warning; there is cursing, and mentions of ual abuse. no scene of that, though.

Youngjae grew up listening to the same bedtime story every night. The storyteller was of course, his brother Daehyun. The story went like…

Once upon a time, there was a king. A king who had everything in the world, who treated people well enough but was disliked by the whole of his kingdom. The king had no idea why, and because the king was such a good natured person, he didn’t do anything about it.

This king had a peaceful life. He lived in a castle that was surrounded by a river, and today, he looked out the window of his room and saw that the water was murky.

That shocked the king. The water was always either frozen and cold or hot and wild, but never murky. He thought something had gone wrong.

And indeed, his suspicions proved to be correct. His servant came informing him that there was a monster inside of the waters, a monster which had gobbled up a lot of people- almost half the kingdom was gone.

The king was outraged. Why did the servant tell him only now? His rage sent him to making a decision—one which he may or may not have regretted- which was to challenge the monster upright. He retrieved his sword and shield and stepped out into the cold night air and went ahead to fight the monster. An ugly, hideous looking thing.

Then, Daehyun would always change the ending. Sometimes the king would be eaten by the monster, or he would’ve died because his shield broke. But sometimes, the king managed to kill the monster and restore his kingdom to the peace of yesterday.

That was when he was little. As Youngjae grew up, he got tired of listening to Daehyun’s stories. The same one with different endings- it got boring.

And life was different. Of course, life had to be different. Maybe it was a rule made by the universe that when someone grew up, that his life would have to be different from the life he used to have as a child.

Youngjae hated almost everything. He couldn’t understand why he was such a bitter person- he truly disliked the likes of people nowadays. Maybe it was because of the people in his school that caused him to make this judgment, but school and home were the only two places for him- he didn’t go out socializing-, and both of them slowly turned hateful as Youngjae grew up.

Youngjae wasn’t antisocial. Neither was he depressed, or a freak, or an outcast- none of which those boys always called him. He didn’t understand why, at first, because Youngjae never did hurt them the way they were hurting him, but as the years went by, nothing changed except the truth that was slowly revealed to Youngjae.

They cursed and laughed at him, pointed fingers at the outcast of the school, because they didn’t want to be in Youngjae’s place. No one wanted to be in his place. So they would rather follow the crowd and pick on the tiny and nerdy kid, just to put themselves out of risk of being excluded from everything and laughed at every single waking moment.

Youngjae didn’t feel happy in school. He tried to tell his parents that, but being in the never-ending conflict they were always in, his parents ignored him and left him to fend on his own, dismissing the thought as another ‘growing up thing’.

However, he didn’t feel happy at home, either. His parents doted on him, pampered him with everything he could possibly need to make it to Yale, because he was the brainy one. He knew he should have been happy for that, for he had his parents’ love, but he hated the fact that Daehyun was given so much less. Why? Youngjae had always thought. Because I’m smart? Is that it?

He hated and hated how their parents dismissed Daehyun. Sometimes they acted as if Daehyun wasn’t even there, when obviously he was. He could hear the weariness in the way they spoke to Daehyun- their patience as thin as an almost snapping thread. He would be treated badly if he even talked back, but Youngjae never really did anything about it. He was too much of a coward, too much of a fool living in his comfortable crib that he didn’t actually realized how hard of a life Daehyun had been leading.

Daehyun and Youngjae were really close. That’s why it pained Youngjae so much to see Daehyun’s dejected expressions as their parents always waved him away. But Daehyun was the only person Youngjae could share his feelings with; he was the only person who was willing to be by his side and be with him, and Youngjae often wondered why Daehyun would bother with a loser brother like him.

“Because we’re brothers, duh,” Youngjae had tried asking once. And that was the answer Daehyun gave him, which came as natural as the sun would rise in the east every day without fail.

Tonight, Youngjae lay on his bed, waiting for the minutes to tick by and for his brother to return home. Sometime after Daehyun turned 17, he had started sneaking out at night. At first Youngjae didn’t realize, but as time passed, Daehyun became louder and louder with the way he staggered into the room. Like as if he was drunk.

