The metal gate felt frosty against Yonghwa’s warm hands, the chunks of ice melting at his touch. His hand travelled up to the bell on the side of the gate standing almost two times as tall as he, but he would not allow himself to become intimidated by the mere appearance of their neighborhood’s haunted mansion. He didn’t particularly believe in ghosts anyway, and all the community rumors were all spread by kids in middle school. Without a sound from the speakers by the bell, the gate slowly creaked open, creating a crack just wide enough for Yonghwa to slip through. Once he was in the yard, he was able to get a better look of the yard. Rose thorns decorated every corner he saw, and the elegant red rose bush still blossomed shamelessly by their front steps. The sight of them made his blood boil. He walked along the straight path connecting to the steps and twisted the door knob when he arrived. It gave way immediately and he stepped into a dimly lit lobby. There was no furniture, just wide empty space with golden floor tiles that dew the shape of a gigantic rose, presumably the emblem that was stamped on Shinhye’s letter. As he examined, his eyes paused at a dark corner. He could’ve sworn he saw a face sneaking around in the shadows.

            “Who are you?” Yonghwa asked assertively with his unshaken voice. He was well aware that he was now in enemy territories and he was at a clear disadvantage, but he also believed that the moment he showed fear, he would’ve already lost.

            “I should be asking you that. After all, this is my house.” A voice answered back with a dark chuckle. Then, Yonghwa spotted his silhouette by a central pillar. The person made no attempt to stay hidden and instead, stepped out into the open where the light seeping through the small circular window on the roof seemed to create a spotlight over him.

            “Is Shinhye here?” Yonghwa demanded directly without even greeting Minhyuk. He only nodded in response, looking slightly amused. He pondered the fact that it took kidnapping the girl for Yonghwa to do anything that even remotely showed his true feelings for her. Minhyuk loved trying to decipher emotions people tried their hardest to hide, and even Yonghwa’s poker face didn’t seem to pass Minhyuk’s watchful eyes. Unfortunately for Yonghwa, Minhyuk had no intentions of leaving him with a happy ending.

            “Where is she?” Yonghwa almost growled, giving him a hateful glare. Minhyuk closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head at how impolite his classmate was being. He certainly didn’t know his place.

@}--,--'----

            “Sounds like we have a guest,” Minjung mused, getting up from her stool beside Shinhye’s bed. Shinhye paused for a moment to listen, but she couldn’t hear past the seemingly sound proof walls and the throbbing in her head. Minjung left with a calming smile, closing the door quietly to join whatever was happening outside. Now alone in the room, Shinhye’s curiosity was starting to get the best of her. She no longer desired more sleep, so she pulled the towel now warm from the heat radiating off her forehead and placed it back in the small tub of cold water and scurried to the door. She pulled it open a bit and peered through, unable to see anything more than a pillar supporting the stairs leading to the upper levels of their house.

            “What do you want?” A husky voice asked without hesitating. Shinhye took a while to distinguish just who that voice belonged to, but once she had a solid guess, she tiptoed behind the large support pillar and watched the events in the lobby.

            “I want you,” Minhyuk eyed him with a vicious smile and paused as he scanned Yonghwa’s defensive stance from head to toe, “Dead.” Yonghwa’s face went from repulsively confused to cautious. His fists clenched tighter and he seemed to have stopped blinking. Shinhye leaned back against the pillar and clutched her aching left arm, biting her bottom lip as she tried to explain what was going on to herself. Minhyuk wanted Yonghwa dead? She wished that she heard wrong, but Minhyuk was cornering Yonghwa now, inching closer fearlessly and she was close enough to hear every tremble in Yonghwa’s breathing pattern. The lobby fell painfully silent. Minjung finally decided to interfere; stepping in between the two and shoving Minhyuk back slightly with little effort. Yonghwa’s eyes were darting from person to person, unsure of whom was the bigger threat when he spotted Shinhye hugging the pillar at the back of the lobby, watching him with growing fear in her eyes. It seemed the two interrogators hadn’t noticed Shinhye was here, so he decided to play along.

            “How is your father?” Minjung asked soontaneously, catching Yonghwa by surprise. But he didn’t show it.

            “I don’t have one.” Yonghwa confessed; his voice colder than icicles.

            “Did he pass away?” She asked, a little startled by his blunt reply.

            “I wouldn’t know.”

            “Yonghwa is a lonely reject who grew up running from foster homes.” Minhyuk mocked, telling the truth in a twisted way. Minjung shot him an annoyed look as if telling him to back off, and Minhyuk took one step back and waited.

            “So you don’t know anything about your family?” She asked to make sure. She herself knew how her son was an unreliable secondary source with a big mouth. Yonghwa was sick of replying and just shook his head, occasionally glancing at Shinhye who was shaking in terror.

            “Are you curious?” She asked, her tone was tempting his longing curiosity. Yonghwa gave up on trying to find his history and decided to live only for what he knew. He buried his interests of where he came from long ago, around the third time he ran away from his reallocated foster home. When Minjung suddenly opened a door for him, his curiosity seemed to break the rusting chains in the back of his mind.

            “You know of the assassination of Jung Seunghyun, your school’s founder, don’t you?” She suddenly brought up. It was long past his memorial day, so hearing about him again seemed slightly more fascinating, though Yonghwa never cared for the old man. So he left a legacy; big deal, people leave legacies all the time. Yonghwa didn’t see Jung Seunghyun as any different. In response, Yonghwa shrugged,

            “What about him?”

            “You don’t seem to care much about the story behind your grandfather’s death.” Minjung sighed at Yonghwa’s lacking interest, but knew that her last comment would have his attention wrapped around her fingers.

            “My grandfather?” Yonghwa choked, stumbling backwards a little. Minhyuk chuckled in the background at his reaction but was hushed again by his mother.

            “Jung Seunghyun is your grandfather.” Minjung nodded, filling a hole in Yonghwa’s history that only lead his mind down newly formed paths he wished to uncover.

A/N: See? More secrets are being uncovered now ^^! heh heh~ hope this chapter was more amusing. Actually, reading it again maybe it isn't so amusing haha. Either way, I enjoyed writing this chapter ^^ "conflict spanning over 3 generations comes back to taunt him" An excerpt from this fanfic's description. There was some foreshadowing done, keke (: