DYSTOPIA | BOOK 2 of Death of the Future Series

FIVE

MIN JAE 

Min Jae knew he was about to get hit the second he spotted his sister walking toward him with a frown on her face. He closed his eyes as the impact of her hand hit his cheek, causing his head to turn sharply to the left. The sting had his eyes watering.

 Gritting his teeth, he forced his head to turn and open his eyes.

 And there she was, staring at him with her eyes filled with fierce anger.

"You're so arrogant," she spit out, cursing at him in Korean as she pushed him a bit with the tips of her fingers.

Min Jae let his body get pushed a little before he stood straighter, looking away from her for a brief moment before turning his attention back at her. She thinned her lips, the look on her face not melting away.

When he continued to not answer, he saw the disappointment crawling into her eyes, showing how much he had let her down. He averted his gaze again, this time he made sure he kept them to the ground.

"Why didn't you attend Appa's— he's..." she started with her voice strong only for it to fade away.

Min Jae took in a deep breath, shaking his head. "I didn't want to."

"But why?" she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I— I know you had your differences with him but to not even see him one last time?"

He wished he could find the words to tell Seo that it wasn't just because he viewed their father differently from how she did, but it was more than that. He felt cheated by his death.

It was just a feeling he couldn't shake off no matter how hard he tried to remember that he wouldn't be able to see Appa again. As much as he disliked how Appa favourited Ricky and Seo over him, it didn't refute the fact that that man was his father. And there had been a part of him that wanted to prove to Appa that he was worthy of his love and attention.

To be robbed of that chance before he could do anything was like a slap to his face.

But would Seo understand this?

Ricky certainly hadn't.

The golden boy just saw him like how everyone else saw him — troublesome, a mistake.

Different. 

A coward.

For just wanting to lead a life where a death sentence wasn't looming over his head was cowardly — he held back the need to scoff.

"Are you listening to me, Jae?" Seo said, catching his attention.

He lifted his eyes to look at her, noting that her eyebrows were furrowed. At last, his dry throat managed to cough up a few words, enough to get a reply across. "I don't know what you want me to say."

"You don't know what to say," Seo said, repeating each word with disbelief colouring her voice. "Jae..."

Unable to hear the way her perception on him changed, he took a step back, letting the hand on his shoulder drop.

"It was my decision," he said. "And I preferred not attending Appa's funeral. I'm sorry if you think that was cowardly of me or whatever, but Seo— I— I can't, alright? I just can't."

"And I want to know why!" Seo exclaimed, raising her hands with her eyes wide. "You never tell me what's going on in that head of yours, Jae. Not even Appa knows and because of that—"

"Appa never took the time to really get to know me, Seo," Min Jae cut her off with a bite. "He has done nothing for me. I am... Ricky is his son. Not me. As far as everyone's concerned, I'm a mistake. I'm a disgrace. A—"