Chapter Text
PLOTLESS CATHARSIS
[원순]
ms. peregrine’s home for peculiar children - Alternate Universe
I.
“First rule: do not run in the hall. I suppose you won’t and old enough to understand why.” She tipped the watering can over one flower pot.
“Second rule: you may explore all the places in this loop, but—don’t make troubles like Jihoon, though he doesn’t do much except fighting with everyone, Chan, or even Seungkwan.” She swirled her body around and smiled at him. “Or you will be punished.”
He followed every step wandering around the garden. It was beautiful, except he was a bit allergic to pollens. Many times he tried not to sneezed in front of the lady every time the wind blew and spread the flower pollens all over his clothing. “Third rule; know who you be friends with.” Wonwoo halted and dumbstruck. “So I can’t be friends with just anyone in the house?”
“No, I mean the normal people. You can just be friends with everyone in this house but not just random people in the town.”
“Oh, alright. Is that all?”
She turned around back and looked at him. The male was pretty tall with slightly pale skin and looked very much like his father; a little bit dull and boring. “You wrote it down?” She lifted an eyebrow in question to the male, both his hands hold a small notebook and pen to wrote down all the simple rules of the house. There was an awkward silence for a while before Wonwoo tried to explain his habit to the house lady. “Ah right, I forgot. I’m sorry.” She stood close to him and watched him putting up his notebook.
“Knows everyone’s peculiarity.” He beamed, hardly could process all the last rule—or more like his task. He barely got an explanation from his father about the house. Though, he knew all about the peculiar children and bits of stories about them. He was aware they were in a loop, he would never grew old while he was in the loop but his age will catch up with the time once he left the border. He wrote it down all of them in his small notebook.
But somehow he felt like it wasn’t all about the house. There were supposed to be more about it, more complex, and maybe giving him more headache. He was curious but also skeptical, he didn’t want to make any wrong move that will make him lose all the trust from the children and Ms. Park. After all, he was told to go to this house for a reason.
He was about to throw another question but she already walked down the stone path and stepped out of the garden. Another shrieks of children at the back yard heard from his place. He knew it will be hard for him to adapt, with the fact the children in the house weren’t just normal children. They were children with peculiarity. “Right, finding out everyone’s peculiarity will be the first task, eh?”
❀
Jeon Wonwoo, 25 years old. His father died two years ago left him a request in his last breath. He asked Wonwoo for a favor and with all his heart he agreed, which he regretted years after. He never knew his father was an orphan child. Never seeing his grandfather or grandmother wasn’t a big deal since he was young. He was contented just with the presence of his mother’s family. His father was also well liked by his mother’s family so nothing to be concerned at all.
When he found out about the orphan he was half regretting his decision. But to respect the death, he must do what his father asked him. The place wasn’t no where easy to reach, it took him at least 2 years to found the place and later, luckily, Ms. Park sent him a letter.
He was entirely aware of his father’s peculiarity but they said not every generation of the family will have a peculiar child, and assumed he wasn’t the one. There was no way he would own any kind of peculiarity with a disorder he owned. That alone troubled him enough in life, another peculiarity will just bring another misfortunes.
“Who’s that again—ah yeah, Ms. Park Soo Ae, Ms. Park Soo Ae, Ms. Park Soo-“
“Hi?” At first it was confusing but then he looked at him clearly, the male in front of him had a blue-almost-grey dyed hair which was uncommon for any Korean, in particular someone who was from sixty years ago. “Oh, hi?” He frowned slightly then loosened up the muscles as he saw the soft smile the other gave him. He was sure the other was greeting him but he was instead putting his attention to other things. “You’re…the new guy?”
“Yes, I am. Hello, I’m-“
“Jeon Wonwoo! Right?” Wonwoo chuckled in amusement. His brain wondered on what kind of peculiarity the male had, maybe mind-reading? “Mind-reading isn’t my peculiarity. I know your name because Ms. Park kept talking about you for the past 3 days.” He giggled and casually dragged him inside.
“Coffee? Or tea?”
“I’m fine with tea.” The shorter smiled widely and hopped through the hall and directed him to the kitchen. “Alright, a tea. We—I mean, Ms. Park, Mingyu, and Seungkwan bought this jasmine tea at the town yesterday and it’s really good!” Wonwoo just smiled at the latter’s long story of how they went to the village by carriage Mingyu made by himself and he couldn’t come with them because of his fever. He watched the male kept talking and honestly, he enjoyed it. He didn’t yet know his name but he can guess the name was just as pretty as the person in front of him.
