[Chapter VI: Abandoned]

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The boy rolled over in a second as the alarm went off. It didn’t take him long to open his eyes and wake up since he’s used to it. He saw the sun glaring through the curtains in his bedroom, and a slight chill seeps through the windows. He opened his curtains to lighten up the room and when he looked outside, he saw the entire neighborhood covered in white.

Did it snow last night? He wasn’t aware.

He can see children running around in their snow gears, building snowmen and having snowball fights. They were laughing happily without a care in the world as everyone was on their winter vacation. New Year finally passed and school doesn’t start for another two weeks. He didn’t have any plans for the holidays, so he simply stayed home and went out from time to time with his classmates.

There really wasn’t a point in getting up so early but he did so anyway. After getting washed up and dressed, he went downstairs to prepare breakfast but just as he did, he saw his brother already one step ahead of him.

“Hyung?” he said in a confused tone.

“Hyuk-ah! You’re early,” Hakyeon said to him in surprise. “You should’ve slept in more.”

“Habits,” Sanghyuk told him. “Do you need help?”

“I’m okay. Are you hungry? Do you want some?” Hakyeon took out the toasts from the oven and places a sunny-side egg right from the pan on top of it.

The younger nodded as he heard his stomach growl a little.

“Why are you up so early?” he couldn’t help but ask his brother as he reached for some milk from the refrigerator.

“Couldn’t really sleep last night,” Hakyeon replied.

“... I see.”

There was a slight pause.

“What’s wrong?” Hakyeon wondered.

“Nothing.”

It’s not that Sanghyuk had nothing to say but in fact, it was probably the opposite. Ever since he started to stay home more often during the holidays, he noticed that Hakyeon has been behaving strangely. Whenever Sanghyuk prompts to ask why Hakyeon always brushes him off by saying it’s nothing. This was unusual for Hakyeon and Sanghyuk knew it clearly. As the holidays continue, Sanghyuk notices that his brother has been disappearing a lot downstairs or in his studies. Even when they were chatting in the dining room or in their living room, Hakyeon would zone out in his own thoughts and didn’t realize when Sanghyuk was calling out for him. This has never happened before.

Something was off.

“Noona. Do you know what Hakyeon-hyung have been up to?” Sanghyuk decided to call Eunji one day to ask.

“Hmm? Not that I know of. Why? Is something wrong?” Eunju asks back.

“He’s been… strange,” Sanghyuk told her.

“Isn’t that the usual?” she joked.

“No. It’s different this time. Like he’s... not there.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“He’s just been more absent-minded than usual, doing things that he’s never done before like getting up earlier than me to make breakfast, cleaning up the house and stuff,” Sanghyuk told her.

“Isn’t that a good thing? He’s being the responsible older brother that he should be,” Eunji couldn’t really understand what was strange since everything sounded rather normal to her. “Are you sure you’re not just overthinking about it?”

“No. It’s weird. Even when I call him for dinner, it’s like he doesn’t hear me from time to time. At first, I thought maybe he was thinking about his next piece to write but that’s not the case, is it?”

“Hmm, not that I know of.”

“When I ask him what’s wrong, he just changes the topic. He’s never done that before,” Sanghyuk was genuinely concerned.

“Hmm. That is really weird. I mean, he’s been nagging me for a while about how to start a conversation with you because of your but if you’re the one starting the conversation, there’s no way the Hakyeon I know would ignore you,” Eunji realizes. “And he hasn’t mentioned anything about the next story to me either since he’s on a hiatus at the moment.”

“A slump?”

“Yeah, kind of. I guess he’s been overworked so the company decided to let him relax a little until the holidays are over,” Eunji said.

“What could it be…”

The two couldn’t figure it out.

Hakyeon’s change in behavior was puzzling for the two of them despite them knowing Hakyeon for the longest time. They’ve never seen Hakyeon be so absent-minded or secretive before. The Hakyeon they knew had no secrets, was a chatterbox but responsible older brother. Even though their grandfather was hospitalized, Hakyeon would never forget that Sanghyuk was there.

That’s when Sanghyuk finally notices something.

Despite how much the older said he didn’t care about the Mirage, Hakyeon was definitely wary about it. Sanghyuk would catch the older staring at the sky for a long time in silence, and then his expression would change subtly into a sad, lonely expression. It was as if Hakyeon was contemplating about something yet too afraid to say what was on his mind, even to his beloved younger brother.

As Sanghyuk continues to watch the older from the side, the more worried he became. He couldn’t help but think of the more ridiculous thing as if… the older might disappear into the Mirage one day.

No, that’s not possible… it can’t be possible, he tried to persuade himself. Is it?

But that unsettling feeling finally came true.

Sanghyuk woke up one night after breaking into a cold sweat. He was having an unusual dream of when he was young. He shouldn’t remember them since he was still only a child back then but for some reason, some images were so vivid it was frightening. For example, he still remembers the silhouette of the trees in the forest swaying eerily that night as he cried. Not knowing why he was left behind in the middle of the night, he couldn’t help but cry his hearts out. If it wasn’t for Hakyeon and his grandfather, would Sanghyuk still be alive? Or would he have died alone up in the mountains?

Though he was fortunate and thankful for the family he has now, he couldn’t help wonder who his real parents are or why he was abandoned. Did he do something wrong?

