Wow I know it’s been a long long time since my last update, for this story at least. Anyways thank you for waiting patiently and thank you for reading and commenting as well. As some of you know, I recently made my return. I would try my best to update a story at least once a month. My schedule doesn’t give me as much free time as I used to have. Anywho, I really hope you enjoy this chapter and sorry in advance for any missed spelling/grammar mistakes…

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Jonghyun was visiting Kibum’s mother’s ashes like he did almost everyday. The same questions and thoughts wandered in his mind. Why did he kill her? Why did he want her dead? Did Kibum really not love his mother? 

The more he thought about it the angrier he became. He was angry at Kibum for what he did, but he was also mad at himself. Even though he was just a child at that time, and there was nothing he could do; he still felt partially responsible for her death. He wished he could have protected her. He often thought that just maybe if he would have begged his mother a bit harder she would have taken him to see her. “I’m sorry for not being a good son.”, he looked at her picture as the tears threatened to come out, “You deserved better.”.

His words, what he was saying, and his thirst for revenge had no meaning. Everything felt empty. He could apologize till his face was blue. He could continue hurting Kibum, to avenge her death. But it was useless, meaningless, anything and everything he did wouldn’t bring her back. He tightly gripped the teddy bear in his hands, as memories from the last time he saw her crept into his mind. 

“Mama, please allow me to stay.”, a young Jonghyun said as he hugged a crying Kibum. “I’ll eat all my vegetables, I’ll take better care of Kibummie.”, he looked up at her, “I promise I’ll be a better son.”.

She got teary- eyed, “You are a wonderful son. I love you both so much.”, she knelt down and embraced them both.

“Does that mean I can stay?”, Jonghyun whimpered.

“I’m sorry.”, tears ran down her cheeks, as she broke the embrace “There’s nothing I can do.”.

“Mommy I don’t want him to go.”, Kibum loudly sobbed as he clung on to Jonghyun, “I’ll behave better, I won't play in the woods anymore. Please let him stay.”.

“I wish Jonghyun could stay with us Kibum, but he needs to go live with his parents now.”, she informed him as she wiped away his tears.

“You don't want to be my mama anymore?”, Jonghyun asked.

“Just because we can no longer live together doesn’t mean we aren't a family anymore.”, she caressed Jonghyun’s face,wiping away his tears “Kibum will always be your brother and I will always be your mother.”.

“Then why does he have to go live with them?”, Kibum sniffled. “We’re his family, he should stay.”.

“They are his parents, they love Jonghyun as much as we do.”, she tried to explain things to them,”They're his family too.”.

“No we're his family.”, Kibum yelled. “Why are you letting them take him away?”.

“Kibum I-”.

“I hate you!”, he didn't let his mother explain things as he then left crying towards his bedroom.

“Kibummie!”, Jonghyun called after him as he then looked up at his mother.“Mama don’t be sad, he didn’t mean it.”.

“I know, it’s hard for him to understand.”, 

Jonghyun wiped away her tears, “Can I go talk to him.”.

“My sweet sweet boy.”, she embraced him tightly, tears rolling down her cheeks. “You may go talk to him.”.

Jonghyun looked at her, as she let go of him, “Are you going to be okay?”, he sniffled.

She forced a smile on her face, “I’m fine.”.

Jonghyun ran towards Kibum’s bedroom, finding his younger brother crying in bed tightly holding on to his teddy bear. “Kibummie.”.

“I don’t want you to go.”, he loudly started to sob as he ran towards Jonghyun and hugged him.

“I promise I’ll come and see you everyday.” he hugged him back as he too began to cry. 

“No! I want you to stay with me.”.

“I’m sorry I can’t.”.

He pushed him back, “Do you want to go? Do you not want to be my brother anymore?”.

“Kibummie it isn’t like that.”.

“Leave!”, he yelled at him, “If you want to go so bad, why are you still here?”.

“Kibum!”, his mother walked in as Jonghyun went running towards her and hugged her, “Apologize to your brother right this instant.”.

