ch. 54

"words in my head, knives in my heart."

-human

"why did i do that?!?"

eunbi shoves her face into the couch cushion and releases her inner turmoil through a loud scream.

"because you are stupid, ugly rat."

she lifts her head and shoots a glare at the young male.

"shut up, little apple."

"noona," a high-pitched voice intervenes. "can you carry me?"

the brunette looks over to see kyong with his arms up, grabbing the air with his hands. an adorable pout decorates his lips as his eyes sparkle with anticipation.

"of course!" she replies as she stands up from her sitting position and picks him up with a grin. she does a little twirl and a cheerful squeal leaves the toddler's lips, helping her forget her worries for a moment.

the two of them walk around the house as kyong exclaims about what happened at school today, his exaggerated stories through his facial and hand gestures always entertaining her. when he asks about her day, she conceals the truth of today with pretty lies.

in her peripheral vision, she notices the red-haired male simply staring at them as if he is zoning out, his lips faltering a little. kyong sees it too, so he waves his hand in front of his brother.

"hyung!" he shouts, breaking jongho from his trance. "what are you thinking about?"

he brings his gaze back to the two people before him and rolls his eyes. "nothing."

with a scheme brewing in her head, a smirk pulls on the babysitter's lips.

"kyong-ah," she says while maintaining eye contact with the young male. "i think he wants eunbi-noona to carry him as well."

his eyes widen at that statement and scoffs. "why would i want to be straddled by a gorilla?"

"noona is not a gorilla!" kyong defends with an angry pout and crossed arms. "noona is a queen!"

with a chuckle, she ruffles the little one's hair. "and you're my knight in shining armor, right?"

"yes!" he fervently nods his head.

placing kyong down, she whispers into the boy's ear and he scurries off into his room. the sound of toys being thrown around can be heard from the living room as he reappears with some objects in his arms. dropping everything to the ground, kyong crowns eunbi with a tiara before equipping himself with a helmet and a plastic sword.

the young boy points the tip of his sword toward his brother, an ambitious gaze blazing in his eyes.

"whoever insults the queen of starlight must be executed!"

with a battle cry, he charges at jongho without giving him a warning. the red-haired male begins fleeing from his little brother as kyong chases him around the house. the female watches from the couch and laughs at the two boys, their screams bouncing off the walls.

evading every piece of furniture while escaping his brother, the young male looks around for anything that would put a stop to this madness. something that the toddler knows to not swing at with his flimsy weapon. subconsciously bringing his attention to the living room, he focuses on one thing and a sinister smile spreads on his face.

the older brother then figures out a plan and grabs eunbi forward as a meat shield against kyong's fury. a squeal escapes her lips when she is suddenly pulled away from the couch, now being held in a soft chokehold. she instinctively grabs his arm and tries to break through his strength, but nothing prevails.

when the little one arrives at the scene, he gasps at the sight and he scrunches his eyebrows together.

"hyung! that's a cheap move!"

he simply shrugs at the complaint. "says the one with a sword."

the boy looks at his weapon and brings attention back to his brother. "well that's because you're the villain! you must be punished!"

the brunette simply lets out a sigh at how embarrassing these two look, arguing back and forth like the siblings they are. she does not want to stay in this position any longer, and so she does the first thing that comes to mind.

throw jongho off her back.

she gets a good grip on his arm and bends forward, the force lifting the male off his feet. she manages to flip him and his back makes a loud thump when it meets contact with the floor. she can hear a painful grunt come from jongho and a surprised squeal from kyong.

"woah!" the toddler exclaims as he drops his weapon in awe. "i didn't know noona could do that!"

rubbing her hands together, a devious smile creeps onto her lips. "there's a lot of me you don't know, kyong-ah."

"you know what? i think noona needs a new nickname." jongho lifts his upper body from the floor and rubs his back to soothe the pain, wincing at his touch. "she's an ugly gorilla."

that earns him a light smack in the head.

"say that one more time and i'll personally break your neck."

the two of them then turn their heads to kyong when they hear a small yawn, meaning that it is time for his afternoon nap. picking up the little one, eunbi leaves the living room to tuck him in his bed. she sits beside him and sings him a small lullaby to put him to sleep.

once kyong has fallen asleep, she drapes his blanket and places a kiss on his forehead before exiting his bedroom. she immediately heads to the kitchen to grab a bag full of ice and rushes to the young male, who is now lying stomach-flat on the couch.

"oh, i'm so sorry little apple. i didn't mean it." she crouches to his level and puts the ice bag on his back, a hiss slipping from his mouth.

"yeah right," he rebukes softly. "you totally did not mean to throw me onto the floor."

"oh, i did mean to do that, but i didn't think it would throw you that hard."

she awaits for jongho to respond with a scoff or an eye roll, but a pause of silence seeps into their short conversation.

"so," jongho speaks up. "are you going to tell me the meaning behind all this madness?"

she turns to face him, a blank expression on her face. "i have no idea what you're talking about."

"don't lie to me," he says, voice laced with concern. "your placement in class f, the fight with siyeon and yunho, the masked singer situation, the incident that happened today... what is it that caused all of this?"

with his inquiry, a sea of memories floods into her mind as she takes in a deep breath. she averts her attention from the red-haired male to the ceiling, closing her eyes to take in every single detail of those past incidents.

because she was afraid.

because she was weak.

because she was selfish.

she leans her back against the frame of the couch and opens her eyes.

a tear streams down her face.

"noona?"

jongho leans to the side to see her crying, his eyes widening at the sight. he immediately comes off the couch to sit beside her as his arm wraps around her shoulder. she simply leans into his embrace with her emotions spilling out once more.

"there were a lot of shitty things i did..." she whispers, her voice trembling with emotion. "so will you still be by my side, even after i tell you the reason behind all of this?"

she looks over her shoulder to see jongho with a reassuring smile.

"of course, noona."

and with that, she tells the story from the very beginning, from the night that led to these events.

after an hour, kyong comes out from his room as he rubs his eyes sleepily. blinking slowly, he calls out to his babysitter to tell her about his discomfort.

"noona, i can't sleep. can you sing another song for me?"

he lets out a yawn and waddles to the living room, where he sees the two teenagers sleeping against the couch, their arms holding onto one another and their cheeks resting against one another. soft snores can be heard from where he is standing, and a small smile tugs on his lips.

with that, he scurries into his room and grabs all his blankets on his bed before heading to the couch. he clumsily throws the comfy pieces of fabric over his babysitter and his brother as he settles himself next to eunbi.

he places his head on her lap and lays down on the floor, snuggling into his blanket while he drifts into slumber once again.

subconsciously, eunbi smiles.