Scratch that. He was still a kid, it was inappropriate for him to say about the younger male like that.
“I’m 20 years old anyway. So we’re pretty much the oldest here.”
Wonwoo choked on his tea accidentally burnt his tongue. “Are you sure you’re not a mind reader?”
“Nope.” They giggled on nothings and small chattering with a cup of tea on their hold, immersed in the room bathed by light warmth of sunlight just like that. It felt incredibly comfortable and natural for him to talk and drowned in the random topics they came up with for the past 2 hours. It was surreal and he was amazed by how things work in static unlike his past life.
Somehow when they talked he knew they have a very different personality but weirdly matched well. Soonyoung was a bright person unlike him. The younger male talked a lot more than expected, though, sometimes he would halted his words and beamed for awhile then blushed as their eyes met. “I talk too much, didn’t I?” Wonwoo then would shake his head and asked the younger to continue telling funny stories about his static life in the loop.
“Was it ever boring in the loop? I mean you keep rewinding things everyday and even know when will the first leaf fall? That’s crazily boring to me.”
Soonyoung shot him a judging—cutely—look at him. “Well, from what Yunho said you were such a boring person. So why would you think living in a loop is boring?” Wonwoo squinted his eyes, rolling his eyeballs at the words expecting it would come after him soon or later. Of course, telling about his entire life to the people in this house was part of the plan, his father must have sent them a lot of letter to this place and led him curious to know the content of the letters.
“That’s the thing my father never knew about me.” He defended. “Staying in my room for a whole day is not boring. Have you heard about book is the door to knowledge? I read books and traveled with my imagination,” he flicked an eyebrow and smiled slyly. “And that’s not boring,”
He noticed the glistening look from the younger male. “You read? Like a lot of books?” he said in amazement. The younger gasped and smiled widely at him in awe. “You never, read?”
“I hate reading, though I can read. But I love bedtime stories! Ms. Park used to tell me stories before I sleep but she stopped as I grow up-“ he paused for a while, the look on his eyes was a bit blank but he snapped back to reality. “Yeah, she never did after my fifteenth birthday.”
II.
Jeon Wonwoo had his reason to come to this place. He knew it will not be an easy task but he must ready for whatever he would be facing off with. “Your job here is easy. You won’t do much unless you were needed I guess?” Ms Park was sitting on her chair, knitting long scarf with pink and blue threads on the small bowl next to the sofa. She looked very relaxed when the tip of her fingers grazed against the threads and tied, then insert the needles onto the balls of threads and formed it into another part of the scarf.
“What does ‘protecting the children’ was supposed to mean?”
She chuckled. “It’s nothing big. Sometime the children would make a mess at the village and the deputy would come and ask the kids to clean up their mess.” Wonwoo frowned and his mouth gapped. “It’s baby sitting right.” He gave her a blank expression as she cheekily grinned at him. “Well…”
The door bell rang and pretty much answered his curiosity. Ms. Park smiled with a light giggle as she darted her attention to the source of the sound. “Can you take care of that?” She gestured him to open the door. A man in his late 40s, old dark pants with slight ripped on the knees and casual, fishing clothes appeared before him.
“Is Ms. Park here? I need to talk to her.”
“You can just talk to me. She has something to do right now.”
The man didn’t look pleased and tapped the tip of his shoe in annoyance as he looked at Wonwoo. “Those kids did it again.” Wonwoo looked outside at the two children behind with wet and mud bathed clothes and another child with sleek clean clothing.
Wonwoo sighed, it hadn’t been two weeks since his arrival and troubles came after him like daily chores. “What is it today? Seungkwan, Chan, and Jihoon? Jihoon why is your clothes not covered with mud?”
Seungkwan pouted hardly and stomped his small feet to the oak tree tiles under him. “Jihoon pushed us to the mud when we were trying to steal the pers—“ Wonwoo snorted and sighed once again hearing the excuse.
“Seungkwan you weren’t suppose to tell Wonwoo-hyung that!”
“Sorry! But Jihoon is so annoying and I can’t help that.” He glared at his orphan brother next to him. Jihoon was busy with himself, looking very much clean from head to toe and giving him an amused look as he watched Wonwoo came down from the stairs and fetched them.
The older male smiled awkwardly with a small chuckle and opened the door wide open as he shot glare at the three children. “I’m very sorry sir, my brothers must have troubled you. I will not let this ever happen again,” he paused and watched the children step into the house making sure no one was left behind, “and make sure they all grounded so they won’t try to steal your persimmons anymore.”
