Chapter Text
“I’m back! Did you miss me?”
“Already? Kiho, you didn’t just pick the first thing you saw, did you?”
“I’m not that careless, Jiwon-hyung!”
Kai watched the back and forth between Kiho and Jiwon with vague interest, but he did stand up and take the clothes from Kiho’s hands before the two could get too engrossed in their banter.
“Thank you so much, Kiho-ssi. I’m sure your choice was wonderful, no need to put much effort into choosing something for me. I’ll just go and-”
“Huh? Where are you heading off to?”
Jiwon interrupted, grabbing Kai’s wrist to stop him. Kai, confused, looked to see two baffled faces staring at him.
“Kai-hyung, this is a competition. We gotta wait for the others so I can rub my victory in their faces when they see just how good the outfit I picked is!”
“But-”
“He’s right, Kai! I might have declared myself as the judge, but we need the whole jury to unanimously come to the decision of the best outfit. Of course, the final call is still yours.”
Realising that these guys were more stubborn than they had seemed at first, Kai sat down with a sigh, making Kiho and Jiwon burst into laughter at his resigned expression.
“What did you do to the guy? He looks like a kid whose balloon flew away.”
Dojin commented with a pile of clothes slung over his hand, walking up to the group and peeking at Kai, who was hugging the clothes in his arms to his chest, looking almost pitiful with his lips teetering at the edge of becoming a pout. Kiho laughed and held up his hands in innocence while defending himself.
“We didn’t do anything!”
“He’s sulking because he’s embarrassed we’re serious about getting him the best clothes we can.”
Jiwon added, causing Kai to protest his case.
“I’m not embarrassed, I just believe its unnecessary-”
“But we want to pay you back. We don’t feel like we’re doing this out of obligation. It’s fine, really.”
Kai sighed when Dojin used his own explanation against him, fiddling with the tags on the clothes he was holding.
“I suppose that’s…alright. As long as it isn’t a hassle.”
“Did we keep you waiting?~”
The moment was interrupted by Jinu arriving with clothes slung over his arm, Minsoo following behind him with a bunch of accessories to pair with the outfit. Kai’s head began to spin when he saw how many things they were carrying.
Jiwon, however, had very different priorities from the baffled doctor.
“You two only picked out one outfit?”
“Well…maybe our bad tastes would cancel out.”
Minsoo explained, though he didn’t sound very confident about his own theory. Jinu, on the other hand, was beaming.
“Teamwork is the dream work, right? Our outfit’s going to be the best one.”
“Yeah…the best one.”
Dojin replied, looking at the colourful selection Jinu had brought with him. Kiho didn’t let Kai linger there for long, however, pulling open an unoccupied changing room curtain and ushering Kai inside.
“Hyung! Try my outfit first! It’ll be the best one!”
Kai seemed unsure for a second, but he tried to draw strength from Dojin, Jinu, and Minsoo’s encouraging expressions. Jiwon’s curious eyes, brimming with madness, just scared him more, so he quickly ducked into the changing room.
“Kiho-yah, you’re gonna cause marks on those poor floors if you keep pacing.”
“Minsoo-hyung, I can’t move around freely in that other mode anyways. If I stay still any longer, my bones might turn to soup.”
“We should’ve gone to the park instead if you craved physical activity so much.”
“In that outfit? Jinu-hyung, I was brighter than a billboard.”
“Yeah, you might’ve gotten arrested for giving children seizures.”
“Dojin-hyung!”
“How were my words worse than the insult you gave yourself?”
Jiwon, who had been uncharacteristically quiet this whole time, interrupted the conversation by standing up from his seat. He walked towards the fitting room Kai had been changing in, standing outside and crossing his arms.
“Kai.”
“...Yes, Jiwon-ssi?”
“I haven’t heard a single rustle for the past ten minutes. You were done changing a while ago, weren’t you?”
“...no.”
Kai lied shamelessly, making a rustling sound two beats later. When Dojin muffled a snort, Jiwon turned around to give him a side-eye, before shifting his focus back to Kai.
“Kai, come outside.”
“...I’m still changing.”
“Will you be done before the seasons shift?”
“If it’s taking too long, I could just change back to my original attire-”
“Kai!”
“...Alright, fine.”
Kai muttered, slowly drawing back the curtain and revealing his outfit. The Saja Boys peeked from the sofa, their heads shifting forward like a row of dominos, stacked on top of each other as they looked.
“Woah…”
“Ooh, flashy.”
