The next day, Jeongyeon knew he shouldn’t stay at the Minatozakis’, he didn’t really want to go home, he didn’t want to go to the Chous’, but when he woke up, he heard Chaeyoung and Sana talking about their lunch picnic they had planned and he couldn’t bring himself to impose on them any longer. The older boy said he should be heading home, but mr Minatozaki demanded he ate breakfast before leaving and if there was something the Minatozaki family had in common, it was being absolutely terrifying when angered.

Arriving home, all Jeongyeon wanted was to find the house empty, unfortunately, being Seungyeon’s sibling meant that wasn’t something that happened at all. The woman got a text from Tzuyu the previous evening and decided to work from home, she only worked mornings on saturdays regardless, and set herself in the living room to wait for that brat of a brother. He didn’t take long to arrive, she had been working for a few minutes when the front door opened. The youngest Yoo felt his stomach drop a little when he noticed his sister’s shoes were still there.

“Yoo Jeongyeon, you have twenty minutes to do what you must and be sitting on this couch.” Seungyeon calls from the living room.

The boy doesn’t bother saying anything, his sister’s tone left no room for argument and he knew that was coming after his stunt last night. Jeongyeon takes a quick shower and gets into his sweats, might as well be comfortable for this.

“What were you thinking?”

“Good seeing you too, nuna. Did you sleep well?”

“Don’t even start. Everyone has been worried sick about your disappearing act and if it wasn’t for Sana, we would have never found you.”

“I was upset and I really didn’t want to see anybody. Sana only knew where to find me by sheer luck.”

“Well, your boyfriend just told you that he got into a nice university and you disappear, what’s up with that?”

“I told him I was happy for him and that he should take it. I don’t know where that was a bad thing.”

“You don’t get to say that. You know how worried you left Tzuyu! Now speak up, boy!” Seungyeon snapped.

“And what do you want me to say? I was led to believe we had already planned our future together, that things were already decided and then this happens, I think I have the right to take some time for myself to be upset about that.” Jeongyeon loses his patience.

Seungyeon smiles, she needed him to speak his mind about it, or he would completely sabotage himself. 

“And that is exactly what I needed you to do. We all know how you tend to shut yourself out and believe you need to make all the sacrifices on your own.”

“And why shouldn’t I? What’s the point of anyone else giving up something if I can just do it myself and that will be that?”

“I’ll never be able to show you how sorry I am that you grew up like that.” The woman tears up. “We are all responsible for you believing you should give yourself to others, at all times, and I’ll never make up for that, no matter how much I try.”

“What do you mean?” Jeongyeon wants to cry.

“I know we all told you that you should just give anything we wanted, you are the youngest and the only boy in this family, and you were never first.” Seungyeon is openly crying now. “I’m so sorry. You finally have someone who puts you first with Tzuyu, and I’ll be damned if I let you give that up.”

“But it’s the best for his future, I can’t let him not take it.” He lets his tears run free. 

“I’m the one who decides what’s best for my future.” A new voice startles the siblings.

Tzuyu got a message from Seungyeon right when her brother arrived and immediately headed to the Yoos’. He had arrived a while before, but thought it would be better to let Seungyeon finish her apologies before interfering.

“Tzuyu? What- Who?” The older boy stammers.

“I called him over.” The woman explains. “This conversation can’t be had without him and you know that.”

Truly, Jeongyeon did know he needed to talk to Tzuyu, but he hoped he had a bit more time before that. Maybe his sister knew him better than he thought, because doing this was the way to prevent him from giving anything up.

“Look, Jeong, I know you think you should step back and just let me go. But that’s not how a relationship should work. I don’t want to simply leave, I don’t want you to just wear yourself out trying to make sure I’m not missing anything.”

“Tzu-” Jeongyeon is sobbing again.

“I know.” Tzuyu moves to hug his boyfriend. “But I’m the one who decides. And I don’t want to go if both of us are going to be unhappy, I thought about it and, honestly, when you walked out the door last night felt horrible, I can’t do that again and I don’t want you to go through it either. We are sticking to our plan.”

The Yoo siblings are just sobbing now, and Tzuyu has to stop and take a few breaths to steady himself.

“I love you, Jeong, and I really just want to be with you. I know it might not be the top university in Taiwan, but it’s the top university in Korea and I’ll be with the guy I love.”

“You sure you want to give it up like that?”

“I’m sure I don’t want to give you up at all.”

With that, Tzuyu pecks his boyfriend gently, Seungyeon gets up from where she was and pulls the boys into her arms. She started noticing how her little brother was always the one to give things up because someone else wanted the opposite by the end of her first year of college. As a psychology major, she came across a few topics that raised a lot of red flags about her own family. It had never been anyone’s intention, but it did happen and Seungyeon will do everything to make up to her little brother for everything he had to give up in life that he shouldn’t.