This is crazy, he thought to himself just thinking back at his horrid dream. What’s the use of thinking about that now?

Being unable to go back to sleep even after turning over and over on his bed, he decided to get up to get some water from the kitchen. He walked through the corridors on the second floor and passed by Hakyeon’s bedroom along the way. The house was completely silent, as it should be but he felt uncomfortable being awake alone at night. So, he carefully opened Hakyeon’s bedroom doors to take a peek if the older was fast asleep. But, no one was there . The lights were all turned off but the bed was untouched.

Is he in the study room? Sanghyuk was starting to become anxious.

He walked downstairs to check for himself but when he opened the doors to the study, Hakyeon wasn’t there either.

Where is he? Now, his heart was pounding nervously and afraid. The unsettling feeling was becoming overwhelming.

“Hyung?” he started to call out to the older around the house from the second floor all the way down to the basement. But no rely.

Hakyeon wasn’t home.

He looked at the clock, obviously too late for anyone to be out but Hakyeon wasn’t at home. So where could he be?

Sanghyuk tried to calm down but he was obviously panicking inside. He reached out for the phone to call Hakyeon but as he held up the phone, waiting for a response, he could see his own hands trembling and weak. No one was picking up.

“Where the hell are you, hyung…” Sanghyuk didn’t know what to do suddenly. He felt lost as if he would have a breakdown at any moment. Even if he wanted to look for Hakyeon, he didn’t know where to start.

Creaak.

The sound came from the kitchen.

He peeked over to see the windows were slightly open and a strong draft of wind came right inside the house. The curtains were swaying creepily. As he went to close the window, he noticed something strange with the Mirage.

The Mirage was acting up again. It was changing and a strange greenish glow shined from the mountains, where Starlight Peaks were.

It can’t be…

He wasn’t sure and he didn’t want to believe it. But something told him to go that way.

Let me be wrong.

Sanghyuk rushed out of the house immediately in his jacket and rode on his bicycle in a hurry. He pedaled down the streets in desperation towards the mountains. The slopes were pitch black and barely visible. Only a few dim lights lit the trail up to the peaks but it was dangerous. The uneven paths almost tipped over his bicycle but he couldn’t let that bother him. All it matters was up ahead.

The greenish light he saw afar was starting to become brighter but the light was sickening. It gave Sanghyuk a nauseous feeling. The Mirage was crackling up ahead and the images that reflected from above felt closer and closer than before.

Then, as he reached the top, he saw Hakyeon standing there.

“Hyung!” Sanghyuk shouted in desperation. “G-get away from that!”

“Hyuk?” Hakyeon noticed the familiar voice and turned around.

Sanghyuk finally saw what that greenish light was from afar. Behind Hakyeon was a black hole of some sort, almost like a gateway. The longer you stared at it, the more you felt as if you were getting in. The sickening green light was also emitted from the gate and strange hollow sounds came from inside.

“Come over here, hyung. It’s dangerous,” Sanghyuk reached his hands out for the older and he approached cautiously.

“Hyuk…” Hakyeon shook his head. “Please go home.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’ve got this. I have to do this.”

“What?”

The older wasn’t making sense. Hakyeon started to step backwards towards the black hole. If he does, what would happen to him?

“I need to go,” Hakyeon said in a remorseful tone. “I’m sorry…”

“A-”

Sanghyuk choked on his words.

“Are you leaving me behind?!” he finally shouted.

“No! Of course not!” Hakyeon halted for a second.

“Are you going to abandon me too?!”

“N-”

“First my parents, then gramps… now you too?” Sanghyuk shouted. “Does it make you feel happy to leave me alone in this world? By myself?”

“What are you saying? Of course not!” Hakyeon started to feel guilty. He’s never seen the younger look so pained. “I’ll be back, I promise!”

“Back? When? Tomorrow? A month? A year? How do I know when you’ll be back and not lying to me?” Sanghyuk questions him.

Even Hakyeon didn’t know how to respond to it. Because he really didn’t know the answer.

“You’re a liar. You promised you’d take care of me while gramps isn’t around. Are you going to break your promise after all? Why aren’t you telling me anything anymore? Keeping everything to yourself… is it because I’m not really your brother? Is it because I’m an outsider?”

“W-what? How can you say that? There’s no way I’d think like that about you. You’re family. You’re my little brother no matter what!” Hakyeon tried to persuade the younger.

“Then why…”

As Hakyeon let his guard down a little, Sanghyuk jumped right at him and grabbed the older tightly. Though his hands were still trembling, he knew he couldn’t let go of the older.

“Why are you leaving me?” Sanghyuk said with tears in his eyes.

“Hyuk-ah…” Hakyeon was shocked to see how much he’s hurt the younger suddenly. He had to choose, didn’t he? But can he really choose anything else over his family?

No. There’s no way he could.

Hakyeon gave up. Even if the world falls into the abyss, there’s no way he can hurt Sanghyuk any further.

He let out a sigh and stepped away from the gates but just as he did, something from behind grabbed him in.

“Hyung!” Sanghyuk grasped onto the older just in time before Hakyeon got in but both fell straight into the gate together.

The green lights that were emitting from the black hole vanished and the crackling sounds from the Mirage also grew silent. The images in the sky suddenly disappeared and the stars finally returned.

The silence grew within seconds that night and as peace returned to the valley, another story unfolds on the ‘other’ side.