Hello my readers!!! ^^ How are you doing?

Well, as you can see this time the author note is at the beginning, why? Just because I wanted to give you some warnings. First of all; this chapter is all about baekyeol and their past, okay? There are going to be a few flashbacks, and I know that some people may want to skip them, you can do it since you are not going to miss information, but those flashbacks will show their relationship in all its glory, so yeah...

Oh, other thing, please do not skip the whole chapter, because this has essential information for the plot.

That being said, enjoy! ^^

The Byun family was ridiculously respected and prestigious, and it was expected from such a traditional and wealthy family. For generations this family had dedicated to the field of medicine, so it was understandable their high prestige. There wasn’t a single person who wasn’t a doctor if he or she belonged to this lineage; because once you had the already mentioned surname your destiny was irrevocably sealed. However, despite this apparent unbreakable rule, Byun Baekhyun wanted to follow a different course. Said guy had his own dreams, his own expectations and certainly he had no intention of becoming a respected doctor just to please his parents. Obviously the boy's parents weren’t at all satisfied with the devastating news, because they expected their firstborn to continue with the tradition that had characterized the family for generations. Therefore they had tried everything to convince the stubborn boy to continue with his predestined path. But all to no avail and very soon Byun Baekhyun became a disappointment not only for his strict and inflexible parents but for the whole family as well. However Mr. and Mrs. Byun refused to give up with their second child; a quiet and reserved boy named Chanyeol. What they didn’t know back then was that they didn’t have to try to extort the latter to do what they wanted, after all Chanyeol didn’t show any opposition to what his parents dictated, quite the opposite in fact. Because while Baekhyun was the rebel and indomitable son, Chanyeol was compliant and responsible, the latter only wanted to please their parents. And the fact that their second child were an extremely intelligent and gifted child almost made up for the disappointment that was his big brother. This is how Chanyeol became their favorite in every way. He was the pride of their parents and because of that they didn’t hesitate to spoil him in everything possible, and in the process the eldest son was left behind, staying in the most painful and cold oblivion and nobody seemed to care. But the reality is that someone did care and that someone was none other than his younger brother.

The youngest – since he could remember – adored his hyung even if he listened to his entire family speak ill of the latter all the time, because at the end of the day Chanyeol kept admiring his brother regardless of the insults that were thrown at him by their other family members. For the boy his big brother was someone awesome because he had the courage to protect what he wanted without being afraid of the opposition from the elders, and that for him was an incredibly courageous act, especially considering that he himself couldn’t even imagine doing something like that. But of course, that was only one of the reasons why he loved his brother, because there was much to admire of his hyung. For example the way in which the oldest always tried to encourage him when Chanyeol felt helpless and frustrated by something it hadn’t gone the way he had hoped for, or the way in which Baekhyun supported him in everything no matter what, or simply the way in which he always cared for him when no one else seemed to do it. Baekhyun was the only person who really cared about Chanyeol sincerely, since at the end their parents were too busy with their careers to care for their children.

They were truly close; nothing could break the fraternal bond that they had…or at least it seemed so.

All started with envious glances, with the coldest indifference and lastly with comments full of poison. All the love was replaced by envy and the harshest competition. The brothers had become rivals and everything was their parents’ fault and their ridiculous obsession to the achievements of their children, or at least that was what Chanyeol thought, who by far was the most affected by the turn of events because if the tall boy didn’t have his brother at his side then he had no one. After all he wasn’t outgoing nor friendly, not even cheerful as all the others kids of his age. He was rather quiet, very reserved and acted with some indifference in front of his peers, so obviously nobody wanted to be his friend. The only one who was always at his side, loving him and supporting him was his older brother, but everything changed when the rivalry arose between them. And since then everything started to be a competition, everything. While Chanyeol was a winner within his family because of his great academic record Baekhyun was a lovely guy who had the world at his feet. The youngest had the brain and the oldest had the ability to make everyone love him. That was how the gap between them grew more and more by each passing day.

And every situation, every conversation that led them both to that extent hit him when Seulmi brought the subject up, because although the tall guy didn’t want to admit it all of this still hurt, in the end Baekhyun was still his hyung and couldn’t just forget about everything they had gone through together that easily. Besides there was still some brotherly love between them, except that it was very hidden in their hearts and they wouldn’t show it under any circumstances, after all the two brothers were very prideful to show weakness in front of the other.

“Let's see, where do I start?” Chanyeol asked himself aloud, somewhat thoughtful while watching television with a blank stare. He was still a little hesitant about this, not liking very much the idea of exposing his story to any individual. In fact no one knew about this – except for his family, obviously – and the giant was anxious about the possibility of a third party knowing about his struggles just like that.

“I want you to tell me everything you know about Baekhyun.” The girl of eighteen insisted again upon seeing the doubt in his eyes, sitting up straight in anticipation.

