The awkward silence in the living room. Suho sitting on the sofa, had his head down not daring to look up.
His cheeks red as he felt stares thrown at him. Everyone was staring at him like he was something extraordinary with their mouth wide apart.
Actually, he would have already ran away from this place if not certain small white haired, green eyed boy clutching at his shirt, sitting beside him. He was staring at him, his eyes gleaming with expression like he was surprised. His cheeks were red too.
Suho remembered the boy was from garage and he ran to help him. He only remembered to the point they were both trapped by those thugs. After that, his memory was all hazy. If he tried to remember, his head only throbbed.
"Hello!" Hajun exclaimed in his his baby voice. "I'm Hajun. Kim Hajun. Y-you saved me. Remember?"
Saved him? What does he mean by that?
Suho only nodded, going with a flow for now. Hajun's smile widened even more. Suho thought his cheeks might hurt if he kept smiling like that.
"…"
He kept staring at Suho like he wanted something from him. Does he want to know my name?
"Kim Suho."
"Hehe! Suho, we both have same surname. That's good!"
"Hmm… what?"
"You won't need to change your surname when you become my brother."
"…"
"…"
"…"
Suho felt his mind shut off at Hajun's statement. He was dumbfounded staring at Hajun like the boy had gone crazy. Hawoon who was sitting at sofa beside their's noticed Suho's confusion.
"Suho, are you feeling okay? Is there anything hurting?" Hawoon asked, concerned, changing the topic
"No, just my head." Suho let out, his voice almost like whisper.
"It must because, you over exerted yourself back there at garage. It will be okay after taking some rest."
"Hmm…"
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Kim Hawoon, Hajun's father." Hawoon smiled introducing himself. Suho nodded.
He also introduced the couple. But, Suho didn't cared about any of that. He just wanted to know how he got here. How both of them were saved? As long as he remembered, they were trapped by those thugs and no one was there who could have saved them before his mind went off. Did someone came for their aid? He wondered.
"Umm… can I ask you something?" Suho asked feeling intimidated by constant starings. Hawoon nodded. "How did we get here?"
"…"
"Actually, I don't remember much. Just some bits and pieces before my mind went blank." Suho said making everyone shocked.
"You really don't remember anything?" Eunji questioned.
Suho shook his head in negative making everyone uneasy. Is there something I should remember?
Hawoon decided that for now they should keep the information as the boy had just woken up. It might be too much for him. "Well, there's isn't much-"
"You killed everyone there." Hajun blurted out catching everyone off guard. Hajun just never know when to shut his mouth.
"…"
"I don't know how, but suddenly you got up. Your eyes were blue and lightning was coming out of your body. You raised your hands like that killing everyone." Hajun mimicked the scene from before.
"Hajun, stop it. Hey, you get your son to shut his mouth."
"…" Hawoon quickly stood up and grabbing Hajun, covering his mouth. Hajun thrashed throwing his legs to get out of his father's grip.
"Stay still! Don't you dare say anything further." Hawoon scolded his son who pouted, grumbled, mumbling incoherent words.
"I'm sorry, Suho. He's just… overly excited."
"More like he's crazy." Suho said in such a rude way. Everyone was flabbergasted at his choice of words. "He's saying I killed them. I'm just 9 years old and I didn't even awaken. How can I do that?"
Hajun was offended. "I'm not crazy. And, I'm not lying. You really killed them."
"Liar! It's bad to lie."
"I'm not lying. Dad, tell him!" Hajun clutched his Dad's arm, shaking him. He looked like he was about to cry.
"Ah! I'm dizzy, Hajun." Hawoon got out of his son's hold and stood up sitting beside Suho.
Hajun had already did the blunder. So, why not just spill the beans?
"I know, it's hard to take everything at once. You won't believe us unless you got your memories back, or we show you the evidence but…"
"But, you need to understand what occurred."
A pit opened in Suho's stomach. Something in their faces unsettled him, too somber, too careful.
"Understand what? That I killed them?" His voice trembled.
Hawoon exhaled as if he was contemplated. He turned to Hyeseung who was silent the whole time. Hawoon wasn't good with his words, decided to get Hyeseung's help. Eunji, well, she would only make things worse.
Hyeseung was the only who could be useful in these type of situations, except his brain shut down when there was something related to Eunji.
Hueseung nodded, leaning forward, taking matters into his hands.
"Suho, relax!" He began, voice soft and gentle. But, Suho wasn't listening.
"How could I even relax? You all are saying I killed them, when I didn't!" His voice raised, panicked. He stood up, leaving but Hawoon stopped him, grabbing his arm.
"It's alright! Calm down!" Hawoon tried his best to calm Suho. "It's alright!"
"No! I didn't killed them! Believe me, I didn't do that." Suho teared up as he pleaded for them to believe him.
"Suho, listen to me! It was not your fault. You were not in your right mind and suddenly, you manifested your magic, killing everyone in the garage."
The world seemed to tilt.
For some moment, Suho thought he'd misheard. How can he awaken when he was not even ten years. His lips parted, but no sound came. Finally, he gave weak laugh, shaking his head.
"No… no, that's wrong. I didn't- I couldn't have just awaken my magic out of nowhere." Suho pushed Hawoon as he took a step back. Hawoon sighed and got up, giving up.
Hyeseung stood up, knelt beside Suho, spoke softly. "It happened because of the adrenaline flooding your body. It was a fight-or-flight response—your instincts forcing your mana to erupt in defence. But because you're still young, with no real control over it, you went berserk… and people died. Yet, strangely, not a single finger was laid on Hajun. Instead, you shielded him."
But, Suho's mental health was greatly affected. He still couldn't believe it. "Stop." His voice rose, trembling. His pulse raced, hands curling into fists. "Don't say that."
Hyeseung exchanged uneasy glances with others. Hajun was watching the whole scene started crying.
"You're lying," Suho snapped, eyes wide, breath ragged. "You're framing me! I didn't kill anyone." Suho stepped back. His voice cracked. "Did the Royal Family order you to do this? To paint me a murderer so they can get rid of me?!"
Shock ripples through them. "Suho-" Hyeseung took step closer to him. "You don't know what you're saying."
"It's not like that. We are helping you."
"No! Don't come any closer." But Suho couldn't calm down. His chest heaved, his head throbbed, pain lancing sharper before his eyes. He clutched at his temples, nails digging into his skin. The pressure was a lot intense, a scream ripping from his throat.
"Ahhh-"