Healers

9 | sogyeokdong

"The day you went away, actually I...

Cherish what you have now, for it could vanish in an instant.

I don't want to forget about this, but I don't even have a single photo left.

I just keep telling myself that I've done all I could." - IU

+.+.+

I sit solemnly on the couch as my Dad paces around the living room whilst the aroma of mushroom sauce fill my nose.

Meanwhile Dad is interrogating me, Grams is cooking for us.

"Dad, please hear me out..." I say slowly and cautiously.

"Arden if you don't give me something real, you're not eating!" Dad threatens. I roll my eyes, as he brings his hands to his forehead in frustration.

"Don't talk to my granddaughter like that!" My grandmother appears with a plate of carbonara pasta and I basically dive for it. "Don't be too harsh on her."

"You don't understand, ma!" Dad exclaims. "She needs to understand that these Healer boys are dangerous! If she's involved in any way-"

"Dad I'm not involved okay? I don't go around with a mask and save people-"

"Save people?" Dad's voice rises, and he crosses his arms. "They don't save people Arden. They only cause trouble and mayhem." I sigh, and slump down on my seat.

I spoke way too carelessly and he might get the wrong idea, or rather, the right one.

"Dad, that Ethan kid or whatever is exaggerating!"

"Exaggerated or not, it's still true," Dad hisses. "Those people beat up those men and they're dangerous!"

"Why do you blindly believe some random kid and those men!" Rage fills me as I can't help but shoot out of my seat to prepare a defensive argument. "Just because they wear suits and have fancy jobs, does not make them good people."

"No, but it doesn't make them bad either if they've done nothing wrong!" He counters, with hard eyes. "They are the victims Arden. Why do you keep insisting that they're not?"

I pause, unsure of what I should or should not reveal. Not only would I have to talk about Healer if I reveal that I was the victim, but I would also have to put him through torment at the thought of how he could have lost another child.

"You say that Ethan is from Sevit High..." I start. "Well that can't be true, because I've been in that school for years and I've never seen his face." Shock washes over my father's features, his face now blank but his eyes wide. He can't seem to say anything and so I continue.

"It all seems like a set-up to me. You found belongings randomly at the crime scene but did you even authenticate it?" I make sure my words are all emphasised and hopefully are conveyed to him.

"Are you saying Ethan's lying about everything?" He asks, almost like he's out of breath. "B-But why would he randomly drag you into this?"

I shrug. "Run a background check on him. He may hold some grudge with the authorities and playing you guys for the fun of it," I suggest.

Even though this isn't as plausible, it gives me an opportunity to avoid suspicions for now by giving my father a false new lead-a distraction.

Although it is true that I've never seen this random Ethan guy before...