Title: SM-5 The Perfect Mystery 

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Mystery, Angst, Action 

Ratings: All ages 

Minho

  ~~~

  A smile had always been curved upon his perfect, full lips. Whether he liked it or not, the smile would be there, in acceptance to everything in his life.

  As a person, there were many things of Choi Minho’s life that he had to put up with, to stand through as he wore that smile on his face. That smile, there were times when it was genuine, several more times when it was merely a pretentious cover to his worn self. But then again, a smile is always said to hide many things within, and what is hidden, most of the time…

  Remains a mystery.

~~~

  A woman sits on her silken covers, holding a newborn infant in her arms, cooing the infant lovingly. Wrapped in silk, the infant gurgled softly, well-behaved for a baby so young. She smiled for a moment, however she paused, as the door open to reveal a tall man with a two year old wobbling in.

  “Siwon-ah, come see your little brother!” Mrs Choi called the toddler.

  As the toddler approached his mother, his eyes fell upon the young baby resting in his mother’s arms. The toddler, or rather, Choi Siwon stared for a moment, just for a moment, at his younger brother. However, after that moment, he turned his nose up, disinterested, wobbling back to his father.

  “Siwon-ah!” Mrs Choi reprimanded.

  Mr Choi stopped her. “It’s alright, my dear. Minho will have to learn to show more respect to his older brother, in any case.”

  And with that, the elder brother is forgiven for his insolence and the little blame of the ignorance was placed on the shoulders of the more innocent younger brother.

  Choi Minho was shunned from the moment he was born.

~~~

  Curiosity is naturally ingrained in every young child and it was no different for the two year old who found himself standing at the doorway of his elder brother’s room. Harmless and small, he wobbled in, setting his sights on a little toy car that had been tossed on the floor. With his elder brother nowhere to be seen, he picked up the little toy car and began to fiddle with it.

  He was interested in it, despite his young age. He was careful as he touched it, examined it, trying to see how the small object worked. He had shown interest to almost everything he touched, finding everything in his little world fascinating, and he always practiced caution-

  “Don’t touch my things!” The toy car was snatched from his hands and he was shoved to the ground.

  He was young, and at the age of two, most toddlers were expected to cry if placed in such a situation. But no, he just stared blankly at his elder brother. He did not cry, he did not bawl, and he did not complain. Soon, Mrs Choi had rushed into the room in worry, after hearing the shout of her elder son.

  “What’s going on?” She asked anxiously.

  “Minho took my toy car without permission and ruined it, see?” Four-year-old Siwon had pushed the blame straight to his younger brother.

  Little Minho could barely grasp the seriousness of the situation, for he did not break it, and he had not done anything to ruin it. However, he bowed his head in apology. “I’m sorry, hyung…”

  “Sorry does not fix things! Go to the corner and reflect!” Siwon commanded.

  After being blamed for his little curiosity, and somewhat wrongly accused, he did not stand up nor did he fight back. He was an obedient child and he did not like to hurt his family, he was understanding for his age and he decided to give in. Shuffling to the corner, he seriously reflected on what he had done, vowing to be more careful.

  Minho was always at fault and Siwon was always right.

~~~

  No one in the world is perfect and it is doubtless that Minho understood that fact. Mistakes have to be made for a person to learn, however it is best that small mistakes are forgiven at the end after small warnings, and small punishments, for such mistakes are not worth purging into. Minho’s mistakes are forgiven, most of the time, however…

  Punishments had never been small.

~~~

  Little Sulli had went into Minho’s room, and like déjà vu, she had found a toy of his as well. Fiddling with the toy in her palms, she smiled, but the toy suddenly fell apart. Leaving her in complete shock, she began to bawl, startling Minho, who was in the house library, to rush back to his room.

  He found his younger sister sitting on the floor, sobbing over the broken toy. But it was just a toy, and to Minho, it wasn’t so important. He went forward, patting his sister’s back and comforting her, trying his best to stop her from crying. He had good intentions.

  However good intentions were not always viewed to be good.

  Luck was not on his side when his elder brother appeared at the doorway, pointing at Sulli and glaring at Minho fiercely, before shouting down the staircase – “Minho made Sulli cry! Minho made Sulli cry!”

  Mr and Mrs Choi rushed up immediately, with Mrs Choi taking the crying Sulli into her arms, and Mr Choi giving Minho a slap in the face. Minho fell to the ground with a loud ‘thud’, his cheek burning over the stinging slap. But Minho, being Minho, saw the importance of his sister, more than the harsh treatment given to him. He did not argue, he did not fight back, he just stood up and…

  “I’m sorry.”

~~~

  Stepping into elementary school and finding himself all alone was not easy. Any brother would guide his younger siblings through his first day; however Siwon did nothing to help Minho, leaving the elementary school freshman on his own, to fend for himself.

  It was then, as he stood at the corridor, he learnt that a smile was one of the most important things in the world. The answer to this simple theory was as simple as the theory itself – a smile will leave no space for questions, and with a smile, he could re-create a new image for himself.

  No one needed to know how he grew up. No one needed to know how he was treated. He wasn’t abused physically, and he came from a prominent background. As long as he could wear that smile, everything would appear to be as smooth, and as wonderful as that smile. He didn’t have to be happy, he didn’t have to change his feelings, he just had to wear that smile.

  And thus, with a smile on his face, Choi Minho walked through the elementary school corridor.

  It worked.

~~~

  “Oppa, am I going to be fine?”

  “You’ll be great, Ssul.”

  His words were of comfort to his younger sister, as he walked her through the corridor. It was Sulli’s first day of elementary school, and he was being a good brother. Along the way, several friends waved to him, and he waved back. Sulli’s eyes widened as she watched her usually meek brother transform into a somewhat cool person everyone seemed to know.

  “Minho-oppa, you’re popular.” She commented.

  But he just shrugged his shoulders, wearing that subtle, unquestionable smile of his once more.

 “Popularity is just a label.”

