24^th December 1996

House of Life Orphanage 

They only had each other, secluded from everyone else.

Sometimes Jinki wondered if the rest of them knew; the kids that were being abandoned at the orphanage from a young age. Have they ever gained the awareness of that lack of necessity in their existence?

Jinki sat on his bed, nonchalant of the calls from the kids. His brother Jonghyun, on the other hand gazed outside of the window, yearning to play in the snow with the others.

“Hyung. It’s Christmas tomorrow.” Jinki smiled. He seemed to save that sheer bit of happiness just for his brother.

“I know.” Jonghyun toddled to his brother and sat down beside him under the blanket. They shared the same cup of hot chocolate and watched the snow together.

“Hyung, I don’t need any friends. I only need you.” He chuckled. Me too, Jinki replied and pinched his brother’s cheeks adoringly .

As they sat in silence just hours from Christmas, Jonghyun and Jinki fell asleep comfortably by one another.

Jonghyun was the first to wake up in the hazy room. The smoke in the air was exceptionally thick and everything seemed to be scalding hot. He started coughing and gasping for air while trying to shake Jinki awake.

The latter woke up moments later, choking on his own saliva. He checked if his brother was fine before running towards the window, crying for help. The kids were playing, he could see, and despite looking back at his desperate calls for help, none of them reached. They just stared and turned away in disdain.

Just like how he always did.

He cradled Jonghyun in his arms and plead for help.

“We could only save one.” His voice was muffled.

“There’s not enough oxygen.”

“Then choose the one that could stay alive.”

Jonghyun felt it. His body was being pulled away from his brother although he tried to resist the separation.

“Save us both, please.” He was certain that the man heard it, but nothing was done. Helplessly, Jonghyun watched as the distance between him and his brother grew.

“We will save him later.”

But he knew it was a lie. Moments later, the building collapsed and was engulfed by the unforgiving fire. Jonghyun was in grieve, and in anger. He did the little math in his head and refused to understand that the sacrifice had to be made.

They were nothing more than chess pieces in someone’s game.