“Is it really okay that I stay at your house for two whole weeks?”

“Of course, Hyung, no need to worry”, Mir answered him as they packed their luggage into the taxi.

Joon remembered the Family Special where he and Thunder went with Mir to visit his hometown, Jangseong. It was really funny with Thunder and Mir and also the television crew was pretty nice. Also, he remembered how happy Mir had been, he really loved his hometown. But now, without the crew he was a bit scared that his family would reject him or that he might feel awkward, after all the Bangs were pretty much into skinship. Joon’s family wasn’t like that, it was rare that he hugged his family, they showed their affection more with words than with actions. Before the Family Special, Joon couldn’t even imagine living as a farmer, he imagined it to be very boring. But after the filming, he came to the conclusion it wasn’t as bad as he imagined it to be.

In the taxi they began talking about Hello Baby again, about their precious daughters Lauren and Dayoung and also their adorable son Leo. Joon studied Mir’s face and new hairstyle, he had really matured these years. He had his hair now longer again, dyed blond, similar to the ‘Stay’ Era. Joon also had no longer reddish hair, now it was dark brown, nothing new at all.

Mir was being his hyper self, babbling about how he missed his parents, his friend and also his other sister, Bang Hyosun, which wasn’t famous and other family members.  Joon didn’t even notice, how a smile appeared upon his face.

“Hyungnim, are you even listening? Your expression seems so far away, and you’re smiling!”, Mir exclaimed, pointing a finger at him.

“Oh, sorry, I’m only listening halfway. It’s cute how much you love your family”

Mir blushed, but smiled back and nodded.

How cute he just was in his own way, so different from what the fans saw on stage or in music videos. He was just like in the variety shows, he didn’t need to pretend anything, he was a cheery person always looking forward, always trying to give his best. In the past MBLAQ was really worried that his manner could affect their image, but the fans loved him.

Mir easily got into MBLAQ, no doubt, but that was no reason for him to don’t work as hard as Joon and the others, who needed to audition. He knew he lacked in dancing at first, so he always stayed in the studio longer than necessary to make every single dance move smooth, perfect.  At first, Joon didn’t like him since he had it much harder to finally achieve his dream of being a singer, going through numerous of auditions. Someday he began to notice the dark circles under his eyes, not as dark as Seungho’s, but clearly noticeable.  He found out that he Mir stayed in the studio after the official practice of MBLAQ was over, he began admiring him for his strength and his fighting will. Still they were awkward at that time, Joon couldn’t really befriend Mir. It was like there was a invisible barrier between the two of them. Joon was glad that after these years of performing, interviews, filming of variety shows they had become so close like they were now.

Finally they arrived at the Bangs house and got out of the taxi. Joon paid in gratitude for Mir’s offer. The familiar red gate opened and Mir’s parents got out, probably they must have awaited them and heard the car.

“Cheolyeong!”, his mother shouted and hugged her son quickly, then loosened the hug to kiss his cheeks furiously.  

“I’m finally back in town, Umma, Appa!”, Mir said, laughing as his mother let go of him and his father hugged him, patting his back.

Joon felt awkward and looked away politely, feeling like interrupted the family moment with his presence.

Mir’s mother spoke up : “Cheolyeong called us yesterday night, informing us that you would stay with us. We’re happy that our son is so close with MBLAQ’s members. We were quite of worried at first you know, since he got in that easily”

She and Mir’s father greeted him in the polite Korean way, smiling at him. It took a load of Joon’s mind, that the Bangs were so welcoming. 

“I’m Lee Chansung. I won’t be any trouble, please take-“, he began but Mir’s father interrupted him.

“Of course you won’t be any trouble, there’s no need to feel awkward. We’re just a normal farmer family, living in this small town, Chansung”, he said, cracking a smile at him.

Joon returned the smile. It was already getting dark so they hurried into the house. Mir’s mother had already prepared Gimbap for them to eat. Joon and Mir didn’t even realize they were starving, but at the mouth-watering sight of the Gimpab they immediately sat down and began eating.

“It’s delicious, Mrs. Bang”, Joon said, drinking a sip of the homemade apple juice.

“You can just call us umma and appa for the two weeks you’re here, otherwise it would just make us feel awkward. And I’m glad you like my cooking!” she said cheerfully.

“Thanks for the great food, umma! ~”, Mir called out.

