[Chapter II: Brothers Part II]

Ever since Hakyeon’s parents passed away, Hakyeon’s only family was his grandfather. It has always been that way until Sanghyuk came along…

Four years ago, their grandfather caught a really bad flu and with him being in his mid-eighties, a simple flu could turn into something far worst. His grandfather’s health had dropped dramatically and his memory was deteriorating as well. It was to the point where he could barely recognize his own grandson. It’s almost hard to believe that the once-energetic senior have turned out this way.

Hakyeon eventually had to make the decision of sending his grandfather to a nursery home rather than taking care of him at home. It wasn’t believe he didn’t want to take care of his grandfather but it was more so because he couldn’t. Not only did Hakyeon have to pay for the best nursery home for his grandfather but he also had to pay off for Sanghyuk’s education.

Everything was expensive.

That’s why Hakyeon dropped out of college and became a full-time novelist instead. At first, he started out writing stories of the Mirage on his own blog but eventually, those stories became much more and he was highly inspired by his grandfather’s work, who was also a novelist. He grew up reading all the books in his grandfather’s collection and he knew for a long time that writing was something he wanted to do when he grows up.

Ever since the Mirage’s appearance, Hakyeon found often find himself staring into the night sky and watch the still-image of a reflection in the sky. No one knew what it was about and no one was ever able to figure out where the Mirage was showing. But Hakyeon didn’t care much about the truth of the Mirage, it was more mesmerizing to not know about the mysteries behind the said phenomenon. Hakyeon would often high up to Starlight Peaks on his day offs to take pictures of the sky and pin it to the walls in his study room.

For a long time, Hakyeon continued to write both on his blog and in his novel. He wrote several series surrounding the mysteries and though it was only theories or fantasies, they became big hits throughout the country. He became one of the best-selling authors in no time at all. However, no matter how wild his imagination can go, there would be a time when he would hit a dead-end.

Is this what they mean by having a writer’s block?

That afternoon, after spending all of his quality free time trying to think of what to write for his next novel, Hakyeon decided to go down to their basement to look for inspiration.  

Their basement is where their grandfather used to write all the time and collected hundreds of stories throughout the years. It was also a place where Hakyeon spent most of his time reading as a child and also listening to his grandfather’s stories. There were all kinds of stories, stacked neatly next to each other, ranging from fantasies to sci-fi to reality. There would be stories of different worlds, or even a different time.

Hakyeon ran his fingers across the book titles, gently caressing them as he reminisced the past where he would have already read each one by now. Though there was a layer of dust formed on the shelves, the books were in perfect condition.

He took out a random book from the shelf and the first one he took out had a cover of a door, lonely and mysterious on the page. It was a story of two worlds meeting and a fated encounter across time and world.

Hakyeon found himself smiling just looking at the cover of the book,” I remember this.” He said as he flipped through the pages. Every sentence on the page was nostalgic for him and it was definitely one of his favorites amongst the others.

The next book he took out had a beautiful cherry blossom on the cover and two silhouettes sleeping under it. It was a story of two people’s unexpected love story. It was heartwarming and beautiful but Hakyeon also remembered how much he cried the first time he read the book.

I wonder when I’ll meet that special someone, he often thought whenever he read the story. I wonder if it’ll be just as romantic as the couple in this book. Wouldn’t it be great to find both love and ambition together with someone you love and adore?

The next few books were just as important – stories of nightmares that turned into a sweet reality, another where one was searching for his muse and there were even stories within other stories. Looking at his grandfather’s collection of books, Hakyeon could easily envision the library in one of the books, layers and layers of people’s stories until it reached the never-ending sky.

“Gramps is right,” Hakyeon suddenly said aloud as he placed the books he took out onto the desk.

Reading and re-experiencing each of these stories were just as enjoyable as trying to create a story himself.

After some time in the basement, Hakyeon realized that his desk was completely filled with the mountain of books he took out. He barely had any space left to see the dark ember wood of the desk’s surface. He chuckled a little at himself as he realized this, thinking how silly he was and how it felt like he was a child again after skimming through some of his favorite books.

He was so immersed into the stories that it really felt like it was the first time he’s read them.

Just as he was about to get up and put the books back on the shelf, he knocked over a small box that was placed on the side that seemed to be a décor of some sort. Hakyeon bent down to pick it up, worried that whatever it was that’s inside would be damaged but when he opened the wooden box to check inside it, it was empty.

“Huh?”

He looked at the cover of the box, which was engraved by a hexagonal symbol with illegible text written on the side. He’s never seen this box before and he doesn’t remember anything about it either.

Is it gramps? Hakyeon could only assume.

But it was strange, the box was empty, only left with an empty Styrofoam lining inside it. Based on the shape that was hollowed-out, it seems that something circular must’ve been there before. However, as Hakyeon looked around the room, there didn’t seem to be anything around that would fit inside the box.

I better put it back. It might be important to gramps, Hakyeon thought and wiped the cover of the box before he placed it carefully in one of the drawers.

“You’re down here again,” Sanghyuk suddenly came downstairs to check up on Hakyeon.

“Mmm. It’s been awhile since I’ve come down here. I thought I’d come to clean it up a bit,” Hakyeon told him.

“… Coming down here to clean means that you also spent hours reading here too, right?”

“Heh, you know me well. But I’m glad I came down here, the shelves were covered with dust! I thought you’d come down here to clean once in awhile since I’m too busy.”

“I… I don’t like coming down here. I’m not like you or gramps,” Sanghyuk had an expression of dismay.

“I know,” Hakyeon smiled at his brother a little.

The younger sighed a little,” just don’t stay here for too long.”

“Don’t worry, I was just about to come up.”

Hakyeon placed the final book back on the shelf and turned off the lights. He followed his younger brother back upstairs, wanting to talk with Sanghyuk a little.

“Hyuk-ah, I’m going to visit gramps. Want to come with me?” Hakyeon asked.

“I’m fine. I need to study,” Sanghyuk said.

“I see. Studying is very important. Study hard then. Do you need me to bring you back anything?”

“No.”

“OK then.”

Hakyeon went to the front and took out his coat from the closet. Just as he opened the door and ready to head out, the younger stopped him for a moment.

“D-Don’t stay out too long,” Sanghyuk said quickly and ran away again.

Hakyeon burst out into a chuckle. He was happy.

He knew that the younger cared a lot about this older brother of his but Sanghyuk was never the type to openly tell anyone he cares. Hakyeon knew that well of his younger brother.

I’m glad to have you here with me, Sanghyuk-ah. I’m glad you’re my younger brother.