The Statue - Yoongseok FF

Jealousy

Fingers were numb.

Heart was beating in a muffled distance.

Throat was dry.

However there was something worse than that. At first it was like a whisper, an echo, but as the seconds passed, it grew stronger and louder.

"Cause I'm the one who cursed him"

What did it mean?
Had Hoseok heard right?

Suddenly, as if he had received a violent slap on his face, Hoseok snapped back into reality. He was in the living room, warm cup of coffee in hand, while Jungwon was standing in front of him.

"Did I hear what I think I heard?" he slowly asked, hoping he was mistaken.
"Yes" replied Jungwon, nervously.

Hoseok was so shocked that he couldn't even process the news. It couldn't be true, could it?

"But... I don't understand" whispered Hoseok, broken. "We... we were family..."

"Family?" repeated Jungwon, loudly and looking at him.

Hoseok didn't hear only anger in his brother's voice. There was pain too.
However Jungwon wasn't the only one hurt. Hoseok couldn't believe his own brother had cursed the love of his life, had taken away years of happiness from them, and forced him to be alone for decades. Jungwon, the person he trusted the most, had betrayed him.

"You made me a promise remember?" asked Jungwon, with a shaking voice. "When we met."
"That I'll always be there for you" said Hoseok, remembering it clearly.

"And for fifty years you kept it" explained Jungwon with more confidence. "You guided me into understanding what an immortal life meant, and how to behave in society considering we aren't human beings and everything."

Hoseok nodded, he was furious, hurt and lost, but he needed to appear calm until Jungwon finished explaining himself.
However it was too hard. How could he stay silent when questions and accusations were burning his lips?

"And then what? You decided I didn't deserve the happiness I had with Yoongi?" asked Hoseok furiously.
"I heard you two" shouted Jungwon, cutting Hoseok's question.

"What?" replied Hoseok. "When?"

"One night, I heard Yoongi saying he would like to go live away" said Jungwon, tears of despair pearling on his cheeks. "And you agreed."

Hoseok stood there, not knowing how to react.

"You said he was the most important person in your life and... and..." added Jungwon, unable to continue.

Hoseok's brain did a flip.

"Do you know what it's like to live with two soulmates when you are alone?" asked Jungwon, angry again. "It means being in the constant presence of love, and consequently being reminded every passing second that I didn't have that."

"What?" simply said Hoseok, unable to gather his thoughts more.

"I was tired of it Hoseok" said Jungwon. "Constantly fearing that you would realize you didn't need me and go away with him. Just the two of you. What if you made a promise to him that would be more important than the one you made me? What if the love you have for him overcame the one you had for me? I had been scared of this for five decades, but when I heard Yoongi wanted to leave, I just knew I had been right this whole time. Yes, you like me, but you love him. It was a matter of time before you decided to built your life with him, leaving me aside."
"Jungwon..." tried to say Hoseok.

"I had no other choice" finally said Jungwon, with a broken voice. "I did what I had to do for you and I to stay together. I couldn't loose you after having lost everything else."

Hoseok could feel in Jungwon's voice that something was off. More than this whole messed up story.

"I can't believe it" he whispered.
"I didn't want you to leave me" said Jungwon. "You're all I have."

That last sentence wasn't louder than a whisper.
As Hoseok looked at Jungwon, he didn't see the adult he currently was. He saw the young fifteen years old lost boy, crying because he had been abandoned.
He saw someone who needed help and was scared to let go.
He saw his little brother gasping for air.

"Did you hear the end of the conversation?" asked Hoseok.
"The end?" asked Jungwon, frowning.
"That night, did you stay until the end of the conversation?" asked Hoseok once more.
"No. I couldn't stay any longer. When you agreed to leave, I left" explained Jungwon.

Hoseok walked closer and slowly hugged him.

"Why didn't you stay until the end of our conversation?" asked Hoseok in a whisper.

Jungwon's muscles were contracted. He certainly wasn't expecting a hug from Hoseok right now.

"What do you mean?" asked Jungwon.
"Do you know why Yoongi wanted to move?" added Hoseok.
"No" confessed Jungwon.

"He wanted to move to another town, to see if maybe there would be someone for you there" finally explained Hoseok as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

Jungwon froze in total shock.

"This is why we've been moving so much you and I for three hundred years" continued Hoseok. "He had noticed how alone you were and he saw himself in you. After all, he knew better than no one the pain of loneliness. He didn't want that for you. We talked about it a lot and he was sure that there was someone for you out there. Someone that would be there for you like Yoongi and I were for each other. With that in mind, I continued what Yoongi and I had planned. We just wanted you to find your soulmate and be happy as well."

Jungwon cried silently, realizing the whole truth.

"I'm so sorry" whispered Jungwon, feeling empty.

Hoseok sighed. He couldn't even begin the process everything that he was feeling, however, that could wait a little longer. Dealing with everything that Jungwon had done could wait a little longer.

There was something urgent he needed to do.
Yoongi still needed him, right now.

"Jungwon" he said, breathing deeply. "How do we break Yoongi's curse?"

Jungwon stepped back and looked into Hoseok's eyes.

"I don't know" he said, trembling with his whole body.