Mir’s parents were really nice, and they kept talking about 2 hours. Mir telled funny things that happened recently, making everybody laugh with his funny narrative style. Joon loved it most when Mir had something to tell, it was the best when he imitated the members facial expressions.

They decided to head to bed and Mir’s mother told him, that his bed was in Mir’s room and in case he wanted to shower she already prepared a towel for him. Of course Joon didn’t take much time in the bathroom, brushing his teeth quickly and showering in 3 minutes. He went to Mir’s room, where Mir already sat on his bed, busy. He was reading in a book, and he seemed to don’t like what he was reading. He looked kinda sad.

Joon frowned.

“Cheolyeong?”, Joon asked cautiously.

Mir shrieked, looking at him flustered.

“You almost gave me a heart attack!”, he yelled, and cleared his throat. “I’m going to get ready for bed in the bathroom..”

He took the book with him, as he closed the door Joon wondered. Did he read on toilet, or why did he take it with him? And why was his expression sad as he read the book? I really need to see content of this book. . Then it dawned upon him. It was his diary! Joon remembered how Mir used to have a diary in his debut days and until the ‘Mona Lisa’ Era, if he remembered right. Somehow he stopped writing, Joon didn’t ask him why he stopped writing.. But Joon asked him what he wrote into the diary.

FLASHBACK.

“Cheolyeong? What are you writing again?”, Joon asked, raising an eyebrow.

They were in the room they shared together, both lying on their beds. Mir was lying over him, they all had bunk beds for due to the lack of space.

He heard Mir gasp.
“How do you know I’m writing, hyung?”

“I can hear you scribbling, I’m not deaf. So, what are you writing?”

He coughed. He was nervous.

“Nothing special, just what happened today..”

“You do that every day, don’t you?”

There was a minute silence.

“Yeah.. Every day, somehow it helps me to handle the stressful schedule.”

FLASHBACK END

Joon lied down on his bed, crossing his arms behind his head.

Mir took longer than Joon in the bathroom, but Joon didn’t expect otherwise.

The door opened.

“You awake?”

“Yeah, silly, I don’t fall asleep that easily after all I have insomnia.”

“.. Oh, right, sorry”, he murmured as he stepped across the room to lie down in his bed.

“Didn’t want to sound harsh”, Joon apologized, rolling to the site to face Mir.

Mir a little lamp next to his bed, stuffing the book under his pillow. Joon felt a burning curiosity to know what was written in the diary. What made the hyperactive Mir have a sad expression.

“Sorry that my parents are so embarrassing”, he said, hugging a pillow from his bed.

“What?”, Joon said, chuckling. “You’re parents are in no way embarrassing. They are really nice and lovely, even to me!”

“Yeah, my parents treat friends like family. It was always like that”, Mir whispers.

Mir’s lips are forming a distant smile, clearly thinking of the past.

“But still..”, Joon starts. “I kinda feel like I don’t have the right to be here, you know.”

Mir giggled, looking at him with bright eyes and patting his head.

“Pabo, there’s absolutely no reason for you to feel like this!”

Mir’s comment and gesture made Joon feel better. He took his arm away, hugging his pillow again. Joon noticed that Mir hugged the pillow tighter than before.

“So, do you consider us as family? You know, MBLAQ..”, he murmured,  looking at the ceiling.

“Yeah, I guess..”, he muttered under his breath. Somehow, he felt weird saying that, like it wasn’t the truth. But, he did consider MBLAQ as family, he really did.. Just somehow he felt otherwise when he thought of Mir. He felt closer to him than to the other members.

“Let’s sleep now.. Hyung!”

“But-“

“Goodnight”, Mir said, turning the lamp off so it was completely dark now.
Why did Mir hesitate? Why didn’t he look at Joon? Why did Joon feel awkward with his answer? So many questions started building up in Joon’s mind, to which he couldn’t find a satisfying answer.

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[author's note] Well, this chapter turned out very long >o< ! Hopefully you still like it ~ I, myself, am curious how my story will turn out, since i'm a spontanous person when it comes to fanfictions. I have an idea, start writing, and don't know how I want it to turn out. The only thing I know here, is that Joon and Mir are going to get together ♥ I took the rating down, since there will probably be only one chapter which will contain mature content o: Also new background + pic, i liked the old background but it's more fitting to the new pic. I hate the old one, well this one's.. okay i guess.

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