♧ SIX ♧

"blahblahblah blahdiblahdiblah AUTOLOCK yadayadayada AUTOLOCK asdfghjkl!!!!"

This was basically all that the five could comprehend as the eldest of the cousins rambled on and on about the van and their unfortunate situation regarding the automatic locking mechanism that left them stranded in the middle of nowhere on a rather cold almost-spring day. "All of this wouldn't have happened if you didn't leave the car in the first place!" Woohyun concluded, lashing out at Sunggyu.

"Me?!?" Sunggyu roared. "Heck if I knew anything about automatic locks. And how long does it take you to ask directions anyway?"

"Is it my fault he was hard of hearing?" Woohyun cried.

"If you weren't sure about your so-called shortcut in the first place, you should have just stuck to the expressway!"

"How hard is it for you to hold it in just until we got to a gas station? And you shouldn't have left to follow him! He isn't a child that needs help in zipping up his pants!" The blame was now shifted onto Sungyeol and Hoya, and Woohyun was met with equal resistance.

"Hey, only child," Hoya reminded. "Elder sibling here? You wouldn't understand a thing or two about sibling responsibility."

"Yeah, and let's see you try to hold in a full bladder for a good half an hour," Sungyeol gritted. "Also, may I remind you about the dimwit that left his keys inside the van?"

"I wasn't counting on everyone abandoning the vehicle in the first place!!"

It was Dongwoo's turn to start explaining his side. "In our defence, Seulbi noticed the van was starting to overheat, so we went out to check on it. How could we not have noticed changes in the temperature gauge?"

"Don't count on it. Pigs will start flying before Woohyun manages to make sense of the complete car circuitry beneath the car hood!" Hoya snapped. "He didn't even realize he was low on gas!"

"You're not one to talk, you can't even drive!!!"

"Woohyun." Seulbi finally spoke up after having held her silence for so long. "We're sorry that all of this has happened, but what's done is done. Now, if you'd kindly look to where I'm pointing, you'll see a bridge in the distance. Get over it."

The high sarcasm in that statement alone shut him up. Woohyun knew his younger cousin well enough to know that once Seulbi made short remarks like that, it was an indicator that she was getting highly annoyed at the present irritating stimulus (in this case, him). A few audible snickers could be heard from the rest, thoroughly amused by such a witty comeback.

Letting out a loud sigh, Seulbi started walking into the direction they were supposedly driving towards. "If we continue to stand here moping, we're not going to get ourselves anywhere. I'm going to get help or at least find a telephone we could use."

“Are you seriously planning on walking all the way to Jeonju in this cold weather?" Sunggyu called out after her.

"Would you rather have me attempt to break windows then?"

In no way were they allowing that to happen. Seulbi could get seriously hurt in the process and they didn't know how to explain that to their grandfather without inducing stress. Just when he was getting better too.

Sungyeol took in long strides to catch up with her. "H-Hey, wait up! I'm coming with you."

"Don't walk so fast, Bee, you might catch a cold!" Hoya reminded, following suit.

Woohyun did not want to leave the van alone under the premise that someone could break in and drive away with all their things (not that they couldn't have those gadgets easily replaced). After much mulling, he ran after his cousins, deciding that their safety and security was more important. "Marshmallow, your knight in shining armor will protect you from the cold!"

Sunggyu shivered in displeasure. That would be the seventh time now that he'd heard Woohyun's terms of endearment for Seulbi and anyone could tell that she disliked them. Scratch that, anyone would hate it, unless they were just as sappy as Woohyun was. Over to his far right, he could hear Dongwoo mumbling something about the kids being too difficult again before he followed. As they fell into step, he could not help but observe how the four cousins interacted with each other. Seulbi was being bombarded every now and then with a series of bizarre chivalrous offers from her three cousins.

"Are you tired?" Hoya asked, and to think they've only walked a good 200 meters away. "Don't hesitate to tell me. I'll carry you!"

"Here sugar, have my coat so you won't get sick," Woohyun fussed, putting his coat over Seulbi, who had her own coat on.

Sungyeol wouldn't allow himself to be left out. "Here are earmuffs, a scarf and a pair of gloves too!"

The unnecessary extra layers of clothing made her feel stiff as a board, causing her to stop dead in her tracks. "I'm fine! Please reclaim your things, stop worrying about me and walk. Just walk."