The three children looked at him with betrayed look couldn’t came up with other excuses. The farmer heaved a breath as he kept a glare at the children and put his cap back on. “It’s okay, they didn’t manage took my persimmons anyway. Just make sure they won’t do it again.” Then he left the house terrace and walked off the yard.
Wonwoo turned his attention back to the children, putting both of his hands on his chest and thought of a good punishment for the three children. It was his first time taking care of kids and never had siblings before, to add he never got grounded by his parents even when he was a kid. He was a bit lost but maybe an idea of making them do chores wasn’t a bad thing. “Hyung, I will get grounded?” Seungkwan asked.
“That’s such a rhetorical question, Seungkwan.”
“Hyung, What’s rhetorical?” Chan looked up to the older male. “It means you’re stupid.” Jihoon snickered as he proudly looked at Wonwoo.
“No, that’s not what it meant Jihoon.” The lad’s smile turned upside down at the answer. “And try not to insult your brother, that’s a bad thing.”
“So we won’t get grounded right?” Seungkwan looked at him with puppy eyes, honestly, Wonwoo was weak to children in particular someone with lots of cutesy like Seungkwan. He tried to resist and for the past two weeks he managed to control that. “No, all the three of you will be punished and I will tell Ms. Park.” Jihoon’s eyes went wide at that. His mouth gaped in disbelief and pupils dilated. “But I didn’t do anything! Why would I get punished too?”
Wonwoo rolled his eyes much to his amusement. “You pushed them to the mud and you will be punished for that. Now go to your room and get clean.”
III.
There were times when he got lonely. Being the oldest in the house wasn’t fun to him but he was glad there were at least Soonyoung and another person in the house, Kim Mingyu, though their age gap was pretty wide despite the younger male’s large built but it didn’t change the fact he had at least two new friends to accompany him in the large house.
He knew and was aware there were too many secrets hidden inside the house. He didn’t want to make himself overly curious but there were times he wanted to know some of the unknown facts that he thought he should have known. Like, “Why does Soonyoung locked his room for days?”
Somehow his question to Mingyu made him spill the soda from his mouth and stained his white shirt. “Eww, man, disgusting.” Wonwoo scrunched his nose and wiped off the spilled soda on his shirt. “That—I don’t know. He is always like that since the first time he came and Ms. Park told us not to ask anything about it.”
“When did he come to this house?”
“When he was 15? I remember that was a week after my birthday then he joined us. He was very quite back then, but I was surprised he is actually a loud person.”
It did bother him for some reason, knowing he spent at least a whole day watch over mostly the trio kid—Seungkwan, Chan, Jihoon—make sure they didn’t mess with anyone’s property again and he would always be at the backyard, sitting on a bench while reading some book he brought from his old place. Soonyoung then would came and asked what did he read and they ended up having a very long but indulging talk about the book. He always got excited when Soonyoung asked him to tell about the book and he liked how the male was a very good listener.
But there was one time he woke up and realized Soonyoung never came at the same exact time. He usually came after feeding the stray cat crossing the path near their house, but that day, he never came. He wondered if Soonyoung was sick or he went somewhere without telling him yet it was a lot more suspicious to him when Ms. Park didn’t want to tell him about it.
“Soonyoung? I suppose he is just tired. His peculiarity sometimes tires him out and he will sleep the whole day. Don’t worry he is fine.”
“Honestly I never know what his peculiarity is.” Mingyu spoke out, breaking the silence between them. His fingers was busy fiddling with the rubik cube on his hold—Wonwoo’s, but he decided to give it to the younger male because he really liked it—and frowned. Wonwoo looked at him, observing the dark haired male’s expression, it was unreadable so he wasn’t sure if he said that to show his curiosity or simply told him not trying to found out more about the matter because he will never get anywhere.
“He never showed it off too. Unlike me or the other children.”
“…but he has peculiarity?”
Mingyu gave him a bizarre look as if his statement was not something commonly heard in the house. “Of course? Only people with peculiarity that can enter the loop!” Wonwoo’s eyes widened in surprise at the younger and confused him even more. He was very clear with the fact he didn’t have any peculiarity but hearing the new discerned truth brought another to another perplexing understandings inside his head. “W-Wait what? Only the peculiars? You mean I’m also a peculiar?”
“Um..yeah? You don’t know about that?”
