She had asked him for a favor and despite how groggy Jongin felt that early Monday morning, he still felt obligated to help his older sister out. That's what family does right? The sight of her anxious face every day for the past two weeks reminded Jongin constantly that his sister's wedding was in a couple of weeks and he still had not found a gift for her, although he was sure that that was the last thing on her mind.         The smell of breakfast wafted its way into his room, a room that he shared with his older brother, and it motivated his feet to move faster as his sister dragged him over to the small couch that sat a few feet from his bedroom door. Slipping on a pair of slippers that were ragged and worn with time, yet still possesing the ability to bring comfort to Jongin's tired feet, he made his way into their family's small sitting room by the fireplace whose flames had long ago died and left cold ashes behind.          "Yoo Jeong-ah, this can't wait until I come home later today from work?" His speech slurred a bit since he was still half asleep. Looking around the house he sighed.  They had just run out of firewood last night and since summer was almost over,  Jongin needed to get a head start and collect extra wood to store at home. He also needed to buy extra flour and vegetables because he knew that they were running low on food and his mother, for some reason, always hesistated in telling him these things.         "Just two minutes, huh? Please?" Yoo Jeong pleaded with the younger, plopping down on the couch and inching up closer with a pout playing on her face.  "I just want to see if this sounds okay." In her tightly clenched fingers was a small wrinkled piece of paper, probably filled with cross-outs and re-writes of the thoughts from her heart that were hard to put into words.         Jongin lifted his head a bit with a bit of a playful smirk on his lips.  "Is that how you plan on getting your way with your future husband? Pouting and shooting him puppy eyes? Knowing a man's heart, I think a kiss would be a better idea."          Puckering his lips in a playful fashion, he leaned forward towards his sister, making his loud kissing noises that mad her blush and push him away as quickly as he had come causing his puckered, pink lips turned into a smile.          "Please," Yoo Jeong scoffed, flipping her hair sassily to the side. "I'm charming enough for him to do what I ask without resorting to bribery or childishness."            "Sure,  sure. Let me know how that goes."            Quickly giving the piece of paper in her hands a sideglance, she opened the note with almost trembling fingers. "Okay." She took a deep breath...right before quickly folding the page again and frowning. "There's no way I can read this to you with you giving me that stupid smug look on your face without me becoming embarressed. Can you turn around at least?"            Jongin cocked his head to the side.  "Embarrassed?  In front of me? Are you going to make Mr. The One to turn around as well? Don't worry. I won't laugh at you. I'll keep my "smug" expressions to myself. I promise." He took an index finger and motioned an "X" over his heart before covering his palm over it.             And with that action, Yoo Jeong began to read. Slowly and steadily her voice lightly traced over the words over the paper and made them come to life with her emotion. Looking at her face, beautiful, just like their mother, he knew he would have trouble letting his older sister go when he married and moved away. The sister that he had relied on, the sister that walked him to school when his mother couldn't, the one that snuck him late night snacks when they weren't supposed to be eating, the one that always about his squeaky voice right before he had hit puberty and now that that phase had long hit him, she about his overconfident attitude towards everything. Now she was the sister that would a Mrs. to another man, his friend.          “...Every time I remember how we first met," she spoke gracefully, "my heart races. A love like this doesn’t come to everyone and I can’t believe I am one of the lucky people that get to experience this feeling with you."             Hearing her finish, Jongin folded his arms in thought. He sat cross-legged on the couch with his body facing her. “It’s cringe-worthy perfect.” He joked with a smile and then jumped up from the couch with a small chuckle.                       “Uggh! Great, just great. Thanks Jongin. You’re critique is ever so helpful.”                     “I think,” Jongin started, “that you should just-Ah!” He let out a small grunt as he bumped his right leg against the table’s edge and stumbled forward. But it wasn’t the small sting in his leg that was bothering him. He clutched the sides of his head  from a sudden spell of dizziness and closed his eyes tightly.        “Ahh, geez…my head.”                      There were only a few moments in Jongin's life where he had experienced sudden spells of vertigo and nausea. And these moments were honestly the worst. He felt his head pound and for that moment, he wasn’t able to do anything. He felt paralyzed at the spot he stood in. He hadn’t had a headache like this for a long time because he was always careful. But today he had forgotten to take his medicine, and more importantly, he had forgotten to wear the ring.                      The pain behind his eyes came next. It throbbed and pulsated miserably causing him to crouch down on the floor, grinding his teeth together to block out the pain.                         Please. No. Not another vision. Please. Please.                     He was losing feeling in his fingers. The sounds of the birds singing outside of their small house and the sound of his sister’s voice started to fade away. He knew she was calling out to him and he knew his mother would watching over the food to come over to side and that his brother would find a way to wheel himself over as well. They would be there. That was a comfort.         God please. I can’t take it.                            Another pulsating sensation in his head left him on his back and the world faded away completely. Although he still knew that he was home, he couldn't stop the creeping fear of worry that crept through his body and made his limbs numb. It was only him and his thoughts left alone. A flash of light quickly blinded him and he was no longer home. A flash of himself walking through a dark, woody area appeared before his eyes. The sound of screaming. A flash of a blade; its silver edge glinting. Another flash. More screaming. Laughter. He was running now. He could hear his own rugged breathing and felt the beads of sweat running down his forehead. He was trying to get home, but the path in front of him never seemed to end. The clearing never seemed to come. Only more darkness. More trees. More laughter.         