"Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad."

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow-
~~~~~

"What the hell was that?" Soomin burst into her house with a mix of feelings occupying her heart. She dropped her bag carelessly on the floor before throwing herself onto the couch.

The sudden regretful apology in a cracking voice and unseen tears obviously caught her off guard. She was unable to react or utter the words she had prepared for this moment, the moment when Min Yoongi would say something about the accident that took her brother away.

"It took you 10 years to say that. Tell me, how can't I hate you?" she cursed silently.

She took a glance at an old framed photo placed nicely on the table next to the couch.

"Even hate is not enough to describe my feeling towards him. What should I do to your stupid bestfriend, oppa?"

"Honey, what's wrong?"

Soomin was snapped from her thought when a soft hand caressed her head gently.

How can you be so tough in facing this sorrowful life?

She thought when she looked up to see her mom's warm smile. She gave her mom a shrug as an answer.

"Mrs. Min just called by now, she said thanks.." Mrs. Kim spared her a questioning look. And she gave her another shrug.

"Well, whatever the reason is, I'm truly glad that you minded to help him," said Mrs. Kim.

"How can you be like this? How can you act nicely to him like there was nothing?!" At this point, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't hold back her anger.

"Because he deserves to be treated that way."

~~~

"So, what we have now..." Soomin sat down on the grassy ground as soon as she realized that she had entered the weird dream world again that night.

Instead of questioning the unusual phenomenon, she was now trying to enjoy the dream instead.

Soomin, stay right there. Don't you dare to step into the stairs.

B-but I want to..

Hey chipmunk, please don't be a crybaby and listen to Yoongi hyung. 

I'm not a crybaby!! ugh! I hate you both!!

 
She chuckled and cringed at the same time as she saw the little version of herself whine and stomp her feet like a toddler. "A crybaby and two irksome lame boys, what a perfect combination," she mumbled to herself.

"The steps of the stairs had not been well attached to the tree, that's why he forbade you to climb up."

Soomin startled a bit as she heard the familiar husky voice speaking from her left side. She took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself.

"Forgive him, set him free... it will set you free as well."

Soomin tilted her head to the left and lifted her chin up to see him standing next to her, with both hands in his pockets and his eyes darting to the three little kids bickering in front of them.

Out of nowhere, Soomin reached out her hand to tug the lower part of his black hoodie, which made him avert his gaze to hers. She froze in her sitting position as she examined his face thoroughly. Then, her vision started to blur as she spotted a familiar smile slowly forming on his face.

That boxy-shaped smile, she thought.

"Taehyung? Oppa?" she whispered.

The smile on his face widened as he heard the words. He fished out one of his hands from his pocket and then gently patted her head. "Hello, my little chipmunk."

Her heart suddenly skipped a beat, but then it started to pump blood in a rush due to her brain's high demand for oxygen. Her breath was short, and her hand was trembling as she kept looking at his face and gripping his hoodie. Furthermore, she knew the tears dammed in her eyes for these years finally burst out, rolling down her cheeks of their own will. She said nothing; the only thing heard between them was her sorrowful sobbing voice.

The older brother, whose name was Taehyung, now knelt and pulled the crying Soomin into his embrace.

"Tch, you're still a crybaby," he chuckled as he continued to caress her hair.

"Is it even... real?" Soomin muttered on his chest between her sobs.

"Depends on your definition of reality."

"The fuck, Tae? Stop acting like my philosophy lecture!" She pulled herself away from him harshly and glared at him with her puffy eyes.

Taehyung's eyes widened in shock at the use of the F word. "W-who taught you that word, Soomin?"

Soomin frowned and gave him a questioning look.

"Is that Yoongi hyung?! That son of a - of a mother in heaven!" Taehyung stuttered as he stood up and started to walk away from Soomin in a rush.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" Soomin immediately ran after him and stopped when she saw Taehyung standing still behind a big oak tree.

That tree. It's familiar. She thought.

She approached Taehyung, who was looking in the direction of the river. She followed his gaze and saw another familiar figure sitting there alone.

His head was hanging low, his back was tense, and his shoulders were moving uncontrollably. And then she heard the sorrowful sobs.

"Y-yoongi?" she stared at the boy, then looked at Taehyung. He nodded his head.

"Seeing this view each time he has a flashback in his dream is killing me."

"What do you mean?"

"Unlike you, who mostly wake up in the middle of the dream, Yoongi hyung somehow manages to finish each flashback he has in his dream. And somehow, those flashbacks bring back the painful feelings he tries to bury and make him... like this... until he wakes up," he explained.

"He cries this hard every time he has the dream?" she asked, still locking her eyes on Yoongi's figure. Taehyung nodded.

"Now, look at him and tell me. Do you still think he is blameworthy?"

Before she could answer him, she felt like someone was shaking her body and calling her name repeatedly.

"Soomin..."

She looked at Taehyung in confusion.

"Soomin... hey, wake up, sweetie."

"It's time for you to go back. Say hi to Mom for me, okay?" he said with a smile.

"Kim Soomin!!"

Soomin jolted from her sleep as she heard her mom yell right into her ears.

"Mom, what was that about?" She rubbed her ears because the yell was still echoing inside her head.

"I thought you were dead."

"Mom!"

"Okay, now listen. Mrs. Min needs to go back to her hometown right now because of some family issues, and Yoongi is alone. She is asking if you could accompany him until he is sober enough to be alone. She is worried because he hasn't woken up since you dropped him off at their house, and Yoongi tends to do sloppy things when he is drunk," Mrs. Kim explained as she pulled her from her bed.

"And since you were involved in his drunk circumstances, you are responsible for watching him," she ended her explanation with a wide smile before putting a hoodie on her sleepy daughter and dragging her to their doorstep.

"Take care of him nicely," she closed the door, leaving Soomin alone outside the house.

"What the hell..."

¤¤¤