Wonwoo halted and stall. “That doesn’t make sense. I don’t have any, my dad also said so. There’s no way I-“
“Then Ms. Park must have done something to let you in? From what I know Ymbrynes are making loops only for the peculiars not normal human.” They looked at each other for awhile, it did make sense on some parts although didn’t entirely explain why she let him in, but maybe that was because he was the son of his father who once lived in the house. Despite, he still wondered why would Ms. Park chose him to carry the burden instead of other person that may more capable. “I guess, that make sense.”
For now.
IV.
The day was bright and the weather was very nice for a long walk, but his legs gave out since three days ago. His body drained out from energy and barely could even lift his body from the soft mattress. Soonyoung groaned and heaved a loud heavy breath, he was particularly bored. His head was aching from the constant heavy labour work; doing this and that he hated math and calculation, also to add reconstructing, assembling—he was very tired and needed a break.
He could hear the children in the backyard running around—Seungkwan’s loud scream and Jihoon’s shrieks every time the other child snatched away his ball, then Chan would run to the house and snitched to Ms. Park about their fight. “Chan why would you tell her!” Seungkwan scolded but he could tell Ms. Park was already outside at the yard with them rolling her eyes like they would popped out soon from too much reflexes on her rectus muscles. She wasn’t on the older side along with some senior Ymbrynes but neither on the very young line ones, yet he was chuckling at the thought every time she would come back to the living room popping her body on the couch while sighing,
“I’m too old for taking care of these kids. But I’m more worried of Seungkwan and Jihoon making a mess without my concern than people disgracing them for their peculiarity. They’re too haughty as kids.”
“I’m not even three months living here but I feel like my life span shortened by ten years because of them.” Wonwoo replied, sighing together with the mother of the house. Somehow Soonyoung agreed on that and chuckled as he imagines Wonwoo’s drained and reddened face from the sun heat and lost of fatigue.
He could hear the rest of the chats, the children were too loud outside his room. Soonyoung closed his eyes for awhile and was about to drifted to sleep, before a light tap on his glass window. Suddenly he lost all the drowsiness, curiosity got the best of him and, notably, forced himself to stood up from the thick comforting duvet. He barely can see what was going on outside until he reached the rear of the window. “Wonwoo?” He whispered.
The jet-black haired male sat on a thick tree branch near their house, reaching out closely to his room window. He smiled, in some way, forgot all the train of thoughts inside his head. No restrictions neither awareness; he approached the male. Fingertips gliding to the knob and opened it by bit. “What are you doing there? It’s dangerous!” Wonwoo smiled and jumped to the small balcony of his room. He had a book—he had never saw before—on his hold and a sack of persimmons. “Want some?”
“Sure, thanks. Is that a new book? I never saw you read that.”
“Yeah, it’s a new one and the oldest one in my room. I never read this before but I think I will finally read it.”
They stood there for awhile. Soonyoung took the plastic bag and put it on the desk near the post lamp in his room. His hand grabbed on one of them, wiping it out to his loose pajamas trouser and bite on it. “Come in.” He casually sat on his bed and watched the awkward lanky man behind the window. “Ah, thanks.”
Wonwoo wasn’t sure where he should seat, it was too awkward. He never went to anyone’s bedroom except his parents’ and Soonyoung was obviously his first. It was cozy, nicely decorated with old and classic mahogany furnitures, nothing fancy and looked almost like a simple cottage near the lake owned by his uncle. The single desk at the corner with nothing but lamp post and dried out flowers showed pretty much the owner’s personality—he remembered Soonyoung did not like reading, but he liked it when someone told him stories.
“Sit here.” Soonyoung tapped the space beside him on the mattress. “Uh, there?” the younger male chuckled. “Of course, don’t be like that. We’re friends, aren’t we?”
Ah, right they were friends and friends weren’t awkward with each other. How did he forget that?
He walked closer to the bed and Soonyoung rolled his body comfortably on the mattress. He gave some space for Wonwoo to lay on, just maybe the male preferred to read while laying down. Wonwoo watched the younger carefully as Soonyoung on his stomach and looked up to him, “Lay here beside me. Just be comfortable, I’m fine with people invading my personal spaces.” and followed by a small laughter from him. Wonwoo twitched his eyebrow at the remark, feeling slightly offended by it. “Well, I’m sorry for not enjoying my personal space to be—invaded.” He smirked and laid on the mattress, stretching his legs snuggling his back to the thick pillow on his back, resting to the head post. His bed cover smelled nice.
