THREE

“To Yunhyeong! To his dream finally coming true!”

“Yeah! Cheers!”

Loud laughter and cheers mixed harmoniously together with the sound of glasses clinking together, which then followed by the silence of drowning champagne down their throats.

“Hyung! Congratulations!” Hanbin beamed as he patted Yunghyeong’s back. “I know how long and how hard you’ve worked to make this dream come true! Opening your own restaurant!”

“Yeah! You’ve worked your off!” Jiwon added, his smile a mirror to Hanbin’s.

“I’m very proud of you, Yunghyeong-ah,” Jinhwan said affectionately.

“We’re all proud of you,” Donghyuk added.

Hanbin nodded his head at the words. “Hard work always pays off!”

Embarrassed, Yunheyong felt his face burning red as he put his champagne glass down in front of him. His friends’ words and smiles were overwhelming him, making his heart swell with gratefulness and love. “Aahh…stop it guys. You’re making me emotional.”

“Oh, Yunhyeong hyung is gonna cry!” Ju-ne teased and the room erupted into laughter.

“Yah! Let’s do another toast before he does!” Jiwon chuckled and raised his glass. “Quickly!”

Laughing, they all raised their glass and clinked it together.

“Anyway,” Yunhyeong said, his eyes travelling to Ju-ne in a slight concern. “Ju-ne – how have you been? Are you okay? I’ve been so busy that I haven’t been able to talk to you in a long time.”

Ju-ne rubbed his index finger and thumb down his glass. The dull ache was resurfacing. He gave a small smile. “I’m…moving on. It’s been really hard but…I think I’m gonna be okay.”

Hanbin reached his arm out to Ju-ne and squeezed his shoulders. “Of course you’re gonna be okay. We’re all here for you.”

The others smile and nodded in agreement.

Ju-ne returned a smile. The dull ache was slowly fading. “Thanks guys. But let’s move on. Tonight we’re celebrating!”

A chorus of yeah! followed after and the previous mood of joy returned.

“Actually!” Yunhyeong began suddenly. “The celebration tonight is not just about the opening of my restaurant. My little brother is coming – finally – home! He’s officially moving back to Korea!”

“Oh my god! Chanwoo?” Donghyuk cried in surprised.

Yunhyeong nodded animatedly. “Yep!”

“You’re little brother who lives in China?” Jiwon asked.

“The little brother who we’ve never ever met before in the years that we’ve known you?” Ju-ne emphasised dramatically.

Yunhyeong almost rolled his eyes at him. “Well, now you can meet him.”

“When is he coming back?” Donghyuk excitedly asked. He was the only one out of all of them who had ever met Chanwoo; and ever since then had became very fond of the young boy. He found Chanwoo funny and charming.

“At the end of this week. Just in time for my restaurant opening!”

“Oh, that’s great! I can’t wait! It’s been a really long time since I’ve last met him!” Donghyuk replied enthusiastically. “You must be really happy, hyung. I know how you’ve always wanted Chanwoo to come home.”

Yunhyeong smiled softly and nodded. “Yeah, I’m really happy. I think, more than anything, glad to be able to see him and talk to him without using Skype!”

“I can’t wait to meet him either,” Jinhwan said. “You talk about him so much – I really like to meet Yunhyeong’s beloved little brother.”

“Yeah – and also it will be great to finally put a face to a name,” Jiwon added.

“So, your brother’s name is Song Chanwoo?” Hanbin said.

At the question, Yunhyeong’s smile faltered slightly and his head dropped. “Actually…” he said carefully. “…no. His name is Jung Chanwoo.”

Everybody frowned in confusion at Yunhyeong’s words.

“If he’s your brother then why is his surname Jung and not Song?” Hanbin asked.

At the question, all eyes turned to Yunhyeong. Yunhyeong glanced down momentarily and swallowed before returning to look up again. He scold himself for being nervous; the five pairs of eyes that were gazing at him are his closest friends – friends that have seen him at his best and worst, friends he knew would never judge him for anything. But still, he couldn't help but felt slightly doubtful, nervous.

“Chanwoo,” Yunhyeong began shakily and took a deep breath. “Chanwoo is actually my half-brother.”

There he finally let it all out.

As expected, all eyes widened and mouths slightly gaped.

“Half…brother?” Jiwon said slowly as his brain tried to process the sudden information.

Yunhyeong nodded. “We have the same mum but different dads.”

“What?” Again, it’s Jiwon.

Yunhyeong let out a small sigh as he got ready to tell something what they didn’t know, what he kept to himself, in the seven years that they have been friends. “My parents got divorced when I was three. It was an amicable divorce so my parents remained very good friends even after. And a year after the divorce, both of my parents remarried to other people. And that’s when my mum had Chanwoo.”

“So,” Hanbin spoke in. “Your current mother – the mother we’ve known is actually your stepmother?”

“Yes.”

Everybody was stumped into silence. This was a lot of new information to take in.

“You get on so well with her that we didn’t notice…” Hanbin trailed. Then his eyes quickly sprung up in panic, realising his own spoken words. “Hyung! I didn’t mean – I didn’t mean to offend you by it!”

Yunhyeong gave a small laugh. “It’s fine, I know. I never once thought my stepmother as a stepmother. She and my dad are very happy together and she cares and love me like I'm her real son; and so I love her like she’s my real mum. My real mum and she get on really well as well. We would often hang out as a family together: my dad, my mum, my real mum, Chanwoo and me. Albeit, it was a slightly dysfunctional family. That’s how Chanwoo and I became very close – we pretty much grew up together. Our mum made sure we grew up together.”

“Why did you never mentioned any of this?” Jinhwan asked. None of them ever knew Yunhyeong had so much history. Not even a little bit. Until now. And it was hard to believe because Yunhyeong was always an open book to them, he wore his heart on his sleeves.

“Honestly…even though it’s the 21st century but our country still look down on things like this, you know. Siblings with different surnames,” Yunhyeong answered. “But that doesn’t mean I’m ashamed of it! It doesn’t matter to me that Chanwoo and I have different dads; he’s still my brother no matter what. It’s just that people tend to talk about it and judge…and I don’t like it. Especially when it’s about my mum.”

“Hyung, you know we would never do that,” Donghyuk gently chided.

“I know,” Yunhyeong said.

“How come we’ve never met your real mum?” Ju-ne asked.

“When I was fourteen and Chanwoo was eleven, our mum got diagnosed with cancer.” Yunhyeong head dropped a little as painful heartbreak re-emerged into his heart. “A year later – no, it was less than a year, she died.”

Sympathy began to invade the atmosphere between them.

“I’m sorry, hyung,” Donghyuk softly said. He knew very well what it felt like to lose a parent at a young age.

“Aniya…this sounds horrible but I was kinda glad that she went. It was better than seeing her suffering through all the chemotherapies and being in pain,” Yunhyeong reminisced.

“That’s why you love your brother very much,” Jinhwan said.

Yunhyeong smiled. “He’s a very mischievous and cheeky kid but also very sweet, kind and caring. He will text me everyday asking me how I am and if I’ve eaten.” Then Yunhyeong laughed, “I can never be angry with him.”

“Chanwoo is so cute and lovely. You can’t help but to like him,” Donghyuk agreed with a grin.

“I love him very much,” Yunhyeong continued. “I honestly don’t think I’ll be able to live without him. He means the world to me.”