11

The only thing that he knew was, he woke up in a different place now.

And how everyday he wished “we’re a family now” words could really heal his soul.

“Won’t you talk to her?”

Yongguk looked up from the clogged faucet he worked at, finding his mother was talking about that girl again with a smile on her face. Later his eyes followed where she tilted her head to before finally saw that girl was quickly walking through the corridor, making her way to her own room at upstairs—didn’t seem to mind their existence at all.

“Do you want me to talk to her?” he jokingly asked, turning to repair the faucet back.

“You guys are siblings now,” she reasoned.

As much as he didn’t like to hear it, he had to admit it somehow.

“Isn’t it better if we become a real family?” she wondered, leaning against the closet while keep staring at her only son.

Yongguk didn’t think it will work that easy. Creating a new family with two people he barely knew, he thought it was even way much worsen than remaining as a broken family like what they used to be but he couldn’t tell her the truth. Not now, not later—not anytime.

He has decided to keep lying to her, to keep listening to what she wanted. Just so she could be happy, even just a little.

“Yes. It will be nice.”

It was already one in the morning when Hyosung still heard noises from the room beside.

She tried to ignore them by shifting from left to right on her bed but she finally lost her patience. The truth that the room beside was owned by her step-brother whose she didn’t like at all was adding another reason for her to get out of her room and find out what was happening with that guy.

“What are you doing?” she coldly asked right after opened his room’s door and saw he was moving some boxes to the side.

“Unpacking,” he shortly replied, didn’t looking surprise of her sudden appearance.

Unpacking? On that time? She didn’t buy his answer.

“You—can’t you see what time is this? Do you have to go around acting like this is your house?” she blabbered, yet still forcing her voice to stick on the low tone.

She could see he was frowning a little after hearing her questions but a smile after that making her temper went all the way to the top of her head.

“Even if I don’t have a house, I never think of here as one,” he chuckled, looking a little disgusted.

Hyosung pursed her lips, thinking of the best way to reply him. “Then stop this noises. I have to go school tomorrow and now, I can’t even sleep because of you.”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, quickly.

But it made her mad even more.

“I will never accept you and your mother as a part of my family,” she said, in attempt to make him realize his position somehow.

“What about I’m asking you to be one?” he challenged.

“Huh?” she frowned.

“Let’s be a family,” he explained, “isn’t it much better?”

She didn’t like it. She didn’t believe in such family meaning moreover after what happened to her before. That’s why, she was afraid if the same thing might happen as her father decided to remarried. But as much as she didn’t want any strangers to stick at her house twenty-four-seven, she needed a safety feeling—to know that she wasn’t alone with her father, to convince herself that he would never be able to touch her again.

In short, she needed them. But it took too much for her to admit that she just relied her life on the unknown people.

“I don’t want to,” she muttered, “stay at here and pretend to be a good kid in front of my father but never say that kind of thing to me again. Don’t.”

“Why?” he tried to find out the reason.

“I don’t like you,” she replied, without even thinking first. She just felt the urge to answer him faster so that their talk could be over soon.

She watched him tilting his head a little, giving such unreadable expression towards her hateful words. She was wondering what could he say to her again, how he would try to win over that debate.

“I don’t like you too,” he answered, finally.

She felt her heart stopped for a moment to hear his reaction. It was far beyond her expectation, that she believed he wouldn’t dare to hit her with the same pattern. She didn’t know what to feel though—between feeling excited to know she got such brave step-brother or upset to find out that she met another rival instead.

“And that’s why I want to be your family, so that I can learn to like you,” he continued later.

No, she knew he wasn’t a rival. He didn’t have that look which showed an intention to bring her down or to take everything from her side away. Instead, she felt something strange from the way he reassured her to accept him as her step-brother—something that she couldn’t put into words.

And she hated that feeling.

“Shut up,” she hissed, gripping tightly on the door’s handle. “Don’t talk to me anymore.”

She slammed the door right after warning him, didn’t give any chance for him to reply. But after a short moment where she considered herself as the winner of that cheesy talk, she heard his voice from behind the closed door, that made up her mind about who the real winner was.

“Good night.”

“If I were you, I will never try to talk to her again,” Yoseob said, leaning against his chair in sluggish way.

Yongguk whose sat beside him raised his eyebrows, a little confused of who he was referring to yet he eventually answered, “but she’s my sibling.”

And when Yoseob furrowed right after his reply, Yongguk realized he just mistook his meaning.

