When Yoongi heard the plans for Seungkwan's adaptation of Epiphany, he summoned Seokmin to his humble studio in Gangnam. The younger didn't expect the VIP treatment given to him after telling the receptionist that he was Seokjin's cousin. The older handed him down the play's original tracks, "Let me know if you need anything, okay?"

In the classroom, Seokmin hums as he listens to the original scores. While the originals have a dramatic flair, the remade ones were catchier. Bobbing his head to the remade ‘Begin’, someone took a seat on his left him and plucked the earphone from Seokmin, securing it on his left ear while sitting down.

Seokmin looks at his side, smiling when he sees the figure also humming the tune, “Do you think this is better than the original, Soonyoung hyung?”

Kwon Soonyoung has been around Seokmin ever since he transferred to the school. While Seungkwan wasn’t around to tour him around, Soonyoung came into the picture — volunteering to show him the foreign environment. Eventually, they became best of friends, bonding over harmless pranks and skits that make their mutual friends giggle.

Soonyoung's eyes flit from one place to another. “This could give the play an extra kick, but it’ll still depend on the others if they could play this live or by track,” he replies, crossing his arms.

“We should ask Jihoon hyung then?” Seokmin removes his earphone, spinning it on his fingers.

Soonyoung juts his lips, nodding slowly. “He might figure it out,” he assures. Their teacher arrives and Soonyoung removes the earphone, whispering a ‘talk to you later’ before rushing to his seat at the back of the classroom.

Seokmin already couldn't wait.

They managed to corner Jihoon in the music room, asking for his opinions for the songs that Yoongi provided. Most of the songs can be easily played by the piano and violin, but some fit being played as a track. In the end, they decided to hand over their suggestions to the drama club.

“We could’ve asked Jungkook. He’s more passionate about these,” Soonyoung says as they exit the music room.

"He's probably busy," Seokmin puts his hands in the pockets of his school slacks, “Seungkwan told me Daehwi is planning to give the lead role to him.”

Soonyoung nods knowingly, “Jungkook probably knows the play more than anyone else." He chuckles as a thought dawn on him, "He's probably too passionate so Daehwi took him.”

The two of them smile and continued to walk in silence. Seniors have fewer study loads for the semester; hence the hallways have been vacant and no noise could be heard. The school also strategically placed the seniors on the far left of the floor, which explains less to no lowerclassmen loitering in these parts.

It's fun to have someone who shares the same interests as you, Seokmin realizes as they make a turn. Back in his former school, friends surround the new Kim but never found the one that matches him. He has been going with the flow, fitting into the typical high school environment. Enter Soonyoung, and Seokmin's outlook on life has drastically changed.

They were a few steps away from their classroom when Soonyoung asks him. “Are you free after classes?”

Seokmin tries to recall his plans later in the day, “I have to talk to Seokjin hyung about our revised ideas for the songs. Since he delegated me as his ‘liaison officer’.” He air quotes, earning chuckles from his best friend.

Visible changes have been evident in Soonyoung since the previous year. Nice gestures, study session accompaniments, and increasing food treats. Eyes catching the tinge of red on Soonyoung's cheeks whenever the younger is in close proximity, clumsy actions whenever the younger approaches him. There was even a time Soonyoung staggered backward when Seokmin came walking along the hallway. Seokmin usually shrugs it off, thinking it's because they're about to graduate, so it's the last time to create memories and make up for the mistakes in the past.

But it feels... different.

Seokmin watches as Soonyoung bites his lip, hesitating to speak. He speaks anyway, “Can I join you though? Since we’re in the same club and I also have the right to know.” He covers the stutter, but Seokmin catches it.

While it’s true that Soonyoung is one of the officers in the music club, Seokmin was given the task to overlook the music for the play. He’s honored but he still wants the decision of the officers before he makes the final decision.

Seokmin nods. He needs support from one of the officers when it comes to a play that is important to his cousin.

Classes end and Seungkwan apologizes to Seokmin, “Daehwi decides to have the first script reading today! Jin hyung approved the changes and he might have given Daehwi a heart attack when he said that he's going to watch.”

So, he lets his stepbrother run to the club's room and walk to the school’s gates. Soonyoung made him wait, as he has some ‘stuff’ to settle in the music room.

Students rush to leave the school gates, some for cram school, and some for other things. Mingyu and Minghao spotted him, having a decent conversation about their SAT preparations.

“I’m almost done with my coverage. Wonwoo hyung has been giving me practice sets from his cram school,” Mingyu nonchalantly explains, fiddling with the straps of his bag.

“And what do you give in return then?” Minghao crosses his arms, leaning against the wall. A smirk then travels to his lips, and Seokmin knew what he was talking about.

Mingyu hits his best friend annoyingly, “God, stop giving double-meanings Hao!” Their friend group is obviously well-aware of the couple’s private life, even though they don’t talk about it a lot.

