Requested by 32bella!! Thank you very much for requesting!!

Prompt: In which Myungsoo asks for Sungjong’s parent’s blessings for their relationship. However, his younger brother Seonkyu won’t let him go without a fight.

I can't help but say that this oneshot kind of grew on me... I was planning on making it comical, but it came out to be kind of heartwarming, at least to me...

I didn’t say it previously but thank you all for all the praises and wonderful comments. I honestly feel overjoyed when I read them. Thank you very much!! 

--

“Please let me date Sungjong officially!” Myungsoo said with a deep bow, throwing his shoulders forward so his back was parallel with the hardwood floors.

He could hear Sungjong’s mother and father gasp with surprise, but they soon composed themselves, staring seriously into Myungsoo’s determined, dark eyes.

The boy bit his lips pleadingly, returning to his straight posture and fiddling with his thumbs, waiting for the response.

A few minutes of silence passed. Myungsoo remained looking down at his feet, and he heard nothing except for the quiet whispers of Sungjong’s mother and father.

Then, as if the past couple of minutes didn’t happen, Sungjong’s father leaped at him, wrapping his arms around Myungsoo’s thin frame. 

His loud laughter shook their small home. “Wonderful! I’ve always wanted a handsome, cool son to take care of my dear Sungjongie!”

Sungjong’s mother softly chuckled behind him as Myungsoo froze in place. “This wasn’t entirely unexpected. I was wondering just how close you two were, with how you coddle my child so much.”

Myungsoo vaguely remembered him and Sungjong feeding each other during one of the family dinners where he was invited. They seemed… a lot like a married couple, actually. He flushed red, arms still limp at his sides as Sungjong’s father kept choking the air out of him with his tight embrace.

Sungjong’s father lets him go with a pat on the back that seemed like it was going to break his ribs. He coughed indiscreetly and sent a shaky smile at the older man, who nodded, beaming at him.

Myungsoo turned his head slightly to send a reassuring smile at Sungjong, and he could notice that the younger’s shoulders were relaxed, not worrying about their family’s consent anymore.
Sungjong grinned back, sending him a thumbs up with his right hand, as his left was tightly held on by his younger brother, Seonkyu.

“But,” Sungjong’s mother said, catching Myungsoo’s attention and making him stand up straighter, “You better not hurt him, okay?”

The knife that she was using to peel an apple was glinting threateningly in the light.

Myungsoo instinctively felt himself bow once more, seeing that same expression on Sunggyu’s face. “Of course! I’ll take care of him well!”

Sungjong’s mother and father turned to look at each other, then at Sungjong, who nodded towards Myungsoo’s way.

They smiled, sitting down at the table that was filled with steaming hot food.

“Sit down and eat, then. We need our new son to be healthy and strong, after all.”

Myungsoo’s lip corners curled upwards, and he felt like a puppy, all excited and joyful. 

How could he not be? Sungjong’s family had just accepted him!

Myungsoo jumped over to Sungjong, hugging him tightly and grinning. Sungjong seemed to flinch at that, but Myungsoo just wrote it off as shock from his sudden movements. 

Though, Sungjong did seem to flinch a lot when Myungsoo touched him… Maybe he just wasn’t used to that kind of stuff?

Myungsoo shook his head, directing his thoughts back to the joy of having Sungjong’s family accept him.

Unfortunately, Myungsoo did not notice Seonkyu staring at him, eyes narrowing.

--

Myungsoo did not have a particularly strong opinion on Seonkyu, besides that fact that he was Sungjong’s brother yet acted completely different from Sungjong. He seemed like a nice and quiet kid, actually.

However, that opinion changed quickly, with the 3-years-younger boy cornering him in the backyard as he went to go throw out the trash.

“Why do you like him,” Seonkyu said, glaring daggers into Myungsoo’s eyes as if he had just killed his entire family.

“W-what?” Myungsoo questioned, and Seonkyu scoffed, crossing his arms in a way that definitely reminded him of Sunggyu. “What do you mean?”

