Lie Detector

I get home a few hours later, still confused and slightly irritated that everyone else is clueless as to what's going on below the surface. I don't like being the only one who can see the bad side of a person. It makes me feel like I'm unfairly blaming them, even when my genetic modification is telling me that I'm right. It's stressful, suffice to say.

I can already tell that nobody else knows that Junghoon is lying, which makes my life a lot more difficult. I can also tell that Jin doesn't realise that Junghoon isn't his real name, which paints their relationship in a whole new light.But then again, they're cousins. Surely, if they're truly related, Jin would notice if something had changed? He would know Junghoon's real name.

But, for whatever reason, he doesn't. That's worrying.

And then there's the question of why Junghoon feels the need to hide his identity. Nobody with nothing to hide would do such a thing. Then there's the subjects he's interested in, and his attitude towards them. Criminology and Business. Those, or at least Criminology, aren't everyday interests. Those are much more sinister, in some contexts.

I greet my mother with a blank smile, as I always do, trudging up the stairs to my room, flopping onto my face and just laying here for a few minutes, my mind whirling with the events of the day. I should've known that leaving the house and meeting up with my friends today was a bad idea. I should've listened to my gut.

Well, it's too late for thoughts like that now. What's done is done.

I stand up, stretching out and then glancing toward the door, wondering how the rest of my family are. We're weird, of course we are, but we do care about each other. We still function as a unit. We're a bit dysfunctional, but that's okay. We survive.

All things considered, that in itself is quite literally a miracle.

Taewa appears after a while, her presence announced to me by a faint glowing, knocking on the door before walking in. "Hey, Taehyung," she says quietly, sitting down beside me without asking if she's allowed to.
"Hey, noona. What's up?"
"Well, the ceiling, the roof, and the sky," she says dryly. I just roll my eyes at her, sighing and flopping back onto my bed, face first.

"What do you want?" I mumble into the pillow, lifting my head to glance over at her.
"Just to check on my little brother," she replies, smiling a little at me. "Are you okay, Tae? You seem stressed."

I sit up, grabbing the pillow as I do so and hugging it close to my chest. "I guess I am." She raise a concerned eyebrow, seating herself carefully beside me.
"Why?"
"Jin hyung brought his cousin with him to meet us, a guy who was lying about his name and his reason for moving here and his occupation. He said he was a student, but he's not. He also said he was interested in Criminology and Business, which was true."

Taewa frowns, placing a hand on my back. "Maybe he's an undercover cop or something, Tae," she suggests optimistically, and I shake my head tiredly.
"I don't think so. He seems almost cocky. A police officer would be more modest. He also has this atmosphere of dangerousness."

She chuckles, pushing me lightly to one side. "A bad boy?" she asks teasingly, and I roll my eyes again, blushing as I remember that I've told her before about what I find attractive.
"Really? You're never going to get over that, are you?" I respond, a slight pleading tone in my voice. She just shakes her head, a mischievous grin appearing on her face.
"Of course not," she says bluntly, chuckling again. "It's blackmail material."

We both turn, jolting in surprise, when there's a crash downstairs. "What the fuck?" Taewa murmurs to herself, a mix of worry and bewilderment mixing in her mind. "Any idea what that was, Tae?"
"Nope. Not a clue," I respond just as quietly, straining my ears to try and figure out what's going on.