PROLOGUE

The door knob to the bathroom rattled. The razor in his hands slipped to the sink.

"Wonpil? Are you in there?! I need to use the bathroom!"

It was the voice of his eldest brother, Jae.

"Oh no!"

The little boy scrambled to pick up the bladed instrument.

"Ouch!"

A bead of blood came out of the fresh cut on his finger.

"Wonpil!"

Jae was now banging on the door.

"J-Just a minute hyung!"

He tiptoed to reach a cup that was still missing his father's razor.

"I can't reach it..." he whimpered, breaking out in a cold sweat.

"Mom! Wonpil won't come out of the bathroom!"

Eyes blurry with tears, Wonpil caught a glimpse of a silver can on the floor.

There was no other choice.

Throwing in together a handful of tissue to cover up his crime, Wonpil wiped his brow---and tears---and finally unlocked the door.

++++++

7 AM

Breakfast. The most important meal of the day, but Wonpil was barely having any, except for whatever stuck onto his chopsticks as he poked at his bowl of rice.

If anyone was paying him any attention, they'd notice how war stricken he looked. Like he had just gone through something traumatic and needed counselling and the sort.

Come and get me...

The last piece of rolled omelette sat in the middle of the table calling out his name. His mother's cooking was finally starting to look appealing. Unfortunately, just like the adrenaline in his blood slowly wearing off, so had the food slowly diminish on the table.

He wasn't even able to lift his chopsticks yet when Sungjin and Jae went for the omelette at the same time---Sungjin winning it by force.

"Here you go Wonpil." Sungjin placed the food on his plate.

"Unfair!" Jae protested.

"He hasn't eaten anything okay!"

Wonpil stared at the fluffy yellow egg infront of him as the bickering went on. His stomach grumbled.

"It's his fault if-"

"You can have it Jae hyung," Wonpil spoke with a smile, his plate empty once again. "There's still a lot to eat."

Everyone looked at him curiously, because there was in fact nothing else to eat but the leftover kimchi.

All of them saw how Wonpil reached for the kimchi, how the pickled vegetable slid off his chopsticks, how he tried and failed a couple of times to pick it up, and how he, in the end, still ate it with a smile.

"He's weird..." Jae said under his breath.

"Like you hyung..." Younghyun whispered back.

++++++

10 AM

"I call shotgun!" Jae shouted from the doorway.

Five boys, all with furrowed brows, pursed lips, and backpacks bouncing on their backs, raced each other to the passenger seat.

If anyone would ask Wonpil why he was running like his life depended on it, he'd reply, "Because it's only the bestest seat in the world!" and he'd go to the extent of listing down the following:

1. I don't get dizzy.
2. I get the best view of the river when we cross the bridge!
3. I can blast the AC straight at my face.
4. I get to choose the song on the radio!
5. My brothers can't annoy me.
6. I get to chat with dad.

Sadly, Wonpil would always, always, come in last---but not today.

"I wanna sit beside dad! Lemme! Lemme! Please hyung!" Dowoon ran up to his older brother, panting.

"Sorry Dowoonie." Wonpil bent down to the little boy, patting him on the head. "But Jae hyung is sitting beside dad today."

Sungjin and Younghyun turned to Jae in disbelief.

"Aww..." Dowoon frowned.

"Don't worry, we can play together! I'll sit beside you today."

The youngest looked up at him, a smile returning to his face. "Really? Yay!"

Wonpil smiled at Jae before helping Dowoon into the car.

"What's gotten into him?" Jae asked Sungjin.

The boy shrugged. "You know Wonpil likes you the best..."

++++++

6 PM

"Hyung are you playing on the computer tonight? Can I watch? I promise I won't make any noise!" Wonpil begged their eldest.

"Are you done with your homework?"

"Yes!" he answered proudly. At the back of his mind he knew he would need to redo some of the problems. He was quite skeptical about his Sungjin hyung's math, but Jae hyung didn't need to know that.

"Jae! Get dressed! I need you to come with me to the grocery!" Their mom's voice rang from the kitchen.

"But..."

"Sorry Wonpil. Don't worry we'll be back in a jiffy! You can play with my computer if you want..."

"Really?"

