It was often said that hindsight brings greater clarity, and Hoon fully understood the meaning of it right this instant because he regretted not giving Serin full details on the music video beforehand. He had rationalized that she would be reasonable about it, accepting his job and need for secrecy. And both of those were things she readily did, but as he was now finding out, there were lines that couldn’t be crossed.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me you were going to be having scenes, Hoonmin?” she demanded as he strolled casually into her apartment.

“I wanted to, but—“

“No. That’s not good enough. You let me think you were going to do something y, something that your fans would enjoy. I don’t see anything enjoyable in this.”

“Serin, listen—“

“I refuse. I can’t believe that you’d release something this cheap. It’s one step below ography, Hoonmin. You and Kiseop have a scene. Do you want me to be okay with this? I feel cheated on right now.”

“I trusted that you’d understand,” he said, huffily. “Guess I was wrong.”

“Oh, I can understand why you did it. You were told to. Sure. I don’t understand the concept. You all went way too ing far. But you couldn’t tell me? Couldn’t even give me a heads up that I was going to have to watch you rub yourself against another woman. I try not to be jealous. I try, so very hard, to be understanding because I know it’s just acting, but this is asking too much of me. This isn’t just a kiss scene. This is soft-core .”

“Okay fine. I’m sorry.”

“That’s not good enough,” she seethed. “I could forgive you for hiding a new member. I can look the other way when you’ve got a kiss scene with an actress. I hate that you hid it from me. So please, just leave. I don’t want to see you right now.”

Hoon wanted to argue back, to justify his reasons for not telling her, but he innately knew that now was not the time to talk to her about it. It would just make things worse. “I’ll leave then. I’m sorry I hurt you. I’ll talk to you later.”

Pride hurt, he drove home. He wanted to be mad at her, but he knew she was right. He should have told her. He shouldn’t have made the assumption that she’d simply be okay with him getting ual onscreen with other women. And the more he thought about it, the worse he felt. If only he had simply talked about it with her beforehand.

Defeated upon returning home after berating himself for his entire drive. Soohyun immediately asked him, “What are you doing back so early?”

“Serin kicked me out. She doesn’t want to see me.”

“Uh oh. Is she mad about the teaser?” Soohyun asked.

“Yeah. I don’t think she’ll be okay with the video either.”

“Didn’t she know it was coming? You told her about the ual content, right?”

“I didn’t, hyung,” Hoon admitted. “I wasn’t really sure how to tell her, and I just didn’t. I feel really bad for upsetting her so much. I didn’t mean to. I was just doing my job, you know. I didn’t think she’d mind.”

Soohyun nodded, though he wasn’t really sure what to tell his dongsaeng. He’d never been in a relationship quite as serious as Hoon and Serin’s. But it was very obvious to him that Hoon was full of regret over how things had panned out. “I guess you should apologize to her.”

“She… won’t let me talk to her right now. She’s too angry.” He hung his head in defeat. “Hyung, I really want to marry her. I’m worried what this means for us. I don’t want her to break up with me.”

“Maybe you should sit down and tell her all about the music video in detail, so she knows what to expect when she sees the full thing. I don’t really know what to tell you, Hoonie. You clearly upset her a lot.”

Hoon had been excited for this comeback before, but now he was filled with anxiety. He didn’t know how to fix things with Serin, especially when in the next few days she would be flooded with even more of it, and he was sure that would only serve to fuel the fire of her wrath. And despite reaching out to speak with her, she refused to accept any of his invitations. He dreaded discovering her reaction.

--

She had missed him for the next few days. Despite her anger and irritation, she still wanted to see him. He constantly messaged her, asking for forgiveness and a chance to explain himself. And she so badly wanted to. She was close to messaging him back to tell him to come over that evening for dinner, but before she had a chance to, Jaehyun had asked her to come have dinner with him, and as she was still just irritated enough with Hoon to warrant ignoring him a bit more, she decided to take up her little brother’s invite.

