ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎

"Darling, are you up?" Soonyoung knocked on the door, his ears pressed against it. It was 11am and his sister was about to arrive in less than an hour so he had to get to the airport.

He wanted to take Jihoon and introduce him to his sister but he wasn't sure if Jihoon would want to see him after their kiss yesterday, which Soonyoung would never be able to get out of his head.

He still couldn't believe it. Lee Jihoon, his husband who a month ago didn't want to be his husband at all just kissed him yesterday.

Soonyoung found himself smiling as he remembered the events of yesterday although he was also worried about Jihoon and how his relationship with his father was going to be from now on. He wanted to be there for him, if only Jihoon would let him in.

Soonyoung knocked once more, calling out Jihoon's name but to no avail. Perhaps he was still sleeping or he was still too shy to face Soonyoung.

Well, he would have to sooner or later.

He took out his phone, calling Wonwoo who picked up within seconds. "Hey, are you guys here yet?" He asked, his cheerfulness spilling unto his words. He was so happy and he hoped nothing would ruin it.

He hadn't been this... excited, in literal years.

"Yes Sir, we're waiting for you, she's set to land in 45 minutes." He replied and Soonyoung nodded with an "Okay" following before ending the call. He put his phone back in his pocket, knocking one last time before deciding to give up.

He would be back soon anyways. He arranged the collar of his leather jacket before walking down the stairs. He was nervous and it could be seen because his hands were shaking and he was sweating in his fully air conditioned house.

He hadn't seen his sister in a long time and they didn't really keep in check with each other either. They went through too much trauma as children to form a meaningful, strong, united bond and besides, their parents didn't allow it, always making the two compete with each other.

So to put it plainly, their relationship was strained and stained by the memories of their past. Soonyoung wanted to amend things for so long but his sister wasn't particularly interested, seeing as she left for a whole other country as soon as their family fell apart completely.

But he didn't resent her for it. Instead, he hoped this trip would be a time for them to build a bond and confide in each other.

"Okay, let's go." Soonyoung announced as he walked out of his front door, Minah closing the door as he stepped out. Everyone quickly got in their positions and Seungcheol came over, opening the door for him.

He got in and as the door closed, he buckled his seatbelt and got out his phone. His happy demeanor replaced with his usual, unchanging strict expression.

It was a front he put up so no one would ever assume he was or see him as weak. "How long will the drive be?" He inquired as Seungcheol also got in.

"Half an hour, Sir." Wonwoo replied and Soonyoung acknowledged his words with a nod, relaxing into his seat and closing his eyes. Jihoon appearing in his mind again and somehow, just the thought of him was able to calm Soonyoung's nerves.

•••••••••••••

Vernon stalked the page, scrolling through every picture, every post, ever form of activity, ever social media app this man owned.

Why was he so fucking familiar and why couldn't Vernon not remember him to save his life?

His eyes glossed over the Instagram handle, boo_sk and then the bio, Boo Seungkwan, '98, Makeup Artist. Everything rang a bell and yet, Vernon's brain failed to recover whatever it was that he knew about this man.

He scrolled further down all his posts until his eyes stopped, finding one of the photos. He clicked on the post which had 300 likes and realized it was a throwback photo but what had made it catch his interest.

In the picture, Seungkwan with about 15 other teenagers stood outside for a photo and Vernon knew instantly, what has drawn him to the photo. Seungkwan was his classmate once!

They both went to Baek High, one of the best in the country and graduated from there. They never really interacted since they weren't in the same social circle but Vernon knew him and he was sure Seungkwan knew him too.

Vernon's eyes scanned the photo, relief taking over as he found himself in the class photo, coincidentally, right behind Seungkwan.

Why did their paths have to cross once again? Why did it feel as though they were intertwined in a way they both didn't know yet? They were too connected not to be.

Seungkwan was Chan's friend, Chan was Jihoon hyung's brother who Vernon was guarding and was also Vernon's boss's husband.

It all seemed too similar to be a coincidence, why did Seungkwan have to pop up when they hadn't seen in each other in years and how exactly did Seungkwan even befriend Lee Chan?

It was all so strange because if Vernon was remembering correctly, Seungkwan never talked about his family background ever. It was assumed he was on a scholarship but was he really? Who were the people in his life that he tried so much to hide and conceal?

Vernon didn't know why but his gut feeling was telling him too look more into Seungkwan. He was sure that there was more about Seungkwan than what met the eye.

•••••••••••••

"Dude, you've been out of it for the past three days, what's up with you?" Jungkook fell unto the couch, the sound pulling Mingyu out of the black hole that was his thoughts.

What was he supposed to do now? He had not only angered Wonwoo, he'd also technically been fired, went against Jeonghan and had no job to brag about to his dad.

His plan was not going accordingly at all. In fact, it was all over the place. What was he going to do?

Could he perhaps talk to Wonwoo and ask for his forgiveness, despite the thought of doing that tearing away at his pride? Maybe he didn't need to be on this ski trip, he needed to be at his actual job.

He got up, the unpredictable motion surprising Jungkook. "I think I'm going to go back to Seoul, right now." He informed Jungkook whose face scrunched as he stood up. "What?!" He asked in confusion, his eyes darting to the window seeing the piled up snow outside.

