"hyung, that's cheating!"

"i don't know what the hell you're talking about," yoongi retorted as he stuck his tongue out at chowon and moved his king two squares to the right.

yoongi rolled his eyes at the little rascal who giggled hysterically at his disregard for chess rules. the two of them were sprawled on chowon's bed, playing a riveting game of chess on a magnetic chessboard.

as much as yoongi hated to admit it, chowon was a genius— since age seven, he was able to corner yoongi at chess in unthinkable ways, not to mention the horrifying win ratio between yoongi and chowon; 23 to 21 respectively.

"your turn, chowon," yoongi sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. the time was currently 10.47 at night. the absence of chora grew even more worrying, but yoongi chose to push aside those feelings. she was no longer a little girl he needed to protect.

"hyung?" chowon's sleepy voice sounded out, breaking his train of thought. "can i tell you something?"

"hm?"

"the other day, at the mall with dad, i saw noona's boyfriend with another girl."

yoongi's eyes diverted from the chessboard to chowon's doe-like eyes. bright eyes that were identical to his elder sister's. "they were kissing and stuff! ewww..." chowon commented, a grimace on his child features.

yoongi hadn't replied. he didn't know how to.

"why is mark doing this to noona? i don't understand, hyung. mark's acting just like mama did."

chowon might have been a child prodigy, but he still couldn't wrap his kid mind around the twisted concept of cheating. and the fact that he was aware that his own mother had ran away with another man...

yoongi felt his heart sink at the painstaking naivety of this boy. he pushed the chessboard to a side (making sure to erase all evidence of the winning streak chowon was on) and wrapped the little boy into a bear hug.

"look, little dude, sometimes people fall out of love... your sister deserves someone better. your dad too."

chowon shrugged. "can you marry noona after high school?"

yoongi erupted in a roar of laughter— the thought of marrying that psycho, overbearing girl... he couldn't even imagine it!

though, he would never forget their younger days; when he would profess his undying love for her daily.