meeting (part of) the family

myungsoo/naeun, woohyun/chorong, ft. yoobin → 2038w

naeun tells all of her frustrations to a stranger.

Kim Yoobin checked her watch and sighed wearily when she saw that the minute hand hadn’t moved at all since the last time she looked down at it. She leaned back into the stiff wooden seat that she had been occupying for the last thirty minutes at Infinite Café and twirled the straw of her coffee absentmindedly. Unfortunately, she knew her younger brother and his best friend well enough to know that she would have to wait another twenty minutes at least until the two of them finally showed up.

But that knowledge didn't prevent her from being punctual. Yoobin was perfectly aware that she looked rather silly sitting at a table by herself, doing nothing at all. She amused herself by watching as students milled in and out of the coffee shop, some in a hurry, others on dates. This wasn’t exactly the most ideal way to spend her winter break. She had decided on a whim to visit her younger brother, but now she couldn’t help but regret her decision slightly. If his tardiness was anything to go by, it was clear that he hadn’t changed much at all. For a brief moment, Yoobin considered asking a girl a few seats to her left if she knew Kim Myungsoo. Then she decided against it. Myungsoo had always been a bit of a player and, just in case, Yoobin didn’t want to risk angering or saddening the poor girl by bringing his name up if she had in fact had a bad experience with her brother. The chances of that happening were slim, but you never knew.  

Yoobin raised the cup of coffee to her lips and returned to gazing around the café. She was in her third year of college now, but sitting there among high school students made her think back to her own years at Seoul Academy. Over the course of her four high school years, she had sat in this exact café a countless number of times. Yoobin couldn’t help but think back to the various afternoons she’d spent studying and spending time with her friends in the very booth she was currently seated in.

Unfortunately, her reminiscing was too quickly interrupted.

"I can’t stand Kim Myungsoo!”

Yoobin sat up quickly, suddenly very alert, and looked curiously at the two girls that had just entered the café. They took a seat at the table directly beside her. Both were bundled up in scarves, mittens, and hats to keep themselves warm from the snow falling outside. The one who had complained about Myungsoo had an infuriated scowl on her face and her arms crossed over her chest.

One of the waitresses quickly walked over with a bright smile on her face. She looked to be in high school and was clearly good friends with the two girls. “I thought you guys were coming later!” she said with surprise. Then her gaze flickered between them, slight worry entering her expression. “Did something happen?”

The girl with lighter hair rolled her eyes. "Bomi, Naeun’s throwing a fit over Myungsoo again."

Bomi immediately dissolved into a fit of giggles. Then she slapped a hand over and glanced around the café, clearly trying to make sure that the manager wasn’t within earshot. As Bomi’s eyes passed over her, Yoobin forced herself to look down at her phone and appear uninterested in their conversation. The day was turning out to be much, much more entertaining then she had expected.

“Ohhhh,” said Bomi as she turned back to her friends, restraining another bout of laughter. “Naeun-ah, no matter how much you say you hate him, you can’t deny the fact that he’s good-looking.”

“Honestly,” the other girl chimed in. “Do you not have eyes?”

"He has a great body too, you know,” Bomi added with a dreamy sigh. “The year I had him in my gym class, I didn’t complain about the swimming unit even once.”

"Guys!" reprimanded Naeun, scrunching up her nose. "Bomi, you have a boyfriend!"

"Doesn't mean I can't daydream about the hottest guy in our grade," Bomi replied cheekily. “I’m sure Chorong agrees with me on this.”

Yoobin felt her jaw drop at this description of her brother and leaned in a little closer to hear better. Myungsoo was apparently a lot more popular with the girls than she had thought.

Naeun rolled her eyes at her two friends. “Myungsoo is not that great. He's arrogant and immature and annoying.”  Then she paused. “Okay, maybe he’s a little – “

"A little?" interrupted Bomi dryly.

"Fine! He’s really good-looking. And he's funny and nice and not even half as immature as I make him sound and sometimes I daydream about him too,” Naeun exploded.

Yoobin had chosen the worst moment to take a sip of her drink. She all but choked on her coffee, causing the three of them to look over at her in slight alarm.

"Look what you’ve done, scaring innocent bystanders," Chorong joked. She made eye contact with Yoobin and waved her hand at Naeun, who was blushing furiously. "She's sorry. At the moment she's too busy drowning in humiliation to say so. She’s been waiting to get that out for a while.”

"Clearly," added Bomi with a laugh.

Naeun groaned and turned to Yoobin with an apologetic grimace. “I really didn’t mean to make you choke.”

Yoobin waved her words away and leaned in closer. “I couldn’t help but overhear – “

Turning red again, Naeun yelped out, “Oh! That was – that was nothing!” Then she sighed. “I just…I just don’t know what to do.”

“Oh?” asked Yoobin, unable to hide the small smile spreading across her face. This was the perfect opportunity to learn more about her brother’s love life. “I’ve got some time to kill – if you don’t mind sharing, why don’t you tell me all about your little problem?”

She half expected Naeun to decline. Instead, the girl’s face lit up and she nodded eagerly. "I’m sure you’ll be more help than them," she said, shooting her friends a dark look. She moved to the seat across from Yoobin. “My name is Naeun.”

“I’m Yoobin,” she replied, looking at the pretty girl in front of her with anticipation.

