KIM JOONYOUNG & CO + RIVALS ?!
FAMILY WAR : RELATIONSHIPS 
김보영
when joonyoung was younger, he considered boyoung to be someone that he could only look at from afar, not touch nor even talk to. she was like a princess and she was favored by their mother, there was no instance when joonyoung felt he was ever equals with this person as a kid. he didn't necessarily see her fit to look up to because the older girl wasn't really, at least in terms of being a sibling, but she was someone he could compare to a member of the monarchy, high up and placed on a pedestal because she was born into it, like she deserved it because she was born, unlike him. so whenever he looked at her, he never saw an older sister.
he isn't sure when he stopped seeing her on the silver pedestal she always stood on but he did, probably when their parents started fighting and when she proved her loyalty to their mother for a long while after that. on more days than not, he wanted her to finally be the older sister she had to be. but she had never been, and he just eventually gave up on her.
in the present, joonyoung despises how boyoung acts around him, trying so hard to be someone he'd fantasized her to be in the past, thinking she was only doing this because she wanted to feel less guilty of driving this family further than they should've. in a way, joonyoung selfishly decided to himself that each of them played a part in ruining the family.
and he likes to believe that in truth, boyoung probably hates him all the same, just like when they were kids. it didn't help that whenever he looked at her, he saw their mother, because she harbored the older's gaze. that's why he finds it so hard to look at her in the eyes. everytime he looks at her, all he sees reflecting in her eyes were of spite and wariness, not recognizing that it was his own emotions reflected in the eyes of another.
boyoung doesn't hate him after all. he just doesn't know it, yet.
(nevertheless, he acknowledges her talents and ambitions and is somehow still protective over her just as he is over all his siblings especially when they're treated badly. and he likes calling her noona, although he calls her 공주님 when he's being sarcastic.)
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joonyoung sits on the left side of the head of the long table, just beside his father, who sits at the head of the table. he's quietly nibbling on his food, subtly observing his surroundings as his oldest sister's boyfriend squirms under the eyes of their father.
then the doorbell rings and he stands up to open the door, quite aware who was behind it. "hyung," he greets as the man enters and jinseong is quick to ruffle his hair despite being told many times he shouldn't. "where's boyoung?" "we're having early dinner with noona's boyfriend," jinseong quickly ruffles his hair again and joonyoung frowns, but his older sister's bestfriend has already walked away towards the dining room.
it doesn't really take long and the boyfriend (he never even got to know the name) and boyoung are already walking out the doors of the mansion, movements filled with tension. when boyoung walks back inside, she's frowning and just walks past him, the door remains open.
he quietly walks towards the open door and sees that the boy was still looking, perhaps hoping kim boyoung was desperate enough to beg for him. but he catches joonyoung's eyes and he feels coldness rip through his spine, and then he's quickly walking away. joonyoung closes the door in finality and never looks back.
by the staircase, boyoung looks at him, as if assessing him and he catches it through his peripherals. he ignores her, refusing to look her in the eyes, and walks past to head to his bedroom.
joonyoung is convinced that if it were in another time and place, if they weren't stuck in such a predicament, he would have respected yesung for the way he lived. joonyoung wasn't unnecessarily cruel to everybody, he appreciated people who worked hard for their family. he was almost like the perfect older brother figure. well, taking aside his loathing for rich folks like him.
nevertheless the respect, joonyoung doesn't really bother to heads with the eldest lee sibling since his sisters seems to have made it their goal to bother the lee siblings by themselves and he wasn't one to take part in conflicts so actively.
joonyoung can say that he's at least civil with the older boy, although they're near strangers as he's least acquainted with him. and joonyoung's quite well aware yesung didn't really trust him, the older boy suspects him more than the others, if not the most.
