It was already half past eleven, and still no sign of Woohyun.

Sunggyu turned to Boohyun, wearing a skeptical look, as the two lounged around on the sofa, watching television.

“Isn’t it kind of late?”

“Hm?” Boohyun took a sip of beer.

“I mean…didn’t you say your brother would be back before? It’s already almost midnight.” Sunggyu studied his cell phone’s screen.

“Why? Are you worried about him?” Boohyun laughed.

“N-No!” Sunggyu frowned. “But…shouldn’t you be?”

And is if by clockwork, they heard the front door being unlocked.

“Ah, he’s home!” Boohyun announced, picking himself up off the couch, in a relaxed manner. Sunggyu followed suit, feeling somewhat nervous at meeting someone new.

“You’re home!” Boohyun cheered, and approached his younger brother, slinging an arm around his shoulder.

Sunggyu took in the sixteen-year-old. He had on his school uniform—khakis and a navy blazer. Though his blazer was ed, the white shirt underneath was un-tucked, and his striped tie was loosened. He was shorter than both his brother and Sunggyu, but his eyes were noticeably similar to Boohyun’s. They weren’t as small as Sunggyu’s, though and had a puppy like quality to them. He also had a round face, and chubby cheeks.

If Sunggyu were a girl or someone's grandma, he might have thought Woohyun was kind of cute.

“Where were you?” Boohyun pulled his little brother closer. “I was so worried!” Sunggyu shot Boohyun an annoyed look. But a few minutes ago, Boohyun appeared as if he couldn’t be more relaxed. He definitely didn’t seem worried.

“Sorry hyung. I was just studying, and then lost track of time.” Woohyun sent his brother a small smile.

“Aigoo, my hardworking little brother~” Boohyun cooed, affectionately ruffling up the boy’s hair. Sunggyu couldn’t help but snort. He thought Boohyun must be really stupid or something. How could he actually believe any sixteen-year-old boy was out until midnight because he was studying too much?

Woohyun heard the snort, and pulled Boohyun’s hand away, as he turned to Sunggyu.

“Who’s he?”

“Ah!” Boohyun slung an arm around Sunggyu’s shoulder. “This is Sunggyu. He’s my friend from university. He’s gonna be living with us now.”

“What?” Woohyun frowned.

“Sunggyu doesn’t have anywhere else to stay, plus you know we have that extra bedroom.” Boohyun explained and grinned at his friend. Woohyun however, shot Sunggyu a look of distaste. And Sunggyu could already tell that he wasn’t going to like Woohyun.

*

The next morning, Boohyun cooked up a gourmet breakfast as a sort of welcoming for Sunggyu.

“Have more!” Boohyun offered, as he served some more eggs onto Sunggyu’s plate. Sunggyu smiled gratefully as he stuffed his face. He had to admit, Boohyun’s cooking far exceeded that of the dorm cafeteria. But then he glanced across from him at Woohyun, who was merely nudging his breakfast with his chopsticks. It looked like he barely touched it. Woohyun looked up when he noticed Sunggyu staring.

“What?”

Sunggyu quickly focused his gaze on his food once again. “N-Nothing…”

“Yah, be nice.” Boohyun flicked Woohyun’s ear, causing the younger to twitch and clutch his ear. “Sunggyu is your hyung too. So be nice to him ok?”

Woohyun merely frowned, and stood up. “I’m done. Thanks for breakfast.” Sunggyu eyed Woohyun’s plate to see that it was almost still full.

“Ah, don’t you have a half day today?” Boohyun followed Woohyun to the door.

“Yeah, I think.”

“Great! Then let’s do something together later.” Boohyun suggested.

Woohyun’s eyes lit up. “R-Really?”

“Sure, the three of us can—.”

“Three?” Woohyun’s smile immediately faded.

“Yeah! You, me and Sunggyu.”

“I can’t…” Woohyun averted his gaze, as he grabbed his backpack. “I have other plans.”

“No you don’t liar~” Boohyun poked the boy in the ribs. “I’ll pick you up at school, ok?”

Woohyun nodded. “Do I have a choice?”

