Work Text:
Yoojin is about 90% sure Sung Hyunjae's reason for being here is complete bullshit. It usually is. Generally his reason for coming around is about 10% whatever he says it is, 10% some card he’s playing close to chest, and about 80% poking Yoojin to see what funny noises he’ll make. He can see it in his stupid smug face.
Yoojin knows this. Sung Hyunjae knows he knows this. And Yoojin knows that Sung Hyunjae knows he knows this. Its a circle of knowing. Steps to a dance they’ve learned well. Yoojin isn’t a natural dancer but he’s learned and been forced to learn over his years. So he does his steps and then Sung Hyunjae does his. Then Sung Hyunjae brings up Yoojin and Yoohyun’s parents. And Yoojin thinks: Ah, here’s the secret 10%. Of all the things Sung Hyunjae could pick to dig into there are worse things but not by much, honestly.
Yoojin adjusts to the steps of a dance that's not new but is quite dust covered. Its been a long time since anyone has been interested in the childhood of the brothers Han. At least that far back, anyway. Still, some things you don’t forget.
Yoojin sits in a chair across from Sung Hyunjae, drinks his canned tea, and answers questions in neat steps around the truth. Careful enough to not step on it’s toes but not so careful as to look like he’s being careful.
Yes his parents traveled a lot. No that doesn’t bother Yoojin. They made sure he and Yoohyun had everything they needed. Yes he pretty much raised his brother from infancy. No he doesn’t think that’s weird at all, he always loved being a big brother. A heaping handful of truth with a few tiny half truths mixed in alongside the odd outright lie. Enough uncomfortable details he pretends to be oblivious of to make most people uncomfortable enough to not dig further.
Sung Hyunjae is not most people. So of course he keeps talking, keeps digging.
“They never did find the bodies did they?” Sung Hyunjae asks, voice laced with enough sympathy that he must want Yoojin to know he’s faking it. Yoojin gives him the flattest look he can manage. A smile tugs up the edges of Sung Hyunjae's fake frown.
“No, they just vanished.”
“Ah, how unfortunate.”
Yoojin nods absently. “It was hard.”
“You don’t sound very upset.”
“It was a very long time ago.” Even longer for Yoojin, than most people.
Sung Hyunjae hums. “You know, generally with cases like these the family holds onto hope.”
“I suppose.” Yoojin is, by his nature, a realist. And he knows this specific reality better than anyone.
“You don’t sound like you’re holding onto hope.”
“I knew our parents. They liked traveling but they weren’t cruel or cold. They were always very good about sending money back so we could have the things we needed.”
“Ah so when the money stopped coming you simply knew they must be dead.”
Yoojin shrugs and stands up. “You make me sound shallow talking like that. As much fun as it’s been digging up old ghosts—”
Sung Hyunjae chuckles. Yoojin shoots him a look but Sung Hyunjae just smiles, eyes sparkling, and says nothing. “—Well I’ve got a lot to take care of. So if you’re done with business we can shoot the breeze another time—”
“Still. Even if you were very certain they were dead you must have at least wished you had the bodies to give them a proper burial.”
Yoojin nods along, walking to the door. He doesn’t hear Sung Hyunjae’s footsteps follow. Bastard, at least pretend to understand when someone is trying to politely escort you out. His hand turns the door knob, and it slides open smoothly.
“Of course, but there’s no use wishing for something like that.” The door is only open just a crack when Sung Hyunjae speaks again.
“Well in that case I have a fantastic gift for you.” There’s a soft thunk of something being set down.
Yoojin goes very still. The door shuts with a gentle click.
“That’s an odd thing to say, Guildmaster Sung Hyunjae.”
Guildmaster Sung says nothing, watching him with that same quiet smile. On the table in front of him, in front of the couch he hasn’t bothered to even pretend to be getting up from, is something very old. And very familiar.
It’s in rough condition. There’s dirt caught in the grooves even if someone has clearly wiped it down. The silver body is heavily tarnished and the ragged crack in the glass has crushed the face of the watch.
His eyes flick from his father’s watch to Guildmaster Sung, still watching him with that little smile.
“Oh don’t look at me with those eyes, you make me feel like a mouse is about to try to rip out my throat.” He leans forward and scoops the watch up, holding it up to the light like an archaeologist uncovering an interesting find.
“I’ve got no intention of doing anything with this information. Even if I could, well, what would be the point? At this point the only evidence left will be circumstantial at best. I’d be throwing around wild accusations Haeyon would have no trouble burying. If they even need to.
You’ve built the two of you quite the sparkling reputation. The public might very well do the job for them with minimal prompting. And then there I’d be, the cruel and terrible man who dug up such painful memories only to make such wild accusations against two beloved public figures.” Sung Hyunjae swipes a thumb over the edge of the shattered face of the watch, exactly as fearless of being cut as an S-ranker should be.
