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As the years passed, anyone who knew Seo Jisung would've learned by now that if you ever wanted him to do anything for you, like change the smoke alarm, get the groceries out of the car or wash your clothes, don't expect him to do it for free. Unless you're Lee Minho, don't even bother asking because he already did it for you and with a smile.
Hyunjin found it sickening, but if the blonde had any inch of intelligence that his father possessed, he would've kept his mouth shut. However, anyone who knew the Seo-Hwang brothers knew 'shutting up' wasn't exactly their forte. Especially when it came to crushes, or you know, 'simping' on a hot Saturday morning on the school's soccer field.
Hyunjin planted a friendly smile as he approached the secluded two. "Fancy seeing you here, baby bro!"
Jisung glared through his plastic smile, it definitely wasn't fancy meeting like this, and if anything, it was poor. It was poor to watch Minho figure out the connection between them: as he and Hyunjin are on the same debate team. According to everyone in sight, they're somewhat friends, somewhat loosely as Jisung would later learn.
“Oh!” The older brunette’s eyes darted between the much taller blonde and fellow brunette. “You’re!-”
Jisung swallowed as if the hot sun left him any saliva left. "Brothers, right, right!"
"But Hyunjin," Minho looked at him. "You never told me you had a cute brother."
If the sun hadn't burnt him to a crisp, the blonde certainly wished it did, frying him to a golden 180 degrees. As the younger brunette turned to a shade of strawberry milk, Hyunjin nearly threw up in his mouth. More than usual.
"No need to throw up, man." Minho swung his arm around Hyunjin. "I was just kidding."
Yeah, Hyunjin could've easily thrown up in his mouth at Minho's 'funny' joke when he spotted the way Jisung's lip quivered towards the remark and how slowly his ‘head-over-heels look’ evaporated into a dulled nothingless expression.
The blonde rolled his eyes with a small dramatic huff. "Don't kid like that."
"What?" Minho broke into a nervous chuckle.
He muttered, his voice deeping slightly. "Tsk. You heard me."
It was a rare sight for anyone who wasn't a Seo (or Hwang) to see Hyunjin in such a state. A state where he didn't have that pretty plastic smile written across his face. You know, the smile that insured a future of two loving parents, high grades, and a hot girlfriend. The smile that stopped him from swearing his head off at Minho at 9 AM, like the cute chihuahua he was. Jisung noticed he no longer wore that smile and instantly intervened.
"Dude, he was joking!" Jisung exclaimed with a scoff-like chuckle. "Right, Minho?"
Minho nodded. "See, it was just a harmless joke."
Perhaps, Hyunjin did inherit an inch of intelligence from his father as he scanned the pair, mostly Jisung, checking for any discreet triggers or secret signs for help. To his surprise, the blonde found none, so he did the mature thing, let it go.
"Whatever," Hyunjin grumbled.
Jisung chuckled, poking into his shoulder. "Feeling stupid, Jinnie?"
"I!" He opened his mouth only to be met with silence.
A type of silence that allowed Minho's habitual chuckle to fill the heatwave as he and Jisung continued their earlier talks, leaving Hyunjin to gape at them with curiosity.
"Wait!" His finger twirled in the air.
Minho blinked, clearly not used to Hyunjin's flair for dramatic halts. "What?"
"He's processing," Jisung clarified. "Let him finish."
Minho raised an eyebrow, "...Processing what exactly?"
"You know how a computer is fast?" He replied.
"Right," The brunette nodded.
"Jinnie's like the opposite of a computer."
"So, he's a book…?"
"Whoa, dude! Nicer than what I was gonna say."
Usually, Hyunjin would've huffed at his brother's comments, even if they were a little accurate. However, while waving his finger around, Hyunjin noticed a single fact that didn't fit his 'simping Minho' narrative, why was his brother on the school's soccer field on a Saturday morning?
"Why is it fancy seeing you here, Ji?" The blonde shifted. "It's Saturday, did you forget?"
"No," Jisung rolled his eyes. "I didn't forget. I, uh, came to check on Minho."
"Check on him?" Hyunjin did a double-take at them both. " You ?"
The brunette let out a nervous chuckle. "I told Jisung it was a bit-"
"Come on, it's not that weird," Jisung mumbled.
His brother nodded, knowing of his brother's admiration for the older boy. "No, but, it's weird for you, though."
"Weird how?" Minho chimed in.
Hyunjin smirked. "Ah! My brother isn’t exactly nice, you see."
Jisung was two seconds from slapping the older's back. "Dude!"
"I once asked him for a simple favor!" The blonde flinched, already feeling the upcoming pain from Jisung's hit.
Despite the risk, he continued. "Seriously, it was the most simple favor in the entire world-"
"What did you ask for?" Minho glimpsed between the brothers. "Money? Clothes? Happiness?"
"Money." Hyunjin hummed. "I wish."
He sighed, finally catching onto his peer's nonsensical replies. "Jisung, what did he ask for?"
It was an odd situation to be in, really, because Jisung couldn't stop the sudden smile curving against his lips as Minho faced him. He'd never seen this side of him. They hardly knew each other personally, but still, Jisung found it exciting. Minho isn't the type to be interested in anything or anyone, shown through the way he usually breezed through questions on the debate team while others struggled. Including now, how the older teen stood without a sweat in sight, despite playing rounds of soccer earlier together.
Jisung swore the guy wasn't human (everyone did), but as excitement or at least curiosity overtook his pupils, Jisung knew it was all thanks to Hyunjin and his overdramatic nature. He never could understand why his brother wasn't like this to everyone. After all, it was more likable than his perfect persona.
"Oh!" He shrugged off his smile. "It's a stupid brother's thing. You probably wouldn't get it."
Minho hummed. "Did you, at least, get something in return?"
"Something in return!?" The blonde could've easily fainted if it wasn't for the amount of disbelief in the air. "You're kidding."
"I'm not," Minho started. "I mean, why else do a favor?"
Hyunjin was certain Jisung's eyes were full of twinkling stars as he chirped out a reply. "That's what I've been telling him for years!"
"I mean, why else do a favor?"
"Exactly! Once you do 'a favor' it turns into a couple of favors!"
"That's when it gets annoying too."
"Super annoying! Has anyone ever borrowed an eraser and never gave it back?"
"Too many times!"
"In Kindergarten, this kid, named Lee Yongbok borrowed mine and-"
Hyunjin rolled his eyes before leaving the two alone on the sun-dried soccer field, knowing that their ramblings about something as useless as ‘favors’ would never come to an end, and to the shock of nobody, it didn't, not today, tomorrow, or the week's following.
After all, if you ever want Jisung to do something for you, like change the smoke alarm, get the groceries out of the car or wash your clothes, don’t expect him to do it for free. However, if you’re with Lee Minho, he won’t disagree, but side with Jisung. Hyunjin is now sure of it.