Yeonwoo asked Heeyoung to help him with the dishes while their parents went in their room. Her brother was talking in cliche when they started but eventually he asked her to sit down and talked to him.
"Mama and Papa loves you." Yeonwoo said. "Don't think that they don't. Papa was just mad and he can lose some of his control when he's mad."
"When you wanted to go to Seoul to study, he was mad at you, too. I don't remember him hurting you."
"Do you think they love me more than you?"
"I think you're the favorite child."
Yeonwoo chuckled while messing her hair.
"Let me tell you when Papa lose his cool on me once... It happened that day when we got back home from the hospital after you were born. I ran away from home." Yeonwoo smirked. "Papa was really mad at me, yeah, he spanked me quite hard. I can't sit straight for days."
"Why did you ran away?"
"In this family, I'm the odd one out but Papa accepted me. I remember being happy when I was a kid because mama would always be happy when he's around. Then I started being happy because of him, he loved me even if I'm not his real son. I finally experienced having a father." Yeonwoo said.
"When they broke up before I thought he died like my bio dad. Mama was always crying—" He looked at his sister. "You know mama right? When she's sad she would cry and not talk. I saw him on tv and called him while I was crying. I remember him crying as well. After a few months, they got back together."
"When you were born, I began questioning my significance to him. I know he's not my father and since they have you. I thought— I thought Papa would love me less. So I ran away. When he saw me, he cried when I told him I'm jealous of you. He explained that he doesn't care about my DNA, I grew up with him, I'm his son, he loves me like his own."
"If Papa can love me like that— imagine how much more he can love you." Yeonwoo said. "Sorry for being a dick for these past few years but I just can't connect to you. I always ask mama about you, you know? I just can't talk to you because— I'm scared you'll drift away even more."
"Thank you, oppa." Heeyoung said.
"Go to sleep. I think mama called your school already. You and you boyfriend are excused this week. Call him when you can. He's waiting for your call." Yeonwoo said.
"I will. Tomorrow. I'm kinda tired today." Heeyoung said.
"Wanna play baseball tomorrow? Bring your boyfriend. I'll take a leave from work. I need some distraction anyway." Yeonwoo said.
"Okay. I loved that." Heeyoung smiled for the first time that day.
——
She was about to sleep when she remembered her phone. She opened the photos and it was images of their date last Saturday.
Then there was a video. Before opening it, she remembered something. She remembered talking to Taewon before going home. She remembered Hayoon.
She opened the car door and Seokju reach out for a kiss. "Wanna go home or wanna eat somewhere?" Seokju asked.
"We can't always eat in restos, you'll ran out money at that rate." Heeyoung said still looking outside. Taewon was still leaning on his car waiting for Hayoon.