Youngjae didn’t believe that, of course. Daehyun wasn’t a person to drink- he had always claimed to hate drinkers and drunkards that do bad things to people. Like their dad.

Youngjae stole a glance at the alarm clock beside him and sighed when he realized that it was already 2am. And Daehyun hadn’t come back. He couldn’t help but feel the tiniest pinch of worry; for the latest Daehyun had reached home was 1am.

He would have to scold Daehyun when he did come back though, because Daehyun he felt that it was ironic how Daehyun insisted Youngjae to be a good boy and listen to their parents instructions, when he himself was sneaking out late and secretly behind his parents and Youngjae’s back.

Youngjae groaned in frustration as he rubbed a hand down his face. He couldn’t sleep, and he had school tomorrow, so he decided that he should get up for a glass of milk that would helpfully calm his nerves and make him sleep. So he swung his legs out of his bed and started to pad softly towards his bedroom door, opening and closing it behind him with the tiniest noise he could. He didn’t want to wake his parents up.

Tiptoeing downstairs, he was about to turn into the kitchen when a noise stopped him in his tracks. A whimper, Youngjae identified. So he stood still behind the divider that separated the living room from the kitchen and put his ears on the wall, straining to listen.

There it was again. A whimper.

Taking a deep breath, he peeked out behind the wall. And met with a pair of brown eyes.

Everything froze.

Youngjae stood still. He couldn’t scream, or cry, or move away like he wanted to. But he could only stare into the sorrowful brown eyes that screamed for him to ‘Go away, go away!’, but Youngjae wanted to scream too, because Daehyun shouldn’t have been panicking for Youngjae but instead for himself.

But then he saw the knife.

Youngjae sat on the edge of his bed. Quietly, very quietly, he sobbed, not being able to forget the glint of the knife as the moon shone on it. He should’ve stepped in, stopped something before it turned too big.

But Youngjae was a coward.

So he ran back up to his room and sat on the edge of his bed to cry.

The door unlocked softly and Youngjae’s head jerked up, his shaky hands immediately wiping away the tears that were falling from his eyes so very often. But he knew he wouldn’t fool Daehyun.

He wanted to throw up. He wanted to destroy something, break someone. He wanted to cry out loud in Daehyun’s arms and show him how truly terrible he felt. But then he remembered that Daehyun probably felt worse.

Now it made sense. The faint hints of bruises showing whenever Daehyun’s shirt rid up accidentally. The way he would tug it down instantaneously, as if he was scared somebody would notice. Youngjae didn’t pay much attention, but now all the pieces fit together. To form a horrifyingly sick picture.

“I’m so sorry,” it wasn’t even a whisper; it was a breath, carried across the room. He heard Daehyun shut the door behind him and felt the bed dip beside him.

And the strong arms of Daehyun encircling him.

For fifteen minutes straight –or was it an hour?- Youngjae bawled into the fabric of Daehyun’s shirt. Daehyun merely said soothing words and patted his back like he would when Youngjae fell down as a child.

Youngjae felt so angry. Angry at himself for not noticing the signs. Angry at himself for not stepping in. Angry at himself for so, so many things… And angry at Daehyun for not telling him a thing.

“Why?” Youngjae managed to croak as he pushed away from Daehyun and stared up at his strong, brown eyes. The situation was probably harder for Daehyun than it was for Youngjae, but Daehyun showed no kind of weakness which made Youngjae wanted to cry even more.

“I…” Daehyun hesitated- Youngjae could see it in his eyes. But Youngjae simply kept quiet and waited for the older to finally decide spilling everything.

“He wanted to… hurt you,” he choked out, the first sign of weakness Youngjae had seen him possess through this whole, ty situation, “I couldn’t let him. I wouldn’t.”

“So you let him do that to you?” Youngjae asked incredulously. He was seething, “Daehyun, what the ! Why have you not said anything about this? I could’ve helped, I swear I could have!”

Daehyun merely smiled sadly. “Oh, you couldn’t possibly.”