“Nope~” Boohyun grinned and pinched Woohyun’s cheek

“Hyung!” Woohyun whined, rubbing his reddened skin.

“Now go.” Boohyun laughed.

Sunggyu watched the whole scene from around the corner. He couldn’t help but feel a little left out, watching the brothers getting along so well. He himself only had an older sister, but he hadn’t seen her for a while, since she got married and moved out when he was still in middle school.

*

“You know, you didn’t have to invite me…” Sunggyu sighed, as he followed Boohyun to the Rose High School campus. “If you want to have some brotherly bonding time or whatever…”

“Don’t be silly man!” Boohyun grinned, casually slapping Sunggyu’s across the shoulder. “Besides, I want you and Woohyun to get along better. Since we’re all going to be living together for at least a couple more years.”

“Yeah, but…” Sunggyu stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I don’t think he likes me very much…” And I don’t like him very much either, Sunggyu wanted to say.

“He’s just shy!” Boohyun waved him off.

They stopped outside of the school, when they saw various students spilling out of the front gates, donned in their uniforms, and chattering about rather loudly.

They spotted a group of boys, laughing and joking around. Woohyun was right in the center, and was the one actually cracking the joke. All the other boys around him burst out laughing, and shoved him in a friendly manner while some slung an arm around his shoulders.

“Shy, my !” Sunggyu thought, seeing as how Woohyun appeared to be the life of the party.

When Woohyun spotted, Boohyun, a bigger smile immediately engulfed his features. He dismissed his friends rather quickly and rushed up to them.

“Hyung!” Woohyun jogged over to them, his backpack straps jumping up and down with every hop. But then his smile faded, when he saw Sunggyu standing beside his precious brother. “Oh.” He regarded Sunggyu with that same look of distaste.

“Nice to see you too.” Sunggyu muttered, hands still in his pockets, as he averted his gaze. Woohyun merely snorted, and turned to his brother again, and clutched onto his arm.

“Hyung, where are we going to go?” He blinked eagerly.

“Hm…how about that ice cream place you love?” Boohyun smiled.

“Ok!” Woohyun nodded cutely.

Sunggyu folded his arms, feeling very annoyed at the boy’s changing attitude. When he looked at Sunggyu, he looked so annoyed and angry, but when he looked at Boohyun…it was like he was a whole different person. He was actually pleasant, and kind of cute.

Sunggyu decided not to let it get to him too much. After all, Woohyun was just a dumb kid to him. It wasn’t like they had to be friends or anything.

And that’s how it went for two months. Sunggyu ignored Woohyun and Woohyun ignored Sunggyu.

They never talked or acknowledged each other’s existence when Boohyun wasn’t there. They were just like strangers living under one roof.

That is…until one night, when Sunggyu was lying on the couch, flipping through the TV channels lazily. He yawned and checked the time on his phone. It was only seven, but he was feeling tired. He sat up, when he heard the front door unlock.

“Hyung!” Woohyun rushed into the living room with an excited expression. It faded however when he noticed Sunggyu sitting there alone. “Oh, it’s you. Where’s Boohyun hyung?”

Sunggyu frowned. “He went out on a date.”

“Oh.” A glint of disappointment brushed across Woohyun’s features. Sunggyu noticed he was clutching onto a piece of paper, and spotted the number ‘95’ written in red across the top, alongside a ‘great work!’

Sunggyu cleared his throat. “You…you had a test?”

“Huh?” Woohyun instantly hid the paper behind his back, his cheeks going red. “N-None of your business.”

Sunggyu sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Ok, you know what? I don’t like you.”

Woohyun met Sunggyu’s eyes.

“And you obviously don’t like me.” Sunggyu continued. “But we both like Boohyun, so—.”

“It’s not fair!” Woohyun blurted out, throwing his test paper to the ground. “All he ever does is talk about ‘Sunggyu this’ or ‘Sunggyu that.’ And when its not you its some girl he’s dating.”

“Wait you…” Sunggyu blinked. “Are you jealous?”

Woohyun pouted. “Boohyun hyung’s mine. You can’t have him! I won’t let you—!”

