The soft humming of the engine provided background noise for the otherwise quiet car ride back to the hospital. Seokmin kept one hand on the wheel while the other rested on the car door. Unlike in the ride with Seungcheol, Jihoon stayed awake this time due to the stingingly cold shower he finished a few minutes prior. He kept his face angled toward the passenger window to convey that he preferred not to engage in conversation. His mind was already too occupied with his brother’s condition, the cost of the surgery, and a certain someone’s uncharacteristic behavior. Not much later, they arrived at the parking lot of the hospital. Seokmin shifted the car into park and let the engine run.

Jihoon undid his seatbelt and grabbed the door handle to leave. He turned his head toward Seokmin to thank him for the ride, but his words of gratitude got caught in his throat once his eyes found their target. He wasn’t expecting Seokmin to be looking at him, especially not with eyes that conveyed such sorrowful emotions. He could recognize guilt and pity, both of which Jihoon did not enjoy directed at him. Seokmin noticed Jihoon’s expression change and turned his head back to face the front. Jihoon could almost visualize the words hanging at the tip of Seokmin’s tongue. He let his hand drop from the door handle and sat back into his seat, waiting for the words to come out.

“My offer from before still stands,” Seokmin said, almost in a whisper.

“Hm?”

“About having you and Chan move in with me. I’m still open to the option.” Seokmin angled his head slightly to the right and glanced over to see if Jihoon had reacted in any way. There was no movement from his passenger.

Jihoon didn’t answer. Instead, he dropped his gaze and let the humming of the engine take over while he collected his thoughts.

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Seokmin had always showed concern for Jihoon since Day 1, when he and his brother first moved into the apartment unit next door. Unknowingly to Jihoon, Seokmin had witnessed multiple personal moments through the first few weeks during the summer after they moved in. On the day that the two brothers moved in, Seokmin happened to be returning to his apartment from a trip to the grocery store while they stood outside of their unit. He was ecstatic to have new neighbors, since many of the apartment units on his floor had been unoccupied for a few months after the student living there prior graduated and moved out. He smiled to greet the two, but as soon as he opened his mouth to greet them, the shorter of the two suddenly shouted a few choice expletive words as he violently kicked at the door. Seokmin watched as said boy stormed down the hall muttering indecipherable words, and he picked up something about a key not working. Once the boy’s back disappeared as he spun around the corner, Seokmin turned back and met eyes with the other boy, who looked to be slightly younger. The boy stood with one hand holding his forearm, head down.

“I’m really sorry about all the ruckus. But please don’t think of my brother as a bad person. He’s just…been through a lot these past few weeks…” the boy said, trailing off as he lost himself in thought. Seokmin thought that he could see tears forming in the boy’s eyes. The boy hung his head further and avoided looking Seokmin in the eyes again.

“Okay, okay. I think I got the gist of things,” Seokmin said. “You’re moving in, but the key doesn’t work, right?” The boy nodded, head still down.

“Well, why don’t you come into my apartment until your brother comes back? At least you won’t have to stand out in this awfully humid weather.”

The boy, relieved that his neighbor wasn’t irritated by the disturbance, lifted his head and gave the other a smile. He trailed behind as Seokmin walked past a few more doors until he reached his unit and fished in his jean pocket for his keys. As he unlocked his door, he began conversing with the boy again.

“I’m Seokmin, by the way. What’s your name?”

“I’m Chan. And my brother’s name is Jihoon.”

 “Welcome to Diamonds Apartments, Chan,” Seokmin grunted as he shoved at the door. The worn down doorframe stubbornly gripped onto the door, but with a little force, Seokmin was able to push the door open. He noticed Chan staring at the condition of his apartment with uncertainty.

“Oh, don’t worry too much. These apartments are really a diamond in the rough. You just have to look past a lot of…functional mishaps.” Seokmin watched as the boy chuckled nervously, still eyeing the worn wood. He placed the bags of groceries on the kitchen counter and walked back toward the front door. “I need to go back to my car and get the rest of my groceries, but you’re welcome to stay inside if you’d like.”

The boy shook his head.

“I’ll go and help,” he piped cheerfully.