“Then why did you go digging?” Yoojin drags his eyes from the watch to Sung Hyunjae.
Sung Hyunjae's eyes slide from the watch over to him. “Is it strange for me to want to know more about the history of my precious item?” He holds his arm out, the watch dangling from his fingers. Yoojin stares for a moment and then walks over, slipping the watch from Sung Hyunjae's hand.
“I would very much like to know the details, if it’s not too painful of a thing for me to ask.”
Yoojin scoffs. “You’d want to know the details even if it were the most painful thing you could ask me.”
Sung Hyunjae's eyes crinkle. “I wonder, what could be a more painful question than the details of your parent’s murder?”
Yoojin closes his eyes and scrubs a hand over his face. He drops back down into the chair across from Sung Hyunjae and looks at the watch. It looks exactly like he remembers it did, just more ragged. But the large details are the same. Simple silver plating if incredibly tarnished. A plain face with a large dent cracking the glass and leaving the hands crushed permanently into the 10:48 position.
“Of course, if an answer to what could be more painful of a question than your parents’s murder isn’t possible then I’ll settle for knowing whatever could have led to such events. Was dear Yoohyun sent to bed without dinner?”
Yoojin watches Sung Hyunjae for a long moment. The man just sits there, prim and proper and ever so patiently waiting for Yoojin to answer. Yoojin glares down at the watch, fingers clenching around the mangled band.
This bastard, he thinks, he doesn’t even care about the murders. I could make him agree to a contract before I tell him anything but then that would just make his words seem more legitimate if he was penalized for telling someone about it. And he’s not wrong. He has nothing to gain telling anyone about this.
Yoojin has gone fifteen— ten now— years without telling anyone the truth about his parents and never once has he even been tempted to tell anyone. But now he weighs the pros and cons and decides there’s no real reason to deny Sung Hyunjae the truth.
Fine. It’s not like he’ s going to turn me in . The chances of him telling anyone are low if only because it’d mean he’d have to give up exclusive information on ‘his’ precious item. And if I don’t just tell the bastard he’ll only annoy me until I do.
Yoojin scoffs, rolling his eyes. “They wanted to transfer me to a boarding school for high school.”
Sung Hyunjae tilts his head like a curious dog. “I suppose Han Yoohyun didn’t care for that idea?”
Yoojin looks back down at the watch in his hands. His fingers glide carefully over the damaged face, careful of the sharp edges. He remembers the sound of the glass smashing when he dropped his father’s limp body down into the earth.
“Yoohyun doesn’t know about it,” Yoojin mutters. One of the shattered edges catches his fingertips. He pulls them away before they start bleeding.
Sung Hyunjae stills as the pieces click together. He smiles, leaning forward in his seat with his hands clasped loosely together.
“Now why didn’t I expect that? You always find a way to surprise me.”
“I don’t know why you’re so surprised, people have been killing each other long before dungeons and awakenings and all that nonsense.”
“Still,” Sung Hyunjae says with a little shrug. “Between the two of you no one would ever guess it was you.”
“He was little. He was my baby brother, he needed me, and they tried to take him away from me.”
“One must wonder why they’d ever make such a decision, especially since it seems as if they weren’t exactly interested in parenting him in your stead— if you’ll pardon me for saying so.”
“They said a lot of stupid things about it. I was too attached. There was something wrong with him. Ridiculous. You’d think parents would be thrilled to have a baby that didn’t cry hardly ever. And who cares if his face wasn’t that expressive! I knew when he was happy! If they tried they’d have known too they just—” Yoojin draws himself back with a sharp breath. He glares at Sung Hyunjae and his glittering eyes.
“No, no, do feel free to continue. Get it all off your chest. I am a willing pair of ears. Particularly when it comes to the details of how a— how old were you again?”
Yoojin frowns. His fingers tap as he thinks.
“Oh my. You really have to think about it?”
“It was ages ago, of course I don’t remember everything exactly,” Yoojin says, rolling his eyes as he waves the comment off. After a moment he hums. “I would’ve had to have been 15, I guess.”
“You… guess?” Sung Hyunjae looks entirely too entertained. Yoojin just shrugs.
“I remember it was during my first year of high school so I had to have been at least 15. With all of their trips it took a while for people to realize they were actually missing. But I also remember all the fuss was over before Yoohyun’s birthday that year. The funeral was in March or April, I think? I was 16 by then and that was enough for people not to fuss over me getting custody of Yoohyun.”
“No relatives jockeying for the privilege? No fights for inheritance?”
