4. / when was the last time you lost your temper?
anger is something haneul likes to avoid. he’s not one for fights or holding grudges. some of that has to do with the positive mindset that he likes to hold onto but most of it trails back to his childhood. his parents divorced when he was young. they like to pretend that the break up was amicable, that both of them were able to set aside their differences and embrace their new lives with nothing but wanting good things for their old partner.
but haneul can’t sweep everything behind the curtain like his parents so easily can. in public, his mom is a woman loved by many, someone who uses her power of healing to help others selflessly. but haneul knows the truth and often goes out of his way to avoid her. he can’t forget the fights that kept him awake at night. he can’t forget the sound of her screaming that seemed like it shook the house most nights.
there was one night in particular where the sounds of the fighting, so much like white noise, were accompanied by the sound of glassware shattering and his father trying his best to calm his mom down. that was the one of the first and last times haneul got angry, really lost his temper. he doesn’t remember much of how he got downstairs but he remembers the feeling of transforming, of his body becoming bigger and stronger, sliding easily between his mother’s raised fist. he remembers the look of fear on her face as he stared back at her, the eyes of a wild predator staring defiantly as he stood there protecting his kneeling father.
that was one of the last nights he spent in his childhood bedroom. the next week, his father packed him up and took him to live with his grandparents. although he used his ability to protect someone he loved, haneul remembers the way his father and older sister tiptoed around him, fear written in the lines of their shoulders.
after that night, haneul promised himself he wouldn’t transform into a bigger animal again. instead he tells himself he prefers to stick to smaller, cuter things like cats and doesn’t really like the feeling of being weak and disoriented after choosing something so big anyway.
