“Did you do the audition, hyung?” Junhong asked me while we were eating our lunch. It’s been two weeks since the incident when Himchan punched me. Two days later I paid a visit to his place and we talked things out. It was pretty awkward talking to him and apologizing after all that’s happened, especially with the fact that I still had a bruise on my face. You have no idea how people looked at me as I walk the streets with that on my face. People thought I was with the gangsters or something. But in the end he apologized as well and I agreed to go with him to do the audition.

“Yeah, it was 3 days ago actually. We didn’t really have the time to practice real hard because we were kind of behind. That was probably why we couldn’t win it.” I shrugged and took a bite out of my sandwich.

“That’s too bad, hyung. Perhaps there’ll be a next time…” Junhong patted my back.

“Nah, it’s not that bad really. I’ve told you that I write songs, right? Well we kind of used this old song I made that we used to play together and one of the judges who was a producer took a fancy to it. He kind of made an offer to work together in the future if I can prove to him that I’m capable of making great songs. He called me up yesterday actually and he asked me to come to his studio so I could show him my songs.” I said with a grin. It was a really great deal since the guy is a well-known producer. Maybe this way I could get a stable job related to my passion.

“That sounds amazing, Yongguk-ssi! That kind of chance doesn’t come around out of the blue. It’s a good thing you showed up to the audition in the end.” Seora who had been there since the beginning finally spoke up. Ever since the past week we had been hanging out quite a lot. She’s actually a very nice and fun girl to talk to. It’s comfortable to talk to her and I don’t have to act around her.

“Yeah, I agree! I’ll be looking forward to hear your songs sung by cool singers out there, hyung.” Junhong clapped his hands in delight. A smile tugged the corner of my lips and I shrugged.

“By the way, how did Himchan-ssi took the blow?” Seora asked.

“Himchan may not seem like it but he’s a remarkable Janggu player. He played it during the audition. He actually didn’t seem shaken when we didn’t win. Up until now I have no idea why. Then the same producer guy I told you about called him over and introduced him to a guy over the phone. I think he mentioned something about a scholarship in the Traditional Korean Music major in a famous university. I guess the trip was well worth it even though we didn’t get to win.” I looked at Junhong and he had a huge smile on his face.

“I think Himchan hyung was really only trying to get you to go out and enjoy yourself, hyung. He’d be super pissed if he took the audition seriously. Ah, the wonderful bond of friendship!” He clasped his hand together and stares off to space in a dramatic way. I looked at Seora and we both burst into fits of laughter.

“H-hey! Why are you guys laughing?” Junhong just looked at us and pouted. Seora grinned and ruffled the boy’s hair.

“Ah, you’re too cute, Junhong. Anyways, I’m just glad that everything turned out alright in the end.” Seora said and Junhong nodded enthusiastically. Just then my phone went off. I looked at the caller ID and saw the name I haven’t seen for years.

Yongnam.

“Sorry, I have to take this call.” I immediately went out from the dining room and took the call.

“Hello?” I continued making my way to the park.

“We’re visiting. Mom and Dad wanted to see you. Give me your address.” As I expected, not a single nice words such as ‘hello’ or ‘how are you’ coming from my own brother.

“When will you get here?” I sighed.

“The day after tomorrow. Just hurry up and give me the address!” He sounded irritated and I knew he didn’t want to talk to me any longer. The reason? I never knew why.

“I’ll text it. Tell Mom and-“ He hung up on me. That bastard! I sighed again and shoved my phone into my pocket. I dragged myself back to the dining room.

Bang Yongnam is my twin brother. Back when we were younger we would stick to each other and do everything together. We were inseparable. People would say that we were almost practically joined by the hip.

But then as we grew up we slowly drifted apart. I got busy with my music and he got busy with his own rock band. I started hanging out with Himchan but he never seemed to agree whenever I asked him to join us. Then the exam season came and we had to study and pick our university. When I chose to move out our relationship was non-existent. We never said a word to each other. And even if I tried to strike up a conversation he would either ignore me or snap at me, leading to an out of control fist fight most of the times.

“Who was that, hyung?” Junhong said once I got back into the dining room.

“My younger brother. And I don’t want to talk about it.” He blinked and looked at Seora who only shrugged.