❀
It took him at least several hours to realized he had been staying in the room for too long. He heard the children’s chirps and noises of metals and glasses right below him, through the thin layer of wooden tiles underneath his feet. He looked to the window and sun had set not awhile ago, the sky turned orange and gradated to purple then blue and slightly a hint of black.
“Oh, dinner’s in 10 minutes.” He muttered, closing his book. “You’re not going?” He looked at his side, Soonyoung was fast asleep, little snores came out from his nostrils with the reddish pouty lips moved and stretched. His heart skipped a beat, looking at the exquisite sight. It was very exquisite; those long lashes, small slips, chubby pale cheeks, and soft and calm expression of his—gorgeous.
“What the fuck, Jeon Wonwoo get your shit straight.” As he looked to the other side, distracting his thoughts and mentally slapped himself. Having such a thought about his own friend—growing feelings for the new friend was very wrong but right at the same time. Yet, he didn’t want to make the same mistake ruining his friendship because of his selfishness whom craving for love and lust. The last time it happened, that was very bad and wrong; it left scars and he didn’t want to experience it for the second time. “Not when you seem will never like me back.”
He came down from the second floor, tiptoeing as he saw the dinner had started, noticing Ms. Park wasn’t at the room from the slight slit of the door to the dinner room. “Where have you been, Mr. Jeon?” Ms. Park didn’t look amused with both her arms rested on her chest while seating at the very front of the dinner table. He pulled out a smudged smile and sighed, putting up his book as a defend. “Reading. I’m sorry for coming late I didn’t realize it passed dinner time.”
She coughed and let him slide off from delaying the dinner time. “Okay, just sit. Next time, don’t do this again, understand Mr. Jeon?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
V.
Wonwoo saw Seungkwan stood there in front of the new clock wall. He knew it was wrong to buy the clock wall but Ms. Park insisted the furniture will complement their house. He stood there nervously as he watched Seungkwan was standing still in front of the clock until it stroke 1 am in the morning. The loud brass sound gave him goosebumps and the nerves inside him stretched and contracted giving him jolt of chills.
The younger lad didn’t budge not even one inch. He got worried as it passed ten minutes since the lad stood there.
He sang. “I will be chasted and the rel-“
“Seungkwan!”
His breath hitched and he fell down to the ground. The hard wooden tiles were cold yet the atmosphere of autumn night was even colder. Wonwoo was stunned, standing still behind the wall he leant to and watched another figure came out of the room. Ms Park stepped out barefoot and without care the tip of her toes were turning blue from the cold tiles. “Ma’am?” His voice came out hoarse when Ms Park held him close to her chest. She rocked him back and forth, her voice trembled from fear; which he never thought of—an Ymbryne were brave women, that was what he thought until he saw Ms. Park cried at Seungkwan that night.
“This has to stop.” She whispered, loud enough for the other person behind the wall heard her. “What happened? How come you sleep walk all the way here?” Tears brimmed at the tip of his eyes as he tried to remember. His heart beat two times faster as the cuts of memories rushed inside his mental graphic at the back of his head. “Soonyoung-hyung, we talked before sleep then he—“
“He did what? Please tell me dear, because you weren’t supposed to go to his room!” Wonwoo shuddered at the last sentence. They weren’t supposed to go there? Why? All the questions about the house were pilling up more inside his head, barely can put it into chunks of memories and he struggled with the sorts of weird assumptions. He was a coward and he knew he didn’t belong here. He hated too much secrets put before him and it started to scare him even more.
A light tap brought him back to sanity and he turned around. Mingyu’s taller figure looked more intimidating within the dark. He sighed and drooped a slight smirk as they playfully hit each other’s arm and hushing to make sure Ms. Park won’t notice their appearance as it passed the bed time. “Bro, you were supposed to be asleep! What are you doing there?” Mingyu walked beside him all the way to the stairs and followed him to the second floor.
Wonwoo would rather not told Mingyu what actually happened down there but he can see the male was very curious and he seemed to be a trustworthy person. They were close since the first time he came to the house and it wasn’t a lie that they grew to trust each other at the time passed. “Something happened to Seungkwan after he visited Soonyoung at his room.” Abruptly the younger was taken back. His face color drained and his expression was extremely uncomfortable.
“Shit man, Seungkwan did?”
“Yeah…why?”
“Because we aren’t allowed to see him, especially this month his phase is back!”
Wonwoo stalled and frowned. What phase?
VI.
