Wild Smoke

17. Till Death Do Us Part

Taehyung

If I ever learnt anything solid and impactful from my brother, it was to not judge anyone by their face value.

Real feelings, hidden and covered, always existed beyond the original facade created by people. It was worth it to scoop out the deep unhinged secrets people so desperately try to protect from the public eye. Or more importantly, their own eye.

I learnt it the easy way. And I'm not ashamed to admit it.

My brother always said that it was always the one with the barest of smiles that had the biggest heart. It just gets unnoticed by everyone because people are too preoccupied by their outward appearance, all cold and aloof, that they fail to notice the underlying pain long harboured into their being which makes them somewhat empathetic to other's pain in a purely confusing yet comforting way.

And I believed it. Because my brother was like that too.

He loved me. Immensely. He would kill for me. And he did. And I'm forever grateful to him for that.

I sat on my brother's favourite chair in his study, situated in the corner of the room, beside the huge mahogany bookshelf. It was the perfect place to relax with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa where soft light streamed into the room by the huge window above it, giving the place an ethereal glow.

He always sat here when he felt like it. But when I am at his place, this spot is reserved just for me. Precisely like he wants it to be.

I was going through our photos in our family album—or more like me and hyung's albums.

Each page consisted of our photos, spanning from my infancy to adulthood, hyung being a constant in each and every one.

I never took a picture without him. It was always him, calming me down when I was anxious in front of the camera.

He would tell me to imagine that we were on an open ground, just me and him, the cameramen our foe, telling us to pose to take his gunshot. He would then tell me to imagine the man as the victim instead and told me the moment he would flash his camera was the moment I would stare at him to shoot out high radiation laser beams at him, completely burning him out in the process.

It was never real but it helped calm my nerves immensely.

The power over one person, at that time, was satisfying to my fragile self then. I really loved Jin hyung for that.

I was smiling to myself, looking at one particular picture of us in a casual ensemble , against a mountainous terrain where we went camping for a whole two nights.

It was hyung's idea to run away for a moment and that moment turned to three days till my father's men found us and rained on our parade.

It was a bummer but the time spent with him then was unforgettable and totally worth it.

"The mosquitoes were a real pain in the ass there," it was Jin hyung, standing behind where I sat.

I smiled and turned my head towards him. "Or more like, a real sting in the ass."

We laughed out loud and he ruffled my hair before sitting on a high backed chair opposite me.