I listened to the sound of the window-washers on my car while driving to Daehyun’s house. It’s become a habit for me to go to his house after work with Yongguk now. The majority of the help I get isn’t even from Daehyun, it’s from Daejung. I always wondered how two brothers who looked so alike could be so different. I guess my sister and I are the same.

As I arrived, I parked on the sidewalk. As soon as I turned my engine off, I heard a knocking on the passenger window and saw Daejung standing with an umbrella. I blinked, not sure how to react to the situation. I already had an umbrella, and I wasn’t ready to burden someone else. Before I could even open the door, Daejung walked to the door where I was sitting and opened it for me.

“You didn’t have to.” I say as I get out of the car.

“It’s only proper manners.” Daejung says as he closes the door.

“Daehyun can learn a thing or two from you.” I say.

Daejung smirks. “Most definitely.”

The tension between us was nagging at me when we walked towards his front door. He turned the doorknob and then paused.

“It’s locked.” He muttered.

“Why would you lock it when you only came out for a minute?” I asked. I had my freedom when talking to Daejung. It was Daehyun that I had to be more careful around.

“I don’t think I did.” He replied. He rang the doorbell about three times before he stopped.

In a few seconds, I heard the doorknob click. A shirtless Daehyun was standing there when the door opened. I in a breath of air before my eyes widened and I automatically turned my eyes away.

Daehyun didn’t seem to care. He looked at my reaction and then simply walked back into the house.

“Hyun,” Daejung began. “What if it was a stranger?”

“Wouldn’t make a difference to me.” Daehyun called from way into the house.

“Sorry about that.” Daejung said to me.

“It’s alright.” I said, but I was sure that my face was still red.

As I walked into the house, I felt the smell of coffee sink down on me. I wasn’t sure how much coffee these two brothers drank, but it sure wasn’t a healthy amount.

“So,” Daejung began. “What did you bring today?”

I sat down on the couch and pulled out a packet of papers. “It’s my new chapter draft.” I replied.

“Let’s see then.” Daejung says as he picks up the packet.

This has already become a process for us. I would bring my newest drafts, Daejung would read it, and then give me advice. Daehyun would sometimes come downstairs if he heard something interesting, but that was only rarely.

I took out my phone and surfed the internet while Daejung read my draft with a cup of coffee in his hand. Weather alerts, politics and newest trends swam around in my head before Daejung lifted his head.

“It’s better.” He said.

I looked up, snapping out of my daze. “Than what?”

“Your past chapters. I don’t know if it’s the emotional tension in this chapter or something, but it flows better and is more natural.”

“How so?”

“Look at this sentence. ‘The rain gently tapped at the window pane as a ray of light passed through.’” He looked up at me. I had a slightly puzzled expression on my face.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps rushing downstairs. Daehyun appeared in the living room with his messy hair, with a shirt now, and took the draft from Daejung.

I saw Daejung smirk and look at me. I seemed to understand now. My draft probably wasn’t any better. He simply wanted Daehyun to look at it.

In about half the time it took Daejung to read it, Daehyun finished reading my entire chapter. “It’s better than what I’ve heard before, but it still needs work.”

I looked up at him before he sat down on the couch next to Daejung. “Look.” He pointed at a sentence that says, ‘The tears ran down her face.’

I nodded at Daehyun and he continued. “That doesn’t capture anything.” I watched as Daejung, attempting to be stealthy, got up and left our conversation.

“Why is that?” I asked Daehyun.

“If you just read that sentence, would you feel sad? In an emotional like this one, every single sentence needs to be filled to the brim with emotions. Do you understand?”

“I think so.” I took a pen out of my bag and scratched out that sentence and wrote above it, ‘As the tears filled up her crystal eyes, each shimmering droplet fell down her face.’

“Better.” Daehyun said as he leaned back onto the couch after he read my revised sentence.

It went on like that for about two more hours, writing and rewriting new sentences. I wasn’t even sure if this was my writing anymore. It was true that I made the sentences, but it just… didn’t sound like me.

But it didn’t sound like Daehyun either. Daehyun’s writing was dark, with language that was much more vivid than mine. The words he used was different. His sentence-structure was different. So then, whose writing was this?

The next day was Saturday, so I drove to Daehyun’s house in the afternoon. I bought them coffee from my neighborhood bakery before arriving. At least I could give back something to them.

When I knocked on their door, Daehyun opened the door. This time, he was wearing a dress shirt and jeans. I would have criticized him matching those two, but I decided to keep quiet.

“Daejung isn’t home.” He said.

I looked up at him and then handed him the coffee. “This is for you, and I’ll come back some other time then.”

Daehyun took the coffee and then looked up at me. “Why are you giving me this?”

“Just to repay you guys a little.” I replied with a smile.

Daehyun smirked. I think it was the first time I’ve seen him do so. “You can stay. I’ll help you.”

I wasn’t sure if he was in a good mood or if it was the coffee, but he was being nice. I slowly made my way upstairs, as Daehyun had directed. He said he was going to go out for a second and then come back.

“First door on the right…” I muttered.

I saw a dark brown colored door and opened it, expecting shelves and shelves of books.

But that wasn’t what was there.

When I opened the door, there were maroon colored curtains that seemed like they haven’t been opened in weeks. A table cluttered so badly that I couldn’t actually see the table was placed in front of the curtains. On the left side of the room, I saw three bookshelves. Each bookshelf was filled up completely.

I cautiously walked over to the bookshelves, careful not to step on the papers on the ground. The shelves were filled with encyclopedias, dictionaries, history books, but my eyes stopped on a familiar looking novel.

It was my own book. I flipped through the pages and found only one highlight.

‘He turned around, leaving me to collapse and break down on my own. Why did this happen to me? What did I do wrong?’

I looked up, remembering writing that sentence. It didn’t seem to be full of emotion or anything like Daehyun instructed me to do. I put down the book and walked over to his cluttered desk.

Underneath a few of the papers, I found an open notebook full of scribbles and scratches and messy handwriting. I flipped to the first page and looked at the date. January 1, 2011.

I couldn’t understand most of the stuff he wrote in this notebook, but as I flipped through the pages, I repeatedly saw one name.

Kim Seo Hwa.

Kim Seo Hwa.

Kim Seo Hwa.

Who was Kim Seo Hwa?

a/n: ok i know i have not updated for like months and i'm so sincerely sorry about that. i understand how it feels when an author doesn't update. >.< /cries. SORRRYYYY. it's just that school has been so stressful recently and i haven't had any time to do anything really. But now it's Christmas break and i have time now :) 

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