Though I was pleased that Key had come to at least some sort of resolution with his mother, I continued to worry about Minho. He stayed at Jonghyun’s house and, as far as I knew, had no communication with his family.

I didn’t know a lot about Minho’s family. I knew that his dad owned a chain of really ritzy hotels all across Asia, and that his mother was more of a partier than an actual mother. I also knew that Minho had, at one time, looked up to his older brother with admiration. He never said so aloud, but I knew that the recent scandal had really caused him to rethink his relationship with his brother.

Tuesday night found the three of us sitting in Jonghyun’s sitting room, watching television. I had taken to staying at Jonghyun’s house most of the time during the week, since it was easier and faster for me to get to school and neither of us had parents that really seemed to care about where we were.

Minho was slouched moodily on the sofa, arms crossed, staring at the television but not really seeing. It was easy to see that his mind was a million miles away from the talk show we were watching.

Since none of us were talking and the television wasn’t turned up all that loud, the room was really quiet. When Minho’s handphone went off – quite loudly – all three of us jumped.

He gave Jonghyun and I an apologetic little smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes as he answered the call. “Yes, Father?”

Even though I knew it was none of my business, I was instantly intrigued. This was the first time, as far as I was aware, that Minho’s father had bothered to contact him since he’d been crashing at the Kims’ place.

There was a pause while Mr. Choi said something lengthy on the other end of the line, and Minho’s eyes got very wide. “What?” he repeated. “Father, you can’t do that…” Another pause. “Well, yes, I know, but…” Yet another pause, and Minho hung his head in defeat. “Yes, Father. I understand. Yes, I’ll come home right away.” And he ended the phone call.

Jonghyun gave his friend a worried look. “Is everything okay?”

Minho seemed to be very troubled as he finally looked at us. “My father is disowning my brother. Completely. He’s being cut out of the family. That means he’s no longer the heir to the company. I am.”

Jonghyun hesitated. “I mean, isn’t this what you wanted? You’ve always sort of envied Siwon being first in line, right? Now this means that you won’t have to compete with him for a share of the company.”

But Minho shook his head. “Not like this. I never wanted something like this to happen. I’d rather just be the second son and still have my brother.” Then he sighed. “My father wants me to come home right away, and it’s not a good idea to keep him waiting. I should probably get my stuff. Thanks for letting me crash here for so long. You guys are really good friends.”

“Is he going to be okay?” I asked when Minho had left to go gather his things. “I feel like he’s going to be walking into a madhouse.”

Jonghyun seemed just as worried as I was. “It doesn’t really matter,” he admitted. “If his father wants him to go back, he’s got to go back. I just hope nothing more happens. Minho’s a good guy, and he must be really torn right now.” 

Minho missed the rest of the week at school. It was publicly announced in the newspaper that he had become the new heir to his father’s company, so the gossip in school was at least a little subdued. It was all well and good for these jerks to make fun of one of their own as long as he was on the same level, but now that he had some real power in his future, they had to make sure to stay on his good side. The politics of Seol Chong really made me sick sometimes.

Since Minho had missed the rest of the school week, I was more than a little surprised when he showed up at Jonghyun’s house on Saturday. I was in the sitting room, working on my dossier for school, when Mr. Kang showed Minho in.

“Oh, Minho,” I said in surprise, getting to my feet. “I didn’t know you were coming over. Jonghyun’s in the shower right now, but he should be out soon. I can go tell him to hurry if you’d like.”

“That’s okay,” Minho said quickly. Then he took a deep breath. “I actually came here to ask you a favor.”

“Me?” I said, surprised. “What can I help you with?”

Minho took another deep breath. “I found out where my brother is staying. I-I want to go talk to him.”

I thought it was a good idea for Minho to go talk to his brother, but I didn’t see how I could possibly help him. Getting involved in other people’s affairs had only gotten me in trouble thus far.

“The hotel he’s staying at is in your part of town,” Minho said. “I’m not familiar with that area at all, and it’s not like I can ask my driver to take me there. He’d report back to my father and then all hell would break loose. Also, I have no experience talking to gay people. I don’t even know what to say.”

“Just because he’s gay doesn’t mean he’s not your brother,” I pointed out. “You talked to him before, right? He’s still the same person.”

Minho hesitated. “But what if he hates me?” he asked, and I could see that this was really the root of Minho’s worry. “I took his place. What if he resents me and holds me responsible?”

“Well it’s certainly not your fault,” I assured him. “But you’ll never know how your brother feels about it if you don’t go talk to him.”

“You’re right.” Minho smiled feebly. “So will you go with me?”

Against my better judgment, I gave in. I wrote a quick note to Jonghyun so he’d know where I’d gone, and Minho and I left the house. Minho was a little paranoid about being followed – he’d get in a lot of trouble with his father if it came out that he was visiting his pariah of a brother – so we took the bus. It was a much longer trip to my part of town than I was used to these days, but we eventually made it and found the hotel.

Minho looked up at the seedy exterior of the hotel with trepidation. He swallowed audibly. “I don’t think I can do this,” he muttered.

I took his hand. “We’ve already come this far, Minho,” I told him. “You’ll regret it forever if you don’t go talk to your brother.”

Minho took a deep breath and nodded decisively. “You’re right, of course. Let’s go.”