And then Youngjae started crying again. He cried and cried and tried to muffle his sound in case he woke his parents up, and Daehyun just said the same soothing words again and again and again and again. But Youngjae decided it was fair time that this horrible thing had stopped.

“Daehyun…” Youngjae said between hiccups and sniffs, “Let’s run away. Somewhere far. Where he can’t do things to me or to you. We can escape.”

Unexpectedly, Daehyun laughed. It wasn’t the carefree and cheerful laugh Youngjae was used to, though, instead it was a bitter laugh. “Oh, Youngjae. We can never escape.”

Daehyun had agreed. That was why they were in this tiny apartment right now. He never understood why Daehyun had said the last sentence he did before they packed everything up, but he never thought much of it. As long as they were away from the frightening claws of despair.

Life was… different. It had changed again. It wasn’t as happy and innocent as it would’ve been had Youngjae not gone down for a glass of milk that he never got to drink. Youngjae quit school and started working, and so did Daehyun, but after they had both gotten a new profile, of course. He couldn’t risk anyone at home to find out where they were. That was the last thing Youngjae wanted.

Daehyun had protected Youngjae all this while. So now Youngjae would be the one shielding Daehyun.

For three months straight, they bustled around in the house whenever they got off from work, bickering about the smallest things like how much salt to add or how much detergent to use. It was a different kind of carefree, but carefree nonetheless, so they lived with the tiny apartment that they used their money to rent.

Okay, not their money. Their parents’. Youngjae could imagine how horribly worried his mother was, but he couldn’t think about that. Not if he didn’t want to risk going back.

Unfortunately, all life that resembled a happy one had to fade. It was January the first.

The day was cold- snow was falling, and Youngjae had to put on gloves and a thick leather jacket, if he didn’t want to risk dying of hypothermia. Alright- maybe that was an over exaggeration, but Daehyun would nag his head off if he found out that Youngjae wasn’t dressed properly for the season. That was ironic as usual, since Daehyun didn’t bother to buy gloves for himself and went with thinner than usual jackets. His day passed really quickly- with him in the office, working his off with his other colleagues. Not to mention, a hot cup of coffee every two hours. And then, it was time to go home.

He walked on the path to Daehyun’s office and met Daehyun before they waited for the local bus that would take them back to their house. As they discussed their day with each other like any other day, the bus came and the brothers got up onto the vehicle and seated behind a couple.

“We are running out of groceries… Should we stop by the grocery store?” Youngjae frowned as he tried to remember what little food they had left in the tiny little fridge they owned. Not much, Youngjae recalled.

Daehyun merely laughed at the way Youngjae worried over such small and trivial things. It almost made life seem normal.

The couple in front of them whispered while watching something on their phone. And as five minutes passed, Youngjae realized that almost everyone in the bus was staring at their phones. His curiosity was aroused, and so was Daehyun’s, he could see. The elder proceeded to crane his neck to try and get a glimpse of what was on the couple’s handheld, before his body froze.

Youngjae looked at Daehyun questioningly but Daehyun seemed not to notice- he had paled so much he resembled a sheet of paper. That was when Youngjae sensed that something had gone terribly wrong.

Youngjae sat up to see whatever was on the couple’s handheld that had made Daehyun look so horrified, but he stilled, too, as he tried to comprehend what the hell he was seeing on their screen.

Whispers of ‘oh my god’, ‘’, ‘father?’ filled the bus as Youngjae’s eyes stopped at the title of the video.

‘Father ually abuses his teenage son’

Youngjae’s throat dried up, his hands turned clammy and he tried to hold in the feeling, tried not to retch on the bus. But all efforts proved worthless as he, after ten seconds, threw up on the bus’s floor.

Everything was a blur then. Youngjae remembered Daehyun’s stone cold hands dragging him out of the bus and towards their apartment, and Daehyun mumbling ‘it’s okay it’s okay it’s okay’ to Youngjae when IT WAS OBVIOUSLY NOT.

Youngjae wanted to scream, tear his hair out and seriously break something this time. They had unlocked their apartment door and Youngjae was about to step in until he realized who was sitting on the coach, ever so casually while sipping on tea as if he was the owner of the house.

