Chapter 11.

Hyo-gun woke up and yawned audibly. He trudged to the bathroom which the whole family shared. Once he got there, he rinsed his face with some water.

He suddenly paused and felt his face.

"I hope this is not..." he murmured as he glanced up at the mirror hanging above the sink. He touched his cheeks and moaned softly in dismay. He had lines over his face again. He hated lines appearing on his body whenever he woke up from sleep, his face especially. His father used to say that they were signs that one had had a good night's rest but Hyo-gun didn't like them.

Let the others have the 'signs', and not me.

Hyo-gun groaned again when he wiped his face but the lines across his cheek wouldn't smoothen. It would in maybe a couple of minutes or maximum an hour but he didn't like walking about like that.

"I must have slept in an uncomfortable position on my cheek; that's why it's like that," he muttered to himself as he grabbed his toothbrush and applied toothpaste on it before brushing his teeth. He kept his left hand on his hip and every now and then as he brushed his teeth, he would check his face in the mirror to see if the mark had gone.

After he had showered, he headed back to his room to dress up.

He threw on his uniform and pulled on his socks and sneakers. After he was done, he made sure that he placed everything back in their proper positions and tidied up his room. He made his bed and returned his hair brush back to its original position. Satisfied that his room was in order, he walked up to check what his brother was up to. On his way he saw his dad heading out for work; his dad was a clerk in a small corporation.

"Good morning, father," Hyo-gun bowed a bit.

"Yes." His father patted his back and passed by him and went out if the house.

After watching his dad leave, Hyo-gun turned and walked up to his brother's room.

He saw that the door was slightly opened so he snuck in with the intention of startling Je-kyung. Ever since they had entered middle school, Je-kyung had been very busy with writing lyrics. He first started with poems during his elementary school days but all that changed when they had a career discussion in his class and he was certain that he wanted to be a rapper since he loved hip-hop.

He had even started rapping at local amateur hip-hop circles. Sometimes it could just be him facing off someone in the streets in a dissing competition and a small crowd would always circulate them. Apart from battling others in the streets, he was also rapping at any small unimportant events for free, even at some school events as well. He was also interested in lyricism as well.

Hyo-gun had been busy too as well.

He was still taking his dance courses at his music school after his regular school. Sometimes he would arrive home late because his dance lesson took a longer while. He was also uploading small video clips of himself dancing on the social media.

Some people had come to know him through watching his videos and they had marked him as a talented dancer.

As usual, Je-kyung was up earlier than his brother. He was fully dressed for school but his back was turned to the door as he concentrated on his computer, unaware of his brother's presence as he continued with his typing.

Hyo-gun quietly tiptoed to the back of the chair on which Je-kyung sat.

He watched discreetly as his brother typed on flawlessly:

Lots of people want a lot these days; cash, mansions, cars and the likes.

Me, I just wanna be real,

As kids we have to get our priorities right,

We don't need the teachings of a school wall,

We just need to have the skills to survive in life,

Cause the fact that you have good grades doesn't guarantee your happiness.

It's not the report sheet that makes up one,

It's the attitude: who you choose to be,

Let me loose to be free

To being the real me.

I'm not going to be like the rest, nah-un, no way,

I'm a shooting star: always aiming high,

Fake is the new trend nowadays, and everyone seems to be in style.

This world is crazy;

People buying things they don't need,

With the money they don't have,

To impress the people they don't like.

As for me I'm gonna stick to being real

Cause there's no one MEer than me,

And no one's YOUer than you.

This life is full of fake things;

Fake love,

Fake friends,

Fake life.

As for me, I'm gonna stick to being real.

"Awesome!" Hyo-gun couldn't help praising his brother's skills.

Je-kyung shook violently and gripped the table tightly. He was startled by Hyo-gun's loud voice right behind his ears; he had thought he was the only one in the room. "Yuki! You startled me!" Je-kyung held his chest as his heart beat faster. His brother not only ignored his outburst but also pulled him off the chair so that he could get a closer look at the song Je-kyung had composed.

"Being Real!" Hyo-gun read out the title with glee. "I like it!" He turned to grin at his brother.

Though Je-kyung was annoyed at the way Hyo-gun had startled him, he still smiled. "Thank you."

"Aren't you boys going to school?" Their mum asked as she popped her head into the room.

They both turned back to the doorway, where their mother stood.

"Good morning mother," the brothers both chorused.

"Good morning." She nodded at them.

"Breakfast is in the dining room already," their mum informed them. Hyo-gun bowed and stepped out of the room. Je-kyung made to follow him but their mum stopped him.

"Make the bed," she ordered before walking out. Je-kyung huffed before going back to do as his mother had instructed. Some minutes later he was seated with his brother at the table with their mother as well. She did part-time work as a baby-sitter in the evenings.

Je-kyung's eyes took in the delicious spread of rice, soup, meat, grilled short ribs, spicy seafood salad, bean sprout rice, spicy stewed chicken, cold cucumber soup, seasoned kelp and radish strip kimchi, and his stomach growled loudly, making his mother look up at him briefly, eyebrows raised.

His mother dished some food into her bowl and started to eat. Hyo-gun followed suit before Je-kyung could dish his.

He grabbed his chopsticks hurriedly and started wolfing down the food.

They all ate in companionable silence, and after the whole meal was done, their mum shooed them off to school, after saying that she could handle the dishes on her own. Soon enough Je-kyung and Hyo-gun were on the way to their school that was just round the block since they lived close-by to the school. "We'll soon be in high school," Je-kyung sighed as if lost in thought.

"You'll miss your friends, isn't that it?" Hyo-gun asked.

Je-kyung shook his head. "Remember Dad said that all this side track music would stop once we entered high school? Remember he said there would be no more singing or writing of lyrics or dancing for you and me; just we and our studies."

Je-kyung looked distraught.

"Je-kyung." Hyo-gun kept his arm round his brother's shoulders as they walked.

"Have big dreams."

"But Dad said--" Je-kyung started to say, but his brother cut in gently. "Like I said, have big dreams, okay? You do the dreaming and the believing, I'll handle the fussing and the worrying. Deal?"

Je-kyung smiled a little. "Deal!" he said after a brief contemplation.

"There's my little brother," Hyo-gun laughed as he ruffled Je-kyung's hair.

"I am not!" Je-kyung protested sharply and huffed as he tried to smoothen down his scattered hair.

"You know, you should stop shying away from standing up for what you love. Apart from mum and dad; you don't even stand up for yourself at school." Hyo-gun shook his head. "You're lucky they don't bully you there."

"I have you; that's enough." Je-kyung jutted out his chin proudly.

Hyo-gun simply smiled.

Je-kyung looked at him through his side eye and grinned inwardly. He knew that no matter what, Hyo-gun got him.

Always.