He was most caring to us, Tao and me. We were the only ones who he was entitled to protect. And he took a lot of pride in that.

One night, in our shared bunk bed, I asked him if he liked Tao better than me, or me better than Tao. There was a long silence before he finally answered.

"Yifan," He began. He only used my real name if I was in trouble or if he was mad at me. "...don't ever ask me that again."

I did as he told me, to scared of the answer.

~

As my shift ended, Yixing handed me my paycheck for the week and thanked me. His uncle owned the ice cream parlor, but while his family was away he was stuck taking care of the business. I don't think he liked Korea very much.

"Ok I'll teach you how to lock up next week. For now, all you need to worry about is delivering this extremely inportant telegram." He smiled and handed me an envelope. "It's for your brother. A get-well card."

I laughed. "Knowing you, it has something hilarious on it."

"Oh it does. I won't tell you because I want you both to laugh at the cover. Now hurry and get home, before I lock you inside this place. Oh God everything would be gone in the morning, and you'd be really fat."

"Ew!" I gasped at the thought. "My abs are sleeping, ok? I'm not fat!"

I waved my boss goodbye and walked over to my car, when a tap on my shoulder made me jump.

"Hi!" It was Kai, the kid with the dog. The one Lu Han taught in his dance class or something.

"Hey..." I greeted awkwardly.

"Can I come visit Lu Han today? Like, you take me home in your car?"

I stared in disbelief. "Um. I don't see why, you see him at school..."

He blinked. "No I don't. He hasn't come back yet, right?"

Now I was even more confused. "What the hell do you mean he hasn't come back? I drive him to and from school every day!"

Kai shook his head. "No...he isn't in my dance class. I've never seen him on campus either. You'd think he'd be easy to spot."

"Are you sure he didn't just get transferred into another elective or something?"

I tried to think rationally. The odds of Gege skipping class were laughable. He was a straight-A student (excusing History) all through school. He always made it in class even before the first bell rang. He was a ing angel.

"I asked my teacher. She just said he wasn't well enough to come back to class. So when I saw you, I thought I could check on him..."

I sighed, finding myself to confront another uncomfortable situation. "Ok, get in."

~

I barged into my brother's room without even knocking. He had an arm behind his head and the other flipping through the pages on Dante's Inferno . He saw the expression on my face and raised an eyebrow.

Without a word I scooped him up and rushed us downstairs, throwing him on the couch.

"What the ?! Crippled here!" He ed.

Kai took a step back and hid from the wrath of his mentor.

"Are you skipping school?" I seethed.

His jaw dropped, but he didn't respond.

"What the has gotten into you? You failed one year already, why another one? Answer me!" I shouted.

"Mind your own ing business." He finally snapped.

"This is my business! How am I supposed to take care of you when you're acting so stupid?"

He turned away, biting back a few curse words.

"Go on, say it. Give me your best excuse to why you're throwing away your chances at a future!"

"Stop ing acting like you know . You don't know anything." His eyes bounced back to meet mine.

"I know enough to tell right from wrong! Where the hell do you even go? You're in a wheel chair, it can't be easy to roll to McDonalds..."

"As I've said before, not your business. Piss off." He slumped into the couch, closing his eyes in frustration.

"Go to hell!" I threw a cushion, which he caught and threw back.

"Gege?" Tao stood in the backyard doorway, his eyes wide. "You're fighting?"

"No their-" Kai tried to save us, but I cut him off.

"Yes, but only because Gege is being a ." I pointed to Lu Han.

"GO YOURSELF!" He exploded, making all of us jump and even slightly scared.

Tao was the first to break, running away in tears and leaving the rest of us dumbstruck.

"Look what you did, tard." I seethed.

"Don't call me a tard you . If I had working legs I'd kick you in the balls and run after him."

"Good thing I have working legs." I threw another pillow, and this time it hit him square in the face. "Take some Midol and talk to me when you're sane."

"!" He shouted as I ran back upstairs. Whatever, Kai could deal with him now.

"Hey...Tao? Are you back in the closet?"

A few sobs answered me. I opened the door and crouched down. "Hey, look, don't worry about what happened down there, ok? Gege just had a bad day."

"I-I d-d-d-don't like him l-like that!" He stuttered.

"I know, neither do I. So today, we're going to give him space, ok? No being clingy. Don't even talk to him, ok?"

He nodded, then cried some more.

~

"So, how's your new job Kris? Making lots of money?" My dad attempted a conversation at the dinner table.

"Yeah, but I don't get why I should continue. I'm just doing it as a favor, but the person seems really ungrateful to me." I mused, looking straight at my older brother, who stopped eating.

"Stick with the job son, it's something I'm proud of you for doing." He was about to continue into one of his speeches about the expectations placed upon us at birth when Lu Han interrupted him.

"Kris got a tattoo."

My dad's eyes widened. "What?!"

I gulped, knowing I was in trouble now.

"Can I get a tattoo, Mommy?" Tao asked excitedly. Mom was already shaking her head.

"First the hair...now this? What have you become?" My dad was now horrified at the sight of me.

"A better one than the First Born. I've been attending all of my classes this week. What have you learned this week, Gege?" My voice was sickly sweet, topped with a sour cherry.

"I'm not hungry anymore, looking at Kris' face makes me want to vomit." He pushed the plate foreward, as if it was contaminated.

"Ok, you know what? Both of you are grounded. Two weeks. No leaving the house except for school and work." My mom finally decided.

My jaw dropped. "No way!"

"You want to make it three?"

I said nothing else.

~

How was I gonna meet Chanyeol now? Under no circumstances was I allowed to back out.

Just then, my phone buzzed, listing and unknown number.

Hi hyung it's Chanyeol! Can't wait to go shopping tomorrow XD we're still on, right? Reply ASAP!

I smiled as I read the text over three times.

Wouldn't miss it for the world.

________________________

Went on a sushi adventure with my sis today. Terrible restaurant. Service= below 9,000