Chanyeol looked at her with narrowed eyes, already annoyed by her impatience. “If you don’t shut your big mouth I will not speak, so stay silent and wait like a good girl, clear?” He said firmly.

Seulmi only nodded obediently as she stayed silent immediately to emphasize the fact that effectively she wouldn’t speak until Chanyeol said otherwise. Much cooperation from the girl was unusual, but she couldn't afford to exasperate him this time, not when the tall boy had valuable information about the secrets of her sister's boyfriend.

“Good.” The tall guy seemed satisfied with her reaction and with a calmer mind he began to collect his thoughts, trying to put a starting point to everything that was about to share with the little sister of his best friend. “I don’t know how to describe Baekhyun hyung to be honest. At least I find it hard to do so without talking about his – our – past first.” The giant said absently, reliving memories he believed he buried in his mind years ago. “Once we were very close, hyung and I. We did everything together, because we found love and shelter every time we were together…”

The little Chanyeol was sitting on the floor of the large living room, very comfortable on the fluffy mahogany carpet. His little hands were holding crayons, and on the floor lay a notebook full of scribbles made personally by the kid with fairy ears. The little boy was frowning and his mouth was adorned in a cute pout, clearly he was very focused on what he was doing, after all his drawing had to be perfect and neat, because otherwise his parents wouldn’t be proud of him. It had happened before, when the child had given them a drawing of their family; Chanyeol had given them the piece of paper with a huge and innocent smile, full of expectation. But all he got was a number of criticisms; the lines were too crooked, the proportions of the bodies were wrong, the colors he used were not correct, there was no perspective and thus the criticism continued, and at no moment they came to realize that it was a drawing of a four year old boy. They simply didn’t care; they just wanted perfection at all costs.

Since then the little Chanyeol worked extra hard in his drawings, because all he wanted was to see the smiles of his parents upon seeing the drawing he had made with so much effort and dedication. The child wanted to see love and pride instead of coldness, and he would do anything to get the warmth he longed, because he desperately wanted to feel loved by his parents.

“What are you doing, Yeollie?” A sharp and tender voice said suddenly.

The five year old boy looked up meeting his older brother, who looked the drawing with evident curiosity in his cute droopy eyes. The little Baekhyun sat next to his brother, flopping down to the ground cutely, sitting with his legs spread while still examining the drawing with interest.

“Baekkie hyung!” Chanyeol exclaimed cheerfully, grinning from ear to ear showing all his little teeth, leaving in evidence the empty space where it should be his upper left incisor. “I'm drawing our family, hyung! Look, look! That's mommy, that's daddy, that's you hyung! And that's me.” He said pointing every figure on the paper respectively. “Do you like it, Baekkie hyung? It’s pretty, right?”

Baekhyun looked at his little brother sincerely, with eyes full of joy when he answered. “It’s beautiful, Yeollie! It is for me?” He asked expectantly.

The other boy juts shook his head with a serious and determined expression on his face. “Sorry, but Yeollie can’t, hyung. It's for our parents! Come, come, help me to sign it, we can put both of our names, Baekkie hyung!” The boy said enthusiastic about the idea of sharing his drawing with his favorite hyung in the whole world. Well, Baekhyun was his only hyung, but nevertheless he was his favorite person.

The seven year old boy kneeled down and crawled towards the drawing, looking at the piece of paper with a pout on his little face. “But Yeollie, I didn’t do anything.” He grimaced with sadness.

“I don’t care. With this our parents will love us more! So hurry up, hyung!”

“Okay!” Baekhyun exclaimed happily with his characteristic eye-smile. He took the green crayon – his favorite color – and wrote two scribbles that were supposed to be the names of both, because although Baekhyun had just entered his first year of school ever the boy was still in the process of knowing how to read and write. “It’s done!” He exclaimed once he finished writing. “Now let’s go to our parents. They are going to be so happy when they see what you did. Come on, Yeollie!” He said enthusiastically as he stood up quickly.

Yet Chanyeol refused to stand up just yet, since he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to interrupt his parents right now, and the last thing he wanted was to disturb them once again, but his persuasive older brother convinced him to go in search of their parents claiming that they would be very happy once they see their gift and that it couldn’t wait any longer. Therefore the two brothers started running energetically looking for mom and dad, heading immediately to the office that was on the second floor of their enormous dwelling. They didn’t even knock the door to see if they could break into the room or not, after all they were only kids excited to receive some attention from their terribly busy parents.

“Mommy, daddy!” Little Baekhyun exclaimed blissfully, illuminating the room with his adorable smile. And behind him was his baby brother, shy and insecure as ever.

