Hatching

Blackmail

June 18th, 2017

"So, Sae-Jun mixed up the days?" Dawa asked, brows furrowed. Do-Hwan just nodded, biting his lips. He felt bad that Dawa had to leave his family earlier than he expected.

Do-Hwan sighed. "I can get another ticket for the 20th if you want to stay a day longer...Sae-Jun must've had a lot on his plate. He rarely makes mistakes like this." Do-Hwan defended. Sae-Jun had gotten the return tickets for the 19th instead of the 20th.

"No Hyung. It's okay for me to leave a day early. I'll get my things, what time are we leaving?"

"Are you sure? The plane leaves at 5 am, so we should leave here at 3 am. You don't have to, you know?" Do-Hwan kept saying.

"Hyung, I'm serious. It's okay. Besides, it would be a nice little surprise for the others if I came a day early!" Dawa was very eager to surprise them. "I'll tell my mum first and then get ready for tomorrow. You should clock in for the night as well."

June 19th, 2016

Dawa was tired. He hadn't slept well the night before. When he fell asleep, it felt too peaceful and that bothered him as he was not used to it. So, against his better judgment, he stayed up reading a book about Vincent Van Gough, which he had read in high school. The book was 510 pages and he read every single word from cover to cover.

"You look like you've never heard of sleep," Do-Hwan whispered when they finally got on the plane. "Do you want a concealer to hide the bags? You know the other members are going to scold you." Dawa gave him a frown at the fact that Do-Hwan mentioned his massive eyebags.

"Hyung, it's kind of rude to point out people's eyebags." Dawa half-joked. "I'm just going to sleep now." But Dawa could not sleep at all throughout the plane ride. Do-Hwan had been watching the movies that the plane had to offer, and just as Dawa was starting to fall into a deep sleep, he would be woken up by a tearful, sneezing, sobbing mess that was Do-Hwan.

"Ahh, Hyung, If you're going to cry over all the Disney and Pixar movies, then maybe you should watch something else," Dawa mumbled trying to cover himself with the thin blanket the plane had offered. His hair was now a mess from all the moving around he did when he was trying to get comfortable and out of Do-Hwan's earshot.

Do-Hwan only sobbed more. "How can I not cry when his parents are about to die in a car accident?" He looked next to him to see Dawa's eyes wide, brimmed with tears as Dawa watched the very beginning of Pete's Dragon.

"See. I told you it was sad, even the "Stone-cold Zero can't resist the tears." Do-Hwan stated as Dawa watched Pete lose his father and mother in the car accident. With the screech of the car, Dawa was frozen, unable to speak, unable to talk.

Do-Hwan, after watching Dawa's reaction, realized something seemed off about this reaction. It didn't look just sad from watching the sad scene. Do-Hwan noticed the uneven breathing, and the glazed-over eyes, and immediately turned the screen off but it was too late. Dawa had already seen enough. "Dawa?" Do-Hwan's voice kept echoing in his ear but Dawa couldn't focus, he could feel the blood in his system rushing all over his body, and his heavy breathing seemed far away. The image of the car screeching and swerving kept replaying and then the blood. "Dawa? I'm sorry. Hey. You're okay." Do-Hwan held Dawa tight and patted his back. Trying to calm the overwhelmed younger. Do-Hwan patted him in a therapeutic pattern until Dawa calmed down enough for Do-Hwan to stop.

"I-I'm okay now. Sorry about that." Dawa whispered. The other people on the plane had been watching the whole time.

"No need to apologize. I- I wasn't aware that you would have this kind of reaction. I'm sorry."