Youngjae went mad then.

He had stomped up to the man he once used to address as ‘Dad’ and pulled him up by the collar. He remembered shouting in his face, ”You did that, didn’t you, you ing bastard!” Then punching him dead in his ribs.

His father looked happy. How could he look happy, Youngjae screamed, because he destroyed the life of his sons and himself and he wasn’t a human, never was, I am going to ing kill you.

Then Daehyun was there. Tearing his hands away from the bastard’s clothes, holding Youngjae back as he thrashed around, trying to get at the bloody madman who turned their life upside down, who was now halfway out the door.

Youngjae finally managed to break free. Sprinting across the tiny area, he stopped briefly at the exit of the door and on impulse, snatched the pen knife and started to chase after the running figure. Down the stairs, across the road, towards a spread of blue.

He could vaguely hear footsteps following him, someone shouting his name, but he couldn’t care about anything else, couldn’t focus on anything except the boiling rage that was directed at his hateful father. He simply chased after him until his father suddenly stopped and turned around, throwing his hands out and tilting his head back.

He looked like a serious looney, then, Youngjae had thought. But then again, wasn’t Youngjae a little crazy too? Weren’t everybody?

He flicked the blade opened and charged right to the man, his father with his eyes closed. Was he really seeking death? Because Youngjae couldn’t control himself, and his father probably knew it. He didn’t dare look at the ocean because he was scared the waters would reflect him, show him the madness underneath the façade of normality in his eyes.

He wasn’t thinking straight, not at all. He wasn’t thinking straight as he called the man in front of him names with words he hadn’t ever used before… crude, insensitive words. He wasn’t thinking straight when he threatened to kill his father. He wasn’t thinking straight when he plunged the knife into his chest.

Only when his blood started seeping on his hands, did he realize what he had done.

He watched in horror as the figure in front of him fell, his blood pooling in a puddle beside him, sinking into the sand. Staining them red. The color of poppies.

He brought his blood stained gloves up to his hands and stared as the specks of red decorated his white leather gloves, like flowers blooming out of a shrub covered in snow. In winter.

He heard someone drop beside him. Daehyun.

“No, no, no…” Daehyun sputtered, “What have you done, little brother?”

He saw the madness behind Daehyun’s orbs, then. That was when he realized that they were a family of madmen. Gone beyond the point of return.

“It’s okay,” Daehyun repeated, the same phrase he would use whenever Youngjae screwed up, “It’s alright.”

Youngjae should’ve realized it, really. Whenever Youngjae screwed up, Daehyun would always cover up his tracks. Or take the blame from him. So he didn’t know why it hadn’t occurred to him then.

He watched as Daehyun plucked the knife out of his father’s bleeding heart. Youngjae didn’t have time to think, you know… He didn’t know what would happen.

Daehyun looked up at Youngjae sadly, whispering something that might have been ‘I’ll protect you’ or something else…

Daehyun stuck the knife into his own heart.

Why couldn’t the king fend for himself?

Youngjae watched, his mouth agape in what may have been either a silent scream or a silent laugh. His heart felt… empty. Like a small part, no, a very large part of him was gone. He hadn’t realized that Daehyun would go to such an extent… or why Daehyun did it at all. Stupid Daehyun, stupid…

So Youngjae laid down. Beside Daehyun who laid in a crumpled state, his eyes wide open, staring at the stars that had emerged lifetimes before. And Youngjae took Daehyun’s bare hands in his, before squeezing them to reassure him that it would be alright.

“I won’t leave you, not ever,” Youngjae whispered before he shut his eyes, and let the quietness rob him of his ability to be sane.

It was so, so peaceful.

Alright. Some of you probably didn't understand the whole thing, right? Let me ask some questions that will hopefully let you understand more as you think :D First person that gets all of them correct gets 50kp from me *wooooo*

1) What did Youngjae see, back at their house?

2) Why did Daehyun say that they could never escape? 

3) Why did Daehyun kill himself? hint; youngjae was wearing gloves

Gogogo, comment! :D I hope I haven't disappointed anyone with this oneshot :)