[VIXX Neo] Butterflies

L

"Hakyeon?"

I was on my way back to my room since N was taking longer than I expected. Somehow, I had a gut feeling that something was wrong and I was always never wrong. The darkened skies and thunder outside the house was not helping either.

Thankfully, I found N outside my room staring at the picture frames. I breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't taken.

Sensing my presence, his head snapped to my direction and his eyes shot to my face. He had on a confused expression and watched me sliently.

"What's wrong?"

N dazedly skimed over me and I started to walk to his side. This time, I checked his body. He wasn't hurt but he seemed in shock.

"Hakyeon.. Come."

I gently grabbed his wrist and pushed him softly towards the bench near the window. After a while of thinking, I prompted him once more.

"I'm not sure what's going on. But just know I'm here for you and I will help you as much as I can. Hakyeon, please, tell me what's wrong?"

Seeing him much nearer, I realised he had tears in his eyes which were threatening to spill over. His gaze shifted back to the photo frames and he finally spoke.

"Who's the man in that picture?"

I looked over and involuntarily recoiled.

"He's my younger brother. D-Daehyun was caught up in some things and we lost contact with him. I've been trying to find him but it's always dead ends after dead ends."

I felt a hand on my head and realized N was patting me, sensing my low spirits. N sighed as he peered at me with hesitation. He stopped patting me and took my hand in his.

"I knew him in university."

I straightened my back as I hear about this new piece of information. I tried not to interrupt N and quietly listened on.

"I wasn't going to tell you this because I didn't want you to have a bad impression of me. But it seems we met for a reason and I don't like keeping secrets between friends. Especially those who mean a lot to me."

He smiled and the corners of my mouth automatically curved upwards.

"Daehyun and some of his friends were undergoing a lawsuit right?"

"Yes, from what I had gathered it was about some monetary issues with the company they were with."

"Yes.

Back then, I did not want to rely on my family for finances. Daehyun was a close friend of mine and he introduced me to do part-time admin duties at that company, TSE.

One day, I knew something was wrong with some calculations and asked my senior about it. However, he ignored me and dismissed my doubts. I carried on with my duties since there wasn't much else I could do.

Soon, the boys and Daehyun reached out to me about their issue and asked me if there was something weird about the funds the company had. Then, they shared with me how they felt something was amiss about their salary and could not trust the company so they wanted to file a lawsuit against them."

"They needed evidence."

I interrupted. I closed my mouth immediately but he didn't mind it and continued.

"Yes, I told them about what I had found and then they had the evidence they needed. I was asked to stand in the trial as a witness since I was the one who discovered the slush fund."

N took a moment to breathe in deeply.

"But the company... They tried other means to silence the boys. They got some third party or somebody to threaten their families and those close to them. They fired me, of course, and I was not getting away without the same treatment. I had to stay away from my family. You know what happened next: My sister removed me from the family registry for Nemo and the household's safety.