Work Text:
sungmo was about to get into his car to drive home when he received a text message from lee ahn.
lee ahn
hyung, are you gonna be home soon?
kang sungmo
yeah, i am on my way now. why?
lee ahn
the apartment feels kinda empty without you
lee ahn
nvm, it's nothing
sungmo frowned. it wasn't unusual for his brother to be a little bit clingy, but the way he was texting seemed off. sungmo didn't want to waste any time now and he was tired from a long day of work anyway so he hurried home as quickly as he could without breaking the law.
after about 15 minutes, he arrived in front of the apartment complex. he parked his car, made sure it was locked and used the elevator to get to the apartment. in front of the door, he entered the code with quick movements and was finally granted access to his home. he closed the door behind himself and immediately called out.
"lee ahn? hey, i'm here now!"
no answer. sungmo walked closer to his brother's room.
"hey, ahn-ah! is everything alright? i'm not gonna be mad if you messed something up!"
he heard a noise. was that a sniffle?
after hesitating for a moment, sungmo slowly opened the door so he wouldn't scare the younger boy.
once he could properly see what was going on, his heart sunk. his brother was sitting on his bed, the box with items from his childhood in front of him. he had obviously been crying, like full on bawling.
he looked so vulnerable, it was heartbreaking.
sungmo rushed towards the boy who was looking up to him with teary, red eyes.
"oh, ahn-ah... why didn't you tell me? i'm here now, don't cry...", he said with a soft voice while embracing his brother. lee ahn started sobbing like he had done probably just a few minutes ago. sungmo wasn't sure how he could make him calm down.
"didn't w-wanna worry you, hyung... i j-just shouldn't have touched the things a-again, shouldn't have b-brought up the memories..."
"please don't blame yourself... of course you want to feel the past again once in a while. it makes sense."
for a few minutes, they just sat there, hugging tightly while ahn tried to stop shaking. it was awkward but sort of comfortable, sungmo thought.
"you know... i just miss them so much sometimes, hyung", lee ahn started quietly.
"of course you do."
"it kinda makes me feel like i'm ungrateful. you look after me so well although you don't even have to. you could've just left me-"
"stop that, ahn-ah. it already was really irresponsible of me to abandon you back then. i think we're a great team. without you, i would be miserable too", sungmo confessed.
lee ahn hugged him even tighter.
"hyung, i care about you very much. please tell me when i become too annoying."
"oh, don't worry about that. i'm used to it by now."
the younger boy giggled.
"but yes, let's be more open about our feelings from now on", sungmo continued. "i don't want you to suffer alone, okay?"
ahn smiled fondly at his brother's sincere words. "thank you for reassigning me, hyung."
"it's reassuring."