[Yoon Mi’s POV]

“MOM!” Jung Kook’s sudden outburst scared me.

BAM! Another noise pollution.

I was combing my hair halfway and it got tangled upon hearing the scream.

What happened? Why did Jung Kook sound so angry? My legs took me as fast as possible to the kitchen.

There was a toppled chair that laid 3m away from its original position and water was seeping into the carpet with the cup still rolling about.

Jung Kook’s back was facing me and through his attractively damning muscle-defining thin white shirt, I could see his shoulders heaving up and down. On his hand was a piece of paper, the thinness of the paper allowed me to see the contents of the picture – a young toddler.

“Who is this?” Jung Kook’s voice was shaking as he rose with every word.

Auntie was shaking on the spot, face turned white, she could not answer him.

“I SAID WHO IS THIS?!” Jung Kook roared.

I stood rooted to the spot, not knowing what to do.

Just… What exactly happened? Who is that boy?

“I… I don’t know…” Auntie replied meekly, her eyes averting Jung Kook’s stare. A tear rolled gently down Auntie’s cheeks and her knuckles are seemingly white from clutching onto the back of a chair.

“It’s me, isn’t it? Jeon Jung Kook.” Jung Kook’s voice was threateningly low and calm, but I could hear the anger seeping out from it.

“I don’t have that photo…” Auntie mumbled.

“Of course you don’t, Mom. It wasn’t taken by you. It was taken by the Yeon family. You knew all along that I am not Jeon Jung Kook, am I right? Then Why did you keep the truth from me all these years? Who is Yeon Jung Kook, Mom? Just who am I?” A tear escaped from the corner of Jung Kook’s eyes. My heart ached.

Auntie made a small gasp, her grip on the chair released and she crumpled to the floor, silently crying a waterfall.

I had no rights to intervene, but I wasn’t going to just sit back and watch the family who took care of me fall apart.

“Auntie? Are you alright?” I approached Auntie slowly. Auntie looked so frail and weak now, a confrontation now may not be the best idea.

“Yoon Mi-“ Jung Kook tried to stop me, but I turned around and gave him a slight smile. I placed my index finger to my lips and stopped him from talking further. He nodded a little and went into the living room and sat on the sofa, staring into blank space.

“Yoon Mi…”Auntie reached out for me. I joined her on the floor and she started to hug me. I patted her back which was moving up and down severely, her sobs getting bigger by the second.

“I just wanted to keep… to keep him a little… longer… I love him, I really… do…” Auntie sobbed into my shoulder.

“Auntie, sometimes things are not as bad as they seemed. I don’t know what happened but I can somehow deduce the truth. Jung Kook still loves you, I know he does. Just give him some space. He’s a teenager transiting into an adult and his hormones are probably raging. He didn’t mean to flare up, just talk to him after he cooled down alright?”

Auntie shook a little with laughter and nodded her head. She pulled herself away from me but clasped my hand tightly.

“Yoon Mi. Thank you so much. We really welcome you in the family, it’s been much livelier with you. You're really so much more important to me then you can imagine. I can’t thank you enough…”

My lips curved upwards and I left the kitchen to find Jung Kook.

“Hey. Do you still want fish cakes?” I asked, hands in my pockets and shrugging my shoulders as though I was fine if he rejected me.

“Your eyes tell me that you really want it. I need some fresh air too. Let’s go get it.” He gave an reluctant smile and soon after, his gaze dropped to the floor and his shoulders drooped.

*

  “Yoon Mi ah… there is something we need to tell you when you are older. But you will have to wait. You’re different, but that doesn’t make us love you any lesser, alright?” Mom whispered into my ear while I was drifting off to sleep on her lap in this car ride.

  I was 6 years old, tired from a trip at Sentosa and all I wanted to do was fall asleep on my Mom’s comforting lap.

  “Mmhm…” I mumbled, eyelids melting into each other.

  “Good girl… I love you.” Mom mumbled, ruffling my hair and giving me a good night kiss on the crown of my head.

*

“You know, if there is something good coming out from this, it is that we are no longer related.” My hands cupped the fish cakes in this cloudy and cooling weather. A pullover didn’t help to keep me warm, so I needed my fish cakes.

“Why is it that you always think of the things no one else would ever think of?” Jung Kook gave a chuckle and that was a good sign.

I shrugged my shoulders and proceeded to take a sip of my soup.

Before I knew it, a hand reached out and snatched my bowl away from my grasp.

“HEY!”

“You’ll drop your hair if you drink that.”

“Who cares, I already have tons of it.”

“Yeah right.” Jung Kook smirked. I rolled my eyes at him and kicked him in the shins. Doubling over, I took the opportunity to snatch back my bowl.

Even before he could retaliate, I already took a gulp of my soul.

“Ah! Hot Hot!” The roof of my mouth was burning!

Jung Kook guffawed rather unpleasantly and messed up my hair.

“And I still thought you were smart. Guess not!” He stuck out his tongue at me.

That idiot.