Sometime it may be a headache to took care of the children; they were noisy, fought a lot, ran a lot—endless energy that sometimes he wondered where they all got those fatigue to ran all day under the sun heart, but scratched that, they were peculiar kids but after all just like any other kids who loved playing on the field with friends, unlike him.
It did explained why his skin was sort of pale, in unhealthy way. He ate a lot though, but he still look like a dead person and even worse when he was sick. So maybe, it wasn’t a bad idea and was a good decision to took the duty. It forced him to stay outside more than he usually did at home. It may wasn’t as hot in summer like mostly did in Seoul, as they were placed in a pretty much high ground and colder side of the country but the sun heat in the morning to noon was enough for his skin health.
“You look better each day, I see.” Ms. Park praised, he did gained some weights and looked a bit buff compare his state the first time he came to the house. He may be in the loop but probably it didn’t effect his body stimulation. “The kids give me pretty hard times I guess that counts as exercising.” He chuckled. “How many laps?”
“Eh?”
“How many laps did the kids make you run?”
“5 laps? I almost die from exhausted when Seungkwan and Jihoon started to chase each other.” Ms. Park laughed, her face was brighter somehow but she was thinner. He was a bit worried but she said she was on diet. Despite her brighter complexion she smiled more than she used to from six months ago, they grew closer and her existence grew in him. She became an important figure—a replacement to his died mother.
Later, he was busy reading his book. His reading time increased when he moved into the house and that was one of the best thing he could list on aside from his regret. He didn’t mind about his regrets anymore, this kind of life cycle, was what he always wanted from the start. Even when he thought his job wasn’t that impactful, he became fond of it. He found a point when baby sitting the children wasn’t anything as complicated and a ball of trouble to him anymore. Their life after all was static, he memorized the pattern as easy as flipping the back of his hand.
It was peaceful, somehow like those in self-improvement book he read once back then when he was younger. Reading a book companied with laughters of children outside was the true definition of peaceful. It was peaceful when he knew those people in his life was still there with him. The children’s laughters were the sign of no bad day and bad weather. Their fights were the sign they were family and will protect each other. And in some way it calmed him down in a particular way he will never grasp the concept of—he never experienced such a feeling, it was surreal but in a very good way.
“Hyung why do you always read?”
A voice startled him. He closed his eyes for awhile from the slight jumped in his chest and looked to his side. “You surprised me, Chan. Oh God.” Chan laughed looking at the older’s reaction. Wonwoo had been an amusing person to Chan. A different kind of man, brother, and older person figure. Mingyu, Soonyoung, Ms. Park were so far in his entirely loop life that had been able to show him so many incredible things and told that nothing to think about the world outside the loop, their static life alone was interesting and indulging enough.
But Jeon Wonwoo showed him a different side as a figure of older brother. Unlike his orphan mother and two older brothers Jeon Wonwoo was different. He was calm and composed, slightly intimidating on their first meeting but he loosen up with him and was actually very friendly. To add, Wonwoo was someone who came from outside the loop. He brought so many interesting stories from outside, fairytales, and folk fantasies he listened to before sleep were pieces of dust compare to the older’s bizarre and extraordinary stories.
“Is reading fun?” He asked. Wonwoo gave him a soft smile and showed off the cover of his book. “Of course, that is why I can sit all day reading books.”
“How does it feel?”
Wonwoo was slightly taken back by the question. Lee Chan, somehow to him appeared to be a very interesting child. He had a high curiosity to new things and wanted to know everything. He always asked him a lot of things expecting the older could answer and satisfy his needs. Lee Chan was a smart kid but somehow his knowledge wasn’t that much yet compare to the other orphans. “It’s okay, you can learn and ask, I will tell you everything.” Wonwoo did say that and Chan started to ask questions to him, which was very cute.
“Feel?” It wasn’t the right word but he understood where the younger was heading to. “I feel happy sometimes, maybe sad, or angry, lots and lots of emotions.” Chan’s eyebrows slatted down and his lips jutted out. “You’re feeling sad? Then is it a bad book? Mom Park said we should be happy all the time and not to be sad. Hyung shouldn’t be sad because Chan is here!” Wonwoo looked at the child for awhile, his eyes showed a glint of sadness but proudness at the same time.
This child is too pure. He is surreal.
Chan, in many ways, grew inside him. There was this urge to protect the child at all cost. This child didn’t deserve to see the outside world; cruel, dark, and horrible truth of the current world. He didn’t deserve that.
