“Wah look at him! Jongin did it again. When is Sehun going to do anything?”

“Oh hush. There's no way he's going to do anything. He’s just a leecher that-”

“Sh! They can hear ya.”

Jongin glances over Sehun, taking notice of the even blanker look on his face. He sighs and pulls the rope to hoist the deer on his back into a better position.

If only they knew, he thinks.

“Oho! Big catch today boys! Good job!” their father pats both of their shoulders and gives them a large smile.

“You should save ‘big catch’ for when we go fishing,” Sehun comments. He holds the door open for Jongin and walks in right after him.

“You caught the thing so big catch it is! No need to be so specific Sehun,” Kris nods as he helps Jongin place the animal on the large wooden table. Sehun shrugs and puts his hands into his pants pockets. “Wow a beauty,” Kris marvels as he examines the animal. “We could get some money out of this one.”

“How much do you think?!” Jongin asks as he leans forward on the table, almost touching the carcass. “A hundred? Two? Maybe even three?!”

Kris hums as he lifts a leg up and carefully pays the stomach. “Three hundred sounds about right. Course depends on how we cut him up. Help me Jongin?”

“Course!” Jongin practically hops around the table to stand next his father. He grabs the larger butcher knife attached the wall behind them and hands it to Kris.

Sehun gulps as Kris begins to make his first cut. “I'll man out front then.”

He hurriedly rushes out of the back and into the front. Which has a large opening into the street with meat hanging from hooks. The sight makes Sehun's stomach lurch slightly, but he decided it's much better than watching his dad and brother cut up fresh meat.

He pushes away a piece of meat from hitting his head and stands at the window, waiting for someone to come up to buy something. Instead all he gets are side glances from the older women going out for their midday stroll in the village. Occasionally some of the men look at him, more specifically his arms, and laugh. Not even bothering to hold back.

Sehun rubs one of his arms and curses when he realizes he's only wearing a loose tee shirt.

He sighs and looks out to where the sun is. Unfortunately for him, a piece of meat decides to loosen itself from the hook and flops down onto the counter with a resounding ‘splat.’ Sehun curses under his breath as he grabs a clean rag to pick it up.

“I'll take that thank you very much,” a voice pipes up and Sehun tears his eyes from the meat to the small man standing in front of him, whom he recognizes as Kyungsoo. “How much?”

Sehun glances at the meat and places it on the hanging scale without a word. He looks at the weight and does the mental math for the price. “Ten fifty nine.”

Kyungsoo rummages through his wallet as Sehun wraps the meat in thick brown paper, tying twine around it to keep it from falling apart and tying a neat bow on top. Sehun and Kyungsoo wordlessly exchange the meat and money.

Kyungsoo placed the meat in the basket by his feet, Sehun noting all the various other foods and treats inside.

“Saw that deer Jongin lugged in. Nice hunting,” Kyungsoo smiles and Sehun nods. “Save a leg for me would you?” Sehun nods again. “Good. I'll give you some bread in exchange for saving it.” Sehun nods again. “Any requests? Croissant? Baguette? A pastry?” Sehun shakes his head.

“You can ask Jongin,” Sehun suggests in a quiet voice. “I don't really have a preference.”

“Hm,” Kyungsoo taps his chin as if in deep thought. “If it's Jongin then it'll have to be the custard bread. Alright. Thank you Sehun.” Sehun nods. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye. Sorry you had to talk with me instead of Jongin,” Sehun mumbles. Kyungsoo shakes his head with a laugh. “I mean it…”

“I'm fine with either of you two. You're just as fun to talk to,” Kyungsoo reached across the counter and pats Sehun on the shoulder. “Talk to me more next time. Okay?”

“I'll try. No guarantees,” Sehun mutters and rubs the spot Kyungsoo touched.

“Trying is better than nothing. Have a nice day Sehun,” Kyungsoo departs with a wave and Sehun waves back.

He sighs and smacks himself on the head as punishment for making awkward conversation. Sehun gives a glare at a piece of hanging meat and wants to smack it too. But he knows at the very moment he decided to smack it Jongin or his dad will walk in.

“How's it going out here?” Speak of the devil. Sehun turns his head to find Jongin now wearing a bloody apron as he wipes his bloody hands on a bloodied white towel. Sehun frowns as he notes that he had washed everything yesterday.

“Kyungsoo came by. Said to save him a leg from the deer,” Sehun tells him and Jongin almost drops the towel.

“Really?!” He slaps Sehun's shoulder and he winces as he runs his throbbing shoulder. “Why didn't you tell me? I wanted to talk with him.” Jongin pouts and crosses his arms.

“Talk to him when he comes to get the deer leg tomorrow,” Sehun says and walks away when he sees multiple women coming up to the window with smiles plastered on their faces and dresses just pulled down just a little bit to expose their chests.