“Relax.” Sunggyu laughed, finding Woohyun’s possessiveness to be quite amusing. “I’m not after your brother. He’s all yours.”

Woohyun’s anger dissipated. “R-Really?”

“Do you have a brother complex or something?” Sunggyu sighed.

“N-No...” Woohyun frowned.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you do—.”

“I don’t! I just…” Woohyun averted his gaze. “He’s all I have.”

Sunggyu instantly felt bad for the boy, and started to wonder what happened to Mr. and Mrs. Nam.

“We do have parents.” Woohyun mentioned, as if reading Sunggyu’s mind. “But…I don’t really get along with them.” He mumbled. “So that’s why I moved here with Boohyun hyung. It’s easier with him.”

Sunggyu understood what Woohyun meant. Being with Boohyun never felt like a chore. He was fun and friendly, and he always seemed to be in a good mood. But at the same time, he didn’t seem like someone to confide in. It was almost like you didn’t want to bring his mood down by telling him something bad. Like maybe he couldn’t handle it.

Sunggyu wondered if that caused Woohyun to hold a lot inside.

“Look,” Sunggyu stood up, facing Woohyun. “I’m not going to take Boohyun away from you, ok?”

“Ok…” Woohyun nodded, sullenly.

“Really.” Sunggyu sighed. “So can we just at least try to get along? I mean we don’t have to like each other or anything, but…”

“Fine.” Woohyun shrugged, as if he was doing Sunggyu some kind of favor. It kind of pissed Sunggyu off, but he shook it off, quickly, determined to handle this in a mature way.

So for the next week, they tried to get along. Though not much changed. They still practically ignored each other, but there was significantly less animosity between them.

But that wasn’t enough for Boohyun, who was sick and tired of the awkward encounters in the living room, and the near silence at dinner time. So he decided to take things in to his own hands one Saturday morning at breakfast.

“I got it!” He announced, placing his glass of orange juice down on the table. Woohyun and Sunggyu looked up from their food, with confused looks. “Today, the three of us will go to the amusement park!”

“What?” Sunggyu crinkled his brows. “Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Of course it is! So don’t make any plans today! After I finish up with some errands we’ll go, at uh how about five? We’ll all meet there!” Sunggyu and Woohyun didn’t really want to, but Boohyun, being Boohyun, wouldn’t take no for an answer.

*

When Woohyun arrived at the front gates of the Rose Kingdom amusement park, he instantly spotted Sunggyu standing there, hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall. He was kind of hard to miss, as girls were constantly stealing glances at him as they passed by. And really, Woohyun couldn’t blame them. Even as a male, he had to admit, Sunggyu was fairly attractive. He gave of a cool bad boy feeling that was undeniably alluring.

Woohyun didn’t really hate Sunggyu, so to speak. It was just that they didn’t have much in common, and as a result were just super awkward around each other. But he didn’t understand what was so wrong with that. He didn’t understand why Boohyun was so insistent on the two of them forging some kind of friendship.

Sunggyu casually looked up, when he noticed Woohyun approaching.

“Oh, hey.” Sunggyu nodded.

“Boohyun hyung’s not here yet?” Woohyun asked, looking past Sunggyu.

Sunggyu frowned. “No…” He couldn’t deny he felt a little upset at how Woohyun was always so quick to dismiss him in favor of Boohyun. He was tempted to say something about it, when his phone started vibrating in his pocket. It was Boohyun. “Hey, where are you?” He asked through the phone. “We’re waiting for you.”

“I’m not going to make it.” Boohyun sighed. “I have to do some extra tutoring.”

Boohyun worked at a tutoring center part time and helped grade school kids with algebra and so on.

“Oh.”

“But you guys should still go and have fun!” Boohyun insisted.

Sunggyu glanced at Woohyun from the corner of his eye. “I don’t know about that…”

“Aw why not? Woohyun was really looking forward to going on some rides, and plus it’ll give you two a chance to get to know each other better.”

Sunggyu sighed. “Why do we need to get to know each other better?”

“Because I can’t stand another awkward meal time!”

“But—.”

“And if you two don’t learn to get along, you can go back to live at the dorms!”

