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“Papa, it’s crooked!”
Seungmin stands in the middle of the chaos, holding a roll of tape like he’s questioning every life decision that led him here.
“It’s not,” he says calmly.
“It is! It is, Uncle Min, it is.” Chan insists from inside what is currently a collapsing blanket structure.
Seungmin exhales slowly. Across the room, the projector flickers to life against the blank white wall, and the kids gasp like they’ve never seen technology before.
The chosen movie, about a bunny cop and her fox best friend, bright and colorful, begins playing. Animated animals burst across the screen in a whirlwind of music and exaggerated emotion.
Seungmin finally sits down, back against the couch. Minhee slides in beside him, as Hyunjin and Jisung settle on the other side, legs stretched out, shoulders brushing.
For the first fifteen minutes, the kids are unstoppable. They react to everything. Every joke is the funniest thing ever, every dramatic scene earns loud commentary.
Soon, Chan leaned against Jeongin's arm without noticing, and the girl adjusted automatically so he’s more comfortable. Changbin starts arguing with the screen less frequently, Yongbok’s commentary turns into soft repetition of dialogue instead of new thoughts, with the twins hugging her from both sides.
Halfway through, Changbin’s head has tipped back against the pillow, mouth slightly open, popcorn bowl balanced dangerously on his stomach, while Chan’s eyes are fighting a losing battle.
“They were so dramatic ten minutes ago,” Hyunjin murmurs softly.
Onscreen, the animated characters break into a triumphant song. Offscreen, the kids curls closer into each other's side.
Hyunjin shifts closer to Jisung, and the man turns his head, soft expression already there. “Are you tired, honey?” he whispers.
Hyunjin doesn’t answer right away. Jisung reaches up and brushes a strand of hair away from her face. “Want me to take you to bed?” he asks gently. “I can carry you.”
Seungmin’s head turns slowly, and the look he gives is sharp. “Really?”
Jisung ignores him completely. “If you’re sleepy, you don’t have to stay,” he continues softly. “You did a lot today. I can clean up too. Or we can both leave. Or I can make tea first-”
Hyunjin blinks at him, then sighs. “I’m not tired.” She leans her head briefly against his shoulder. “I’m just bored.”
Seungmin snorts quietly, and Minhee presses her lips together to stop a laugh.
Jisung straightens a little. “Bored?” he repeats, wounded. “I am here.”
Minhee shifts, pulling her legs closer beneath her. “Well,” she says thoughtfully. “Let’s play truth or dare.”
Hyunjin’s boredom vanishes instantly. Without a word, she reaches for the remote and turns the projector off.
“I’m ready,” said the woman simply, tucking her legs under her and looks at the others.
Seungmin glances at Jisung. Jisung glances at him. The younger one exhales slowly. “Fine,” he says.
“I’m first.” Minhee raises her hand, and she looks directly at Hyunjin. “Truth or dare?”
Hyunjin doesn’t hesitate. “Truth.”
Jisung nods approvingly. “Good choice. Dares are dangerous.”
Minhee leans forward, chin resting on her hand. “Okay,” she says thoughtfully. “What’s your biggest pet peeve?”
Hyunjin tilts her head. “Pet peeve?”
“The thing you hate the most,” Minhee clarifies. “Like... instant irritation.”
Hyunjin goes quiet, and her eyes slowly slide to Jisung. She smiles. Then she looks back at the group. “I hate skinship,” she says calmly. “Too much affection.”
Jisung gasps like she’s just confessed to a crime, and clutches his chest dramatically. “What?” he whispers-shouts. “What do you mean you hate skinship?”
Seungmin blinks. “Oh, come on,” he says immediately.
Everyone in this room knows.
Jisung is clingy. Unapologetically.
He sits too close, hugs too long, kisses mid-conversation, plays with fingers absentmindedly, drapes himself over Hyunjin like gravity personally assigned him there.
And Hyunjin?
Has never once complained. In fact, she thrives in it.
Seungmin leans back, unimpressed. “You’re lying.”
Hyunjin’s smile doesn’t fade. “Sung is the only exception.”
Jisung freezes for one full second. Then, he launches forward dramatically. “So you love my affection? Only mine?”
