[Emily’s POV]

“Welcome home, mom!” I sang with Dujun as we flung our arms around mom and pulled her in a tight embrace. “We missed you so much!” Despite the fact that she was still dressed in formal office wear and just returned from a long flight, she welcomed our embrace warmly with a bright smile.

“I missed you two little rascals even more!” she said as she pulled away from us, looking at the both of us properly. “Dujun-ah! Look at you! You’ve gotten taller, but then why do your dark circles look even darker now?”

“Mom, must you really?” Dujun half-whined and looked away in embarrassment as I laughed at him. “I’ve been working my off too, okay!”

“And you, Emily dear,” I gulped when she suddenly gave thorough look at me, “how’s school?”

I gave an inward sigh of relief as I beamed with confidence, “Going smooth as usual!” Dujun was literally stomping madly and pulling at his hair, obviously frustrated at how biased mom was towards me. “Come on in, mom! It’s much warmer inside!”

You handed one of the bigger luggage into Dujun while you got the easier and lighter one. Dujun grumbled and muttered something under his breath which seemed to be like bloody sister as he dragged the luggage upstairs to mom’s bedroom. We finally got the luggage settled in her room with as little fights and quarrels as possible, thanks to our peacemaker mom. “I will get some rest for a while,” mom said as she lay down on the bed. “I’ll be up before dinner.”

Both Dujun and I exited her room, closing her door quietly. “I didn’t know jetlag is that tiring. It’s just morning and mom is taking a nap until late afternoon,” I thought aloud.

“Now you know. Wait till you become famous and travel around the world,” Dujun said sarcastically as he went downstairs. I was about to head down after him when I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. INCOMING CALL: YOSEOB OPPA. “Hello?”

“Good morning, Emily!” Yoseob’s happy voice instantly made a smile stretch across my lips. “I’m not disturbing your reunion with your mom, am I?”

“Good morning, Yoseob oppa. No, no you’re not. She arrived just a while ago and now she’s resting in her room. Jetlag, you know?” I was curious why he was calling in the morning. “What’s up, oppa?”

“Well, I thought, you know, if you’re not busy and if you’re free, we could, um, go out. Later, you know, in the afternoon, something like that…” he sounded really nervous on the other line.

“Are you asking me out on a date?” I asked in a curious and teasing tone.

I could tell he was slightly surprised and taken aback by the straight-forward question. “Y-yeah,” he stammered slightly. “So…?”

“Well, my mom’s resting for almost the whole day, so yeah I’m free to go out.” I swear I heard a faint victorious yes from the other end of the line.

 “So it’s a date?” he asked expectantly with excitement.

“It’s a date,” I assured him.

“That’s g-great! I wanted to bring you out on New Year’s Eve but since your mom will be around I’ll just make this a New Year’s Eve of Eve date,” I giggled at his cute joke. “So, um, I’ll pick you up later? Like around 12 noon?” he suggested excitedly.

“Noon sounds good. We can have lunch together too,” I said, giggling at his excited voice.

“Awesome! I’ll see you later then, Emily,” he could barely contain his excitement as he bid his farewell.

“Yes, I’ll see you later too, Yoseob oppa. Bye!” I said as I hung up the phone call and made my way to the kitchen.

Dujun was there, making himself peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches as he was looking at me with sidelong glances, “Seems like someone got herself a date.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, “Seems like someone has to get his ears cut off for over-eavesdropping.”

He laughed lightly before saying, “Firstly, there’s no such thing as over-eavesdropping. Secondly, I bet its Yoseob.”

I looked away from him slightly, hiding my flushing cheeks from him. “Don’t be such a busybody.”

“I’m not being a busybody. I’m just a concerned oppa about his little sister going out on her first date, you know?” the way he raised his eyebrow did not look concerned at all.

“Yeah, right,” I rolled my eyes and managed to snatch one sandwich from his plate as I headed out of the kitchen. “Thanks for the sandwich!”

“Bloody sister,” I managed to hear it clearly this time.

“I heard that!”

---

With ten minutes to spare, I had dressed comfortably in a simple warm-coloured dress paired with a blue coat, along with a white fluffy headband in my short hair. Satisfied with the look, I grabbed my purse and shoes and headed downstairs.

I was surprised to find Yoseob inside the house, chatting comfortably with Dujun in the living room. “Oh, Yoseob oppa, you’re here already?” I stood frozen at the foot of the stairs.

He stood up, brushing his hands against the back of his jeans and smiling at me, “Yeah, just a minute or two ago.” He looked dashing with his hair styled up, wearing a comfy tee underneath a black jacket with a pair of jeans.

“Gosh, I’m so sorry for making you wait,” I said worriedly as I hurried towards them.

“Nah, that’s okay, Emily. We’re not really in a rush,” Yoseob said with a warm smile, so warm I could have melted in that room despite the fact that it was freezing cold outside.

I regained my composure and gestured him towards the door, “Shall we?”

He led me to the door, waited for me to slip into my shoes before opening the door. I hadn’t noticed Dujun was standing right behind us the whole time. “Have fun, you two!” If he wasn’t my brother, I would have thought he was some sort of stalker or ninja. “Be home before dinner,” Dujun said in a stern voice.

With a nod, I followed Yoseob towards his car parked just outside of my house gates. “You look beautiful,” he whispered into my ear swiftly before running over to his door. I blushed as he unlocked his car and got in easily.

As I got in and buckled in, I couldn’t help wondering, “Where are we going?”

Yoseob just smiled as he drove out of the road and into the main roads, “You’ll know soon enough.” He drove through town, swiftly avoiding the congested traffic and managed to get a free lane for a smooth drive. Soon enough, I noticed where he was headed to.

“The amusement park, eh?” I inquired as he parked the car easily into a parking lot.

“Well, I thought since we are going into a new year in a few days’ time, we should have some fun shouldn’t we?” he smiled playfully as he killed the engine.

He got out and went around the front of the car, fast enough to open the door for me. I held his hand as he led me into the amusement park. I could see all the interesting rides and games all over the park I was so tempted to run and ride all of them. “Can’t wait, eh?” Yoseob asked as he caught me looking at the rides from far. “Let’s fill up our stomachs first before we go on any ride.”

“But isn’t it better going on a ride on an empty stomach? If we eat lunch now, we might throw it up after going on rides,” I thought about it for a while.

“Yeah, I know. That’s why we’re getting a light lunch,” Yoseob explained as he brought me into one of the fast food restaurants. “Your brother told me I have to get you eat properly according to mealtimes, or else I’m going to hear whines the whole day.”

As Yoseob laughed it off easily, I let him drag me to an empty booth as pursed my lips in a pout. I knew there was something fishy when Dujun didn’t call me when Yoseob arrived – he was giving a lecture to Yoseob! I wonder what other ridiculous story he might’ve told Yoseob. “Bloody brother.”

my deepest apologies for taking such a goddamn fricking longggg time to update this chapter T-T
do leave a comment below, and thanks for reading :) i'll update real soon, hopefully ><