"AT LEAST they don't get to experience the worst of it."

Traze's words keep on lingering inside Taeyong's mind even after he woke up the next day. Worst. He feels like he's experiencing the worst of it right at that moment. Finding out that your dad is not really your dad seems to be the most painful thing any kid can experience. In his case, knowing that your real dad is dead when in fact he's still alive is the most painful. But other than that, he keeps on thinking how he's gonna tell this to Mark. His brother has no idea at all.

Mark has always been nice and understanding towards their so-called dad, no matter how much beating or scolding he gets from him. But Mark is generally nice to everyone so Taeyong knows that maybe he can easily accept this fact as well. The hardest part of it all is finding their real dad. He doesn't even know if he still wants to meet him after abandoning them. How will I even start searching?

"Blud, where have you been last night?" Mark says, snapping him out of his reverie.

"Ehm... I just went out," Taeyong reasons, sitting on the couch.

"Have you been drinking again?" the younger one continues to ask, stopping his reading for a while.

Taeyong forces a smile, making his way towards his brother and patting his back. "Don't study too much, blud. Your brain cells might give up on you soon."

Mark chuckles, standing up. "Aye! That's not gonna happen."

"You should get going. I'll go later," Taeyong says, messing his brother's hair and putting on his jacket. But when he does, he feels something soft from inside its side pocket. He pulls it up and sees a white handkerchief. Suddenly, he remembers that he lent his jacket to Traze. This must be hers.

Unfolding it, he doesn't fail to notice the familiar letters stitched on the bottom left corner of the cloth. PZC. His body stiffens at the sight of it. He feels like he's seen it before. But he can't remember when and where. Sighing, Taeyong closes his eyes, as a sudden memory occurs to him.

"No. Please. Don't hurt my child. Just take my life."

Dad.

"Sorry, old man. I'm not a bad person. I just really had to do it." The voice of the other guy was husky and scary. I had never encountered someone with that voice. It was like hearing the voice of Satan.

"Please. I'll give you anything," I heard dad pleading once again, as I tried to control my tears.

Then, something clicked and a loud shot echoed inside the room, deafening my ears. Just like that, I knew dad was gone.

He's been trying to forget that painful memory in his mind. It was traumatizing to him to the point where he wanted to kill himself before. Having no mum and dad to look after you, it became a burden to him to live his life. But then, he met Zia and suddenly, he found a reason to live again. At one point in his life, he became happy. And when she left, he became miserable yet again.

And then he remembers something. Zia. He's sure he saw these exact letters on her handkerchief before. But why does Traze have this?

♚♚♚

CHELSIE looks at herself in the mirror with her new uniform from Eton. It still seems surreal to her that she's gonna be attending classes at every student's dream school. Her mum and sister were so excited when she told them about it. After only a few days, she got a call from Eton saying she can already start today. Her stomach keeps on twirling and churning both from excitement and anxiety.

And then she remembers. Prince Jeno is studying at Eton. Shaking her head, she tries to focus on her sole goal to become an official student of Eton. Getting accepted is one thing, but maintaining it is another so she needs to focus on that and set aside other things at the moment.

"I'm so proud of you, pumpkin," Mrs. Collins says, kissing Chelsie on her cheek.

"Thanks mum," Chelsie answers, as they hear a knock from their door. Traze volunteers to get it and when she does, Haechan and Jisung comes barging inside, hugging Chelsie.

"Don't forget us, Chelsie," Jisung says.

"And don't miss us too much, alright?" Haechan says, teasing.

Chelsie stifles a laugh. "I won't."

"You won't forget us or you won't miss us?" Haechan asks for clarification.

"Both," Chelsie says playfully. "I'm just kidding. Of course I'll miss you both. You're my guards after all."

"If anyone bullies or hits on you, just call us," Jisung states. "We'll be there in a jiff."

Haechan nods, cracking his knuckles. "Ye. I won't allow that Jeno or Mark to get near you."

"Chaps, don't worry. I'll be alright," Chelsie assures them.

"Come on, Chelsie. I'll take you to Eton," Traze says, smiling.

"Patricia, are you alright, dear? You look pale," their mum says.

"I'm fine, mum. I'll be back in a bit," Traze insists.

Few minutes later, they're walking inside Eton and after Chelsie says goodbye to her sister, she proceeds to the admissions office which she thankfully finds immediately. A young lady greets her inside the office, whom she learns to be the admissions officer. "Good day! I hope you spend your time in Eton wisely," Ms. Brown greets her warmly with a handshake.

"Thank you, miss," Chelsie answers.

"As this is your first day, I assigned someone to guide you throughout your stay here. He's waiting for you outside the office. If you have any concerns, feel free to tell him or come directly to my office."

"Alright, miss." Chelsie steps out of the office and soon enough, someone greets behind her.

"Welcome to Eton!"

Chelsie somehow recognizes that voice and when she turns around, she sees a dashing lad in uniform smiling at her without a hint of shock on his face. It's as if he's waiting for her to come out. "Mark?"

Mark keeps the genuine smile plastered on his face. "I'm glad to see you again, Chels."

♚♚♚

TRAZE isn't supposed to linger around Eton right after sending Chelsie off, especially because she isn't really feeling well after getting soaked in the rain last night. But when she passes by that familiar tree where she saw Taeyong before, she suddenly moves toward it, hoping to see him somehow. For some reason, she wants to see him and asks if he's alright because clearly, that night, he had a problem and most probably, he's been keeping it to himself up to this day, knowing his closed personality.

She circles around the tree, constantly looking around for any signs of him, but there's none. Sighing, she gives up and is about to head back to where she entered, when suddenly someone stops her by the arm, startling her.

"Munter!"

Turning around, she sees Taeyong looking at her. She's supposed to be mad at him for calling her munter again, but she's not in the mood to argue with him so she flashes him a smile. "What do you want?"

"Are you sick?" He wants to ask after noticing that her arm is a bit warm and her face looks pale. "Weren't you looking for me?" he asks instead to hide his worry.

"No. Why would I?" she answers.

"Then why are you here?" he asks again.

"I'm about to go home but you stopped me." Traze points at her arm with Taeyong's hand still gripping it.

"I have something to ask you," Taeyong answers, still not letting go of her arm.

Traze squints. "What is it?"

Before he can answer, someone suddenly grabs her other hand, startling her again. When she turns to her side, she swallows hard, seeing an unexpected person. Prince Jaehyun. "Y-Your... Highness?"

"Patricia, is he bothering you?" Jaehyun asks, throwing Taeyong a glare.

A/N: Before you hate on me for updating only now again with this short chap... Dun dun dun dun! haha XD Who will let Traze's arm go first? TY or Jae? And why do you think does Zia have that exact same handkerchief as Traze's? Watch out for the next chap soon...

Btw have you watched the mv cafe version of Angel and Dunk Shot? I think it's adorable that SM is putting up a lot of videos of NCT on their channel these days. ~le sings That's What I Like hahaha >_<

Thanks for reading as always, mates! ^^

~neoluv