In a blink of an eye, summer ended and everyone has to go back to school. Seungkwan and Seokmin already started theirs, and Pilkyo has the task to bring them to school in the morning before he heads out to work and pick them up afterwards. Uncle Lee and Auntie Boo instructed them to let their kids familiarize with the streets before letting them go on their own.

While Jonghoon’s first day classes are still in the afternoon, he woke up really early to send off his cousins with morning classes. He actually plans to sleep in a little bit more as he just finished his contributory article draft for SNU’s newspaper, but he wanted to cheer them on before his cousins leave.

“Aren’t you supposed to go now? It’s 6:30,” Jonghoon asks when he spots Pilkyo still seated on the leather couch, watching the morning news.

“Junghyuk told me he’ll drive us to Kwan and Min’s school, then we’ll go straight to work,” Pilkyo answers while he flips through the channels for other shows. His phone then rang, peers over the caller ID, “Seungkwannie! Seokmin-ah! Junghyuk’s downstairs!”

Seungkwan then bolts out of the room then to the bathroom, while Seokmin holds on to his bag and his stepbrother’s. He makes his way to the door while Pilkyo turns off the television and grab his bag beside Jonghoon. “Text me what you want for dinner,” Pilkyo says as he slings his arms around the newly-relieved Seungkwan.

“We’re off hyung!” Seungkwan calls out while Seokmin waves at Jonghoon. The 2^nd Kim waves back and waits for them to leave before landing his eyes back on the newspaper.

The wee hours of the morning are silent and Jonghoon enjoys it very much. Back in his old dorm, these were common as noise could disturb the neighboring rooms. While he enjoys the ruckus when he’s with his cousins, he still misses the quiet, alone moments. It’s a good thing that mornings would bring him back to his usual routine.

“Morning hyung,” a soft voice calls Jonghoon and his head shoots up, smiling as he sees the owner of the voice.

“Morning Seokjin. Ready for university?” Jonghoon asks as he stands up to fetch the younger’s glass.

Seokjin shakes his head and yawns, resting his head on his palm, “I’m not ready to see their faces.”

“Well, you need to reconnect to society,” Jonghoon snickers as he hands the cup with lukewarm water. Seokjin mumbles a ‘thanks’ before downing it, sighing as he finishes, “I already finished writing the play for this semester. I’m planning to personally give it to Ms. Park for checking, before passing it to the theater.”

Jonghoon nods as he takes his last bite of sandwich made with cheese and leftover ham, “Can you share the story?”

The younger shakes his head, rubbing his neck with one hand, “It’s a surprise. You’ll get to know it once the posters are out.”

Jonghoon chuckles before standing up, “Well I’m excited about it. Take care of your breakfast, okay?”

Seokjin hums in response, still seated as Jonghoon made his way to his bedroom. Sunggyu is still asleep, so he silently pulls the chair of his study desk and sits on it. He still has a few hours before he gets ready for university, so he quickly scans through the draft for the last time.

“I see you’re early,” Ryeowook notes as he sits beside Jonghoon. The latter makes a face, “I’m always early.”

Ryeowook raises his eyebrow, “What time did you arrive?”

Jonghoon looks at his watch, “An hour ago, or so.”

The younger grins, “See. Is it because you're timing your arrival?”

Jonghoon sighs as he leans back, staring at the podium at the bottom. Their first class together is microbiology in a class hall. There were already many students seated, although a lot of seats are still vacant. “Yeah. Estimating how long I would travel and if it’s really a good idea to move in with them,” he thinks.

“Well, it’s a good idea, for starters. I mean, at least you won’t be able to mope around alone,” Ryeowook teases. To be honest, whenever Jonghoon is alone, he would go around and call some of his friends just to release his stress. It took a few days before Jonghoon got the chance to talk to his favorite hyung about his feelings when he experienced his first mental breakdown at the apartment.

Jonghoon agrees and the volume of students starts to increase. He spots a few of his acquaintances, waving at them and introducing Ryeowook whenever he can. The professor then arrives and started his session. Ryeowook then pulls up a cup of iced Americano for him and for Jonghoon. The latter was surprised, “I’ll pay you —”

“No need. It’s on the house,” Ryeowook interrupts and gives the smile that Jonghoon loves: eyes forming into crescents, lips widening to show his teeth. Jonghoon felt his cheeks turning pink so he sips into his drink, hoping that it could wake him up throughout the afternoon.

Sunggyu passes his time at the library. His next class will be in a few hours, so he decides to start reviewing for the law eligibility test. One of his brother’s friends, Lee Donghae, would also be taking it as he plans to take up law as well, much to the surprise of everyone. Sungyeol told him about it, admitting that law would probably be the last thing he would hear from his brother.

The library is almost empty except for a few student assistants and librarians. The campus is also quiet, even though there were a few walking and conversing with friends. Clouds start to cover the blue sky, some clumping, and some flowing freely.

His phone then buzzed, which he didn’t answer at first, but it was continuously buzzing. He huffs and finally checks to see who it was; he internally groans and eye rolls. Nam Woohyun and his whiny .