“I’m talking about Jieun,” he pointed out.

“Uh,” Yongguk nodded in awkwardness, feeling uncomfortable of his own misreading.

“Are you thinking of someone else?” the shorter wondered, using a perfect interrogative tone.

“No,” he quickly denied.

Too quick that it brought suspiciousness.

“Is it Hyosung?” Yoseob guessed.

Yongguk shrugged, didn’t think he could fool the latter. “Somewhat.”

“I don’t think we can understand her though,” he sighed, “she had been in a moment where no one could understand.”

“But I have to,” Yongguk said. “This is a family that my mother wants.”

Yoseob looked at his friend, quiet unsure if he was the same person that he used to know before. He had been different lately and it was somehow not a good thing. A bold, determined Yongguk wasn’t there anymore.

“It’s up to you. I don’t care,” he finally gave up, turning to the other side and pretend to sleep on his desk.

“Hey, before you sleep, lend me your history book first,” Yongguk hit his back.

“I don’t bring it—never,” he muttered without looking back. “I thought you always bring everything?”

“I just moved to their house. I haven’t done unpacking,” Yongguk replied, trying to forget what was the reason of why he couldn’t finish it last night.

“Just sleep then,” the latter gave no solution, later got into his dreamland even before the bell rang.

That was what Yongguk decided to do, to ignore the lesson and pretend giving no interest but he failed right after the teacher told them to do an exercise based on the textbook. He couldn’t show any bad scores for his mother anymore so the only option left for him was to lend a textbook from someone—and he only had this girl for the nearest person.

Song Jieun.

He was wondering whether she would like it to share a book with him but he eventually decided to give it a try. Even if he ended up being rejected, at least, he knew what kind of person she really was.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Then, she turned. And her dark eyes were the first thing that caught his attention. They seemed to have no limit;dark, without any hidden feelings or intentions, just blank. A little discriminating, though.

“Can we share textbook? I forget to bring it,” he managed to finish his words, despite getting the urge to just turn and pretend nothing's happen.

She didn’t answer him but before Yongguk took it as a rejection, she pushed the book to the side of her desk, allowing him to peek on the printed words there.

As much as he wanted to thank her, the fact that she didn’t even open made him hold back the intention and only moved closer to her desk to have a better view. He began doing the exercise, writing down the problems and thinking of an answer when suddenly he realized, she had been staring at him since then.

It was a little uncomfortable considering he was the one who liked to see her from afar before but now, everything’s completely changed. Song Jieun was looking at him. Only him—and those truth made him nervous out of a sudden. He never received such attention so he didn’t use to it at all.

It’s weird, beautifully weird.

He should have said thank you.

But he eventually did the other ways instead.

“Were you looking at me?” he asked, just a moment after the history class finished.

Yongguk expected a negative answer where she would shake her head and hardly deny his accusion but she didn’t act like that.

“Yes,” she replied. Bluntly.

That was the first time Yongguk heard her voice.

And it somehow made him bursted into a small laugh.

“I feel weird,” he awkwardly stated.

He watched her giving confused expression—although not an obvious one but Yongguk could manage to read it somehow, which leading him to begin looking for a reason. There’s no way for him to honestly told her that he felt weird because of hearing her voice or because he felt happy of the fact that she was indeed looking at him.

“Weird?” expectedly, she asked.

“Not in a bad way,” he quickly explained, “being stared by a ‘rose’—I think it’s a kind of proudness.”

Yongguk believed their talk would be over with his answer. But a clueless stare that she gave to him indicating that she didn’t understand his saying. He could pretend not reading the signs but he didn’t even know why, he couldn’t leave her wondering alone like that. At least, he should made it clearer first.

“You don’t know about that?” he carefully asked, in case it wasn’t actually about that.

She just wordlessly stood there, keep staring at him like asking for a complete explanation without even bothering to speak. That was the time Yongguk realized how she was indeed having those different sparks which boldly differentiate her from the others, how she owned a force that made everyone hardly looked away from her eyes—

or it was actually just happened to him alone.

“People often called you ‘rose’. That’s it.”

Sorry for the long wait!! My days gone hectic and I always passed out before I could even hold my notebook and write. This just a short chapter, and more likely just a rewind from Counting Backwards chapter one and I was just like meh, why do I have to write it from two sides like this lol it’s okay I have to finish what I start no matter what.

Last, thank you for reading this! I’m feeling so thankful to know there’s someone who wants to read my story and even showed so much love towards this mess! I love you!