Chapter Two

Every morning Alex woke up and hated the mansion until she went to bed at night. Hating the mansion and swearing at it had become her daily routine. 

She would graduate in a few days. Then, she would go to college. She wanted to take a gap year, but Nes would not let her. Having Nes as a sister was both a blessing and a curse. Nes was a problem solver and very loyal. She would never betray you if she actually cared about you. But she was also very possessive and controlling. When it came to Theo and Alex's future, Nes would do anything to make sure they did not do something stupid. People say you learned from the mistakes you made in your teenage years. However, Nes did not make any mistakes and would not let her siblings make any mistakes either.

Alex went to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. She could not function without coffee. None of the three siblings could. 

She found Jin there in a white T-shirt and brown jeans. He was making coffee. 

She hoped she did not look too bad. Well, it did not matter anyway. Jin never saw her. She never saw him with a girl other than Nes. Not even once. She never heard him talking about a girl. He never dated. No one even wondered if he was gay because he was always with Nes and people assumed Nes and Jin had a relationship but kept it quiet. 

Even Alex was not sure what was the truth. The answers Nes and Jin gave were always very shallow. 

"Good morning," Alex said. 

Jin turned. Alex's heart started hammering inside her rib cage. He was gorgeous. 

"Asian beauty," Maria said once. "Jin could easily be that quiet male lead in K-dramas."

Alex had to agree with her. 

Was it because of him that Nes did not date anyone either? Were they truly secretly dating? 

Alex could not shake off the possibility. It made her feel bitter. She loved Nes, but she was also jealous. She had everything Alex did not. 

"Morning," Jin said. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please," she said and sat down on a stool. "Were you here all night?"

"Yeah. Nes fell down the stairs then, when she went to get water."

"Gosh, I didn't know that! Is she okay?"

"She is fine. Sleeping. She has a fever too," Jin said. "She twisted her ankle too. I bandaged it. She will be fine."

"We don't have to take her to the hospital?" Alex asked. 

"No. She will be okay," Jin said. "You better not go to her room. You know how she reacts when someone goes to see her when she is sick."

Not with you. She lets you go to her when she is sick.

Alex shook off the bitter feeling. Nes was her sister. She was loyal. Then, why could Alex not be the same as her sister? If Nes and Jin were indeed together, then she ought to feel happy for them. Jin would care for Nes more than anyone else. He would make her happy. Alex needed to be happy for them, even if she wanted to scream and hurl something at their happy faces. 

The front door opened and Theo barged in. "You said Nes is hurt?" he asked Jin. 

Jin nodded calmly. He explained what happened to Nes. Theo was a protective brother. Just because he was born a little earlier than Nes and Alex, he thought they were his responsibility. 

"Shit! I should have been home last night," Theo said, running his hand through his dark hair. 

When Alex looked at Theo, she saw the male version of herself. Fair, black hair and chocolate eyes. Nes looked different. Her skin was tanned as if she stayed under the sun a lot, even though she rarely went out and when she did, she usually wore clothes that hid her arms and legs. The three of them shared the same face, but it was Nes's eyes that made all the difference. She had a peculiar set of eyes. Even on the internet, Alex never saw eyes that gray. When you looked into Nes's eyes, you would get shivers down your spine. 

"Where were you anyway? Marco?" Alex asked. 

"Nah. Meredith's house. There was a party," Theo said. 

Alex rolled her eyes. Meredith was Theo's on-and-off girlfriend. There was a lot of jealousy involved, mostly on Meredith's part. Theo was just having fun, it seemed. 

"You two broke up a week ago, right? No, don't tell me. I don't wanna know all your breaking up and getting together drama," Jin said as she handed Alex a cup of coffee. It was the panda cup she always used. Jin probably knew more about their habits than even themselves. 

"I dumped her. For good, this time," Theo said as he took a seat on the stool next to Alex. 

"Why so suddenly?" Alex asked. She was more curious about other people's love lives since she had a very pathetic one. It was not bad to be single, but she simply did not want to remain single. All her relationships ended badly because she could not get a particular person out of her mind. 

"She keeps badmouthing Nes," Theo said. "I don't like it. I told her not to. Honestly, I should have broken up with her already."

"What did Nes do?" Alex asked. 

"Come on. You don't know? Nes threw matcha latte on Meredith," Jin said. He was clearly not amused. 

"When?" Alex had no idea this happened and felt irritated that no one told her. 

"Well, it was a week ago," Theo said. "Meredith and I were on a date. We ran into Nes and Jin. Meredith said something nasty about Jin."

"Why Jin?" Alex asked, surprised. Meredith should not have anything against Jin. 

"I don't know. She was just in a bad mood, I suppose. She-" Theo stopped and glanced at Jin. 

"She called me an Asian faggot," Jin said. He did not look hurt at all. 

Alex gasped. "What the fuck? That bitch!"

"Nes was drinking her matcha latte and just when Meredith said it, she threw it at her," Theo said. "Honestly, Meredith deserved it. She tried to slap Nes, but Nes was like-"

"I told her to dare to touch a hair of mine. I dared her only. And she ran, like a rat." We all turned at once hearing the cold voice. Nes was sitting on the fourth stair from below, her long hair loose, in a tank top and pajama bottoms. Her ankle was bandaged and she had a bruise on her face. It was lucky she did not break a bone. 

"She actually walked off," Jin pointed out. "But really, Nes, that was not necessary."

Nes shrugged. "Matcha tastes like shit. I bought it to taste it. It was trash anyway. That's why I dumped it on her. Trash on trash."

"And if you liked the drink?" Alex asked. 

"I would have thrown Jin's drink on her then," Nes said. "You know, Theo, you should have broken up with her earlier."

"She was not picking up my phone," Theo said. "I had to go in person and break up. She blocked my number too. I couldn't text her either. That said, how is your ankle? And your fever? How are you feeling?"

"The fever wasn't even that bad. It's the headache." Nes touched her forehead. "I took two aspirins. It's still bad, but well, I wanted to see the news. Have you checked the group chat?"

"No, why?" Alex asked. She reached for her phone on the kitchen island, only to realize she did not bring it from her room. 

Theo was already scrolling through his phone. He then made a sound that was something between choking and gagging. "Fuck!"

"What happened?" Alex took his phone from his hand. 

The news made her gasp too. There was a grotesque picture of a girl. If she was right, it was right behind their school. Within a while, all four of them were in the living room, watching the news on TV. 

"Did you see the picture before?" Alex asked Nes. 

Nes shook her head. "It wasn't there before. It will get taken down in a while."

"Holy shit, it's that serial killer. That one who kills Indians only," Theo said, pointing at the TV as if they all were not watching it as well. 

"Killed, Theo. Use past tense. He is dead," Jin said. For some reason, the news of the serial killer being killed made Alex more uncomfortable than the news of the serial killer killing someone. It meant there was someone more twisted than him. Someone even a serial killer like him could not kill.