Chen looked at the sleeping Minhyuk on the subway. It wasn’t going to take that long to get to their destination, but still, Minhyuk was able to fall asleep. Chen guessed that it must run in the family since when he was little it happened to him and it also happened to his hyung.

            “Are you okay holding him?” she asked Chen.

            “I’m fine, noona,” Chen said reassuring her. “Don’t worry about me.”

            “We’ll be there soon,” she said giving him a smile.

            “Alright.”

            Every year, Chen wanted the day to pass faster. He didn’t want to experience it every year, but it was something that had to be done, it was something that should be done. He couldn’t avoid it no matter how much he tried and even though his mother didn’t want any part of it, Chen thought that he could do good by still coming.

            He wasn’t entirely sure why his mother cut herself off from doing such a thing. It would forever be a mystery to Chen. He thought that his mother would want to do something like this, but after that day, she didn’t want to. It wasn’t like she was always there for Chen when he needed her either, so Chen wondered why he thought that it would be any different.

            “We’re here,” she whispered as the subway came to a stop.

            Making sure that Minhyuk was in a comfortable position and making sure his backpack was securely on, Chen got up and excited the subway behind her. Despite only coming once a year, she memorized the path well. Chen, however, even coming once a year forgot the path entirely every year. It was a wonder that he still knew where she lived.

            As they were walking down the long path, Minhyuk suddenly awoke. The path was rocky and even though Minhyuk would complain that he wanted to get down, Chen wouldn’t let him. That happened every year, too and it would happen the next. Chen was sure that Minhyuk wouldn’t start remembering the event until he was about six, then it would just become natural to him.

            “Here we are,” she said stopping. “Minhyuk-ah, you can get down now.”

            Chen slowly placed the boy onto the grass as he held onto his hand and turned to look and read what was in front of him. “Hyung,” Chen whispered.

            “Oppa,” she whispered.

            “Minhyuk-ah,” Chen said kneeling down and getting on the same plane as Minhyuk. “Say hello to appa.”

            “Appa?” Minhyuk asked looking at Chen.

            “Yes, your appa,” Chen said nodding his head. They went through that every year, too, without fail.

            It was four years since his brother was gone. A lot happened in four years. Minhyuk was born within that time and Chen’s mother had wanted nothing to do with either Minhyuk or his mother. Chen’s mother always felt as though they were the cause of her son’s death. Still, neither had anything to do with it. It was an entirely different third party, but his mother wanted none of it.

            Every year on the anniversary of his death, Chen would come and spend two days with them knowing the situation that they were in and knowing that they didn’t have anyone. He felt like it was his duty to watch after the two of them since his brother passed away without even laying eyes on his son. When he was first born, Chen was by her side and when Chen first laid eyes on him, he commented on how much he looked like his hyung. Every year, he continued looking like him.

            “Hyung,” Chen said looking at the grave, “I brought an updated picture of me. It was pretty hard finding it, you know how Mom is, right?” he asked with an awkward laugh.

            When Chen’s brother was alive, he always looked out for Chen. He made sure that Chen was always taken care of before himself since their parents often left them alone. Chen felt like he was most indebted to his brother and after he died, Chen had a hard time adjusting to life by himself. With every passing day, Chen would remind himself of the promise that he had made his brother before he passed away.

            “Do you remember that promise?” Chen asked. It felt weird talking to his brother in such a situation and with his brother’s wife crying beside him, it made it seem even more awkward. “You had to have remembered the promise. Anyway, I’m keeping it up. I’ve gotten into a good school, and I’m going to make a name for myself, an independent name that has nothing to do with them. Don’t worry, hyung, I’m going to make you proud.”

            “Oppa,” she said through sniffles. “I miss you and Minhyuk-ah misses you a lot. Right now he doesn’t realize that you’re gone, but he will in the future. I hope you’re always going to watch out for him, he likes to get into a lot of trouble like you.” Chen smiled at the statement. “Anyway, we just wanted to come and visit you today like we do every year.”

            “And we’ll continue to do it without fail,” Chen chimed in while he looked at her and gave a supportive smile. “Minhyuk-ah, do you want to say something?” Chen asked grabbing the three-year-old that was beginning to wander by himself.

            “Appa, I love you,” Minhyuk said.

            “Good boy,” she said petting his head.

            The three spent some more time just sitting there and enjoying the sun before it was time to go eat the lunch that they brought. After spending time sitting there, they would always go off into a clearing that wasn’t very far away and eat lunch before making the journey home and before Chen would have to leave to go back to his old life.