“Huh, he suits Kiho’s style oddly well…”
“Muehehe”
When Minsoo, Jinu and Dojin commented on the outfit, Kiho stood up smugly, grinning proudly with his hands on his hips. Jiwon also nodded in approval, observing Kai’s outfit. The outfit in question was a casual t-shirt and jeans combo, with Kai sporting a black graphic tee with white and pink accents, paired with tinted dark grey jeans which were wide yet folded up at the hem, with the waist held up using a sleek black belt.
The accessories—a coordinated but chaotic mess of pink and grey bracelets, a white pearl and cream seashell necklace, and a grey star necklace with beads along the strings—matched well with the rest of his outfit. A denim jacket hung off of one of Kai’s shoulders, while his fingers played with its raw edged sleeves.
“What do you think, Kai?”
Jiwon asked, with Kiho sparkling behind him. Kai smiled awkwardly, pulling at the loose collar which revealed his collarbones partially.
“It’s great…but not a style I wear often.”
Kiho practically deflated at his words, but his smile didn’t fall into a frown completely, resting at a pout instead. Jinu patted his shoulder in comfort, while Minsoo tilted his head in curiosity, and Dojin and Jiwon nodded in understanding.
“But…”
Kai started, pulling his phone out of his pocket as the boys looked at him in curiosity.
“It does seem comfortable. My sister always tries to get me to dress casually, should I ask what she thinks?”
“Yeah!”
“Ooh, Kiho-yah, let’s see if the fashionista sister approves.”
Kiho immediately exclaimed in excitement, with Minsoo popping up from behind him in curiosity. Jiwon grinned at the idea, clearly excited about it.
“Ooh, the sister who taught you how to put together outfits? Are you going to text her? Can I take your pictures?”
“Ah, yeah, I think she’d be too busy for a call. I was just going to take a mirror selca, but if you want to take a photograph, I don’t see why not?”
“We won’t be bothering her, will we?”
“Don’t worry about it, Dojin-ssi. She’d just ignore me if she’s busy.”
“Is she a younger sister too?”
“Too? Do you have a younger sister, Jinu-ssi?”
Kai did know some tidbits of Jinu’s past, but clearly not in enough detail to know about a sibling. Though, seeing how Jinu’s smile grew strained at that question, which he didn’t bother to answer, Kai decided he wouldn’t push. Thankfully, Jiwon’s perfect timing distracted them from the awkward conversation topic.
“Kai, go stand there! A little to the right! A step to the left! Lean on the wall, yes—Minsoo, could you move the curtain aside a bit? Gosh, Jinu-hyung, take his folded clothes out of the changing room for a bit, let’s clear up the background. Ooh, yes, turn to the side- not that much! Just your face. Could you try a little tilt? Dojin-hyung, please take Jinu-hyung’s phone and turn on the flash. That’s it. Kiho, darling, you’re in the frame. Ah, no, love, not like that. Kiho, show him the pose—that’s it. Kai, honey, could you copy Kiho? Yes, perfect, lift up your heel a little—”
After what could only be called the lengthiest photoshoot Kai had ever participated in, considering the fact that the advertisement photoshoot had had plenty of periodic breaks during its runtime, Kai was seated inside the fitting room, still dressed in the outfit Kiho had picked out for him. Outside, due to Jinu accidentally having thrown all the clothes into the same pile, including the one Kai came here wearing and the costumes the boys had been wearing, the Saja Boys were busy separating each set.
Meanwhile, Kai scrolled through the many photos Jiwon had taken. He had deleted most of them, only keeping the ‘absolutely flawless’ pictures, but there were still plenty of them. He picked out one that he felt showcased the entire outfit, before proceeding to share it to Mira to ask for her opinion.
He had wondered earlier if he should start with a greeting first, but upon imagining how awkward that’d feel, he decided to skip the pleasantries and just message her directly. What were the chances that she’d reply immediately, after all?
⬤ ꜱɪꜱᴛᴇʀ﹙여동생﹚
—— 𝖥𝖱𝖨𝖣𝖠𝖸 • 𝟦:𝟣𝟥 𝖯𝖬 ——
(𝟥 𝗉𝗁𝗈𝗍𝗈𝗌 𝖺𝗍𝗍𝖺𝖼𝗁𝖾𝖽)
𝗍𝗋𝗂𝖾𝖽 𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝖺𝗇 𝗈𝗎𝗍𝖿𝗂𝗍 🗸🗸
𝖽𝗈𝖾𝗌 𝗂𝗍 𝗅𝗈𝗈𝗄 𝗈𝗄 𝗈𝗇 𝗆𝖾? 🗸🗸
𝗒𝖺𝗁
𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗍𝖾𝗑𝗍 𝗆𝖾 𝖺𝗀𝖺𝗂𝗇 𝖺𝖿𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝖺 𝗆𝗂𝗅𝗅𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗒𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗌
𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝖺𝗌𝗄 𝗆𝖾 𝗌𝗆𝗇 𝗋𝖺𝗇𝖽𝗈𝗆? 𝗇𝗈 𝗀𝗋𝖾𝖾𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀?
𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖽𝗈𝗇'𝗍 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗇 𝗎𝗌𝖾 𝗁𝗈𝗇𝗈𝗋𝗂𝖿𝗂𝖼𝗌 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗆𝖾, 𝖽𝗈𝗇'𝗍 𝗀𝗈 𝖺𝗌𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗀𝗋𝖾𝖾𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗌 🗸🗸
𝗒𝗈𝗎'𝗋𝖾 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾 𝟤 𝗆𝗂𝗇𝗌 𝗈𝗅𝖽𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗇 𝗆𝖾, 𝗂 𝖽𝗈𝗇'𝗍 𝗀𝗈𝗍𝗍𝖺 𝖼𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖺𝗇𝗒𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀
𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝖺𝗇𝗌𝗐𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗊𝗎𝖾𝗌𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 🗸🗸
𝖱𝖾𝗉𝗅𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗈 (𝟥 𝗉𝗁𝗈𝗍𝗈𝗌 𝖺𝗍𝗍𝖺𝖼𝗁𝖾𝖽)
ㄴ 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗈𝗇𝖾 ^ 🗸🗸
𝗒𝖾
𝗅𝗈𝗈𝗄𝗌 𝗀𝗈𝗈𝖽
𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾 𝗌𝗆𝗇 𝗎𝖽 𝗉𝗂𝖼𝗄 𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝗈, 𝗎𝗋 𝗍𝗈𝗈 𝗉𝗂𝗌𝗁𝗒-𝗉𝗈𝗌𝗁𝗒
𝗎 𝗀𝗈𝗍 𝖺 𝗀𝖿?
𝖽𝗈𝗇'𝗍 𝖻𝖾 𝗌𝗍𝗎𝗉𝗂𝖽 🗸🗸
𝗂𝖿 𝗂 𝗁𝖺𝖽 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖺 𝗀𝗂𝗋𝗅𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽, 𝗂 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽𝗇'𝗍 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝖽𝖺𝗋𝗄 𝖼𝗂𝗋𝖼𝗅𝖾𝗌, 𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝗂? 🗸🗸
ㅋㅋㅋ
𝗍𝗋𝗎𝖾
𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽𝗇'𝗍 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖻𝖾 𝖻𝗎𝗌𝗒 𝗍𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗀? 🗸🗸
𝗁𝗈𝗐 𝖽𝗂𝖽 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗋𝖾𝗉𝗅𝗒 𝗂𝗆𝗆𝖾𝖽𝗂𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗅𝗒? 🗸🗸
𝗐𝗈𝖺, 𝗆𝗒 𝗈𝗉𝗉𝖺 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝗋𝖾𝗆𝖾𝗆𝖻𝖾𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝖺𝗌𝗄 𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗆𝖾
𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗂 𝖽𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝖽𝖾𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗏𝖾𝗋 𝗌𝗎𝖼𝗁 𝖺𝗇 𝗁𝗈𝗇𝗈𝗎𝗋?
𝗌𝗂𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝗂 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽𝗇'𝗍 𝗉𝗈𝗌𝗌𝗂𝖻𝗅𝗒 𝖻𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗅𝖾𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖾𝗌𝗍𝖾𝖾𝗆𝖾𝖽 𝗊𝗎𝖾𝗌𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗎𝗇𝖺𝗇𝗌𝗐𝖾𝗋𝖾𝖽, 𝗂 𝗌𝗁𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝖺𝗇𝗌𝗐𝖾𝗋 𝗂𝗇 𝖿𝗎𝗅𝗅 𝖽𝖾𝗍𝖺𝗂𝗅
𝖻𝗒𝖾 🗸🗸
𝗌𝗈 𝖻𝗈𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗀, 𝗂 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗃𝗄 ㅠ–ㅠ
𝗐𝖾 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝖺 𝖻𝗂𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝖺 𝖻𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗄 𝗍𝗈𝖽𝖺𝗒 𝖼𝗎𝗓 𝗍𝗆𝗋𝗐'𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗅𝖺𝗌𝗍 𝖼𝗈𝗇𝖼𝖾𝗋𝗍 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗍𝗈𝗎𝗋
𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽'𝗏𝖾 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗉𝖺𝗋𝗍
𝗂 𝖺𝗆, 𝗂𝗇 𝖿𝖺𝖼𝗍, 𝖺𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖿𝖺𝖼𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗍𝗈𝗆𝗈𝗋𝗋𝗈𝗐'𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗅𝖺𝗌𝗍 𝖽𝖺𝗒 𝗈𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖼𝗈𝗇𝖼𝖾𝗋𝗍 🗸🗸
𝗂𝗍'𝗌 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝖾𝗈𝗎𝗅 𝖽𝗈𝗆𝖾, 𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍? 🗸🗸
𝗈, 𝗎 𝗄𝗇𝖾𝗐???
