Duality | Monsta X [√]

20: Answers

When it gets dark
I'll be by your side

-Aurora, ateez

"Because they never stay."

When the words had left my mouth, my chin was still buried in my kneecaps and I asked myself internally, what really went wrong. What my mom, or I ever really did to receive such a harsh life because of one bad person.

"Who hurt you?" Kihyun's voice was merely a whisper but it reached me.

And suddenly my vision was a blur, as if I was looking through those thick glasses Haneul would wear. But I could still feel the warm glow of the afternoon that wrapped around the lake and the grasses we sat on.

"You must have an experience with people like us to hate on us. The first day you came to the clan club and met us-" Kihyun paused for a second. "You looked like you could hardly breathe. As if you were having a hard time. And then you insulted me, you ran away after that."

A tingling sensation had started to spread to my ears. I pictured them red as tomatoes, that's how they probably were anyway. For the first time, I wished my hair wasn't tied in a ponytail so my flushing ears could hide behind them.

"For the record, I still haven't gotten an apology for that insult," Kihyun sighed to himself, the dead autumn leaves under him rustling as he shifted a little.

"Tell me, Daisy. Was it family that left you?"

Everything went black with that.

My eyes had shut themselves down to stop the tears that threatened to fall.

Nothing happened, literally, yet I was getting emotional here.

"If you don't want to talk that's okay. Actually I-" another short pause, the odor of cigarette had died down. I imagined him tossing the dead end of the stick onto the grass and mentally cringed to myself.

"We are not that bad, you may think we are. I want to come clean because it seems like we will work together for some time, at least. Listen to me closely, I'm not going to repeat myself again."

Another sound of rustling, the wind howling with that. It was suddenly starting to get chilly, evenings at this time of the year were always like that.

Kihyun took in a breath for himself that even I could hear. "It's not us, but our parents that were, and still are the type of people anyone would avoid. But the Mastermind of this was Shownu's father. He was the one that found the clan club, along with Minhyuk's, Hyungwon's and my parents. Jooheon's and Changkyun's joined later to expand the business.

"I'll tell you honestly, even though I don't have a reason to trust you yet. Yes, you are right whatever you are thinking of right now, everything illegal went down there. The clubs were only there to show the governments, inside and underground all kinds of things happened, things I don't even want to talk about."