.: :.

“Yongguk! How have you been? We miss you so much!” My mom gave me a hug once she entered my apartment. I shook hands with my dad and they both went in. Then right behind them Yongnam stood with a straight face and stormed in without even saying a single greeting. I gritted my teeth and slammed the door shut.

After looking around my apartment and a few nags here and there from my mom we decided to go out and eat dinner somewhere. We sat down in a nice restaurant specializing in braised chicken. It was just like how we used to eat together every weekend. It was really nice to be able to see my family again after a long time.

“So, Yongguk, what have you been up to?” My dad asked while we enjoy our soju after dinner.

“Well I’m doing great in university and I took a well paying job.” My parents seemed pleased after hearing that.

“Well that’s very nice, Yongguk. What job do you have?” My mom asked enthusiastically.

“I got a job at a rehabilitation center near the campus. It may not sound like it but it’s actually really nice. My co workers are a great help and we get along really well.” I saw the proud glint in my mother’s eyes and I knew I was doing something good. Suddenly I heard a snicker from the guy who had been silent throughout dinner.

“Oh really? Be careful you might turn into a nutcase yourself.” And that was the first sentence I heard from my own brother after so long.

“What the hell is your problem, Yongnam?!” I glared at him and there was only a cocky look on his face.

“Or maybe you’re already admitted there and just helping out a bit, huh, Yongguk?” I could feel my blood boiling from the things he said.

“Yongnam, don’t say that. Your brother is doing a good deed here. You should look up to him and get a job too.” Dad said and I knew it struck a nerve in Yongnam. He slammed the table and got up.

“Well maybe I should just get out of here while you fawn over your precious son!” With that he stormed out and left the three of us confused.

“What is wrong with you two? You were so nice to each other when you were younger, Yongguk…” My mom sighed sadly. I wish I could answer that but I had no idea what happened between us.

“Don’t worry, just let him cool off and he’ll come back to the hotel. Don’t worry, Yongguk. We’ll talk to him.” Dad sighed.

And so we parted. Mom called and said that he came back shortly after they arrived at the hotel.

.: :.

The day after I decided to just forget about Yongnam and get on with my life. He could do whatever he wanted for all I care. I walked into the building and greeted Sunhwa noona who happened to be near the front desk.

“Yongguk? I thought you already went in here with different clothes just a couple of minutes ago?” She raised her eyebrow.

“What? No. I just got here…” It couldn’t be. I ran straight in and looked around. Seeing that he wasn’t anywhere in the building I ran outside to see him sitting down with Junhong. I walked up to them and Junhong was the first one to see me. He waved his hand happily.

“Hyung! You’re finally here!” I ruffled Junhong’s hair but I kept my eyes on the guy sitting beside him.

“Hyung wants to talk to you. So I guess I’ll leave you two alone for now, okay?” Junhong gave me a hug and went away.

“What do you want, Yongnam? I don’t want to listen to any of your insults today.” He still hadn’t looked up to see me at all. He kept his gaze down.

“I want to apologize. For yesterday. No, for all these years, I guess…” He finally looked up at me and I just sighed. I sat down next to him.

“What happened anyways?” I waited for him to answer.

“You were pushing me away, Guk.” The corner of my lips tugged into a little smile when he called me by a nickname he made for me when we were 6.

“You started hanging out with Himchan, you were busy with rapping, you were dating Jieun, you didn’t hang out with me anymore.” He scratched the back of his head.

“I know it sounds really stupid, especially since we’re already this old. But you know I’m bad with people, right? I don’t even open up that much with my own band members. I just need someone to talk to but you were never there. Then I just got sick of you and I’d rather stay away from you.” I noticed him scrunching his face, cringing at his own words.

“Now that I think about it it’s really stupid how I even got mad at you at the first place. It’s so stupid.” He mumbled slowly but still loud enough for me to hear.

“Welcome to my world, . I had no idea what happened to you. And for your information, I asked you to hang out with me and Himchan but you never took up the offer. So it wasn’t my fault!” I shoved his head and he glared at me.

“Hell yeah it is. Once I hung out with you, Himchan and Daehyun and you got so immersed in your and your friend’s world you didn’t even notice I was there.” I held my hands up.