“No!”, he grabbed the teddy bear from his bed and threw it at Jonghyun, “You can have Mr. Teddy back, I don’t want him. ”.

“Kibummie.”Jonghyun picked up the teddy bear. “Please…”, he started to sob, “You’re my brother.”.

“Don’t cry!”Jonghyun’s birth mother walked in, “Get him! I don’t have time for this nonsense.”, she walked out, instructing her driver to get Jonghyun.

Jonghyun squeezed the teddy bear tightly. As he remembered getting dragged by his now driver, from the only place he ever truly considered his home. “I should have tried harder.”, he continued to talk to his deceased mother. “Mama I need you.”, he fell to his knees. His bottom lip quivered, as his shoulders dropped in resignation. “I’m not strong enough. I know they need me but I can’t take this pain anymore. The pain is unbearable.”, tears crept out of his eyes as his vision became blurry, “They all hate me. I don’t know if I am doing things right, it hurts to hurt them. I’m so confused I need your guidance. I need you.”.  A flood of tears gushed down his cheeks. He hugged the teddy bear tightly. His words were incomprehensible as he choked on his sobs. The sound of wailing and suffering echoed throughout the room.

“Jonghyun.”.

“Get out!”, he yelled at Jinki not wanting him to see him like this. Not wanting him to enter his safe haven, the place that was only meant for him.

“I heard your cries from outside.”.

“Get out!”, a great sob escaped him. The tears kept pouring out, he couldn’t stop them. “Get out! Get out! Get out!”, he kept repeating. His eyes shut tight, the teddy bear was now on the floor. As his fist kept meeting the floor over and over again.

Jinki pulled Jonghyun into his embrace, “I know you don’t want me to leave.”, he whispers, holding on to him tightly as they both remain on the floor.

Jonghyun buried his face in Jinki’s chest. He sniffled as the tears began to slow down. He felt safe and comfortable in his arms. His warm embrace relaxed him. That’s when he noticed Kibum’s necklace around Jinki’s neck “I gave him that necklace, you know.”, he carefully traced the snake pendant with his index finger.

“You did?”

He smiled at the confused look Jinki displayed,finding it amusing. “He didn’t tell you that, did he? He was my brother, you know siblings give each other gifts.”.

“Kibum never took this necklace off, well until now”, Jinki said in a whisper, Jonghyun could tell he was scared and confused. “I always believed it was a gift from his mother.”.

“I can see why you would think that. Every time I saw Kibummie, he was wearing it. At first I thought he wore it because he still cared about me. But then I realized he wore it to make me suffer, to remind me of the family I lost.”.

“That’s not true. Kibum cherishes this necklace. Every time he turned into a snake, he would always remind me to grab his necklace. After he went back to his human form, it was the first thing he would put on. When the weather gets cold, he knows he can turn into a snake at any moment. On those days he avoids wearing it, because he doesn’t want to risk losing it.”.

Jonghyun smiled, “It makes me happy to know that. I miss him, I miss our mother, our family.”.

“It's not too late. Kibum is still here, he is still your brother.”.

“No, he’s not my brother anymore.”, he looked up at Jinki, “We could never be brothers again. I hurt him, he hurt me. Worst of all he killed our mother.”.

“I know deep down you don’t really believe that. Kibum would never.”,

“Shut up”, he pushed him , “Stopped trying to confuse me.”, he stood up, and looked down at Jinki. Trying his hardest not to look weak, not wanting to be weak.“Go back home and stay there like I ordered you to.”, he feared losing control. He feared the curse would break, he feared being truly alone.

He got up and looked at him, “Jonghyun, you should really tell Kibum about where his mother is.”.

“He doesn’t deserve to know and you better not tell him. That’s an order.”.

Jinki nods and runs out of the room without saying a word.

