Epilogue: The Essay

Clearly, the more Jinyoung thought about the situation, the more ridiculous he thought his hypothesis was, but even as he continued to ridicule his own conclusion, a part of him believed it more and more.

So he begins to type.

There used to be something I was always proud of, but now I'm not so sure. What I found is a story that is a little warm, yet a little sad. It might be a bit painful, and it can also be a bit loving. You can learn things from it too, but most of all, it's a little scary.

For this essay, I made a single decision: the decision to find out more about the ones I loved the most, the ones who saved me from the loneliest life one could ever imagine.

I decided to learn about my adoptive parents.

He write and writes and writes. There is so much he wants to say, and there is so much he wants to express. He is afraid to face the truth that the people downstairs might really be capable of getting rid of two bodies, of making two people disappear from their own lives.

The boy places his fingers on the keyboard of his laptop. He takes a deep breath, an attempt to calm his nerves. He doesn't know what to do, and he doesn't know what to think. An unsettling panic is beginning to take over him, and his emotions are going haywire. A desperate tear rolls down his cheek as he slowly types the words: "Please help me."

He doesn't want to stay in this house anymore while everything is still uncomfirmed. He doesn't want to be near the people who may have very well hurt two innocent people. The doubt is killing him more than anything else.

And suddenly, he hears the front door open.

He hears the voices of both of his so-called parents. They must be getting ready to sign the divorce papers.

The thought echos in his mind a few times as he saves the essay he was writing on the laptop and numbly makes his way down the stairs. Without confirmation, he was going to drive himself crazy. With each step he took, he finds his breath growing heavy.

Finally reaching the living room where his fathers were sitting across from each other, he finally takes all the courage he has in him and utters the few words.

"You really are who you say you are, right?"

The two males sitting at the table both suddenly freeze at the words before turning to face him, their soul-piercing gazes scaring the life out of him, but he knows that he has to stand his ground if he wants to even try to find out the truth.

"Now why would you ask something so silly?" Eunhyuk tilts his head to the side.

Donghae looks at Jinyoung with a look of concern, "What are you talking about, kiddo?"

The normality of the way his fathers were talking to him makes him feel slightly uneasy. He was doubting him, and they didn't seem the least bothered. Should this have been a good thing? For them to completely disregard the implications their own son had just laid on them?

Even though the boy still finds it hard to even question the people who have raised him all these years, and even though the boy finds this all completely bizarre and is no-way-the-truth, he finds himself scared out of his wits - and naturally, he should.

Taking a deep breath, he looks both of his fathers in the eyes.

"You're not Donghwa and Hyukjae, are you?"

An eerie silence follows the the question as both of his fathers' lips curved into an unsettling smile that made Jinyoung's heart stop in fear.

"Of course not. We're out of the shadows now."

author's note