“Really? Thanks! Once your brother gets back, I’ll help you guys move in, too.”

Seokmin led the way to his car to retrieve the rest of his groceries. He was surprised at how bright and cheery the boy was, especially in comparison to his snappy brother (although he could only judge him by the few seconds in which he saw him). Seokmin was prepared to continue his small talk with Chan if they ever ran out of things to converse about, but the boy kept the flow of the conversation alive. Chan seemed to be a curious child, asking questions others would probably shy away from for a first conversation.

“So how do you like Diamonds, Seokmin-ssi?” Chan questioned.

“Don’t be so formal. Just call me hyung,” Seokmin replied.

“Sure, Seokmin hyung,” he giggled. “So how is it here?”

“Hmm, it’s got its perks. It’s relatively close to the university I go to and the convenience store is half a block from here. There are a lot of places driving distance from here, too, like the hospital and a karaoke bar. Oh, and there’s this meat restaurant right over there that’s absolutely heavenly. Best place to go if you want kalbi. I’ll take you there sometimes!”

Chan chuckled at Seokmin’s excitement. “My high school is actually pretty close to here so I know the area relatively well. I think I might know what meat restaurant you’re talking about, but I’ve never actually been there before. Let’s all go sometime when my brother isn’t working.”

“Does he know his schedule ahead of time?”

“Yeah, but he works a lot. It might be a while before we could get together and go.”

“Hard worker, huh?”

“Yeah…a little too much sometimes.” Chan sighed “I wish he would just take a break once in a while, but he thinks that he doesn’t have the time to.”

The two returned from their first trip. They set down the plastic bags onto the kitchen counter and set off to get the rest of them.

“Why doesn’t he have time to rest? He’s only a high school kid, right? He should go out and have fun sometimes!”

“He’s actually going to start attending college this fall.”

“Oh…I didn’t mean…I thought that-”

“It’s okay. He gets mistaken as a middle schooler all the time. It’s a good thing you told me first, though. He probably wouldn’t be too happy with you if you told that to him. I would try not to mention his height around him,” Chan cautioned.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“So is there anything else you like about Diamonds?”

“Hm…I guess the location and price are the biggest things. Oh, but I should mention that the walls are pretty thin and the kitchen is a little run down. Oh, and try not to shower at night. That’s when most other people use the water to wash dishes or do laundry so all the hot water is used up.”

“Can I ask why you moved here?”

“Sure. I took over a lease for a friend who had to move back to China. But after being here for a while, I realized the location was pretty convenient, so I stayed. My parents actually don’t live too far from this place, but I like living on my own out here. How about you? Is there any particular reason why you chose to move here?”

When Seokmin didn’t hear a reply like he expected, he looked over at Chan. The boy slowed down his pace, until he eventually halted to a stop. Seokmin followed his pace and observed him in silence. After a few long seconds passed, he finally spoke up in a gentle tone of voice.

“Chan? Are you okay?”

“Huh?” He looked up to see Seokmin staring with concerned eyes.

“Are you okay?” Seokmin repeated.

Chan meant to assure the older that he was perfectly fine, but a lump formed in his throat, and all of the sudden, he found it hard to speak. His vision started to blur from the wetness in his eyes, and before he knew it, tears were streaking down his cheeks. Seokmin immediately dropped his handful of groceries onto the floor and wrapped his arms around the boy, who was shocked by his own tears.

“It’s okay,” Seokmin whispered. “Let it all out. You’ll be okay.”

At Seokmin’s words, Chan dropped his bags and began to whimper. He slid his arms around Seokmin, burying his face into his shoulders. Not long after, he began to bawl, letting out his misery and sorrow as he gripped Seokmin even tighter. He had kept his emotions bottled up since his father disappeared, not wanting to concern his brother. But he loved his father, and losing him took a large emotional toll on the boy. Not knowing where his father was or why he left gnawed at him at night. He worried that he might have been the cause, but he would never know. And so he cried to sleep silently many nights, experiencing the sadness by himself as not to worry Jihoon. Chan was aware that Jihoon hadn’t felt the same feelings toward their father. Oblivious to Chan, Jihoon already knew that he was devastated by their father’s departure. He would come home from work late at night and see Chan’s pillow soaked in tears. There was nothing he could do to comfort his suffering brother, and he knew that the younger didn’t want him to know that he had been crying. So Jihoon let him keep up his cheerful façade, even though it tore him apart inside knowing that he couldn’t do anything.

