CHAPTER TWO

Something Weird

 "There are three things that cannot be long hidden; the sun, the moon and the truth." -Buddha

“OKAY, SO LET me just get this straight,” Yoongi said from his seat on the plush couch in their living room as he gave his parents a disbelieving look. “We’re gonna take that kid in?” He turned his piercing gaze towards the scared-looking young boy who was seated close next to his sister—too close for his liking. Yoongi’s eyes narrowed into slits when he noticed how the boy was almost burying his face on Haeyoon’s shoulder.

The auburn-headed girl shushed her brother with a disapproving look. “You’re scaring him, Yoongi.” She gave a sideway glance at the trembling boy beside her, her eyes softening out of sympathy. Ever since she brought Mrs. Jeon’s son to their house and introduced him to her family, the boy did nothing but to hide behind her like a kid hiding behind his mom on his first day of school. It seemed like it’s the first time he came out to the world. He wouldn’t even want to release his tight grip on the edge of her shirt. “It’ll be just for a while, until we found his other relatives. Let’s not make a big deal out of this.”

Yoongi heaved a heavy sigh, “Mom, dad, are you really okay with this? We barely know the guy.”

The two adults hadn’t uttered a single word since Haeyoon introduced the boy to them, letting their eldest son do all the interrogation. They’re both sporting a solemn and thoughtful look like they had just learned that the world will end tomorrow. A tense silence followed after the brown-haired boy’s question and it took a while before Mr. Min broke it and said, “It can’t be helped, son, we’re the only ones who can take care of him right now.”

Yoongi slumped on his seat as he thought about the situation before sighing in defeat. “Damn, right.” Upon arriving at the conclusion that they’re going to take the orphaned boy in, Haeyoon broke into a soft smile.

“Anyway, what’s his name?” Yoongi asked, throwing a look at the silent boy whose head was still ducked low, his fringe hiding part of his eyes.

“Oh, now that you’ve mentioned it,” she trailed off as she looked at the boy and asked softly, “What’s your name?”

When the boy heard Haeyoon directed a question at him, he lifted his head a bit higher and answered in a very low voice, “Jungkook.”

“How old are you, boy?” Yoongi asked but didn’t get an answer. However, when Haeyoon asked the same question he replied immediately. They learned that Jungkook was sixteen, a year younger than Haeyoon. When Yoongi asked another set of questions, they were never answered unless Haeyoon asked them herself.

Yoongi can’t help but raised an eyebrow. “So, he’s answering your questions only?” His sister giggled at him, saying that he’s probably scaring the kid that’s why he wasn’t answering his questions. He can only scoff in reply.

“Should we all call this a day?” their father suddenly piped in. “You, young people, should all rest now.”

“Haeyoon, dear, why don’t you show Jungkook to the guest room?” Mrs. Min said in her calm voice but her face was still sporting that troubled look.

“Okay, mom,” said Haeyoon as she stood up from her seat, Jungkook in tow, and kissed her parents goodnight.

“I’m coming with you,” Yoongi offered, still warily eyeing the tall young boy walking closely behind her sister as if he’s so scared of being separated from her. This boy is sure weird. 

Upon reaching the second floor, Haeyoon opened the door next to her room and walked inside. She turned to face the boy whose head was still hung low and said, “Jungkook, look at me,” she called softly at him, making the boy lift his head until Haeyoon could see his eyes wide with anxiousness. “You’ll be okay, trust me. We’ll take care of you and no one will hurt you here so don’t be scared anymore.” Jungkook continued to stare silently at her with his doe-like innocent eyes. “This will be your room and if you ever need anything, mine is just right next door, hmm?” She smiled at him in hopes of easing his fear.

“And my room is right next to Haeyoon’s,” her brother in, his words sounding a lot more like a warning than a statement. He shrugged when his younger sister shot him a look. “What?”

Haeyoon rolled her eyes at him before turning to Jungkook again. “Sleep tight, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.” She was about to leave when she felt a tug on her sleeve. She was taken aback when she saw Jungkook looking at her with eyes wider and more alert in fear. Before she could even ask what’s wrong, Jungkook spoke with a rather shaky voice.

“P-please don’t leave…” he muttered, desperation written all over his innocent face. Something tugged at the girl’s heart and was about to say something when her brother beat her to it.

“Nuh-uh,” Yoongi walked over them and held his sister by the elbow. “Nothing’s gonna eat you here, so calm down and sleep.” He pulled Haeyoon against his side and away from Jungkook. “Or do you want me to put you to sleep?”

