SPOILT ROYALS | JAEYONG NCT

27: Wake Up

When Taeyong awoke, he couldn't believe his eyes. It must've been a dream, that was the only was the sight before him would make any sort of sense. The voice couldn't be real, the body had to be a figment, but those eyes, the deep, brown, unforgettable eyes was what made him so sure that this could've been nothing closer to the truth.

"Mom, h-he's a-awake. H-He's awake!"

There was a sound of shattering glass on the floor and a familiar cry was heard. Taeyong's eyes shot open, now fully awake, alerted by the sound and by the figure in front of his eyes. He sat up using his hands, shaking off his tiredness and dizzy spell. A pair of warm arms engulfed his figure, trapping him in an unbreathable hug, as if if their grip was any looser that Taeyong would somehow manage to slip away from underneath their fingertips and disappear. A second pair of arms followed the first ones and Taeyong felt like he could barely breath. He inhaled the mop of dark brown hair that was tucked under his chin.

His brother always smelt woodsy, and his mother like flowers.

"Jeno?" Taeyong's voice came out no more than a whisper. Everything in him was inclined to the believe that this - whatever this was - was a dream. A mere figment of his imagination, either that or he had died and gone to heaven, a place he didn't feel like he truly deserved to end up in all things considered. But it was all far too real and far too physical to all have been a dream.

Jeno pulled away from him with a smile so radiant it could have rivalled the stars. His eyes had slit into crescents and Taeyong's breath had been taken away because he didn't ever think he'd see that face again, he didn't ever think he'd be lucky enough to even catch a glimpse of him from afar. And here he was, holding on to Taeyong's hands with his own larger ones despite being younger in age, smiling up at his older brother. Taeyong couldn't believe he was real.

It didn't make sense.

His mother, too, was alive and well. She held his face in his hands, alternating kisses between both of his cheeks. Taeyong's blank stare travelled from his younger brother to his mother. She looked... different. It was as expected. Her eyes were sunken, a worrying shade of purple underneath them, and her skin looked rough and tired, though in spite of all that, she looked joyful. So, so joyful, it was as if someone had gifted her the world and a million more right on a golden platter. Both his brother and his mother were in front of him alive.

Returning from his state of shock and momentary paralysis, Taeyong flung himself forward, wrapping as much of his arms as he could around both Jeno and his mother. They hugged him equally as tight in return and Taeyong felt tears spring to and sting his eyes. He sniffled into Jeno's shoulder, wetting the boy's shirt with tears. He could feel hands belonging to both members of his family rub what was supposed to be comforting circles on his back, but he could only focus on the roughness of their palms, a testament to the tribulations they had faced by the Lee's hands. The feeling only made him sob harder.

He didn't know how long he remained in their arms before he finally pulled away, sniffling and rubbing his dampened cheeks with his hands. He blinked back the remnants of his tears to fully take in their smiling figures and was once again overcome with the sudden arge to cry. He put his hand to his mouth to suppress a sob, shutting his eyes.

"It's okay, Bubu. We're here - Mama is here, Jeno is here, okay?" Mrs Lee leaned forward to wipe away her son's tears with her thumbs. It broke her heart to see him like that so she put on a strained smile if only to appease him. And Taeyong choked a sob into his sleeve, being able to tell his mother's real smile from her fake ones, and upset at himself for needing to be comforted in the first place. His family was here coddling him when he should have been the one comforting them after all they've been through. The guilt weighed heavy on his heart and he forced the tears to stay back.