Jonghyun walks over to the teddy bear and places it back in its place. Just like Kibum cherished his necklace. Jonghyun treasured the teddy bear that once belonged to his brother. He was sure Jinki wouldn’t say a word to Kibum about his mother's resting place. So he decided to stay there a little longer. He wasn’t ready to go back home, especially not in this confused state of mind. He was happy to know that Kibum didn’t wear the necklace with the intention to hurt him. It delighted him so much that he wanted to run to his brother and hug him. “He killed your mother, he killed your mother.”. He repeated it out loud, trying to remind himself that he should hate him. Trying to stop himself before he made a hasty decision. He looked up and saw her picture, it made him feel at peace again. It was like she was there, listening to him. “Mama you remember right?”, he smiled as he talked to her once more. Pushing away all the negative thoughts that clouded his mind , “The day I got that necklace for Kibummie.”, he couldn’t hide his happiness as he reminisced on the events of that day.

“Mama, I want this one.”, A young Jonghyun pointed at the gold necklace with a snake pendant;  that was displayed behind the glass.

“Are you sure sweetheart? “, she kneeled down to meet him at eye level. “The sun pendant is really nice.”.

“I don’t want the sun. I want the snake.”, he pouted, “The snake is my favorite zodiac animal. It's so cute like kibummie.”.

She smiled and kissed his cheek, as she then stood up. “Can I have the snake necklace and the sun one too please.”, she spoke to the jeweler.

“Mama.”, he whispered as he softly pulled at her squirt.

“Hold on a second Jonghyun.”, she handed the man some cash and a credit card. “Charge the snake necklace on the card please.”. She then looked down at Jonghyun, “What is it sweetheart?”.

“I don’t want the sun necklace, I want the snake necklace.”.

“Jonghyun, I will explain once we are outside okay.”.

“Okay mama”. He waited patiently but as soon as they left the jewelry shop he looked up at her. “Mama, why did you get both when I only wanted the snake?”.

She moved him aside away from everyone walking by. Kneeling down to meet him at eye level. “Sweetheart, the sun necklace was a gift from your mother. She really wanted you to have it.”.

“Oh”, he looked down, “would you be mad at me if I told you I don’t want it.”.

She smiled, “I could never be mad at you. “, she kissed his cheek. “Listen Jonghyun, you must accept this gift. Your mother really wants to see you wear it. She’s coming to see you today.”.

He nodded, “I like the snake one better is prettier. Can I wear that one too?”.

“Yes but only after your mother leaves.”.

“Mama, I have a question. The snake is the symbol for Kibummie. The bunny for Jinki, the  dog for leeteuk. There is still no cow.”.

“Ox sweetheart, Ox. Those cursed by the Ox always get mad when you call them cows. We need to respect people. Remember that.”,

“Right.”, he smiled, “Sorry mama.”.

“It’s alright sweetheart. So tell me, what’s  your question?”.

“They all turn into animals from the zodiac. But what about me? Why don’t I turn into an animal?”, he looked down, “I want to be a snake like Kibummie. I want to be special too. I want to be like them.”.

“Jonghyun, you are special. You may not turn into an animal like them. But you are part of them, more than you know. You are their god.”.

“God?”, he looked up at her confused, “Everyone keeps telling me that. But what does it mean?”.

“You know the legend of the Chinese Zodiac right?”.

“Yes yes.”, he smiled, getting excited. “Long time ago God wanted to pick twelve animals to act as guardians. So he let all of them know he would be having a banquet. The first twelve animals to arrive would get to join the feast and be the guardians. That’s when the race began. The rat told his neighbor, the cat, that the Banquet will be the day after tomorrow. The day of the banquet came. The rat rode on the back of the Ox, and landed before the banquet hall first. After him came the Ox, then the tiger, and all the rest soon followed in. They feasted until morning celebrating that they were guardians. All except the cat who had been tricked.”, he teared up telling the story. “He was left out, all alone.”.

“Don’t cry sweetheart.”, she wiped his tears and hugged him.

“But the poor kitty mama.”, he sniffled.

“Don’t be sad my sweet boy. You are the god, remember? You are special, you can change things.When you are older you can invite the cat to the banquet.”.