            “Noona, I don’t want to leave you and Minhyuk,” Chen said as they were eating lunch together.

            “You have to, you can’t give up your education,” she sternly told him.

            “But noona,” Chen pleaded. “You need my help more.”

            “No, get your education and then you can help us. That comes first, Chen. I don’t want you to give up your dreams just because of us. I assure you that Minhyuk and I can handle our own while you finish your studies. Just one more year until you graduate and then you’re on to university, right?”

            “Yeah,” Chen said looking down as he ate. “But after that, I’m going to come right to you and help you raise Minhyuk.”

            “I’m not that old,” she said playfully hitting Chen. “I’m only eight years older than you are.”

            “I know, and hyung is ten,” Chen said thinking about his brother.

            “Then how do you know all of that information about his childhood?” she curiously asked.

            “Stories that he told me,” Chen said with a laugh as he remembered the stories. “He would tell them all the time to me to get me to sleep. Whenever I misbehaved he would tell me that I acted just like him and some of the habits I have are because of him. I guess you could say that he was a major influence on me growing up and I’ll be an influence like that to Minhyuk, even if I can’t be here that often.”

            “It’s alright, he already knows how much you care for him,” she said looking over at Minhyuk who was playing with a ball by himself in the grass.

            “Yeah, even though he doesn’t remember me every time I come here.”

            “He’s still at a young age, just give him a couple of more years.”

            “I know, noona,” Chen said laughing. “Noona, you should stop taking my words seriously.”

            “Then how will I know what words to take seriously?” she asked.

            “Good point,” Chen said nodding his head. “Then take all of my words seriously.”

            The two spent a good time just talking with one another and catching up on everything that happened in the year that they weren’t able to talk with one another. Even if it was shorter than what Chen had hoped, he still enjoyed the time that he got to spend together with them. They were his family and he wasn’t going to deny them like his mother did. She was an evil woman and everyone could see that, besides the one that believed the façade that she actually put on.

            “Do I really have to leave?” Chen asked as he stood outside of their house after the journey home.

            “You do,” she said nodding her head. “You have to go catch up on your studies. I’m sure you’ll be falling behind with just one missed day.”

            “But I’m smart noona, I’ll be sure to catch up. I also have a good note taker. I want to spend some more time with you and Minhyuk.”

            “No,” she sternly said. “You should go back, your studies are still important. Don’t forget the promise that you made with your brother.”

            “I won’t,” Chen said sighing as he tightened his backpack straps onto his shoulders. “Bye noona, bye Minhyuk. I’ll come visit you guys again.”

            “Bye Chen,” she said as the two of them waved to his disappearing figure.

            Hopping onto the subway, Chen thought back to the day that he made the promise with his older brother. It was the day that his brother had graduated from high school and despite only being eight years old, Chen remembered it well.

TEN YEARS AGO

“Little brother,” he said ruffling Chen’s hair. “You have to do well in school when you grow up, alright?”

            “Why?” Chen asked. He was curious as to why he had to do well in school when his brother wasn’t in the greatest either.

            “Because it’s the ticket to success in life,” he said. “You want to be successful, alright?”

            “Successful?” Chen asked. “How can I become successful?”

            “By studying and becoming smart. Don’t you want to outdo your hyung and become smarter than me?”

            “I’m always going to be better than you,” Chen joked.

            “Why you little rascal,” he said picking Chen up off of his feet and twirling him around before setting him back down onto the ground. “But promise me Chen, promise me that you’re going to do well in school and make me proud. Promise me that I’ll get to see you graduate from a good school and make a good life for yourself.” He stuck out his pinky waiting for Chen to promise him.

            “I promise,” Chen said interlacing his pinky with his older brother’s. “Hyung, I promise you I’m going to make you proud.”

“I’m still going to make you proud,” Chen whispered on the subway back home. “I’ll always make you proud and I’ll always be better than you.” He laughed to himself as the tears started coming to his eyes. “Hyung, I’m not going to let you down.”

            For the rest of the ride, Chen stared out the window and lost himself in fond memories of his older brother waiting for the dreaded moment when he would arrive home.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, you found out Chen's relation to the woman and Minhyuk. Was it what you suspected? And you also found out about his older brother, who I mentioned in the last chapter and who frauleinhyu pointed out that I mentioned, but along with answers, there are still more questions about why his brother died and more questions about Chen's family overall.

Anyway, there's not much to ask questions on for Chen, but for Ellie, how will her afternoon with Kris go? If Luhan confessed to her again, what would she say?

Here's Chapter 13. Hope you enjoyed :D