(KEY)

Onew pabo. You have always only let things go at your own pace.

“Key, we’re climbing this sand dome!”

“Key, we’re going up this tree!”

“Silly Key, if you can’t keep up, tell me. I’ll slow down for you.”

But unconsciously, you’ve probably never realised, you slow down for no one. Onew, you’re selfish to the end. You are always on the move, not leaving a single break for anyone else. If time was to stand still, I would rather we dance amongst the daffodils of our childhood. There were hopes. There were dreams. There was no departure, no headaches on what the future will bring. There were only us and our close ones. But as time rapidly takes its toll on this world, I find it harder to keep your pace. At fifteen, you’ve already lost your umma. By then your appa was a lost soul, a lump of meat waiting to rot, to feed himself to the earth. It was merely a matter of time before his sanity crumbled completely into smithereens. But you did not confide in me for comfort. Instead you pushed me away, your back turned towards me, saying you don’t want me to see you like this. Onew, did you know how much it pained me? I would rather your tears stain my shirt then to be pushed into a corner.

Then with a shimmering smile, you said casually, “Key, I’m dropping out of school. We’re moving up north, Taemin and I. From now on, I’ll take care of my brother.” You said it with such determination, such courage and strength that there was nothing I can’t say through my tears that time.

You comforted me when it is I who should comfort you.  

Just like that you left your scholarship, your dreams, your hometown, for a schedule-full of part-time work. You leave no time to rest, no time to have a long chat. Only enough for a bright smile to tell me you were okay before heading off.

I woke up to crashes and bangs booming like thunder from next door. Like lightning, I pulled on my pants and flung a jumper over my head before heading over to next door.

Taking out my own copy of Onew’s apartment key, I flung the door open to find a crying Taemin holding onto Minho’s leg like a block of concrete while Minho continue pulling a large grand piano into the living room like nothing was weighing down his limbs.

“YAH! What’s going on here?!” I roared, annoyed. It has been barely two weeks since the “frog”, as Taemin have called him, has moved in and there is nothing but racket all day, every day. If it wasn’t for his obstinacy and Taemin’s growing likeness towards him, I would have probably kicked him out long ago. Like two trained animals, Taemin stopped crying and Minho stopped pulling the piano.

But this time, it didn’t seem like the time when they both yelled at each other because Taemin didn’t eat his carrots, or when Taemin wouldn’t put clothes on, or when Taemin didn’t want a bath. This seemed more serious because the boy was still hanging onto Minho’s leg in defiance.

Pouting and sniffing Taemin began stuttering, “K-Key hyung. I don’t want B-Bunny to move out here in the cold. B-Bunny needs to stay in the bedroom and sleep with us.”

I grinned wickedly. This seems like a good opportunity.

“Minnie-ah. Is frog hyung being mean to you again?” I asked sweetly.

“YAH!” Minho shot back.

Taemin nodded vigorously.

I tried to peel Taemin’s arms off Minho’s leg, but to no avail, so I left him like that.

“Then, don’t you want to come and live with Key hyung instead?” I said, mastering my best smile.

“Yeah,” Taemin sniffed.

“So should we kick this frog hyung out?”  

Taemin perked up, his cute walnut eyes looked at me to find an answer. Then he thought about it and shook his head, “No. No, we can’t.”

“Why not?” I asked, dissatisfied.

“B-Because Onew dubu says frog hyung have to stay with me.” Then he cried, “Onew dubu! Why Onew dubu leave such a mean frog to me?”

“Yah, Taemin. You’re extremely rude today.” Minho said.

“And you’re rude everyday,” I retorted, “Don’t tell me that all of your bad side are rubbing onto Minnie?! And Onew dubu. Who the hell taught him that?” I asked accusingly.

“What about frog hyung? Who do you think taught him that?”

“Minnie thought of it himself,” I stated, looking at the taller man like he was stupid.

“Well, yeah, but guess who laughs at it everyday?” Minho states, “I’m just giving Onew a taste of his own medicine.”

I looked at him oddly. Leaving a stranger like him to live with Taemin, I must be out of my wits. Either his as mentally ill as Taemin or he just loves talking as if Onew was right next to him. I have asked him about it, and all he said was that, “You won’t believe me even if I tell you”. THEN JUST TRY ME YOU BONE HEAD!

But then he has no trouble linking with Taemin despite the millions of times they yelled at each other each day. I can see he wasn’t a bad person. Sometimes, at night, when I’m tired from balancing keeping an eye on Taemin, work and my studies, I would hear a soft voice in my ear, whispering for forgiveness. Telling me to trust Minho, to let it be. But that may just be me being exhausted and letting things go the easy way. I don’t know anymore. This is Onew’s precious dongsaeng, my precious dongsaeng. Am I really letting the person who killed his hyung to compensate for it? What would Taemin think when he finds out? Would he be in pain? In anger? What is best for Taemin? Right now, he only lives through the beliefs that he must be with Minho and wait until it is time for him to go up to heaven. What is best for a kid that does not see the world like others?

Comparing Taemin’s forlorn and lonely figure just a month ago to a Taemin who can even shout at people and laugh about it, is this really the best option?

I sighed. No matter. If Minho goes against his promise, I won’t let him see the light of the next day easily.

I smirked. As I thought. Sometimes, violence is the way to go in this world.