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"we don't need gold diggers in our family, please refrain from interacting with us."
joonyoung isn't sure which sister said that anymore, and frankly enough, he didn't really care. the first time one of his sisters ever said that, they almost got slapped in the face by the lees. and joonyoung actually admired how yesung was the one who stopped them.
every single time they said that and walked away, joonyoung always made sure to stay behind and bow in apology.
"i apologize for the actions of my sisters," and yesung will nod but his face would be stern, almost as if he knows joonyoung is being insincere.
"go," yesung would say. joonyoung doesn't remember a day when yesung spoke more than two words to him.
이예성
김신지
being the youngest troublemaker of the family as a kid, joonyoung used to admire and look up to shinji. she didn't look at him like he was some sort of anomaly like their mom did and she was fun to be with because she had lots of stories and she let him play with her and watch tv with her. with shinji, joonyoung felt like it was okay to be himself.
it happened just after the divorce. joonyoung started going to the same high school as shinji, only a (few) level/s lower. by sophomore year, they were almost like trophy siblings, dreamy and charming. however someone made the mistake of talking about the siblings behind their backs. the issue didn't circulate outside of joonyoung's peers but joonyoung's lash had been slow, yet absolute. no one ever believed that student when they told everyone it was joonyoung that was behind everything that ever happened to them, except for shinji who was fully aware of just what joonyoung was capable of. it was only after that person transferred away did joonyoung find out that they were his older sister's friend.
from then on, shinji seemed to have begun looking at him the same way their mother did, of spite. but also of wariness. often times, when he's around, shinji refuses to interact with him (not that joonyoung ever tries), often choosing to stay quiet or just walk away. if joonyoung had a list of all the things that kept him out of the house, at the top would be his older sister. and he's still not sure whether that's because he doesn't want to deal with the drama or that he just wants to spare her from having to deal with him.
nevertheless, he's still protective of his older sister. proof of it being that same thing that caused them to drift apart, that friend who stabbed his sister in the back.
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joonyoung slips off his shoes as the front door clicks close. he hears the usual bantering between shinji and yongki even before he arrives in the living room. and he almost doesn't walk in, feeling as if he was going to invade something intimate even if he was as much a part of the family as both of his siblings are.
when he walks in, yongki is quick to perk up and run to him, "hyung!" he says. joonyoung grins in reply and ruffles his hair, settling his schoolbag on the couch.
"noona and i were just talking about the l---"
"my friends just called me, we're going to go shopping. tell dad i'm getting dinner outside, don't wait up for me," shinji says, her tone excited, but with an underlying coldness. she ruffles yongki's hair and walks past joonyoung, almost as if he wasn't there.
joonyoung doesn't move and yongki, as always, is left to stare after her in confusion. it isn't until joonyoung offers to buy him mcdonalds does he snap out of it.
(i'm not very sure about this shgfjdla, but it's all i could think about djlss i can't)
the general fact that the lee siblings were wary of him despite his "pleasant" attitude towards them wasn't news to joonyoung, that's what made it so fascinating.
but what was even more fascinating was lee daehan, the second child. joonyoung isn't sure why he liked observing daehan. perhaps it was because he, even without explicitly saying it, exuded hostility around joonyoung. he seemed to be waiting for joonyoung to do something wrong, to prove to himself that he's right and joonyoung wasn't as kind as he acted. joonyoung can only withhold his laughter for so long. because the boy doesn't get it, he would never be caught.
or perhaps it was because his mother adored joonyoung so much, that even when they were born on the same year, his mother still aspires for daehan to be like joonyoung.
there was something annoying about daehan that joonyoung can't figure out but is so explicitly laid out despite him not seeing it. the actual explanation to everything relating to daehan was the fact that he sees just how much daehan cares for his siblings, in a way that he could never be. that even if he isn't the perfect brother, his siblings don't seem to hate him as much as joonyoung's siblings does him.
the fact that he knows that daehan couldn't even compare to him in the most realistic and practical sense gets to him because why does he envy someone who's below him?