“Ok fine!” Sunggyu huffed and hung up. He stuffed his phone back in his pocket, before turning to Woohyun.

“Was that hyung?” Woohyun asked. “What’d he say? Is he on his way?”

“Actually…” Sunggyu rubbed the back of his neck. “He said he can’t make it.” He expected Woohyun to be disappointed, which he was. “I guess we should just go home…”

“Wait.” Woohyun stopped him. “Uh…s-since we’re already here. I mean if you want…”

*

And that was how Sunggyu and Woohyun ended up spending the day at the amusement park.

“What should we go on first?” Woohyun asked, seemingly excited as he gazed at all the sky high roller coasters.

“Uh…” Sunggyu didn’t share his enthusiasm, however. “I don’t really—.”

“How about that one?” Woohyun, of course, had to point to the ride with the highest and steepest drop. He didn’t even wait for Sunggyu’s answer and was already dragging him towards the ride. As they stood in line, Sunggyu spotted a warning sign, posted in the dirt besides the ‘are you tall enough to ride this ride’ sign. The warning read:

This ride is not suitable for those who are:

Pregnant, under the age of fifteen, pregnant and under the age of fifteen, pregnant and over the age of fifteen, pregnant at any age really. I mean if you’re pregnant why are you even at an amusement park? Its not like you can actually do anything fun. You can only sit and watch your peers have fun, laughing and screaming without you. Or maybe you like that. Maybe you’re a masochist and you enjoy feeling the pain of people having fun right in front of your face while you can’t join in. Is that why you got pregnant in the first place? Because you know it’s going to be hell getting that bun out of the oven. But I guess it’ll be heaven for a masochist like you. I’m not judging or anything though. Everyone’s got their own thang goin’ on, y’know what I’m sayin’?

“What the hell is up with this sign?” Sunggyu made a face. “Yah,” He turned to Woohyun. “Did you read this thing—?”

“C’mon! It’s our turn!” Woohyun interrupted, and rushed ahead of Sunggyu, but immediately stopped when he spotted an employee strapping in a girl to a seat with a rather heavy looking thick belt across her shoulders. He backed away slightly. “Uh…never mind.”

“Huh?” Sunggyu blinked, as Woohyun walked past him out of the line. “Yah.” He followed after the boy, until Woohyun finally stopped and sat down at a park bench.

“What’s wrong? I thought you wanted to go on that ride?” Sunggyu asked, though he was secretly relieved, since he was scared of how high up the ride was.

“I just didn’t want to go on that ride anymore.” Woohyun muttered.

“Ok?” Sunggyu’s eyebrows creased in confusion, when his stomach grumbled. Woohyun looked up at him. But he didn’t look angry or annoyed, and there was a sparkle of amusement in his eyes.

*

“I’ll get two ice cream cones.” Sunggyu told the man at the counter.

“Two?” Woohyun, who was standing behind him, asked.

“Yeah? There’s two of us, isn’t there?” Sunggyu replied casually, before paying the cashier. He was too busy receiving his change, to notice the small smile on Woohyun’s face.

They got onto a cable attached gondola that took them across the park at a leisurely pace. But the only problem was the gondola took them high up into the air, so that they could see the whole park down below. And Sunggyu was mildly afraid of heights.

“Woah, look!” Woohyun pointed outside down below, “You can see everything!”

“G-Great…” Sunggyu muttered, basically frozen in place. He had pretty much forgotten about his ice cream cone that was still in his hand, with melted cream spilling down his fingers.

“Are you ok?” Woohyun asked.

“F-Fine…” Sunggyu mumbled, keeping his eyes on his lap.

“But your ice cream…it’s melting…” Woohyun tilted his head in concern. “Could it be…that you’re scared of heights?”

“I-I’m not scared.” Sunggyu exclaimed defensively, but then gasped when the gondola shook slightly and made a rickety noise. He was even more surprised when Woohyun reached out and took his melted ice cream, and with his other hand, held onto Sunggyu’s sticky, ice cream covered hand.

“It’s ok.” Woohyun spoke softly.

