The Invasion (Part 2 of the KaiSoo Fanfic Series)

Chapter 20

Siwon finishes standing up from the chair and begins walking toward Jongin and Xiumin, who stand in place, utterly at a loss for words. 

"You know," he says, " I was wondering when you'd come back. When the homesickness would finally get to you and you'd come running back begging for forgiveness."

Xiumin furrows his eyebrows and leans closer to Jongin, saying to him, "What's going on here?"

At first, Jongin is too in shock to answer, his lips sealed together tightly as he stares at Siwon and as Siwon stares back at him. But then he finally lets go of the breath he had been holding inside his lungs and replies. 

"I don't know," he says, partially lying for the sake of Xiumin's own mental sanity. Then, he directs his words toward Siwon. "Where is he? Where's Asher?"

"Oh, don't worry," Siwon says, smiling a bit as he shakes his head. "He is perfectly fine and safe where he is." Softly, he lets out a gust of air that comes across as more of a chuckle than a sigh to Jongin, opening up his suit jacket slightly to pull something from its inner pocket. Jongin's heart just about drops and melts under the heat and acidity of his stomach when he sees Siwon holding the book in his hands. "I can see why you two would enjoy this book," he says as he opens it a bit and pages through it for a moment, making Jongin's eyes flicker back to him. "I read a bit of it myself and I must admit, it is quite the read, no?"

"I'll only ask one more time," Jongin says after having sighed. "Where is Asher?"

Snickering, Siwon continues to pace the floor. "I don't know if you know this or not," he begins, pointing the book toward Jongin as if to point at him, "but your father and I used to be quite close when we were young. Almost like brothers, really. We did everything together, except read, of course." He exhales and looks down at the book after moving it into two hands. "I never did enjoy leisure reading as much as he did. And he was far more competitive than me." He begins pacing.

"That's not what I heard," Jongin interjects as he continues to watch the elder's every move. "I heard you were the one who wanted to beat him all the time."

"Hmm," Siwon hums as he tilts his head to the side and nods afterward. "You're not completely wrong there. But, you see, Jongin, someone or something has to create envy; it doesn't just come to exist on its own. And for me, that someone was none other than your father."

"Are you saying he deliberately tried to make you jealous of him?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Siwon shrugs. "Only he would know." His face falls as his memories come back and he suddenly comes to a stop. "He got everything. The better room, the better bike, the better toys, the better car..." He trails off slightly but pauses before taking a deep breath and raising an eyebrow. "He even got the girl in the end," he adds, putting a satirical smile as he locks eyes with Jongin. "He wasn't better than me or smarter, yet...he got everything, everything I should have gotten. And the worst part was that he pretended to not know he was getting everything. He acted as if he was just waltzing through life doing his best and somehow the gods up above praised him for that and granted him with all these things he didn't deserve." Siwon scoffs and shakes his head, still burning holes into Jongin's eyes. "He tried to act humble, but he knew...he knew better than anyone that he was dad's favorite son."

That's the moment that Jongin's face falls flat.

"W-What..." His voice is breathy and overcome by a surplus of oxygen. "W-What did you say?" Siwon looks at him for a silent second, two eyebrows now raised, and then laughs.

"Oh, that's right, I forgot to tell you, Jongin," he says, angling his body toward the younger. "I'm your uncle."

And his heart falls next.