Hyunjin barely has time to brace before the man wraps both arms around her waist and presses his face into her shoulder. “I always knew,” he mutters, completely emotional. “I knew I was your exception.”
Hyunjin laughs silently, wrapping one arm around him in return.
Seungmin rubs his temple. “I think this is exactly why she hates skinship.”
Minhee nudges Hyunjin quickly. “Ask someone a question,” she whispers urgently. “Before he decides on your fifth child.”
Jisung lifts his head immediately. “Five is a good number.”
“Jisung,” three voices warn at once.
Hyunjin gently pushes his face away. “Focus.” she takes in a slow breath, eyes scanning the circle. Her eyes land on Seungmin. “Truth or dare?”
Seungmin leans back against the couch like a man completely in control of his destiny. “Truth,” he says, smug.
Hyunjin folds her hands in her lap. “Alright,” she says calmly. “What’s one thing about you and your wife… that none of us know?”
“I fell first.”
Hyunjin doesn’t even blink. “We know that.”
Seungmin exhales through his nose. “Fine. We argued about moving cities for a month.”
Jisung immediately shakes his head. “Family meeting. We all voted.”
Seungmin stares at the ceiling briefly, then looks back at the group. “We never went on a honeymoon.”
Minhee tilts her head. “We told them that.”
Seungmin closes his eyes briefly.
Why does everyone knows everything?
Jisung grins. “You said you two were too tired.”
Seungmin exhales as he looks down at his hands for a moment. “We only slept together after we got married.”
And the silence that follows is absolute.
Hyunjin’s brows lift slightly in genuine surprise.
Jisung blinks once. Twice. “What?” he whispers.
Seungmin doesn’t flinch. “We... we waited.”
Minhee’s fingers tighten slightly in her lap, cheeks warm.
Jisung stares at them. “You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
“Until you were married?” Jisung presses.
“Until we were married,” Seungmin repeats patiently.
Hyunjin studies the other woman
“It wasn’t any rule,” Minhee explains quietly. “It just… felt right for us.”
Jisung leans back slowly, processing. “But you two were together for years,” he says, scratching his head.
“Yes.” Seungmin nods.
“And you just... didn’t?”
Seungmin’s voice is calm. “We are brothers. But we aren't the same. Unlike you, I had control over my-”
“Hey!” Jisung cuts in as he runs a hand through his hair. “I don’t know whether to be impressed or concerned.” Then he clears his throat loudly, resetting the mood. “Alright,” he says, pointing at Minhee now with theatrical seriousness. “Lina... truth,” he asks slowly, “or dare?”
Minhee thinks for a good few minutes. “Truth.”
He leans forward, elbows on his knees, eyes sharp with mischief. “Now that we know one more secret about you two… if not Seungmin,” he says slowly, dramatically, “who would you chase?”
Hyunjin turns her head slightly toward Minhee. Seungmin doesn’t interrupt. In fact, he looks interested.
Minhee blinks once. Twice. She leans back slightly, folding her arms loosely. “Hmm.”
Jisung grins wider. “Think carefully.”
Seungmin watches her face closely now. Minhee tilts her head to one side thoughtfully. And then, her gaze lands on Jisung.
“Your wife.”
Seungmin bursts into laughter instantly, a full, sudden laugh that he tries to suppress and fails. Hyunjin closes her eyes briefly, shaking her head with a slow smile.
Jisung freezes. “Wh- what?”
Minhee looks completely calm. “If not Seungmin,” she repeats lightly, “your wife Hyunjin.”
Jisung’s jaw drops. “Why?!” he whisper-yells, as he immediately wraps both arms around Hyunjin and pulls her into his chest like someone is actively trying to steal her.
Hyunjin lets out a soft laugh, caught in the sudden hug. “Sung-”
“No!” he hisses dramatically. “Explain yourself!”
Minhee stares at him. “You’re asking why?”
“Yes!”
“You,” she points at him, “out of all people... are asking why?”
Seungmin leans back, thoroughly entertained. “This is the best round so far,” he murmurs.
Jisung clutches Hyunjin tighter. “She’s mine!”
Minhee leans forward slightly, smiling. “She’s beautiful. Smart. Calm. Mature. Talented-”
Jisung gasps louder at every word, while Hyunjin tries not to laugh but fails, shoulders shaking slightly.