Mrs. Byun was on one side of the room with a book in her hands reading very intently while her husband was sitting at his big desk arranging some pending paperwork. The two adults were taken aback instantly at the unmistakable squeaky voice of their eldest son, and once they could understand what was happening they tried really hard not to glare at the two boys that had entered rudely into their workspace, reminding themselves that they were just kids, their kids actually.

“Boys, how many times have I told you that you guys always have to knock before coming in?” Mr. Byun sighed slightly irritated by the interruption as he looked at his two children with hard and inflexible eyes.

Chanyeol immediately stepped back upon seeing his father’s scary expression, feeling really intimidated by the man. But Baekhyun just smiled apologetically at his dad, completely undeterred by the hostility of the man, and with a tender and soft voice the boy tried to appease his intimidating father, “I'm sorry, daddy. Never again! Pinky promise, daddy!”

At this Mr. Byun could only sigh with resignation to later break into a small but warm smile, unable to resist the lovely view of his adorable eldest son smiling with that eye-smile that resembled his wife somehow. The truth is that Mr. Byun was a strict, inflexible, hostile and serious man, but he really loved his cute boys. Although that didn’t mean he was going to be soft with them, quite the opposite in fact. He had high expectations of both of them and to obtain satisfactory results he had to be hard on them, especially the eldest, who was proving to be somewhat difficult to handle. The man wanted his sons to follow his own steps, and for that the man had to mold them in his image and likeness, and he would use whatever means necessary to do so.

“What are you doing here, boys? We are busy, we can’t play with you guys now.” The man reminded them gently, but firmly.

“No, daddy. Look, look! We have something for you and mommy!” Baekhyun hastened to say, taking the hand of his baby brother to take him with him towards his father.

The man slid his chair back to give attention to his children. The two boys positioned themselves in the space between his father's legs with ease considering how small they were. And without further ado Baekhyun handed him the drawing with a huge smile, totally convinced that his father would love the gift,  because for him the picture was beautiful, especially considering that had done it his little brother.

Meanwhile little Chanyeol watched his father’s expression expectantly, he was nervous and anxious about the verdict. However, Mr. Byun’s reaction was far from satisfactory; the man examined the drawing with critical eyes. Of course, the drawing was somewhat cute, the gesture was somewhat cute, but the man couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed by the errors his son had committed when drawing, errors that Chanyeol had previously committed and that he himself told him to fix it. And obviously he didn’t hesitate to point them out. A part of the man knew this could be a little unfair to his innocent and young kid, but he couldn’t tolerate the fact that he had been interrupted by a stupid thing like this. He was a busy man for the love of God, and his boys couldn’t just interrupt him to give him a simple and childish drawing without quality or form. Maybe it was a dumb and unfair thought, but Mr. Byun had too much on his plate to understand the damage he was doing to his own children.

Chanyeol’s reaction was expected really; his eyes filled with tears and disappointment was reflected perfectly on his pretty face, and no one could blame him, because he had worked really hard in the drawing that his father was looking with disapproval. But what wasn’t expected was the reaction of his hyung, who indignantly snatched the piece of paper from his father’s hands quite rudely.

“How can you say that, daddy? Yeollie worked hard in this! You are so mean! Yeollie wanted to please you and see you smile! It's not fair!” The boy shouted in defense of his brother with a pronounced frown, looking at his father with disapproval and anger. The seven year old boy hated when their parents didn’t acknowledged Chanyeol’s desire to be noticed and loved. His baby brother was always alone. While Baekhyun went out to play with his many friends his little brother stayed at home without interacting with children of his age and the only thing the latter wanted was recognition of their parents. Don’t misunderstand, little Baekhyun also wanted their parents’ attention, but Chanyeol was different; he was a special and delicate case.

The unexpected shout of the kid caught Mrs. Byun’s attention, who – till that moment – had remained on the sidelines just because she was busy reading her book, but obviously her kids – once again – had interrupted her. When she saw the situation in which her husband was with her two sons the woman laid aside her book, stood up and walked in their direction.

“What’s going on here?” The woman asked with her hands on her hips, looking at her two children with a frown. “Baekhyun.”

Said kid was still glaring at his father while the latter looked back at him baffled, unable to believe that his own son could have answered like that. If the man hadn’t been so shocked he would have scolded him strongly already. Mrs. Byun had to say his son’s name again for Baekhyun to finally look at her, and when she finally got his attention the woman asked him again what was happening.

“Daddy didn’t even thank Yeollie for the drawing he made, daddy only said bad things. Yeollie just wanted you guys to love us more with the drawing. Yeollie really hoped to make you both happy.” He answered more calmly as he played with his little fingers nervously, adopting a slightly more submissive posture in the presence of his mother, since she certainly was far more intimidating than anyone else – just according to Baekhyun because Chanyeol still believed that his father was the most intimidating person on planet earth.

