From Seoul With Love✅

26; Lonely Melodies: sorrowful notes of a Seoul love story.

A warning voice came. "Dean--" It was only then that Amina recognized Amma's presence in the room. She wasn't chill like she always has been, she seemed upset as well. Only that she does well to keep it tamed unlike her children.

Her hand was wrapped around Dean's arm, to hold him back. Her warning voice was supposed to make him stop before he could say something he'd regret later on, but there was no talking sense into a man that had decided to let off what's on his mind.

So, he ignored her. "You are a loser, Aahil. A coward that can't even man up and face his problems head on. You are an imposter hiding behind your old glory when everybody knows you've lost it. You can pretend all you want, but everyone here knows that you're a goner, Aahil. You are--"

"DEAN!"

"—ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC BECAUSE YOU CAN'T EVEN BRING YOURSELF TO GET OVER WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!"

Amina had no idea what the conversation is about, or where it's headed, but she couldn't deny that even she felt Dean's words pierce something in her. The topic seemed to be a sore one for them all, and most especially, the one it's directed towards. So, she doubts it's something Dean should've said out like that.

Aahil said nothing to him. He simply stared at him with a blank expression, unmoving. He didn't give out any reaction as others expected from him, he simply maintained eye contact with the man and did nothing.

Or so it seemed.

Amina didn't miss the way he clenched his fist by his side, as if holding himself back from doing something he will regret. In that moment, he seemed to have more control over his emotions than Dean does, surprisingly.

But, his silence didn't subdue Dean. If anything, it seemed to have infuriated him more because he scoffed, then shook his head in disbelief. Raising his hand, he gestured to the man. "You see, pathetic. You still cannot face and accept it, can you? When it got rough, what do you do? YOU RUN AWAY LIKE A PATHETIC SON OF A--"

A loud, resonating slap cut him from finishing his statement. Amina's hand curled around the rail, her heart hammering behind her ribcage upon seeing the look that took over Amma's expression as she stared at her son with glaring eyes. The hand that she used to slap him curled by her side, her face contorting into that of fury. "Enough, Dean!"

Dean's eyes flicked close for a moment, his face tilted to the side slightly. Blowing out a low breath, an unsettling moment dragged on, silence reigning in the place. It seemed to have left everyone on edge, as they watched the family of three entangled in the incident.

A second passed on, before Dean parted his eyelids open and turned around to face the two, his gaze fixed on the man standing behind his mother. Still, he didn't relent as he uttered the one statement that seemed to have left the most impact compared to everything he'd said before.

"I wonder whom you got the attitude from."

That seemed to have the breaking point for Amma, as she rose her hand up, ready to swing it across his face yet again, and again till some sense knocks into him. However, before she could, Aahil extended his hand out, took a hold of hers, and held her back.

She tried to fight against it, but stopped when she realized he has no intention of letting it drag on. Blowing out a huge breath, she glared at Dean one last time, before shaking her head in disappointment then turning around to head out to the backyard, leaving the others alone.

They all exchanged unsettling gazes, each with a grim expression.

Aahil took a step closer to Dean, and uttered in a tone that was too calm for a person in his position to hold. "Get a grip of yourself." He didn't spare him another glance as he trudged further and took the stairs, leaving the rest to quietly file out, leaving Dean alone.