The man looks at Minhee like she’s committed betrayal. “You could’ve picked anyone!”
“I did.”
“Not MY wife!”
Seungmin wipes at the corner of his eye from laughing too hard. “This is unbelievably entertaining.”
Jisung buries his face in Hyunjin’s hair dramatically. “I can’t believe this,” he mutters. “In my own house.”
Minhee finally laughs properly, soft but bright. “Relax,” she says. “I was joking.”
Jisung lifts his head slowly. Hyunjin finally disentangles herself slightly, still smiling. “She’s just teasing you.”
Jisung pouts deeply. “I hate this game.”
“No,” Seungmin says immediately. “You can’t quit.”
Jisung looks around for sympathy. Finds none.
Hyunjin adjusts slightly in his hold. “Pick,” she says calmly.
Jisung sighs like a defeated soldier. “Fine.”
“Okay, big brother.... truth or dare?” Seungmin asks quietly.
Jisung straightens his back. “Truth,” he says quickly.
Seungmin groans immediately. “Why does everyone keep choosing truth?”
Hyunjin leans closer to him. “Dare.”
Jisung stiffens, and shakes his head instantly. “No.”
Hyunjin raises one eyebrow, and Jisung exhales dramatically. “Fine,” he mutters. “Dare.”
Seungmin’s expression changes immediately, and a slow smirk spreads across his face. “Call Appa and Mama,” he says casually. “And tell them that you’re divorcing Hyunjin.”
The air leaves Jisung’s body. “WHAT?”
Hyunjin blinks.
Minhee chokes on a silent laugh.
Jisung shakes his head immediately. “No. No. Absolutely not.”
“You chose dare,” Seungmin reminds calmly.
Jisung shakes his head repeatedly. “They will disown me.”
“They won’t,” Minhee says sweetly.
Seungmin leans forward. “Phone. Now.”
Jisung clutches it protectively to his chest. “No.”
“Dare.”
“This is illegal.”
“It’s not.”
And while the chaos unfolds loudly in whispers, Minhee quietly reaches for her own phone, and she types something quickly.
A text.
She turns the screen slightly toward Hyunjin, then toward Seungmin under the cover of Jisung’s dramatic whining.
Hyunjin’s eyes widen slightly. Then, she smiles. Now she’s interested.
Seungmin is relentless as he talks to his brother. “Come on. Be brave.”
“I don’t want to be brave!”
“You said dare.”
Jisung looks around, and groans quietly, dragging a hand down his face. “I hate all of you.”
“Phone,” Seungmin repeats.
Jisung squeezes his eyes shut for a second before he takes his phone, and his finger hovers over the call button.
“I’m going to faint,” he whispers.
“Call,” Seungmin says.
Jisung’s thumb hovers uselessly near the screen like he can still undo the call. Seungmin mouths about putting it on speaker, and with trembling fingers, Jisung taps it.
“Sung, dear?”
Grandma Jeongin’s voice fills the room, clear, composed, but sounding alert enough to sense something unusual.
“M-Mama,” Jisung says, voice already fragile.
“It’s late,” Jeongin notes gently. “Is everything alright?”
Seungmin leans in, whispering, “Say it.”
Hyunjin watches Jisung carefully, her face unreadable but her eyes very awake. Minhee presses her lips together to stop the smile threatening to break free.
Jisung inhales, and his breath shakes. “Mama... I’mdivorcingHyunjin.” he says in one go.
A full two seconds pass.
Three.
Four.
Then...
“Okay,” Jeongin says calmly.
Jisung’s soul visibly leaves his body. “Okay?!” he squeaks.
Seungmin turns his face away, shoulders already shaking.
“Yes,” Jeongin continues thoughtfully. “If you’ve decided, then you’ve decided.”
Jisung sits upright so fast he nearly drops the phone. “Mama?!”
“I did notice she doesn’t let you finish your sentences sometimes. She does it as if she read your heart. She's too perfect. Pft... and it looks like you two are match made by Lord himself. As if...” Jeongin adds mildly. “And she makes you eat vegetables. That’s concerning. It's better if you two are not together.”