Sunggyu couldn’t even bother to care about anything else, and squeezed his eyes shut, clutching onto Woohyun’s hand desperately.

After they landed, Sunggyu instantly escaped from the gondola and grabbed his melted cone from Woohyun’s hand.

“Are you feeling better?” Woohyun asked, following after Sunggyu.

“I-I wasn’t scared.” Sunggyu muttered, stuffing the cone into his mouth and chewing aggressively.

“Ok.” Woohyun shrugged as they passed some vendors, selling candy and stuffed animals. Sunggyu turned to Woohyun and frowned.

“I really wasn’t.” He repeated.

“I know.” Woohyun nodded, blinking innocently.

Sunggyu was more than a little frustrated that he had just depended on this sixteen-year-old kid and acted like a scared little baby. But at the same time, it made him realize that maybe there was more to Woohyun than he thought.

“A-Anyways…thanks I guess.” Sunggyu muttered, averting his eyes.

“For what?” Woohyun grinned. “I thought you weren’t scared.”

Sunggyu merely snorted. Never mind, he thought. Woohyun was just annoying.

“Yah, look at that.” Woohyun pointed to some shooting game booth. He was pointing to the prizes—the top prize to be specific, which was a video game console.

“Yah?” Sunggyu narrowed his eyes. “I’m not your friend. Where’s your respect?”

“Geez, sorry dad.” Woohyun muttered under his breath.

“What did you just say?” Sunggyu had his hands on his hips now. “Yah, I’m older than you. Its ‘hyung’ to you.”

“Nah.” Woohyun nodded.

“What do you mean ‘nah’?” Sunggyu growled. “I’m not asking whether you want—.”

“Ok, how about we make a deal?” Woohyun decided with a mysterious glint in his eyes.

“A deal?” Sunggyu frowned.

“Yeah. If you win me a prize from that game, I’ll call you hyung.” Woohyun explained. Sunggyu immediately stalked towards the booth, which was quite a shock for Woohyun. He figured Sunggyu wouldn’t care that much and wasn’t willing to embarrass himself. So he was pleasantly surprised, as Sunggyu handed the vendor the cash.

The goal of the game was to knock down an arranged stack of bottles with a small ball.

However Sunggyu failed all three times.

“Damn it.” He cursed and forked up some more money. “Again.”

“Wait.” Woohyun gripped his arm. “I was just kidding you know. You don’t have to waste your money—.”

“Shut up.” Sunggyu interrupted and picked up one of the plastic pink balls and aimed it before clumsily flinging it. He missed once again and handed over more money. He was about to throw the ball, when Woohyun grabbed his wrist. He took the ball from Sunggyu, and turned to the stack of bottles. He took a second to focus his aim, before he flung the ball, successfully knocking all the bottles down in one go. Sunggyu’s jaw dropped, as the vendor handed Woohyun a large white stuffed bear that was wearing black framed glasses.

Sunggyu pouted. “How’d you do that?”

“I like sports.” Woohyun shrugged. “And you probably weakened the bottles for me.”

“Weakened the bottles?” Sunggyu snorted, folding his arms and walking away. “That doesn’t even make sense...” Woohyun smiled and followed after him.

“It was just beginner’s luck.” He chuckled. “Don’t worry about it hyung.”

“What beginner’s luck? You just—wait.” Sunggyu stopped, turning to Woohyun. “You…”

“Hm?” Woohyun blinked, alarmed by Sunggyu’s sudden finger pointing right in his face.

“You just called me hyung…and you smiled!” Sunggyu gasped.

“So?” Woohyun grinned. “I smile all the time.”

“N-No you don’t!” Sunggyu frowned. “Whenever you see me, you always look so unhappy.”

“Yeah that’s just with you though.” Woohyun replied, rather bluntly. “I smile with everyone else though.”

“Oh, how nice.” Sunggyu scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“But,” Woohyun looped an arm around Sunggyu’s arm, and smiled. “That’ll change from now on, ok hyung?”

Sunggyu snorted and averted his eyes, so the boy wouldn’t detect his embarrassment.

“W-Whatever…”

---

Sunggyu was more of a tsundere back in the day I guess lol