Yoojin shakes his head. “Nah, no one else minded. We were never close to any extended family. Technically one of our older cousins was supposed to be named guardian but I managed to convince him to sign off on everything. Honestly I didn’t care too much about how it all worked. I got Yoohyun. I got enough from inheritance and selling the house to get us set up until I could find a job to support us. That was all I cared about.”
“What a dedicated older brother you are, your brother should be more appreciative.”
“Hey! He’s plenty appreciative.”
“Of course, who wouldn’t appreciate their older brother being willing to kill your own parents to stay at your side.”
Yoojin’s mouth shuts. He looks away, snatching up Sung Hyunjae's half drunk canned tea and chugs it.
Sung Hyunjae's glee grows exponentially.
“No.” He breathes.
Yoojin’s lips thin, his head turns stubbornly away as Sung Hyunjae stares.
“Surely. Surely at some point it came up. Did you really never tell him?”
Yoojin’s face flushes. This is the moment where Yoojin would love to say something like “No and if you know whats good for you you’ll keep your mouth shut” except he likes his head on his shoulders and his body not fried extra crispy, thanks.
So instead he just mutters “Shut up. He was a kid when all that happened and afterwards it just… it wasn’t important.”
“Ah, such a trivial thing, loving your brother so much you’d murder your own parents to avoid separation.”
“If you’re done digging up old bones— quit laughing every time I mention digging its not that funny— I do actually have other things to do today.”
He chucks the watch on the table for Sung Hyunjae to pocket with a grin as he finally stands up to follow Yoojin over to the door.
He stops in front of Yoojin, smiling down at him. Yoojin glares up at him, arms crossed and foot tapping.
“You truly are a creature that surprises me at every turn, aren’t you?”
“Get out of my hair, don’t you have a guild to be looking after you lazy guild master.” He throws the door open.
Yoohyun stands on the other side looking frazzled. Yoojin freezes. Sung Hyunjae practically shines with glee.
“… Sung Hyunjae how long has he been there.”
Sung Hyunjae sparkles at him innocently.
“Sung Hyunjae I know you know—”
“Oh my look at the time.” The absolute complete and utter bastard actually has the audacity to look at the broken watch “ It seems I’m late for a raid. This lazy guild master really must be going—”
“You utter bastard. I’m going to reverse house break your mount!”
“Wait,” says Yoohyun. Sung Hyunjae pauses.
“If anyone finds out about any of this I’ll assume it was your fault and I will burn down your entire guild.”
Sung Hyunjae glances over his shoulder with a smile that barely acknowledges the threat. “Of course, I would never endanger my precious item.”
Yoohyun scowls, shifting to block sight of Yoojin.
And then he’s gone and its just the two brothers and some old bones drug out to bleach in the space between them.
“Listen, Yoohyun, whatever you heard—”
Yoohyun folds himself around his brother. Yoojin startles but shifts his arms to hug back anyway.
“So…”
“I heard the whole thing.”
Yoojin sighs. “Of course you did. Listen… our parents…”
“They didn’t love me, it’s okay hyung, I already know. They thought there was something wrong with me. I don’t think they were wrong.”
Yoojin goes rigid and pulls back to grab Yoohyun’s face in his hands, dragging it down to his level.
“They were wrong. There is nothing wrong with you. Not then and not now. You’re my precious baby brother so don’t talk like that, okay?”
Yoohyun stays quiet. Yoojin’s eyes narrow. He squishes his brother’s face harder. “Okay?”
“...Okay, hyung.”
Yoojin nods and pulls Yoohyun back into a hug. He tugs his too tall baby brother down low enough to press his cheek into his hair.
“You were never supposed to find out. I never wanted you to be burdened with all of this.”
“I’d rather share the burden with you. I’d have been happy if you’d told me back then.
Yoojin shakes his head. “ You were just a kid, kids shouldn’t have to deal with anything like that. But if I had to pick between you and them I’d pick you a thousand times over.”
A few weeks later, on an otherwise peaceful afternoon, a package arrives from Sesong Guild. He knows what will be inside the moment he reads the note tucked under the ribbon that runs along the outside.
A little bit of peace of mind.
It’s unsigned but he doesn’t need it to be to know who it’s from.
He opens the box and pulls the funeral urns from the protective material they’re nestled inside.
Yoohyun comes up behind him as he’s staring down at them.
“Do you miss them?” He asks.
“… A little.” Yoojin answers.
“Did you ever regret it?”
Yoojin traces the lid of one of the urns. He thinks about his parents, before and after Yoohyun. The conversations he overheard. The looks he’d glimpse on their faces. The way their family slowly changed like a tree with a broken limb slowly browning, slowly dying.
“… No.”