Chapter 16 – My Brother
_______________________________________________
 

The night my life changed.

[ BG MUSIC ]

     Taehyung ran, almost sprinted, to the location on the text. He arrived in the middle of a street that had many narrow alleyways between buildings which were likely to be empty apartments cleared for soon construction. With distant horns and faint vehicle motion as the only sounds around him, Taehyung held his bag close as he waited. He couldn't quite put his finger on why, but tension seemed to fill the air as he sensed a presence watching him. 

"You've got some guts, Kim Taehyung." He flipped his head back where blazing purple hair caught his attention, and stared back into the eyes of the person who called him, seeing through the deadly gaze and picturing a distant boy from many years ago who was no more than the age of eight. The figure walked out of the shadows with his hands in his pockets calmly. Taehyung lifted his line of sight slightly to look at the boy who was roughly half a head taller. 

"Who are you?" He asked firmly, barely threatened. 

The taller smirked, a low, evil chuckle leaving his pursed lips. "You really don't remember me? I'm sad..." He patted his chest with utter sarcasm in his voice. Taehyung wanted to slap the amusing expression on his face off. "Come on, how hard can it be to remember your own brother? I mean really, we share the same blood."

Taehyung froze. 

"Here, I'll piggy-back you."

"Let's sneak out."

"Hyung, we don't even know what contract killers are..."

"When you're sixteen, you will have the daggers of clarity and articulacy, and begin your final elite training."

"He's been...dealt with. Taebeom's dead."

Kim Taebeom.

Taehyung let the name slide off his tongue with stiffness. He stood motionless as only his eyes wandered and his breathing quickened with overwhelming panic. 'How' and 'why' started off every sentence that flew through his mind; he had forgotten his own brother. It wasn't until now that Taehyung realised just how...unbelievably scary the influences his family could have on a person. He thought his life was screwed up enough, and yet here he was...standing in front of the boy he once held as his role model and he wasn't even able to even recognise him. 

Taebeom stormed over and flung the bag off Taehyung's shoulder with force, tipping it upside down so that everything inside would fall out. The sound of objects scattering across the floor pierced the pitch silence in Taehyung's ears as he stayed still, feeling the coldness of the air tingle his skin. "W-what are you doing?"

"Just taking what's mine."

Taehyung turned his head to the side and watched as Taebeom picked up the leather casing. The purple-haired eyed it with annoyance, "You haven't taken good care of it," noting the way it wasn't even tied up. Taehyung's eyes furrowed at that lightly; he never put it away without tying it up properly. Taebeom pulled out the unstained dagger of articulacy and flipped it in his hand swiftly. The contention in his eyes was fiery and Taehyung couldn't help but feel his body tremble at the emotion planted over the elder's complexion. Taebeom dropped the casing with the dagger of clarity inside and stepped back, turning around. He begun walking away into the shadows. 

"Wh-what happened...to you?" 

He stopped and turned around at Taehyung's mumbling voice. He stared back into Taehyung's eyes with ease and walked back with a model-like style; strong, confident and deadly. He continued to swing the dagger around his fingers playfully as he teased on Taehyung's patience and pride. Seeing the lethalness in the purple-haired's eyes, Taehyung's feet drew back and he stumbled back until his back collided against the corner of a wall. Taebeom stopped right before him, the light from a nearby lamp post casting him a shadow that covered the lower half of Taehyung's body. The younger gulped, vulnerability all over his face. He was still in a mental battle with himself. No, more like war - where no matter what happens, both sides will lose. Where no matter what you do, both sides will leave scars.  

The elder leaned in and put his lips besides Taehyung's ears. He paused and let out a low cackle-like sound that sent shivers down his younger brother's body; Taehyung cleared his throat immediately, and Taebeom felt amusement run through his veins and arteries. He pulled away and that was when his playful smirk turned terrifying; the fake curve on his lip fell and he stopped playing with Taehyung.

"Do you know what G stands for?" Taehyung glanced up at his dark eyes before he shook his head. 

"Glorious, grand. Being able to do whatever you want, when you want, and knowing that no one will ever be better than you. And do you know what V stands for?" He shot Taehyung a piercing glare and leaned his face in closer each time a word left his mouth. "Vain; ineffective, hopeless, worthless. Abortive." 

Taehyung's eyes teared up. He wondered how his loving, cheerful brother could have turned into the monster before him. Twelve years... 

"You disappoint me Taehyung-ah, I seriously thought you wouldn't forget me after all we had."

"Had?" Taehyung raised his eyes and hurt flashed on his face. Taebeom inhaled loudly as his teasing spirit returned. "Unless you want to count all that we have now?"

"And what's that?" Taehyung swallowed down hard. He knew it wasn't going to be good, but he needed to hear it. He needed to hear it personally. 

"All we have now?" Taebeom stepped back and swung the dagger in his hand once. "Hatred." With no hesitation he threw his dagger into the air, caught it with his fist and sliced it across Taehyung's face. The younger didn't even flinch when the thin cut that stretched no more than a few centimetres formed on the skin around his cheek bone. He gulped though; he knew Taebeom could've easily sliced his throat and killed him then and there. That was the most scary part; Taebeom wanted to play with him. He wanted to torture him until he gave in. He knew his brother's lethalness was not to be underestimated.  

"You really believed them when they told you I was dead right?" He lifted his head and watched silently as Taebeom spoke while making his leave. Blood seeped out of Taehyung's cut but it didn't turn his attention away from his brother who continued to have that deep, amused expression on his face. "They knew I was the better of us two, Taetae! Uncle took me away that night, and he trained me personally. I used to go to sleep at two in the morning after he whipped me, then told me that I would be one of the best contract killers there ever were. What about you, hmm? How was your life? Made any friends? I'm kinda curious, you know." The brightness in his voice was so fake but the more Taehyung listened the more he registered the notion that his brother was beyond the stage of turning back; he was the complete, perfect pawn in the family's game, and he'd probably bow his head to be part of it. 

"Oh, also. Haha, how'd I forget. There's a reason I'm revealing myself now after twelve years suddenly."

He waited for Taehyung to ask, but the younger's lips wouldn't budge. He stared at his hyung deeply, a quality they both possessed and could do effortlessly. His brother tilted his head, "Because you can't do your own job properly." With that, he turned around and disappeared into the shadows. Taehyung's breathing quickened at that sentence. 

Oh no. In that instant he understood why his father hadn't contacted him since the day he last went home; they'd gone with their back-up killer. He gulped again, not seeing very bright days ahead. His fists clenched as he let out an exasperated groan. And even though he knew Taebeom was going to take his time and have fun, he quickly packed his stuff into his bag, noting to himself to ask about the untied casing, and sprinted home, momentarily forgetting about the blood that was drying up on his cheek.