sᴇʀᴇɴᴅɪᴘɪᴛʏ- [ʟ. ꜱᴜʜʏᴇᴏᴋ]

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ

Hwang Tae was a straight up protagonist from a book. Perfect grades. Handsome looks. Charming personality. Personality that was inflicted across the Hwang household.

Being a child of the Hwang family meant responsiblity. The three children, the mother and a missing father. The three siblings got on well but from the responsibilty, their personalities changed.

The eldest brother, he drifted apart first. Becoming President of his home-room, the football captain, having to maintain the perfect eldest structure, protecting his siblings, he soon fell apart, now was no longer the elder brother figure the other siblings saw, more of a stranger.

The middle child, the perfect child, the favourite child, was Yeji. Having inherited their mother's looks the most, Yeji was forced in a lady-like fake personality. Charming smiles and laughs that were hollow. Soon, Yeji also fell apart. Another stranger to the youngest.

And last but not least the youngest. Having the two older siblings being perfect, that standard was also expected from him. Having to be the vice-president wasn't enough. It had to be the top. Ice skating lead for the school, volleyball captain, theatre main cast for every single school production. It was safe to say that although he wasn't as pretty as his sister, or as witty minded as his brother, he was the lead in most of the clubs. Not what his mother wanted but it was the middle for her standards. He too soon drifted from the reality and began morphing into expectations. Perfect grades, charming and polite smiles and laughs, perfect life... except that his life wasn't perfect.

Although through the personalities, all the siblings knew one thing. They had missed the life before the pressure was pushed onto them.

The times where the siblings got on so well they would be mistaken for triplets. The eldest being the protective brother, the brother who would pick them up from sport practices, although only being a few years older than them. The brother who would make them food when their mother and father were busy. The brother that would help them with their homework.

The sister who would always mess about, choosing her baby brother's outfits or stealing her olders. The girl who would always have patience with the other two, being called a peace-maker between the two banters the brothers had. The girl who was there to comfort the brothers if they had a bad day, not taking the ages by the ages and letting them spill out their feelings.

The youngest that would annoy the siblings as much as he wanted, knowing that by the end of the day, they would have no hard feelings. The youngest that always tried to help the oldest bake, the kitchen always ending up as a mess while the sister recorded the moments while watching. The youngest who would always try to stand up for the people mocking his siblings, although in the end, he knew the consequences of being mocked himself. The siblings were inseperable back then but it all changed overnight.

The oldest, middle, and youngest were in the eldest's bedroom, hearing the screams and smashes of glass from downstairs. The Hwangs were wealthy but soundproof rooms weren't installed. The distinct screams of their mother and yells of anger from their father. All of a sudden, the father was going upstairs. Upstairs for a suitcase then heading out the front door where a car was faintly heard starting up and leaving. The elder two knew what had happened while the youngest was still in a quiet daze.

Their father had left them.

All night, the siblings slept in the same room while their mother raged downstairs, more smashes of glass and pops of alcohol bottles being opened. The siblings woke up as different people the next day. All of them quiet while the mother went over the rules on what was expected from the children. Consequences were harsh. It was the cane, starving or possibly even sleeping outside.