Soonyoung appears at the gates, waving at the trio as he approaches them. “Wait, you’re going to take the SATs too, Hao?!” the older of the four asks excitedly. Minghao nods, “My parents decided to put me here for a few more years. Told Junhui hyung about it and he’s pretty jealous.”

Junhui flew back to China after he graduated high school, his parents wanting him to finish in his home country. He promised to come back though, mostly for Minghao.

“As long as I don’t go anywhere, he’s coming back,” Minghao says and the three gives a knowing smile. They have been the strongest and chilliest couple in their group of friends, with Mingyu even asking for relationship advice from the two.

Mingyu received a call from Wonwoo, signaling him to part ways with his friends, with Minghao hollering some innuendos that Seokmin wonders where he got it from. Seokmin and Soonyoung walked in silence, approaching the nearest bus stop that would take them to the City Jungle.

Seokmin feels Soonyoung’s hand swaying against his, and he didn’t mind, although he felt like the older was trying to do something. He let his mind drift off to other things, like the remaining SAT coverage, the play, his Korean history homework —

A warm hand wrap around his and Seokmin hitches his breath. Heart racing so fast and warmth spreads on his cheeks. Looking at Soonyoung’s direction, Seokmin notes the reddening tips of the older’s ears, trying not to act like holding hands is a big deal.

They reach the bus stop, hands still entwined with each other. Soonyoung looked fine. And Seokmin should also, but he couldn’t get his heart to calm down.

Soonyoung’s hand is soft but sturdy.

Probably because he writes too much, or he plays the piano for too long. Soonyoung has told Seokmin about his plans to be a musician, but his parents were skeptical about his career choice.

“You’re going to be the best pianist out there, hyung,” Seokmin assures him one night. The two of them couldn’t sleep after they mapped out their college plans.

He remembers the soft sigh escaping from the older’s lips, ricocheting in the four walls of his room despite being on the phone, “You’re going to watch my first recital, right?”

Seokmin remembers his answer. He’s going to be there, of course.

They alighted the bus holding hands, and they left the vehicle still holding hands. Neither of them wants to let go, as Seokmin finds his best friend’s hand warm and comforting. It burns, much thanks to his heart still beating fast, but managed to balance it out with the cold early October wind.

It was a quiet ascent to Seokmin’s apartment. He already told his cousins that he has company and informed his Seokjin hyung that he's going to discuss with him the ideas.

The elevator stops on the 30th floor. Seokmin hears the audible gasps escaping from Soonyoung. He forgot that Jeonghan was the first (and, so far, only) friend who got into the apartment. While traveling through the hallway, Seokmin explains that their eldest cousin was the one who was gifted with this.

“I feel like I don’t belong here,” Soonyoung wheezes, only managing to let go when Seokmin fumbles to input the code. The warmness subsided, and Seokmin tries not to show disappointment. A sigh escapes from his lips, scrolling through his phone to look for the house code before punching in the numbers.

Nobody is at home yet, as Seokmin looks around once the orange lights turn on. “Make yourself comfortable hyung. I’ll just change into my clothes,” Seokmin manages to speak despite the longingness to hold the older’s hand. Soonyoung nods and makes a beeline to the couches.

When the bedroom door closes, Seokmin lets out a shaky breath. His hand, which touched Soonyoung’s, came into his view. He’s happy and confused and sad while staring. Indescribable emotions enter him, taking over his senses while pulling fresh clothes to change into.

He never thought of Soonyoung as someone more than a friend. But with the emotions playing around his system, he’s not so sure anymore.

When Wonshik arrived at the apartment, Seokmin bombarded him with questions about the play. Yoongi told the younger Kim cousin that Wonshik also helped out in the compositions, setting the vibe of each act.

“Wait, wait— let hyung get changed first!” Wonshik exclaims as he closes the door on Seokmin and the younger skips to the living area. Soonyoung chuckles when his best friend plops down, “Do you guys act like that all the time?”

Seokmin shakes his head, “Unless we need to.”

Seokmin never told anyone about the cousins to the others. He often lets Seungkwan do all the talking. While he could explain the dynamics in his own words, he feels like he might give a bad impression of his step-cousins to the others. A few months later and progress has been made, but he still couldn't describe them well. It's difficult to transcribe the belongingness he's feeling around his new family.

“You never told me about your cousins,” Soonyoung starts. Seokmin dreads that the topic came by so fast.

“You’ve met them,” Seokmin says, eyes still trained on the television screen.

“I mean your other cousins. Were you also this close to them?” Soonyoung prods and he’s not afraid to do that. Seokmin learned it the hard way when the older kept on bugging him about where he came from. They just met during those times and Soonyoung was already thirsty for information.

