Suzy was about to go to sleep when she heard familiar footsteps coming from downstairs.

“Sunggyu, you’re back!” Mrs. Bae gushed. “You must be very tired from the trip.”

“I’m all right, mom,” he replied with a slight chuckle. “Where are the others?”

“Your father’s already gone to do his night shift, while the two are upstairs. I think Sang Moon’s playing in his room. Suzy’s a bit quiet, so she could either be writing or sleeping. You know how they are.”

“Did the kids give you a difficult time while I wasn’t around?”

“Of course not!” she exclaimed. “They’ve been nice to each other. Oh, Sunggyu, have you had dinner?”

“Not yet.”

“Then what are you doing? Go upstairs and freshen up! I’ll prepare you your food.”

There was a moment of silence, and Suzy assumed that he had hugged their mother. “Thanks, mom. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

She heard the creaking of the stairs, and she braced herself. She closed her eyes, with the determination to fall asleep because she couldn’t bear to look at her first love. Out of fear of nervousness, she didn’t know, but she buried herself in her duvet.

Suzy’s door opened up, and she didn’t dare budge.

“Suzy?” Sunggyu whispered. She chose to not reply, and she felt him close the distance between them. His familiar scent filled her senses once again, but she chose to be oblivious of such things. She decided to not waver anymore.

Sunggyu began to reach out and touch the top of her head, but stopped.

“I’m home now,” he said. “Good night.”

She held her breath, and finally, he stepped out of her room. Moments later she heard the excited yelling of Sang Moon. It was evident that he was happy to see his older brother once again. Suzy stirred in her bed, and sighed.

“Welcome home, oppa,” she muttered to no one in particular.

<:>

“How are Sunye’s parents doing?” Mrs. Bae asked over the dining table the next day.

“They’re doing fine,” Sunggyu answered. “They’re sending their regards to you, by the way. There’s ginseng, as well. I just forgot to give it last night.”

“Ah, that’s nice,” she said, smiling. “And what about the ceramics we sent over? Did they like it?”

“They loved it.”

“That’s good to hear,” Mr. Bae chimed in. He then turned to the Bae siblings. “And the two of you are already running late. Eat faster.”

“Yes,” they chorused, and Sang Moon swiped the last piece of meat from Suzy’s bowl. She seethed at her younger brother, but he only grinned in return.

“I need to grow,” he said.

“You need to grow some manners,” Suzy corrected, before proceeding to eat.

“Do you need a lift?” Sunggyu offered.

“No, hyung, we’re fine,” Sang Moon suddenly said. “You’re still tired from the trip so noona and I will just take the train.”

“But you’re running late—”

“There’s nothing new to that,” the youngest pushed. “And noona can run!”

“We’ll take the train,” Suzy finally said. “Sang Moon, let’s go.”

The two stood up from their seats and after saying their respective goodbyes, they exited their house.

“I’ve never seen them get along so well before,” Mr. Bae remarked. “That’s a good change.”

Mrs. Bae just chuckled. “I think our kids are growing up. I wonder if our daughter already has someone she fancies, though.”

“Doesn’t she talk about it?” her husband asked. “Sang Moon would always tell me his, and the names of the girls usually change every other week.”

“I haven’t heard from her yet,” she muttered. In a snap, she gazed at Sunggyu. “You’re quite close with her, Gyu-yah. Have you heard her mention a guy’s name?”

He smiled, and shook his head no. “I haven’t, mom.”

That was his first lie to his foster parents.

<:>

“Hey, Sang Moon,” Suzy called out, when they were already in the station.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Thank you.”

He smirked. “Be thankful you have a cool sibling.”

“You can be so full of yourself sometimes,” she scoffed, while looking at him. “But really, Sang Moon, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. But in return, treat me for lunch. I’m dead broke.”

Suzy gave him a face. “No way! We just received our allowance three days ago!”

“But noona, I have to earn more this month. The game I’ve been waiting for is going to be released soon.”

“No.”

“Noona!” he whined, as he playfully shoved her with his elbow. “I’m begging you, please?”

The pestering went on for a while longer, and Suzy’s patience ran out. “All right!” she cried. “But only for today, you hear me?”

Sang Moon pumped his fist in the air. “Thank you!”

Suzy laughed, and Sang Moon smiled. He might not admit it, but he loved it whenever his sister showed that kind of face. In a way, it made him feel that everything would be fine…that she would be fine.

<:>

“You seem to be playing lighter melodies lately,” Professor Yang, Myungsoo’s teacher, remarked.

The student froze upon hearing his mentor’s voice. As if gaining his composure once again, he gently placed his guitar on its stand.

“Did something good happen?” Professor Yang pushed. He sat down on the amplifier just in front of Myungsoo. In a way, he was the only one who could approach him so readily. Yang Ma Jun was the university’s youngest teacher, and maybe that was the reason behind him being able to get closer with most of the students, no matter who they were.

Myungsoo seemed to nod, and Professor Yang’s eyes brightened up. “It’s rare to see this side of you. How amusing.”

“Be amused until you knock yourself out, Teach,” he shot back. “Why are you here, anyway?”

“I was just about to eat lunch but then I heard you playing,” he explained.

“Have a nice meal, then,” the younger one said.

“The nice thing that happened,” Professor Yang blurted out. “I’d love to hear it.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It seems to me that it does,” the teacher pushed.