“Yoongi!” Haeyoon gasped, whacking her brother’s arm. “Just let me handle this, so, shoo!” Yoongi didn’t even have time to blink when he was pushed out of the room by his sister. He stared dumbstruck at the closed door, unable to believe that his own sister kicked him out.

Haeyoon sighed when her eyes landed on Jungkook who was standing in the middle of the room with a lost-sad-puppy look on his face, making him look a lot younger than he really is. She walked towards him before tugging him by the hand towards the bed. “Jungkook, I’m just right beside your room, no need to be afraid,” she tried convincing him as she made him lie on the bed. She can perfectly understand where his fear of being alone was coming from; being left by someone important to you does that to people. Not to mention the fact that this was probably the first time he was seeing so many new faces in his whole life. Though reluctantly, the boy settled under the sheets, letting Haeyoon tuck him in. “I promise you, you’ll be safe in here. I’ll take care of you.”

The boy gazed at her with wide hopeful eyes that seek for an assurance. “Promise?”

Haeyoon broke into a warm comforting smile, “Promise.”

IT WAS ONE-THIRTY in the morning when Haeyoon woke up with parched throat. Tossing her comforter to the side, she slipped out of her bed and headed downstairs to fetch a glass of water. The moment she reached the foot of the stairs, she was surprised to see light flooding from the kitchen. She was almost at the threshold when a pair of arms grabbed her from behind. Panic and fear coursed through her body but she wasn’t able to scream when she heard the person spoke.

“It’s me,” Yoongi whispered against her ears as they were both tucked closely to the wall beside the kitchen, well-hidden in the shadows.

She whirled around and glared at him for almost giving her a heart-attack.  “Are you crazy?! What was that for?” she hissed, demanding for an explanation. The boy just shushed her and made her listen to the conversation from the kitchen.

“It’s already happening, Jaeyoon,” their mother spoke in a hushed manner but with the deafening silence surrounding them, her voice was clearly heard. “Our fear is definitely happening!”

“It was bound to happen sooner or later,” their father answered in a grave voice. “We can’t hide the truth forever.”

Haeyoon turned to her brother with wide curious eyes. “What are they talking about?” she whispered to her brother.

“I don’t know, but all I know is that they started acting weird when they saw that Jungkook boy. I knew right then there was something wrong,” Yoongi replied in his deep quiet voice.

“I can’t believe it all happened this way,” the woman spoke in a cracked voice. “It’s too early, we’re not prepared. They’re not prepared. This isn’t supposed to happen this early. How come we haven’t sensed it at all? It was right under our noses!”

There was a pause and Haeyoon found herself feeling so confused and scared. She unconsciously gripped her brother’s arms that were protectively wrapped around her.

“There are things you can’t prevent from happening,” their father said cryptically. “There are things that can’t be kept away from each other for long. It’s how fate works.”

“Then how are we going to tell them everything?” their mother demanded almost hysterically, voice rising a bit above whisper. “The truth will surely put them to harm.” Then they heard a sob. “I can’t believe we failed in our tasks, we failed the whole Lucere.”

At the mention of the last word, the siblings exchanged confused and questioning glances. Just what in the world are their parents talking about?

“No, Look at me, Haemin, there’s still a chance” the man said. “We just have to find The Guardians and they will be safe.”

“We have to find them soon. It’s just a matter of time before the tainted ones come looking for them.” their mother replied after she had collected herself.

“But I don’t know where to start looking,” their father said again, voice laced with frustration. “We’ve been searching for almost two decades but we still can’t find them.”

“We need help. We need to talk to the Oraculum, they might know how to find The Guardians. I know it’s risky and dangerous to go back but it’s the only way I know to keep them safe.”

There were so many questions formed in both the siblings’ minds but they can’t find the right words to voice them out. It was like their parents were talking about things that were totally out of their world.

“You’re right, it’s the best thing we could do in this situation,” their father concluded. “We need to go back as soon as possible.”

“Should we tell them already?” their mother asked.

“No,” the man quickly turned the idea down. “We can’t tell them yet, not even Yoongi. Not until we found The Guardians.”

Sensing that the conversation was almost over Yoongi stealthily dragged his sister back to their own respective rooms.

“Pretend that we didn’t hear anything when in front of mom and dad, okay?” he instructed his sister who asked why they would have to do that. “I have a feeling that they won’t tell us anything yet even if we ask them. It will just complicate things so let’s just keep quiet for the mean time, okay?”

