“Hyung! Hyung! Here, look at these!” Siwon chimed excitedly as he showed the older guy the inside of the folder he’s been holding. Yunho promptly fixed his gaze on the series of black-grayscale sonogram pictures, trying to process what he was seeing.

“These are pictures of our baby,” Siwon explained, smiling widely. “This one was taken earlier today… Hyung! Look, you can see her her thumb!”

“Uh what? Ohhh, I see it now. Wow, this is very fascinating,” Yunho smiled gleefully at the younger guy and his little sister. A warm feeling seeped into his heart upon seeing the sonogram pictures of the fetus that would be his future niece, upon sensing the excitement of the young pair about their future daughter. Siwon especially caught his attention. Yunho might not know the younger guy that well, but he could feel how sincere Siwon’s excitement was – and he found it very endearing.

“Are these supposed to be this many? You’re only on your twentieth week, right?” Yunho questioned them about the amount of the pictures. He recalled how she found about her pregnancy a bit late - only about a month ago, yet there were already about seven sonogram pictures of the unborn baby.

“Well, it’s a high-risk pregnancy so she has to get ultrasound test and check-up every twice a week,” Siwon reminded him.

“I see. So, is everything alright now – How are you, Yul?” Yunho asked, now exclusively directed at his sister whose belly getting rounder; finally making her noticeably pregnant.

Yuri firmly nodded. “Except for the normal occurring cramps and indigestion, my baby and I are totally fine, Oppa,” she reassured, shifting her glance to Siwon for support. A faint smirk was drawn on her lips, showing a sense of pride for her risky decision to keep her baby and managed to stay healthy while doing so, unlike what was feared all along.

Siwon nodded, “The doctor said her health has improved a lot since she was discharged from–“

He abruptly stopped after realizing that he hadn’t told Yunho about how his sister was hospitalized for a week. Siwon had promised to tell the older guy if anything happened to his sister, but Siwon didn’t because Yuri asked him not to.

Yunho noticed the uneasiness in the younger guy’s face. He let out a small laugh, “Yes, I know that woori Yuri was hospitalized. I’m truly disappointed that none of you told me about it.”

“Well, weren’t you so busy, Oppa? I just don’t want to bother you with such trivial matters.”

“Aigoo, you’re still mad at me, aren’t you?” Yunho playfully poked his sister’s cheek; with a frown he apologized, “I’m sorry, Yul. I was extremely busy, I’m not lying. But still, you should’ve told me…”

Yunho sighed, “I wish you can trust me more, Yul. I am your oppa, aren’t I?”

It was not the first time he said such thing to her.

Suddenly, Yuri felt guilty over her older brother. All this time she would go to him for support, but that was that. She would tell him whenever she was bothered but never really told him why. It’s not that she didn’t trust him as a brother to confide to, but it’s more because she can’t – Yunho could be so unpredictable at times. He might look beamish and composed most of the time, but he had history of became easily depressed when under pressure. The technical term would be bipolar II disorder, the type who has something called hypomania episodes wherein he would be more active and productive than usual but then he also has depressive episodes in the other end of the spectrum.

Truth is, when Siwon called her family ‘the messed-up Kwons’ back then, Yuri was very offended not because she disagreed but because she couldn’t help but to agree to his statement – and it hurts her so bad. Only selected people know about Yunho’s bipolar disorder, but the whole town knew how Kwon Yunho, the heir of the Kwons, had several suicide attempts when he was a teenager. And these were enough for them to forever judge him as troubled, mentally unstable young man.

It was such a huge slap for Kwon Junghyuk when his oldest daughter, Boa, was found dead after taking her own life. That incident easily made things worse for the Kwons and whatever left to their name. Yuri could’ve sworn that, unfortunately, now she had completed the combo and burnt the family’s name to ashes. And ‘The messed-up Kwons’ couldn’t be any truer.  

Sometimes Yuri wondered if Siwon was being all nice to her because he’s afraid that she’ll try to take her own life like what her siblings had accounts for. She had promised herself to not do such thing – she had realized how precious life is after knowing that she suffers from what could be a fatal illness. Boa’s last letter for her also had importance in changing her perspective of life. Her sister’s last wish was for Yuri to not be a disgrace to their family and to make her proud. Being in her current situation, there was no worse feeling than to betray her sister’s trust. Truth to be told, Yuri didn’t even dare to think how disappointed her whole family was about her pregnancy – and how much it was affecting Yunho.

'Don’t bother Yunho too much, don’t make him worry with your antics.’

A sentence from her sister’s last letter replayed in her mind. It just hit Yuri that Yunho being ‘extremely busy’ might be a part of his hypomanic episode of his bipolar disorder. Even after years, it’s hard for her to tell about Yunho’s condition. She felt guilty for being angry at him; for being selfish, forgetting that as much as she needs her brother, she can’t burden him with her problems – even if he wanted her to.

To both Siwon and Yunho’s surprise, once again, Yuri promptly hugged Yunho tightly. Burying her face against his chest, she muttered, “I really just don’t want to bother you, Oppa. I don’t want to make you worry.”

“Hey, I’m your brother, Yul,” Yunho softly said. “I might not be an ideal brother…” his voice cracked, “But it’s still my job to protect and to worry about my sisters, you know.”

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Yunho had wait until Siwon left for work before he could start talking with Yuri about their father’s last compromise. Yunho had always liked Siwon as a responsible person, but he preferred to talk about the matter with his sister first; to find out what she really feels about the whole situation. As much as he liked the younger guy, it’s her sister’s decision that matters the most.

“So, how is it?”

“How is what?” Yuri raised her eyebrows.

Yunho smirked, “I mean, how it feels like living together with a guy who is going to be your husband and with whom you are expecting a baby together?”

“Well, it’s just… like that.”

Yunho sighed, “It’s so weird to see you being in a romantic relationship and expecting a baby like this… you’re still such a kid, Yul.”

“Um, first of all, Siwon and I are definitely not in romantic relationship. He just… he just accidenta