“Really”, he smiled, “Ryeowook would be really happy. I always wanted to play with him and be his friend.”.
 

“I always knew you were special. You are so kind, there has never been a god as kind as you. Listen, they all depend on you. Even though you don’t change into an animal like they do. They need you. You may not understand the curse now. But you will when you get older. You, your brother and your friends, are cursed by the zodiac. The pain you feel when you get sick. It's what's keeping them all safe. It allows them to stay human. I don’t know if you understand, maybe you’re too young. But without you they will be animals all the time. They would cause big trouble to the whole world.”.

“I think I understand.”.

“Good.”Jonghyun started to recall how nervous his mother looked that day. “Jonghyun, listen carefully. The curse is bad, you need to break it. Break the curse Jonghyun. Set yourself and everyone free, you are the only one that can do it.”.

“How could I forget?”He looked at her picture. Remembering that conversation he had with his mother for the first time. “I failed you.”, he felt embarrassed being in that room with her, “I forgot everything you told me and taught me. I’m sorry.”. That happy memory he had of the day he went out with his mother just turned into a bad one. “You would be so disappointed in me. Disappointed in the man I have become.” He was unable to be in that room anymore. He felt ashamed of himself and his behavior and walked out. 

As he walked back home his mother’s words echoed through his mind. Break the curse , break the curse. It repeated in his head over and over again. The sudden noise of glass shattering broke him out of his train of thought. He opened his front door surprised to see Jinki throwing all his wine bottles to the floor. “What in the world do you think you are doing?”.

Jinki ignored him and continued to throw the bottles to the floor.

“Jinki stop!” He yelled, “That's an order.”.

He immediately stopped. “I am so sorry Jonghyun. I am really sorry.”.

“I wasn’t going to take the necklace away from you. This wasn’t necessary.”. Jonghyun saw that there were still some bottles left. He was relieved since he could really use a drink right now, to relax his nerves. “Jinki pour me a glass of wine and clean this mess up now.”.

“I can’t do that.”, Jinki looked down and sighed, “The wine is poisoned.”.

“Poisoned? Jinki, what are you talking about? What did you do?”. 

“I poisoned the wine.”.

“Do you think I am an idiot? I know for a fact you didn’t poison anything.”, Jonghyun walked over and wrapped his hand around Jinki’s neck. “You are smarter than that. If it were you who poisoned the wine. You wouldn’t be throwing the bottles out.”, his grip around his neck got tighter. “You would know which bottle contained the poison. Who was trying to poison me? Was it Kibum? Did he tell you to do this!”.

“No.”, he struggled to answer. Jonghyun let go of him. “Kibum has nothing to do with this. It was my stupid idea.”.

“Don’t lie to me Jinki. Don’t make me punish you please.”, he didn’t want to hurt him. “Just tell me who poisoned the wine?”.

“One of your maids.”, Jinki looked at him, “I agreed to it thinking it would help me be with Kibum.”. He started to tear up. “She gave me the poison but I couldn’t do it myself. She said she would do it for me. I don’t know what bottle she poisoned. All I know is I don’t want you to die.”.

Jonghyun walked over and hugged him, “You need to tell me which maid it was. I promise I won’t hurt her.” He lied to him, knowing Jinki wouldn’t give him a name if he thought someone would get hurt.

“I don’t know her name. I only saw her around twice.”.
 

“Alright.”, he broke their embrace. “Jinki go to Taemin’s home and don’t come back until I go personally to get you. Do you understand?”.

“You promised you wouldn’t hurt her.”, he wiped his tears away.

“That’s none of your concern now is it?”.

“No.”, he looked down. “I am really sorry Jonghyun.”.

“Don’t worry about anything and go. Now!”.

Jinki nodded and immediately left the house.

Once Jinki was out of sight Jonghyun called his driver. “Bring me all the maids this instant!

“Yes sir.”
 

