❝Our Deepening Bond❞

6:40 pm 

"Come here, you brat!" 

A loud roar echoed in a silent house leaving the woman to almost drop the bowl of fruits from her hands, as she was packing it up to bring it to Jinsoo's house later for the memorial service in a while, before a sigh left her lips as she looked up towards the stairs to see his husband and daughter playing catch me if you can game as usual with her daughter doing something, for her father to be angry and chasing her with his bottle of makgeolli in his hand.

"Dad!" Inha exclaimed, whining as she stood infront of him before showing him her sweetest smile as her nose scrunched while bringing her index finger close to her thumb. "I just drank this much!"

"If you have drank this much then how did my bottle get half empty this soon!" He shot back. "And I told you, not to drink makgeolli until you're twenty!"

"I'm turning twenty after next year anyway!" She stated as a matter of fact tone and he huffed, looking around for something before reaching out to take his baseball bat and she instantly ran downstairs. "Mom!"

"Baek Daewon!" Baek Ji-Hye shouted as he chased his daughter around the whole living room before stopping to look at her while panting and Inha stopped behind her mother as her mother narrowed her eyes at him. "Really? Get yourself together, she's your young daughter!"

"Right, and dad, I think you really should stop because you shouldn't run at this age." Inha spoke and he widened his eyes as he scoffed. "Yah! How dare you call your fit and fine father old!"

Inha stuck out her tongue playfully before running away outside and Daewon chased her leaving the latter to shake her head to continue her task. 

Inha was running towards Jinsoo's home which was right across from her house, a place where she always ends up whenever she gets in trouble because Jinsoo's mother and his grandfather would always save her as she, along with Yoojung were adored by them.

The moment she had stopped by the entrance of his house, a loud sound of bike had went through her ears like a zoom for her to halt her steps and the next second, she found the familiar bike zooming toward her direction with her lips parting with a gasp to scream as her eyes squeezed shut due to the sudden impact until she had felt her palms stopping over something, but it was more soft than a thing along with the sound fading away. 

Her eyes opened with a flutter to meet a pair of eyes behind the glass of the black helmet, staring right back at her with rounded eyes to let out a sigh of relief as she was safe to feel her legs wobbly before her eyes caught her hands over the other pair of hands on the handle which had her back away immediately as she palmed her racing heart behind her chest. 

The next thing she found the person seated on the bike, taking off his helmet only to reveal the face of someone she didn't expect to be here in her neighborhood, Oh Sehun. 

The young lad was clad in a pair of all black but denims, as he placed the helmet in front of him with a quick brush through his hair up before his eyes gazed at the girl staring at him with a surprised look and his frown deepened. "Do you want to die or what?" 

The most expected thing Inha expected from him was right out from his mouth behind his deep voice and as she parted her lips to speak, he beat her to it. "If you want to, don't involve me in it." 

A wave of heat rushed into her chest with a sudden irritation as she huffed. "Excuse you, I'm not interested in dying and you rushed in front of me without a warning, so you be careful, Mr. Righteous." 

"Whatever, Ms. Know it all." He grumbled under his breath, before getting off the bike as he hung the helmet over the handle to attempt to walk toward the porch of Jinsoo's house, ignoring the girl in front of him but a sudden yell of Inha's name had him stop with a startle to look in the direction to find a middle-aged yet a muscular figured man pacing towards their direction or say Inha. 

Inha gasped, immediately taking a hold of Sehun's forearm to hide herself behind him, startling the latter as he looked over his shoulder to her with an annoyed face. "What do you think you're doing?" 

"That man!" Inha pointed towards her father who stopped right in front of her while taking a few deep breaths to point toward her. "You, come here." 

"Help me, he's going to kidnap me!" 

"How dare you call your own father a kidnapper!" 

"Then drop the baseball bat." 

"You need a beating, you brat!" 

He exclaimed, forwarding himself to grab her but Inha had tightened her grip on Sehun's forearm to shift to the other side behind his back where her father tried to grab her again squishing the poor guy between the father and daughter as he was standing with a done look on his face wondering if he did a mistake by coming here until he found Inha's father stepping back with a hold of on his chest as he bent over a bit. 

