9^th April 2011

Jong Hyun POV

I watched a flash of lightning striking across the sky while I closed the car’s door behind me. Sheltering myself with a black umbrella, I couldn’t describe how much I hated to come; but I knew I have to.

As I walked down the drenched walkway towards the crowd, I saw Minho in front of me—he carried an umbrella in his hands, but it drooped down to the side, sheltering only half of his body. He kept his head lowered the whole time, staring at the stone that was anchored to the ground in front of him.

I had not seen my brother in this manner before.

Standing beside him, I greeted the people beside me as I patted his shoulder gently.

“Are you okay?” He shook his head while I watched helplessly when tears rolled down his cheeks.

“Taemin…” Minho murmured as he wiped the tears away. I knew that asking what has happened would be the most heartless thing I would ever do. Instead, I swallowed my words back and sheltered the poor boy beside me with my umbrella.

It was then when I spotted Key in the crowd, staring at me with his bloodshot eyes. Gently, he shook off the hand that interlocked with his tightly, giving the boy beside him a peck.

“I’ll be back soon.” Approaching me through the crowd, he held my arm and pulled me to the other side of the cemetery, standing below a sinister looking elm tree.

“It was my fault…” Key finally murmured weakly to me after a few minutes of silence.

“No, it’s not.”

“Yes, it is. I wasn’t there when he fell off the window. If I were there, I could have saved him.” With hesitation, I wrapped my arms around him, patting his head gently.

“I’m sorry, Key…” When Key shifted his lips beside my ear, I shivered when he let out a pant between his sobs.

“Help…me….” His words echoed in my head as I pushed him away when I saw the figure standing in front of us.

It was Onew, the person that Key chose over me.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” Onew shook his head and smiled at me,

“No, it’s okay. Thanks for comforting him.” Holding Key by his shoulders, Onew walked off with Key, leaving me in a midst of confusion.

… … …

11^th April 2011

It was a struggle when I walked down the white pathway. I stared at the grass patch intently as if I could visualize the boy falling to his death at the spot I was looking at. Knocking the front door for a couple of times, it creaked open slowly and Key scanned me from head to toe as if he saw something illicit.

“Why are you here?” He hissed at me.

“Are you okay?” I didn’t know what else to say.

“You shouldn’t be here, leave.” Key frowned and slammed the door in my face; I had no chance to speak at all.

But I could sense something; he seemed to be hiding something from me, and he was afraid to tell me.

“Jong Hyun.” Someone called my name from the back.

It was Onew.

… … …

It was a 10 minute walk to Coffee Bean. We sat in awkward silence in the café; I took a sip of the cappuccino while Onew stirred his black coffee slowly.

“We can’t speak at the presence of Key.” Onew finally said.

“You know something, don’t you?” Leaning towards me, he whispered as if he was afraid that someone might overhear our conversation.

“Don’t trust Key. He doesn’t seem to be himself recently.” I stared at him in confusion,

“What do you mean?”

“Ask Minho to stay away from him too.” A part of me tells me that Onew was lying; I was in a total loss of who I should trust.

“I don’t really trust you, Onew.”

“I can tell. I don’t expect you to anyway.” As he stood up from his seat, he looked at me for the last time, muttering to me his last words,

“Then, let the truth tell you the answer.”

I watched him as he left the café, with the cup of black coffee left untouched.

Key POV

Onew took a tiny and unappetizing bite of his pasta while I nibbled the spoon between my lips. We have been in this manner ever since Taemin died—I no longer have the mood to do anything else besides thinking of the boy.

“Are you alright?” Onew mumbled as I dropped the spoon on the table.

“Yea…It’s just that, I can’t get over Taemin’s death.” Onew shuddered when I mentioned Taemin’s name. Slowly, he stood up from his seat and walked over to mine. Wrapping his arms around me, Onew caressed my hair between his fingers.

“I’m here for you, Key,” He lowered his head and whispered into my ear, “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

… … …

13^th April 2011

The constant knocking of the door made me terribly annoyed. I ran to the front door irritably and swung it open.

“Are you deaf, Jonghyun?! I told you to stay away!” I yelled at him and realized the person was not him, but Minho. I bowed apologetically and let the haggard looking boy into the house.

Minho was born a couple of months after me, but he looked matured and dependable. I knew that was the reason why Taemin loved him so much, and that was why I allowed him to take care of Taemin.