Pouting, they followed after her like a bunch of hurt and dejected puppies. Their obsession with spoiling their youngest cousin rotten was rather excessive, Sunggyu noted. Also, Seulbi certainly did not appreciate being babied, but her way of shunning them came off as a bit harsh.

"I hope you don't catch the same sad disease as those three have. There isn't a second when they don't dote on her, to be honest, but I don't blame them. It's always been that way since they were little. Seulbi is their precious baby girl, after all," Dongwoo interrupted, perfectly augmenting to what he had been thinking about. "When Seulbi's parents passed away, they proactively tried to fill in that gap. Seulbi, on the other hand, grew up way too quickly; she became a lot more responsible and independent in hopes that she would not burden them any further, but they’re still so overprotective of her anyway. It's weird, but--"

Dongwoo's words were effectively garbled as a truck passed by. "Sorry, what was that?" Sunggyu clarified, speaking a little louder.

"I said: it's weird, but it's a working dynamic for them."

"Oh, alright. I couldn't hear you over the truck earlier--"

TRUCK!

It seems as if the idea only clicked to other five as well. All of them began running after the moving vehicle like a bunch of crazies, yelling and waving their arms for the driver to stop. To their relief, the truck did pull over a little further ahead, allowing them to catch up, and the driver's head peered out of the window. Sunggyu's eyes immediately lit up in recognition. "Mr. Choi!"

The driver chuckled as well. "It really is Sunggyu! I knew I recognised you from when I looked at the side mirror. What are you doing here out in the cold?"

"Our van got stranded back there, so we decided to walk on a bit to find some help and a phone we could use."

"That was yours? Well, what are you standing there for? You kids hop on at the back, I'll give you a lift to the town proper, no problem! I'm headed there anyway!"

"Thank you very much! We're grateful for the help."

Sunggyu took the lead and got on, nudging the other five to do the same. Dongwoo, always on the adventurous side of things, thought it would be a lot of fun and eagerly climbed up on the back (it was his first time riding at the back of a pick-up truck after all). Seulbi had no qualms either, climbing up herself. Her self-appointed bodyguards rushed to attend to her, but she had already gotten on before they could even do something as cheesy as bridal-style carrying.

"I am not getting on the back of that pick-up truck for a good hour or so,” the three boys groaned simultaneously, doubting its safety, cleanliness, and comfort. They were slightly contemplating about getting Seulbi off and away from that truck as well.

Sunggyu only scoffed in response. Typical rich kids. "Are you just going to stand there until you freeze to death or are you coming with us?"

Hesitantly, they piled onto the truck one after the other and it took them awhile before they could settle down after they had scanned the area for a spot that gave optimal safety and comfort. And off they rode with new-found feelings of unease of whatever future (mis)fortune awaited them.

<<<< >>>>

It was high noon by the time they managed to reach Jeonju, but the six were chilled to the bone from that rather windy pick-up truck ride. The group wasted no time in contacting a tow truck that could take their van to back to a car lock smith they managed to hire. Mr. Choi had promised to help lead the tow truck back to where their van was stranded after he finished loading the bulk of fresh vegetables that was intended for delivery. That was how Sunggyu knew him in the first place: this same elderly uncle delivered fresh vegetables for the orphanage.

Now, their next problem was actually getting to Little Haven.

"How about that van you rented out the last time you were here?" Sunggyu suggested.

Seulbi uncrossed her arms, invigorated by that suggestion. “Good idea! We could phone Shimgoon to call the rental company for us." Once again, the heiress had to give herself a few mental congratulatory pats on the back for choosing her accomplice well. He was proving to be of very, very good use, albeit his innate ability to induce unnecessary migraines.

A minivan had then been rented care of Shimgoon for them to use, so they didn't have to worry about payment. Sunggyu had no complaints about the much smaller vehicle but the rest had to it up and endure the cramped state for about an hour or so. "Great, it's a manual," Woohyun groaned after checking out the vehicle. “Dongwoo, can you drive this?"

"No can do. I've only learned automatic as well."

Their ever-growing list of problems was proving to be very overwhelming. Sunggyu turned towards Seulbi, who had been keeping to herself behind the group. "Can you?" he asked before the heiress could badger him to keep quiet. That did not go unheard by her cousins and Dongwoo.