“Okay, but, Yoongi,” Haeyoon looked up at her brother with uncertainty. “I’m…I don’t know…I’m scared.”

Even though the boy was kind of shaken himself with what they had just heard from their parents, he needed to show his sister that she can depend on him. With a reassuring smile on his face, he pulled her into a protective embrace. “Don’t worry; I’m always here to protect you, princess.” Then he planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Always and forever.”

THE WARM RAYS of sunlight peeking through the gaps in her curtain was enough to rouse Haeyoon from her sleep thirty minutes before her alarm clock go off. She stayed lying on her side for a few moments, mind drifting to last night’s event, before deciding that she must prepare for school. Her brows furrowed when she realized that she can’t move and that her back actually felt toasty. Why does her back felt warm when her cheeks were cold? Looking down, her eyes went wide when she saw a blue sweater-clad arm draped tightly around her waist. Quickly twisting around from under the arm, she was greeted by a peacefully sleeping angelic face of Jeon Jungkook. She was frozen, mouth slightly parted in surprise. How did he get in her room and more specifically on her bed? Did he somehow move in here sometime in the morning? She was shocked but she can’t find it in her heart to get mad at the boy. And just like last night, she found herself staring at his childlike features until his eyes fluttered open.

“Goodmorning,” the boy muttered softly, eyes blinking languidly, as if waking up next to each other was the most natural thing in the world. Haeyoon snapped back to reality making her shot out of the bed.

“W-what are you doing here?” she asked, flustered. “How’d you get in here? Yoongi will kill you if he knew you slept here.”

Jungkook slowly shifted into a sitting position, his right fist rubbing against his eyes sleepily and Haeyoon can’t help but think how cute he was. “I’m sorry,” he sadly said. “I was scared and I can’t sleep and whenever something like that happens, Mother lets me sleep beside her. I just thought that…you wouldn’t mind…I’m sorry.”

Seeing his apologetic guilty face melted Haeyoon’s heart so she approached him and patted his head. “It’s…It’s…okay with me but I don’t think Yoongi and my parents would be happy to see you sleeping in my room.”

“Why?” he asked as he tilted his head cutely to the side.

“Uhm, because a boy and a girl shouldn’t sleep in the same room together, you know,” she said as if it is common sense to know something like that.

“But why?” the boy innocently asked again.

She lifted a hand against her temple, racking her brains for a proper explanation to his inquiry. Is this boy for real? Is he really that innocent? “Because something might happen between them, something that should only happen after marriage.”

“What might happen?” he asked again, eyes wide with childlike curiosity and innocence. 

Taking a deep breath, Haeyoon decided to go for the kill. “They might have .” She bit her lip, blushing at her own boldness but at least it’ll put an end to his questions. The girl waited for a reaction but Jungkook just blinked at her.

“Why?” he furrowed his thick eyebrows. “I’m confused. Because according to the dictionary, is a noun and it means the state of being male or female…so why?”

She almost fell face first on the ground at his statement. “Are you for real?” she can’t help but blurt. Then she realized that he must’ve lived a very sheltered life under her mother’s care, thus, making him as innocent as possible to the worldly things. “You know what, never mind, let’s just go downstairs before Yoongi decides to check up on us.” She tried to change the topic, not wanting to corrupt the boy’s innocence anymore and not wanting to go discussing early in the morning.

She peeked out the hallway and when she saw that they were clear, she dragged him down the dining area.

“Goodmorning,” she greeted her mom who was cooking in the kitchen and her dad who was reading a newspaper while having his coffee. They both greeted her back like they would always do, like nothing happened last night and Haeyoon found it weird. And if ever they noticed her and Jungkook coming down at the same time, they didn’t point it out.

Mrs. Min started setting up the table all the while asking Jungkook if he was comfortable in his new room and whatnot. All the boy did were little occasional nods and shakes of his head as an answer and Haeyoon realized that he only talked in full sentences when it was with her. It seemed like he was still afraid of other people aside from her.

“So, Jungkook-ah, I’m bringing you with me today so that we can fix the matters that would help you enter highschool,” her mother said as she started placing the dishes on the table.

“But mom, is it really, okay? I mean…” Haeyoon trailed off because she knows that her mother knows what she was talking about. Jungkook had never left their house when her mother was still alive and throwing him in high school so suddenly might not be a good idea.