"Do you not see the snowstorm outside? Are you trying to die? Plus all the roads will be closed right now." Seokmin walked into the living room, grabbing the attention of the two instantaneously.

Mingyu looked away, his eyes meeting the ground. He hadn't thought of that, the roads being closed. They most likely were with how much the show was pouring down.

Seokmin glanced at Mingyu, sighing as he walked towards Jungkook and sat down. "Why are you trying to leave anyway? Does it have to do with that guy that was here the other day?" Seokmin pondered but he already knew the answer. It definitely had to do with that strange man that showed up here.

He couldn't help but wonder who the man even was, who he was to Mingyu most importantly and why he even came here. He felt like he had seen the man before but he just couldn't remember where.

"No... I just need to go home ." He ran his hands through his hair but Seokmin could see through his lie effortlessly as he rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because you just love going home."

"Could we not make this into an argument?" Mingyu pleaded, exasperated by the direction he knew this conversation was going to and if there was anyone he didn't want to argue with, it was Seokmin.

Seokmin rolled his eyes, stepping backwards, "You're not being honest Mingyu, if you were, this wouldn't be an argument." His hands rolled downwards into his pockets.

Mingyu let out a vexed sigh, his nose flaring as he responded, "Have you ever thought that maybe I'm not telling you some things for your own good?"

"I'm not a child!" Seokmin raged, fed up of hearing the same things over and over again from everyone. No one wanted to tell him anything because he was too happy, too joyful, he couldn't handle it when in reality he wasn't.

"No, you aren't," Mingyu replied, picking up his coat and putting in on, "But you're weak." He strode past Seokmin, aiming for the front door. Jungkook stood up, rushing after Mingyu to stop him from leaving while Seokmin stood in place, his eyes tearing up as he stared at the floor.

Mingyu thought he was weak.

His Mingyu thought he was weak?

•••••••••••••

Soonyoung waited near the exit, for his sister to come out from the baggage pickup. He didn't know how he felt about being so close to seeing his sister again but for some reason he couldn't come to terms with it and besides, his feelings of happiness were taking over everything.

As Soonyoung's eyes glanced at his watch, he heard Wonwoo shout out, "Noona! Over here!" His eyes lifted upwards, falling on his sister who looked so strange and at the same time, too familiar.

She had a smile on her face and her statement red lipstick with her black hair that was curled slightly near the bottom and sunglasses covering her eyes.

Everything about her, from her white pantsuit to her golden heels and designer bag screamed Kwon Eunbi and Soonyoung couldn't decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

One thing she hadn't lost, was her authenticity. She was still as fabulously radiant as she had always been. Taking all the spotlight from Soonyoung, as usual.

"Wonwoo-ya!" Eunbi called out, scurrying as fast as she could towards Soonyoung, Wonwoo and the rest of the team that had followed Soonyoung into the airport.

Her arms opened wide as she got closer, hugging Wonwoo tightly. Soonyoung stood behind awkwardly, not knowing how exactly to greet his sister. They weren't exactly close but their relationship wasn't necessarily bad either.

One thing he did know, was that she had always been a lot closer to Wonwoo and that didn't help Wonwoo with his crush on her either.

As Eunbi let go, she turned to Soonyoung who was still standing awkwardly, looking out of place despite being surrounded by all his bodyguards. A smile broke out on her face as she grabbed Soonyoung by his hands and pulled him in for a hug.

She wasn't sure what made her do it. They weren't really big on affectionate actions but something clicked on her way here. She hadn't been the best oldest sister for a long time and now, she was ready to be one.

After all, what more did she have to lose? Her life and her business was being threatened, the least she could do was make the most of the time and the people she had left.

Soonyoung turned to ice in his sister's hands, shock discolouring him and making him more pale than usual. His sister was actually hugging him, Eunbi initiated a hug with him.

It was weird, so weird that it felt heartwarming and made him more emotional than he wanted to be in the moment. As he felt her arms unwrapping themselves from his body, his heartbeat calmed down and he let out a deep breath.

"I heard you're married now, where's the lucky groom?" She asked, her eyes scanning the crowd for her brother's alleged husband. Soonyoung coughed, her attention falling back on him. "The lucky groom is standing right in front of you, the unlucky groom however, is in his room at home."

Eunbi chuckled, crossing her arms. "Well, what are you waiting for? I want to meet him!" She said excitedly and a genuine grin formed on Soonyoung's face as he pointed to the exit.

"Let's go then, you'll be staying with us while you're here." He informed her and she nodded, flinging her hair backwards as they walked towards the exit with their staff behind them.

"Yay! Family time!" She exclaimed although Soonyoung couldn't tell if she was being serious or sarcastic. All he was happy about was that she seemed good, she seemed ecstatic, she seemed healthy and she seemed okay.

He had suspected she was running back to Korea because something had gone wrong but now that he had seen her in person, she was thriving and that made him excited to spend the rest of her holiday together.

ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎

Ⓒ︎𝙾𝙷𝚆𝙰𝚈𝙾𝙷𝚆𝙰𝚈𝙾𝙷
𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚁𝚃𝙴𝙳 - 11•01•2025
𝙴𝙽𝙳𝙴𝙳 - 𝙽•𝙰