"Seulbi drives?!?"

Thank you, Kim Sunggyu, for completely selling me out for the second time now.

“Sure she does. She took your sedan from Namkyoung Hospital all the way to the orphanage. Why are you looking like you’re hearing this for the first time— oh.”

“How did you—? Since when?” Hoya spluttered in disbelief. Sungyeol kept pushing his glasses up instead of his open jaw while Woohyun looked hurt that this piece of information was kept from him.

“Three years ago,” she finally admitted. “I’ve been sneaking any available car out late at night every once in a while. Under Shimgoon’s supervision, of course! I wouldn't drive off on my own so casually without a driver's license or student's permit.”

“Can you drive this?” Dongwoo asked, patting the minivan lightly.

“Fortunately, I’ve started off my foray into driving by learning with a manual vehicle first. I’m a bit rusty from lack of practice, but we’ll see.”

Seulbi slipped into the driver’s seat. It took her a little while to re-orient herself, but once she got it down, the minivan cruised smoothly under her control, which piqued Dongwoo’s further interest. "Sorry guys, shotgun has been called!" he teased after Seulbi selected him to take the front passenger seat. “Girl, you’ve got mad driving skills!”

“It’s just driving with manual transmission, Dino.”

“Well, it’s getting us somewhere right now! Where did you learn all this?” he piped and the heiress only answered with a knowing smile. “You should definitely teach me! That is… if your three prince charmings here give their consent. I can see you three from the rear view mirror, you know.” Very cross “don’t-encourage-her” glares were addressed to Dongwoo care of the back seat.

To express her frustration over their incessant doting, Seulbi jammed on the gas pedal, sending the car zooming forward.

"Drive slower!" the three welped.

Guhhh, Seulbi groaned. "Yes, your royal highnesses."

<<<< >>>>

Sister Mi-nyu and Sungjong were there to welcome them and proper introductions were thus made. Out of gratitude, Sungjong pulled Seulbi in for a hug, which Sunggyu had to cut short before the three could tear the younger boy to shreds. Sister Mi-nyu burst into tears of joy when Sungyeol had introduced themselves as Sunggyu’s family members. It was bittersweet for her as an adoptive mother of sorts. She was happy that he had found his ‘real’ family; and at the same time, it was hard for her to let him, whom she considered as her own, go. The elderly nun pulled him in for a congratulatory hug and he allowed her to, sinking into the familiar comfort as he returned the gesture of affection.

“Y-Yeah, family,” Sunggyu unwillingly agreed. There was so much he wanted to say to express his gratitude, but words were failing him at the moment. “But that doesn't make you any lesser in importance. Home will always be here in Little Haven. Family too.”

Hoya extended his respect with a deep bow. “You’ve taken care of our cousin all this time. On behalf of the rest of my family, we are really grateful.”

"Please take care of our Sunggyu for me," Mi-nyu requested, returning the gesture by a small bow of her head.

“Why don’t you tell us more about Sunggyu-hyung, Sister? We’re really curious about how he was like growing up,” Woohyun requested. Sunggyu and Seulbi looked at each other in alarm. They had let their guard down. It was now evident to them that Woohyun clearly had another purpose in coming here.

The elderly nun had then ushered the cousins and Dongwoo inside. “If Sister Mi-nyu tells them exactly what she told me, then we’ll have no problem. It's as I said: your story fits,” the heiress reassured Sunggyu after she had managed to pull him aside, delaying their entrance. “I mean, what are the chances that the story line would completely change just because she completely missed out on a whole load of details?"

High, replied Sunggyu to that rhetorical question. "Why don't we just call it a day and go tell everyone I'm your fake cousin instead? Every time something like this happens, I sink even deeper into this hole you've created for me!"

"That is not an option, Kim Sunggyu. Two weeks and we're done-- we shook on this!" Seulbi hissed back. "And you should really watch your tongue."

"Sorry, Miss Prim and Proper."

Seulbi crossed her arms, letting out a big troubled sigh. "In any case, it's still Woohyun we should be wary about. We need a good enough distraction for him to last until we get our van back." Now where on earth were they going to get that?

"Um, hyung?" came Sungjong's voice. The boy was now peering out the window, "Are you two just going to stand there or what?"