Wonpil's heart swelled.

"...or you can wait for me instead."

"Oh..."

Wonpil's heart broke into pieces.

"Okay! I'll wait for you then hyung!"

But Wonpil still put on a smile.

++++++

9 PM

When Jae and his mom came back, the house was already quiet. Dowoon was most likely tucked into bed, while Sungjin and Younghyun were probably studying in their rooms. Wonpil, well Jae found Wonpil sleeping on the sofa, his favorite rabbit plushie in his embrace.

"Wonpil baby we're home." Their mom tried to wake the sleeping boy up but Jae stopped her.

"I'll take care of him mom."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded.

"Wonpil... Piri..."

Wonpil opened his eyes wearily, but the sight of his brother made him sit right up. "Hyung you're home! I'm sorry I fell asleep. I tried not to, but it was already getting past my bed time. I couldn't stop myself... I kept yawning and yawning... But I'm awake now! I want to watch you play!"

Jae laughed as Wonpil finished with a yawn. How can Wonpil be so adorable?

"I should be the one to say sorry. I made you wait and broke my promise to play with you. But..." Jae whispered the rest in Wonpil's ear.

"Ice cream?!" Wonpil repeated the words he just heard in a hushed voice.

"Come on!"

Wonpil was a nice kid, no doubt about it, but with the boy's excessive gestures of kindness towards him throughout the day, Jae felt suspicious. He had to find out what was up.

He also noticed how Wonpil was having a hard time with the ice cream. The boy had pushed in the spoon too deep and now it seemed stuck in the frozen dessert.

"Let me help you."

Wonpil yelped when Jae gripped his hand as he helped pull the spoon out.

"Whats wrong?!"

"N-Nothing!"

Wonpil tried to pull away, but Jae held onto his wrist, determined to find out the reason for his brother's sudden reaction.

"What happened to your finger?! Where did you get this cut?!"

It was a thin cut, spanning the width of Wonpil's pointer finger. It didn't seem to be deep and it also looked like it was already healing, but Jae knew Wonpil's worries and fears. It probably hurt a lot for his brother.

"Hyung!" Wonpil bawled. "I don't want to die!"

Die? "What do you mean Piri?" Jae comforted the boy whose arms were wrapped tightly around his waist; his sweater collecting tears. 

"B-Be-cause I got a tenus!"

A tenus? What tenus? 

Did he get a ten minus score? 

Or is it a ten of us? But there's only five of us... 

Oh... Oh...

"You mean tetanus?"

"Yes!!! T-Th-at! Hyung! I'm so sorry! I love you! Tell mom and dad I love them too! And Dowoonie, and Younghyunie hyung, and Sungjinie hyung!"

It didn't take a lot of convincing for the boy to speak up. Soon enough, Jae found out that Wonpil's wound was from their dad's razor. Apparently, his brother had tried to shave his nonexistent mustache and ended up with the cut as he panicked to put it back in place.

"Wonpil, don't ever do that again, okay? You're still too young to grow facial hair."

"Promise!!!"

"Is that why you were being so kind to me?" Jae asked, trying to keep a straight face.

"I'm so sorry for always annoying to you... and for not listening to you... and for making you do my homework... and for-"

"Piri." Jae held his brother's shoulders firmly. "You're not gonna die."

"W-What...?"

"You're not dying. And if it ever comes to that, I will make sure you won't."

"R-Really?"

The boy let go of Jae and wiped his tears.

"A-Are you sure?"

"Would I lie to you?"

"Sometimes..."

This kid really.

"Wonpil, don't tell anyone... but you're my favorite brother."

"Even more than Younghyunie hyung?" There was a sparkle in Wonpil's eyes.

"Yes, and more than your Sungjinie hyung or Dowoonie even."

"You're my favoritest hyung too! I love you!"

"Favorite Wonpil, not favoritest."

"Oh... but it doesn't sound cute..."

"You're cute just the way you are." Jae pinched Wonpil's cheek.

"So are you hyung!" Jae bent forwards as Wonpil reached for his face, letting his brother's little fingers pinch his cheeks.

"Now let's go tell mom so you can get your tetanus shot!"

"HYUNG!!!"