Dancing With The Devil

two worlds.

Emrie's POV

Mom had returned to the ballroom alone. She went up to Kim Daewon and hooked her arm with his. Sehun returned shortly after, coming from the hall that the caterers and waiters came from. He had a suspicious look on his face. The face of defeat, the face that he always had when he was second-guessing himself. "What happened?" I asked Sehun as he avoided eye contact with me.

"Nothing" he brushed me off and tried to walk away.

"Hey" I yelled back, pulling him by the arm. The rest of my brothers returned to our table.

"Dude, you good?" Taemin asked, putting a hand on his little brother's shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Sehun persisted, shoving off Taemin's hand.

"Are you sure? What did she say?" Taemin continued.

"Just that I was making a mistake," he said lowly and turning his back towards us.

"Doing what?"

"Teaming up with you guys"

"Don't tell me you're switching sides!" I yelled. I had never seen my brother act this way. Sehun, who had always been the most thoughtful person in our family; Sehun, who had always taken my side even if I chose not to take his advice. Sehun, the person in my family I always trusted to see things more clearly than I could.

"Emrie... Calm dow-" Taemin stopped me, putting his arm out and holding me back.

"Are you seriously going to listen to her?!" I continued, smacking his arm down. He shook his head and let out a breath of defeat, knowing he couldn't stop my wrath.

"Em," Joonho glared at me. His voice carried a warning.

"Maybe Mom's right! Stop thinking you're the hero here! You're just as much a villain as Dad. Maybe joining Mom is the best thing I can do for myself!" He yelled back. I could see Mom look over and smile as her attempt to break up our family again was leaning towards success.

"You're really going to side with the woman that abandoned you?! She doesn't care about you! She never did and she never will!" I prompted, approaching him grabbing his shoulder to face me.

"Emrie!" Jaehyun yelled, pushing me back and standing between Sehun and me.

"Why are you yelling at me? He's the one who's a traitor!" I argued back.

He faced me and said, "Calm down or I swear to God, I'll throw you over my shoulder and carry you out myself"

"Guys! She's trying to turn us against each other! We all need to calm down" Taemin said, cooling the tension between us.

"Taemin's right. We won't win this if we break up now. Sehun, what did she say?" Joonho said. This was the first time I saw Joonho act like the big brother and take charge. It was usually Taemin who mediated any fights or arguments.

"Don't worry about it. I'm figuring that out myself" he said, looking away from us. I was about to say some snarky remark but Taemin, knowing me all too well, gave me a look that silenced me instantly.

———————

A wave of the sound of utensils hitting their glasses muted the chatter of the whole ballroom. Dad stood in the front center with his chest puffed out like a football player who just won a big game.

"May I have everyone's attention please?" He spoke loudly. Dad had a very projecting voice that just speaking normally, it echoed through the room. "I hope everyone is having a grand time so far and the night is just getting started. I would like to take a second to recognize the return of my beloved children on this fine evening" he said, waving us over.