He knew she was behaving oddly, and he could guess why. Serin knew that he knew. Jaehyun had started liking the group shortly after she’d started dating Hoon. He knew full well exactly what was bothering his sister, and he was offering her a chance to talk out her feelings to him, and she very much appreciated the gesture.

She met him that evening when she finished work, and the more she talked, the more upset she got. Hot tears of frustration ran down her cheeks, and Jaehyun moved to sit beside her and put an arm around her shoulder. “It’ll be okay Serin,” he told her gently. “You should talk to him about him. Ignoring Hoonmin-hyung isn’t going to resolve anything. You obviously care so much about him. Otherwise you wouldn’t be reacting so intensely.”

She wiped her eyes, trying to draw strength from his words. “You’re right. It’s just so hard to be accepting of him being with another woman like that, even if it’s just for a video. It really hurts me, you know?”

“I know it does. But you need to tell him that. Not me.”

--

She had resolved to do what Jaehyun suggested the following day, the day that the video was released. Except that when the video was released, she was so shocked and appalled that the rage within her welled up again. She wasn’t even really jealous, but mostly extremely angry that he’d film something this ual while he was in a relationship, without telling her about it first. And it was worse that before. She didn’t even want to think about it. Hyunsaeng came in to ask her a simple question, and she nearly bit his head off because of her anger.

“What’s with you?” he questioned.

“None of your damn business, Hyunsaeng,” she spat back. “Just leave me alone.”

He, of course, knew better than to press her when her mood was this terrible, but he absolutely was not going to let it go. He would get down to the bottom of the situation. He was well aware that her mood had not been directed towards him, just he had talked to her at the wrong time. He had his suspicions regarding what was bothering her, but he didn’t want to jump to conclusions. He would get the answer from her later when she’d cooled off some.

As he walked out of her office to head to his own, formulating a plan, he ran into Jaehyun who had just stopped in briefly to talk to their father. “Hey hyung,” the younger brother said.

“Hey. Oh, do you have any idea what is bothering Serin? She’s in a right y mood.”

Jaehyun laughed nervously. “Yeah. You don’t?”

“No. Care to let me into the secret?”

The younger gulped in anxiety. He knew what Hyunsaeng would do when he found out what was bothering Serin, and he was a little worried because the issue was between Hoon and Serin. Hyunsaeng had no business getting involved. But he was also well aware that he wasn’t going to be able to withhold the information from Hyunsaeng. With a sigh, Jaehyun explained, “The new U-KISS video. Hoonmin is a little… well actually a lot scandalous. And Serin’s a bit hurt over it. But let the two handle it on their own hyung.”

“How scandalous?” Hyunsaeng asked then, already seeming fairly inclined to picking a fight.

“I’ll let you watch it on your own. But please, for Serin’s sake, don’t go pick a fight. She can handle this on her own. We just need to support her. I know the two can work through it.”

Hyunsaeng shook his head, scowling. “If he’s hurt her, he has to deal with me.”

“Hyung, wait. Please. Serin won’t be happy if you do that.”

A third voice entered the discussion then, asking, “Serin won’t be happy if Hyunsaeng does what?”

Both the brothers turned to look at their oldest brother. “Seunghyun hyung,” Jeahyun said, relieved because Seunghyun was about the only person who could talk Hyunsaeng down when he was like this. “Serin’s just really upset right now because of the content in the recent U-KISS video.”

“I know,” Seunghyun said. “I’m a bit upset for her.”

“What? You’ve already watched it?” Hyunsaeng asked, incredulous.

“Despite what you think, I do pay attention to what is going on in Serin’s life. I try to stay up-to-date with her boyfriend’s activities. The video was hard for me to watch, knowing how it would make her feel.”

“Is it really that bad?” Hyunsaeng pressed.

Seunghyun nodded. “You can watch it if you want to understand Serin’s feelings better, but you are not to go talk to Hoonmin regarding it. Leave that to me.”