A pause, and Myungsoo said, “Someone just complimented me.”

Professor Yang raised his eyebrows. “You seem to be someone who receives compliments here and there. I wonder what makes this so special.”

“The one who complimented me barely knows me.”

“Ah, so who is that person?”

“He’s just a kid,” Myungsoo said. “Now that I’ve told you this, can you go now?”

“But of course,” he stood up with a slight smile playing on his lips. “You should treasure that compliment, though.”

He looked up at his mentor, and the latter’s smile turned into a grin. “Kids are honest, after all.”

<:>

It was around eight in the evening when Myungsoo finally arrived home, only to find out that he had received a tiny package from Daehyun. He scoffed, but proceeded to open the parcel all the same. It contained the clothes his half-brother borrowed, a book, and a Thank You card. A short, handwritten note was inside it.

Dear Myungsoo Hyung,

I enjoyed playing with you the last time! I hope I can come around again and maybe I can listen to you while you play your guitar. I really want to see that because I think it would be really cool. I will bring an umbrella next time so I won’t get soaked. Just in case.

Oh, and I asked my parents if I can give you a book and they said yes! It’s called ‘The Little Prince’ and I recently learned that the author of that book is French. Cool, huh? The adults always tell me that it has a lot of metaphors and when I ask them about it they keep on insisting that I am too young to learn about metaphors. Hyung, what are metaphors?

I love you!

Daehyun

P.S.

Can you write me back? I’ve always wanted to receive a letter!

Myungsoo laughed at the last few statements, and he took the book from the box. He then proceeded to go upstairs, and as if on autopilot, he grabbed a pen and a piece of blank paper.

<:>

“Summer?” Suzy said, seconds after answering the phone call.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

She smiled. “How are you?”

“I’m doing fine. And you?”

“I’m fine, as well. My older brother returned home already, by the way.”

There was a pause, and Suzy wondered why she said something so easily to a stranger like that. She twirled her pen between her fingers, waiting for a reply.

“It’s good that he returned safely,” Summer remarked.

Suzy beamed at his reply. She figured that it was better than the regular ‘How does that make you feel?’ response.

“It is,” she said.

“Have you read The Little Prince?” he asked. “It’s by a French author.”

“Ah, I did,” she answered pleasantly. “It’s a book which can be read by both children and adults. It has many metaphors.”

Upon hearing her reply, Summer smirked.

“Did I say something wrong?” she asked.

“No, no, not at all,” he said. “It’s just that I remembered something upon hearing that word—metaphors, that is.”

Suzy raised one of her eyebrows, and a slight smile graced her lips. “And what might that be, Mister Summer?”

“My brother.”

“Oh, really?” she asked, amused.

“Yeah, really.”

The two filled in the silence with a short laughter, and out of the blue Suzy commented, “It’s funny how we’re laughing together like this, when we could be as good as strangers.”

Silence.

“Summer?” Suzy called out, a little alarmed.

“I’m here,” he said.

“What’s the matter?”

She could sense the hesitation in his voice, and what he had asked her caused her heart to race.

“Sunshine, do you mind if we meet up?”

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."
- Zephaniah 3:17

I just read your comments! AmtoriaBabies, do know that comments encourage me so much, so I love reading them. Especially the long ones which generally speak out a reader's thoughts. I am greatly humbled, knowing that in a way this fic of mine has affected you in one way or another. I am thankful that somehow this made you view another perspective in life. Cherish your sibling, and God bless you, too. Inspiritz, I truly am glad that I was able to make you smile. Oh, are you now? To be honest I enjoy writing more about Myungsoo. Maybe because more of my real-life experiences are incorporated in his story? I don't know for sure. You made me smile with your comment. Have a nice day, as well. Soomuch_A, dubukiss and SkullMaki, it's getting there! Heh. Ginnie, you're right! I just noticed it now. Suzy's closer with guys on here.  But I think it works out considering that she has two brothers. Heh. But of course. Based on my experience, it was quite difficult to swallow the fact that you have a half-sibling of some sort. Nonetheless, people grow up, and they learn to embrace that fact and be thankful that they have a brother or a sister. Keyra, asdfghjkl123, imaockat, fireworkrainbow, Myungzy_Guardian and ilovekpop, thank you for the encouragement! EXOGASMIC, ah, really? Your comment intrigued me. Until now I'm wondering as to how I portrayed Myungsoo in your eyes, together with Suzy. Heh I think I would do the same with you, but I'm genuinely interested in meeting strangers, and getting to know them better. Pink3raser, how so?  I'm curious as to how you can relate with Daehyun! Kirakirashahida, you really think so? That's an interesting thought. Myungsoo as a lonely soul. Heh. And you think you understand that feeling? I'm curious: how so? smorgss to be honest me naming him Daehyun was a coincidence. The name simply popped up in my mind so I decided to use it. I am not that big on BAP. I only listen to Infinite nowadays! Ah, I'm truly humbled. Thanks for the encouragement. loveisyam, you made me smile there. Thank you. Jess, you'll meet someone soon enough. Or maybe you've already met that person, you just haven't realized it yet. Gysviolen, I'm happy to receive a comment from you. I'm relieved that Myungsoo now has Daehyun, as well. Hanna, we already talked so...heh.