His eyes widened a bit, as he came forward to hold him but Inha was quick to step ahead to hold him as he found the worried look on her face. "Dad, are you okay? What happened?" 

However, a yelp left her lips to find her dad holding her ear as he stood straight with a victorious grin on his face as if he won a mission but it wasn't less than a mission by catching his daughter. 

Inha gasped. "This is cheating!" 

"Cheating, my foot." He frowned, before withdrawing the hold from her ear to hold her hand gently as he dragged her along to their home. "Let's go home, and stop making a scene, you little brat." 

But before they could, Daewon took notice of Sehun's presence with curiosity. "Are you Jinsoo's friend?" 

Inha was quick to speak up. "Yeah, he's here to meet Jinsoo." 

"Hello, I'm Oh Sehun." Sehun bowed with a polite manner and Daewon nodded with a smile. "I'm sorry about this inconvenience." 

Sehun was about to speak up but Inha was quick to cut him off with a whine. "Dad, you just embarrassed me in front of my classmate." 

Daewon exchanged a quick surprised look between the two of them. "Classmates?" 

"Yes."

"Then is he also your friend?" 

Inha and Sehun didn't know if they should agree to it or not because they were just getting into it or not but Daewon was quick to squint his eyes at him. "Okay, I got it." 

Inha shook her head as she immediately dragged her father away before she could have gotten more embarrassed, while Sehun stood there still, watching the father and daughter walking away with their faint chatters still going through his ears to make him realize what he just witnessed, and it was a weird sight for sure.

He shook his head. "Weird." 

He took a step forward only to feel a thing under his sneakers which had him immediately back away to find a handmade bracelet lying there and knowing who was at the scene just a minute ago, he bent over taking it to stare at it with an intent gaze to shove it in his pocket before walking to the porch.

After ringing the doorbell twice, the front door opened but instead of Jinsoo, Minho was standing there with a surprised yet confused look as he tilted his head. "Did you get the wrong house, Sehun-ah?" 

Sehun shook his head, scratching his nape awkwardly. "No, sir," He trailed off, his lips, a habit of his whenever nervousness rushes into him as he cleared his throat. "Where is Jinsoo?" 

"Oh, you're here, Sehun." 

Minho turned around along with Sehun looking over Minho's shoulder to find Jinsoo standing in a pair of hoodie and jeans before forwarding himself towards him as he smiled. "Come in." 

Sehun nodded, about to walk in but Minho was blocking his way to which he looked at him confusingly only to find a surprised look on his face and Jinsoo sighed, shoving him aside making him lean his shoulder against the door. "Hyung, move, you're making him feel awkward." 

"You both are friends now?" He questioned, as he watched the new sight while blinking at them and Jinsoo nodded. "Yeah, we are friends." 

Though, Sehun didn't expect him to call him a friend by just talking to him or inviting him to join them in the lunch or the punishment they got after the ink incident which had them laughing endlessly but at the moment, Jinsoo calling him his friend to invite him over had given him a sudden warmth in his heart with a realization that maybe he has a friend now. 

"Good, good, you should be friends with each other," Minho grinned, like a happy father watching his children together as he nodded toward Sehun. "And do come over often." 

Sehun and Jinsoo stared at him with a look, knowing what was going through the older man's mind and Jinsoo shook his head. "You're such a busy body, hyung." 

A slap was earned on the back of Jinsoo's head by his busy body brother. "Is that a thing to say to your older brother?" 

"Oh, go away, and don't bother us now." 

Jinsoo shooed him away by his arm making him chuckle as he gestured them to go with Sehun watching them with a little smile to follow Jinsoo toward the living room but stopped by a feminine voice from the kitchen as a middle-aged woman walked out, her black yet faint white strands were tied in a bun while attired in a casual dress. 

"Your friend came over?" She asked, looking at Sehun and he was quick to bow in a greeting. "Hello, I'm Oh Sehun." 