For the next ten minutes, Yoobin listened as Naeun described Kim Myungsoo, starting with how the two of them had met (in seventh grade, Naeun’s luggage had accidentally been sent to the boys’ dormitories instead of the girls’) to the start of their love/hate relationship (Myungsoo made fun of her at every opportunity) to his slow maturity throughout the years (he had learned to tie his school uniform tie correctly, realized that that there was a limit to goofing off, and finally stopped pulling pranks on the rest of the student population).

By the time Naeun finished, Yoobin was more than a little amused. "So, where does having daydreams about him fit in?” she asked curiously.

The other girl blushed. "Well…”

And in the next ten minutes, Naeun recounted all of the sweet, thoughtful things he did for her. Her entire face lit up with a smile as she told Yoobin about how he didn’t mind tutoring her in chemistry even though it took her hours to finish even the shortest of assignments. Myungsoo always gave her chocolate on Valentine’s Day and never failed to remember her birthday. She frowned slightly but laughed at the same time as she told the story of her birthday last year, when Myungsoo and Woohyun surprised her by ambushing her in the school hallway and covering her from head to toe in cake.

“All of his friends are immature,” concluded Naeun, pursing her lips.

Chorong, who had been sitting next to her friend in silence while she talked, rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop it, Naeun, it’s obvious that you love them. Even obnoxious Sunggyu.”

Naeun opened to protest. Seeing this and sensing a long argument coming, Yoobin quickly asked, “What happened? Why can’t you stand him right now?”

"Because..." Naeun trailed off and stared into her cup of coffee, suddenly looking quite put out.

"Because," answered Chorong for her with a laugh, "the annual winter formal is coming up, and every year he asks her to go with him. But he hasn’t yet this year, and so many girls are asking him that Naeun’s getting nervous, but she isn’t willing to ask him first.”

Yoobin tilted her head to one side, considering this. “I’m sure he’s just trying to find the right time,” she told her. “Really, some – “

“Noona?” a voice asked uncertainly from behind her.

She turned around to see Myungsoo and Woohyun standing there with confused and slightly horrified expressions on their faces. She blinked slowly and wondered what the best way to get out of her current situation was. Finally, after a few long seconds passed, Yoobin settled for lifting her hand in a casual wave. “Long time no see, Myungsoo.”

"Noona!” Myungsoo cried, apparently on the verge of hysteria. He stepped forward and ran his fingers through his hair as he looked down at her with wide eyes. "What are you doing? Why are you talking to Naeun of all people?”  

Yoobin cleared . “Please, Myungsoo, calm down. Come here and join us,” she commanded, waving the two of them over to their table.

Myungsoo didn’t move and he didn’t calm down.

Naeun watched the scene in front of her unfold with dread in her eyes, realization slowly registering in her mind.

Woohyun followed Yoobin’s instructions and plopped himself down in one of the open seats.

"Now, Naeun," Yoobin said, and Naeun glanced up, looking utterly mortified. "What were you saying about Myungsoo?”

Myungsoo was appropriately startled at the mention of him; his eyebrows shot up and his eyes flickered over to where a frozen Naeun was seated.

“You’re – you’re his sister?” asked Naeun slowly. She looked slightly dazed and her face was turning pinker by the second. “You’re Kim Myungsoo’s sister?”

It was Yoobin’s turn to look apologetic, but she couldn’t help but . "Go on, do tell,” she urged, a mischievous glint appearing in her eyes. "You were certainly saying something about him before.”

Still slightly red in the face, Myungsoo frowned. “She doesn't have to if she doesn't want to," he argued, even though he clearly had no idea what was going on.

Chorong grinned evilly. “No, no, of course Naeun wants to!” she said quickly, nudging her friend in the ribs.

"I need to go to the bathroom!" Naeun blurted out, jumping to her feet.

"I'll come with!" chirped Chorong, as if she hadn’t just helped ruin Naeun’s life.

Glaring at her best friend, Naeun insisted through clenched teeth, "No, it’s fine, I can go by myself.”

She stalked off in the direction of the bathroom without looking back. The crowd parted hastily with one look at her murderous expression. Naeun stopped in the middle of the hallway and squeezed her eyes shut, unable to believe the turn her day had taken. All she had wanted to do was relax for the day with her friends!

Hearing footsteps behind her, Naeun scowled without turning around, and dug through her bag for her phone. "I thought I told you not to follow me, Chorong," she snapped. She glared into her purse as she spoke; where was her phone? She'd definitely put it in there that morning. Finally, after a few seconds of rummaging, she gave up and simply groaned.

"How could she be his sister? His sister!” wailed Naeun. “Not a distant relative, but his sister! I can’t believe I just spent half an hour telling her how in love I am with him and how much I wish he’d just ask me to the winter dance. How did this even happen?”

She whirled around to face her friend with a dismay written all over her features. However, the dismay quickly morphed into horror as she registered the fact that it wasn’t Park Chorong standing there behind her.

It was Kim Myungsoo. 

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A/N: Thanks to those who have subscribed and left comments! I've kind of changed up the format and I gave the foreword another makeover! I decided to give you guys another cute/happy one before throwing any sad ones in here :) I have a question for all of you: would you guys prefer happy ones or sad ones? Please leave an answer because it'll really help me for upcoming chapters.