but what was even more fascinating was lee daehan, the second child. joonyoung isn't sure why he liked observing daehan. perhaps it was because he, even without explicitly saying it, exuded hostility around joonyoung. he seemed to be waiting for joonyoung to do something wrong, to prove to himself that he's right and joonyoung wasn't as kind as he acted. joonyoung can only withhold his laughter for so long. because the boy doesn't get it, he would never be caught.
or perhaps it was because his mother adored joonyoung so much, that even when they were born on the same year, his mother still aspires for daehan to be like joonyoung.
there was something annoying about daehan that joonyoung can't figure out but is so explicitly laid out despite him not seeing it. the actual explanation to everything relating to daehan was the fact that he sees just how much daehan cares for his siblings, in a way that he could never be. that even if he isn't the perfect brother, his siblings don't seem to hate him as much as joonyoung's siblings does him.
the fact that he knows that daehan couldn't even compare to him in the most realistic and practical sense gets to him because why does he envy someone who's below him?
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joonyoung had just gotten out of campus to go for lunch with his "friends" in some place they suggested when he spots a familiar boy heading his way, lee daehan. he was alone, as per usual, and joonyoung grins wider as the boy nears, his full attention turning from the conversation towards the other boy.
and then he walks past, like he always does. steps seeming to fasten, his shoulders looking tense.
joonyoung is quick to chuckle and turn, his footsteps calm as he slowly follows and shouts, "lee daehan!" the boy stops but doesn't turn. joonyoung could almost feel him gritting his teeth.
and then he walks past, like he always does. steps seeming to fasten, his shoulders looking tense.
joonyoung is quick to chuckle and turn, his footsteps calm as he slowly follows and shouts, "lee daehan!" the boy stops but doesn't turn. joonyoung could almost feel him gritting his teeth.
"see you at dinner... hyung." he says, loud enough for his company and daehan to hear. the latter only walks away.
joonyoung stares after his figure, his smile disappearing and his eyes hardening. it almost feels like the minutes has already passed by but it has only been a few seconds. when he turns, his eyes are wrinkling because of the smile on his face, he laughs with his friends and pays for their food. at the end of the day, he still had all these people at the palm of his hands. one boy or a few doesn't matter.
이대한
이다은
joonyoung found daeun the most problematic in spite of probably being the most quiet sibling out of all the lees. at times when she intentionally tries to blend in the background, she succeeds. just not around joonyoung. he is blaringly aware of her presence because she reminds him of himself, albeit a whole lot different in their methods of expressing things.
he doesn't always understand the inner workings of her mind and is still amused by her reckless actions (i.e. drinking) whenever she does them, knowing it would cause a lot of trouble in the future. she was almost like the younger version of him, troublesome and impulsive, not thinking of the consequences. he still knows there's more to her, but he firmly believes it doesn't make her any less stupid.
nevertheless, he enjoys observing her and gradually grows to give her remarks that every so often subtly point out to him being concerned for her well-being despite it being harsh or blunt, probably because she really reminds him of himself.
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joonyoung sits on the same table he's sat on for almost all of his life, but not on the same seat. it's been so long since he's had to sit in the middle, right across someone else that's not his oldest sister, just because the lee mother took his place right at the left of his father. now he sits beside boyoung, in front of him were the lee siblings.
the table is full and the average civilian would think they were probably a large family of 8 children and 2 parents, but they weren't really. not really.
the older woman interrogates him as they eat their main course, "how is school? i heard from your father you've recently came back from a youth environment conference in japan. you're doing great, joonyoung-ah."
joonyoung laughs and smiles humbly, the older woman replies, smiling as well and proceeds to talk once again, with their father. joonyoung maintains his smile because he can, unlike all the other members on the table who looked like they would rather die than have this dinner.
he catches lee daeun's eyes as he fleetingly glances around the table. she's looking at him as if she's assessing him, a small frown situated on her face. joonyoung's smile grows, and he bows his head politely before resuming eating.