Seokmin then explains his side of the family. How he still keeps in touch with his mother's relatives, how his father's relatives took great care of him when his mom passes away. Aunts have been urging Seokmin's father to remarry, telling him that Seokmin needs to have a mother-figure growing up. His paternal cousins have been dying to meet Seungkwan ever since Seokmin mentioned him once.

His maternal cousins are a different story. Seokmin grew up with them, but after his mom died, their relationship strained. Despite missing a direct link, he describes them as chill and doesn’t usually like to keep in touch often. After his father's remarriage, his cousins started to reach out again. Promised to stick around longer, since they're still linked by blood.

It was a culture shock to him when his step-cousins came into the picture. Pilkyo literally barged into his life, opening his room's door and asking too many questions about his interests and hobbies. Slowly, he was taken under his wing. In a span of two months, he was introduced to different people by his step-cousins and those people openly accepted him as family.

“Do you think you’ll be able to introduce Seungkwan to your mom’s side?” Soonyoung asks out of the blue.

Seokmin ponders on it. He hasn’t thought about that, probably because Seungkwan has no relations with his biological mom’s family. His dad doesn’t look like he would be presenting Seungkwan to his deceased wife’s family as well.

He subsequently shakes his head, “Probably not now. Although some of my cousins want to meet him.”

“Then you should introduce him,” Soonyoung answers confidently, shifting his position towards Seokmin’s direction and Seokmin notices how dangerously close he is to his best friend, “Seungkwan is amazing. And I’m sure that they’ll be delighted to meet him. Nobody cares if he’s from a different family. I'm sure he'll get along pretty well with them.”

One of the reasons why Seokmin is drawn to Kwon Soonyoung is that he’s sure. He’s sure of his decisions and he stands for what he believes in. There’s no doubt that Jihoon got a lot from his cousin.

Seokmin smiles and thanks his best friend for his advice. He watches Soonyoung reach out his hand — Seokmin aches for the warmth from his hand — only to pat his thigh and revert his attention back to the show.

The younger Kim chuckles softly before turning back to the show. Wonshik then walks out of the room and gets himself comfortable before Seokmin launches into a bunch of questions about the songs.

Seokjin arrived a few hours later and he thanks Soonyoung for waiting. “No problem hyung! All for the play,” Soonyoung assures him, and Seokmin knows how dedicated his best friend is in terms of working on a project.

Soonyoung wasn’t planning to stay there for a little longer, given that Jihoon is waiting in their dorms for dinner. But Seokmin messaged his best friend’s cousin, and Soonyoung earned approval from his cousin. “He’s also on a date with Cheol hyung, so you have nothing to worry about,” Seokmin adds and the two of them chuckle.

They had a hearty and boisterous dinner, with Pilkyo sharing his suit fitting adventures and Jonghoon finally speaking after a long period of silence (read: 2 days). Seokmin made sure that his best friend feels at home, and sure enough, Soonyoung was sharing funny anecdotes about his life as well.

Before Soonyoung leaves, Seokjin handed them the script that he received from the drama club. “I already wrote instructions and suggestions there, so you guys could follow along. I’ll try to drop by so I could hear it,” Seokjin says and the two beamed, tackling the 4th Kim into a hug.

Seokmin accompanied Soonyoung to the lobby. The building complex is huge enough to make a person get lost. "Trust me hyung, when me and Seungkwan first came back here alone, we got off the wrong elevator and floor," Seokmin insisted when they were descending.

They reached the lobby and Seokmin starts to speak, “Thanks for accompanying me today." Soonyoung then faces him, smiling ever so brightly that his pupils disappear, “No problem. I told you that I’m there as the club’s secretary as well.”

Seokmin chuckles and he again notices the sudden change in the atmosphere. He notes the fidgeting in his best friend’s fingers, as well as his heart beating irregularly again. And when he blinked, he sees his best friend leaning forward and—

A small peck on his lips.

Within a small period of time, Soonyoung gave him the fireflies and the fireworks ringing in his ears. It was a weird sensation.

Seokmin blinks several times before he gets to process what has happened. He sees Soonyoung smiling again, his cheeks tinting a light shade of red.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Soonyoung stutters. Seokmin nods almost robotically before he sees Soonyoung leaving the establishment. He waves and Seokmin finds himself waving back.

There are two times that left Lee Seokmin speechless:

One was when his mother passed away.

The second was when he earned a new brother.

And now, it was when he realizes that his best friend likes him.

Chapter Notes: I'm back! I enjoyed writing this chapter because I tried to explain ~innocent young love~ here. I see SoonSeok as young, innocent kids exploring the chaos called love- I think most of us had those times! 🤣

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the update for today! I'm on a writer's block because I don't know how to deliver one of the cousins' p.o.v 🤣 Ah.... why are you so complicated @/Yesung! xD

See you on my next update!

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