Sungmin: The Face Behind Donghwa

There was something about Sungmin that caused Jinyoung to feel a bit uneasy. It might've been the fact that the other would never take his eyes off of him. It might've been the fact that the other seemed to have so much he wanted to say, yet he kept quiet.

It might've just been the tension in the air.

"You're the adopted child of Donghae?" Sungmin asks, crossing one leg over the other, "Donghae, the twin brother of Donghwa?"

Jinyoung nods slowly, "I just want to know what Donghwa was like in regards to Donghae, even if it's a little unrelated to my purpose in which why I'm even researching my fathers in the first place. Please help."

Sungmin sighs a little and purses his lips together, "Well, Donghwa always made quite the impression. He was an interesting kid who was always the class clown, which is why he probably seemed like he was a part of the bullying. He probably hung around those kids, making them laugh in his own ways. If he bullied anyone, then I'm sure he doesn't mean it, since he's actually nicer than anyone I know. In a lot of ways, he's someone I want to be like."

"Again?" Sungmin frowns, clearly discontent for the boy standing in front of him.

Donghwa grips the paper in his hand, crumbling it as he does so, "Yeah, again. He always does this! I'm always second to him. I don't understand what I have to do to become number one for once in my life."

The two boys stood outside of the school, leaning against the wall as they decided to release all their frustration. Academically, Donghwa excelled, though just a little less than Donghae. If Donghwa got an A on an assignment, then Donghae would get an A+. If Donghwa got an A+ on an assignment, then Donghae would somehow get an A++.

It drove both Sungmin and Donghwa insane; Sungmin, a little more than Donghwa.

He hated seeing how his friend was always in the shadow of the brother. He hated seeing how his friend's effort would always go to waste. That Lee Donghae made Sungmin frustrated for Donghwa.

"This is ridiculous," Sungmin sighs, "How is it that he is always at least one point higher than you on tests, exams, classwork, and homework?"

Donghwa stuffs the test paper back into his pocket and forces a smile, "It's alright. I'll try harder next time."

Every single time Donghwa gets taken down by his brother, he always swallowed it with everything he had. He always made sure to not let his emotions take control of him. He was, in a way, still proud of his brother, even if it meant discrediting his own achievements.

But it wasn't only in tests that Donghae excelled.

Donghwa's first crush was a girl who worked at the library. With her thick-framed glasses resting upon the little bridge of her nose, she smiled brighter than the sun. The way she brushed her hair back behind her ear, and the way she panicked when she accidentally knocks a book off the shelf made Donghwa laugh.

He found the girl to be extremely cute.

But when that girl met Donghwa for the first time, she opened and said, "Donghae! You're back again?"

And that was when Donghwa felt his first heartache because of a girl. That was the first time he wished his brother never existed. The way she spoke, he already knew: that girl took an interest in his brother, not him.

The first time Donghwa got straight 100s on all of his exams, the spotlight was stolen from him when Donghae was casted as the star in a play; he was playing the main role. The hero.

How could Donghwa compete with something like that?

When it finally came down to Donghwa's first date, he had thought that maybe this would be the first time in his life that he might not have to live in his brother's shadow. After all, the girl chose him, not his brother. The girl asked him out on a date, not his brother.

He spent all day preparing for the dinner date, and he saved stacks of money, so he could treat her to an expensive restaurant, in hopes of impressing her.

That night, the only topic the girl took interest in was his brother, Lee Donghae.

The girl had used him to try to find a way to his brother. The girl had just took his first true happiness and crushed it in her hands. She didn't even take a second to think about how he would feel, the one being used.

Things continued like that until high school. It was incredible how many times a person's hopes could be raised and dropped like they were nothing so many times. But even then, every single time, Donghwa qualified things for his brother.

He protected him. He only decided to try harder. He held no resentment. He never despised his brother. He just tried harder and harder.

Until senior year, he knew that he was so close to becoming valedictorian of his class. Donghae, of course, was his competition. With the final exam coming around the corner, Donghwa manages to score a 100. Donghae, of course, does too. Both of them getting a perfect score.

So why was it that Donghae was given valedictorian? So why was it that Donghwa was left in the dust once more?

The teacher had played favorites.

The teacher had betrayed him.

That was when Donghwa changed.

"What do you mean that he changed?" Jinyoung immediately interrupts, his hand suddenly coming to a stop.

Sungmin bites his bottom lip for a second before looking down at his feet, "Donghwa took that last defeat pretty hard. While Donghae travelled to college, which I suppose is when he met that kid, Eunhyuk, Donghwa stayed at home. I've never seen him just give up."

"He gave up?" the boy blinks, surprised, "That doesn't sound like him very much."

"I suppose he was tired of trying and failing," Sungmin replies softly, "He tried so hard for 18 years. He was your age when he finally realized he was never going to succeed. Reality hit him hard."

"Is he still around?"

"I don't think anyone's seen him around recently. I've asked around, but it seems like no one knows where he is anymore. In other words, I think he just decided to leave."

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