“Baek, that's ridiculous. Daddy was just trying to make you guys better. And we aren’t going to love you both more for a simple drawing, that's stupid. Now go play somewhere else, we're busy. Adults have things to do. Go, go! Mommy and daddy are busy people, you know that.” The beautiful woman said dismissively as she walked to the couch with the intention to continue with her reading, this time in peace.

Chanyeol took his brother’s hand again trying to seek comfort. He was still teary-eyed, but he wouldn’t cry in front of his parents, not wanting to anger them once again. So he tugged his hyung’s hand with the intent to drag him out of the room with him, but the eldest was reluctant to leave the room just yet. Baekhyun wanted to continue defending his baby brother, because he knew that all of this was hurting him. Yet Mr. Byun, who was still somewhat stunned by what had happened, came to his senses and with a firm and cold tone of voice told the kids to leave them alone, especially scolding his eldest son for having spoken in that so disrespectful way to his father. So at the reprimand Baekhyun could just follow Chanyeol out of the room, making their way to the living room. Once they were back in the comfort of the fluffy carpet finally the youngest began to cry uncontrollably, feeling really useless by failing to make his parents smile. His hyung immediately wrapped his short and fragile arms around his little brother, giving him support and understanding.

“Don’t cry, Yeollie. Hyung is here.” Baekhyun repeated again and again in an attempt to soothe his brother.

“They don’t care, Baekkie hyung. They never have time to play with us.” He sobbed against his chest.

“It doesn’t matter, because hyung will always be here for Yeollie. We'll be together forever and we'll play together every day.” Baekhyun assured him, grinning at him brightly.

The youngest looked at his sibling with eyes filled with tears while he sniffed cutely. “Forever, Baekkie hyung?”

The other boy nodded with determination. “Forever.” He repeated with conviction.

“Pinky promise?” Chanyeol lifted his chubby hand to link his pinkie with hyung’s.

Baekhyun linked their fingers with a huge smile on his face and gave him a kiss on his forehead to seal the promise. "Pinky promise."

“…But when our parents began to compare us everything started falling apart. Suddenly we no longer talked to each other, there was communication between us anymore…and we reached a point where we didn’t even acknowledge each other's presence at all.” The giant continued with a frown and a solemn posture, without looking at the girl who was at his side listening to everything with an almost ridiculous attention.

“I don’t understand. Why they would want to compare their children? Wouldn’t it be assumed that all parents love their children equally?” Seulmi mumbled confused, after all she couldn’t conceive a situation like that, especially taking into account her own experience. Her parents never showed preference for one of their daughters, the two adults treated the two sisters in the same way and the girl was sure that her parents loved them both equally.

Upon hearing her innocent and naive response Chanyeol snorted rudely as he smirked amused. “Well, not our parents apparently, because they treat us very differently. You could say that I'm the favorite one, their brilliant son while hyung is the black sheep of the family.”

Seulmi frowned totally puzzled, unable to process what she had heard, because according to what she had been able to observe Baekhyun simply was the life of the party, the person whom everyone loved, the person whom everyone found friendly, adorable and plain desirable. To the world this man was that lovable. Therefore it seemed a blasphemy that within his own family circle he were a mere renegade. In fact the girl thought that if someone had to be the black sheep that would be Chanyeol, because with that cold and indifferent attitude he ended up pushing everyone away. Although now she couldn’t trust her judgment by the image that previously had of Baekhyun, since by discovering the dark side of her sister's boyfriend the girl couldn’t comment on this issue any longer, there was no certainty when talking about the Baekhyun.

“I know. It seems impossible that our parents prefer me instead of hyung, right? But I'm the one who obeys every ing order. I’m the one who will follow in their footsteps. I’m the one who is being manipulated all the ing time unable to do much about it. I'm the one who has good grades and I'm the one who makes them proud. I'm the good guy while Baekhyun hyung is the troublemaker. That’s how it is.” He said with a casual attitude, but Seulmi knew better, after all she could feel his discomfort. Chanyeol was trying too hard to seem indifferent to the whole matter when actually he felt the pain and injustice of it all firsthand. The giant was just trying to defend himself in some way, because he didn’t like to appear weak, and much less in front of people which he didn’t entirely trust. And although it seemed somewhat extreme to distrust and feel uncomfortable in the presence of Seulmi considering that she was his best friend’s sister and that clearly she meant no harm in any way, yet he still wanted to keep his distance.

Seulmi was a loss for words, confused with all the information received, because everything she was hearing seemed something foreign and impossible to assimilate. She never imagined that Baekhyun could have family problems. She knew the guy could be hyperactive, but never thought of him as a troublemaker.

“Baekhyun a troublemaker? The black sheep of the family? No offense, but that sounds more like you.” She commented with a shrug.