The woman smiled at his manners to nod. "Yes, I'm Soo-ji, Jinsoo's mother." 

"Mom, we'll be doing our assignment in my room." Jinsoo told her, and his mother nodded, giving Sehun a smile before watching the boys climbing upstairs through the stairs where Minho walked towards her. "Your son is good at making friends." 

"Of course he is, because he takes after me." 

Both of them looked at the voice to find the head of the house, Minho and Jinsoo's grandfather and Kyung-Hee's father in law walking out of his room while adjusting his glasses over his nose. "Who came by the way?" 

"Sehun, Jinsoo's new friend." Minho told him, as he began to help out his mother with the stuff and the latter nodded, taking a seat on the couch as he took a hold of his unfinished book with a chuckle. "Of course, he's outgoing in that category." 

He continued his unfinished book, while the son and mother continued their tasks of preparing the things for the memorial as in a few moments, the guests, which were their neighbors would be here to be with them on this day like every year till the two boys were having their work done by the time but both of them were not interested in the subject to even know where to begin. 

Hence, they had called the most trusted person they could, who was none other than Min Yoojung herself. 

Jinsoo had placed his phone against his ear the moment Yoojung answered. "Yeah, why?" 

"At least greet me like a normal person." Jinsoo pouted, looking at Sehun who slightly grinned at him to look around his room with amazed eyes while Yoojung replied. "I meet you every day so what greeting do you want?" 

Jinsoo rolled his eyes before continuing his talk about how he and Sehun want her help in history assignment along with Inha as both of them were paired together but were also good at this subject and Yoojung agreed telling him about how she along with Inha would he there in a few moments so they can help them afterwards. 

"Would Sehun stay till then?" Yoojung questioned, and Jinsoo immediately looked at him hesitantly where Sehun met his eyes confusingly before Jinsoo replied. "I'll ask him about it." 

"Alrighty!" 

The phone was hung up and Sehun asked the next second. "What happened?" 

"Oh, actually," Jinsoo pressed his lips together hesitantly. "Yoojung and Inha would be here in a few moments with their families," He trailed off, swallowing. "Since it's my father's death anniversary today then we can continue our work by their help-" 

"Today's your father's death anniversary?" Sehun cut him off, the moment he snapped out of his trance after grasping his words as he stared at him wide eyed. "Is it really okay for me to be here right now?" 

Jinsoo frowned. "What? Of course, it's okay, you're my friend so obviously you can join only if you want to because I don't want to pressure you in any way." 

Sehun stared at him blankly to sit straight on his bed by the footboard as Jinsoo was seated on the chair of his study table faced toward him and Sehun swallowed. "Can I ask you a question, Jinsoo?" 

Jinsoo nodded and Sehun continued with a hesitant yet nervous feeling about the answer he'd get but he had to ask. "Why did you suddenly ask me to get along with you?" He paused, forwarding himself over his thighs to look at him. "I mean, we have just exchanged a few words throughout the whole two years and I'm sure you must have heard a lot of things about me, so why?" 

Jinsoo stared at him for a moment with an understanding expression knowing how anyone could be confused by the sudden change, a change from the people you hardly have a word with but now he was being invited to the home to join him all of a sudden. 

"I don't believe in any kind of rumors," He started, as Sehun sat still, hearing him out attentively while Jinsoo cleared his throat. "Be it you, or anyone, I don't believe in such groundless stuff until I see it with my own eyes or see the reason behind it," He paused, biting his lip as he played with the bracelet wrapped around his wrist. "And you're right about suddenly approaching you since we hardly had any interaction throughout the two years, but I always thought that you wanted to be in your zone so I found it awkward to suddenly approach you, and to be honest, this time too, I might have not approached you if it wasn't for you being our seatmate, but because I would have found it rude not to approach you when we would be having our time, so I did. "

"And trust me when I say this, I'm really glad I made you my friend, Sehun." He added, a gentle smile curling his lips and Sehun stared at him blankly for a moment to feel a sudden warmth in his heart again by his honesty, the thing he like the most in a person so he was feeling glad to ask, and get this honest friend for himself as he smiled back. "Thanks for being honest with me."