Seungmin is no longer holding it together. He’s bent forward, silent-laughing.
“Mama!” Jisung shouts, completely forgetting the sleeping children. “What are you saying?!”
“We will find you a new wife,” Jeongin says decisively.
Hyunjin folds her arms, deeply offended and deeply entertained at the same time.
“New- what?!” Jisung looks around like someone should be defending him.
“I always liked that girl from-”
“No!” Jisung yelps. “Absolutely not!”
The kids shift slightly in their sleep.
Jisung lowers his voice to a desperate whisper. “No. No! I’m not divorcing her. I can’t. I would never.”
“Oh?” Jeongin hums lightly.
Something in Jisung breaks. He sits up straighter, clutching the phone with both hands now. “She is the love of my life,” he says earnestly. “The mother of my children. She is perfect.”
Hyunjin’s expression softens just a fraction.
Jisung continues, words tumbling over each other. “She is everything! She is patient. She listens to me. She supports me. She handles everything when I spiral. She makes the house feel warm. She’s beautiful. She smells nice. She- she laughs at my jokes even when they’re bad. She's my life! I can't live without her. She- she's my everything!”
Seungmin wipes tears from his eyes. Minhee has fully leaned against the couch to stop herself from making noise.
Jisung keeps going. “I would literally fall apart without her. I cannot function alone. I would perish.”
Hyunjin’s lips press together tightly now, but her eyes betray her amusement, and something softer.
On the other end, Jeongin finally laughs, awarm, familiar sound. “Alright, alright, dear,” she says between chuckles.
Another voice joins. “What’s happening?” Grandpa Felix asks, clearly amused already.
“Your son is divorcing Hyunjin,” Jeongin replies cheerfully.
“I am not!” Jisung cries immediately.
Felix laughs fully now, rich and loud. “Relax, boy. We got Lina's text,” he says. “She told us you’d call as part of a prank.”
All eyes snap to Minhee as she slowly raises her phone and gives a small, unapologetic smile.
Jisung stares at Minhee like she orchestrated world war. “You two knew?” he breathes into the phone.
“Of course,” Jeongin says fondly. “You think we’d agree?”
Jisung exhales so deeply, and relief floods his face. His voice softens completely now. “I love her,” he says quietly. No dramatics this time. Just truth. “So much.”
Felix hums approvingly. “We know,” he says gently.
The call ends with warm goodnights.
Jisung stares at the blank screen for a second longer. Then, he dramatically collapses sideways, and his head lands directly in Hyunjin’s lap.
“I cannot do this anymore,” he whispers weakly.
Hyunjin looks down at him, and her hand moves automatically into his hair, fingers combing gently through it. Jisung presses his cheek against her thigh.
“I hate this game.” he groans dramatically.
Hyunjin keeps stroking Jisung’s hair.
He looks up at her, eyes soft and vulnerable now. “You’re not allowed to leave me,” he murmurs quietly.
She smiles down at him. “I’m not planning to.”
“I saw my life flash before my eyes,” he murmurs weakly.
Seungmin watches the scene for a moment, then nudges Minhee with his elbow. “He’s so dramatic,” he whispers.
Minhee hums in agreement.
Hyunjin immediately looks up. She reaches across and lightly slaps Seungmin’s arm. “You two traumatized my baby.”
Seungmin gasps quietly. “Your baby is thirty-two.”
“He is still sensitive.”
“I am not sensitive,” Jisung protests, voice cracking slightly.
Minhee bites back laughter, while Seungmin shrugs unapologetically and slides his arm around his wife's shoulders, pulling her closer. She settles into him easily. Their legs stretch out in front of them, knees brushing the edge of the blanket fort.
Hyunjin adjusts slightly so Jisung’s head rests more comfortably on her lap. Her fingers don’t stop moving. The fairy lights cast soft gold across their faces, as Seungmin rests his chin lightly against Minhee’s head, and the woman’s hand comes up to rest over his where it sits around her shoulder.
Hyunjin looks down at Jisung, and Seungmin glances at Hyunjin. “Next round?” he whispers.
Hyunjin smirks faintly. “Tomorrow?”
Jisung groans. “No more dares.”
Minhee smiles. “We’ll see.”