Mirrored Match // ATEEZ ✔

= 13 =

He sees darkness and he feels the heavy weight on his chest, causing him to put up an effort to breathe. His ribs feel like they're about to be crushed as the weight gets heavier, and he's only waiting for the time a voice will come to him and say that his time is up, that he's on the way to the afterlife. At least that's what it feels like to him. Instead, he hears an excited higher-pitched voice, one that he's used to hearing almost every day when he's at home, waking him up.

"Wooyie, good morning!"

Wooyoung smiles upon hearing his little brother's voice and he answers before he opens his eyes. "Good morning, Woosung."

Then he opens his eyes to see Woosung staring at him with deep set eyes, grinning as he transfers his weight on his brother's chest, his favourite routine almost every morning. The little kid opens up his arms and his brother reciprocates the action, tackling him into a hug. He sits up, with his brother finally jumping off of him and sitting cross-legged beside a still-sleepy Wooyoung. He sees that the curtains are already pulled apart and he groans, realizing that Woosung is already in his school uniform.

"Woosung, what time is it?"

The boy blinks before turning his head to the giant wall clock in his brother's bedroom before announcing, "It's already 7:50 a.m."

"Ah..." Wooyoung trails off before his eyes turn wide and suddenly it's like all hell broke loose when he throws his comforter away, his legs in the air as he pushes it away. "You went into my room late today," he says hurriedly, referring to his brother as his mouth puts out a string of silent curses. "You always appear here the latest by 7:30 a.m." He rolls off the bed, landing on the carpeted floor with a thud before his head pops up from the edge of the bed, looking at his younger brother who seems to be very calm as opposed to him.

"That's because I woke up late too," Woosung bounces up and down on the bed, clearly not affected by his brother's panic. "Mrs. Ryu woke me up early but I slept again. Then she screamed when I was still in bed even though it was 7:30, saying mother will be angry. So she immediately carried me out of my bed and asked me to shower, so I had to get ready in less than 5 minutes. Look!" He points to his school tie, which is still undone. "Wooyie, you always do my tie for me so I'm waiting for you to wake up."

"Is it?" Wooyoung says absent-mindedly before standing up. "Woosung, I can help with your tie after I finish getting ready, okay? Ah... Mother and father must be waiting for breakfast."

"Uhm." Woosung nods shortly. "I think mother will be very angry because you didn't wake up and join them for breakfast on time."

Wooyoung does a look full of horror before diving into the bathroom, asking Woosung from behind the door to help him pull out any decent attire for him to go to the office. As he slams the door, he repeats to himself on what he has to do for today, almost fumbling to get his daily schedule in his head. He always has his secretary repeating his schedule to him, and most of the time he would forget it in the next moment. Only when his secretary comes running to his office exclaiming that he's about to be late for something does he remember what he's supposed to attend for today.

He almost slides on the bathroom floor, throwing himself from one place to another to get ready; the toilet, the shower cubicle, the sink that he results in only washing his face by splashing water in a hurry. With the towel wrapped around his lower body and while brushing his teeth, he opens the bathroom door while trying to take a peek at what Woosung had prepared for him, and almost doubles over when he sees Mrs. Ryu looking at him with disappointment on her wrinkly face. She is standing in front of his wardrobe as she takes out a matching jacket and pants.

Mrs. Ryu is their caretaker who has been with them ever since Wooyoung was a little boy, taking care of him until he has grown into a dashing young man, with Woosung being her next 'adopted' child. Their parents were too busy to properly take care of them since their companies seem to take the front seat in their household, so Wooyoung and Woosung treat her more like their mother.