pieces of my soul

two

Heechul was standing at the mezzanine balcony, looking at the ground floor. Standing at the bottom of the stairs was his mom. She had her hands on her hips, her wavy black hair shaped her oval face and her rosy smile enveloped him in warmth. She wore a long beach dress paired with a big straw hat.

"Eomma...."

"Hmm... honey I don't think the boys are here" she announced.

Next to Heechul two boys were crouched, peeking through the balusters. They giggled happily.

"Oh no what do we do now?" Aiden replied as he entered the living room and put an arm around his wife. "Guess only we will go to the beach today"

The boy wearing blue shorts ran down as fast as his little feet could carry him. "Appa I will go to beach toooo"

The woman extended her arms, sweeping the little boy off his feet as soon as he reached the second last step. "Aigoo~ look our Donghae was right here" She propped him on her arm, smothering him with kisses. The three year old boy giggled and squealed.

"Hey, where is hyung?" Aiden whispered, tickling little Donghae's tummy.

"Up, up, up" Donghae pointed.

"Find me appa!" The boy near Heechul's feet shouted. It was him. Five year old Heechul.

Aiden laughed at his son's cuteness and ran upstairs to catch him. Heechul squealed trying to run away before Aiden's big hands reached for him and swung him in the air. "Appa cheating~ I am small" He whined. "I don't want to goooo"

Aiden glanced at his wife who looked worried about having to convince Heechul to go to the beach. He put Heechul down and sat on his knees to reach his eye level. "Listen up little guy, let's make a deal?"

"What deal?"

"I know you don't like beaches because of the little white crabs and icky sand that sticks to your foot. I promise your feet won't touch the sand okay?"

"Really?"

"Appa promise" He extended a pinky that Heechul quickly locked with his pinky.

Heechul's eyes shot open and he instantly squinted at the sunlight that streamed in. He turned around, pulling the blanket over his head. A photo frame stood on the bedside table. It was from the same day at the beach. They were so happy. Donghae stood next to his mom wearing her straw hat that was too big for his head. He flashed a big smile, while Heechul's smile was constrained and nervous. He was standing on Aiden's feet, holding his hands. Just as Aiden had promised, his feet never touched the sand.

He was the best father. One look and he understood their problems. What happened now? Why couldn't he understand that they didn't like Cassey? That she was making their lives more miserable than it already was.

A knot twinged in the pit of Heechul's stomach as the memories of last night flooded in. He almost strangled her with no remorse. That wasn't him. He stared at his hands wondering where all that anger came from. It was frightening.

He sat up, fingers carding through his hair. His eyes felt heavy despite getting enough sleep.

Heechul lazily slipped out of bed, walking to the bathroom, when he stopped before the mirror.

In a daze, his head lolled to the side, observing his pale face. He pressed his fingers to his sunken cheeks, gliding it down to brush over his chapped white lips. He picked at the flakes of dried skin, slowly and steadily, savoring the bitter stinging. He believed he had done the right thing by trying to kill Cassey. It was a sick game that she started and if it's going to end with one of them dying, he'll make sure it's her.