❀
It was a rare occasion but sometimes he might kill the time with it. He would sit on the living room folding the towel and other clothes, then Chan would come and helped him. Unlike his other brothers Chan preferred to play inside the house. He said he hate being sweaty and sticky after he play and that meant he had to took a shower after that. The main point was; he hated showering very often. Wonwoo could just chuckled at that, typical kids.
He sometimes would sing when he got bored then rolled on the sofa as he felt tired and let Wonwoo continued the job. But most of the time he would ask Wonwoo to tell him stories, “You haven’t finished your story from last night. What happened after snow princess fall asleep?” Wonwoo halted his movement and recalled the old fairytale, digging inside his long-term memory for awhile.
“The prince came and kissed her. Because of the kiss, she woken up.”
“Is the prince also a peculiar?”
Wonwoo chuckled. “No, it was the magic of love.” Chan beamed, then sat up changing his position as his anticipation rose up. “Magic? Isn’t it also a peculiarity?” The older went silent for awhile, the kid had the point. “It is? Yeah, not everyone can do magic. How about you?”
Chan shrugged. “You don’t know about your own peculiarity?”
“I don’t really understand it. Mom Park said we are slightly different that most peculiar children, people can’t see our peculiarity but were very dangerous.”
It did make sense why the lady asked him to found out. She might have noticed the children have peculiarities, but they were too young to know. Their powers were hidden and that gave him a whole new idea of his own duty.
He was meant to help the children to find their peculiarity.
The child watched his older brother stall and dazed out. He called Wonwoo several times but he didn’t respond. He clicked his tongue and sat in front of the taller male. “Hyung!” Wonwoo snapped back to reality and looked at the much smaller male in front of him. “I think I know my peculiarity but I don’t know if it’s a peculiarity.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sometimes, I can tell when somebody is about to die and a person’s intention when I was in danger. I’m not sure if it’s a peculiarity, but I hope it’s not. I want something like Jihoon’s!”
Wonwoo frowned, telling somebody was about to die was closely similar to fortune telling. It might be counted as a peculiarity but if it did Lee Chan was one of the dangerous child. He was contemplating of the child’s word but ‘die’ was harsh. Was that possible to have such a peculiarity? Had been a question to him since then. He learnt and knew about peculiarity—from Ms. Park’s book—but still hardly can recognized which and which were peculiarity.
He looked back at the younger as he felt a tap on his knees. “Hyung, do you want to know what I see from you?” Come what may, he felt shivers at the back of his spine. His chest somehow thumped louder than a couple of seconds ago, somewhat in a situation he didn’t want to be in but a part of him was curious. He had not yet decide whether it was really the child’s peculiarity, but in what context it would be not? Like Chan said, Ms. Park might sense a very dangerous power within him which led him to take the child in. Just, they never actually saw the young lad unleashed that incredible force.
“You and Soonyoung-hyung, have this different aura to compare to Mingyu-hyung. Your shadow feels different to me, like, they are telling me not to look at them. I’m a bit scared but it’s you so, I guess I don’t have to.”
“Soonyoung and me?”
Chan nodded. “But actually I’m not really close with Soonyoung-hyung anymore. He rarely plays with us for some time…I’m a bit sad.” The light on his face dimmed, his eyes looked sad and Wonwoo understood how he felt. The look of being left behind and afraid of standing alone. “Soonyoung, he is, sick.” He made up some fake reason. “So he can’t play much with you. But hyung will, so don’t worry okay?” The younger looked up to him and the bright smile came back as he nodded furiously.
“Then let’s play hide and seek now! Hyung is the seeker~” He giggled and ran to the second floor as he flailed his arms in the air in excitement. Wonwoo laughed at the sudden mood change, almost couldn’t keep up with the younger’s lifted energy but pushed himself to join the bandwagon. “You better hide well or I will catch you!” He followed to where Chan was running off and acted as a seeker as he was told to.
VII.
It happened again.
This time Wonwoo woke up to the sound of not very quiet footsteps on the hall in front of his room down to the basement. Somehow the younger always led him to this old clock and he got suspicious if it had something to do with all the weird event that kept happening. “Hyung,” His heart jumped at the sudden appearance of Mingyu behind him. They were hiding themselves behind the tall and thick wooden pillar holding up the old basement of the house. “Shit, Mingyu stop surprising me like that.” The younger grinned apologetically at the scolding. “Sorry. It happens again? Seungkwan?”
The older nodded. This time he decided to watch what happened until he finished the whole song. He may didn’t remember it clearly—curse his disorder—but when the clock stroke one and Seungkwan will sing after the brass sound ended, Mingyu reminded him about that. This time Ms. Park was nowhere to be seen and it was almost impossible for her to know one of her son was there.
