A Star That Does Not Leave the Night Sky - Twenty-Ninth Night

"Little cat, little cat--"

Hakyeon . . . ?

"My dear child, are you dreaming?"

No . . . this voice--

"Took you long enough!"

Mom--

"What? It's only been ten or so years, barely even that long! My sweetie, I--"

Leona runs across the station terminal into the woman's open arms, almost squeezing all the air out of her.

Mom, I missed you so much--

"I know sweetie, I know," Sung Ah says softly, creases forming around her sleek eyes as she smiles while lightly removing tangles from Leona's dark mane. "Leona--"

"Sung Ah, we're going to be late!"

Auntie?

"Sung Sunk, you can leave first with Myungsoo if you're so eager--"

Daddy!

"Hey, kiddo," her father rumbles as creases form at his eye corners. He takes a few long strides, embracing his wife and daughter. "How is my grandson doing? Or should I say grandsons, you little rascal!" Lightly, he musses her hair, earning a glare from his wife.

"Dear, you know she hates that!" Sung Ah scolds, slapping his hand off her daughter and shooing him towards her sister and the man called Myungsoo. And In Guk.

Blinking, Leona finally sees the entire scene at the train terminal; her aunt, who was standing with her hands on her hips, scolding a rather sheepish looking In Guk and a flustered, frizzy haired man that resembled L; her father, who was scratching his ears awkwardly; four tall figures bounding towards them excitedly; and a crimson-haired shadow quietly following them.

"Noona!" Hongbin waves, stopping just a few paces away as Ravi catches the boy in a headlock and messes up his hair.

"Why'd you name the twins after us?" the cook asks, releasing the scowling teen.

"Same reason she named the tyke after this thing," laughs Hyuk with an arm slung over Ken's shoulder. "But great. You all get to call Ken 'hyung' now--"

Guys--

"H-hey, are you OK, kiddo?" Ken asks, throwing Hyuk off. "Ravi-ya, your face made her cry!"

The cook scowls. "That's Ravi-hyung to you. Leona--"

Leona hangs her head, hiding behind her hair. She'd missed everyone so much, regretted not telling them how important they were to her, not calling Ken "oppa" . . .

A warm hand chops at her neck and she whirls to face the golden-eyed tutor. And to her surpirse, he pulls her into a tight hug, clapping her back as she she'd often seen him do to Taekwoon.

I thought you hated me--

"It's not like we're really gone," he says gruffly. "Well, I am, kind of . . . and so are they--" he nods at the Jung servants, Sung Suk, Sung Ah, Myungsoo, In Guk, Hongbin, and her father. "Because you're dreaming right now--woah, hey, that kinda hurts--" N sighs as Leona tightens her hold on him.

I don't want to wake up. Can't you . . . ?

"You kept our dog tags, right?" Ken says, patting her shoulder. "And Hakyeon kept Binnie's prayer beads. Even though you're dreaming, we're all still together, aren't we?"

But it's not the same--

"And people become stars when they die, like in Lion King," adds Hyuk, chuckling. "We won't ever leave the night sky."

"I thought stars were just balls of gas burning from far away in the galaxy--ow! N, quit it!" Hongbin runs as the tutor chases him to mess up his hair.

"Call me hyung!"

"Get lost, mom--"

Sung Ah holds her head for a beat, shaking it. "You'll be alright, our lioness," she says, gently tugging her daughter away from everyone. Together, they walk to the farside of the station as Leona hears a train approaching.

Mom--

Sung Ah lightly claps both sides of her daughter's face.

"You're an adult now, not some little cub that can't run on its own strong legs. No more tears, OK?" She takes a deep breath, all the snot back inot the cavern of her nostrils as a tear finds its way out of the prison of her eyes. "It's time for you to go and wake up, my child . . . know that--"

"Mom--"

"-- we all love you and are so proud . . . so proud of you . . ."

Mom . . . Leona blinks, meeting a pair of golden-green eyes as she wakes up from her dream. And she hears purring as the eyes turned away from her to face a pair of snowy-white hands. And those strong hands scoop up the cat, which turns its head to look at her from its owner's arms. Taekwoonie--

"Hakyeonie . . . with the kids at dad's," he says, turning and kneeling to set his cat on the floor, where it circles his ankles twice before going off to the corner of the living room to groom its dark gray fur while staring at them. Taekwoon sighs. "Just like that N-hyung . . . you're really not going to leave us alone?" The cat sticks its nose in the air and puffs up, an image of indignation much like that old tutor.

"Taekwoonie--" Why am I on the couch again? She sits up, feeling her head swim as his eyes narrowed into a glare.

"What will you do?" he asks soflty, coldly even. And you collapsed again earlier.

"About what?"