Chanyeol didn’t even bother to glare at her or deny what she had said, because he knew very well he had that kind of image. “I know. I've always been quiet and reserved. On the other hand Baekhyun has always been outgoing and loud, has always been very sociable so it's normal for him to have a lot of friends. But he’s not the same innocent and joyful child that he used to be.” He said with a sad smile, feeling sorry for the little boy who once was his Baekkie hyung.

Something had changed in the atmosphere. Something had broken with the tranquility and peace that existed before at home, if it could still be called like that. The atmosphere was heavy and there was distrust and caution in the air. Everyone was sitting quietly, occasionally crossing glances with each other, but no one dared to break the eerie silence. However Baekhyun saw himself obliged to break it first, since it was him who had somehow ruined everything, or so he believed taking into account the horrific reaction of his parents upon hearing the news that he had wanted to share with them for a while now.

“Uh…well, at least you don’t have to worry about the money. I got a scholarship.” He remarked smiling uneasily. “Well, I know that that money is not an issue at all, but…uh…yeah.” The guy cleared his throat uncomfortably at the continued silence, realizing that his parents weren’t even looking at him or acknowledging his efforts to discuss the issue.

“Mom, Dad, are you guys mad at me?” He dared to ask somewhat afraid for the obvious answer. But as expected, the married couple remained silent.

For Chanyeol was painful to see something like this. Baekhyun never felt intimidated or fearful, but now he could see how really affected his hyung was with this whole situation. The youngest knew about his brother's dream; Baekhyun wanted to live in a world of delicacy and musical beauty instead of being trapped in a world that wasn’t for him. But he also knew how sad his big brother was to disappoint their parents, Baekhyun himself admitted it from the moment in which he knew that his thing wasn’t medicine. And it was frustrating to know that he couldn’t do anything to help his hyung, how could he when he himself was afraid to get out of the shell? Chanyeol wasn’t as brave as his older brother and certainly the guy was terrified just of the thought of their parents finding out his true thoughts. It’s not that the youngest had found his path in life yet, in fact right now he didn’t mind to obey and get into medical school for his parents, he didn’t mind being pretty much a puppet either, precisely because he was still in search of his inner self, his true passion. However he knew that someday he would disagree with the wishes of his parents and when that happens he was sure that he wouldn’t know how the hell to go against them.

“Come on you guys, is not that terrible. I just want to study music. I know it's not as well paid as a doctor, but I'll survive. You don’t have to worry about me and my future.” Said Baekhyun fed up of the silence, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the exaggeration of his parents to the good – according to him – news.

Just then Mr. Byun smacked the table with his right fist and stood up just to glare at his eldest son with eyes full of fury. The man couldn’t describe the fury and indignation that he was feeling at that moment. Literally he wanted to beat his son to make him see reason, because there was no way that Baekhyun were serious.

“What the hell you think you're doing? We didn’t raise you like this, you piece of ! With this nonsense you are putting to shame the whole family! You were raised to be a successful doctor, not a ing musician! If you are my son you will do what I say and as long as you live under my roof you are going to obey me! I already got tired of your bull! I've been pretty patient with you, but my patience has its limits! Now you're going to reject that damn scholarship and you'll enter medical school because I say so!” He shouted hysterically, with flames coming out of his eyes. He was looking at his son so coldly.

The two brothers looked at their father with eyes wide open, totally shocked. Obviously they expected him to react in a negative way, but never expected him to express himself in that so aggressive way, because they had never seen him as disgusted as at this time. The only person who was calm was Mrs. Byun, who was eating peacefully knowing that her husband would take care of all this ridiculousness. And as always the woman remained on the sidelines, without becoming involved if it wasn’t really necessary to do so.

“But father…I don’t want to.” Baekhyun refuted softly with a frightened voice.

“Enough! You will do as I said. Period!” He yelled pointing at him with an accusing finger, glaring at him with such intensity that the boy had the need to look down submissively. Upon seeing his eldest son’s reaction the man could finally calm down a little bit, satisfied by his apparent resignation. Thus Mr. Byun sat back in his chair and began to eat as if nothing had happened.

On the other hand Chanyeol was unable to pretend he was comfortable enough to keep on eating his meal, especially when he was caught in the middle of the cold war that surely would emerge from all this. Hence he only remained silent without touching his food, intending to go completely unnoticed at the same time that he tried to ignore those eyes filled with anger and hatred that were looking to a standstill; eyes that belonged to no other than his hyung.

After that fiasco everything changed radically in the Byun household. If before their parents were inattentive to their children now they simply ignored them in the cruelest and unsubtle way that may be. Baekhyun was trying really hard to appear unaffected by that change although deep inside he was disappointed by such rejection, after all it was a horrible feeling to know that he wasn’t supported by the people who had given him life, and even though they had never been particularly attentive and caring with their children that was much better than the treatment he was receiving of them now.