Please.                                        “Jongin. Jongin, can you hear me now?”          He felt someone grab his hand and a piece of metallic coldness slid across his finger. the ring.          It only took but a few moments for Jongin to calm down and the repeating images began to slowly fade. The sounds of Suho’s voice were audible now, but all Jongin could do was nod in return. He sat on the floor for a few minutes with his head down, eyes closed, rubbing his temples.                          “Open your eyes, Jongin.” Suho coaxed, holding both of Jongin's shoulders to keep him steady.                      Jongin shook his head slowly. He could feel his body trembling still.                         “Open them, Jongin. You’re fine now. Just open them,” Suho demanded forcefully .                         “I-I don’t think it’s returned to normal, hyung. My eyes still feel weird,” Jongin mumbled quietly. Besides the nauseatng side effects of the visions, his eyes would always change color, from a dark brown to a purplish-blue hue.                           “Jongin.” Suho leaned forward in his wheelchair and grabbed the sides of Jongin’s face much more gently. “Open your eyes.”                         Jongin opened them, looking up at his older brother’s face. The purple irises were returning to its chocolate shade that it had once been before.                     “Tch. See you’re fine. Crybaby.” Suho smiled and leaned back in his wheelchair. “You should remember by now not to forget to wear your ring. Should I glue it to your finger to make you remember?”                          “Yeah. If you can catch me first.” Jongin retorted before Suho grabbed the younger in a headlock and held him there laughing. Both wrestled one another and the tension in the room eased up; Suho in his chair and Jongin on his knees laughing.                      “Boys! Boys! Please! You’re going to break something in here!” Mrs. Kim rushed towards the table carrying hot pieces of bread on a platter towards them.  Suho released his hold on Jongin before reaching to grab one of the steaming buns off of the platter, devouring it in two bites.                        “Geez, you act like you’ve never eaten before.” His mother frowned as she made her way back by the stove to finish making the soup bubbling in its pot. “Don’t do that at the table, Suho. Jongin, you too! What elegant young women would want to wed a pair of men that act like children?!” She remarked without turning to face them, pouring the soup in smaller, separate bowls. Despite her nagging, the boys knew she was relieved that Jongin was alright.                         “Aww Ma, I only eat like this because every time I take a bite out of your food, it feels like I’m trying it for the first time and I can’t help myself.” Suho smirked and pushed his wheelchair over a few feet to where his mother stood and hugged her. It wasn’t a far distance since their house wasn’t that spacious. The small area where his mother had prepared their family’s meals was only a couple of steps from where their couch rested in front of the fireplace. In front of their couch, they managed to squeeze in a small table where the family sat down to pray over their meals and eat together, where Jongin had first learned to clumsily write his name on a small piece of paper, where he had sat with Yoo Jeong doing his homework as she corrected his spelling, where his mother had cleaned the scrapes on his knees when he had played too roughly outside and where she had wiped his tears. It was the table where his father told stories of his childhood and how he had met the love his life, which would bring a bright flush to his mother’s cheeks and earn him a quiet scolding from her or, on some days, a kiss that made Jongin cringe and gag as a little kid. The table at which he was scolded for talking out of turn or misbehaving. The table where he had first been told that he was different and was one of the few people in the world that possessed a certain power, a power feared by other people. The place where he saw his mother cry tormenting tears of pain when she had learned that his father had been killed. This table was where the family had picked one another up and had learned to live. And now it was the table where Yoo Jeong had practiced her marriage vows.                         “Mom, you don’t have to worry about us.” Jongin said coolly as he leaned on the wall near where she stood. “Suho will get married to a pretty, young girl sometime soon and they’ll have beautiful babies that they’ll name after you. I’ll just stay here and live with you forever! Who’ll take care of you once those two are gone? Besides, no one will marry a freak whose eyes glow. I don’t need my "GIft" to tell me that.”             Yeah...Some gift that only brings pain.                         “And what makes you think anyone would marry a cripple, huh?” Suho looked up from his plate, raising his eyebrows. Jongin threw the older one a disapproving look. Suho's inability to use his legs was always a sore subject, mostly because the older despised himself for not being able to move around like he used to.                           “Boys, what have I told you about talking negatively like that? You know I don’t like hearing you boys say that. You’re my boys and that means any woman would be extremely lucky to get their hands on one of my babies.” She had this forlorn look in her eyes whenever she heard her children talk negatively about themselves. Jongin rushed towards her and embraced her in a hug, nestling his head on her shoulder. His mother always smelled like home.  There was no way to pinpoint the exact smell but it was a smell that brought him comfort; a comfort that he wanted to offer her too.         "Ma, one day I'll make enough money where I'll find a way to get us out of this small town." Jongin spoke in an attempt to diverge the conversation away from the current one. We'll just travel until we find a home of your liking and you'll be able to relax all day long. If I left, you'd miss me so much and would regret telling me to go away."        His mother rubbed Jongin's h