𝗋 𝗎 𝗀𝗈𝗇𝗇𝖺 𝖺𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗇𝖽???
𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝗀𝖾𝗍 𝗎 𝗍𝗂𝖼𝗄𝖾𝗍𝗌 𝗌𝗆𝗁𝗈𝗐, 𝗎 𝖼𝖺𝗇 𝖼𝗆 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗌 𝗎 𝗆𝖺𝖽𝖾
𝗌𝗂𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝗎 𝖺𝗋𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝖼𝖺𝗉𝖺𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗉𝗂𝖼𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗈𝗎𝗍𝖿𝗂𝗍
+𝗎 𝗀𝗈𝗍 𝗉𝗂𝖼𝗌, 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗎, 𝗎 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽'𝗏𝖾 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝗍𝖺𝗄𝖾𝗇 𝖺 𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗍𝗍𝗒 𝗌𝖾𝗅𝖼𝖺
𝖽𝗈𝗇𝗍 𝖾𝗑𝗉𝗅𝗈𝗂𝗍 𝗎𝗋 '𝗂𝖽𝗈𝗅' 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗍𝗎𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝗀𝖾𝗍 𝗆𝖾 𝗌𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗌 𝗅𝖺𝗌𝗍 𝗌𝖾𝖼𝗈𝗇𝖽 🗸🗸
𝗂𝗆 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗌𝗈 𝗌𝗎𝖽𝖽𝖾𝗇𝗅𝗒. 𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗇𝖾𝗑𝗍 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾. 🗸🗸
𝖻𝗒𝖾 🗸🗸
𝖻𝗈𝗈𝗈𝗈
𝖻𝗈𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗀𝗀𝗀𝗀
…
…
..?
𝗄𝖺𝗂???
𝗒𝖺𝗁 𝖽𝗂𝖽 𝗎 𝗌𝗋𝗌𝗅𝗒 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝖺𝗌𝗄 𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗅𝖾𝖺𝗏𝖾? 𝖮𝖨!
𝖸𝖪 𝖳𝖧𝖠𝖳 𝖨 𝖢𝖠𝖭 𝖲𝖤𝖤 𝖳𝖧𝖠𝖳 𝖴𝖱 𝖫𝖤𝖠𝖵𝖨𝖭𝖦 𝖬𝖤 𝖮𝖭 𝖱𝖤𝖠𝖣 𝖱𝖨𝖦𝖧𝖳?
𝖪𝖠𝖨
𝖨𝖲𝖳𝖦 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖭𝖤𝖷𝖳 𝖳𝖨𝖬𝖤 𝖨 𝖲𝖤𝖤 𝖸𝖮𝖴 𝖴𝖱 𝖣𝖤𝖠𝖣
𝖮𝖯𝖯𝖠!!!
—— ᴋᴀɪ 𝖧𝖠𝖲 𝖦𝖮𝖭𝖤 𝖮𝖥𝖥𝖫𝖨𝖭𝖤 ——
“Kai! Are you in there? You didn’t fall asleep, did you?”
Jinu’s voice permeated through the curtains, making Kai keep his phone aside and push the fabric apart to see him. The light seeped through the gap in the fabric, making him blink a few times to readjust to the brightness before he answered in his calm, even tone.
“No, Jinu-ssi, I’m awake. Did you manage to separate the pile?”
“Yeah, we did. The accessories Minsoo and Jinu bought ended up getting tangled up with each other though, so they’re sorting those out. You can try on the one I picked out in the meantime.”
“Thank you, Dojin-ssi.”
“Ah, what did your sister say?”
Minsoo asked from the back, untangling a bracelet from its matching necklace. The others looked at Kai when the question was asked, also curious about his response.
“Oh, her?”
The Saja Boys had seen Kai smile genuinely only a few times, most of those being today, but those earlier smiles were ones of amusement, rising on his face like the sun in the sky, painting a picture perfect arc that suited his face. However, the one he had on his face right now, was softer, with his mouth being far less animated than his eyes, which crinkled at the corners and made him look almost childlike for a second.
“She liked it, thank you.”
He sounded lighter as he ruffled Kiho’s hair in thanks, letting out a chuckle when the younger grinned back at him.