Jongin greets them all with a large smile and they all practically swoon, some glaring at Sehun who slowly inches his way toward the back room. He gulps when one gives him a dirty look and he grasps behind him for the doorknob. Sehun pushes his way into the back room and lets out a sigh of relief.

He sees his father cleaning the stained wooden table, fresh meat hanging from the ceiling. Sehun walks further in as he ducks under the meat.

“Hard time getting customers?” Kris asks as he tosses the tag to Sehun, who catches it without a hitch.

“Jongin’s out there. Should sell out in a few hours of it's just him,” Sehun's tells him as he rolls his sleeves up and takes a seat next to the bucket of water. “Better for me to stay back here.”

“Aw come on you know that's not true,” Kris waves off the notion with his hand. “You know you can't stay back here.”

“I can't stay back here and I can't go out front,” Sehun mutters as he holds up the wet rag. He frowns at a stain and dumps his hands back into the bucket. “What am I supposed to do then?”

Kris struggles to find something to say, instead he walks past Sehun and opens the door to the small backyard. “Could stay out here. You do enjoy nature.”

Sehun stills, hands and rag deep in the bloody water of the bucket. “And how is that any help? Anything I want to do is of no help to you or Jongin or anybody.”

Kris leans against the door as a soft breeze blew through. “You know that's not true.”

“Then why do the village people keep looking at me like that?!” Sehun throws the rag into bucket, splashing the water onto himself, not caring about the stains the bloodied water would leave behind. “Why do they talk about me like that? I can't do anything without them ridiculing me. I can't buy things without them giving me looks. I can't go on a walk without someone throwing stuff at me. What makes you think they want my help?”

Sehun plucks the rag out from the water and wrings it out. He stands and runs up the stairs into their home.

Kris scratches the back of his head and picks up the bucket. He stares into the dark reflection staring back at him for a few seconds before he throws the water onto the grass in the backyard.

He faintly hears Jongin’s laughter mingle with the high pitched giggles of girls. His heart aches with each step he takes as he touches the railing of the stairs. Kris glances up into their home and he swore he could hear Sehun throw his pillow against the wall like he does whenever he gets frustrated.

Kris sighs and bites his bottom lip. He moves to take a step up the stairs, but stops when he places his foot on the step.

“Pa?” The floorboards creak with each step Jongin takes. Kris doesn't move, but his grip on the railing tightens. “I'll talk to him.” Jongin pats his father's shoulder and makes his way up the stairs.

Kris releases his grip on the railing and sinks down onto the floor. He rubs his burning eyes as he takes a deep breath.

“I need you Jun…”

A small knock doesn't faze Sehun as he remains still on his bed. He's face down with his face buried into his pillow. He doesn't flinch when he feels the bed dip from the weight on the edge of the bed.

“You alright?” Jongin rubs his shoulder as he moved closer to Sehun.

“I'm useless,” the response comes out muffled and Jongin wants to laugh at the display of stubbornness, but he holds himself back. “What am I supposed to do with my life?”

“Anything you want. The only thing holding you back is your reluctance,” Jongin leans down to try and get a glance at Sehun's face.

“You don't know what it's like to be talked about. You're not the one who's the talk of the village,” Sehun brings his head from out of the pillow, but he's facing the wall instead of Jongin. “My reluctance is nothing compared to the loose mouths of the people in this town. They're the ones making me reluctant to do anything. You want me to change, change them first.”

Jongin sighs and his dry lips as he thinks about what to say. “You know I can't change the entire village. You know I would if I could.”

“But you can't so that's that,” Sehun turns his head back into his pillow.

“It might help if you carry in some of the game from our hunts,” Jongin suggests with a hopeful tone. “They really like it when they see me walk into the village with it.”

“They're just going to think I'm taking your ‘glory.’” Sehun raises his hands to put air quotes around glory before dropping them back onto the bed. Jongin furrows his eyebrows as he thinks again.

“I’m taking credit for your work. You're the one who's catching and killing them all, it's only fair for you to take some this ‘glory’ you speak of,” Jongin nudges Sehun's stomach and he wriggles from the ticklish sensation. “Come on. Try it next time we go hunting. Please?”

Sehun doesn't say anything. Jongin sighs and moves off of the bed.

Just as he was about to leave, Sehun sits up on his bed, holding his pillow close to his chest. “Fine. But if people talk I'm disowning you as my brother.”

Jongin chuckles and nods. “Better than not trying.”

A/N: I’m back~ I was planning to do oneshots but then I got an idea and that won’t be happening...ahah….Well. I’m currently on Thanksgiving break and got nothing else to do so I churned this out. I don’t know how fast updates will be considering I have finals/midterms/whateveryoucallthem coming up in like three weeks. But once I hit winter break...hoooo you bet I’m gonna crank these out. Hopefully. Well I hope you guys liked this first chapter and will stay to continue reading!