Jaehyun and Hyunsaeng both looked at him in shock. “You’re going to go talk to him?” Hyunsaeng asked, disbelieving.

“What’s the big deal? I just want to talk to him. He’s hurt Serin’s feelings, and we can’t have you going in there, Hyunsaeng, and causing a big scene. She still loves him. She wouldn’t be upset if she didn’t. Of the three of us, I’m the one who’s married and understands this stuff a little better. Just calm down and let me handle this.”

“Fine,” Hyunsaeng agreed huffily. Jaehyun relaxed a bit knowing that Hyunsaeng wasn’t going to pick a fight and make a bigger mess. He just hoped Seunghyun would be able to expedite a solution to Serin and Hoon’s troubles. Considering the smooth talker that Seunghyun actually was, he didn’t really doubt his oldest hyung would be able to fix things.

--

Hoonbi didn’t know exactly who was sitting in front of the door to the apartment, but he was slightly concerned. As he approached, he studied the guy, finding him somewhat familiar but not able to really figure out why. When he finally reached the door, he cleared his throat and caught the man’s attention. “Excuse me, I need to get in.”

The stranger stood up, and stated, “You must be Hoonmin’s brother.”

Hoonbi was taken aback slightly, but he was aware that there would be U-KISS fans that’d know who he was, so he tried to not get too worked up over things. ”Can I help you?”

“I wanted to talk to your brother, but I didn’t know when he’d be around so I was waiting here while trying to get some work done.”

Hoonbi became more confused the longer the conversation went on. “Why do you need to see Hoonmin?”

“Serin is very upset with him, and I just wanted to speak with him.”

Hoonbi then realized why the guy had looked familiar. He looked similar to Serin, and even more similar to Jaehyun and Hyunsaeng, whom Hoonbi had met only briefly before. “You must be Seunghyun. Sorry, I didn’t recognize you. I’m Yeo Hoonbi. I don’t know when they’ll be back, but I guess you can come in and wait if you want.”

“I’d appreciate that, Hoonbi-shi.”

The two entered the apartment then, and Hoonbi had Seunghyun take a seat on the couch. It was kind of uncomfortable because, despite how well he knew Serin, he’d never met her oldest brother, who had an image so professional that Hoonbi found it intimidating.

“I won’t press for details on why you’re here. I’m pretty sure I know why. I just want to let you know that Hoonmin is upset too, and he’s aware that he’s in the wrong over this whole fiasco. He just wants a chance to ask for forgiveness.”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” Seunghyun stated patiently. “I just want to talk to him and understand his position on this. I’m just trying to help establish a line of communication between my sister and your brother, because she’s way too upset to do it herself right now.”

“Yeah. He’s a mess. Any help would be appreciated,” Hoonbi admitted. “And I miss having Serin come over. I hope she’s okay. Hoonmin must have really hurt her. I’d be upset too, if I were in her shoes.”

Seunghyun nodded, and the two sort of lapped into a not exactly comfortable silence, but with the TV on they could sufficiently ignore it. Seunghyun resumed the work on his laptop, which he’d been doing on the floor in the hallway previously, and Hoonbi occasionally glanced at him as he worked. He was five years older than Serin, and would be turning 30 this year. And the similarity between the siblings was striking. Sitting here and actually looking at Seunghyun, he wondered how he could have ever doubted that he was Serin’s brother. They both made the same exact face when they were concentrating.

It took several hours of waiting while Seunghyun worked for Soohyun and Hoonmin to return. “Hey Hoonbi!” Soohyun called from the doorway. “Oh… who’s the visitor?”

But Hoon had frozen as he stared at Seunghyun in what was easily readable as shock. “Hyung, what are you doing here?”

Seunghyun smiled at him kindly. “I wanted to talk to you for a bit. Privately, if possible.”

Soohyun frowned, but Hoonbi insisted that the two of them should go do other things. He pushed Soohyun into the bathroom so he would shower before disappearing into his own room.