He packs his stuff and heads outside, going to a place that Woohyun organized to meet up with him. When he arrives, he saw familiar faces and voices. “Sunggyu hyung!” one voice calls, the others turn to see him.

Ah, his good friends.

To be honest, he didn’t want to contact his friends over the summer since they might have plans. The only one who has the guts to meet up with him several times was, you've guessed it, Nam Woohyun. While he likes talking to him for several hours, he doesn’t feel accomplished because he gets disrupted. He spoke to Woohyun about this several times, but the younger still manages to call him. All the time.

“Hey there Dongwoo-ya!” Sunggyu waves as he immediately opens his arms after Dongwoo runs towards him for a hug. The older felt like someone punched the wind out of him; Dongwoo probably gained more weight. Or muscle.

“How was your summer?” Sunggyu asks as he wraps his arm around the younger’s shoulders. They walk side by side, “Great. I went to Busan with Howon’s family.”

Sunggyu is impressed. Dongwoo and Howon started to date last year and were suddenly moving fast, although Howon argues that they’re still taking it slow. It looked fast because their respective families adore each other, even before they dated. Dongwoo once shared, before they were dating, that Howon’s parents would seriously push them to date because they could see the compatibility.

They reach the group and Sunggyu waved at the others. He catches Woohyun smiling goofily at him, but he rolls his eyes in response.

“When’s your first class?” Sungyeol asks.

Sunggyu looks at his watch, then looks back at the younger, “30 minutes.”

“When’s your last class?” Myungsoo then asks.

“4:30. It might finish earlier but I’ll let you guys know. Why?” Sunggyu answers nonchalantly. He could sense that they’re planning to go to a café or a restaurant, or just play at the good ol’ arcade near the campus.

“First dinner together for the school year? Our tradition?” Myungsoo says, trying to ring a bell to the older. Sunggyu then suddenly remembers that; his mouth forming an O after recalling.

Sungjong crosses his arms, “You forgot about it, didn’t you?”

Sunggyu shakes his head furiously, hoping that it could mask the lie that he did forget it, “Me? Forget about it?! Never. Okay. Never!” He emphasizes on the ‘never’.

Woohyun snickers, “Ah, Sunggyu hyung. I know you. You really forgot that.”

Sunggyu then glares at the younger before returning his gaze to the others. He mutters an apology then explains, “I was just busy over the summer, okay? That might’ve slipped out of my mind while moving.”

“Ah, I almost forgot you moved in with your cousins,” Dongwoo points out, earning nods from the others, “Don’t worry! You could tell us about what happened on your summer.” He suddenly spots the minute hand of Sunggyu’s watch reaching the 15-minutes-left mark and pushes the older away from the group, “And you will tell us once you finish your classes! Run along now! You might be late!”

“Okay, okay! I’ll text you guys later,” Sunggyu dismisses and stops Dongwoo from pushing. He acknowledges everyone and stares at Woohyun — squinting to be exact — before he heads out.

Today’s going to be a long day.

“I’m hom— what are you doing?”

“I’m exercising! Gotta stay fit and healthy!”

Sunggyu raises an eyebrow as he watches his oldest cousin doing aerobics in the living room at 7 in the evening. He sees Seokjin seated on the couch, eating a bowl of congee while watching Pilkyo’s workout video.

“It’s not common for you to just whip out the yoga mat and start doing Zumba there, hyung,” Sunggyu deadpans as Pilkyo continues to move to the salsa.

“Sunho hyung and Chungjae hyung will be getting married so he decides to do that heinous thing,” Seokjin answers for the exercising eldest Kim. Pilkyo continues to dance, exaggerating his stretches when the beat became loud. Sunggyu rolls his eyes before shuffling to the bedroom.

“You could’ve done that while we were on vacation,” Sunggyu calls out as he reaches the room.

“It was all sudden! I need to be fit when I get my suit measurements!” Pilkyo answers back, almost breathlessly as he continues the routine.

Sunggyu then closes the door of the room and changes into comfortable home wear. He had a nice dinner with his friends; he got to explain moving in with his cousins and his law admission test. The others also told stories of their summer: Dongwoo’s detailed narrative of his Busan trip with Howon, Sungyeol’s trip to Everland with his family, Myungsoo’s vacation in Japan, and Sungjong’s productive workdays at his family’s café.

Woohyun didn’t share his story though, but Sunggyu knows that he was the only one who knows his shenanigans over the summer. The younger’s just good in acting like he already told his story. Sunggyu actually feels honored that he gets to keep most of the younger’s secrets and adventures. While it really annoys him, he still feels giddy whenever he rethinks that Woohyun trusts him more.

His phone buzzes and he peer over to see a message from Nam Woohyun. He smiles as he reads the message.

From: Namu

I hope you got home safe~ See you tomorrow?

To: Namu

I’m at home.

Stop worrying.

See you tomorrow 😊

He groans inwardly. Nobody needs to know about what he feels.

Chapter Notes: I'm back! And this is the shortest update I've done; a little peek at the first Kim siblings and Hyesung's sudden exercise regimen 🤣 I hope you guys are doing well and keeping yourselves healthy! See you guys on my next chapter!

Follow me on Twitter: @hyesunggyeols (stan acct) or @codenametitanic (writing)