─────── 𝐂 𝐇 𝐀 𝐏 𝐓 𝐄 𝐑   𝟏𝟐 ───────

[14 | 02 | 2023 , 6:00am]

February 14th, Valentine's Day.

A day of dates, roses, chocolates and romantic rendezvouses.

Or even family quality time, yummy food and good bonding sessions for those who were single.

You would expect everyone to be cheery, happy and in an amorous mood for such a special occasion, but Park Sunghoon was propped up in bed at the break of dawn staring motionless at a wall.

Today was the day she was coming over.

Han Iseul.

His aunt- blood sister of his mother. The sworn pride of her family. A well known surgeon in the medical field and business mogul.

Not only was she making hundreds of thousands out of saving patients everyday but she was also the co-founder of a charity project helping the sick homeless.

She is a woman who garnered attention nationally. A true role model.

*flashback*

15 year old Sunghoon walked out of the toilet cubicle, heading for the sinks to wash his hands.

He turned on the tap, a gush of water flowing out onto his hands. He put his hand under the little black box hanging on the wall near him, soap landing on his hand. Sunghoon lathered it in his hands- a soapy bubble forming- before washing it off with a second round of water. Slightly shaking his hand over the sink to get rid of excess water, he then turned around.

"Ohh-" he jumped back in surprise. "Aunt Iseul?"

The woman remained quiet.

Sunghoon gulped, "W-what are you doing here? How did you get in?"

He had to back himself away, taking small steps aside from the woman who was silently approaching him. Iseul was still yet to say anything, keeping her eyes on the boy in front of her.

Scared, that's what Sunghoon felt. For the first time in his life, he felt like the mouse in the trap.

Seconds felt like an eternity as his aunt finally stopped just inches away from him. Her thin hand landed softly on his cheek; parts of her diamond ring grazing his pale flesh.

"Be quiet for me Sunghoon-ah," Iseul whispered.

*end of flashback*

Tears blurred both Sunghoon's vision and memories, and soon he saw the plain white walls of his bedroom again. He was quick to wipe his eyes, ridding of his fresh cries.

Sunghoon was the type who lacked in showing emotion but he was probably the most broken out of all his friends.

 He was an older brother. A son. A best friend. A cousin. An excellent student. An artist. A piece of art. A figure skater. A prize cup- a boy. He was hurt. He was an introverted outsider. He was good person that did bad things. He deserved better, but refused to accept it. He had friends but what good where they if he couldn't open up to them? He had love to give, but cocooned himself in. He had love given, but created walls of resistance. He wanted to feel again, but couldn't. 

He was a lonely person, suffering in the wicked world of his mind.

He felt everything but nothing at the same time.

[12:34pm]

Yeram's family was busy this morning, getting ready to head over to the Park household for the day.

"Honey, are you ready yet?!" Yeram's mom's voice called out from the staircase downstairs, making the girl look up.

"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute!" she shouted back, quickly brushing her hair down one last time.

Yeram grabbed her handbag, slinging it over her shoulders. Spraying on a bit of her Jimmy Choo perfume, she then headed for the door.

"Oh wait-" she stopped. She forgot something.

"Dana's diary," Yeram whispered, looking around the room. Her eyes stopped on the book that was on the bed. "There it is."

Yeram grabbed it, putting it in her bag. She planned on showing Sunghoon the discoveries she had made.

"Yeram?!"

"Yeah?" she said, rushing out of her room and closing the door behind her. "I'm coming!"

[1:12pm]

"What are you doing?" Hari grumbled, blowing out a puff of smoke from the weed stick she had been given. She was laid down on a bench, with her head resting on the lap of the 'biker girl' Choi Becca.

Becca grabbed the cigar out of Hari's hand, bringing it up to her own mouth. "How's it any of your concern?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

Hari frowned, "You keep smiling at your phone-"

"And?"

"What do you mean 'and'? Why are you smiling at your phone like that?!"

Hari got up, sitting straight and crossing her arms. "Who are you texting?"

Becca smirked, holding in her laugh.

"What's funny?"

"Nothing," Becca shook her head. "Why are you so winded up over that?"

"Shouldn't I be?" Hari pouted, looking away.

