A House Made of Cards {Ateez au}

♧Prologue #6 - Jongho ♧

Anger was all Jongho could feel.

How dare his father choose his brother over him. San was weak. He cared too much for other people, he would never be able to do what needed to be done.

Jongho on the other hand, knew what needed to be done to ensure the safety of the witches.

Humans needed to be kept in check.

He had to admit, angrily leaving his home wasn't the best choice he could've made, but he couldn't be there anymore. Not after his father chose San over him.

He hated his family. If he could even call them that.

He'd do better on his own anyway.

As he stood there in the pouring rain, he realized he would need to find himself somewhere to stay, and a job to make money.

Maybe leaving home wasn't the best idea.

"Choi Jongho?" A woman's voice said from beside him. She had shoulder-length, black hair and a black umbrella in her hand, she wore a long jacket that reached slightly above her ankles.

He jumped, "Depends who's asking," he replied.

The woman softly laughed, "I'm Park Jihyo," she offered, a sparkle in her eye.

Jihyo. Jihyo? He repeated the name to himself a couple of times to figure out what made it so familiar. An audible gasp escaped his mouth as he realized who was standing in front of him.

"You're the current red witch?" He said, eyes wide.

"The one and only," she said, still smiling.

"What do you need?" He asked.

"I want to train you, Jongho," She said, expression suddenly going serious. "I can feel the potential you have, you'd make a great red witch."

"I haven't had the best experience with witches in the past, you know," He said.

"That's okay, I can train you to get revenge on your brother and father."

"How do you know-"

"I'm the red witch, Jongho, a witch of the mind."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"I'll train with you."

++

Two months later, Jongho was ready to receive the power of the Red Witch.

He'd been waiting for this, he wanted this more than anything in the world. He would show his father and brother that he was ready for power.

The ceremony was rather quick, Jihyo transferred her magic immediately and then Jongho passed out.

He woke up on a bed however many hours later feeling strong and energized. He felt like he could do anything.

He quickly walked out of the room he was in to see Jihyo cooking, he couldn't tell what and he couldn't bring himself to care.

"Where are you off to?" She asked, not looking up at him.

"To kill my brother and father, where else?" He said, rolling his eyes.

"You can't kill them," She said seriously, turning around to face him.

"Wasn't the whole point of giving me these powers and training me so that I could get revenge on them?" He asked, getting heated.

"Jongho," She started, cautiously looking into his eyes. "I didn't mean you should kill them."

"What else could you have meant?" He demanded, confusion turning to anger.

"There are more ways to get revenge than killing, Jongho," She said, her voice increasing in volume.

"Like what?"

"You could have worked harder to prove you were better than him!" She insisted.

"Could have worked harder? Are you calling me weak?"

"How is that calling you weak?"

"You're just like my brother, pretending to care about me. You only care about yourself!"

"You can't kill your family, Jongho," She yelled, grabbing his arm.

"Watch me," he hissed.

"Jong-"

Jihyo cut herself off, making pained noises. The front of her oversized white shirt was stained red. Blood dripped from her throat to her shirt and onto the floor.

Jongho removed the knife that he had stabbed into her throat.

He stared at her lifeless body, with no emotion on his face.

He took the lighter from the drawer and switched it on. He walked to the nearest curtain and lit it on fire.

As he walked away from the burning house, he didn't feel ashamed, scared, or even guilty.

He only felt angry.

He seemed to feel angry a lot these days.