"How Can We Not Talk About Family, When Families All We Got"

“oppa… Dongwook oppa,” Dara pleaded, knocking on his bedroom door. “Oppa talk to me.” Dara lean on his door. She’d been standing there and knocking for good fifteen minutes already but there is no response. “Will you at least let me know if you are okay?”

A faint sound come from the other side.

“You’re going to have to speak up. I can’t hear you.” she said loudly.

Few seconds passes, when she suddenly heard him. “God save me from my annoying sister.” frustration lace on his voice.

She smiled. At least he was talking. “Was that a call for help or did you take up Christianity in the last hour? You know my hearing’s bad.”

The door handle started to jiggle. “That was a prayer asking why I got stuck with such a nosey sister!”

She heard the lock click. “I’m starting to get the feeling that you don’t want to talk to me.”

“I’m fine, Dars. I don’t want to talk. I don’t need to talk...” he sighed in exasperation. “I just want to be left alone.”

“You know me better than that. I would never leave you alone in a time like this.”

“You make it sound like I’m on a verge of a mental breakdown.”

“Well aren’t you?” usually when he lost a game he would go out with his teammates and blow off steam by playing arcade games. He’d never holed himself up in the house before and ignores everyone.

“Do you really think that little of me?”

“I know how much winning meant to you”

“Winning isn’t everything.”

She almost choked. “Then why are you here sulking instead of hanging out with your friends?”

“I just...” something thumped against the door. “I guess I’m just embarrassed. My temper got the best of me and I let my team down.”

“You know you’re not god right? The fate of the football team does not rest solely in your hands. They had chances to win but they blew it!”

“I’m supposed to be the leader, the person that sets the example. That’s why they voted me as a captain of the team even though I’m just in sophomore. But instead I got in a fight and made a mess of things.”

“Should you have kept your cool? Yes… Even if he said something to provoke you, it wasn’t okay to swing your fists. But you got punished for it so stop beating yourself up and move on. You’re only a bad captain if you continue to let the past define you. Learn from your mistakes and keep your temper in check next time.”

“I tried, but it was Choi.”

This again? She banged her head against the wall she’s leaning. “Can’t you get along? He’s not a bad guy once you get to know him.”

“I know enough.”

“Oppa...”

“Dara.”

She shook her head at his tone. “What exactly did he say to you tonight?”

“He told me you’d been texting him during halftime. That you sent him a picture. A kiss picture.”

She rolled her eyes at the disgust in his voice. He acted as if she committed a first degree felony. “That’s what set you off? A little extreme, don’t you think?”

“No in fact, I think he got what he deserved.”

Dara wanted to argue, but she knew her brother. Nothing would change his mind. What puzzled her was why he was the one upset with Seunghyun. After all, it was him who seduced Jenny. He was in the wrong, not Seunghyun. So, why all the hostility.

Dara’s hand drifted to the ring around her neck, her fingers traced the silver markings that spelled out his name. She was tired of secrets of the mysteries surrounding this girl. She was a ghost continually haunting the two of them. “I know about Jenny...”

There was absolute silence following her sentence.  She enters his room and Dongwook was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed. He looked sad. Defeated.

“He told you about her?” he asked quietly.

“Only after I asked. I heard you two going at it the last time he was here in the yard.”

“I thought I heard the backdoor opening” he sighed deeply. “Why did you go to him for an answer instead of coming to me? I live beside your bedroom.”

“You’re not exactly rational when his name comes up in conversation.”

“And he is?”

“More than you.” she replied honestly.  “He knows you’re part of my life and nothing can change that.” He looked up when he made a disgruntled noise. “It’s true, oppa. Were a package deal. We always have been.”

“I find it hard to believe that he’s okay with it.”

“Well... I guess that’s how much he likes me and I don’t say you’re name often and even when I do, he keeps his mouth shut. However when I’m with you. I have constantly to be on guard with what I say. Anytime I mentioned his name you blow up and then shut down.”
 

“I don’t!” he said defensively.

“You’re doing it right now. You become hostile and refuse to listen to reason. Even seeing his ring it puts you on edge.”

“That’s not... That’s not what you thought it was.”

“No?” she challenged. “Because one look at it and you turned to ice.”

His eyes flashed to the ring. They darkened before quickly looking back at the ceiling. “It just reminds me of my own ring”

“The one you lost?”

“Lost?” Dongwook snorted. “Right. Can you exactly tell me what did he tell you about her?”

“She was his girlfriend and you purposefully went after her to hurt him.” he looks at her and she sent him a disapproving look. “It’s bad enough that you guys have stupid rivalry but to use an innocent girl like that?” she shook her head. “What if that girl had been me?”
 

“That’s exactly what I’m worried about Dars!” he moved besides her. “Look, I’m not proud of what I did. I hurt Jenny” pain can see on his face. “And she hates me because of it, but when he found out she was cheating on him, he was livid. He’s out for revenge and will use anything on his arsenal to do it.”

“Sorry to break your drama you two. But Dara we going or not?” Bom suddenly appear on Dongwook door.

“I hadn’t gotten there yet.”

“Going where?” Dongwook asked suspiciously.  When neither answered he focused his eyes on Dara. His eyes widened when he realized that she is not wearing her PJs but instead she’s wearing a white romper and a floral bomber jacket on top. “Going where Dara?” he repeated, his voice deceptively soft.

Dara took a deep breath and look at Bom before answering. “To see Seunghyun.”

His eyes narrowed. “You’re going to a party?”

“Not a party” she corrected. “dinner.” After the game, Seunghyun called and invited her over to Seungri’s house for pizza. He knew her stance on parties and thought dinner with his friends was a better solution. It was a sweet gesture, but she didn’t feel comfortable going to a stranger’s house by herself. So he grudgingly extended the invitation to Bom as well.

“What happened to the movie marathon you guys were going to have?” Dongwook asked.