Even now, as Jihoon watched from around the corner, all he could do was stand there while his new neighbor embraced his brother, doing more to comfort the crying boy than he could ever do. The sight broke his heart. It should have been him holding Chan to comfort him. It should have been his shoulder Chan cried on. He stayed frozen as he watched the two gather the bags that they dropped and head back to the neighbor’s apartment unit. Once the door shut behind them, he slid down the wall and brought his knees to his chest. In that moment, he let himself shed a few tears in frustration, for not being there for his beloved brother and for not having the ability to provide him with everything he deserved. And in that moment, the fury that he felt toward his father reached a whole new level, for making Chan suffer emotionally and for abandoning the two to fend for themselves.

Eventually, Jihoon wiped his tears and picked himself up. Moping wouldn’t change anything; it would only serve to waste his time. He headed toward his unit with a (hopefully) working key in hand. Once he reached his door, he stuck the key in the doorknob and gave it a twist. This time, the door unlocked without a hitch. Sighing, he opened the door and entered as a wave of warm, humid air passed by him. He some lights and looked around the apartment. It only took him a minute since it was quite small, consisting of only a bedroom, a bathroom, a small living area, and a kitchen. He returned outside to bring in the two boxes that he and Chan brought. He groaned thinking about how long the moving process would take. They only had a few things, but Jihoon dreaded the trips up and down the stairs, especially for the bed and desk. How he and Chan were going to get the large pieces of furniture up the stairs was something he left for later to figure out. For now, he headed toward the apartment unit that he saw his brother enter and knocked on the door.

The door opened, and Jihoon was suddenly face to face with the neighbor who had comforted Chan from before.

“Hi there,” the neighbor said in a bright tone of voice. “You must be Jihoon.”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Your brother told me your name already. I’m Seokmin. Would you like to come in?”

“Oh, I was just coming to pick my brother up.”

Chan popped up from behind Seokmin.

“Hyung, why don’t you come in? Seokmin hyung is really nice. And he’s making spaghetti for lunch.”

Jihoon hesitated, but remembering how kindly Seokmin treated Chan, and how he was able to comfort his brother, he let his guard down and agreed to come in. And so the three ate lunch together, with Seokmin explaining tricks he knew about sliding by the apartment rules, getting the apartment maintenance to fix problems as soon as possible, finding the best time to shower, and anything else he could think of.

Suddenly, Chan remembered his conversation with Seokmin from before.

“Come to think of it, Seokmin hyung, you mentioned that you went to a university nearby, right?”

“Yeah,” he replied. It’s called Daemun and it’s right by a shopping strip. You can expect plenty of street food carts to be lined up along the streets almost every day.”

“Daemun?” Jihoon questioned.

“Hey, isn’t that where you’re going this fall, hyung?” Chan directed toward his brother.

Jihoon nodded carefully.

“Then maybe you two will see each other on campus!” Chan couldn’t contain his excitement in knowing that his brother had one reliable person to turn to at school.

“The university is pretty big, Chan. I don’t think we’ll see each other that much,” Jihoon reasoned.

“Do you know where your classes will be?” Seokmin asked.

“Mostly in the business buildings. I have a music theory class in the arts hall, though.”

“Music theory? Do you know the name of your professor?”

“I think it was…Professor Jung, if I remember correctly.”

“Wow, that’s amazing…”

“Huh?” Both Chan and Jihoon questioned what Seokmin referred to.

“I’m the teaching assistant for that class. It’s just amazing how I ended up being neighbors with one of my students.”

“Don’t you mean one of Professor Jung’s students?” Jihoon pointed with an eyebrow raised.

“Right, right. You know what I mean,” Seokmin laughed. “But anyways, Jihoon, welcome to Diamond Apartments, welcome to Daemun University, and welcome to Music Theory 384.”