However there was a family member who simply felt really helpless and lost, and somehow it was the person most affected by these circumstances. Chanyeol was being treated in the same way than his brother without understanding why, which made him break. The youngest no longer spoke so often with his hyung, since a small part of him blamed his older brother for the change of their parents, change that he also had to face without having done anything. Although it’s worth mentioning that the biggest part of the taller still loved and admired his older brother, because deep down he knew it wasn’t Baekhyun’s fault at all. Yet he no longer screamed to the world his adoration for his sibling as he did before, now the guy simply admired him in silence. And just like that Chanyeol unintentionally initiated the collapse of their relationship.

“Our parents wanted their two sons to follow the family tradition and become doctors. For a while I was fine with that and I didn’t refuse to do so, but Baekhyun hyung refused to be a puppet, besides he had his own dreams…he wanted to follow another path, his own path. And from that moment our parents decided to give him the cold shoulder, and as if it that weren’t enough they also believe that it was a good idea to compare us all the damn time. I became their favorite toy while they rubbed it on his face. It's pretty cruel in fact, because no matter what Baekhyun hyung does my parents simply ignore him constantly, as if he was no longer part of the family and that obviously had a great influence on his personality. Our parents practically forgot about hyung when they realized they no longer had a use for him. That's what they showed us…when a person is not useful is necessary to get rid of them and that's what Baekhyun hyung has been doing all this time. He uses his kindness to attract people, use his “loveliness” to retain them and when he no longer needs them he just throw them out of his life. Everything is a lie, Seulmi. The facet you've seen of him so far is a farce. I don’t even know when he is sincere or not, so he also has deceived me. Hyung has become in someone empty and complex at the same time. And the worst of all is that I saw the process of that, I saw how much he suffered during his teenage years and I really understand him, but I cannot forgive him. I can’t just pretend that everything he is doing is right. I can’t help him anymore, because that is not in my hands, much less when he seems to despise me with all his being.” He finished narrating bitterly. “That ing bastard…” He added softly so she wouldn’t listen.

Seulmi stayed silent, absorbing all the information with a heavy heart. She never imagined that Baekhyun could be such a complex person. He always introduced himself to the world as a happy guy that was content with his life, so it was kind of shocking for her to know about his conflictive past. And the worst part is that after hearing all of this she couldn’t feel resentment, much less hatred for the guy. Yes, it was true that he had cheated on her sister, and yes, it was true that since then he had been acting like an obnoxious jerk. Nevertheless, somehow she began to understand little by little the reason behind everything. Obviously this didn’t mean that what he was doing was right or anything, but at least now Seulmi knew that there was a reason…that was all she wanted after all. And even though she had the feeling that there was something more than just his past to explain his behavior with the two sisters, this was the beginning and the girl wasn’t going to stop until decipher the complete spectrum.

Although there was something else that also baffled her; the supposed enmity that existed between the two brothers. It was awful to know that they didn’t get along and that not even their fraternal bond was enough to encourage them to fix their situation. She couldn’t believe that it had all been a lie, couldn’t believe that Baekhyun was only pretending to love his brother in front of everyone when in fact they weren’t on good terms. What motivated him to pretend? Especially to that extent, because everyone who saw how he acted Baekhyun around his brother could say that the eldest really cared about his younger brother in an endearing way. Why did he want to hide the disdain he had towards Chanyeol? After all it was understandable for some brothers to not get along extraordinarily well, so it was not uncommon to see siblings on bad terms. There was something very odd about all this and Seulmi suspected that not even Chanyeol knew about his big brother’s intentions very well.

“That’s horrible.” She commented expressing her thoughts aloud.

The tall guy just shrugged his shoulders, acting in an indifferent way once again. “That’s how life it is, I guess.”

After that they both remained silent; the girl waiting for the giant to continue while the giant thinking that there was nothing more to say.

“I want to know more.” Seulmi finally said when she realized that Chanyeol didn’t intend to keep talking on his own.

“There is nothing more to say.” The giant merely said, watching television again; the soccer game was about to come to an end. “Now go to disturb someone else.” Added promptly, wanting to enjoy the rest of the game without further interruption.

“No! I'm not going anywhere! You promised me you were going to tell me about Baekhyun.” She cried out childishly, because although the newly received information was important she still had the feeling that Chanyeol was omitting something important.

“What the hell? I didn’t promise you anything.” He said suddenly upset to the demands of this girl. Sure, he had agreed to tell her about Baekhyun’s life and everything, but there were some things that should remain hidden, since it wasn’t his duty to reveal his brother’s secrets, as much as he despised the guy Chanyeol respected the privacy of people, being himself a very discreet person. Besides the giant didn’t want to completely destroy the expectations she had of Baekhyun. She was just a lovesick teenager and knowing the true nature of his brother would destroy her for sure. And let's be honest, Chanyeol himself was aware that he didn’t know his hyung for real, and although he had seen several of Baekhyun’s facets the giant knew it was impossible to know a person completely; he thought so from his own experience.

