|Weak Hero| Dara Na [Old Version]

Chapter 14

"Donald," Dara asked after dinner. "Can I talk to you?" 

'It seems like he wants to have a serious conversation,' Donald nodded. "Sure," 'At least he's not avoiding me or pushing me away,' "What's troubling you?"

"Do..." Dara hesitated at first. "Even though you found out we're not blood related...you still consider me your brother, right?" 

'So that's what was bothering him,' Donald placed a hand on his little brother's head. "Blood doesn't define family, it's bonds that do. Lukas and Amy are unfortunately related to me and Eunchan by blood, but they are not our real parents. You may not be blood related to me, Dara, but you are still my little brother,"

"You got hurt protecting me," Dara's voice cracked as he finally let his emotions show. "You shouldn't have protected me. I-I was just a stranger living in the same house and...and you protected me by taking the hits meant for me," He eyed the scars hidden beneath Donald's tattoos. "You should've just worried about yourself,"

"If I could travel back in time, I would still choose to protect you," Donald told him. 

"You seemed determined to find my biological family," Dara said. "It feels like you want to hurry up and get rid of me so you can replace me with Eunchan,"

Donald brought Dara into a hug. "I didn't mean to make you feel that way. I just thought you'd be eager to meet the family you were supposed to grow up with, the family that would've loved you and given you a happy childhood instead of the hell we lived through,"

"I already have a family," Dara said. "You, Kingsley...Kingsley's parents are pretty much our parents too...I guess Eunchan also...you're all my family. For some reason Jake is saying he considers me a brother despite the fact I literally just met him at the beginning of the school year,"

"Do you want us to call off the search?" Donald offered.

Dara was silent for a moment and thought about it, but ultimately shook his head. "No, continue searching. I'm not the only victim. My biological family are also victims. They deserve to know. I don't know if they'd even want someone like me to be their son, but I'm willing to give them a chance,"

"Hey, if they don't want you part of their family, then it's their loss," Donald smiled. "You'd be better off without people who are like that,"

'If I could go back in time...' Dara thought. 'I'd still go through all that pain alongside Donald because he is the best big brother I could ask for,'

XXX

"It's a good thing you expressed your feelings to Donald right away," Kenny said as he played chess against Dara. "If you tried to bury everything, your emotions would've built up and you would've eventually have a breakdown,"

"I thought I'd be fine, but Gray pointed out how what I was doing was similar to all the clichés in fiction," Dara sighed. "It feels like a heavy weight was lifted from my chest," He moved his chess piece to defend his king. "Do you think my biological parents will like me? I mean...I'm kinda messed up in the head. I'm broken, like a malfunctioning product,"

"You're not broken," Kenny moved his queen. "Checkmate, I win,"

Dara pouted at his loss. "Damn it, how are you so good?"

"I usually play against AI on my phone," Kenny shrugged. "And I'm sure your biological parents love you,"

"How can you be so sure?" Dara asked. "Just because I'm related to them to blood doesn't mean that they'll immediately accept me. I mean, Lukas and Amy hated Donald. For fuck's sake, they abandoned Eunchan in a dumpster! What if...what if my biological parents are glad that I'm gone? Donald said that it'd be their loss and I'd be better off without people like them but...the feeling of rejection can be painful sometimes,"

"Sometimes you need to believe in yourself and have a leap of faith," Kenny smiled reassuringly. "Trust me, I know they'll love you,"

"Kenny, we brought home some cookies from the bakery!" Mom Ji called as she entered her home. She had bright orange hair and orange eyes, characteristics that both of her sons had inherited. "We also bought that cake you really like..." She froze when she entered the living room and saw Dara.

"Hi ma'am," Dara greeted. "I'm Dara Na, Jake and Kenny's friend,"

Mom Ji dropped the cake, but Dara caught it in time. 

"Honey, what's wrong?" Dad Ji entered. He had long wavy hair and his left eye was green while his right eye was blue. He...looked very similar to Dara.

"Mrs. Ji, are you alright?" Dara asked, setting the cake on the table.

Mom Ji teared up. "J...Jayce?"

"My name's Dara," He corrected.

"Honey, we gave Jason and Jaden up for adoption, remember?" Dad Ji gently told his wife. 

"No..." Mom Ji put a gentle hand to Dara's face. "This is Jason, I'm sure of it,"

"Uh..." Dara was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable. "I think I should get going," He pulled away and hurriedly left with a quick goodbye to Kenny. 'What was that all about?' He pulled out his phone to call Jake.

"Hello?"

"Hey Jake, do you know anyone named Jason or Jaden?" 

"No, why?"

"Your mom was acting weird when she saw me. She called me Jason but your dad told her that they gave Jason and Jaden up for adoption,"

"...My parents gave two of my siblings up for adoption? They never told me about this!"

"Kenny didn't seem shocked so I think he knew too," 'Actually...he was acting too calm, like he knew his mother would react that way...'

Jake is short for Jacob in this fic. 

Here's a drawing of Dara. I know he doesn't really resemble Alex, but imagine he has Alex's face.