Hoon walked over to sit across from Seunghyun, feeling awkward. “How’s Serin?” he asked tentatively.

“Very upset with you.”

“Well, I know that. I’m worried about her. She won’t answer my messages or phone calls. And I know so much of what I’m doing right now is just going to hurt her more and more. I have to sell the concept.”

“I’m not really here to lecture you,” Seunghyun said. “I came because I couldn’t let Hyunsaeng come here and threaten you. I came because I want to know your thoughts. What happened? How do you plan to fix things?”

“Why are you taking time out of your busy schedule to help with our relationship issues, hyung?”

“Because I’m rooting for the two of you. I think anyone can understand where Serin is coming from on this. I can tell that you do.”

“I do. I shouldn’t have so willingly done something that I knew would hurt her. I wasn’t thinking. I was just doing as I was instructed, doing the best job I could. I thought that she, having been so understanding in the past, would just overlook this.”

“Serin is very patient,” Seunghyun said. “And she understands and deals with your lifestyle more appropriately than I ever thought she’d be capable of. But when you filmed that scene, without telling her… Hoon, more than anything, I think she’s scared. Scared that you’ll cheat on her and leave, like what she went through last time. And watching the video just put that underlying fear within her, one that she’d never admit to herself, on the forefront of her mind.”

“Oh…” Hoon pondered. “I hadn’t even been thinking about... how her past might be influencing her attitude. But that makes sense. I really… I just need to talk to her Seunghyun, but she’s closed her heart off to me.”

“I know. She’s shut everyone off right now. She doesn’t want to feel any more hurt, least of all from you. It’s hard to say to give her space, because I don’t think you should. Her heart will soften if you keep reaching out to her. Just remember that despite whatever you think, the fact that she’s so upset means that she cares so much about you that it amplifies her pain. She still loves you, Hoonmin. So much that she crippled with pain because she feels like you’ve slighted her. And we all agree. You were unfair with her in this.”

“You’re right. I was wrong and made assumptions that hurt everyone. I worry about her in every spare moment. I can’t sleep because I’m anxious over her well-being. I want to see her, but I can’t. I need her in my life, and I slowly feel like I’m losing my mind because I haven’t heard from her.” He knew he sounded desperate, but he really needed Seunghyun to know how important Serin was to him.

“Be patient, Hoonmin. Be kind and accepting and apologetic. Serin won’t give you up easily. She just needs more time. I’ll encourage her to communicate with you. I will make sure Hyunsaeng gives you the space you need to resolve it on your own. If you need something from me, you can call the main company line and ask for me.”

Hoon felt a bit of relieve after talking to Seunghyun, and was certainly glad for his luck because if Hyunsaeng had come, this conversation likely would have taken a very different direction. “Thanks, hyung. I just… I really want your sister in my life forever. The longer this goes on the more deeply I feel it. Hearing your encouragement gives me hope that things can still work out between us.”

Seunghyun raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying you have intentions of marrying her?”

Hoon closed his eyes, a bit embarrassed that he’d let his secret slip, but nodded his acknowledgement. “Don’t tell anyone yet. I am still working everything out, and I don’t really have a plan, but I want her by my side forever. I need to work harder at sorting this out. Thanks for all of your encouragement.”

Seunghyun smiled, genuinely happy. “Keep fighting hard to melt her heart. I won’t tell anyone about your intentions, but I know Serin would be happy to know. Even right now, as angry and upset with you as she is, she would be happy. Remember that.”

“Yes, hyung. I will.”

--

She answered the phone on the second ring. “Hello, this is Lee Jungsook. How may I help you?”

“Eomma.”

“Ah! Hoonmin! My precious baby! How are you?”

“I’m okay. Tired since we’ve been promoting so hard.”

“Ah. I’m so proud of you. You’re almost done right? Less than a week of promotions?”

“Yeah, eomma,” he admitted sounding a bit down. “I’ll be glad. It’s been hard on me thing time.”