~~~

  Like elementary school, middle school soon came as a breeze to him. He knew how to handle everything pretty well, or at least, coping was enough.

  He had good grades, he was good at sports, and there was a plus factor – he was exceptionally good looking. Everyone noticed him, everyone paid attention to him, and it made up for the lack of attention that he had gotten at home. Though he knew he was just using it as a total smoke-screen to cover up the problems of his life, it was enough.

  No one knew about that. No one needed to know about it. All everyone needed to know was one thing – He was Choi Minho.

  Popular, handsome, powerful Choi Minho.

~~~

  “Minho, Siwon, this is the company.”

  He gazed curiously at his surroundings, after stepping into the tall, majestic building. He was exactly fourteen years old, and it was the first time he had ever stepped into the place where his father made money. He was fascinated by it, most definitely, and he soon found himself looking forward to the day he would be able to-

  “Minho, you’re going to have to help your brother manage the place, alright?” His father had said as he patted Siwon’s back. “You’re brother’s not going to be able to head it without any support.”

  Support.

  He was merely reduced to a source of support.

  From that moment he realized how much of his fate was sealed. There was no chance he would ever be able to clamber to the top, or to take one step towards that CEO chair. He would always be the one faded at the background. But though he knew this, he also knew there was no other choice.

  It was what he was born to be, and he’d best just accept it.

~~~

  The second life lesson he learnt – the lesson of acceptance.

  Acceptance was a way of life, and giving in was a virtue. These two things were crucial in life, and it was especially crucial in his case. Defiance and rebuttal would get him nowhere, and no, he would just sink even lower if he dared to defy fate. Fate was fate, and there was nothing he could do to change it.

  Like all life lessons, the first lesson could also be paired with the second, making a double-shot combo.

  Accept, then smile.

  It became his secret trademark.

~~~

  “He’s so handsome!”

  “And he’s rich too!”

  “Gosh…he’s so perfect.”

  This was what greeted him on his first day of high school. Everyone looked at him as if he was a God, and he instantly climbed up the social ladder, known for his wealth, good looks, in other words, he was renowned for his portrayal of perfection.

  One smile and a girl would faint. One chuckle and it would probably send another to the sick bay. And of course, his one word and everything would be decided. He ruled by this way, this merciless, at the same time, charming way. No one could resist it, no one could stop it. He was like a dictator, a dictator no one could control.

  He ruled without a heart.

  He was ruthless but it did not matter to him. He grew up as a person who was treated without much kindness, rather, in a ruthless, unfeeling manner. He had everything he wanted – material objects only. Everything else, feelings, morals, values, he had to decide for himself what was right and what was wrong.

  He had a prince-complex but it didn’t really matter to him.

  It was who he was, and no one could change it.

~~~

  “Oppa, this is Krystal Jung, my friend.”

  Two years after he had entered high school, his sister followed, and soon she had brought a friend home. A girl stood in front of him, with a pair of bright eyes, and long dark hair as straight as corn silk. She had creamy skin and a pleasant aura about her.

  He was frozen on the spot as he saw her. He was deeply mesmerized, not by her beauty, but rather, that feeling she gave off. He had seen many beautiful girls in his life, toyed with many beautiful girls in his life, however, he had never once been so mesmerized, so struck by one. This girl, she seemed strong, yet frail at the same time, a beauty so radiant even he could not resist.

  “…Minho-sunbaenim, the Casanova of our school.” Krystal said wittily. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  He forced himself to keep a straight face. “You do not like Casanovas, Krystal?” He shook her hand, smiling his usual, charming and drop-dead-gorgeous smile. But as she shook her head, her one answer was enough to surprise him.

  “…No, they fascinate me.”

~~~

  He wasn’t the sort of person to lower his pride in any way, or at least, to try and change himself to fit someone else, however, he found himself walking to the home-economics room, standing outside the door and watching from the gap, his eyes set on a dark-haired girl near the coffee machine, a sweet scent wafting out of the room.

  He watched her, he had always been watching her, too shy to say another word. He had been dating someone else, a girl called Park Jiyeon to put up a cover, like what he usually did. The smoke screen, as usual, in this case, was Jiyeon, to cover up his feelings for his sister’s best friend. Or rather, to deny his feelings for his sister’s best friend.

  The door began to creak, and it swung right open, startling the both of them. Their eyes met for a moment, and he sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

  She broke into a wide smile as her gaze fell upon him. “Spying, Minho-sunbaenim?” She asked cheekily.

  “You wish.”

  “Then what do you call standing by the door, peeking through the gap, and breaking in?” Her words were clever, leaving him speechless. “…Don’t worry, I was just trying to make coffee.”

  “You want to be a barista?” He asked curiously.

  She chuckled softly. “A dream of mine… Minho-sunbaenim, what do you want to be?”

  “Me? Oh… I don’t know yet.”

  “You should find out soon… Actually, you can take your time finding out, since you’re so loaded with money.” Her words were bitter, yet she still kept the smile upon her face as she poured the coffee she had concocted into a cup. “…I, unfortunately, am not, so I shall work hard and become a great barista, then after that I shall make world-famous coffees.”

  A smirk found its way to his lips. “Quite a dream you have there, Krystal-shi.”

  “Maybe it is, but…” She grinned as she handed him the cup of coffee. “Why not you try the coffee first, then you can decide whether the dream is too big or not.”

  As he sipped the coffee, he surprisingly found the taste pleasant and delectable, and he raised his eyebrows at