Home

Chapter 4

Despite having no classes that day, Euntaek chose to stay outside rather than to go home.

He lived in an average house with an average family and an average lifestyle. His parents got up early in the morning to go to work and came home around dinner time every day. He was at the university most of the time, and the only one who didn't seem too busy was his twin sister, Eunbi. She claimed to be babysitting Monday through Friday, but one could never be too sure about her.

On the outside, he lived a pretty nice life. He had a happy family, good grades, and lots of talents. Not only could he sing and play many instruments, he could also write incredible songs and stories. He was an artsy boy who could be rather shy— your perfect flower boy except for one thing.

He wasn't happy.

Actually, he couldn't quite remember the last time he'd truly been happy. Perhaps it was in his mixed up memories from elementary school, or maybe even before that. Perhaps in his childhood. As time passed, his memories seemed to blur with fantasies and dreams, and he could no longer recall what was real and what was not. At least, that's how it was for the happy memories.

Euntaek had many, many bad memories, too. He wished he could confuse these for dreams, but they were far too real. There weren't any real instances, just manipulation and the occasional use of violence when he didn't immediately comply. Euntaek was smart, but he was also very kind and very timid, which made him an easy target for his peers. No matter how much he wanted to, he could never seem to say "no" to someone's request.

Ever since middle school (when his "smartness" first became known to all of his classmates), he had constantly been used for answers. Even now, he spent most nights doing his own homework and then everyone else's. Usually, there were about four or five assignments he had to do each night for other people, and he was always so, so tired.

They started off as small tasks and homework sheets, but, slowly, they became essays and projects. At first, it was just friendly help, but then he tried to stop and got threats. Things like this had been going on since middle school, but all the while, his family didn't seem to notice a thing. Somehow, not even his sister, who had always been at the same school as him, had heard of these events.

But all of that was his fault.

Why?

Because Euntaek was far too good at pretending.

"Hey Euntaek," Ha Byungchul called from behind him, "You're paying for tonight, right? I wouldn't want to bring your sister into this, you know, since you've been such a good boy these past few years. I'd hate to hurt her because you decided to run away." He was probably the person who gave Euntaek the most work to do.

"Don't worry," he whispered, forcing a smile onto his face. His beautiful, blue hair danced in the cool air around him, "I'll take care of it."

"See you at my house then," the black haired boy said, a smirk on his face, "We have to finish this project, remember?" His dark brown eyes and jet black hair gave him an extremely intimidating look.

'We?' Euntaek thought bitterly, his lips pressed into a thin line. No, there is no 'we.' There never has been, and there never will be. There's just me, and there will always be just me.

Even now, the bad memories were still being made.

~*~*~*~

Euntaek needed to be at Byungchul's house by 11 o'clock. Like most nights, this evening would consist of Euntaek rushing to finish Byungchul's project, hoping to get even a wink of sleep, while the black haired boy invited his friends over to create a mess that he'd rather not be a part of. It wasn't something he wanted to consider "the usual," but at this point, it had become a part of his routine. 

It was around 10:30 now, and he didn't want to arrive early, so he decided to sit down at a café for a while. When he walked inside, he saw a brown haired waiter standing behind the counter with a small child in his arms. In front of them was a pink haired girl— a very familiar pink haired girl.

Euntaek gulped, "E-Eunbi...?"

His twin sister spun around at the call of her name and smiled brightly when she saw her little brother, "Euntaek?! What are you doing here??"

He shoved his hands into his pockets and did his best to avoid her gaze, "I... didn't have any classes tonight."

"Did you want something? I can pay for you," she said sweetly, linking her arm with his.

He glanced around, suddenly self-conscious, "Just... don't get anything expensive..." Don't waste your money on someone like me.

From behind them, a rather rough sounding voice called out, "Hey, loser."

Minsoo, Eunbi, and Euntaek all turned to look at the owner of this voice, who turned out to be none other than Park Hyojin. He loomed over them, practically an entire head taller, and his eyes were a piercing, icy blue. In other words, he was extremely intimidating, especially for a boy as soft and fragile as Euntaek.

He nodded towards the door, "Meet me outside."

Eunbi and Minsoo exchanged a glance as her twin brother followed him out of the door.

That was the first time Hyojin had left the café before 11 o'clock.