"Coming!"

Both their faces lit up the moment they had stepped in. The sight that greeted them was just the distraction they needed. Currently, the kids had the four grown men surrounded in their excitement about the presence of newcomers. They recognized Seulbi immediately as well and some of them began to approach her, causing her to freeze up on the spot.

"Have fun with the rest of your cousins, Princess," Sunggyu teased, giving her a good push and she skidded forward.

It was utter chaos at the orphanage after they had moved into the main social hall, which doubled as the kids' playroom. It was the bunch's first encounter with this many hyperactive children all at once, so they were completely lost on what to do. It didn't help that the kids were especially hyped up; their energy levels were so high that it seemed impossible to pacify them.

“Are you sure leaving them like this is okay?" Sungjong inquired, taking pity on how they were being man-handled. Currently, Sungyeol was playing a game of monkey-in-the-middle with the kids who had snagged his glasses. Dongwoo was somehow involved in a game of tug-of-war, with him as the rope. Hoya had the little girls hovering over him, his hair tied into miniature ponytails in several spots. For some reason, the quieter bunch of children were extra fascinated with Seulbi— they were following her around like little ducklings even if she wasn’t doing anything in particular to attract their attention.

“They’ll live," Sunggyu mused, enjoying the view of a suffering Nam Woohyun, who was turning into an actual tree. His shorter stature made it easier for the kids to climb up on him and currently he was being weighed down by five. "Think of it as survival training."

Quick to adapt, the five managed to turn the tide to their favour when Woohyun chanced across a ball and started showing a few fancy soccer dribbles off. The children ooh-ed and aah-ed in their fascination as he graciously passed the ball on to Hoya who managed a few smooth moves of his own. It was in this light that an exhibition soccer match at the quadrangle came about upon the children’s request with the opposing teams headed by Hoya and Woohyun respectively. 

Woohyun picked Seulbi first. Sunggyu had been waiting for another one of his greasy one-liners ("I'll be your shield from any flying ball" and the like) but it never came. The current division was set this way: Woohyun had Seulbi and Dongwoo on his team and Hoya with Sungyeol and Sungjong on his. Sunggyu, not feeling up for any fun and games, became de facto referee and scorer. 

He was expecting a half-assed, germophobe type of play for the rich but boy, had he been wrong. These people played like it was a finals game for the World Cup, Sungjong had been challenged to bring his A-game as well as goal keeper. All this they did without managing to the fun out. Every once in a while, the two team captains displayed signs of frustration at the other, but in healthy competition, of course. Lee Seulbi, on the other hand, didn’t hesitate to roll up her sleeves and get down and dirty for the sake of winning the soccer match. The heiress had lost all former poise as she fearlessly butted against her male cousins just to take possession of the ball and it was amazing how she was able to hold them off on her own.

“She’s been stuck with a bunch of boys in her growing years that she’s practically one of the guys now,” came a voice from out of nowhere, startling him. The game had just gone into time out. “She’s an excellent striker too.”

How Dongwoo always seemed to read his train of thought with a huge gummy smile on his face would always remain unfathomable to Sunggyu.

“Pssh, a girl as girly as that?" Sunggyu scoffed, unwilling to believe it.

“I’ll have you know, her girly-girl appearance is just for formalities’ sake. We all do-- have masks, that is. It is what society expects of us, imposed to people of our status ever since we were young children," Dongwoo continued, "Society seems to forget that we're human too, that we like having fun as much as any normal teenager or young adult does. People think we have it all, but the sad truth is, we really aren't as luxurious as they think we are. That's why we live for moments like these-- where we can ditch labels and stigmas and just be ourselves for once."

Before he could put his two cents in, Hoya had cut their conversation short. “Hyung, why don't you play for a bit? Sungjong-ssi needs temporary subbing out as goal keeper.”

“But oppa really at sports! Black hole forever!" one little girl pointed out ever-so-kindly. From his peripheral vision, he could see Seulbi biting her lower lip in attempt to hold in her laughter. Even the rest were smiling in half-amusement at that remark.

Only Sungjong did not hesitate, pounding against the wall as he burst out in uncouth laughter. "Kids really don't lie, do they?"

"You forced me into this!" Sunggyu gritted.

