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His parents were up to something. Wonwoo had a hunch, and judging from his experiences the past 15 years, he was 99% right.
There’s no mistaking the way Papa squeaked at his entrance to the dining room/kitchen, and how Dad slammed the laptop as he noticed Wonwoo behind him.
‘’J-Junnie! Let me put this away and help you with that," Dad stuttered as he took the laptop under his left arm and briskly walked out of the room.
‘’Thank you, Cheol!" Papa's voice was weirdly high-pitched.
It’s July. Wonwoo had a gist of why Choi Seungcheol and Junhui were being so secretive. All that left was to figure out exactly what they were hiding. But Wonwoo had a more pressing matter. It had been his concern since the start of this school year.
With the fact that he’s in his final year of junior high, one might assumed that it’s natural for Wonwoo to have some worries. But Wonwoo’s concern had little to do with school.
“Good morning.”
The bright voice came from behind Wonwoo, followed by another (slightly sleepy) voice.
“Papa, what’s breakfast...”
Wonwoo turned to his brothers, Mingyu the sophomore and Seungkwan the freshman. Mingyu’s eyes were glinting with freshness as he took the seat on Dad’s right. Meanwhile Seungkwan still looked heavy eyed, yawning as he took the chair opposite of Mingyu.
Wonwoo sat next to Seungkwan. It had the perfect view.
What he found this morning was consistent with his observation for the past few months. His brother Mingyu had been nothing but his usual cheery self on the dining table. And yet there’s a tilt in his voice when he said “I’ll be going” to their parents as the three of them headed out the door. His steps were almost dragged on the way to school, and the only reason he could keep up with Wonwoo and Seungkwan was because he had long legs.
The cherry on top was how Mingyu would part ways with them a block away from school, saying that he’s meeting Minghao, their neighbor and also Mingyu’s oldest friend and crush (not confirmed but everyone knew). His little brother never looked at their faces properly whenever he said his excuse, which was why Wonwoo had his doubts.
Unfortunately he had not been blessed with much luck the past few months. Wonwoo’s not exactly a social guy, especially compared to his youngest brother. He was used to see Seungkwan greeting almost every student on their way. It seemed that the freshman knew at least one person in every class of every year. Wonwoo’s acquaintance from the first and second year were limited to the science club members.
So it was hard for him to gather information. He didn’t get Seungkwan to cooperate because his dear brother wasn’t versed in the act of subtlety. They could get caught by Mingyu and it would probably make Mingyu more closed off. Wonwoo had also thought of telling their parents, but they (Dad especially) were worse than Seungkwan in being inconspicuous. He had to do this alone.
It was mid-July when Wonwoo finally got the answer.
He turned on one of the two taps behind the school gym, filling a spray bottle to water the plants in the science club room. He heard steps coming next to him, along with voices engaging in casual chat, but didn’t look up until the owner of those voices started to fiddle with the other tap.
“It’s broken.”
Wonwoo knew that voice all too well. It’s not like they were close, but they were neighbors and their families were close.
“Minghao,” called Wonwoo as he turned off the tap.
“Wonwoo.” The sophomore looked a bit surprised. Behind him were 2 other male students who were probably sophomore too.
“Use this one,” said Wonwoo as he stepped aside to his right, giving way for his juniors to use the tap. They bowed their heads politely and started filling up two black buckets with water.
“Minghao, do you happen to notice Mingyu’s charm? The purple one he got on his bag. He lost it.” It wasn’t actually a lie. Mingyu did lose his charm, but Papa had already found it lying on the entrance of their house. He just forgot to tell Mingyu.
“N-no. Why would I—um, I’m sorry I don’t know.” Wonwoo noted that Minghao was stuttering and his friends were exchanging looks behind him.
“Oh, it’s fine. I just thought you might notice where he might lost it. Since you go with him to school in the mornings.”
It was worth noting that Minghao looked flushed, and not in the “Oh my God this is so embarrassing (*´ω｀*)” way, but more like “Oh my God this so EMBARRASSING”. Meanwhile his two friends had their eyebrows up and disappeared behind their bangs.
After the sophomore students finished filling up their buckets and bowed politely at him, Wonwoo left the spray bottle above the tap and quietly followed his juniors.
“You go to school with Mingyu?” said one of Minghao’s friends, not hiding the disbelief in his voice.
“Nah, his brother just misunderstood.” Minghao said. Wonwoo noticed he sounded a bit stiff.
“Uhuh.” Minghao’s other friend sneered. He laughed when Minghao jabbed his side with his elbow.
Wonwoo heard one of Minghao’s friends saying “Stop hanging out with losers.” Minghao visibly frowned at that, but didn’t refute. Wonwoo thought he had found the puzzle pieces.
