The Villain Of Arise

xxix: talking

They walked to a secluded part of the area, Yuna taking the lead as her own brother was not familiar with his surroundings. The air was warm but the wind was especially windy, blowing her short hair around her face.

Yuna felt strangely nervous. What her father said had shaken her to her very own core. She had forgotten how ruthless he could be, how his callousness and cold demeanor affected her. Seeing her brother reminded her of that moment again.

She couldn't hate him.

Oh and she hated how she felt. Hated how he treated Jaehyung differently - the polar opposite to how he treated Sungho.

Sungho was like a stain on his shirt - something that her father couldn't get rid of but Jaehyung? To her father, it seemed like it was a prized possession - a trophy of sorts.

And her? Yuna was simply stuck in between. In constant limbo did she watch on as her father did not take any notice of her. She hated it at first. Then she got used to being the forgotten one.

Jaehyung was lucky he had never faced the wrath of her father.

He was lucky he was nice enough to him.

However today, her brother seemed eerily different. Uncertain. He looked even nervous, unlike his cold appearance.

He was the mirror image of father.

"What do you want to talk about?" she asked him, her arms crossed, wind blowing across her face. Jaehyung stared at her, very quiet.

"Well?" she asked.

"I..." he trailed off, shuffling his feet. "Sorry."

Yuna blinked, taken aback. Jaehyung saying sorry? That was... unexpected.

"What for? It's mostly I who has more to be sorry for."

Jaehyung looked uncomfortable. "Just... yeah. And about Sungho-"

"You overheard the conversation I had with father, didn't you? I heard the door open slightly. I have no doubt father knew it as well."

Jaehyung remained silent and Yuna took that as agreement. She sighed. "I'm truly surprised you hadn't known until a few days back. But then again, it is a private matter between our family that only he and I know."

"Is that why Sungho-?"

"That is why he never has the same privelleges as we do," she spat out the word in distaste. "He is our half-brother and father does not want the world to know."

Jaehyung stepped back, "Someone's listening to us." After a moment of silence, her brother sighed, "Jeongsuk you can come out now."

The man looked uncomfortable as he stepped out, "I didn't mean to overhe-"

Yuna felt mildly perturbed, "As long as you didn't hear anything too revealing. But I doubt you understood since we were speaking in a different language."

Their family had quite a large amount of secrets that were kept hidden. Yuna, Jaehyung and Sungho were even taught personally by their own father a language only their family knew. And it was a language that was not programmed in the translation earpieces.

Jeongsuk smiled awkwardly, "...yeah," he murmured. "I should go. Sorry for the intrusion." He quickly hurried away.

Jaehyung said nothing, "I have always thought Sungho was treated the same as us."

Yuna laughed, her voice laced with bitterness from the many years under her father's surveillance. "The same as us? Never. I'm even surprised it took you this long to find out."

She couldn't help but feel bitter about this. To her, Jaehyung had been but a stranger. Her true blood-brother nonetheless but the way he treated her and Sungho before had felt like he was looking down on them like they were specs of dirt.

And now, ever since Yuna had attended the program she couldn't help but observe her brother throughout their interactions. At first, she could find no change. He seemed as every bit as uptight as usual. He hadn't even looked the least bit excited the moment he laid eyes upon her.

But now, especially after that assassination attempt, Yuna could find that she was indeed wrong. Her brother did change.

And she was glad about that.

"I know I'm not exactly the most agreeable person in the world," she said, clutching her hands. She remembered the first time she had met Jaehyung in the program - hands shaking and her whole body nervous throughout their whole exchange. She even breathed a sigh of relief once her brother was out of sight.
"But I don't want to be kept in the dark with what happened to Father and the assassination attempt."

Jaehyung closed his eyes. Back then, Yuna would have interpreted it as irritation but now she could see that he was just simply exhausted.
"I wish I knew too. Father has disappeared on us and even Mina has no idea of his whereabouts. However as for the assassination attempt I suppose I should tell you since it concerns the both of us."

He began to tell her the exact details of it and what he knew about it. Yuna understood immediately - Jaehyung had been introduced to the world after the first assassination attempt the Fallen had conducted. The fact was simply that the moment the two attended Kings Academy was the moment they would be in the spotlight.

By now, if Jaehyung's face was leaked to the world, he would be known by everyone.

"The Fallen might as well leak your whole face," Yuna said.

"That's the problem - they're not. For some reason, they are letting my face kept hidden. Father clearly told me that someone in our program is a member of the Fallen."

Yuna began to pace around, "And who do you think it is?"

Jaehyung still kept his eyes closed, "I am uncertain as to who it is just as Father is as well. It seemed they are keeping their tracks well hidden."

"Class is starting soon," Yuna said. "We should go now. I doubt we'll have any leads any time soon now that the assassination attempt was recent. And as for your powers-"

"I awakened a second time," Jaehyung interrupted. "And I had been hiding this through the majority of this program. However it seemed Father wasn't too pleased about this and told me consequences would ensure should I continue hiding more stuff from him."

Yuna clenched her fists. This was her Father's world and they knew it.

He could control the whole world if laws weren't in place. He could even create a war if he decided to.

Jaehyung stepped back, "Yuna..." he murmured and his voice felt surprisingly vulnerable. "Have I not changed since the last time you saw me?"

Yuna felt compelled to answer the truth, with the thoughts that had been swirling in her head. "Jaehyung you truly are the same but..." she turned away, hiding her smile. "You did change in a way that doesn't make me hate you."

She never knew how much those words meant to him.