"I wasn't expecting Hani to blurt that one out though. Now hurry so Team Nam could get their easy goal, then we can call it a day and go back inside." He gulped. From the looks of it, the two weren't going to go easy on him and were going all out for a merciless kill.

The game was tied at one all. Sungyeol managed to tangle himself as Seulbi attempted a steal and he lost control of the ball, allowing the heiress to easily take the ball. She had a clear shot; he field was wide open with only Sunggyu standing in the way. Seulbi took a good aim for the most probable undefended spot and gave the ball a good solid kick, sending it flying towards their make shift goal post. The kids were cheering in excitement as they awaited the ending to this suspense-filled game.

"She shoots-- DENIED by Goal keeper Kim!!! Did you guys see that? What a miracle, kids! I take it back, hyung, you're actually good at this!" Sungjong exclaimed before noticing Sunggyu lying curled up into a little ball on the cold concrete. "Oh dear."

Sungyeol was in near tears, laughing his head off as he ran over to help Sunggyu. “Hyung, are you alright?” The only response he received was a pained gurgle.

"How hard did you kick that ball, Bee?" Hoya yelped in panic.

By now, Seulbi's face had turned beet red and she was at a complete loss as to how to answer her cousin's question. Sunggyu had to hand it to her, she was really an excellent striker alright. Her aim was unfortunately extremely accurate. 

Of all the places possible, she just had to kick the ball straight into his crotch.

<<<< >>>>

“Hey. The uncle from the car shop you called in to tell you guys that fixing your car will take longer than expected. He said something about sealing the leak in the van’s cooling system. It'll be late by then; Sister Mi-nyu told me to tell you that you guys can stay the night," Sungjong informed them. After the whole soccer match fiasco (after agreeing to call it a draw) they had returned to the main social hall. The games were relatively tamer then and the cousins were having so much fun playing pretend house, drawing, reading stories and dancing that they didn't notice the time fly by. At first, Seulbi tried to decline the offer so as to not inconvenience them, but was eventually ruled out under the premise that driving that late was too dangerous for her.

"Aside from my injured dignity, everything else is fine," Sunggyu whistled when Seulbi asked finally decided to stop avoiding him and came to check on his condition. His remark earned him a grimace from the girl. True enough, the kids ended up laughing at him as they made sense of the situation, not until Sungjong had told them off.

"I already said I was sorry," Seulbi huffed. All this time, she had not made eye contact even once and kept her head down. "You could have moved, you know."

"You make it sound so easy. Would I have known that the ball was going to land down there in the first place?"

"Let's just not bring this up ever again."

"Call."

Sister Mi-nyu had called them all in for dinner and the children enthusiastically dragged their guests to the dining hall. The tables had been pulled together to make one huge U-bend and the dining utensils and food were already set. Everyone's mouth watered as the aroma wafted through the area. They said a few words of grace and sat down ready to eat.

"Did you make all this?" Dongwoo asked in amazement as he helped seat some of the younger children.

"Hyung and I helped every now and then, but everything else was Sister Mi-nyu. She insisted even if the doctors instructed her to rest her leg," Sungjong replied, "Well, what are you waiting for? Please have a seat and do dig in!"

Sister Mi-nyu noticed that a particular pair was strangely keeping to themselves while everyone else was already inhaling and devouring their food. "Is it not to your liking, Sungyeol? Howon?"

"Sorry," Sungyeol sniffed. "It's just that we haven't had a home-cooked meal in ages. Our head chef cooks for us, and it's really good and all, but nothing beats coming home to something like this."

Hoya nodded as he stared down at his warm bowl of soup, "Our parents are always in New York, so it's always just the two of us sharing a meal back at home. I agree with my brother wholeheartedly-- it's just different, sharing a meal with everyone complete. We'll eat this well, thank you very much."

The kids were cheering for the two not to cry. Some of them had even tried to pass their extra side dishes and the two siblings couldn't help but grin widely at their thoughtfulness. Woohyun and Seulbi had come to their cousin's rescue, ruffling their hair playfully to cheer them up while Dongwoo looked on, wishing he had a camera on hand to capture the precious moment.