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“I know it might be a little uncomfortable with three people living in a one-bedroom unit,” Seokmin continued, “but it’ll at least take a pretty big financial burden off your shoulders.”

Jihoon only stared at the other, not sure whether he expected a reply or not. Seokmin closed his eyes and leaned back against his seat, a sigh escaping his lips. Once he opened his eyes, he continued in the same gentle voice.

“You’re only in your first year of college. Are you sure you’re okay with living like this for three more years? Even more if you’re planning on grad school.”

Jihoon started to pick at his nails to have something to do with his hands. He still hadn’t replied to Seokmin.

“I’ll go home on the weekends so you can have more room for yourself and Chan. Just think about it, Jihoon. I’ll sleep out in the living room so you two can have the bedroom.”

Jihoon stopped picking his nail and curled one hand into another. Seokmin was just too kind to him.

“I’ll be okay. You don’t have to give up your comfort for me and my brother.”

“I just…don’t want to see you suffering like this.”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you?”

Jihoon hadn’t expected that response. He looked at Seokmin, who looked back at him with a seriousness that Jihoon wasn’t used to. He returned his gaze to his hands. Seokmin spoke again.

“You have too much on your plate right now. And you know it.”

“Seokmin, I appreciate your concern, but I can take care of myself. It’s not your business.”

“But it is my business.”

This time when Jihoon looked up, Seokmin returned the gaze with a bittersweet smile playing at the corner of his lips.

“One of my students is struggling to stay awake in class because he’s overloaded with other responsibilities. If he takes a few things off his load, then he’d be able to sleep more at night and less in class. And if I can do something to lighten that load, then I should, shouldn’t I?”

The seriousness in Seokmin’s eyes had faded, and Jihoon could see a hint of the usual playfulness in his eyes.

Jihoon chuckled lightly. “As if.”

Seokmin also laughed. “Well anyways, if you ever change your mind, my offer is still on the table. And don’t just dismiss it because you’re an ‘independent guy who can take care of yourself and your brother.’ It’s okay to admit that you need help.”

Jihoon hummed ambiguously. He knew he couldn’t argue but he also didn’t want to admit that Seokmin could have been right.

“Call me if you need a ride or anything else. You have my number now so use it if you need it.”

Jihoon pulled the door handle again and swung the door open.

“Thanks for the ride, Seokmin. I’ll pay you back later.”

He slammed the door shut, took out the things he brought from the trunk, and headed toward the hospital building, and toward his brother’s room. The lights were dimmed since it was near midnight. Jihoon passed the two beds and carefully dropped off the things in his arms onto the couch in the back of the room. He returned to his brother’s bed. Chan was already asleep. Jihoon sat back in the chair next to the bed and his brother’s hair.

You’ve gone through a lot today.

He watched his brother sleep with a peaceful expression. A wave of drowsiness hit him, and he was suddenly aware of the lack of sleep he got the night before. Deciding he would rather sleep on the couch than the chair, he stood up. He leaned over and kissed his brother’s head. He whispered almost to the point where his voice was inaudible.

“Thanks for being okay, Chan. I love you.”

Too tired to walk normally, and too tired to care if anyone was watching, he waddled back lazily over to the couch. He used his puffy red jacket as a pillow and tossed the blanket he brought over his small frame before settling down and drifting off to sleep.

The boy laying in the bed adjacent to Chan’s smiled as he closed his eyes, admiring the scene he just witnessed.

What a nice brother Chan has.

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A/N: I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT TT^TT
I just never had time to settle down and finish this chapter....too many life responsibilities *sigh*
This was actually supposed to be a longer chapter, but I figured I should release something, so I split it in half and I'm currently working on the other half. I'm around halfway done, but don't expect a quick update since I tend to get caught up in things. There was....no jicheol in this one (cries....why would I do this to myself) but there will be in the next one, I promise~!

That being said, I will probably officially put this story on hiatus (since it was on a hiatus before, really). I hope to get the next chapter out sooner than later, but the next chapter after that might take a while to write up TT^TT. Thank you so much for all of your kind words and support for the story. I do read the comments and I love that you enjoy the story. Anyways, this chapter was slightly shorter than normal, but I hope you enjoyed it~