Jinsoo chuckled. "It's getting awkward, isn't it?" 

Before Sehun could have answered him back, a knock on the door erupted followed by the push of it as Minho opened it wide, revealing himself in a pair of black button down and jeans as he looked at Jinsoo. "Come on, it's time." And his eyes turned to Sehun with a smile. "Sehun-ah, do you wanna join?" 

Sehun immediately shook his head as he stood up. "No, sir, I'll take my leave-" 

"No, he's going to join us." Jinsoo cut him off as he stood up leaving the latter confused where Minho nodded, leaving them alone with Sehun giving Jinsoo a look. "Really?" 

"What? Are you going to keep coming back and forth in my house?" Jinsoo walked to his closet to fist out a pair of black shirt and jeans to look at him with a gentle look. "Just stay here, since we're friends now." 

And Sehun couldn't even refuse as the next moment, he found himself walking downstairs to find Minho and his mother ready where an old aged man was clad in a black attire in the living room with a table already set up. 

Should I just run upstairs? 

That was what he thought as he felt awkward all of a sudden which was a given but then looked at himself clad in black denims to think again. 

Should I be glad that I'm dressed in black right now? 

However, his thoughts were interrupted by Jinsoo's grandfather. "Oh, Is that your new friend I'm hearing about, Jinsoo?" 

Jinsoo nodded with a smile. "Yeah, grandpa, he's my friend, Oh Sehun." 

Sehun was quick to greet him politely to get welcomed with a warmth by the family as the other two families had joined him later who were Yoojung and Inha, walking in the living room with their families where Inha was with her parents and Yoojung was with her grandmother and attired in black. 

Yoojung and Inha knew about Sehun's arrival as Yoojung had a call with Jinsoo to know about it but Inha had seen it with her own eyes but not just eyes as there was an incident of their bickering related to it. 

Their traditional rituals had begun until it was done by the elders as right now the women were preparing for the dinner together in the kitchen while the men were having a chit-chats of their own, then there were the kids, outside, sitting by the stairs of Jinsoo's porch together. 

Inha and Yoojung were beside each other with Jinsoo and Sehun but together. 

There was a silence, a comfortable one, the chatter of their elders behind could be heard faintly while the neighborhood was lit up with the streetlights as usual, the kids playing among themselves as usual, but it was new to Sehun, as he watched the sight curiously yet interestingly. 

At the moment, his eyes averted to Jinsoo beside him who was looking ahead blankly with a question popping up in his head but felt hesitant to ask yet his lips parted. "Are you okay?" 

Jinsoo turned to him with a confused look followed by Yoojung and Inha as she tilted her head to peek at him properly only to lock eyes with him for a mere second but it was enough to understand how awkward yet nervous he felt about his question as he cleared his throat. "You don't have to answer it, if you don't want to." 

Jinsoo smiled. "I don't mind it, and about your question," He trailed off, sighing as he looked ahead to palm his chin. "I'm feeling alright, but I keep asking myself if I should be feeling okay about it? Because I lost my father when I was three, and so I hardly remember his face now and his voice is so faint in my mind that I can't help but feel guilty for not being able to remember him. Is that really okay?"

Yoojung patted his back gently. "Of course, it's okay, because it's not your fault, and it's normal for us to forget someone when we hardly have memories of that person or any bond, so you don't have to feel guilty about it because your father will understand." 

Yoojung spoke it all, with her heart as if talking about herself. 

Inha had a smile on her lips, a relaxed one, but a guilty one as well as she could never understand the pain of losing a loved one or a bond with them because her bond with her parents was good, and her parents were with her which she always be grateful for and prays that it would stay that way. On the other hand, she knows about Jinsoo's condition, his father passing away from the time he needed a father's love but it was a grateful thing to say that his brother, mother and grandfather were here to love him all they could. 

But Yoojung? She also has parents but they are too busy to give her time since they are always busy in the