"For really rich kids, they're rather unconventional to the stereotype, don't you think? It's endearing," Sungjong mused, smiling at the scene before him. Sunggyu agreed in silence. After spending quite a number of days with this bunch, he began to see them in a different light. These were people who also doted over younger family members, who enjoyed listening to songs on the radio, who screwed up at times, who also made foolhardy decisions, who enjoyed a good game of soccer as much as the average teenager, who got emotional over home-cooked dinner, who also shone when they were just being themselves. And that was definitely more than any two-dimensional stereotype could capture.

<<<< >>>

The time came for them to leave the next morning. Hoya and Dongwoo performed one last little dance for the kids with some of the boys free-styling along. Seulbi was gifted with several friendship bracelets in different shades of blue and green, which she reciprocated by gifting them with the same she had learned to make herself. Sungyeol ended up taking in requests, throwing different animal impersonations for the younger kids to laugh at. Woohyun gave each and every kid a tight hug, promising to drop by again and for once, Sunggyu didn’t think it was greasy. Of course, they didn’t forget to thank Sister Mi-nyu for her hospitality and expressed wishes for her speedy recovery. Now with Sungjong accompanying them, they were set for the town, then back to Seoul. Befriending the guy had been accomplished during the road trip-- Sungjong was approachable and comfortable to be around. Also with him in tow, they noticed how less tensed and less guarded Sunggyu was.

Out of respect, they visited Lee Jungyeop at the hospital first before going their separate ways. "Seems like you guys had a lot of fun! How did your trip go?" the elder exclaimed, glad that his plan to bring them a little closer worked in one way or another. Sungjong was introduced and the cousins narrated their story, with Dongwoo adding a few details every now and then. Everything went smoothly until Sungyeol had decided to bring up the infamous nut-shot incident. Jungyeop roared with laughter, much to Seulbi and Sunggyu's further embarrassment.

"Ah, it's certainly nice to be LOL for once!" Jungyeop exclaimed, much to everyone's shock. 

"Abeonim?!? LOL?!?" the cousins and Dongwoo screeched.

"Why are you all so surprised? It's what you young people are using right now, isn't it? I got Sunggyu to translate some internet slang for me!" All weird stares were now directed to the offending person, who sighed, not even seeing the point of explaining himself. He'd like to see them try to deny that request, had they been in his shoes at that time. "We all need to have a positive outlook in life, my children. The doctor says it would do my heart some good, and it certainly sustains youthfulness and vigor. So what better way to do that by keeping up with the times!"

"Well, that's a nice way of putting it, Grandpa Lee," Dongwoo agreed. 

"Thank you, Dongwoo! After all, YOLO!"



Woohyun then had to whisk Sungjong away in order for the younger one to formally receive his scholarship grant and meet his benefactors, a part of which were Woohyun's parents. The whole Nam family had been moved by his predicament after he had willingly shared it. The boy honestly told them that he still needed a few more days to think about where he had wanted to enroll himself and if he would really push through with it, knowing that board and lodging would be a primary problem. The Nam family decided to respect whatever he would decide for himself after that.

On the other hand, the heiress had dragged Sunggyu off into somewhere more private, intending to speak to him alone.

"I need some of your blood," Seulbi requested bluntly.

"Excuse me?!?" He was starting to get a bit frustrated with her cryptic-non-cryptic statements.

"For sampling. I needed some of your hair too for DNA testing," she finished calmly. "I wanted to keep it a secret from you, but I reconsidered on the thought that it might be too much of an insult on your part. I'll even pay you extra again if you need that much convincing. Let's put our speculations to rest once and for all now. I need to know if we're really related, Kim Sunggyu."

"And what if it turns out we're not related? Lee Seulbi, do you understand how risky this is? All results count as medico-legal documents that could be used against me," Sunggyu pointed out.

"This is why we're doing this without the others knowing. I've already sent your hair samples and requested to have the results rushed. So the moment we get your preliminary results and it says that we're really not related, we could be prepared to falsify data to present to my family, should they finally ask for it. But if we really are..."

He huffed, "Then that would really , I swear to God."

"I'm actually hoping that you're not too," Seulbi agreed. "That could mean that our next generation could be born with the potential to resort to methods like lying and cheating as well. Research shows that crime could be handed down through genetics. I don't want that."

"Hey!"

<<<< >>>>

Nevertheless, it was back to the daily grind for the Lee family. Day in and day out, they still took turns checking up over the business proceedings, however, this time in pairs, now that Sunggyu had taken to watching over their grandfather.

