8: DEPENDANCE

Despite the disapproval from the members, Soohyun helps out to clean the house after taking her breakfast. Purposely avoiding coming across her brother, she drags Baekhyun with her upstairs to clean the hallways. Jongdae gave her the easiest chores and she hates it.

            “I can do household chores. I lived alone in my unit for six years! I did all the cleaning by myself,” she persuades Jongdae to let her clean as well.

            “Junmyeon hyung doesn’t want you to—” He stops when he sees her expression changes. “Fine, clean the hallways upstairs,” he says with a sigh.

            “I can clean the bathrooms,” she tries to argue.

            “Hallways, Soohyun,” he says with finality.

            Pouting, she aloofly interrupts Baekhyun from cleaning the living area to drag him upstairs with her. Jongdae hands over a mop to Baekhyun while she takes the vacuum from him.

            “Why me?” the singer whines beside her while holding a mop in his hands.

            Among all the members, Soohyun feels more safest and comfortable around Baekhyun today. Even being around Kyungsoo is awkward for her after what happened yesterday. He’ll just probably tell her to understand her brother—which is the least she wants to hear right now.

            “Stop whining like a child or I will call Jongdae!”

            “He can’t boss me around, I’m older than him.”

            “By four months!” She familiarized herself with the members’ birthdays after she found out that the day after she got in that house was Chanyeol’s birthday—exactly the day she met him in person.

            She starts to vacuum the hallways, while Baekhyun impatiently follows after her with a mop. They are not even half done with the hallways when someone abruptly takes the mop from Baekhyun, startling the artist.

            “I’ll take it from here. Go help Jongdae and the others downstairs,” Junmyeon orders him, dryly.

            Baekhyun hesitates to leave when he sees the look Soohyun is giving him, begging him not to leave her alone with the leader. But Junmyeon gives him a cold glare when he didn’t move from his place. He sadly smiles at her before finally taking his leave.

            Soohyun tries to clean the hallways faster so she can leave swiftly, not wanting to talk to her brother right now. The fast beating of her heart is almost making her cry again. She could take in whatever her father throws at her, but not from Junmyeon. He is her last hope she’s holding onto.

            “Whose words are those?” Junmyeon asks her while mopping the floor. “That you’re not as talented as me and you’re incapable of doing what you want,” he continues, every utter of words is dripping with anger. “Is it dad’s?” he adds as he stops from his chores.

            Soohyun did not respond. She finds it useless to tell her brother about, he can’t do anything about anyway.

            “I’m sorry,” Junmyeon murmurs sincerely after a long silence.

            She stops and lifts her eyes at him. “For what?” she coldly says as her voice cracks into a sob. “For leaving me? For isolating me for years? For making me handle your duties as the heir? For hurting me? I could go on, but which one are you sorry for, Junmyeon?” She looks away from him when her tears fall from her eyes.

            She can no longer hold in all the feelings she’s been bottling up for so long. All the words left unsaid. All the cries left unheard.

            She frailly wipes the tears on her cheeks. “I could… I could take hearing it from dad—I’ve been dealing with that almost my whole life,” she says in between her sobs, “but… but to hear it from you? I can’t, Junmyeon. I can’t…” she excruciatingly tells him as she shakes her head.

            Junmyeon drops the mop, then walks to her and wraps her in his arms tightly. He kisses her in the head as he softly whispers sincere apologies. Every sob from her pierces through him sharply. He can never take seeing her so broken like this. His hold on her tightens as he thinks all those years she’s suffered alone with their father.

            “I am so tired of proving myself, of-of finding my worth, of be-being an obedient daughter, of pre-pretending I’m fine, of waiting for you to-to come back home—but you never did!” She cries it all out to her brother as he cradles her in his arms. He continuously showers her with soft whispers to ease her sobs.

            But her sobs worsen as she continues to speak. “I can… I can endure all of that… I can run the company, I just need you with me. Please, don’t cut me off again,” she sniffles. “And… and even if dad rejected the traineeship, I’m still contented that you’ve reached our dreams and—”

            “He what?” he cuts her off mid-sentence. He pulls away from the hug and faces her. “He told me you refused the traineeship, because you chose to take over the company instead. That’s why I was confused. You were so excited when you auditioned. And I’m willing to juggle my career as an idol and run the company at the same time, you didn’t have to reject the traineeship.”

            She chuckles a sob when she realizes what their father has done to their relationship. “Why does he hate me so much, Junmyeon?”

            He engulfs her in a hug again. “I’ll talk to him. Don’t worry.”

            She hugs her brother back in appeasement. “Please, don’t make me go home.”

            “No, you’re staying here,” he assures her. “I’m sorry for believing dad. All these years, I really thought you were mad at me for accepting the traineeship without you. I was told you didn’t want to talk to me, so I stayed away. I’m sorry for not trying to reach out. Forgive me, Soohyun.”

            “I’m sorry, Junmyeon,” she cries in relief in his arms.

            He pushes her away a bit to see her face, then wipes the tears on her cheeks as he let out a chuckle at her look. His eyes narrow at the staircase. “I can see you guys from here. Stop snooping,” he yells at the members hiding in the stairwell.

            Sehun pops his head out from the wall, grinning sheepishly at his hyung. Then, Jongin, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol; while the others remain in their hiding spot. Jongdae is the only one brave enough to run towards the siblings.

            “Group huuuuuuug!” he shouts as he spreads out his arms as he runs to them.

            The other members follow after Jongdae, all smiles shouting in rapture as they run to the siblings. They cram the two in tight hugs with intense feelings of euphoria. Kyungsoo pulls Soohyun away from the crowd when they loosen the hug.

            “You okay now?” he asks her as he pulls her for another hug.

            She chuckles as she hugs him back. “I am.”

            “Are you done ignoring me?”

            “Are you still going to scold me?” she kiddingly asks.

            “Yes,” he replies.

            “Then, I am still ignoring you.”

            “You brat,” he quips a mumble.

            The hyungs—consisting of Minseok and Junmyeon—have decided to buy take-outs to celebrate, while the maknaes—consisting of Sehun and Jongin—wrap up the cleaning, much to their dismay. Kyungsoo, Yixing, and Jongdae are already in the kitchen cooking some dishes to add to their menu for lunch. Chanyeol and Baekhyun, on the other hand, vanish from the scene. Soohyun has been looking for them around the house.

            “Have you seen Baekhyun?” she asks Kyungsoo. She sits on one of the chairs by the island table as the three vocalists do their