Seonkyu looked at him as if he was dumb. “Why do you like my brother? You’re… somewhat good-looking, so why pick my brother instead of any of those girls that scream over your every move?”

Ah. So Sungjong’s brother was overprotective. 

Myungsoo exhaled, staring down at the younger and not wanting to back down from the younger’ s challenge. “There’s a lot of reasons why I like Sungjong. Firstly, everything about him. I wouldn’t let him go for the world.”

Seonkyu wasn’t impressed, as he spat at Myungsoo’s feet and turned to walk back into the house where the family was happily chattering away. “Don’t bother if that’s why. That’s what they all say. Don’t think saying that crap makes you unique.”

As Myungsoo stood in the middle of the backyard concrete, cold biting at his arms, he finally realized the chilling resemblance between the two siblings.

They had the same eyes, the same eyes that both scared the hell out of him and made him swoon into the next universe. 

Although Seonkyu’s eyes weren’t as beautiful as Sungjong’s.

--

From that point on, Seonkyu and Myungsoo never talked again, unless it was at the dinner table. Seonkyu mainly glared at him from where he was sitting. Myungsoo didn’t return it, instead smiling passively at him as he fed Sungjong various foods from the table.

“So, Myungsoo-ah. How do you think about staying over tonight? You can stay with Sungjong in his room,” Sungjong’s father suggested, smiling warmly at both of them.

“Ah… sure. Thank you, father,” Myungsoo said, bowing his head forward slightly in respect. Sungjong squeezed his hand slightly in excitement, and Myungsoo could basically feel the happiness radiating off of it.

He took a chance and peeked to see Seonkyu’s expression. His eyes narrowed, and his nose scrunched up in a way that made it seem as if someone had died in front of him.

Nonetheless, Myungsoo turned his head back to look down at Sungjong, smiling and nodding thankfully at his parents.

Even if Sungjong’s brother hated the sight of him, he wouldn’t let Sungjong go.

He would just have to make his little brother fall for him (not in that way, Sungjong was his only one.)

--

Myungsoo coddled Sungjong a lot more from then on. Not just because he wanted to show Seonkyu how much he loved Sungjong, but also because he simply wanted to love the younger more.

However, when Seonkyu saw it, he seemed to get even more pissed off at him.

“Do you think of him as a trophy? Do you think he likes you choking and constricting him like he’s a prisoner? Do you even know what Sungjong really likes?”

He said it right in front of them, which, frankly, made Myungsoo feel a bit embarrassed, though he did take the younger’s advice.
When Myungsoo turned to ask Sungjong what he really did like, Sungjong just shook his head, smiling. 

“Don’t worry about him, Myungsoo-hyung. I like everything you like.”

Sungjong’s voice seemed just a little emptier than usual, and Myungsoo made a mental note to see and observe what Sungjong did like. 

Maybe he was wrong from the start.

--

Myungsoo should have looked at him closer from the start. 

Because, really, Sungjong wasn’t how he was at first impression. Quite the opposite, really.

Sungjong was both quiet and loud. Loving and indifferent. Liking flashy things yet disliking things that caught too much attention. Tough yet weak.

Myungsoo knew that Sungjong was sweet yet sarcastic, and had a bite to him, especially toward his hyungs. He just didn’t know just how self-conscious and wary Sungjong was about himself.

Myungsoo reflected on his newly learned observations.

Myungsoo walked into the living room, eyes brightening when he saw Sungjong and Seonkyu talking. He walked over to the two, where Sungjong smiled just a little bit brighter and Seonkyu’s eyes darkened just a bit more. 

Instead of pulling the younger into his lap like he did usually and making Sungjong feel embarrassed, he sat next to the younger. Their thighs touched due to the closeness. “What are you guys talking about? Just curious.”

Sungjong grinned. “You, actually.”

That made Myungsoo’s eyebrows raise. “Oh, really? Mind telling me just what you were talking about?”

“Nope!”

Sungjong giggled, and Myungsoo couldn’t help but break down in laughter. He was the Sungjong that he loved so much, the cheeky, two-faced brat that could be an angel one day and a devil the next.

