Suddenly Taesu wished that he’d taken Jin up on his offer to eat, if only so he’d have something to do with his hands. He didn’t want to meet Jin’s gaze – not when his brother was saying things like that, in that voice that always made him sound like he knew exactly what he was talking about. Tae figured he hadn’t taken a persuasive potion because it wasn’t like he needed to be persuaded to do anything right now, but still, It wasn’t fair. As much as he wanted to believe that he meant something to his brothers, Tae didn’t believe that they’d all stick together if the situation finally ended.

He swallowed, the words catching somewhere tight in his throat. Jin would argue with him, but Tae wasn’t daft. He knew he’d be on his own.

“You make it sound easy,” he shot back as he chose to ignore the first part. “Like I can just open the door and someone will just… walk in. But people…” Tae exhaled. Jin was friendly and knew how to talk to people; people liked him. It was hard not to. The room was starting to feel claustrophobic. “People don’t line up to be friends with someone like me.” He finished the sentence with a weak shrug. It came with the territory of being half-veela. People were often disgusted when they learned what he was, and well, that always led to him being alone, outside of his brothers who were stuck with him.

Tae finally met Jin’s gaze.

“I do want it. I do, but every time I think maybe it’s possible, it turns out they just… want something. Or they get scared off.” He gestured vaguely, as if the word veela didn’t have to be said out loud between them. “It’s okay.” Although Taesu wasn’t sure if he was saying that to himself or to Jin.

---