~ - ~

"Members of our clan have always been looked down upon."

Those were the first words out of Seung Hyun's mouth as he stared down at his younger sibling, eyes unwavering and his mouth pressed in a thin line. Meanwhile, Yong Soo simply returned his gaze with a curious one of his own, eyes wide and rapt with attention--something he rarely devoted to anything.

Hyun knew his mother would never have approved of how he was currently teaching Soo, had she still been alive. She had always advocated for lessening the blows of reality for the younger one until he was ready. However, he had never worked that way--if the blows were softened at a young age, they would be utterly prepared for the harsher blows in later life. In his mind, it was best to prepare them for what was to come, even if for most it would seem excessively cruel to.

After a moment of silence to let the first few words sink in, Hyun opened his mouth to continue.

"As our xenomachics deal with ice, and all things related to that particular element, other clans have regarded this as beautiful, but deadly. Our ancestors--and relatives--have been labeled as 'cursed', simply because a few of us cannot properly control such abilities, and therefore have caused destruction to entire cities in the process." Noticing Soo's mouth open slightly in surprise, the young heir folded his hands together behind his back, eyes narrowing slightly.

"As a result, we have been scorned, looked down upon, for centuries at end. So let me tell you this much, namdongsaeng--we have always been, and will forever be, destined for a life of loneliness and isolation. No one will accept you for who you are. They will never see past your cursed legacy, ever. Do you understand?"

For a moment, shock and a brief, momentary flash of pain crossed Soo's face, and Hyun almost considered taking his words back. Perhaps he had been too blunt this time around? But soon enough, his little brother nodded, an expression of determination firmly implanted on his face as he formed a childish pseudo-military salute with his hand.

"I understand, hyung!" Despite his bottom lip quivering slightly from the sudden revelations of what was in store in his future, it was evident that Soo was doing everything in his power to hide it.

Hyun had to hide a proud smile at his brother's sheer determination as he nodded. "Good. I hope you will keep that in mind," he replied, still with his usual curtness, though his voice had softened considerably at this point.

And with that, he swiftly turned and made his way back to his study, all the while inwardly wondering if he would regret telling his brother of this later.

He was sure he wouldn't--after all, it was the truth. That made it okay, right?

Right?

                                                    ~ - ~

A/N: Right, well.

I had a KnK AU for Hetalia with the Korean Peninsula brothers. Basically, based on my headcanon that Spirit World Warriors (or xenors) exist around the world, Yong Soo and Seung Hyun are part of a cursed ice clan in Korea (the Im's), who were cursed because a) people feared their xenomachics, which revolve around ice; and b) the clan members are notorious for losing control of their abilities and leaving destruction in their wake (i.e. freezing entire towns).

Therefore, many of its clan members tend to not be group players much, given how much discrimination and shit they face for all that. Hence Hyun's "lesson" to Soo.

Also, I think Hyun is like--13 in this, probably (since he takes up clan leadership at 16), so Soo's probably 10 or 11 years old. Yeah.

Also, xenomachics is a KnK light novel term that--as you may have guessed--refers to the special abilities of a Warrior. Borrowed from Nakulas's translations of it, really.