“Chanyeol, there's something you're not telling me! You told me to stay away from Baekhyun because you wanted to protect me! Which if you ask me it doesn’t make any sense to me, like seriously. I know you don’t care about me, so tell me the truth.” As she spoke voice was losing its strength, finally uttering the last words in a slight whisper.

Chanyeol looked at her with a frown, suddenly feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the sudden vulnerability she showed in her soft, sweet voice. And when he looked at her melancholic expression he realized that all she wanted was to know the truth. The tall guy didn’t know what it was that had motivated her to want to know more about his brother, but he felt that she had seen or heard something it hadn't done her any good. Finally, deciding to be more honest with her, he let out a long, deep breath, preparing himself for the ordeal.

“Look, Seulmi, I'd like to help but I cannot do much. Yes, I warned you to stay away from my brother because I wanted to protect you, believe it or not. Is it so hard to believe that I want to protect the sister of my best and only friend? You are precious to Taeyeon noona and that's enough for me, okay? I’m not going to lie, I know we don’t get along, but it's not your fault at all. I'm the problem, because I don’t want to socialize with people, that’s how I am and I won’t change. But let me worry about you from time to time, okay? And I ask you again to not get too close to Baekhyun hyung, I know you love him and I know that such love will destroy you from the inside faster than you think if you go on this path. Just let him go, stop wanting to find out more about his twisted personality and just stay away from him. Don’t become another of his toys as he did with Taeyeon noona, don’t let him play you, Seulmi.”

The girl was completely taken aback, not by the fact that Chanyeol had expressed his genuine concern about her but was stunned by the fact that he himself had called her sister a toy that had to belong to Baekhyun. All this time she had clung fiercely to the idea that her older sister was loved by her boyfriend, all this time the girl had tried to convince herself that Baekhyun had just made a mistake and that at the end his heart belonged exclusively to Taeyeon. But now that she heard Chanyeol saying those things she wasn’t so sure of that anymore. All along Baekhyun was truly playing with her sister’s feelings, or rather with everyone’s feelings.

“Don’t tell me…y-you…you knew, right?” Seulmi asked with a trembling, anxious voice for the possible answer.

Chanyeol looked at her inquisitively, as if he had no idea what she was talking about, but after a few seconds his eyes grew wary. “What I'm supposed to know?”

“D-Don’t play with me, Chanyeol.” She warned him shakily. “You knew that your brother has been fooling around all this time. I saw how Baekhyun cheated on her with another girl in a pub, I saw how he betrayed my sister’s love. And it’s not the first time he does it…right?” The girl said looking at the boy with innocent eyes, which were with unshed tears.

The giant just grimaced helplessly, since he couldn’t keep her away from the truth as much as he wanted to do so. Besides he had to remind himself that she was no longer a little girl who had to protect obsessively, although it was hard not to view her as such when all he could see in Seulmi was a helpless and naive girl that was full of insecurities.

“Yes, Seulmi. I have known for a long time and my brother has been cheating for a while now. Seulmi, he sleeps with a different woman every single night.” There, he said it, there was no turning back now.

“W-What…? …b-but I thought…t-they were in love…but…why…?”

“Seulmi, it's time for you to understand…Baekhyun hyung doesn’t know how to love, he just uses people and that includes everyone, no exceptions; neither you nor me…not even Taeyeon noona.” He said with a firm voice, but gentle, wanting to understand once and for all that there was nothing good to love his brother, unfortunately.

At this point her cheeks were wet with tears, feeling the betrayal and the deception all over again, but this time it was much worse, because now she knew for sure that he wasn’t good for Taeyeon. The girl understood his past and hated the fact that he had gone through all of that, but that didn’t give him the right to destroy others hearts, much less to destroy her older sister’s illusions. Baekhyun knew everything that Taeyeon and she had gone through; the loss of their parents had turned Taeyeon in a very fragile and weak girl, so she couldn’t imagine how much her sister would suffer if she were to find out about all of her boyfriend’s cruel lies. Baekhyun intended to use and play with his girlfriend’s feelings and the guy wasn’t afraid to break the girl even more than she already was. Maybe he was indeed a bad person and Seulmi was embarrassed to have feelings for a person like that. Now that she knew the truth she wasn’t afraid to despise him, now she had every right to do so and this time wasn’t going to pretend to tolerate his presence.

She felt so disgusted and hurt that she couldn’t stop crying, the frustration hit her head hard and she had no strength to go back to her senses. She was angry with everyone; with Baekhyun for being an insensitive piece of trash that didn’t know how to treat people, with Taeyeon for not noticing the true intentions of her boyfriend of two years and Chanyeol for not warning his best friend of the selfish nature of his older brother.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?! Why didn’t you tell Taeyeon, huh?! She is your friend! Why did you let her get involved with a guy like him? Why you are not stopping him?!” She sobbed hysterically, venting her anger over the boy she had at her side.

