The queue that winds towards the check-in booth is long and extremely slow-moving. Mr and Mrs Lee buzz amongst themselves and prepare all their travel documents while the two brothers push the luggages behind them sluggishly. (Everytime the queue comes to a halt, Daeyeol and Sungyeol plop onto the luggages immediately.) 

It's a good twenty minutes before they finally reach the front of the queue, and an attendant directs the family towards an empty counter. Mrs Lee starts checking about their seats for the flight and asking about whether their tour group has arranged some special seating plan for them all, whereas Mr Lee instructs his sons to haul the luggages onto the conveyer belt so that the lady behind the counter can weigh them and tag them. 

Daeyeol huffs and tries to lift his shared luggage with Sungyeol, but he staggers and the luggage almost crashes to the ground. Sungyeol sighs and moves forward to toss the luggage onto the belt, before hoisting up their parents' black coloured one and placing it onto the conveyer belt as well. He hates to admit it, but he really does dote on Daeyeol. (Sometimes maybe even too much for his younger brother's good.) 

Soon enough they've successfully checked in and gotten their tickets, and Mrs Lee proceeds to scour around the terminal for any signs of their tour group. 

"Oh, mom, is that the one?" Daeyeol points at a small group of people huddled around a lounging area with a bunch of comfortable looking cushion chairs, one of the men (the tour guide, Sungyeol assumes) holding on lightly to a little flag that states the title of their tour package. 

The tour guide sees them nearing and pushes himself off the armrest of the seat quickly, outstretching a hand to greet the family. The Lees introduce themselves with friendly smiles (they are going to be spending the next few weeks with these people, after all), and the tour guide reassures them that they're early, and a majority of the group members have yet to arrive. 

"Mom, mom!" Daeyeol tugs incessantly at his mother's sleeve and Mrs Lee sighs, flicking her gaze over to her youngest son. 

"Can I walk around with hyung for a bit? There aren't any kids our age here, anyway." 

Mrs Lee shrugs and Daeyeol takes that as a yes, hoisting a lazy-looking Sungyeol off the plush seat and starting off towards the other end of the terminal. 

"Half an hour boys!" Mrs Lee reminds them suddenly, and Daeyeol laughs, arm bumping against Sungyeol's as they stroll along the linoleum floor. 

"Do you remember, hyung?"

Sungyeol hums absentmindedly as they enter a small bookshop, picking up a book and flipping through it. "Remember what?" 

Daeyeol laughs, "That time we were in the airport in Japan, remember? We were with Myungsoo hyung and Moonsoo-ah, too. The four of us wandered off for god-knows how long and we nearly missed our flight home. Mom was so pissed."

Sungyeol actually lets out a chuckle as the incident comes back to him. The four boys were browsing through all the shops and cafes in the Japan airport, Moonsoo and Daeyeol playfully shoving each other around and Myungsoo hanging off of Sungyeol's back, fingers curled into Sungyeol's shirt as they pointed out interesting looking things and laughed. They were fooling around so much that by the time Moonsoo actually got to realising that their flight was leaving in ten minutes, they had sprinted through the entire terminal and reached the boarding gate just in the nick of time, only to get yelled at by their parents (moms). 

"No wonder why mom told us half an hour, tops," Sungyeol muses, still smiling as he shoves the book back in place. Daeyeol cracks a grin, and the two brothers wander about some more before Daeyeol eventually spies a small cafe and they both get themselves a cup of iced coffee each. They walk close together back to where their tour group is waiting, and Sungyeol watches his brother with soft affection as he chatters on about his soccer team in school, and how he wants to make captain in the new school term. 

"There you two are!" Mrs Lee rushes up to her sons as soon as they near the group and settles them down. 

"She thought we were going to have a repeat of that Japan episode," Mr Lee winks at his sons, and Sungyeol cracks a lopsided grin as Daeyeol leans against his side, chuckling knowingly. 

Soon after their tour guide is calling for everyone's attention, and the people crowded around in the middle hasten to find some spare seats so that everyone can see the tour guide clearly as he makes his necessary introductions and gives a quick briefing about the flight. 

And then Daeyeol freezes against Sungyeol's side. 

"Hyung," his voice is quiet, unsure, and Sungyeol turns to him. 

"Isn't that- isn't he- one of them?"

Sungyeol's eyes widen a little and he lets his gaze flicker back to the front, and who he sees next makes his breath catch a little in his throat, raw. 

Sitting opposite them in a plush navy blue seat is none other than one of their school's most popular kids, the one who's often seen hanging around that group of cruel boys- bullies, often responsible for the teasings Sungyeol gets and most definitely responsible for the bruises on his cheek and the redness on his neck. (The ones that had caused Myungsoo to explode in a wrath of fury when he had arrived just a little too late to see Sungyeol slumped against the lockers, beaten and panting, as they sauntered off, cackling like a pack of wild hyenas, just barely a week or so ago before school had ended for the year.)  

The boy turns his head slightly, laughing at something the older male next to him- his brother, most probably, they have the same canny-looking eyes, Sungyeol reasons- and locks eyes with Sungyeol. 

And , Sungyeol thinks, it's Nam Woohyun.

-

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, guys! Exams have just ended (like, today!) and I've been so caught up with all the studying that there was really no time for me to update my fic :( I really appreciate your patience, though, so tysm! :)