In the corner of his eyes, Myungsoo could see Seonkyu’s dark brown eyes soften, and he wondered if his brother loved this Sungjong as well.

--

Myungsoo continued to tone down his cuddling and romantic antics further and further, until it was to the point where he only did it away from others, in Sungjong’s room as they were alone.

Sungjong was straddling him, sitting in his lap as Myungsoo pressed kisses to the younger’s cheeks.

“Why don’t you do this anymore?” Sungjong asked, pouting as Myungsoo stopped to give Sungjong a strange look.

“What do you mean? I’m doing it right now,” Myungsoo murmured in the younger’s ear, enjoying how Sungjong giggled in response.

“N-Not that, I mean, why don’t you do it in front of everyone anymore? Are you not comfortable with it?” 

Myungsoo was getting more confused by the second. “What? I thought you didn’t like doing this kind of stuff in public, you know, like how Seonkyu said that one day.”

Sungjong tilted his head. “Seonkyu… Oh! That day… I thought I told you not to listen to him, it’s not like that, really…”

Sungjong got off from his lap, instead sitting on his bed, beckoning Myungsoo to sit as well as he patted the spot next to him. “About that, I need to tell you something about me…”

Myungsoo silently obeyed, standing up and brushing his pants off before sitting on Sungjong’s soft, springy bed. “Yes?”

“My past girlfriend, Min Jinyoung… She wasn’t the best person, you see.”

As Myungsoo didn’t say anything, Sungjong continued, voice still solemn and quiet.

“She wouldn’t let me breathe. Her nails would dig into me every time she grabbed my arm or hugged me… At first, it was fine… But gradually, it was like she was choking me, turning me into a person who couldn’t escape her. I did, with Seonkyu’s help. My parents know some of it, which is why my mother was kind of wary of you at first. Seonkyu doesn’t think you’re different from her, even though I keep saying you are.”

Sungjong remained looking down, rubbing at his arms. As Myungsoo examined closer, he could see faint half-moon shapes pressed upon them, and Myungsoo exhaled sharply.
Myungsoo moved to softly grab the younger’s hand, to reassure that he would never do something like that to him, but Sungjong looked upwards, staring into his eyes and smiling.

“I know you won’t do anything like that, Myungsoo. That’s why I let you do all that cuddly stuff because I didn’t hate it when it was with you. The flinching, though… I wasn’t really used to be affectionate after her. But don’t worry. I trust you, I trust you infinitely more than anyone else.”

Myungsoo couldn’t help the words from escaping, although it was inappropriate. “Seonkyu would be sad if he heard that you trusted me more than him.”

Sungjong snorted in response, breaking into laughter and collapsing in Myungsoo’s arms, which wrapped around him comfortingly. “He would, wouldn’t he?”

When Sungjong composed himself again, his lips were curled into that endearingly cute catfish smile that he always had. “That’s why… I didn’t tell you all this just because I want you to start kissing me in front of Seonkyu again, although that would be nice… I want you to know everything about me, to trust me just as much as I trust you.”

“I trust you. Thank… you for telling me. Thank you for trusting me,” Myungsoo said, tears unexpectedly springing into his eyes.

Sungjong’s hands immediately reached to the corner of his eyes, wiping softly. 

“Aigoo… Our Myungsoo-ah’s crying…”

Myungsoo didn’t comment on how the younger’s eyes were shining with wetness as well.

--

When Myungsoo saw Seonkyu again, his eyes weren’t as harsh as before, though they were just as determined.

“I heard that Sungjong told you,” he muttered, refusing to stare at Myungsoo. “Though I don’t want to trust you…”

Myungsoo smiled, moving forward to pat Seonkyu’s shoulder, the younger not responding to the gesture. “Thanks, for telling me to come to my senses. I’m glad you did.”

Seonkyu flushed. “Don’t be thankful! Just… don’t hurt him again, will you?”

Myungsoo nodded, patting the younger again before walking back to Sungjong’s room with a water bottle in his hand.

As he turned the doorknob, Seonkyu’s words stopped him.

“You’re not a bad new brother…”

Myungsoo smiled.