yongki is the anchor, joonyoung is the ship, and the world is the shore. joonyoung could have done a lot of things that were bad, almost like how daeun was, but what kept him glued to the family and himself as well was his youngest brother.
yongki was not only a sibling, but also generally a person joonyoung would protect with his life. as his only older brother, he felt a sense of responsibility over him especially when they were children and their parents didn't really have enough time for them. he made sure yongki grew up well, even if it meant protecting the boy from joonyoung himself.
yongki was not only a sibling, but also generally a person joonyoung would protect with his life. as his only older brother, he felt a sense of responsibility over him especially when they were children and their parents didn't really have enough time for them. he made sure yongki grew up well, even if it meant protecting the boy from joonyoung himself.
yongki is every exception in the book. no matter how clingy or annoying, he's always weak for the boy. joonyoung would willingly drive him to mcdonalds in the middle of the night if he had to.
yongki is also the person he tries his best to not impose harm on. he never wants the boy to see just how much of a monster his older brother was, either, even if he's still aware of joonyoung's manipulative nature.
losing yongki would probably make him snap.
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"hyung, do you have to go?" yongki whines, holding on to joonyoung's right arm as they walk down the staircase. joonyoung lets out a sincere laugh and looks at his youngest brother in amusement.
"we've been doing this for months already, you big baby," he says grinning. "i'll try to be back by the weekend, and i'll even bring mcdonalds for you."
yongki perks up at mcdonalds, seemingly forgetting his original agenda and almost jumping in excitement. "okay, okay!"
"be good and don't mess up the whole place while i'm gone, okay?" joonyoung says, almost routinely. and the younger boy responds almost robotically as well by nodding. although joonyoung doubts he's even listening.
joonyoung walks out the door and into his car. right before entering, he sees yongki looking through the window, smiling and waving. joonyoung grins and waves back before getting into his car and driving off. he's still smiling when he reaches the dorms.
김용기
이성훈
out of all the lee siblings, joonyoung has the least to do with sunghoon, he's also probably the most tolerable. he wouldn't go as far as saying he gets along with the boy, because frankly speaking, he doesn't really care about sunghoon. well, he doesn't care about any of the lees, but the youngest lee was different. simply because he was a kid and somehow, he's reminded of his younger brother.
it's somehow a silent agreement between him and the lees that he doesn't harm the youngest if they don't harm his youngest brother, otherwise, joonyoung wouldn't be afraid to cross any lines. so far, all his interactions (which are little to none) with the younger are casual, usually small talk, despite the wariness.
admittedly, joonyoung doesn't really mind talking to the boy if it's just the both of them. perhaps because inside his household, the people that actually talk to him are also limited. and even though sunghoon is wary around him, joonyoung doesn't really see himself ever giving the boy intentional harm, not unless he had to.
admittedly, joonyoung doesn't really mind talking to the boy if it's just the both of them. perhaps because inside his household, the people that actually talk to him are also limited. and even though sunghoon is wary around him, joonyoung doesn't really see himself ever giving the boy intentional harm, not unless he had to.
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joonyoung is lounging in the living room, drinking his morning cocoa and reading through his notes in class around 7 am in the morning when sunghoon comes out from his room, hair a mess, his eyes droopy from sleep.
he doesn't seem to notice that he had company but joonyoung still moves further onto the other side of the sofa to give the boy some space as he flops down on the sofa, seemingly falling asleep again.
he remembers the boy's mother saying something about having to go out to the dentist in a while, that's why he had to be up so early in the morning.
"you can watch cartoons if you want," joonyoung says. he never looks up from his notes, but the sofa moves, signalling sunghoon's surprise. it's quiet for a bit and he almost thought the boy left in fright, having to deal with him so early in the morning. but soon enough, the sound of spongebob squarepants' theme song plays in the background. and the both of them stay in quiet solitude until sunghoon's mother tells him to take a bath.
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