Soohyun had always doted on his little brother. He seemed to have this obsession with taking care of his that was unusual between siblings of their ages. But Soohyun never once considered the fact that it was odd. To him, it seemed completely normal to take care of his little brother the way he did.
Maybe it was because Dongho wasn't quite normal that caused Soohyun to be so caring. Dongho wasn't exactly up to par with the rest of the kids his age - seventeen. He'd already been pushed back several grades and placed in slower-paced classes. It wasn't because Dongho was stupid or didn't try. The young boy simply couldn't stay focused on one thing for too long, and often couldn't understand what he was being taught. His teacher would either talk too fast, too slow, or make distracting movements with their bodies.
Soohyun didn't mind that his brother was a little odd, or that he spoke a bit differently, or got that strange, blank look in his eyes from time to time. In fact, Soohyun couldn't picture having a different brother. He loved to take care of Dongho, and Dongho loved to be taken care of. It was a perfect fit for both of them, especially since Soohyun knew exactly how to talk to Dongho - make it interesting, but don't move too much and don't speak any faster or slower than Dongho himself did.
But lately, it seemed like Dongho had begun to be distracted by the smallest things: a blink, a small shifting of the feet, pursed lips between sentences, a short sigh, a slight smile. They never seemed to bother him before, but now he was becoming more and more aware of these things, as well as more and more distracted.
Often, it seemed to Soohyun that Dongho was hiding something. He'd come home from school late, usually with dirty hands or small cuts that he would try to cover with tape. But if Soohyun asked him about it, Dongho would merely reply, "Dongho is fine, hyungie," and then give Soohyun a cute smile that made the elder's heart flutter in a peculiar way. He dropped it. If Dongho didn't want to talk about something, you couldn't force him to. He was stubborn, and Soohyun knew that very well. On a few occasions, he'd try to get Dongho to talk about it out of concern for the younger boy. But Dongho would just pout, cross his arms, shake his head, and ignore Soohyun for the rest of the day.
Soon, Soohyun made the decision to pick Dongho up from school so he could see what the young boy had been up to these last few weeks. He hoped Dongho wouldn't be mad at him, but ensuring Dongho's safety was more important than ensuring he wouldn't be mad at Soohyun. And Soohyun was really worried about him.
And so, when Soohyun went to pick Dongho up from school the next day, the boy wasn't standing outside the front door like usual. So Soohyun headed inside to look for his brother.
The first places he searched was Dongho's classroom. Failing to find him there, he checked both the gym and the music room, but the young boy was in neither. Soohyun asked around until someone said they'd seen him in the art room. Soohyun imagined a number of things that could have been going on. Maybe he was coloring, or painting, or talking to the teacher. Maybe there was an art club he'd joined that he hadn't told Soohyun about. Maybe he was being bullied; it had happened before, and it would also explain the cuts on his hands. For a moment, Soohyun panicked at that thought, but then he looked into the room.
Dongho was alone in the room, save for the teacher, who was leaving just as Soohyun walked in, coat in hand and most likely leaving. Dongho was stretched up on his tiptoes putting the last of something into a high cupboard. He walked over to the sink after closing the cupboard door, not yet noticing Soohyun standing in the doorway. After washing his hands, he sat on the counter next to the tape dispenser and began to tape his numerous fresh cuts closed.
"Yah," Soohyun said, walking over to Dongho and gently pulling the tape off his hands with careful fingers. "Didn't I tell you not to do this anymore? We'll get some band-aids at home instead. You should be more careful, okay?"
Dongho pouted and didn't say anything until Soohyun was done taking off all the tape. "Why is hyung here? Dongho is fine." The younger pulled his hands away, placing them in his lap.
"Well, hyung was worried because you've been late coming home for the last few weeks." Soohyun pulled his hands back gently and held one in front of Dongho's face. "These are new, I can tell. What happened?"
"Dongho is fine, hyungie." He gave the cute smile with his answer, as he always did. Tugging away from Soohyun's grasp, he clasped his hands together under his chin and pouted.
Soohyun looked at him for a moment, just looked at him. He saw a mixture of anxiety and excitement in Dongho's liquid chocolate eyes. "What were you putting in the cabinet?" He got up and walked over to it, beginning to open it.
Before he could see what was inside, Dongho burst out with a loud cry of "Nononononooo!" He yanked his brother back and shut the cabinet quickly. "Bad hyung! Bad, bad, bad, bad hyung!" He was nearly in tears, glaring and shaking his finger at Soohyun in a gesture he thought to be intimidating. "Bad hyung! No. No looking. Bad, bad hyung."
Soohyun was shocked by the explosive reaction. Dongho never yelled. The older boy knew he'd done something very wrong. "Arasso, arasso, I won't do it again. Okay? I'm not gonna look. Promise." He reached out and linked his pinky finger with Dongho's.
Dongho was immediately pleased by the gesture. Soohyun never broke a pinky promise. "Good. Good hyung. Dongho is happy. Yes." The tears dissolved from his eyes and he smiled brightly, arms going around Soohyun's waist for a hug.
Recently, it had become harder for Dongho to ignore Soohyun. Usually he could ignore without any big issues, but the boy kept breaking his shunning days by sitting next to Soohyun on the couch and snuggling into his side without thinking. Soohyun would wrap an arm around Dongho's shoulders, and by then it wouldn't be too long before the younger of them dozed off against his brother's chest, snoring softly. He didn't tell himself to do it, his body did it without his mind noticing.
"Let's go home, Dongho," Soohyun urged, bumping him out of his thoughts.
As they walked outside, Dongho tugged on the edge of his brother's shirt. "Dongho and hyungie can make cookies later?" He offered up his puppy dog eyes, which Soohyun had learned to resist over time.
"After homework, okay? And we can't eat any until after dinner." Dongho pouted but agreed, holding up his pinky to link with Soohyun's, sealing the deal.
Soohyun never broke a pinky promise.
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