“You sound troubled, Hoonmin,” Jungsook stated, concerned.

“I am,” Hoon admitted. “I upset Serin a lot with my scenes in the music video and haven’t heard for her. My heart aches for her, eomma.”

Jungsook quickly processed what he’d said in silence. “Do you want me to call her for you?”

“I would like to know how she’s doing, so please help me fix things. I’m really sorry for hurting her like I did, and I want her to know that.”

“I’ll see what I can do, Hoonmin,” his mom agreed solemnly.

--

Jungsook nervously tapped her fingers on her desk while the phone rang. Upon having Hoonmin explain his relationship issues a bit, she worried because she didn’t want to see Hoon or Serin hurt each other any more than they already had.

Serin answered right before the end of the last ring. “Hello,” Serin said, trying to sound enthusiastic, but Jungsook could hear the withdrawn quality in her voice.

“Serin, darling, are you okay?”

“Yes, eomma-nii.”

“Are you sure? You can tell me if Hoon upset you with that video.”

“Actually… eomma-nii, can I come visit you? I want to see you.”

Jungsook knew Serin had dodged the question, but was happy to let her go on the matter, knowing that answering the question was likely why she wanted to come visit in the first place. “I’d be happy to have you. If you feel like driving all the way out here, I’d be more than happy to let you stay the night with us, too. Do you want something for dinner?”

Jungsook listened intently to Serin’s request before saying her farewells because Serin was busy at work and couldn’t chat for long. She also let Hoon know that Serin was going to visit that evening as she prepared dinner for Serin, Woontaek, and herself.

When Serin did arrive, Jungsook greeted her with a hug. “Eomma,” Serin breathed out, relieved. “I missed you. Thank you for inviting me.”

“Let’s go eat before we talk,” Jungsook said, immediately noticing that Serin had lost weight since last she’d seen her. It didn’t seem to be a dangerous amount, but she was looking more gaunt than healthy.

Serin simply nodded and did as suggested. Jungsook watched her pick at the food in front of her, and frowned, troubled over Serin’s behavior. She glanced over at her husband, who was eating heartily as usual. Clearly, her problems with Hoonmin were causing her a huge amount of emotional distress. When they were finished, Serin leaving most of the food untouched, having just taken a few bites of each thing Jungsook had prepared, Jungsook pulled her into the living area, and had her sit down on the couch. She didn’t want to talk around the main reason for Serin being here, so she just directly asked, “What’s going on between you and Hoonmin? You’re a mess.”

Serin bit her lip nervously. “His… scenes in the video. He didn’t tell me about them before, and just it upset me so much. But it’s deeper than that. I got over that pretty quickly.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

Serin sniffed, trying to keep herself from crying. “Because it feels like he’s cheated on me. He went and filmed a video like that with another girl without telling me. It just brings back painful memories because I’ve had that happen in the past, and I don’t want to lose him, but I’m afraid to trust him again. I’m afraid of being hurt. I’ve been avoiding him because I’m afraid.” As she admitted it, she couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. Jungsook wrapped her in her arms, patting her back and her hair in silence.

“Serin,” Jungsook whispered softly, “you need to stop avoiding it. Talk through things with Hoonmin. He misses you.”

Serin sniffed, nodding once to acknowledge that she understood. “I miss him, too,” she stated.

--

Hoon had, despite his better judgment, listened to his heart over his body. He was exhausted. He really shouldn’t have been driving to his parents’ home this late, but he needed to see Serin. He couldn’t stand to wait longer. He was desperate. Desperate enough to drive over an hour to see her and forfeit his precious sleep.

He parked in the driveway next to her car and quietly slinked into the house, being careful not to wake anyone. He wasn’t sure where his mom would have had Serin sleep, but he assumed probably his old bedroom. He was right, and he was filled with anxiety when he saw her sleeping peacefully on his old bed because as much as he wanted to see her, he was nervous.