“I’m sorry, Minho. I thought it was your brother.” Minho shook his head and stared at me with his bloodshot eyes.

“I’m here to collect Taemin’s stuff.” Walking past me, he walked up the stairs weakly to Taemin’s room, as I followed suit and went back to my own.

I thought Minho has left, until 10 minutes letter when I heard a muffled scream outside me room. Sitting up on my bed, I opened the door a little, peeping out to see what was going on.

“Minho?” I called his name but he was nowhere to be seen. Slowly, I walked towards the stairway and came to a halt.

The incarnadine liquid stained on the white steps, making a trail down the stairs. As the metallic blood smell became too overwhelming for me to endure, I covered my nose with my palm and spotted the body lying at the other end of the stairs.

Staring at the knife protruding out of his chest, I pressed my finger on his pulse but I could not feel anything.

“Minho…” I muttered his name as I saw the figure standing by the kitchen.

It was Onew.

17^th April 2011

Jong Hyun POV

Key told me to stay away, and I did.

But now, I could not endure the pain of losing Minho any longer.

I ran up to his doorstep, banging against the front door as the street lights flickered behind me. When Key opened the door for me, I forced my way into the house even though he tried to stop me.

“Kim Jong Hyun!” He hissed my name as I pinned him against the wall.

“You know something. You know who killed my brother, don’t you?” Key stared at me for a moment, before he leaned towards me and whispered into my ear,

“Of course.” Staring back at him intently, Key held my hand and led me up the stairs into his room. Closing the door behind the both of us, he mumbled under his breath,

“Can you…keep a secret?”

… … …

I was blinded my love for Key and the anger brewing inside me.

I need to take revenge for Minho, even if it means that I have to go to hell.

Grabbing the leg of the metal stool in my hands, I pressed my ear against the door, hearing the footsteps of the murderer approaching us. Swinging the door open, my eyes met with Onew’s for a second before I swung the stool against the back of Onew’s head.

I watched him rolling down the stairs, probably like how Minho did. His head tilted to the side in an abnormal angle, his piercing gaze continued to stare at me from the other side of the stairs. Dropping the stool on the floor, I was overcome with guilt, but at the same time, satisfaction. I have finally taken revenge for me brother.

“Key, let’s leave.”

3^rd Person POV

The younger boy slivered a smile as he was led towards the front door for an escape.

“How stupid”, Key thought, when everyone fell for his trap, one by one. Slowly, he reached out for the pocket knife from his pocket, and stabbed it on the other boy’s back without hesitation.

As Jong Hyun collapsed on the floor in pain, Key wrapped his hands around his neck, watching the blood stained tiles in pleasure.

“I didn’t want to do this, Jong Hyun.” Tightening his grip around Jong Hyun’s neck, he lowered his head, and curled his lips into a devilish smile,

“But I don’t see a reason why I should keep you alive.”

… … …

Key pulled Taemin whom was barely sober out of bed.

He doesn’t want to do this; he knew it perfectly well that Taemin was too drunk to recognize that he was Onew, not Minho. But he could no longer forgive his brother as the sight of Onew kissing Taemin crossed his mind.

Opening the window pane in Taemin’s room, he allowed the frail body to sit on the frame of the window, as he caressed his hair gently.

“Why must it be you, Taemin?”

“Key…” Taemin whimpered and struggled in Key’s arms, trying to break free. Smirking at the younger boy, Key pushed him roughly as he watched Taemin falling off the window helplessly, as he sprawled on the grass patch like an unwanted porcelain doll.

… … ….

“You killed Taemin.” Minho whispered as he walked up the stairs behind Key. Coming to a halt, Key turned around and looked at him innocently.

“I don’t know what you are talking about, Minho.”

“You killed your own brother and you think you can hide it, Key?” The taller teen challenged him. It was then when Minho spotted a change in Key’s behavior. Watching him as his lips curled into a devilish smile, Key walked towards him and whispered into his ear seductively.

“Can’t you keep this secret?”

Suddenly, Key plunged the knife into Minho’s chest as he rolled down the stairs leaving a trail of his blood on the stairs.

… …. ….

Jong Hyun began to choke as he tried to pull Key’s hand away from his neck.

“Don’t ever trust anyone, fool.”

“But I love you.” Bending down to give Jong Hyun a peck on his lips, Key whispered,

“I don’t love.”