blood moon. | svt au

nightfall.

[ 7:03 am, kira mountains, japan ]

"hyung, where are you going?" chan asks, standing up from his position and walking towards his older brother. his brother turned to him, "just the usual, chan. i'm just going to deliver these charcoals around the village, don't worry, i'll come home as soon as possible." jihoon says with a small smile on his face, reaching out for his younger brother's hair to ruffle it softly.

"oh, but don't you need help? those seem heavy." he eyes the large basket filled with charcoals behind his brother's back.

"it's fine, i've been carrying these ever since the old man died. these weigh nothing to me." jihoon shrugs. being the oldest of the three, he had the responsibility to do so.

chan felt down after hearing about their father who passed away before he could be even able to meet him at all, he didn't know anything about him, except for the stories his brothers tell him from experiences and what they remembered from when he was still alive. "i still wished i had the chance to meet dad." he mumbles, looking down.

"hey, trust me when i tell you this." jihoon places a hand on chan's shoulder. "he loves you, chan. if i remember correctly, he cried when he first get to meet you- woah,  what's with the face?" jihoon holds his shoulder, chan sighs. "hyung, i-it's just- it's unfair. you had the chance to meet him while he passed away before i even got to be conscious of my surroundings."

"well, he was already weak when i was born. we didn't get to do much either. except for-"

"hoonie! channie! breakfast is ready! we're having jihoon's favourite, rice cakes!" seokmin, their step-brother, who was adopted (2 years ago after jihoon was born) from an orphanage, yells with a bright smile.

jihoon's eyes instantly lit up, he's a sucker for anything that has the ingredient, rice.

"pack me five! i got to get going now, seok." he orders, seokmin chuckles, "right away, sir!" he then goes back to the kitchen to fulfil his order.

chan looks at his brother again, "did seokmin get to meet dad?" jihoon nods. "yeah, i think i was around five at the time and he was four." 

"hyung." chan tugs at jihoon's haori. his brother looks at him, "hm?"

"can i come with you? please? just this once, hoon- brother."

jihoon gave him a look, "chan, you and i both know that it is dangerous out there. who knows? maybe these creatures are still lurking around the area, we musn't let out guard down just yet by walking freely." chan pouted, "i doubt they're not even real. we haven't had a sighting of them for years now, they're probably non-existent by now."

"we don't know, we can't assume that just yet. and from what father used to tell me, they hunt their prey at night and in pure darkness only. i haven't seen one myself but i do believe the old man so, anyways-"

"jihoonie! here are your packed rice cakes and i also added you coke, oh and eat this one as you go. it's better to eat them while they're still hot and fresh." seokmin puts a rice cake in jihoon's mouth, making the other curse. "shit! it was still steaming-" he covers his mouth, chewing on it painfully. seeing his pain made both chan and seokmin burst out laughing.

once jihoon cooled down and their laughter died, the oldest gave his brothers a small hug before saying farewell.

as jihoon set foot outside, chan ran up to him, hugging him from behind. "hyung, please give me this one chance, i want to help you." jihoon inhaled deeply, sighing. "chan, i know you want to help but i'm perfectly capable of working by myself. in fact, i don't think i should be the one you'd help. mom needs you, seokmin can't do this alone, chan. please? stay home and take care of them, take care of yourself too, for hyung." chan wanted to counter but decided against it, it's true, they needed his help more. their mother was continously getting weaker everyday, it would be such a duty to do the chores and as well that taking care of their mother alone, he didn't want seokmin to overwork himself.