Silently, he slid into bed beside her, lying on top of the comforter so that she wouldn’t feel like he was intruding into her space too much. But his movements had woken her up, and groggily she asked, “Who’s there?”

“It’s me,” he whispered to her.

She froze, unsure of how to proceed. “Why are you here?” she finally asked.

“Because I needed to see you. I need to tell you that I’m sorry. That I won’t disregard your feelings in the future. I won’t keep secrets from you.”

“You really shocked and hurt me,” she said, turning her back to him.

“I know. I’m sorry. I made assumptions I shouldn’t have. Putting myself in ual scenes with other women is very different from kissing scenes in musicals and dramas. I never meant to hurt you. I don’t want you to feel betrayed.”

“I just… I feel like I can’t trust you anymore. I’m afraid of being hurt again.”

“I know,” he admitted, sighing. “It was really dumb on my part. All I’m asking for is another chance. You can take your time to heal, but don’t block me out. I want to know that you’re doing okay. I don’t want you to leave me, and if you need space in order to heal from the pain I’ve caused you, I’ll gladly give it to you. I just can’t handle being worried about you all the time while you’re ignoring me.”

She didn’t say anything in response, mulling over his words. “I don’t want you to leave me, either,” she admitted after a bit. “But the wound stings and seeing you still promoting… every time it rips my heart up anew. So I’m sorry for avoiding you as much as possible. I’m sorry for trying to minimize my pain and fear by avoiding things.”

“Your fear? What are you afraid of?” he asked lowly because though he knew about what she was going to say, he wanted to hear the words out of , not his mom’s, not her brother’s.

She turned over to face him then, rolling slowly to look at him steadily in the eyes. “I’m so afraid that you’ll leave me,” Serin said seriously, voice quavering. Hoon knew she often had difficulties being vulnerable, even with him, so that she was telling him this spoke volumes of how heavy everything weighed on her. “I am terrified that you’ll leave me, just like what happened in the past. Seeing the video just… reminded me that you could put me through the same thing as Josh did. I don’t want to think about it. I don’t want that pain. I don’t want to think about the possibility of you cheating on me. And just… everything hurts, and I don’t know what to do.” She had fought back her tears through the whole thing, and now that she had laid out her heart before him, she couldn’t fight anymore. She covered her face with her hands, and cried. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close, resting his forehead against hers.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. He held her in silence while she cried, and just simply let her know he was there. He could feel, in his heart, this asive worry spreading because he knew how much he’d hurt her. He worried if he’d be able to fix things. But having her in his arms, regardless of the reason, made him feel better about the outlook of everything. She ceased crying on her own eventually, and when he assumed she was asleep again, he stood up to leave.

“Don’t leave,” she whispered. “Stay with me.”

And so he stayed.

--

When Serin woke up in the morning, she’d have questioned if what had transpired during the middle of the night was reality, except that she could hear Hoon’s slow, rhythmic breathing beside her ear and that fact that it was his alarm that had woken her up. His warmth beside her was comforting, and she could almost forget about everything that had transpired just by having him there. Having opened up to him and shared her feelings, she felt better because now she was finally not bearing the weight on her own. She had truly missed his companionship, and though she had been the one ignoring him, she knew that she wasn’t going to be able to now.

She nudged Hoon to wake him up because his alarm certainly hadn’t done the trick. “Hoonie,” she whispered, “you have to wake up. Your alarm is going off.”

“Mmmmfff,” he moaned, putting his hand out to fish for his phone without lifting himself off the bed. “Don’ wanna,” he slurred as he fumbled to shut it off.

“You’ll get in trouble,” she mentioned. “I’m sure you’re busy today, and it’ll take you a while to drive to work from this far away. Plus, I don’t think you want your mom knowing we shared a bed.”

He sighed. “You’re right.” Pulling himself out of bed, still wearing the clothes he’d come in, he trudged out of the room and towards the bathroom sleepily. When he had showered and brushed his teeth, he walked back in the room to tell her goodbye. She stood up and awkwardly hugged him, making sure not to press too closely against him. “Thank you for coming,” she whispered into his ear. “I need more time to sort everything out inside of myself, but I’ll keep in contact. I won’t ignore you anymore. I still love you too much.”

