After another tiring but gratifying day, Kim Minseok can finally rest in his austere apartment. Apparently, his roommate won’t be returning until next week so the place is all his.

Setting his messenger bag on the coffee table, he sits on the sofa. He stares at an empty space for a bit but eventually, he lies on his stomach with a loud sigh. He stays like that until his phone vibrates. Lazily, he pulls it out and looks at the blinding screen. He jerks from his place and in a split second, he’s sitting upright. Obviously, he’s rather excited because his family is calling. He eagerly accepts the call and in that instant, a loud (chaotic) greeting coming from his younger siblings assaults his ears. He cringes from the noise but he greets back with the same enthusiasm.

A barrage of how are you, are you eating well and a multitude of other questions prevent him from answering them one by one. And because he knows that it’s going to be a marathon of updates and reminders, he turns the loudspeaker on and places the phone on the table. Soon, their overly thrilled voices fill the apartment.

“Oppa! Oppa! How are you?” his sister asks enthusiastically.

Minseok chuckles because he can perfectly imagine her clutching the phone with wide eyes and running around the room so the device is all hers while their baby brother is tailing her with failed attempts to snatch the phone.

“I’m fine Sohee. How about you? How’s school?”

“Uhmm...It’s great!”

 “Oh no. Don’t tell me, you already have a boyfriend?! Yah. I’ll kill him.” He threatens his sister who started to babble about having no time for that nonsense and no one to be interested with.

 “What can we do? Your sister is beautiful. A lot of guys are wooing her.” He faintly hears his mother from the background.

“But oppa~” Sohee whines. “Trust me. I dumped them! I told them that they should be more like you to interest me!”

Minseok laughs. As expected, Sohee used him as an excuse. “I know, right? Study first, okay? It’ll be unfair for me. I’m trying so hard to finish without distractions.” After another round of quick reminders and threats he ends his playful banter with his sister, “Now, can you please give the phone to our Jiwon? I miss him more than you.”  

“I hate you oppa.”

“I love you too Sohee.”

He hears a noise as if the phone is being passed. He also hears Sohee sulking and saying “Here you go. Talk to the monster Jiwon.”

“Hello. Is this a monster?” Jiwon asks cutely.

Minseok beams, thinking of playing along with Sohee’s annoying lie. Poor Jiwon, he’s getting played by his older siblings. He covers his mouth and clears his throat. With a gruff voice, he speaks again. “Rawr! I’m a monster!!! I ate your hyung! Now, I’m going to eat you too!!!”

Jiwon screams and it may be bad, but Minseok is delighted. And he’s not alone. Sohee and his mother are there to laugh with him.

“Yah. Minseok-ah, don’t make your brother cry.” His mother chides him.

“I’m just joking!” Regaining his control over his laughter, he adds. “Okay. I won’t anymore. Just give the phone back to him.”

After seconds of persuading, his brother finally takes the device. “A-Are you still the monster?”

Minseok chuckles but he fights back the urge to pick on his brother again. “No. There’s no monster here. I threw him out.”

“Yay~ Minseok hyung is brave!”

This is what Minseok loves about children. No matter what you do to them, they’ll always forgive you. They’ll still smile at you toothily even though you made them cry. In an instant, they’ll forget what you did. And most of the time, they’ll believe your lies.

“Hyung! Hyung! I got a big, big, star for my drawing~”

Clapping, Minseok praises his brother. “Very good! When I get back, let me see it, okay?”

“Okay~ I’ll draw more for you hyung!”

Then, his mother’s voice is on the phone again. “What about you? How’s the program? Are your students giving you a hard time?”

“Ah. Actually, they’re not. I’m really shocked that all of them are participating. I thought they wouldn’t take me seriously because I’m just a newbie and younger compared to their teachers.” He answers positively. It’s true. During his first week, he really thought that he wouldn’t be able to get over his nerves. But eventually, he just found himself confidently teaching and answering questions. And certain students made him feel like he’s already a part of the family. Mainly, it was Sehun.

“Psh...” Sohee interjects “As if they would really take you seriously.”

“That reminds me,” Minseok smirks. “There’s this boy in my class. He’s such a cutie and adorable. What if we abandon you and adopt him instead? I would really like it if you pack your bags now and leave. He’s way better than you. I want him to be my brother.”

Even though he’s just joking about abandoning his sister, he really means the part where he wants to be Sehun’s brother. Sehun isn’t that bad. Unlike the other kids, he’s very comfortable to be with. He’s also responsible and trustworthy. And the thing that Minseok discovered about the kid...it makes him want to be Sehun’s older brother more.  He wants to let Sehun know that he’s right beside him and everything is okay, they can share parents or something like that.

“Yah. Oppa! Why are you doing this to me? Why are you so mean?!” Sohee complains on the other line.

Minseok smiles to himself. He’s not really mean to his sister every time. It’s just that he wants to imagine his sister, who could be his twin if not for the fact that Sohee is so much younger than him and even Sehun, wrinkle her face in frustration. Ah...Perhaps, he just misses his sister.

“Uhmm...Nothing, I’m just hurt that you hate me!” He pouts though he knows that Sohee can’t see it.

“You started it!”

“I’m sorry! I’m just joking! You know that. No one can beat my lovable and beautiful sister!”

“Oh really? Even that student you were just talking about?”

“You’re really sulking about that?” Minseok laughs. Sohee’s childishness is really his only amusement. “Of course! But I still want to keep him as my brother. You two may get along. You’re both childish and cute~”

Finally, when they got tired of hearing one another, they ended the call.

Minseok is on his way to his bedroom when his phone rings again. Quickly, he gets it and opens the message. It’s from Sehun.

Hyung! How do I solve this? ;_;

Then the picture of the problem is situated under the message.

Isn’t this your assignment?

He answers.

Eh~ I forgot my notebook! And I can’t understand the solutions in the internet T.T

Minseok scoffs. He shouldn’t be doing it but he just finds himself writing an example for Sehun. He takes a picture of his work and sends it to Sehun.

This is just an example and solution. Just base your answer on this.

Yey~ Thanks hyung! You’re the best!

He can’t help himself to smile. Sehun is a cute younger brother after all. 

---

A/N:
Oh no. I’m sorry. I know. I know. I know I promised a confession on chapter 10 but...a bird told me that it wanted a Minseok POV before the confession...so this happened! Anyway, I agreed because I thought I wasn’t ready for the big moment. I just- ugh. T.T

Sehun, please hold on. I don’t want to break your heart yet.

Wondering why the updates are short? I have a less than 2k per update rule LOL. Sorry.