“Young master, good morning,” Mari greeted with a small bow as she entered the conference room. “If it’s alright, may I please speak with the young miss?”

Woohyun looked up from the proposal and SWOT anlaysis he and Seulbi had been preoccupied with for the past hour. “Princess just left to take an important call. It might take her awhile to come back. Would you be willing to wait, Miss Mari?”

“I wouldn't want to be of any further disturbance. This isn't of an urgent matter-- Miss Seulbi requested for me to drop this off anytime she was here." In her hands was a thick brown envelope. "May I entrust this to you instead, sir?"

"Sure. I'll hand it to Seulbi once she gets back."

Woohyun wondered what Seulbi would be doing with a bank envelope that thick. If this concerned any cash matters, this should have been handed directly to accounting. Also if it was for executive matters, he or Howon and Sungyeol could have definitely received it fine. Why did Mari have to wait for Seulbi's arrival? Curiousity eventually got the better of him-- he knew it was wrong to snoop around, but this was especially suspicious and he wouldn't want anything to happen that would harm his baby cousin.

The sheet of paper inside contained Sunggyu's preliminary work-up for blood typing. Woohyun was quick to notice an anomaly in it but decided to pay it no further attention, re-folding the results and slipping it back into the envelope.

Also inside was a checkbook to Seulbi’s own personal savings account. Anyone who knew Seulbi well would know that the girl avoided touching her own savings account, even if it was for urgent matters. Seulbi couldn't bring herself to lavishly splurge on her inheritance money from her parents. However, this checkbook looked like it had been recently used, with a few pages already torn off. Woohyun flipped through and checked the last check issued on the summary table, dated not too long ago.

It was addressed to a certain Kim Sunggyu.

In fact, the previous two checks before that were issued to Kim Sunggyu as well. He hurriedly shut the check book, stuffing it back into the envelope. This was it. His gut feeling had been so sure from the first moment he had seen him. Unbeknownst to his cousins, he had been snooping around during their short stay at Little Haven and found nothing significant. This checkbook right here was the clinching proof he needed to verify that Kim Sunggyu was indeed a fraud!

But to find out that Seulbi actually played a part in this scheming was a completely different story. Woohyun didn't know what to feel about that; the burden of this new piece of information was too great. Revealing all this would get his cousin into major trouble and it could cause another incident like their Uncle Jinki's: Seulbi could possibly be disinherited and disowned for this. His grandfather wouldn't be able to handle the news well and it might eventually lead to his demise.

Before he could think everything through, Seulbi walked in. He forced a smile. "Hey, Miss Mari came by and told me to give this to you," he told her, pointing to the envelope.

"Do you need to rest up, Namu? You look a bit pale," Seulbi pointed out in concern, not suspecting him at all even if the envelope looked like it had been indeed pried into.

"Just a little out of it, that's all; but I'm fine. Now let's get back to work, shall we?"

<<<< >>>>

That weekend was Sunggyu's bum-at-the-residence day and he was looking forward to it, for he had the whole mansion to himself. Seulbi had decided she wanted to spend the weekend with her grandfather instead. Soyeon, being the concerned aunt, had asked her son to drop by the main house to check on his cousin and Woohyun willingly complied.

For the past few minutes, Woohyun had been observing Sunggyu behind the newspaper he was reading, watching as his so-called 'hyung' fascinated himself with the interior decoration. Every once in a while, he stopped to view a few frames but not once though had he touched or paid interest to that frame containing the picture of his "parents".

"These are legitimate antiques from the Joseon Dynasty?" Sunggyu exclaimed in amazement, focused on the huge white pot in the center. "This is national treasure right here. You should seriously consider handing this over to the National Museum, maybe they'll reward you generously for it."

“Out of all the pots we have there, that one is the only imitation set we have,” Woohyun pointed out, much to the elder boy's embarrassment. "Once you've studied it well enough, it becomes easier to tell real apart from a bunch of fakes though. Don't you think?"

Sunggyu did not like the tone of that statement, knowing that Woohyun had underlying implications of something else. Danger senses were currently on the rise. He knew he had to get away from him, and fast. "Uh, I'm suddenly feeling sleepy. If you need me, I'll be in my room--" Before Sunggyu could excuse himself, Woohyun's next words have caused him to freeze in his tracks.

