Stigma | Haechan

40

Donghyuck was seated at his desk, typing onto his keyboard as he read through the information about the history and the cases that were undertaken by Pyrite Cube.

Reading through his soulmate's profile, a sigh escaped his lips and he leaned back on his chair- eyes darting over to the files placed on his desk and soon he caught sight of the silver pearls from last night.

Grabbing the pearls in his hand, he tossed them in his palm carelessly and the moment he looked down at the intricate design it held, he realized there were letters carved onto each of them.

Furrowing his brow, he spread the pearls on his desk, eyes scanning through all the letters and after scrambling with the letters for a few minutes he rearranged them and reading out the names that it formed made his eyes widen- utterly staggered.

"Jisung & Aera..?!" He muttered out in disbelief, "Why are their nam— Park Jisung and Park Aera..." He paused upon realizing they shared the same surnames.

'Mark's family adopted me when I was seven'

"And Jeno brought Jisung to Neo when he was five.. and now she's 21 and he's 19" Joining the pieces together, he was only further convinced that Jisung and Aera really were siblings and he couldn't get himself to believe the truth.

"What the fuck is all of this..?" He uttered out, running a hand down his hair, lost and inquisitive at the same time.

"Something must've happened fourteen years ago.." He mumbled under his breath as he stood up and walked towards the huge shelf that had stacks of files loaded, rummaging through all of it, desperate to figure out their shared past.

❖

"What?" Jaemin peeked through the door- his bored eyes looking at Donghyuck who was immersed into reading through the information in the file.

"Ask Jisung to meet me" Donghyuck said- eyes still focused onto the file.
"You called me for that?" Jaemin sighed out, rolling his eyes.

"I need him here now, it's important" Donghyuck added, ignoring his words and the boy groaned before closing the room door, making his way to the phase 2 basement where Jisung currently was at.

After a few minutes, the door clicked open revealing Jisung, "Come, sit" Donghyuck motioned him to enter in and he did as asked to, sitting down on his bed.

"What's the matter Hyung?" Jisung asked and Donghyuck sighed out, closing the file before placing it aside.

Donghyuck looked up, eyes drifting down to his hand that had a bandage situated on his knuckles.
"How?" Donghyuck asked, raising a brow and Jisung simply shook his head, retracting his hand to his side almost like he did not want Donghyuck to notice the wound.

Jisung silently watched as Donghyuck stood up and rounded his desk, picking something in his hands before approaching him.

"Explain this" Donghyuck said, placing it in Jisung's hands and his confused eyes drew down onto his hand and his eyes widened realizing it was the silver pearls of the bracelet that were left scattered at the hallway last night.

Jisung clutched the pearls in his hand, averting his gaze from the elder- seething in anger as their conversation from yesterday flashed his mind.

"Why does it say your name and Aera's?" Donghyuck asked, raising a brow.
"Nothing Hyung" Jisung mumbled out, swiftly standing up to leave but Donghyuck stepped ahead- now standing in front of Jisung, stopping him from making any move out of his room.

"It's nothing.." He repeated himself, unfazed though their leader came out intimidating.
"Okay" Donghyuck nodded, shrugging and Jisung snapped his head at the elder- puckering his brows at his tone that sounded not so convincing.

"So is this-" Donghyuck began, picking the file that was placed on his desk and holding it up such that it was visibility to Jisung, "-nothing too?" He questioned, tilting his head, knowing the answer all clearly.

Jisung instantly grabbed the file from Donghyuck's hand, opening it as he flipped the pages- glancing at it quickly and his eyes shot wide open upon recognizing the information in the file.

"How...how do you know all of this?" Jisung asked- bewildered and Donghyuck sighed out leaning against his desk with hands in his pocket.

"So it is true that your parents died in the fire accident fourteen years ago..?"
Jisung wordlessly nodded, eyes darting over at the paper that held the victims information and seeing his parents name, tears welled up in his eyes but he was quick to blink them away.

"And that you and Aera are real siblings..?" Donghyuck asked, well aware of everything, just wanting a confirmation from the boy.

"Real? What do you mean?" Jisung quirked up a brow, perplexed.
"Agent 03- Mark, his family adopted Aera after the incident" Donghyuck replied and he scoffed under his breath in disbelief.

"Great, so I was the only one suffering alone" Jisung commented sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"You were suffering Jisung but she still is" Donghyuck corrected him making the boy knit his brows together, trying to decipher the underlying meaning but shrugged it off since he was least bothered when it came to anything that dealt with Aera.

"And what did you say to upset her yesterday?" Donghyuck asked- a glint of concern over the girl striking him but he brushed it off, awaiting Jisung's response.

"Upset? Hah, if anyone was upset that's me, not her. And also, that's between us two Hyung, it has nothing to do with you" Jisung stated, not wanting to reveal anything to him about the conversation.

"Don't forget you're indirectly putting me through all of this bullshit cause Aera's my soulmate" Donghyuck scoffed under his breath and hearing those words Jisung threw his head back in exasperation.

Donghyuck exhaled out, recomposing himself, sighing out before he began speaking.
"Just keep the past aside and think this out calmly. I don't know what happened between you two but you should just move on and give her a chance, I'm sure she regrets it too"
Donghyuck advised as he pushed himself off his desk before making his way towards the door.

"Hyung.." Jisung called out and Donghyuck paused, turning his head to his side to view the boy.

After a few seconds of internally debating with himself, Jisung let out those words.
"Was she really upset?" He asked, worry clearly conveying in his tone and Donghyuck let out a small, inaudible laugh hearing those words.

"I'm no mediator in here, you two should talk it out yourselves" With that said, Donghyuck exited his office room leaving Jisung alone.

Jisung's shoulders slouched, a heavy sigh escaping his lips as he stared at the broken bracelet in his palm- pondering over the endless thoughts that clouded his mind about his sibling, well aware that though he came out as he hated her, deep down nonetheless he does miss her and care for her..

Things are escalating pretty quick umm👀

Also..
Renjun's fools cover is what I'm living for like my boy did amazing, bless him😭😭🤧♥️