The event was shallowly encoded and recalled back in a less vividly imagery as the clock brass chimed loudly. They waited for the young lad to start the sacrament and it didn’t took long for Seungkwan’s body shook and horrifyingly trembled as his voice came out of his throat.
“I will be chasten and released…The sun will rise and the new day will come. The Lord—“
Both male could feel the foreboding chills through their spine and up to their nerves. Seungkwan looked fragile and in fear, he sanity was long gone and possessed. His dark orbs glistened in a very portent way beckoning the bleakest atmosphere and dropped it to minus degree. It was like an omen summer movie he watched when he was fifteen, Wonwoo shuddered. They should have stopped it from going further but his intrusiveness got the best of him.
The young lad standing before the old clock emitted a loud hoarse shriek like his soul was gripped and pulled out from his small throat. Both the older males couldn’t stand still and watching horrifying sight in front of them. Mingyu was the first to move, tackling down Seungkwan tactfully making sure he didn’t hurt the younger. He was struggling and the shriek got louder, Wonwoo left the basement in hurry to fetched Ms. Park.
“It happened again ma’am! Hurry!”
Ms. Park care no less and jumped out from her bed in her old pajamas and rushed to the basement followed by the younger male. They sweated despite the cold weather and it more surprised as they were greeted by Mingyu. Scratches of struggles showing on his skin, skin almost ripped, his face was as if clawed by the child. Seungkwan was getting weaker as he lost his energy from too much struggling. Ms. Park came to him and calmed him down, the child soothed by the madam’s warm embrace as she kept the lad composed and stay sane.
“Something was wrong. We should get rid of this ma’am.”
“I know. Maybe we should, it’s dangerous to have sacred matter in the house. Seungkwan’s pecualirity isn’t stable yet and he barely can control himself.” She looked up at the two men, “can you help me tomorrow?”
“No problem ma’am, me and Mingyu will take the clock out by morning.”
“Thank you boys, you can go back to sleep now. I will tuck Seungkwan back to his room.”
❀
“Hyung…” Jihoon was sitting on his bed with horrified look. His lips were pale and sweats glistened all over his body, trembling in fear. “Is Seungkwan okay? H-He is not hurt isn’t he?” Wonwoo sighed, massaging his temple trying to let his brain slowly processed the madness and non-cohesiveness of each outlandish event that kept happening for the past months. He knew his life be would very much peculiar but he never knew it would be as complicated.
Mingyu come to Jihoon and hugged him tight. His large frame lifted the younger from his bed and patted his back as Jihoon started sobbing in fear. He knew this will turn out worse than it seemed. They forgot about Jihoon’s peculiarity for awhile which was such a stupidity of them. “He could hear through the whole house is the problem. I’m afraid he was no longer safe here.”
“You mean he must leave the house? It won’t happen hyung! It will be a lot more dangerous for him if the he is out of Ms. Park’s look-out the hollows might find him.”
“Then you and Ms. Park move out along with Jihoon and Soonyoung. I will take care of Seungkwan and Chan. I have a gut this isn’t about the clock, it wasn’t just Seungkwan but Chan has been acting weird lately even before we took in the old clock.”
Mingyu snorted mockingly. “You don’t even know your peculiarity how’s that will help? Hyung, stop being stubborn you’re just putting yourself in a whole lot danger.” It did passed through his mind once but somehow fluted his anger away and widespread with the temper he held in for the past days.
“THEN WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO? IT’S MY JOB TO PROTECT THEM!” He heaved heavy breathes, voice loud enough to led Ms. Park to the room they were in and Jihoon wailed as he was frightened by his yell. Mingyu threw him dagger look and rocked the younger male on his hold back and forth to calm him down but no avail. Jihoon cried louder as the fear was eating him up and Wonwoo’s anger made it worse. “Great Job, Hyung you made it worse.”
“What’s going on here boys? Why’s Jihoon crying?” She walked in to the room and reached out her arms as he clasped Jihoon on her hug. The younger calmed down, with sobs escaped from his thin lips. His eyes were shaking in fright and avoid as much eye contact with both older males. The tension was painfully forced out negative power and wasn’t showing any good sign. Ms. Park wasn’t pleased and clearly showed on her expression. “I suggest you two work this out or I will have to give both of you a good lesson tomorrow morning for disturbing Jihoon’s sleep. You got that?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good, now go back to your own room. It’s late.”