“I love you, too,” he answered. “I’m sorry for the pain I’ve caused you. Take all of the time you need. I’ll be waiting.”

He left then, not kissing her, something she was glad for because she wasn’t ready for it yet. She needed to sort her feelings out just a bit more, but she, in her heart, knew exactly what was going to happen. She would forgive him because he was truly sorry, and she truly missed him, and they’d settle back into their old routine. The only question now was how long would it take.

--

Not quite a week after they’d spent a few hours sleeping in the same bed, Jun asked Hoon if he could meet Serin. “The other members say hyung’s girlfriend is really nice,” he explained to Hoon. “And I want to meet her too.”

Hoon wasn’t sure exactly what to tell him. They’d be leaving for Japan shortly so they’d have to arrange something within the next few weeks. Plus he and Serin still weren’t quite back to normal, though they were definitely getting better, and he wasn’t sure he wanted Jun to meet her quite yet because of it. “I’ll see what she thinks,” he said, making the decision to leave the final verdict to Serin. He pulled out his phone to ask her, sending her a quick message to see what she thought.

She called him back, and her voice was excited. She was happy for the opportunity to meet the new maknae, it seemed. “We can do something tonight,” she suggested. “Bring him over to your apartment. I can make you dinner. Hoonbi will probably be happy about that.”

Hoon wasn’t so sure about that. Hoonbi and Soohyun had both been aware of the struggles between them, and he was concerned it would be awkward. He said nothing though, because she clearly was looking forward to coming over and seeing everyone, and even with his concerns, he figured that was a good sigh that things were on the mend.

“We’ll be late tonight,” Hoon informed her. “But that sounds like a plan.”

Jun was happy but anxious over the meeting. He insisted that he wanted to make a good impression on Hoon’s girlfriend, and Hoon told him not to worry. Serin had been quite supportive about Jun when she’d found out. It was the other stuff she’d strongly objected over. Jun certainly had nothing to get anxious over.

Hoon, however, did feel anxious, and he had good reason to be. Though he’d spoken to her daily on the phone, he hadn’t seen her since he left his parents’ home that morning. He wasn’t sure how she’d feel upon seeing him in person again.

After their busy schedule for the day came to its conclusion, he found out that his worry was all for naught. She was social and happy and acting very much like her normal self when he drove home with Jun and Soohyun. She forced Jun to hug her, which he seemed awkward about because she was much older and also female, but she just playfully ruffled his hair and told him, “You remind me a lot of my younger brother. Only you’re a lot cuter than he is.”

Hoon laughed, and they all went to eat. Jun seemed to enjoy the meal, and Hoon and Soohyun certainly did because it had been awhile since they’d enjoyed anything home cooked. Hoon and Soohyun both made sure the conversation stayed away from the comeback. They knew it would likely upset Serin, and no one really needed to have that, plus there were only a few days left of promotions. Instead they focused on discussing their intense Japanese tour and anime and Hoonbi, who had already eaten before they arrived and gone to bed.

It was a pleasant visit, and Serin was obviously extremely fond of Jun, in the way a sister might be fond of her baby brother or an aunt her nephew. As talk of sleeping arrangements came up, Hoon realized he wanted to spend the night with Serin. And it wasn’t just because he thought he ought to. It was because she had been flirting with him all evening. Sending him winks, brushing up close to him when she could. Her every touch had set his skin ablaze, and he burned with desire for her. Desire he hadn’t felt in several weeks because he had been far too worried to let his thoughts truly wander to such things. It boggled his mind a bit to think that, in the course of a week, she’d have gone from crying over all the insecurities and pain she felt because of the concept to forgiving him and ready to move on, but he certainly wasn’t going to argue and tell her she needed to stay upset with him.