As the maids enter one by one. He tried to see their reaction, hoping he could figure out which one was the one that tried to get Jinki to poison him. He knew it would be hard without Jinki’s help. But he preferred not to get him involved. He wanted to avoid giving him unnecessary guilt. As they stood in front of him he asked the driver to leave. He stared at them knowing it could be anyone of them. He didn’t trust any of them, since they were all hand picked by his mother to serve him. 

“As you can all see a small accident occured. I brought you all here so you can clean it.”, he stood in front of one of them. Eyeing them, “When did you start working here?”He approached her.

“I’m only here for a week sir. I’m one of your mothers maids, she sent me here to help.”.

“She never mentioned that to me.”.

“It must have slipped her mind sir.”.

“It must have.”, he took a step back, staring at each one of them. “I know two to three maids can easily take care of this small task. But the reason I brought you all here is because I want to give you all a small reward. As you can see there are still a couple of wine bottles in good condition.”. He went and took a seat on his couch. “You have all worked so hard. So after you are all done cleaning. I want you all to sit with me and have a drink of wine.”.

He noticed how excited some maids got as they began to whisper amongst themselves. He knew those maids were innocent. No way would they be excited to drink a wine that could be poisoned.

“Sir!”, his mother's maid spoke, breaking his concentration. “Your mother wouldn’t want this.”.

“I am in charge here. I do as I please!”He yelled at her. He got up from his seat and walked up to her. “You can start pouring the wine for us as they clean.”.

“I don’t want any.”.
 

“I think you need to loosen up a little. Get that wine bottle over there and pour yourself a glass.”, he smirked, “You can have the first drink.”. He was starting to suspect her. He watched as she nervously walked up to the wine bottles. His suspicions were answered, when she started to throw the rest of the bottles on the ground. “Everyone leave now!”.

The maids bowed and left quickly. Jonghyun grabbed his mother’s maid by the arm, “Everyone but you.”.

“I didn’t want to poison you I was just following orders.”, she began to cry as she confessed.

“Was it my mother? Did she send you to kill me?!” He yelled at her as she remained silent and continued to cry. “Answer me!”.

“Yes.”, she got on her knees when he let go of her arm. “Your mother wants you dead. She sent me to give the bottle to Jinki so he could poison you. I almost convinced him, but in the end he couldn’t do it. I told him where you were and sent him there to distract you. I guess he had a change in heart when he came back.” She looked up at Jonghyun, “Please don’t kill me. I didn’t want to do it. I was forced to.”.

“I’m not going to kill you but I can’t have you going back with my mother.”, he helped her up, “Come with me.”. He grabbed her hand and started leading her out of the house through the back so the driver couldn’t see. He quickly led her through Ryeowook’s home. “You will stay here in Ryeowook’s prison. I’ll make sure to bring you food and anything you may need.”. He looked her straight in the eyes. “I really hope you won’t betray me.”. He locked the door and walked away. He knew it was a huge liability to keep the maid alive, she could easily betray him. But he had never killed anyone and he didn’t want to start now. He wasn’t sure what his mother was playing but right now he had the advantage.

When he got home he was on edge. His mother wanted him dead. All the people around him who were there to assist him, worked for his mother. He couldn’t trust anyone. He was living in a death trap. Waiting to see who would be the one to complete his mother's wishes and kill him. Jonghyun realized he was truly alone and  had no one to help him. He feared for his life, he felt unsafe as he looked around his home. He slid down the door, bringing his knees up to his chest “Mama help me.”, tears started running down his cheeks. He could no longer control his body; he was shaking, the fear immobilized him. 

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So that does it for this Chapter. I really appreciate all of you for taking the time to read it. I want to again apologize for taking too long to update. And thanks again to those of you who waited patiently for this. I feel horrible that I wasn’t able to update sooner. Please comment or like it so I can know you want me to continue this. Plus I enjoy reading all your comments. Thanks again and for those interested please check out my other stories. I will be updating them soon. Guardian Angel should be my next updated story..Thanks again