Vindictive [Beomkai]

2.

"Kai kai, come here!"

The little boy's wide grin was like sunshine as he made grabby hands towards Kai, an olive branch lent towards him. My little brother is finally accepting me.

"I'm here Kwangseok, what do you need?" The 12 year old took giddy steps towards his younger brother, like a puppy eager to please.

"I want carry! Like aeroplane!"

Kai was overwhelmed with joy, his little brother, for years, has antagonised him. The young boy doesn't know when it started, perhaps it was when Kwangseok noticed that Kai looked different to his parents and himself?

It was times like this when Kai wanted to be able to mold his face like play dough, he would push his too high of a nose bridge back, he would tame the deep double eyelids and opt for something more alike to his parents', more alike to the people surrounding him.

No one in daegu looked like him.

As a result of that, everyone seemed to direct confused gazes towards him. Which, 12 year old Kai could not tell if they were malicious or not.

Now, his own little brother is beginning to accept him.

With all his strength, Kai lifted him up.

He would later come to regret it.

Kwangseok was giggling, he thought they were having fun. That was, until he heard a key inserted, his parents were back.

Kai was even more eager now, he wanted to show his parents that they were getting along, Kwangseok was finally treating him like a sibling rather than an enemy.

How wrong he was.

He felt teeth suddenly buried into his forearm as the pain made his arms go limp for a second, it was a second, but enough for him to lose grip of his younger brother.

No time for reaction was given to him as he could only watch Kwangseok fall to the ground, erupting into tears. Immediately, he went to help his little brother up.

"Huening Kai! What have you done?!" A panicked voice stopped him in his tracks. His parents have obviously misunderstood the entire situation.

"Let me expl-"

a slap across his face.

His mother did not put too much strength in it, but it was enough for his world to spin as the sound of his little brother wailing and reiterating "Hueningkai is a baddie" rang throughout his brain.

Kai was in turmoil, he didn't know what to do, or how to explain himself, just sitting there, watching as his parents coo'd at his little brother.

That's what a real family should look like.

There it was again, the rush of impulse, the imagery of him punching his bitch of a brother over and over again until he has no teeth left to bite him, no more energy left to torture him. He quickly shook his head, where were these violent thoughts coming from?

In thought, Kai didn't even notice until there was evident wetness on his cheeks, that he was crying too now, uncontrollably. It didn't matter anyway, he learnt that since growing up.

His father turned around, towards him, "Apologise to your brother, right now."

The stern voice seemed to leave him no breath, no choices, but for the first time in his life, as if with all the courage he's worked up over these years, he spoke.

"No."

"Say that again."

"I said, I'm not apologising to him."

Kai stood up taller, gathering all the confidence he could to stabilise his shaking legs.

"We didn't raise you to be like this, Kai, I'm disappointed."

Unexpectedly, his father's furrowed brows fell into a frown. It hit somewhere deep inside Kai, the disappointment more powerful than his anger.

With that, Kai couldn't take it anymore, darting outside the still wide open door.