The biker threw away her fag, chuckling at her 'friend's' childish behavior.

Becca grabbed the sides of Hari's face, turning it back to face her. "I'm not texting anyone ok? I was just looking at old photos of us."

Hari's eyes softened, her gaze brightening. "Really?"

"Uh-huh," Becca nodded.

"Can I see them too?"

"Sure."

Becca unlocked her phone again, going to her gallery and pulling out photos from when the two went to the amusement park together.

Hari watched her in silent excitement.

[1:25pm]

"So a question for you all, is Macbeth's killings justified?"

The drama teacher, Ms. Kim opened up the question, to the cast of this year's Macbeth play, which earned a good old thinking from her students.

Troubled with the choice, many confused faces turned to each other. However, there was only one person who knew exactly what he was going to say. And his hand went straight up.

"Yes Sunoo?"

The boy cleared his throat, oozing with confidence even before anything was said. "Absolutely not Miss. Some may argue that, yes, his wife was behind all their little schemes and she 'forced' him to carry out such deviant actions, however reading through the scripts and play many times, we get many clear indications that Macbeth was warned; sometimes just moments before he set out to kill an individual, and therefore at the end of the day we're all taken into account for our own actions and we always have a choice to deter from the wrong, however due to us humans' corrupt nature to always be greedy for more power, we always seem to choose the wrong path. So I guess in some ways it could be argued that it's all human character and we can never escape our constant greed. But we all have morality innate in us, so is ambition for more really a valid excuse?"

Ms. Kim hummed and nodded slowly, taking in all his words. "Hmm, interesting interpretations Sunoo. We can definitely say that."

The latter beamed to himself proudly, a rather cocky feeling settling in.

The girl, in the year just below him, sitting next to him nudging his elbow. "Good job smarty-pants, how'd you think of that only two rehearsals into the play?"

Sunoo shrugged, staring ahead. "Just crossed my mind."

[2:07pm]

"Sunghoon!" Yeram called out for him standing just outside his door. She knocked again after a few seconds, "Open the damn door, it's me."

A couple of scuffles, before a grumpy-faced Sunhoon finally opened the door. "Afternoon."

Yeram crossed her arms, raising her eyebrows and leaning against the side of his door frame. "Afternoon? What's gotten into you and why'd you look so shitty?"

"In case you haven't heard, Iseul's coming over," her cousin quickly explained.

She gulped, her eyes flickering. "Aunt Iseul?" she asked in a whisper, almost as though she feared the name.

Sunghoon scoffed loudly, "Yeah, the very bitch." He rolled his eyes and turned back inside his room.

"But why?" Yeram asked, standing straight again.

He stopped shuffling around his pile of clothes in his laundry basket, looking over his shoulder to her. "I don't know."

"When's she gonna be here?"

"Any time from now."

Yeram walked into his room, taking a seat directly behind him, a couple of meters away, on his bed. "Why's she so 'free' all of a sudden? Swear she's got a business empire to run and on top of that, that flashy non-profitable charity."

"Yeah and also majoring in being a pedo."

Biting her lips down, Yeram refrained from laughing at the cold joke. She cleared her throat, "Yeah, exactly. Her schedule seems hectic, especially now that it's the rush time for producer profits. And also you're telling me she flew all the way from Canada at such a time just for this small get-together?"

Sunghoon pushed his laundry basket back to the corner, now properly free to talk to her. "Don't ask me such questions I don't know the answers to," he quickly said, before grabbing his phone and sitting beside her.

Yeram watched his eyebrows furrowed as he concentrated on his phone.

"Are you going to be alright? You know... seeing her after so long."

His jaws clenched, the muscle outlining boldly on his cheek. "I'll be fine."

"You-"

Ring.

The doorbell rang once.

Silence.

Ring.

The doorbell rang again.

This time someone seemed to have rushed to the hallway, probably Mrs. Park.

Yeram and Sunghoon turned to each other in unison. Without sharing words, they both got up at the same time, walking to the balcony of the second floor.

Sunghoon's mom was at the open door, welcoming in a lady, much taller and skinnier than her. Her sister.

"It's-" Yeram turned to the boy straight away.

"Iseul," he finished off for her, his hands tightening on the handle of the barrister.

———