“Well okay, I guess I had a part in it. But seriously, Nam. Just talk to me next time. I tried talking to you but you pushed me away. I was trying to be nice to you but in the end we just fought and fought. Damn, we sound like an old married couple!” I crinkled my nose in disgust but he broke into a laugh.

“, this is so stupid… Look at how much we’re missing out on.” He shoved me and we broke into a good laugh. Something we hadn’t shared for years.

“Anyways, did mom and dad send you here? I know you well enough and I know you won’t apologize or even come here without someone forcing you to.”

“Yeah, they gave me a lecture last night and I swear it was just like our junior high days. They forced me to come here and bring you some kimbab mom got you. I tried to reason with her but she would have none of it. She asked the address to the front desk at the hotel and took a taxi with me. Then she just dropped me off and went somewhere else with dad.” He gave me the plastic bag filled with a box of kimbab and I grinned.

“That’s so typical of her.” Yongnam shrugged.

“I didn’t want to talk to you at all. But that kid made me.” I raised my eyebrow in confusion.

“You mean Junhong?” Yongnam nodded.

“He… He talked some senses into me. When I walked in here, he was talking to a lady near the front desk. She greeted me, thinking I am you, but the kid immediately knew I’m not. He dragged me here and started asking questions.” I could imagine Junhong doing all that stuff, considering how easy going he is.

“Then he kind of fished out all the things I had cooped up in my head. He just listened so patiently, you know? Then he freaking struck me with his final verdict!” Yongnam sounded surprised and rather confused about the whole situation.

“You’ll never know what will happen to someone. One minute he’s laughing with you and the next he could be dead. You shouldn’t fight with anyone, especially your family. They’re the people you should treasure, especially if they love you. Because something bad might happen to them and you’ll regret it if you weren’t able to apologize or tell them you love them.”

“Can you believe he said that? How old is he anyways?!” He sounded flabbergasted and scratched his head in confusion.

“He’s 15. A little philosopher, isn’t he? That’s expected from Junhong. He’s probably the wisest kid I’ve ever known. No, the wisest person I’ve ever known.”  Yongnam nodded.

“Is he a patient here? I can’t see anything wrong with him though.” I only shrugged.

“I wish I know why he’s here too. He doesn’t deserve to be here. He should be out there to see the world.”  Yongnam mumbled an agreement and we fell into a comfortable silence.

“He’s the kind of younger brother I’ve always wanted. Unlike a brother who got mad at me for years just because I didn’t talk to him for a while.” I absent-mindedly said. I earned a shove and a punch from Yongnam.

“You bastard!” I laughed and he punched me again.

“Hyuuungs! Are you guys all good now?” Junhong screamed from behind a bush not so far away. I grinned at him and called him over.

“Yeah, we are! Come over here, Junhong!” He had a big smile on his face and skipped his way over to us.

“It’s nice to see you guys all happy again, you know.” Junhong sat in between us. I just ruffled his hair and he grinned.

“Yeah, thanks to you. You get to share my kimbab, then.” I opened the box and the boy clapped his hand. He opened his mouth and looked at me. I chuckled and fed him a slice.

“Mmfp! ‘s good!” He mumbled with a mouthful  and reached for another one once he swallowed.

“Hey, you guys. Having a kimbab picnic and not inviting me?” Seora popped out of nowhere and peered over to see the kimbab.

“Hello, you must be Yongguk-ssi’s twin brother. I’m Kim Seora, I’m a volunteer here.” He looked straight at Yongnam.

“I’m Bang Yongnam. Hey, how can you tell us apart?” That actually got me wondering too. Nobody could tell the difference between us the first time they see us so close together. Even our exes had difficulties finding out who’s who.

“It’s kind of obvious, hyung.” Junhong said lightly and shrugged. Junhong knows me well and he’s an observant kid, it’s not much of a big shock if he knows.

“Yeah, it’s kind of obvious. I just know.” Seora grinned. Yongnam and I looked at each other, thoroughly amazed.

“Hey, Guk, remember what mom said during our high school days?” I shook my head.

“A girl who can tell us apart is probably going to be one of our soul mates!”

A/N : Sorry for making you wait a long time for this! Well, Yongnam's made and appearance. Tell me what you think about this chapter.