“What’s taking Jiwoo so long?” Kyungsoo complained, tapping his feet impatiently on the floor of the corridor. “At this rate we won’t be able to get a decent place by the river to watch fireworks.”

“She’s probably struggling with her yukata,” Chanyeol answered while scrolling through his phone. “She got excited once she realised that she could finally wear it. She hasn’t worn it since her trip to Kyoto after graduating uni so had to Google for a tutorial.”

“She what?” Kyungsoo gasped. “Why didn’t you just make her wear something normal?”

“Right, I should totally have barged into my sister’s room, strip the yukata off and then throw her a sweater and jeans instead,” Chanyeol rolled his eyes.

Just as Kyungsoo lifted his arm to hit Chanyeol, the door of flat 31 opened, saving Chanyeol from another beating. Jiwoo emerged wearing a black yukata with large pink flowers prints, adorned with a crimson red obi belt. Seeing her, Kyungsoo immediately took back his complaints for Jiwoo looked like she had stepped out of a Studio Ghibli film, so dainty and ethereal but above all, radiant.

Sehun was also enraptured by her presence, and immediately took out his phone to capture the moment. His action took Jiwoo by surprise, not expecting to have a photo taken of her, but the final product was one that Sehun was more than satisfied with. It was a truly candid shot of her blushing while hiding a shy smile behind her hands.

“Stop ogling my sister and let’s get going then.” Chanyeol clapped his hands, pushing them all towards the lift.

・・・

The Han river was packed, buzzing with the excitement of the crowd eager to witness the spectacle awaiting them. There was still some time before the fireworks were planned to begin, thus Jiwoo hurried towards the food stall, tugging onto Chanyeol’s sleeve and waiting for her brother to take out his wallet.

“I thought you were the breadwinner.” Chanyeol looked at her with a smug expression. “Why do I have to pay?”

“Because you are the bestest brother in the world!” Jiwoo chirped, giving him a bear hug.

Chanyeol let out a hearty chuckle, unable to resist the adorable charms of his dear younger sister. Paying for the grilled squid that she wanted, he passed it over to Jiwoo who had a wide smile stamped on her face.

“What about me?” Sehun pouted at the older male. “I want food as well!”

“Don’t worry Sehunnie,” Kyungsoo comforted the male, throwing an arm around his shoulder. “Big bro Soo is here. What do you want?”

Seeing Sehun point at the fishcakes, Kyungsoo promptly paid for the snack.

“Let’s look for a place to watch the fireworks from,” Kyungsoo urged the others. “Somewhere close to the river?”

Everyone nodded in agreement and the group shuffled through the sea of people. Unfortunately, being so tiny, Jiwoo got buried by all the people around them. In a moment of distraction, she got separated from the others. She stood on her tip toes, eyes darting in all directions in search for Chanyeol and Sehun — with their height, they should have been much easier to find than Kyungsoo. To her dismay, they were nowhere in sight. Unable to resist the flow of crowd walking around, she found herself being carried away. Trying to push her way out, she noticed too late that a kid was rushing past her, and thus to avoid having the child run into her, she stepped to the side. However, the yukata heavily limited her movements and consequently she lost her balance and her body swayed to the side, aiming straight for the ground.

A pair of arms grabbed her just in time, smoothly pulling her out of the crowd and to a more secluded space behind the food stalls. Jiwoo snapped her head around, expecting to find a gr