Caratland [Seventeen FF]

-26-

Mingyu poV:

No one said something after that. We all knew about his past. We knew that he hated his gambler parents and that they suddenly needed to go to prison. They tried to rub a small bank in the poor corners of the city. At the district Court it turned out that it wasn't the first time it happened. They were accused for 16 cases of robbery, which they all confessed! The most heartbreaking thing is that not even one cent was meant for Wonwoo or his brother. They were sentenced for 12 years in prison and it seemed that their time was now due. There were a lot of problems because of Wonwoo and his brother since the only capable caretaker in this case was their aunt, but she could only take one in. The aunt decided for Wonwoo, having his brother ending up in an orphanage. Since the district court decided for whatever reason that they were to young to decide for themselves, they were eventually forced to be separated. Wonwoo's aunt turned out to be the biggest drug addict he could've ever imagine, so she turned him into a drug seller. He even needed to quit school at the age of 14 just to do this dirty business. Luckily he found a way out and now he works with us. He was even the first one to work here from our consistent team and experienced the time where Seungcheol wasn't the boss. Everytime I thought about his past I got sad. After all I took my happy life for granted.

Not like Wonwoo, I grew up pretty comfortable with my little sister in an apartment near the centre. My sister was better in everything than me, concluding that my parents doted on her. I don't blame them. I mean I was bad at school, I wasn't kind to them, I even had my smoking and drinking phase! After all I was pretty rebellious. My sister on the other hand was nearly perfect: She was the best of her class, never did anything bad and always listened to our parents. After a while I had a huge fight with my parents ending up in them kicking me out. I moved on this island and since then everything seemed peaceful. I still had contact to my sister, but not really to my parents.

Suddenly Wonwoo ran out. Everyone froze besides me. I quickly followed him out.

"Hey, Wonwoo!", I called him, but he walked even faster.

I followed him to one of the duck carousels, where he finally sat down.
"Gosh, finally", I breathed out. I looked at Wonwoo, but he laid into one of the seats. I walked over, looking down on him.
"Move your head. I can't see the stars like that", he said and pushed my head away.
"Hey, you could be a little nicer", I complained, rubbing my face. It was quiet for a moment. We both looked up the dark night sky.
"What if my parents never gambled?", he asked all of a sudden.
"They wouldn't have been in prison, obviously", I replied.
"We would've been a normal family, right?", he kept going. I sighed since I knew what he was going to say.
"Normal is boring. That were your words", I shrugged my shoulders.
"You're right. Don't be normal, Mingyu", Wonwoo sat up. He looked at me with his sharp eyes. People would think he's angry, but I know exactly how he's feeling. He's just a little bit confused with the situation. "If you were normal, you wouldn't hang out with me", he added.
"Like you said: Normal is boring. Without you the world would be boring", I replied. For a moment he looked me in the eyes and for the first time I couldn't read the emotion. Then he quickly looked away.
"Ew, cringe", he uttered quietly, making me chuckle.
"Better now?", I asked.
"What?"
"The world."
I smiled, but he just stared at me.
"I guess", he sighed, while looking away.
"Good to hear. So stop being so closed in yourself and talk with me! Your parents won't find you and Jihoon won't talk to you if you keep running away. You're safe now", I flicked his forehead. He shockingly touched this spot and looked at me surprised. I just laughed, making him also giggle. "And smile more so the others know you're not some scary dude", I added.
"I am scary."
"Scary? My foot. Remembered the last time we went eating waffles and I had to pay for yours since you already ate three things that day?"
"I was forced!"
"You forced yourself for acting cute!"
"Stop being so loud!", he shouted and jumped on me to hold my mouth shut.
"There we go again: acting all cute", I pushed his hand away. For a moment we stayed like that. Then his face got really red and he quickly pushed me away, ending in my falling backwards and him quickly holding onto the big duck.
"Oh my God, you fine?", he quickly reacted shocked.
"Was that necessary?", I exclaimed on the floor.
"You were so close", he murmured. I sighed and stood up again.
"So what are you doing because of your parents?", I changed the topic.
"Ah, don't even start", he shook his head and fell back into the seat. I supported myself on the duck's head, while looking down on Wonwoo. Everyone on this island went through so much, but I somehow want to protect Wonwoo the most.
"I think you should go there", I suggested.
"Why should I? Those are just my parents", he said.
"But if you got the letter, your brother would've probably got the same. What if you get to see your brother there?", I thought aloud. He got really quiet after that. He was probably thinking.
"Why are you even bothered?", he sighed.
"Because I know how much you miss your brother", I responded.
"I don't want to see him", he stretched himself.
"What?", I asked confused. He just jumped out of the duck and walked to the direction of the hotel. "Where are you going?", I asked and quickly followed him.
"Back to the hotel. I want to sleep", he replied.

Something was weird. If Wonwoo would get a chance to meet his brother he wouldn't even hesitate. But why does he now act like he wouldn't care? There must have been more than just that letter...