"For the ones who let go, even when it felt like their whole world was walking away."
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The room was draped in darkness, an unsettling stillness clinging to every corner. The air felt heavy, as if the house itself was holding its breath.
Each step Seungcheol took echoed through the silent living room, a place so meticulously maintained that it could have been mistaken for untouched. But Seungcheol knew better.
It had been three days—three agonizing days since Joshua walked out, and Seokmin disappeared from everything, including the company.
It was the silence that drove Seungcheol here. Despite the mess of emotions between them, Seokmin was still his brother.
Wonwoo and Jihoon had reached out the moment they heard about the collapse, but Seokmin had shut them all out, locking himself away in a world of his own making.
That same silence now clung to Seungcheol like a weight, squeezing the air from his lungs as he stood in the middle of the empty home, feeling a chill that gnawed at him more than the darkness ever could.
Seungcheol’s hand found the switch on the wall, flipping it on, bathing the room in a dim light. He scanned the space, hoping—somehow—to find Seokmin inside, waiting in the shadows.
But the house remained empty, eerily so, until a soft noise broke through from the back of the house. He frowned, his pulse quickening, and without thinking, he moved toward the sound.
He jogged down the stairs, his footsteps a quiet thud against the wooden steps, and made his way into the garden.
That’s where he found him.
Seokmin was crouched low to the ground, hidden between the wilted sunflowers that drooped over him like sentinels.
Their once vibrant faces now turned away from the light, just as Seokmin did from the world.
He was doing something, his hands moving in slow, deliberate motions, but from the distance, Seungcheol couldn’t make it out.
There was something unsettling about the scene. The garden, once filled with life, seemed to reflect the emptiness inside Seokmin.
And as Seungcheol watched him from the threshold, a wave of unspoken grief hit him, crashing through the tension in the air.
This wasn’t the Seokmin he knew—this was someone broken, haunted by a silence too dark for Seungcheol to understand.
But Seungcheol didn’t move. Not yet. Instead, he stood there, watching the brother he thought he knew unravel, his heart twisting painfully in his chest.
"What are you doing here?" Seokmin's voice cut through the quiet, cold and detached. He didn’t bother to turn around, his focus remaining on whatever he was doing.
Seungcheol blinked, his steps faltering as he walked over to the armchair nearby, sitting down slowly. His eyes landed on a half-empty glass of latte sitting on the table.
YOU ARE READING
Arrange Devotion | SS
FanfictionBOOK #2 They say love heals scars, but Seokmin's scars were lessons-bitter reminders that twisted him into a creature of darkness. His life was a series of brutal lessons that shaped him into someone who burns with an unquenchable fire. Protecting...
