TWELVE
EXOPLANET"Hyung!" Minhyun barged into his brother's office on the sixtieth floor of Shin Corporation. Minho sat behind his desk, a chrome plaque bearing his name and position sitting proudly at its edge. Even though he had taken over their father's position as CEO of their conglomerate, Minhyun still saw him as the brother who had always seemed so responsible and grown up in comparison to himself. Whenever he felt as though he was beginning to catch up to his maturity, his height, his position, Minho moves out of their parent's residence, has another growth spurt, gets promoted to President.
It seemed that no matter how hard Minhyun ran, Minho was always that half step ahead of him.
Minho sat there, so tall. Proud. Important. It made Minhyun feel like a small person, despite being taller than most Korean men and more wealthy than the majority of Asian conglomerate heirs. He loved his brother. He really did. He was Minhyun's role model. His protector. The person he could always trust and depend on. What Minho was to Minhyun was what he wanted to be for Suji. And yet, even in this, he had failed. He couldn't protect her.
"Minhyun?" Minho looked up in surprise and smiled jovially extending his arms out for a hug, "What are you doing here?"
Minhyun didn't move, staring at him sternly, hands clenched to fists by his side, "I need to talk to you."
Minho's smile faded a little and he lowered his arms, "What's this about?"
"Yifan."
His faint grin fell, mouth drawing into a hard line, "And?"
"I want you to stop with all the spies." Minhyun pressed, "All the tricks and surveillance. You think I don't realise it but I do!"
The older gave a sharp bark of laughter and leaned forwards in his chair, pressing the tips of his fingers together in a position of deep consideration, "I'm not having you followed."
"Hyung…"
Minho lifted his hand, pausing his brother mid sentence, "I'm not having you followed." He repeated, "I'm telling the truth. Wu Yifan has nothing to do with you. Don't talk to him or acknowledge him. Just ignore him."
"How can I?" Minhyun cried out, frustrated beyond belief. His brother wasn't listening. "How could I just ignore him and let him carry on if he's hurting Suji!?" He couldn't understand what had happened to her. The girl he thought he had known. The girl he had followed since the age of six. The girl who had finally accepted him. She had grown so cold and distant with him in the recent weeks.
He knew that she was harsh and provocative to others. He knew that she was a cold person. A hard person to get close to. But he also knew that her true nature was soft and loving; the hard exterior acting as a defence against others. It had taken a long time for his to peel back the barriers; layer after layer after layer. She became the most precious person to him. He had wanted to shield her. To keep her happy carefree nature pure. Away from those who would hurt her and cause her to feel pain.
He had made a mistake. Minhyun had sheltered her for far too long; ensuring that she only saw the rosy side of society. He had kept her in a bubble and now that it had burst, he knew not what to do. Had he known, Minhyun would never have allowed Suho near her. He had allowed them to grow close and bond. Allowed him to tear down her defences until her soft inner core had been revealed. Suji had trusted him and loved him. And then he abused her and left. All of Minhyun's efforts were gone like the wind with one man's short stint in her life.
He knew that Yifan had something to do with Suji. Yifan had a hand in this. And so, by extension, so did Minho.
"Hurt Suji?" Minho seemed genuinely shocked, sitting bolt upright in his seat, "He wasn't even meant to touch her."
"So he's following Suji?" The younger brother bit out, incensed, "Why? She's not even part of this company! If this is about me-"
"It's not." He breathed, "It's nothing. Just concentrate on your studies and let me run Abeoji's company. I'm following in his footsteps. I'm not changing anything." His voice rose and he glared at Minhyun with a sudden charged emotion. "You shouldn't come any closer. Don't come any higher up in this company. Just let me handle everything. It's for your own good."
Minho swivelled his chair around, turning his back on his brother; making it clear that his presence was no longer welcome.
Minho paced in circles, the anger apparent in every line of his body. He was silent; stewing in apparent frustration while his subordinate stood a few feet away, subdued and apprehensive. Kris had seen it coming. He could read the other's fury in this thoughts and gestures. They burned themselves into his mind with the raw redness of the emotion. It was a gift that his kind possessed. A gift and a curse to behold. He knew it was coming and yet, he didn't dodge the attack; choosing only to loosen his neck. To do otherwise would break his superior's hand which would result in more dire consequences.
His neck snapped back at the brunt of the blow, though there was no sting or cut. The injury to his pride, however, was deep. To be attacked by a mere human. The lowest of all life forms. It was a testament to how far Kris had fallen. He was in so deep that he couldn't even see the top of the chasm any longer.
How can one follow the light when it is too far above one's head to see?
"I told you not to touch her!" Minho raged, foot stamping like a child, "Now Minhyun's involved! We can't afford to let him find out."
Kris stared at his feet, avoiding the elder's piercing stare. He was afraid of being into those eyes. It was his main weakness. If he had allowed himself to look into that cold heartless gaze… He was afraid that he would have spilled the other's blood over his hands before he could stop himself. He couldn't risk hurting Minho.
Doing so would be akin to killing himself.
"You've grown weak Yifan." Minho's lip curled as he lightly, teasingly brushed the back of his fingers over the younger's cheek gently, lingering over
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