"Who are you, really?"

"W-What are you talking about?"

Woohyun crossed his arms, “Cut the small talk. I know Princess hired you to act as our long-lost cousin Henry. Plus, your fraudulent acting was suspicious enough from day one. What do you want from my family, Kim Sunggyu? If you won't answer, I won't hesitate to call the police."

Touche from his royal two-facedness though. He managed to figure all that out given a small number of clues. Sunggyu managed a smirk, "Well let's cut the small talk as well. How did you find out?"

"I’ve done my fair share of background research too and there’s one tiny but crucial detail Seulbi has missed out in the blood sampling. Henry-hyung’s blood type is B. Yours is type A. If she knew that from the get-go, she wouldn’t have asked to forward your samples for DNA testing. Plus Seulbi's checkbook had three or more checks issued under your name. It would take an idiot to not put two-and-two together.”

Damn Woohyun for his extra snooping and for managing to clinch everything spot-on. And God, where was Lee Seulbi when you needed her? He was already in serious trouble here as his identity had been uncovered and he sincerely needed her as his scape goat. He was not going down like this without an attempt to liberate himself, even if his heart was pounding madly in his chest out of fear as to what's going to happen to him now.

Muffled protests from what clearly sounded like Seulbi's voice came from the mansion entrance, cutting their dangerous conversation short.

"Auntie, I think we should let oppa view that first. And besides, we really need to head back to the hospital. We might get caught in traffic on the way, and I really don't want to miss out on hearing abeonim's prognosis."

"This won't take long, Seulbi. We'll open this together too, so that it's fair for everyone."

Soyeon and Seulbi had just arrived and were making their way towards the two boys. Seulbi was getting desperate, hot on her aunt's heels as she followed her around with furious steps. The elder lady had also refused to hand over the brown envelope she was holding.

"Mom!" Woohyun exclaimed in greeting, all earlier conversation forgotten. "What are you doing home so early?"

"Hello, son. I'm here to speak to the two of you. Sunggyu's DNA results came in today and I've decided, we'll all read this together right now," Soyeon greeted the two boys. "Please don't feel offended. It's not that I don't trust my niece and you, but I just really wanted to make sure as well."

Sunggyu's heart was pounding so badly in his chest, he was unable to say anything. Frustrated, the heiress attempted to stall once again. She was seriously this tempted to just snatch the envelope and run away with it. If there was anyone to blame, it was her for being too careless, receiving it out in the open where her aunt had managed to spot her. She didn't care right now if she looked highly suspicious. "Auntie, really, let's look at that later--"

"Hush, Princess," Woohyun eased with a sinister smile on his face. "I want to know the results too."

Seulbi and Sunggyu knew they were goners the moment their aunt had opened the envelope and pulled out the interpretation sheet.

"Mom?" Woohyun called out once again. "Is everything alright?"

Her hands were shaking as she attempted to read it out loud, but her words just stuck in , coming out as awful stammers and croaks. Soyeon looked from the sheet of paper, to Sunggyu, then to Seulbi. "Is this true?" she cried, her tone almost in near hysterics. "Seulbi, is this true?!?"

"I-I can explain, Auntie. Really, Kim Sunggyu is--"

Impatient, Woohyun had peered over to view the results, his eyes widening as he trailed over the last few words on the page. Sunggyu took the impish grin that spread through the younger boy's face as a warning sign as he began to approach him. He put his guard up under the assumption that Nam Woohyun was going to punch the living lights out of him, now having the perfect opportunity to do so since the truth was already out. The moment the other's arms reached forward, he braced for impact.

Before he knew it, Sunggyu found himself encased in a tight, brotherly hug, care of none other than Nam Woohyun himself and he blinked in confusion. Seulbi looked on, highly confused as well. What on earth was going on?

"Hyung,” Woohyun mumbled like a little child who missed his elder brother dearly, “Forgive me for doubting you all this time. For as long as I can remember, abeonim has always been worrying about you, but you're here now. Our family's complete again.”

"H-Huh?"

"Welcome home, Henry-hyung."

A/N: Shocker right there! Woohyun welcomes Sunggyu into the family!!! Real or fake? How?!? Any ideas? Feel free to leave your speculations on the comment box below! Stay tuned for the next chapter! :)