𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙫𝙖𝙨 • 𝙚𝙣𝙝𝙮𝙥𝙚𝙣 + 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣

𝗼𝗻𝗲

𝙞𝙛 𝙞 𝙖𝙢 𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣, 𝙄'𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩, 𝙞 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚.

𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚 - 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙤𝙜 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪

Everything fell apart. As time had stopped for him, he watched and stood in the same spot he was standing in for minutes when his Aunt's phone rang from the kitchen. He expected to hear her squeal over the phone to chat to her friends she hasn't met for ages, but he didn't know that he would watch as his aunt fell to her knees, shocked, and turned around to meet them with teary eyes.

He wished that he knew everything. He hated that  he was being excluded and treated as if he was too young to understand the struggles of being an adult. Nothing came to his mind when his aunt rushed to the stair to grab her a random white bag stuffed in their clothes. "Heeseung, grab your siblings and wait at the gate," Aunt said with an urgent tone, he wanted to refute but something tells him that he should do something - anything for he knew that there was something wrong.

He didn't hesitate to carry Sunghoon in his arms and held Jake's hands with Jay following in his lead towards the gate. They stood there outside shivering from the cold on a chilly summer night with their thin clothes and winter shoes, and they hadn't gotten a clue of what was happening. "Hyung, it's cold," Jake said with a shivering tone, hands tightly gripping his hands over his own. "Let's just wait, maybe eomma was planning a surprise party for us. They were getting busy over something. And I heard that they were planning to buy us an early present."

"Really?" Sunghoon asked with his head buried in Heeseung's neck. He patted his back in slow motions, trying to let the younger sleep since it was way past his bedtime. His eyes wandered to Jay who had been silent the whole time, but as he looked closer at his face, he noticed that Jay had been silently holding back his tears. Why is he crying? They're just going somewhere else.

"Yeah, remember that eomma promised us that we will be going on a trip?" Heeseung added with excitement to his tone. As if he was sure that everything was alright - he wants it to be fine. "There's going to be a rented car waiting for us with balloons decorated in the sides and when the car opens, eomma's going to surprise us with cake in her hands. I heard that she will treat us to your favorite restaurant, Sunghoon. They're also going to take us shopping in the mall. You can buy anything you want, Jay. Uncle Yuto is giving us his credit card. And then, we'll go to the seaside and enjoy the sunset."

Heeseung was about to continue when the front door opened and closed again since aunt locked it, running to grab them outside. Her arms were waving hurriedly as if time shouldn't be wasted, and she kept tightening her grasp in her hair everytime taxis zoomed past her. "Please let us in, we need to go to the hospital!" Aunt Nara shouted as she stopped in the way of a random taxi whose driver's face softened and hurriedly let them in. They huddled in together at the small seats for three children buckled in at the back while Aunt Nara was seated in the front and eyes fixated outside of the window.

"Here, wear your coats," aunt spoke with a tired voice, handing over the winter jackets to the younger ones before she helped him and Jay zip close theirs. "Where are we going, Aunt Nara?" Jay asked for the first time on this eventful night as Heeseung turned his head to meet the silently sobbing woman. He had never since her cry in his whole life, she was always the fun aunt and the life of the party. Seeing her break down into a sob was new, and then he looked back again to the innocent gazes of his younger siblings.

"We're going to... see your mother and uncle. They're sleeping right now, so you should be quiet, okay?" Nara explained to the best that she could, but he couldn't understand why she was making a big fuss about it. They are just tired. They're sleeping. "I don't get it," he muttered as he leaned over to Jay who seemed to understand the situation.

Heeseung quietly intertwined his fingers to Jake's hands, trying to distract the younger one in whatever was going on. He may not know what was happening in this situation, but his instincts jumped in to try and let the younger ones not be aware. They may have been living their whole life with the dangers of the society in this country. But he wants them to still live their lives as free as they can - that's what their mother would have done.

Maybe it was obvious to his aunt that he was trying to distract his other siblings from this situation. Or else why wouldn't she give them her phone to play some snake installed when she valued her privacy more than anyone else. It worked with the younger kids trying to argue over who goes first and second; while they were quiet and trying to calm their beating heart filled with anxiety.

"If I tell you right now," Jay began with his tiny fingers fiddling with the winter jacket in his body, eyes wandering everywhere except for Heeseung's eyes. "Will you still believe me?"