

"let's just go in again," daniel says, patting seungyoun's back. "i need to leave soon, so i think this is the perfect time to say goodbye."

seungyoun dumbfoundedly nods. they get into the room again, with seungyoun specifically ignoring mrs lee's deadly gaze because he wasn't in the mood to cope with her at the moment. the boys were now circling around eunsang, with hangyul standing nearest to the boy, basically controlling the conversation. hangyul grins at the sight of his hyungs. "daniel-hyung, seungyoun-hyung! come here, we're having an important meeting."

seungwoo laughs. "and when he says important, he means it as a meeting regarding to minhee's elections."

"it's an important matter that we have to discuss!" hangyul says, defending his statement.

"i agree with hangyul-hyung," dongpyo says as he gets up from his seat. "we need to show that asshole junho what we're capable of! we're not going to let this set aside!"

hyeongjun giggles. "dongpyo really takes his opportunity to express his overflowing hatred towards junho~"

"he ruined my life! don't you dare limit my temper like that because i certainly am mad."

"what do you guys have against junho?" eunhee asks honestly. "i thought eunsang was bestfriends with him or something. i was actually thinking of voting him."

minhee turns around. "WHAT A DISGRACE!"

hangyul takes a shallow breath. "eunhee-yah.. what do you find special from the boy, exactly?"

eunhee shrugs. "i don't know, he just looks.. different. i like his appeal."

minhee scoffs. "you like him because he's attractive."

"hey, don't pity yourself just like that, freckle boy! you're attractive too!" hangyul smiles giddily. "but i believe there are certain ways for you to make yourself look more.. eye-catching to others."

seungwoo nods. "as much as i hate to say it, looks are also important. lazy voters tend to choose either the number one on the list — which is something that minhee should be fighting for— or the most eyecatching contender in terms of looks."

hangyul nods vigorously. "ah.. so what he'll be needing is a makeover."

minhee flutters his eyes in confusion. "a what now?"

"he'll be needing something eyecatching, something new, something straight out of a hallyu boyband. something like the blazing red ron weasley right there." hangyul says as he points at the unconscious eunsang.

"you want to dye minhee's hair red?" wooseok raises an eyebrow.

"no, no— red is eunsang's forte, we should never let go of that." hangyul shakes his head. "maybe something a little bit more.. sophisticated. look made out of royalty, something like.."

hangyul's gaze trails around the room and eventually stops at daniel. he grins at the sight of his light blond hair.

daniel stares at him, expressing discomfort. "... why is he looking at me like that?"

—

aaaa i dislike this chapter so much but im going to publish it anyway bc it's been a while since i published anything~

hey guys, i'm back after a two weeks drought! how are y'all doing? how was the award ceremonies? did your faves get anything significant?

(mine didn't, sigh curse of being a produce and sm stan)

anyway, as you guys sound genuinely confused after the last chapter, i really encourage you to read superhuman chapter 24 bc that's the context of the conflict, sorry if i didn't explain it quite thoroughly, i wrote it in a short while ;-;

alright then, thanks for reading my ted talk and don't forget to stream my ult group's comeback, exo's obsession!! ^-^

250 votes for next chapter~

- yuehwa