√ 𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 // 𝐻𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝐻𝑦𝑢𝑛𝑗𝑖𝑛

seventeen.

     Nari's p.o.v.

     "What the hell did you just say?"

     Startled, the man backed up a few steps. "I... I said hey," he said slowly, hands held up in a placating gesture.

     Heart thumping, Nari shook her head. "No, you idiot. After that. You called me... "

     His face flashed with unexpected joy and melancholy. Eyes suddenly moist, he gave her a faint smile.

     "I called you sis," he whispered. "Sister. My sister."

     Nari's lips wobbled, tears filling her eyes as she tried to process what he was saying.

     "No," she shook her head again, violently. "No, my brother's gone. He left after our parents died and he - no."

     He edged closer to her, coming around the desk. Nari stumbled away from the chair, tripping over one of the legs and crashing down on the floor.

     "Oh my - are you alright?" he asked from where he was, not wanting to scare the girl even more. Her head moved back and forth as she tried to scoot away - no, she wasn't.

     Hesitant, he crouched, looking at her intently, pleadingly. "Nari, it's me. Your brother, Taeyong, it's me, I'm here. I brought you home, I - "

     The man had to stop, his developing sobs causing him to break off. He brought a hand up to his mouth, chest shuddering as his choking cries filled the room. Eyes red, he begged her. "P-please believe m-me. I'm so s-sorry, I'm - "

     He crawled forward a bit more, and the light from the ceiling hit his face. And suddenly, she knew him.

     She knew the curve of his mouth and the slant of his nose, the glimmer in his eyes and the way his hair fell. It couldn't be, not possibly, but it was. Her brother, her protector, her best friend.

     Nari's tears finally fell, and a sob broke in her chest. In vain, she wiped at her face, trying to get a clear view of him again. Struggling for air, she gasped, trying to make herself speak.

     "Yongie?"

     Taeyong's head jerked up, her old childhood name for him sending memories clamouring in his mind, pushing him even further over the edge. He nodded, tears carving tracks down his face, and laughed brokenly.

     "It's me, Nari-bear, it's me, I'm here."

     That name obliterated all the resolve she had left in her, and Nari broke down, her sobs causing her throat to be scraped raw. With no warning, she crawled to her brother on hands and knees. His arms opened for her to fall in to, and their tears mixed together as they sat on the floor, rocking slowly and tasting salt.

     The tender moment was shattered like fragile glass when Nari punched him in the chest, hard.

     Taeyong gasped through his emotion, clutching the sore spot, but not releasing his grip on her. Again, Nari socked him with all her might.

     "How could you?" she accused him, her chest ripping apart as she let all her grief and anger out. "You left me, we lost mom and dad, and when I needed you, you just left me. Like a bag of garbage on the back doorstep. You left me with him."

      Nari pulled back, her skin stained with tears and flushed red with rage. "Did you know?" she shouted. "How he beat me? Our uncle? I stayed away from home as much as I could, avoiding him, but at the end of every day I had new marks that could be claimed by him."