Almost as if to test what he was thinking, he put a hand on her thigh. She glanced over at him and smiled. A genuine smile with no trace of pain in her eyes.  That was all he needed to see. “Jun, why don’t you spend the night here?” Hoon suggested. “You can have my bed.”

“But where will you sleep, hyung?” Jun asked innocently.

Soohyun smirked knowingly. “I think he can arrange something,” the oldest of them said.

“Huh?” Jun questioned, as he was confused at first. Then it dawned on him; Hoon would go spend the night with Serin. “Oh… I see.”

Serin sort of frowned at them for making assumptions, and stood up, saying goodbye to Jun, but no one else. Hoon scowled at Soohyun then. “You went a little too far, hyung. She’s not quite… back to usual, yet.”

“Back to usual?” Jun asked. “What are you talking about? She seems really nice. I like Serin-noona.”

“Our comeback really upset her. In the past three weeks, this is only the second time I’ve seen her. Things are getting better, but there is still some tension. Soohyun didn’t need to add extra pressure.”

“Sorry, Hoonmin,” Soohyun added. “She doesn’t usually get offended by the stupid stuff I say.”

“I know,” Hoon admitted. “She’s just a little extra sensitive right now. And Jun, she really likes you, so don’t worry that her leaving is your fault. Once things settle down a bit, you’ll get to know her even better. She’s really amazing.”

“Yeah,” Jun agreed. “I’d really like that.”

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to catch up with her. I don’t need something else for her to be mad at me over right now.”

He grabbed his keys, slid on his shoes, and dashed out the door, leaving a stunned Soohyun and Jun in his wake. “Guess he really wants to get laid,” Soohyun said off-handedly.

Jun wasn’t sure what to say or do because of Soohyun’s comment, so he tried to change the topic. “How long have they been dating? They seem very close.”

“I think it was in March of last year. White Day, I’m pretty certain.”

“Oh… so it’s been awhile. How did they meet? Do you know?”

“He’s never really talked too much about it, but he says it was at some piano bar. She’s a really talented pianist. That’s what caught his attention. But I don’t know all of the details.”

Hoonbi, who was either up to pee or because they’d been too loud stumbled into the living area. “Ah, sorry if we woke you up, Hoonbi,” Soohyun said.

“You better be,” the older Yeo brother teased. “You didn’t though. I had to use the toilet. What were you guys talking about?” Hoonbi asked, eyeing Jun because he had only met him a few times and didn’t know him well.

“I asked how Hoonminnie hyung met Serin.”

“At a piano bar. I was there. It’s almost been two years since that fateful day. She was really upset that night. Her ex had just called off their wedding so needless to say she wasn’t exactly playing the happiest music. She made a deep impression on Hoonmin that night, though. He hasn't once stopped talking about her since then.”

“Do you think they're soulmates?” Jun asked.

Soohyun eyed Hoonbi, because Soohyun didn’t want to go spilling secrets. Hoonbi knew that Hoon wanted to marry her. Hoonbi also knew that it was possible Hoon would have to push back his ideal timeline at this point. But the question of whether they were soul mates… that they could both answer pretty easily. “It’s rare for people to find a soul mate,” Hoonbi said, “but I think they’re about as close as I’ve ever seen.”

Jun pondered it for a bit. “I wonder if they’ll get married,” he mused. “I think I’d like that a lot. She’s so nice, and she’s such a good noona.”

Jun didn’t know how true his musings were, so Soohyun and Hoonbi cast wary glances at each other. Soohyun cleared his throat. “Only time will tell,” he said mysteriously. But inside he knew that Serin had already forgiven Hoon. Hoon would be happy tomorrow, his troubles over his relationship relieved, and he would immediately begin preparations to talk to the president. There wasn’t much time before they left for Japan, and Hoon would spend them busily trying to get permission to get married in the fall.

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Jun is too cute to not include. I'll be reworking all of the chapters to include him from this point on. Please enjoy this additional chapter where I sort through my own personal feelings a bit.