He sighs again; one hand on his hip as he runs his other hand through his hair, pacing. And he stops, his cold glare turning into weary concern as he sees his sister trying to get up. After helping her into the kitchen, he leans on the wall, putting his hands in training suit pockets. He narrows his eyes again as Leona begins to cook.

"Hungry, Taekwoonie?" she ignores his gaze, pulling various things from the fridge and cubbey.

Maintaining his hunched posture and steely stare, he watches over her wordlessly.

After a few minutes, she pulls two bowls and a thermo from the dryer stand, carefully plating her pasta creation into all three containers. 

". . . sit," she orders, pointing at the kitchen table in the corner. She sighs as he refuses to budge and takes two quick steps to him. Dragging him by his elbow, she wrestles him into a chair and huffs. "You're always hungry. Eat."

Absent mindedly, the twins pick at their plates in lethal silence. Leona glances around her kitchen, carefully observing her brother while avoiding him; his expression was sullen, per usual. But his eyes looked tired, sad . . . and lonely. Staring at her plate while thinking about what to ask him, she jumps as she feels something rubbing against her ankles.

"N-ah," her brother clicks softly, calling the cat to him as it jumped onto the table after successfully disturbing Leona. It looks at Taekwoon for a beat, seemingly smirking before smoothly hopping off the table and ignoring its owner. Hyuu . . .

"Why 'N?'" asks Leona, watching the Russian-blue mix stretch and yawn a few paces away. She sighs as her brother just shrugs. "And why 'Leo?'" She'd been curious as to how his stage name had come to be. Leo and Leona. His name was just missing the 'na' from hers, and it was . . . weird. If we'd grown up together, maybe mom would have named us like that . . .

Hyuu . . . Taekwoon sets his fork on the table, pushing his seat back. "Our company representative decided it . . .thanks for the meal . . . it's getting late, I should go--" As he rises, Leona catches his arm.

"Taekwoon-ah . . . wait," she orders, dashing to the kids room and closet. Then she packs toys and the thermo into Hakyeon's old school bag and holds it out to her brother. "You're going to check up on Hongbin before returning to your dorm."

Taekwoon felt his lips twitch into a faint smile. Leona always knew what he wanted to do or was planning to do before he did. And his nephew was adorable. "Mm," he nods, taking the bag and almost dropping it from surprise. It was heavier than he thought. He looks at his twin. What did you pack?

Fluffing out her cheeks, Leona picks at her ear, stopping when the back of Hakyeon's earring falls off and his earring clinks on the kitchen tile. Panicking, she drops to the floor to look for it with her brother's help.

Meow.

She whirls, seeing a fluffy gray tail as the cat sashays past her to Taekwoon with two pieces of metal in its mouth. After depositting the earring pieces into his palm, it rubs its face against the back of his hand, clearly very proud of itself.

Looking from the arring to his sister, Taekwoon narrows his eyes. His sister had worn this earring for more than two years, yet he and Hakyeon couldn't be any farther from being brothers. In laws. He narrows his eyes further, furrowing his brows and unsure as to why he felt so irritated right now. He'd felt a similar kind of irritation before . . . but when? Putting the earring in his pocket and sighing, he slowly rises and picks up the book bag again, heading for the door with N at his heels.He pauses as Leona taps his shoulder.

"I . . . I put things for the kids in there," she says, twisting her hands to prevent herself from picking at her barren ear. "And some books for my choding because he likes to read . . . and--" she takes a deep breath. "--I will wait for him with our Jaehwan, Wonshik, and Hongbin . . . Hold onto Hakyeon's earring for the next two years and please bless us then." She closed her eyes, patted his shoulder, and saw him down to the taxi before returning to clean the kitchen. You asked what I would do. I won't send our kids away, or leave Hakyeonie . . . we're family. And I love him. I love our Jaehwanie, Wonshikie, Hongbinnie, and Hakyeonie.

Staring out the window at the sparse couples mulling about on the sidewalks, Taekwoon broods inside the taxi while his cat swats at his hoodie. He takes the earring from his pocket, resisting an urge to throw it out the window. Rolling it around on his palm, he stares off into space, thinking when it finally hits him. He had this same irritated feeling when his older sisters had told him they were getting married . . . hyuu. He shakes himself, putting the earring away. Would things still turn out OK like they did for his sisters and their families? Leona was marrying Hakyeon of all men.  Hyuu . . .

"You're still young, kid," the cab driver chuckles, interrupting his chain of thought. "Everytime you sigh, you get older and happiness leaves you."

Leo blinked once. Twice. Then a smile smile finds its way to his lips as he lets out one last sigh.

Everything will definitely be OK.

//END - Twnety-Ninth Night

20150407 - belated happy birthday to ViXX's cute main vocal Ken ^^ && sorry for typos, in a rush for another schedule, will (try to) fix everything after the last chapter is posted ^^

Recap - Moving on with their lives, Taekwoon finally accepts Hakyeon as his future brother-in-law.