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Sitting on the edge of his bed, the low lighting of his room casting shadows along the walls, Haru stared down at a silver locket with the picture of a beautiful girl within, his thumb running along the cold metal. His usual smirk was gone and in its place a cold mask, something so unusual for the boy that it almost looked fake.
But it was real.
Because what others didn't know was that when he was alone, an empty and gaping hole appeared.
His attention then snapped away from his thoughts when the door suddenly opened, (Y/N) appearing with one hand in front of her eyes while the other clutched the doorframe tightly. In all honesty, she looked as if she were scared to even peer into the space, the seconds trickling by before she finally took a quick peek, thankful that Haru was dressed and alone.
Her brows then furrowed when seeing him stealthily hide the locket behind his back like it wasn't even there to begin with.
"Aren't you bold~?" Haru smirked, his flirtatious facade once more in place.
(Y/N) cringed.
"No need to look so disgusted, I was just surprised that you would come back here after our little... predicament last time," he remarked as he stood up and approached her, humming in thought when she merely backed away.
"I didn't come here willingly, Takeshi just asked me to get you for dinner."
"Ah, is that so?" He shrugged as he moved to close his door behind him, but not before (Y/N) glanced inside to where she could still see the silvery gleam of the locket he left behind. "Anyways, w—" Cutting himself off when seeing that the girl was distracted, he then asked, "What? I didn't think you'd find my room so interesting, but I guess I'm mistaken~"
"Ugh, I was just thinking that jewelry doesn't seem to be your thing," she stated in reference to the necklace as she shoved his face away that had come too close for her liking.
Haru recoiled when she said that.
Muttering something out that (Y/N) couldn't exactly hear, he waved off her statement as he then descended the stairs, officially ending the conversation. The girl tilted her head at his strange reaction, finding the situation even stranger since when she had entered the room, she was able to see that he had been staring down at the locket with a rather unclear emotion in his eyes. He hadn't been smiling, nor did he look comfortable.
It was pain.
A deep and aching pain.
One that (Y/N) felt was familiar with: like the pain of losing someone close.
Letting out a sigh, deciding not to really care since it wasn't like she cared for Haru in the first place, especially after how forward he was with her, she too descended the stairs and sat down at the dining table next to Kai. Not noticing how pleased he looked at her decision, his dark gaze then cutting into Jay's form, (Y/N) picked up her fork and began to eat the dinner before her.
Unfortunately, the calm mood didn't last.
Glancing up, she noticed Haru scowling at her, and then at Kai, before looking away.
She deadpanned.
Bro has the fastest mood swings I've ever seen.
Like, seriously?
What did I do?
But as she chewed her food, she remembered that Haru had never really liked Kai even though he seemed the most gentle and compassionate out of the two of them, or even out of all six brothers. Yet, even that she knew to be something that covered what he used to be in the past, Eun-ji's words echoing in her mind over and over as she aimlessly picked at her food.
Whatever.
It doesn't concern me.
And after what happened when I was exploring the last time, I'm not ever doing that again.
Continuing to just ignore Haru like she had done so many times, finding that it always worked surprisingly well, (Y/N) could only grimace when he merely tossed that aside and sought her out. He looked conflicted, almost, and as time dragged on, increasingly agitated.
"What do you want?" She questioned as she folded her arms over her chest, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"I wasn't going to mention anything because I know you hate me and you have a valid reason for it, but it's becoming so obvious now that I can't just ignore it," he started with a roll of his eyes, trying to act casual yet failing since she had already noticed the emotion brimming in his steely grey gaze. "You need to stay away from Kai. Interacting with him will only fuck up your life even more."
"Huh?" Now (Y/N) was a bit pissed as well. "If you're talking about his past, I know of it. Well, fragments of it. And what do you mean by my life being fucked up 'even more?' Are you implying something?"
"Well, it's not as if you wanted to move here right after waking up, did you?" He stated simply with an arched brow.
She faltered.
Since he was correct, she couldn't say anything.
"Since you got here, I could tell that you were unhappy with all of this despite putting up a front so your mom could be happy," Haru sighed as he ran a hand through his messy red hair, for once looking so different from the usual facade he put up. "And we haven't exactly been the most welcoming people. I am sorry about that, yes. We'll technically be family, and I acted like a dick towards you."
"I think you were worse than that," her scowl deepened. "I'm still mentally scarred from walking in on you and that girl."
"Not my best moment," he shrugged. "I was a bit high, so I was disoriented."
She stared at him.
Her expression was one of disappointment.
"Why the hell am I telling you this?" Haru groaned towards the ceiling in disbelief, then shaking his head so he could clear his thoughts. "Anyway, I'm just telling you to be wary of Kai in advance so you don't come whining to me about it later."
"Why would I whine about Kai to you? I would just complain about you to your face."
"Wow... cold."
"You deserve it," (Y/N) pointed out. "Besides, why are you so against Kai in the first place? Sure, he may have been a bit dangerous before, but he seems to have mellowed out, right?"
At that, Haru fell silent.
"What?" She tilted her head.
"...He took away someone important to me, so he'll always be a piece of shit to me," he muttered as he walked away, ending the conversation.
(Y/N) blinked after him.
But then her eyes widened when a sudden realization washed through her.
That locket.
Huh...
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