“It will be alright, Jungkook was being homeschooled before by his own mother who was a former teacher and if he passes the necessary tests, he can handle high school just fine,” her mother explained.

Her gaze travelled to Jungkook and she was surprised to see him staring at her as if seeking for an approval or reassurance. After a moment of contemplating, she broke into a smile and said, “It’s okay. You should go with mom.” It seemed like the boy really trusts her words because he agreed when she told him to.

Not long after, Yoongi went down and joined them for breakfast. It was a seemingly normal morning for the family, with the addition of the silent Jungkook, complete with random topics and all. But the siblings would exchange secret glances from time to time with the knowledge that something was definitely up with their parents and they were sure that it was anything but normal.

“MOM AND DAD were acting so normal it felt weird,” Haeyoon said to her brother as they were getting their things from their lockers.

“You said it,” Yoongi replied as he slammed his locker door shut. “We need to know what they were talking about last night.”

The girl was about to open and reply when someone tackled her form behind, trapping her into a bone-crushing hug.

“Goodmorning, babydoll!” a squeaky voice said merrily and she recognized it as Park Jimin, one of her and Yoongi’s childhood friends. He gave her a peck on the cheek before releasing her from the hug. Before she could even turn around, her books where lifted away from her arms.

“Hi,” her orange-haired best friend greeted her with his signature rectangular smile brightening up his handsome face.

“’Morning, Haeyoonie,” Jung Hoseok smiled dotingly at her as he pinched both of her rosy cheeks.

“Goodmorning, guys,” she smiled back at them.

“You look so cute today with your pink headband,” Kim Seokjin cooed at her which made her giggle and say that he loves everything that is pink.

“Come here, princess,” Kim Namjoon pulled her possessively against his side by the waist before turning to her brother. “I’m walking her to her room today, Yoongi.”

The boy scoffed at the tall blonde. “As if you’ll actually listen if I say no so why bother telling me?” Namjoon only smirked as a reply. “Why don’t you, guys, get a sister of your own and stop stealing mine?” Yoongi said to the five males as he crossed his arms petulantly. Haeyoon can only chuckle at her brother’s behavior.

“Uhm, because we want Haeyoonie specifically?” Jimin said half-jokingly and half-teasingly.

“And I’m sure that this guy here,” Hoseok piped in as he slung an arm around Taehyung, “doesn’t want Haeyoon to be just his sister.” His statement made the poor boy blush up to his ears, making everyone in their group erupt in laughter except Yoongi who looked like he wasn’t pleased.

“Oh really?” Yoongi said in a warning tone. “Let’s see about that.”

There was a chorus of ‘Oooohh’s before the warning bell echoed through the hallway. They split up with Taehyung, Namjoon and Haeyoon going the same way and opposite from the others.

Upon reaching their room Namjoon bid her farewell with a peck on her forehead. “Laters, baby,” he smiled, his cute dimples appearing on his cheeks, before sprinting down the hallway.

When they entered their room, they were surprised when their homeroom teacher was nowhere to be seen. She glanced back at Taehyung who only shrugged with a have-no-idea look.

“Where, Ms. Song?” she asked Shinhye as she settled down on her seat.

“I’ve heard that there’ll be a new student so I’m guessing that she’s at the office to take care of the matter,” the girl replied.

After a few minutes, Ms. Song entered their classroom and sure enough, they’re going to have a new classmate.

“Okay, students I would like you to welcome your new classmate,” she said with a smile before turning towards the door and motioning for the person to get inside.

There was a collective gasp from the female students as soon as the new student stepped inside the room. Then the gasps immediately turned into murmurs of excitement because of the new male student. Haeyoon can’t blame her classmates for reacting that way because the boy had strikingly handsome features. Although he wasn’t that tall, he still had an aura around him that demands attention. He’s got an angelic baby face and a pair of wide bright pretty eyes that were complemented by his thick dark eyebrows which matched the color of his short black hair. His kind brown eyes scanned the room and when they met with Haeyoon’s caramel-brown ones, his heart-shaped lips slightly parted while his eyes widened a fraction. Having noticed this, Haeyoon’s eyebrows furrowed before she looked away. There was something in the new student that made her feel weird.

“Please introduce yourself,” the teacher kindly asked the boy.

“I’m Do Kyungsoo, please take care of me,” he finished his self introduction with a ninety-degree bow.

Author’s Note:

Is anyone actually reading this? LOL. More and more characters are getting revealed. Please, tell me what you think about this story, hmmm?