“…And then frog hyung says we have to put Bunny out here because bedrooms are for people to sleep and there’s no space in the bedroom, and Bunny would like the balcony view better then sleeping people view but Bunny will be cold out here, and lonely and no one to play with…” Taemin have been explaining as we sat by the coffee table with Minho in the kitchen, a few metres away from us, as if he was in a detention centre. Even in the kitchen, he was glaring at Taemin intently, making the boy uneasy and picking at his breakfast.

“B-But…I guess the balcony view is quite nice,” Taemin added, spooning messily a spoonful of cereal into his mouth, and then mumbled softly as if scared Minho may hear, “But Bunny likes the bedroom better.”

I looked at Minho, eating the cereal as I did, “You want to move his piano out near the balcony? Why?” I said through a mouthful.

Minho’s eye twitched, “He plays it every night. It’s a distraction. If it’s in the living room, maybe both of us can get some sleep for once.”

I stifled a burst of laughter. Come to think of it, the frog’s eyes were rimmed in black from lack of sleep.

“Don’t laugh,” he said casually, “You won’t be laughing if you have to stay up every night just because a certain little mushroom can’t get his hands off the piano. Sure it sounds beautiful, but I need sleep more than beauty.”  

But as I looked at Minho, there was something more in his eyes. He seemed to be remembering something good, and thinking intensely at the same time. Like modelling for a kitchen magazine, he did that dreamy expression while leaning casually by the kitchen counter, hands casually in trouser pockets. Sparks seems to fly around him. That damn frog.

Suddenly, he ruins the mood by coming out of his stupor, “Anyways, the piano is staying in the living room.”

Taemin was instantly leeched onto Minho’s leg again, surprising me with a cheetah speed I never knew he possessed.

“Noo!! Bunny wants to stay with me at night!” he shouted.

Minho snorted, “Yeah, before Friday hits, you’ll already faint from lack of sleep. Pianos are for day time! Sleeping is for night time! The piano stays out here!”

 “Call Bunny by his name, you pabo frog!” Taemin yelled.

“Bunny stays out here!”

I raised an eyebrow. Since when did that pabo frog actually listen to what others say?

It also shocked Taemin. Taemin let go of Minho’s leg and sniffled his nose with his hand, looking up at Minho. With him sprawled on the floor and Minho standing a little more than a good 180 cm, it looked like a puppy was with a wolf. He probably didn’t expect Minho to have listened to him. He thought Minho would not listen like the auntie that I would sometimes send over to help keep an eye on him while I settled the legal documents for the court case relating to Onew’s death.

Minho knelt to Taemin’s level, “Bunny is staying outside, okay?” Minho gave him a very warm smile that even I didn’t know he was capable of.  

Then he grinned winningly, “Not saying anything means yes” he said, pinching Taemin’s cheek to get him out of his trance then start pulling the piano the few meters more to make it seat perfectly next to the balcony. With the heavy curtains drawn and the morning sun drizzling into the room, it was really a sight. The dusty, scratched ebony have been polished until it gleamed and shone in the soft light, looking almost surreal, like a black sea glittering in the sun.

“I repolished it. Do you like it?” Minho said.

“Yeah,” Taemin was in stupor. And if you look at his dish-sized walnut pupils, you can see that all he sees was a sea of black as he stared amazed at his piano.

Minho approached and tapped his cheek, “So bunny stays in the living room?”

“Yeah”

I rolled my eyes. This is like giving candy to a child to shut them up. Taemin! I hope you’re not like this if I leave you in the streets as well! Listening to anyone that gives you candy!

Minho grinned in victory, which pisses me off.

“Alright, then let’s finish off our breakfast and go to class.”

Taemin and I looked at him, clueless.

“What class?” I asked, “Taemin don’t go to school.”

“What’s school?” Taemin asked.

“Doesn’t Taemin attend Old Jung’s piano classes?” Minho answered simply, and then to Taemin, “School is somewhere you go to learn.”

“A school is somewhere you learn? Then is Old Jung’s piano lessons a school? Minnie learns piano there.” Taemin said proudly.

“Hmmm, I guess you can say it’s a school, a smaller form at least,” Then to thin air, Minho said, “What the hell have you been teaching the kid that he doesn’t even know what school is?!”

“You’re talking to me?” I asked.

“No…I mean, yes.” Minho said uneasily.

 “You can’t call a class of ONE pupil and a teacher a school,” I complained, “That’s like a tutorial. Wait, how do you know Taemin attends Old Jung’s piano lessons?”

Minho was silent for a while, and then he said, “Taemin told me.”

“No I didn – umph!” Taemin began but Minho has already shoved another spoonful of cereal into the boy’s mouth.

“Eat up, eat up you little twerp. So small. I can’t believe you’re two years younger than me,” Then the frog leered at me with his coal-like eyes, “Don’t you have work?”

“Don’t you have school?”

Minho grinned widely, “I quit school.”

“What?! Quit school? Just because you’re rich doesn’t mean you don’t need to work. If you want to stop depending on your parents, then study and make your own money!” Truthfully, I didn’t care what the he did with his life. I just felt like nagging.

“I’m working. I’m not relying on my parents. I never intended to.” Minho stated simply.

Stupid frog. Why do you always act out of your rich, spoilt kid character? It’s not the way people like you should act.

“Do whatever you like.” I said, getting up, giving Taemin a peck on the forehead before heading back to my apartment.

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