That day on the way home, he was alone with Mingyu. Seungkwan had a club activity and would go home later. It was almost impossible to find private time with Mingyu at home (the three siblings shared a room), so Wonwoo took his chance.
There was 7 minutes until their train comes, and the two brothers stood on the platform, on the spot that would get them near the middle car.
“I understand if you don’t want to tell,” Wonwoo started as he looked at his brother. He continued when Mingyu replied his gaze.
“Just remember that you can count on us.”
Mingyu gave him a smile. A bit sad and a bit amused.
“You always know, huh.”
“I just know you’re not walking to school with Minghao.”
“Hmm.”
“It’s not just about you and him, is it?”
Mingyu stayed quiet for a while, Wonwoo thought he wasn’t going to say anything anymore. But then his brother continued.
“He’s not... It’s just me.”
Another silence came. This time it was cut off with a sigh.
“Minghao... Minghao’s cool. He’s... But I’m not. He deserves better.”
There was nothing on Mingyu’s impassive face, but hurt was apparent in his voice. Wonwoo felt his own heart squeezed painfully, and somehow managed to keep his voice calm.
“I was five,” he said, noticing that Mingyu looked a bit surprise with the sudden change of topic.
“Papa and Dad picked me up from kindergarten and said they’re going to celebrate my birthday. They said they baked a cake, and I could drink one cola. They said they also had a gift.”
Mingyu’s eyes widened. Maybe flashes of the memories were going through his head. It was, after all, a special day. The day Mingyu came home for the first time.
“I’ve never had a better birthday gift,” Wonwoo said with a smile. He laughed when Mingyu started to purse his lips and get teary. He felt better as he pulled Mingyu by the shoulder and squeezed their sides together. Mingyu was whining in the crook of his neck, but Wonwoo knew he’s better.
“How am I supposed to top that?” There’s a pout in Mingyu’s voice. “I’ve prepared hard this year too.”
Wonwoo moved his hand from his brother’s shoulder to ruffle the younger’s hair. “Did you knit something again?”
He heard Mingyu mumbling “I won’t tell” and gave his little brother another ruffle before the train came.
That night at dinner, their parents and Seungkwan brought out a cake and shouted “Happy birthday, Wonwoo! Happy adoptanniversary, Mingyu!” They broke their oven some time ago and bakeries are expensive, so they got a small cake for two. Even though they insisted on not getting any share, Wonwoo persisted and Mingyu skillfully cut the cake into five.
It was a great night. It’s actually not very different with their usual dinner. The same amount of chatting and laughter, the difference was a bit extra savory fried food and sweets in the menu. Wonwoo also indulged himself with a cola, something he rarely did.
After dinner they cuddled in their small sofa, Papa and Seungkwan on his left, Dad and Mingyu on his right. They watched a video that their parents had been working on in secret. It was of Wonwoo and Mingyu throughout the years, but only the parts where their movements were in sync. Like the timing to take a glass of water, how they simultaneously brush away their bangs. All done without even looking at each other. It was a nice surprise. Wonwoo himself had never noticed that he synced a lot with his brother, and it warmed his heart. He made sure to thank his parents with a hug and a kiss.
A part of the video showed the two siblings in a beach, the sunset glow shining over them, and Seungkwan said from Papa’s lap, “Wow, I wish I have your tan skin. Look at that glow.” Wonwoo felt Mingyu tensed a bit on his right, but eventually replied, “I know I’m handsome.” and engaged a teasing match with Seungkwan. Wonwoo was even more relieved when Mingyu turned to their Papa and said, “I love my skin because it’s tan like you.”
Then it was time for the other presents. Seungkwan gave him an agenda with simple design, fitting Wonwoo’s preferences. As for Mingyu, Seungkwan gave a pattern book that Mingyu had been looking for ages. It got Mingyu squeezing his cheeks hard, which he hated, but he still smiled at Mingyu’s excitement.
Mingyu’s present for Wonwoo was not a knitting like the past few years, but a small backpack. His brother shyly explained that he tailored it on his own with their unused clothes and their neighbor Mrs. Park’s sewing machine. Wonwoo’s eyes widened at the gift, and Mingyu smiled seeing his reaction.
Wonwoo’s gift was a fiction about kid detectives, a part of the series that they used to read together when they were younger. Mingyu complained about the gift being yet another book, but his eyes glinted as he skimmed the pages, and he made Wonwoo promise to read it together the next day.
That night Wonwoo went to bed with a smile on his face. The smile grew wider when Mingyu slipped into his bed and snuggled.
(Later Seungkwan went down from his bed at the top of the bunk, and squeezed himself in Wonwoo’s bed, got Mingyu kicked out to the bottom sliding bed. After much argument, their parents made the 3 of them share a slightly larger bed at the couple’s room.)