“STOP IT, JI YONG-OPPA!” i rip his arm off Young Bae’s shirt. his eyes turn from fury to momentary gentleness. “Hyun Xin… look at you, you’re hurt, because of HIM.” Ji Yong returns to his rage state, when i glance around to find that everyone—the doctors, nurses, patients, especially the security guards, are all looking at us in disbelief and dismay.

 

“Ji Yong-oppa, we’re in a hospital. can we please talk about this when we get home?” i plead to him. he seizes my left arm and snatches me over to his side as he gives Young Bae a final glare, telling me, “we’re going home NOW.” he drags me away as i manage to mouth and gesture a ‘i’ll call you’ to the slightly dumbfounded Young Bae who simply nods in agreement to let me go with Ji Yong for now.

 

my brother pulls me out of the hospital and into his car in a fatherly manner as though he had just caught his daughter eloping. well, more or less, it is that sort of situation. let me take my time to describe Ji Yong’s car, though. first of all, you have to understand and know that this isn’t our car, it belonged to our late uncle who i mentioned before(the kind uncle who adopted us and let us inherit all of his belongings because he didn’t have any children or family). the car, an elegant blue vintage Bentley somehow survived being sent to the scrap metal junkyard and ended up in our uncle’s garage. he was a fanatic of vintage things, i suppose i caught the disease because i am, in fact, quite in love with both Dae Sung’s car and Ji Yong’s. Ji Yong usually take intensive care of his car. he would always wipe the car clean every morning, bring it for maintenance on time, and he would always close the door with just the right amount of force.

 

this relates to right now. because he didn’t close the door with that precise amount of force. he slammed it. hard. i’ve seen Ji Yong be angry at times, and it’s only dead serious when he slams Ocean(it’s the Bentley’s name, it wasn’t named by us, our uncle did it)’s door HARD. biting my lip habitually, i stare gravely at Ji Yong who’s grabbing hold of the steering wheel so tight like it’s his lifeline. the air inside of the Bentley is stagnant and humid. i watch his fingers relax as he turn to me to touch my face.

 

“Hyun Xin… look at you, is this going to leave a scar? oh God… my pretty little sister…” i reach for his hand with my bandaged hand, looking straight into his eyes with affirmation. “oppa, it’s not Young Bae’s fault. and i’m fine, see?” i wave my hand freely and peel off the piece of cotton wool on my cheek carefully. “this is going to heal real fast and even if it leaves a scar, i don’t care! i know someone who’ll love me without even caring about how i look, oppa. i know it, even if he didn’t say it.”

 

“but i trusted you to him, Hyun Xin. he should’ve been there to prevent all of this from happening!” i want to explain about how i didn’t run from the school girls and it was all mine to blame, but i sensed the oddness in his sentence. something was already told between them, and i was not allowed to hear about it.

 

“…wait, Ji Yong-oppa, you knew that this was going to happen? but Tae Yang’s identity was only unveiled yesterday—“

 

// (the day before)

 

“i don’t want anything to happen to my sister. she’s the only family i have left in this world,” the voice traveled through the receiver clearly. “promise me, Young Bae, that you’ll protect her.”

although knowing he cannot be seen by his long lost best friend, Young Bae nods and answers back, “i will, Ji Yong.”

 

“and promise that even after you become famous and filthy rich, you won’t ditch her like a toy?” there is a heavy sense of worry in Ji Yong’s voice in the middle of the night. he woke up to make an important call. he knew everything; he’s been keeping in contact with Young Bae ever since they’ve met each other again. Young Bae told him about his career. he knew. he had it all planned out : Hyun Xin would fall in love with Young Bae, and this time, it’s more than just mere child play. Ji Yong knew from the beginning that his sister never forgot about his best friend, despite looking as if she’s completely got rid of the boy from her childhood. as an elder brother and a part-time parent, he knew too well.

 

he pretended to be weak for once, to catch her reaction; he wanted her to feel guilty, to give up on Young Bae, to stop. on today itself, she did indeed, react to what he had expected. guilt, remorse, guilt, repeat. what he failed to expect was his own reaction—he couldn’t bear to see his only sister being tormented by his own doings. he was hurting her with his own hands. he had to let go.

 

“she’s the world to me. i won’t,” Young Bae reassures him from the other end of the conversation.

 

“good. if anything happens to her, you’re ed.” the protective Ji Yong shows his true nature to defend his sister. she’s the world to the both of them, and only one can be with her always. Ji Yong’s had his time.

 

it’s time to let go.

 

// (now)

 

“you KNEW?! Kwon Ji Yong, what the hell were you thinking? why didn’t you tell me?” a rush of guilt sweeps through Ji Yong, and it immediately shows on his face. damn, i was fooled by my own brother! i want to yell at him more but i could care less about this right now; he’s done this more than once, and you can tell that i’m just tired of calling him a liar and arguing with him all over again.

 

“I WANT TO PROTECT YOU, HYUN XIN!” sudden silence occupies the car again. “you’re all i have left in this wretched world, Hyun XIn… you’re the only family i have left. i don’t want to see you get hurt, i don’t want you to be hurt…” he trails off, his voice beginning to sound weak and frail, sounding as though he’s about to burst into tears.

 

i grab his shoulder. “you’re the only family i have left too, Ji Yong-oppa. and… as much as we want a perfect world, we all get hurt. all that matters is that we’ll always be there for each other when we do get hurt. you’re the best brother a little sister could ever ask for.” it’s true. despite how he treats me normally like a kid, i know how Ji Yong strives to protect me from almost anything and everything all the time. all his life, he’s been trying to keep me out of trouble and hurt, so i can live a good life. “and i’ll be okay with him. i’ll be okay with Young Bae. if you don’t trust him, at least trust me with my decisions, alright?”

 

he looks at me with his teary eyes as he nods lightly. i smile to the thought that i just comforted my older brother as though he’s the younger sibling here.

 

“well, tell me if Young Bae’s bullying you or treating you badly. i’ll make sure to bash him up so bad, he won’t ever do it again!” he says as he rubs his eyes like a child. i spot Young Bae standing at the entrance of the hospital, clearly observing Ji Yong and i who’re in the car. Ji Yong realizes that i no longer have my attention on him but to something behind his shoulders. he turns to see Young Bae. i can only imagine the beastly glare he shoots at Young Bae as the boy in the faux hawk cut remains in his stance calmly. Ji Yong, who’s still in his school uniform, lunges out of the car and straight towards Young Bae. i chase behind him abruptly, attempting to stop him but of all days, my legs fail me and i can only watch him punch Young Bae in the face.

 

frozen, i can only gape at the scene happening just a couple of feet away from me. both of them stand on the same spots, but Young Bae has his head tilted to the right for being punched. one end of his lips is bleeding. he cleans it casually as he faces Ji Yong with an apologetic smile.

 

within hearing distance, i manage to pick up their voices. “i’m an idiot for forgiving you this easily,” Ji Yong says, punching Young Bae’s chest lightly.

 

“thanks, you idiot.” Young Bae shoots back at Ji Yong and laughs. “hey, who gave you the permission to call me an idiot, huh?” they joke around. Young Bae cues me to join them by waving a small, white, half-translucent bag at me. “antibiotics and antiseptics, Hyun Xin. i won’t be renewing your bandages—your brother might kill me after all.” i let out a chuckle with all of them. problem solved.

 

for now.

 

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hope you enjoyed this chapter! not a lot. do leave comments (: i'd love that :D