QUEEN | KIM TAEHYUNG (Completed)

7. Peanut Butter

I unloaded the gun and put it away after which I walked up to him. He tried to distance himself from me and I stopped, taking a sigh.

"Daniel"

He looked up tears rolling down his eyes. "Who are you? You somehow look like Sua but you are not her. Please tell me.."

"My name is Hyelin", I spoke. "I am your sister. Sua's twin"

Daniel's world came crashing down as he heard this. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. It made sense because this strange woman looked exactly like Sua but then why would his family hide this from him.

"I know nothing makes sense to you. So I am going to tell you everything. Are you willing to listen?"

Daniel was scared and wary of this woman. He didn't know whether to trust her or not despite that he nodded.

"28 years ago when we were born, your...", I had a lump in my throat as I continued, "I mean our parents abandoned me. They couldn't afford to have two kids so one had to go. And unfortunately it was me. They never talked about it so that is the reason you haven't heard of me. They just pretended that they never had me. And all these years you spent in the dark without knowing about me"

"Did Sua know about you?", he asked.

I nodded. "Its a messy and long story about how we came to know about each other and I don't have the time to tell you that. But it was about 14 years ago. Since then we have been in contact even after your parents passed away"

"Why did Sua never tell me about you then?", Daniel asked.

I sighed. "I am not exactly a good person. That is why it was not possible for us to meet"

"Then why come here today? Why would you risk it?", he paused as if thinking about something until his eyes widened. "Did you come here acting as a substitute for Sua? Did she send you so you could pretend to be her? Has she gone somewhere?"

I felt a knot in my throat, making me unable to speak further. I couldn't meet his eyes so I looked away. Daniel must have sensed it as he held my shoulders and shook me violently. "What—What happened to Sua? Where is she?"

"She got shot in an assassination attempt which was intended for me because they mistook her as me"

———•••———

I watched Daniel cry his eyes out in front of Sua's room at the Hospital. The surgery was finished but she had slipped into a coma which Jinyoung said was expected. But it wasn't critical and he said she would be awake soon.The EXO boys were sitting in a room on a floor above since I told them that Daniel couldn't know about the Mafia business.

"Daniel", I called out for him as I gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"YOU ARE THE REASON SHE IS LIKE THIS", he snapped, pushing my hand away. "You were supposed to get hit, not her!"

An unexplainable pain erupted in my heart and guilt washed all over me as I looked down. He was right. I was meant to take that bullet, not Sua.

"I am sorry", was all I could say as I stood up and walked away, leaving the wailing boy by himself.

———•••———

I sat by myself on a small bench in the Hospital's garden. The hospital was a safe place because it was owned by one of our allies, Jinyoung who was also a renowned doctor. While a part of the hospital was open to general public, the rear end had rooms reserved specially for gangs affiliated to him. Despite that I chose to wear a mask, not wanting any one passing by to look at me.

I felt a presence behind me and I clutched the dagger I hid in my shoe, ready to attack until they spoke.

"Its me, Daniel"

I let go of the dagger, turning back to seeing him standing there. His eyes were completely swollen meaning he had been crying all this while.

"Can I sit?"

I nodded and he took up the remaining space on the bench.

"Why are you hiding your face?", he initiated conversation.

"I don't want people around to catch a glimpse of my face"

He nodded. Now it was my turn to ask.

"How did you recognize me back then? It took you not long to figure out that it was me"

"Peanut butter", he quietly spoke. "I cannot eat peanuts. I have severe allergy, the kind that could send me to ER if I ate like even one. So I tested you because I had my doubt. You didn't know that, you instantly agreed to make me a sandwich. This in itself was a red flag. Also the way you agreed..", he paused to chuckle slightly. "Sua would never make me food this fast. You acted too gentle and respectful with me and that gave you away"

A smile formed on my face as I heard this. They truly shared quite an unbreakable bond. As he spoke further, I turned my attention to him.

"You look 99.99% like Sua yet your behaviour was strange. You don't even have the scar that she has in the middle of her right eyebrow. Thats one of the most striking things on her face"

I nodded as it completely slipped out of mind that Sua had that from an old injury.

"Guess you are not as dumb as Sua tells me you are"

He scoffed. "Does she really go around telling people I am dumb?"

I nodded with a chuckle. "I put it in quite simple words. She uses very harsh ones while  describing you"

He scoffed again loudly and I could help but laugh. He turned to face me and I stopped laughing. There was silence again and it went on for about a minute until Daniel spoke.

"What I said earlier", he gulped and I understood what he meant. "I still believe it's your fault but...", a sigh escaped his mouth. "But I didn't mean it when I said you should be shot. That slipped out in anger. No one should have been shot"

"Thats okay, I understand. And to be honest it was my fault so I am not even in a position to feel bad"

Both of us kept staring in the front as it went silent again. The birds were crying in the distance while crickets chirped in the back.

"So you are my sister?", he asked nervously. "There's three of us?"

I nodded at his innocent question.

"Fuck", he muttered under his breath and I was taken aback. "Handling Sua in itself was difficult but now there's you too"

"Don't worry", I chuckled. "I am way more cooler than she is"

"Will you let me watch TV straight for 12 hours without showering?"

"I will let you do that and I will also join you as we eat popcorn in couch while waiting for the pizza to come. And then drink cola and burp out loud followed by eating ice cream straight from the tub with a random spoon lying around and watching Keeping up with the Kardashians"

His eyes went wide followed by a "Woah! You definitely are much cooler"

I thought I had lightened the mood but the next thing I heard was a sob. "But I still miss Sua's nagging. She scolds me all the time but...", the tears stopped him from speaking further. Call it sisterly instinct or whatever but I immediately wrapped my arms around him as I gave him a hug.

I didn't expect him to hug back maybe because I thought he'd feel awkward but instead he clung to me like a small child hugging his mother. I stroked his head as he cried. For the first time I had ever felt this kind of emotions within me. Maybe it was the 9 year age gap that made me feel like wanting to protect him so much.

"She will be okay right?", he asked through muffled sobs.

"She will be okay. Nothing will happen to her. I will not let anything happen to our sister"