“How did you even find out where he was staying?” I asked as we walked in, bypassing the concierge desk and going straight to the elevators.

Minho’s answering smile was a bit wry. “I have resources at my disposal that you probably don’t want to know about.”

I didn’t answer. I probably had resources at my disposal that he didn’t want to know about.

We reached the fourth floor and stepped off the elevator. If the hotel had seemed shoddy from the outside, it was a million times worse inside. The wooden floors were scuffed, with questionable stains in certain places. The doors were all closed, but I could hear certain noises from behind more than one of them.

We reached a room at the end of the hallway and Minho hesitated again, so I reached past him and knocked firmly on the door. He gave me a look like he was both grateful and terrified that I had taken the initiative.

It seemed for a second that he was going to bolt in the opposite direction, but then the door opened and we were faced with a tall, broad-shouldered guy with dark hair and a striking resemblance to Minho.

He looked shocked to see us there. “M-Minho?” he said uncertainly, looking up and down the hallway as if to reassure himself that we were alone. “What are you doing here?”

Minho swallowed thickly. “I wanted to come talk to you, Siwon. Can we come in?”

Siwon smiled genuinely and stood aside so we could enter the room. “Sorry it’s a mess,” he apologized. “We weren’t expecting company.”

“We?” Minho repeated. “You mean you and your…?”

“My boyfriend,” Siwon finished for him. “Yeah, we’re staying here together.”

Minho stared around the tiny room, scattered with clothes and takeout containers. “How could you?” he finally burst out. “How could you give up the company for this?”

Siwon’s smile softened. “I know it’s probably hard for you to understand,” he said quietly. “But this is the choice I made. I would rather be dirt poor and happy than living a lie in luxury.”

Minho swallowed again. “And you’re really happy? Here? With him?”

Siwon chuckled, reaching for his brother’s hand. “Well I don’t plan on spending the rest of my life in this ty hotel,” he assured Minho. “But yes, I’m happy. I’m happier now than I’ve probably ever been. Yeah I’ve eaten takeout for the last two weeks and yeah I’m sharing a shower with cockroaches, but I get to spend all of my time with the love of my life. I get to curl up in bed at night with someone who one hundred percent accepts me for who I am, with someone who doesn’t want me for my money or my influence, someone who loves me because I am me. I know it might be hard to understand if you’ve never been in love, but this is not something I would trade for anything.”

Minho hung his head, but he was smiling a bit. “I’m glad you’re happy, hyung. I thought you might hate me for becoming next in line to take over the company.”

Siwon immediately pulled his younger brother into a hug. “Hate you? I could never hate you, Minho! You’re my brother! You’re my best friend! I think it’s wonderful that you get this opportunity! Now we both get what we want! We can both be happy!”

When the two of them broke apart, they were both smiling, albeit a bit sheepishly and a bit teary-eyed.

“Does this mean I’m never going to see you again?” Minho asked, and his voice was thick with emotion.

Siwon reached for his hand again. “Of course we’ll see each other. As often as you want, Minho,” he assured his brother. “We’re going to try to find a place around this area, though I don’t even know where to start.” He chuckled a bit sheepishly.

I finally spoke up. “I might be able to help you out there,” I said. “I’m from around here, and I’m really good at getting the most for my money.”

Siwon finally turned his full attention on me for the first time since we’d arrived. “And who are you? Are you Minho’s girlfriend?”

“No!” Minho said quickly, then blushed. “Narae is Jonghyun’s girlfriend, hyung. She came with me because she’s a good friend.”

“You must be,” Siwon said with a kind smile, also taking my hand. “And I might take you up on that offer. I’m sort of at a loss as to where to begin.”

I smiled back. “I’ll hook you up with some people I know. We’ll find you a cheap place to stay that’s not…here.”

He chuckled appreciatively at my tact. 

“That would be wonderful.”

We stayed to chat for a little bit longer but eventually Minho got worried about getting caught so we said our goodbyes and promised to meet again soon, when both Minho and Siwon were at better places in their lives.

He was strangely quiet as we walked back to the bus stop.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

It took him a long time to answer, so long that I thought maybe he was ignoring me. But then he said, “No, I’m not okay. But I think I will be. I just need some time to process things.”

Then he reached for my hand. “I really don’t know what I would’ve done without you, Narae. Thank you. I know you’re Jonghyun’s girlfriend, but you’re also my friend.”

I blushed. “Thanks, Minho. I’m glad I could help.”

Jonghyun was, of course, beside himself when we got back to his house. I had left my cell phone on the coffee table where I’d been doing my homework, so I hadn’t seen any of the millions of text messages he must have sent me.

“Where have you been?” he demanded when we walked in.

“I left you a note,” I said casually. “I told you I had something to do with Minho.”

“How very cryptic of you,” my boyfriend grumbled, coming to steal a kiss nonetheless.

“We went to see my brother,” Minho said, flopping down on the sofa. “Sorry I had to borrow her for a while. Your girlfriend is really amazing. If you let her go, one of us will definitely snatch her up.”

Jonghyun stuck out his tongue. “Get your own, bro.”

Minho laughed, and I knew he was joking, but it still made me smile when he said, “Not possible. Narae is one of a kind.” 

So Minho's brother is Siwon and he's officially been disowned from the family. 

I'm really excited for the next couple of chapters, so I'll definitely try to update more frequently than I have been OTL