“And what about you? Why didn’t you tell her immediately when you knew Baekhyun hyung had cheated? Why didn’t you do it back then?” The giant asked back coldly, somewhat defensively by her accusatory tone.

She opened to refute, but then she noticed his point. That made her look down at her lap, a little embarrassed for having vented her fury with the wrong person.

“See? Is not that easy.” He muttered. “We're both cowards…neither of us dares to open your sister’s eyes by telling her the truth.” He said in a resigned tone of voice. “And the worst part is that we shouldn’t feel like this, after all the bastard of my brother is the one to blame for everything.” He added dismissively.

The girl looked up immediately upon hearing the hatred in the boy's voice. Her cheeks were soaked in tears still, but made no move to dry them. She looked at Chanyeol with sad puppy eyes, so the boy couldn’t help smiling slightly with gentleness; it had been hard for her to hear the truth. Then he lifted his hands to wipe her tears away slowly and gently, still grinning. It was the second time he smiled at her and Seulmi couldn’t help but smiled back shyly with slightly rosy cheeks, a little overwhelmed by the sudden kindness of the boy.

“Don’t keep crying for him, Mimi. Just ignore him from now on, get on with your life. Let things go at their own pace.”

Her heart was filled with warmth when she heard her nickname come out from Chanyeol’s lips, since it was the first time the giant addressed her like that. Perhaps – despite Chanyeol’s rejection he had for socialize according to him – he could become an ally… a friend, but only time would say.

Meanwhile she was pleased with the help he had given her, she thanked him for his sincerity knowing that it shouldn’t be easy for him to talk about his past. Finally Seulmi realized that Chanyeol was also a human being, he also had feelings, fears, insecurities, and she was willing to accept him with all his flaws and insecurities, because after this conversation she was finally able to notice the feeling that was always hidden in Chanyeol’s eyes; it wasn’t indifference, it wasn’t coldness either as she had thought, no…all this time had been just loneliness.

When the two boys got into Baekhyun’s car – since Chanyeol had left his car with the mechanic due to a malfunction of the car, obviously – the atmosphere became tense immediately, as whenever they were alone in a very limited space. Baekhyun put his hands on the steering wheel and squeezed it tightly, his knuckles turning white because of the strength he was using. He was trying to keep calm with all his will power.

Meanwhile Chanyeol was silent, waiting for the possible outburst, as it was no secret to him his brother’s short temper and great irritability. Generally his older brother knew how to hide his emotions very well, but when they were alone or in the presence of their family Baekhyun’s temper just came to light without much difficulty.

“Seulmi was crying. What the hell did you say to her?” Baekhyun finally asked him through clenched teeth, turning his head to glare at his brother.

“None of your business, hyung.” Chanyeol replied without looking at him.

“Don’t ing joke with me, Chanyeol. You told her something about me, didn’t you?” He said with venom in his voice.

The giant huffed annoyed. He just wanted some peace, but that was difficult in Baekhyun’s presence, who became increasingly dramatic, he was such a drama queen. “What makes you think that I told her something about you? As far as I know you're not the ing center of the universe.” He answered with a teasing smirk.

“You think I'm an idiot, little brother? She couldn’t even look at my face and when she did I only saw hatred in her eyes. Now tell me what I want to hear, Chanyeol. Don’t make me lose my damn patience.”

“Maybe she got tired of seeing your ugly face every day, who knows?” The youngest mocked him, enjoying seeing his brother so upset.

That was the straw that broke the camel. The eldest – in a flexible and quick movement – grabbed Chanyeol by the collar and held him aggressively close to his face. Chanyeol may be taller than his older brother, but the latter had an intimidating personality when he got really angry and height wasn’t an impediment for Baekhyun at all.

“Don’t play with me, retard. We don’t want our parents to know of the failures of their favorite son after all.” The eldest growled staring into his with a suffocating intensity, causing his younger brother to shut up immediately, because it was the truth; he didn’t want to expose his deepest secrets, much less to their parents. “Huh, prodigal son my . You’re just a ing coward.” He hissed with resentment and envy in his voice, releasing him brusquely as he pushed Chanyeol as far as possible away from him. And as if nothing had happened Baekhyun started the engine of the car and drove off.

Chanyeol fell silent again, cursing in his head the other boy for making his life more complicated than it already was. He wondered why Baekhyun envied him so much, why his hyung hated him so much. In the end the giant had nothing for which to be envied, only constant physical and emotional burden set on his shoulders by his own parents, denying him the freedom he craved. If someone had to be envied, that was Baekhyun…because his older brother had the only thing that Chanyeol so desperately longed for.